We are researching Johannes Rohrer [1], born 1714, who lived in Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at the same time that this Johannes Rohrer lived in Lampeter Twp. We seek clarification about the relationship, if there is any, between these Rohrer families.
1718 In November, Charles Christopher was granted land in Strasburg Twp, Chester County, Pennsylvania by Hans Meylin. The land was adjacent to lands of Hans Graff, Isaac Lafever, Christian Heer, Hans Meilin. [2] According to his will, dated 1763, Charles Christopher was a kinsman of Johannes Rohrer.
1747 On 21 July, Charles Christopher purchased 46.5 acres of land in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (previously Strasburg Twp, Chester County) from Martin Meylin. The land was adjacent to lands of Charles Christopher, Christian Hare, and Martin Meylin. Witnessed by Thos, Cookson and Samuel Boude. [3]
1747 Charles and Elizabeth Christopher sold land to Martin Meylin. [4]
1751-1770 Two men named John Rohrer were taxed in Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County. One was listed with 150 acres or less while the other accumulated up to 300 acres with a sawmill. John with 150 acres was taxed in 1772, suggesting that this John, who died in 1771 with mills on his lands, was John, sawmiller, with 300 acres.
1763 Charles Christopher, of Lampeter Twp, wrote his will and gave 100 acres of land in Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County, to beloved kinsman John Rorrer. John Rorrer was to pay a total of £500 to nephew John Christopher and Michael Christopher (now in Germany), to the children of deceased sister Anna (now in Germany), kinsman John Bone of Pennsylvania, and "John Neave daughter born of my sister Marys son, John Neave above said, and Jan Kremer which was intermarried to my above named sister Marys daughter" (all in Germany). One third of the estate to wife Elizabeth deceased: her brothers and sister children, share and share alike. Another share to the poor of our meeting. to be executed by Jacob Bream and John Hare, elders of our Meeting of Mennonists. Widow Anna Baughman was to receive £6 due from Jacob Eshleman. John Bone was to receive wearing apparel. Executors John Hare miller & Christian Hare. Witnessed by Jacob Boehm, Jacob Snavely, and Abra Myer. Probate on 15 January 1767. [5]
1767 John Rohrer of Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County, purchased a share of the estate of Charles Christopher from John Bone on April 23. Recorded on October 16, 1772. [6]
1768 John Rorah of Lampeter Twp wrote his will on December 1. The will named wife Mary. He left his plantation to his son Christian, who was to pay appropriate shares to the other children. He bequeathed his plantation; adjacent to Christian Yorker, John Forra, James Davis, Andrew Schultz, and Tobias Cryder; to son Jacob. Sons Jacob, Christian, and John inherited land as tenants in common. Some of the land had mills. The estate was to be divided equally by his wife among children Jacob, Christian, John, Martin, Ann wife of Jacob Howser, Elizabeth wife of Frank Smith, Mary Rorah, and Susannah Rorah. Proved December 7, 1771. [7] [8] [9] [10]
1769 Both Johannes Rohrer, perhaps this one or John Rohrer spouse of Elizabeth Snavely, and John Stouffer were from Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County when they were naturalized on November 21 at a "Nisi Prius" court in Lancaster County. [11]
1772 John Bone, an heir of Charles Christopher late of Lampeter Twp, signed a release to John Rorahr for land from the estate of Chrales Christopher. [12] Other heirs were parties to a deed dated 1776 to transfer land from the estate to Christian Rorrer, son of John Rorrer, deceased.
