There are the following erroneous statements with regard to
my ancestor, Valentine MENDEL:
"Valentine Mendel was a Hessian conscription soldier brought
by the English to fight the colonists. At Cornwell's defeat
at Yorktown, the English returned to England, left the Germans
behind.
"VALENTINE MENDEL was one of the Germans and he received a
grant of land back of Wellsburg extending from Cross Creek
to Buffalo Creek. This he subdivided and sold in farms."
The notion that Valentine Mendel was a "Hessian conscription soldier"
is patently untrue!
Here are the documented facts:
1) Valentine Mendel came to America on the ship "King of Prussia,"
sailing from Rotterdam (at the mouth of the Rhine) and arriving
in Philadelphia ca September/October 1775. Like all arriving
foreign (i.e. non-English) males over the age of 16, he was
required to take the Oath of Allegiance to King George. He
signed the Oath on 09 October 1775 at the Court House Philadelphia,
signing his name "Johan Valtin Mündel") .
Reference: Strassburger and Hinke, "Pennsylvania German Pioneers,"
Pennsylvania German Society, Norristown, Pennsylvania, 1934,
Volume I, pp 762-3 [printed list of passengers]. If you have
access to the original 3-volume work (rather than the 2-volume
reprint), you can see a facsimile reproduction of the actual
signatures [pp 887-8] of the signers from the ship "King of
Prussia" - including that of "Johan Valtin Mündel" (i.e.
Valentine Mendel).
This "passenger list" for the "King of Prussia" was also transcribed
by Daniel Rupp in his "A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand
Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in
Pennsylvania From 1727 to 1726." Second, enlarged edition, reprinted
by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1985. Rupp's list was
also reproduced in the published Pennsylvania Archives.
This establishes that Valentine Mendel had arrived in America by
09 October 1775, the year =before= the Declaration of Independence
and the commencement of the American Revolution. He was not
"brought by the English."
2) Like many Germans, he appears next in Lancaster county, PA. Among
the records establishing his presence in Lancaster county are:
a) The baptism of his first son, John, at the First Reformed Church
[Lutheran] in 1778:
"John Mundel, s. Valentine and Maria: b. August 9; bap. Sept. 19"
Reference: Don Yoder, "Pennsylvania German Church Records..."
Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1983, p. 287.
b) The baptism of his third son, Heinrich, at Trinity Lutheran Church,
Lancaster, PA, in 1782:
"Heinrich Muendel, s. Valentin and Maria: b. Oct. 8, 1781;
bap. Aug. 4."
Reference: Yoder, "Pennsylvania German Church Records," p. 137.
c) A deed, made 27 April 1780, "between George Maurter of the township
of Earl Town in the county of Lancaster and province of Pennsylvania
distiller and Catriena his wife of the one part, and Valentine Mendle
of the same place distiller of the other part." [Valentine Mendel
paid the Maurters 1236 pounds for the purchase of a parcel of land
(and sundry buildings) in Earl Township. There are subsequent
Lancaster tax records showing Valentine Mendel as owner of this
land, as well as another deed for the eventual sale of the land
before Valentine Mendel moved to Ohio county, VA (now Brooke
county, WV) ca 1785.
d) In the 23 December 1783 issue of the "Philadelphische Correspondz"
there appears a notice:
"Valentin Muendel, Earl Township, Lancaster County, announces
his intention to remove from Pennsylvania."
Reference: Edward W. Hocker, "Genealogical Data Relating to German
Settlers of Pennsylvania and Adjacent Territory," Genealogical
Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1981, p. 168.
e) And for the "silver bullet" right through the heart of the notion
that Valentine was a "Hessian soldier brought by the English ...
and left behind" we have the fact that Valentine Mendel appears
on a Muster Roll of the County of Lancaster [in short, his
descendants qualify for membership in the DAR and SAR!].
Reference: Pennsylvania Archives - Fifth Series", Volume VII,
Harrisburg, PA, 1906, p. 496.
"Valentine Mandle" is listed in the 1st Class of:
"A true and exact list of the names of each and every
male white person inhabiting or residing within my
district in the First Company of the Fifth Battalion
of Lancaster County Militia between the age of eighteen
and fifty-three years ... for the year 1782"
[signed by Capt. Alexr. McIlvain].
To summarize:
1) Valentine Mendel arrived in America nine monthe =before=
the Declaration of Independence.
2) He married and fathered three sons during the period 1777-
1782 [and another son, Peter, was born in 1783].
3) He was a land owner and taxpayer in Lancaster county.
4) He was a member of the Lancaster County Militia.
5) He sold his land in Lancaster county, PA and moved to
now-Brooke county, WV at the conclusion of the Revolutionary
War [1785].
