Parents of Jacob Weber of
Canton Zurich, Switzerland

Weaver

Generation #1

Johann Anton Weber of Canton Zurich, Switzerland (Conjecture)

Johann Anton Weber was christened 1/10/1658 in Baretswil, Canton Zurich, Switzerland. And in about 1685 in Canton Zurich, Switzerland, Johann Anton married Maria Margaretha Herr b. c. 1665 in Canton Zurich, Switzerland.

At some time before the turn of the century, the extended Herr Family reacting to religious and physical pressures joined the ethnic German migration stream known as the Palatinate Immigration. The family patriarch, Bishop Hans Herr, led his group of Mennonites in their first migration to the Palatinate of the Rhine. And, the extended family is believed to have sojourned in Unterbiegelhof, Heidelburg, Palatinate of the Rhine, where Swiss Mennonites were moderately accepted.

In about 1707 reacting to external pressures, the group chose to immigrate to the Pennsylvania Colony, following the promise of  inexpensive land and religious freedom. Wendel Bowman and family should be noted as the initial immigrants in the Herr/Kendig/Bowman/Weber Family's migration chain from the Palatinate of the Rhine to south-central Pennsylvania.

By the time Wendel established himself in Germantown, Pennsylvania Colony, conditions in the Palatinate of the Rhine were intolerable. Facing invasion by the French Army, extreme winter, and possibly starvation, in 1709 the Herr Family et. al. began their journey down the Rhine River, arriving at the Port of Rotterdam in June. The next April, the family sailed to England where they had to wait for transportation to America.

Arriving in Philadelphia on 9/23/1710, the group purchased ten thousand acres on Pequea Creek from William Penn. The next Spring, the extended family continued their westward migration led by Bishop Hans Herr, pioneering the Pequea Creek Valley in what would become Lancaster Co PA. [Palatinate Migration Map to Lancaster Co PA]

In 1712 Maria Margaretha's uncle, Martin Kendig, was selected by the settlers of Pequea Creek, Chester (now Lancaster) Co PA as emissary to the Palatinate of the Rhine. His mission was to gather the remaining members of their Mennonite group and recruit other ethnic Germans as immigrants for the settlement. 

Johann Anton and Maria Margaretha are most notable for being the parents of at least four children who immigrated to Pennsylvania, establishing the Swiss Mennonite settlement of Weber Thal, Chester (now Lancaster) Co PA. Beginning in 1712, eldest son Jacob continued the chain of migration from the Palatinate of the Rhine to Pequea Creek, Chester (now Lancaster) Co PA. Sons Henry and George soon followed. Johann Anton and Maria Margaretha immigrated to Pequea Creek where Hans Weaver is enumerated in the 1718 Chester Co Tax List for Conestoga Twp. Daughter Maria is believed to have immigrated with the Landis family to Manheim Twp, Chester (now Lancaster) Co PA. Lastly, Daughter Anna is believed to have sailed for Pennsylvania with her family aboard the Molly in 1727; but unfortunately, she died at sea.

Johann Anton died 12/17/1725 Pequea Creek, Chester (now Lancaster) Co PA. He and Maria Margaretha are believed to be buried at Willow Street Mennonite Cemetery, Lancaster Co PA.

    Children

    1. Jacob Weber
        Had son George who migrated to northern Shenandoah Co VA

    2. Henry Weber

To Jacob Baylor, Surveyor General.
"Warrant Book, 1700-1714, p 229.
On the 23d of October, the land was surveyed and divided among the Meylins, Herrs, Kendigs and others of the company.
By warrant, dated July 5, 1712, there were surveyed, November 1, 1712, Pequea, now Strasburg township, for Amos Strettle, 3380 acres, who afterwards sold it in smaller tracts; the principal persons to whom he sold prior to 1734, were. . .Henry Shank, Ulrich Brackbill . . Martin Miller. . .John Bowman, Valentine Miller, Jacob Hain, John Herr. . . .
. . .Having  spent some time in preliminary arrangements, he [Martin Kendig] and a company of Swiss and some Germans, bade a lasting adieu to their old homes, and dissolved the tender ties of friendship with those whom they left.  With his company, consisting of the residue of some of those in America, and of Peter Yordea, Jacob Miller, Hans Tschantz, Henry Funk, John Houser, John Bachman, Jacob Weber, Schlegel, Venerick, Guldin, and others, he returned to the new home, where they were all cordially embraced by their fathers and friends.
The Swiss settlement received an augmentation in 1715-16 and 17; besides those already named, were. . .Michael Shank. . .Jacob Landis. . .Michael Miller. . .Jacob Boehm. . . .
During the year 1727, more than a thousand Palatines arrived in Pennsylvania; among these were the names of Diffenderfer, Ekman, Meyer, Bowman, Eberlee, Zug, Shultze, Funk, Frantz, and others.

    3. George Weber

    4. Maria Weber

    5. Anna Weber

[List 3 A, B] Molly
Captain: John Hodgson
From: Rotterdam
By Way of: Deal
Arrival: Philadelphia, 30 Sep 1727
70 Palatines men over 16 and their families, approximately 300 people.
Davidt Mardtin no family

 

Caveat
This site is provided for reference only. Except where specifically cited, information contained is conjecture and should not be considered as fact.
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