1774 The account of the estate of John Rohrer was made by John Hare and was presented to the Orphans Court of Lancaster County on August 4. The balance was divided among heirs: John, Anna, Christian, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Martin, and Susannah. Susannah married Peter Miller, after reaching age 14. [13]
1775-1789 John Rohrer's heirs, Jacob Rohrer, John Rohrer, Martin Rohrer, Jacob and Anna Houser, Francis and Elizabeth Smith, John and Mary Bachman, Peter and Susanna Miller; transferred land to Christian Rohrer in Strasburg Twp. This was land belonging to Charles Christopher. [14]
1773 On 3 March, John Whitmore and John Stouffer, attorneys of Lampeter Twp represented John Christophel & Michael Christophel, nephews of Charles Christophel deceased; Michael Renck and Barbara his wife one of the children of Ann Christophel sister to Charles deceased; Henry Herstein and wife Ann another daughter of the said Ann; John Sensinny and wife Ann another daughter of said Ann; Christian Kreamer, son of John Kreamer who intermarried with a daughter of Mary late sister of Charles deceased; and Jacob Yutsy and wife Mary daughter of John Neave son of Mary. Charles Christopher, deceased, had bequeathed shares to these heirs. The heirs acknowledged that John Hare, the surviving executor of the will of Charles Christophel, had distributed to them £536.11 for their shares. [15]
1773 On 6 March, John Whitmore and John Stouffer, attorneys of Lampeter Twp send greeting. They represented John Christophel & Michael Christophel, nephews of Charles Christophel deceased; Michael Rink and Barbara his wife one of the children of Ann Christophel sister to Charles deceased; Henry Herstein and wife Ann another daughter of the said Ann; John Sinseney and wife Ann another daughter of said Ann; Christian Kreamer, son of John Kreamer who intermarried with a daughter of Mary late sister of Charles deceased; and Jacob Yutzy and wife Mary daughter of John Neave son of Mary. Charles Christopher deceased in his will dated 24 September 1762 did give and devised his plantation to John Rorrer. The attorneys acknowledged that Christian Rohrer, son of John Rorher deceased, had paid in full the amount specified in the will, except for the share of John Boone. [16]
1789 On 23 March, six children of Johannes Jakob Rohrer, deceased, of Lampeter Twp, Lancaster county, namely; Jacob Rohrer yeoman of Lampeter Twp, Christian Rohrer yeoman of Lampeter Twp, Martin Rohrer yeoman of Frederick Co Maryland, Jacob Houser yeoman of Lampeter Twp and husband of Anna Rohrer, Francis Smith yeoman of Lampeter and husband of Elizabeth Rohrer, John Bachman yeoman of Conestoga Twp and husband of Mary Rohrer, and Peter Miller yeoman of Martic Twp and husband and guardian of minor Susanna Rohrer; made agreement about his estate and his late wife Mary. [17]
Johannes Rohrer's parents have been reported as Hans Michael Rohrer and Katherina Schwagler based on the research of Albert Lawrence Rohrer. There were three John Rohrers who were contemporaries in Lancaster County, Pa., and two of them lived in Lampeter Township. It is difficult to distinguish them in records. [18] [19] [20] [21]
1. John Rohrer, who owned several tracts of land adjacent to the Big Spring in Lampeter Township, died 1771 [with heirs Jacob, John, Martin and Christian Rohrer, Jacob and Anna Houser, Francis and Elizabeth Smith, John and Mary Bachman, Peter and Susanna Miller]. [shown here as a brother of this Johannes Rohrer]
2. John Rohrer, of Connestogoe Creek, Lampeter Township, Pa., died 1772. [shown here as this Johannes Rohrer, whose notes are above]
3. John Rohrer, of Hempfield Township, died intestate, 1778.
… It is said that No. 2 John Rohrer came from Switzerland and Strasburg Alsace. He may be the one listed in "Strassburger's Pioneers," who arrive in Philadelphia, August 24, 1728, by ship Mortonhouse, and a clerk wrote his name on one list as Johannes Roer and on another as Johannes Roar. He married Elizabeth Snavely, and in his will written in "High Dutch", presented to Court June 17, 1772, and some time later
…
We now have the further information that John Rohrer [number 1] was the son of Hans Michael Rohrer and Katherina Schwagler-in, whose marriage took place in Markirch, Alsace, on June 6, 1688, and John or Johannes was their fourth child, born on May 13, 1696. The record of this Rohrer family was discovered in the church book of "der Deutsch-reformierten Kirche von Markirch von 1688." Children born to Hans Michael Rohrer and Katherina Schwagler-in [This list is incomplete, see our notes, below, for a more complete list]:Hans Jacob - May 15, 1689
Hans Michael - April 15, 1691
Verena - May 10, 1693
Johannes - May 13, 1696
Anna Maria * - May 4, 1698
another Johannes Nov. 1, 1701
David Feb. 10, 1704
Died * Anna Marie Sept. 25, 1701 3 years 5 months
Several biosketches have been published:
John Rohrer and his family were driven by religious persecution from their home. When he was sent back to obtain some family belongings, he was captured and lost track of his parents. He escaped from prison and went to England where he studied veterinary surgery. He emigrated to America and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and married Marie Souder. After his marriage, John met a boat load of immigrants arriving from Europe with his father, his father's second wife, and their family (see father's notes). He eventually got his half brothers land in the area of Hagerstown, Maryland, which is now known as Rohrersville, Maryland. His half brother Samuel was 11 when the family emigrated, which was about 1726. [22]