In short, the "Hessian soldier" story is a romantic myth, without a
shred of evidence to support it [but much to refute it]. Indeed,
the story of descent from a Hessian soldier is one of the more
common genealogical myths. For example, the eminent genealogist,
Milton Rubincam (in his "Pitfalls in Genealogical Research,"
pp 13-14) says:
"Just as the Huguenot tradition is popular ..., so is the
tradition of descent from a Hessian soldier who was brought
to this country during the Revolutionary War to fight for King
George III and became so imbued with democratic principles that
he deserted from the Anglo-Hessian forces and founded a stalwart
American family. ... Many an American family with a German
name has assumed that its first ancestor in this country was a
'Hessian' soldier who deserted, married a native girl, and had
children. ..."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Finally, in some earlier correspondence, I have stated with a gradually
increasing level of confidence that the wife of Valentine Mendel was
Anna Maria Gallatin, also of Lancaster county, PA. Although no marriage
record has yet been found, I am now quite certain that this identification is correct.
The GALLATIN family of Lancaster county were
Moravians who had come to America a generation or two earlier. The
surname appears with the usual variety of spellings one finds in the
18th century: the principal variants substitute a "C" for the initial
"G," and/or insertion of an "N" and/or substitution of "D" for "T"
and/or a addition of a final "E" - thus GALLATIN, GALLENTINE,
CALLENDINE, etc. More specifically, at one of the CALLENDINEs of
early Brooke county was a brother of Anna Maria (Gallatin) Mendel.
Anna Maria GALLATIN/CALLENDINE was born at Lancaster county, PA; she
was the daughter of Friedrich Abraham and Maria Philopena GALLATIN.
The children of Friedrich and Maria GALLATIN were [Reference: John T.
Humphrey, "Pennsylvania Births, Lancaster County 1723-1777," Humphrey
Publications, 1977]:
i. Johan Jacob, 19 September 1750
ii. Johan Daniel, b. 16 September 1752
iii. Friedrich, b. 11 December 1754
iv. Anna Maria, b. 19 December 1755
v. Eleanora, b. 25 April 1758; d. young
vi. Eleanora, b. 09 October 1760
It is important to recognize that, with Germans, it was the =middle=
name that was the "call name" (the first name was the saint's name).
In particular, Mary's brother Daniel CALLENDINE was an early settler
of now-Brooke county [he came in the late 1780s]. As you're probably
aware from transcribing early court records, Daniel CALLENDINE was
a prominent man in early Brooke county history - he was frequently on
juries and was executor of a number of estates. When Valentine MENDEL
died in late 1811 or very early 1812 [his will was admitted to probate
at the January 1812 session of the probate court], he left several
minor children. Two of them selected Daniel CALLENDINE as their
guardian (which makes perfect sense once you know that Daniel was
their uncle). Daniel was also one of the appraisers of the estate
of Valentine MENDEL; again, this makes good sense since the practice
was to have one of the appraisers be a relative of the widow so as to
represent her interests.
Daniel GALLATIN/CALLENDINE married Elizabeth --?-- at Lancaster county
before 1776 and there are Lancaster county church records of the
births and/or baptisms of the following children:
i. John Martin, b. 20 October 1776
ii. Maria, b. 28 October 1782
iii. Daniel, b. 08 October 1784
There can be but little doubt that this is the same man as the Daniel
CALLENDINE of Brooke county whose will, made 03 July 1820 names his
"eldest son Martin" and "second son Daniel." Daniel's will names,
further, sons Abraham and Henry, daughters Elizabeth Fowler and
Margaret Vincent, and grandchildren Daniel and Sarah Wartenbe. The
father of the Wartenbe children was Francis Wartenbe, son of William
Wartenbe; the mother of the children was, obviously, a daughter of
Daniel Callendine - probably, his daughter Mary.
There was, also, a "Christian CALLENDINE" in early Brooke county [who
came at about the same time as Daniel]. This man was probably the
"Christian Galentin," son of Jacob and Eleanora, born at Lancaster
county on 28 May 1759. I suspect, but have no proof yet, that
Christian Galentin/Callendine was a first cousin of Daniel's.
I have collected a great deal more information on the CALLENDINEs of
early Brooke county (deeds, wills, court records) but haven't sorted
it out yet. When I have analyzed the mass of data and compared it
with the relevant Lancaster county records, I'll send along the
information for the Brooke County Genealogical Society since it
seems that no one else has yet tackled these early Brooke County
families.
Regards,
Richard Irwin
This information was received by our group 29 Dec 2002. If you are researching either of these families, you might want to contact Richard Irwin. gh
One of the Landmarks of Brooke county S. Merrimer, who has resided on the E. H. Tarr farm for several years past, occupant the old limestone house, was a former resident of Monroe County, Ohio "The Black Hills" but a real fine old gentleman, just the same and one who is welcomed as a citizen of Brooke County. Mr. Merrimar is well pleased with this community.
The old stone house referred to is one of the most original in architecture in this county, having been built of limestone in its native state. Crude in a manner rough hewn as the rock came from the quarry and durable, as has been shown by its long standing. Several years ago the building showed signs of age, but Mr. Merrimer has made repairs until the old home is in a measure itself again. Nearby stands a huge elm tree whose branches shade one of the finest springs in the county. Who first settled the 400 acre tract of land which was embodied in the present Tarr farm?
Vallentine Mendel, a German, took up the tract under the Tom-A- Hawk right, which means that one simply took his hatchet and notched around the tract, paid his taxes, etc. and became sole owner. The tract included the E. H. Tarr farm, the G. M. Park farm and the H. G. Mendel farm on the Wellsburg and Washington Pike.
Vallentine Mendel was the forefather of all the Mendels in this section. One of his sons, Felty Mendel, built the old limestone house in about the year 1825.
Previous to this in 1809 or 1810, a large still house three stories high as built of great hewn oak timbers, all of the timber used in the construction being cut from the farm. Felty Mendel built the old limestone house to be used as a warehouse for the big distillery, the products being stored in this until shipped down the river on flats. It has been suggested that the people in this vicinity at that time did not drink, and accordingly in sight on "Pioneer Point" one having been located at Hank's spring, one at the site of the old stone house and the third in Spring run, just below the brick homestead now occupied by E. R. Tarr.
Pioneer Hill was the scene of great activities in those early days, and among the amusement entered into was target practice, this being the great gathering point for hunters of both Indians and game. Men came even from Wetzel county to engage in the firearm practice, and the man who could shoot at longest range and hit the mark as the hero of the hour.
In 1839 Campbell Tarr, Sr., father of E. H. and Eugene Tarr, bought of John Mendel, of Wheeling, about 200 acres of the original Mendel tract.
In speaking of the Mendels, it has been stated that every person by the name, met them where you will, away in the west of at far distant points, seem evidently to belong to the one family tree- the Mendes of Brooke County. S. Merrimer, who has resided on the E. H. Tarr farm for several years past, occupant the old limestone house, was a former resident of Monroe County, Ohio "The Black Hills" but a real fine old gentleman, just the same and one who is welcomed as a citizen of Brooke County. Mr. Merrimar is well pleased with this community.
The old stone house referred to is one of the most original in architecture in this county, having been built of limestone in its native state. Crude in a manner rough hewn as the rock came from the quarry and durable, as has been shown by its long standing. Several years ago the building showed signs of age, but Mr. Merrimer has made repairs until the old home is in a measure itself again. Nearby stands a huge elm tree whose branches shade one of the finest springs in the county.
Who first settled the 400 acre tract of land which was embodied in the present Tarr farm? Vallentine Mendel, a German, took up the tract under the Tom-A- Hawk ri
ght, which means that one simply took his hatchet and notched around the tract, paid his taxes, etc. and became sole owner. The tract included the E. H. Tarr farm, the G. M. Park farm and the H. G. Mendel farm on the Wellsburg and Washington Pike.
Vallentine Mendel was the forefather of all the Mendels in this section. One of his sons, Felty Mendel, built the old limestone house in about the year 1825.
Previous to this in 1809 or 1810, a large still house three stories high as built of great hewn oak timbers, all of the timber used in the construction being cut from the farm. Felty Mendel built the old limestone house to be used as a warehouse for the big distillery, the products being stored in this until shipped down the river on flats. It has been suggested that the people in this vicinity at that time did not drink, and accordingly in sight on "Pioneer Point" one having been located at Hank's spring, one at the site of the old stone house and the third in Spring run, just below the brick homestead now occupied by E. R. Tarr.
Pioneer Hill was the scene of great activities in those early days, and among the amusement entered into was target practice, this being the great gathering point for hunters of both Indians and game. Men came even from Wetzel county to engage in the firearm practice, and the man who could shoot at longest range and hit the mark as the hero of the hour.
In 1839 Campbell Tarr, Sr., father of E. H. and Eugene Tarr, bought of John Mendel, of Wheeling, about 200 acres of the original Mendel tract.
In speaking of the Mendels, it has been stated that every person by the name, met them where you will, away in the west of at far distant points, seem evidently to belong to the one family tree- the Mendes of Brooke County.