A. K. Rohrer, M.D., is of German descent; his great-grandfather, John, having been a native of Alsace, Germany. The latter was born in 1696, and emigrated to America about the year 1732. He married Maria Souder, and had children, eight in number, among whom was John, born in 1732 in Lampeter township, Lancaster County, and during the year 1772 united in marriage to Maria Neff. They had nine children, of whom John was born March 14, 1778, on the homestead. He married Magdalena Shank, and had children,--Barbara, Mary Ann, Magdalena, John S., Henry N., Amos K., Susan A., Reuben S., Samuel F., Martin M., Felix C., and Ann Eliza. The death of Mr. Rohrer occurred Jan. 30, 1840, in his sixty-second year, and that of his wife Jan. 30, 1837, in her fifty-sixth year. Amos K., their son, was born at the paternal home May 14, 1812, where the years of his boyhood were spent either at school or in active labor on the farm. When sixteen years of age he removed with his parents to Lancaster, and began the study of medicine with his brother John, formerly of the city and later of Philadelphia. These studies were continued for four years, when occurred his graduation at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in March, 1837. Silver Spring, Lancaster County, was in April of that year the scene of his earliest professional experiences, where twelve months were spent as a practitioner, after which he removed to Mountville, and has continued at this place in uninterrupted practice for a period of forty-six years. The field of his professional labor is extended, his skillful treatment of disease having won for him a well-earned reputation as a successful physician. He is still vigorously engaged, though nearly half a century of toil may with justice claim a respite from the activity of former years. The doctor has since his removal to Mountville been identified with its growth and general progress. He is in politics a Republican, though the demands of his profession have left little time for participation in affairs of public import. He is a director of the school board of the village, and in sympathy with all measures for the advance of education. He was one of the incorporators of the Lancaster County Medical Society. Dr. Rohrer is descended from a family of Mennonites, his parents having been members of that religious body. [23]
Rohrer (John's) Family. John Rohrer was born in Alsace, Germany, (lately a part of France), in the year 1696. When about the age of fourteen, the scourge of religious persecution drove his father and his family from his native land; and John being sent back to obtain and bring the family goods, was captured and lost sight of his parents entirely. He found his way to England, where he studied veterinary surgery and afterwards sailed for America and settled in Lancaster county. After some years residence in his new home, and having acquired some real estate, he in 1732 married Maria Souder, All this time he had lost sight of his parents. Being in Philadelphia, and hearing of the landing of a vessel he started for the landing, and one of the first of the passengers whom he met, turned out to be his father. John immediately recognized his parent, but the latter did not know his son. His mother had died and his father was married again, and had two or three sons by his second wife. They were destitute of means and expected to be sold for their passage money. He paid the demands, brought his father and his family with him, and aided his half brothers to property near Hagerstown, Maryland. John Rohrer had four sons, viz: Martin, Daniel, John, and Christian; and four daughters, viz: one married to a Houser, one to a Smith, one to a Bachman, and another to Peter Miller. His third son, John, was a member of the Legislature in the years 1818, 1819-20. [24]
See also: [25], (Norwood Shank, ed. Rohrer History Ancestors and Descendants of Israel Rohrer 1600-2004, (2004)), (Albert L Rohrer, John Rohrer of Lancaster County (1941))
[1] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Johannes Rohrer, born 1714, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[2] Recorder of Deeds, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book F, 1-3, [1], [2], [3], [FHLCatalog].
[3] Recorder of Deeds, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book F, 4-6, [4], [5], [6], [FHLCatalog].
[4] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed UU-20 to 22, at 21, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[5] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Lancaster, Will B-464, [FamilySearchImage].
[6] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed P-309 to 310, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[7] Pennsylvania, Will and Probate Records, C-246, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[8] Recorder of Deeds, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book A3, 483-489, [483], [484], [485], [486], [487], [488], [489], [FHLCatalog].
[9] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed NN-573 to 578, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[10] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed QQ-85 to 90, at 87, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[11] John B. Linn and William Henry Egle, Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Volume 2. (Marriages and Naturalizations) (1876), 476, [GoogleBooks].
[12] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed P-309, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[13] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Miscellaneous Book 1772-1776, 221-222, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[14] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed QQ-85 to 90, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[15] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed WW-331 to 333, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[16] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed S-390 to 391, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[17] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed NN-573 to 578, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[18] Albert Lawrence Rohrer, John Rohrer of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: a paper outlining some of the results of a research in the records of Alsace; Switzerland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Hagerstown, Maryland (1941), 3, [FSCatalog].
[19] Albert L. Rohrer, "John Rohrer of Lancaster County," Historical Papers and Addresses of the Lancaster County Historical Society 44 (1940), 93, We have seen only snippets of this article and would like to see a copy, [GoogleBooks].
[20] B. Neal Wickliffe, The Rohrer Families: A Genealogical Work (1991), 28.
[21] Mennonite Family History, Volumes 10-12 (1991), Pages 25, 58, 59, We have seen only snippets of this article and would like to see a copy, [URL].
[22] James Edward Thomas, Hans Michael Rohrer and his Descendants (1989).
[23] Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with Biographical Sketches (1883), 276, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[24] Alexander Harris, A Biographical History of Lancaster County (1879), 501, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[25] Mrs. Susan Henning, "Notes and Queries: Rohrer Records," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 34 (1910), 484-486, at 484, [HathiTrust].