We are researching the family of Jacob Wolf [1], married to Barbara Orth. We suspect that the family of Jonas Wolf, spouse of Appolona Dick, might be related. We show Jonas as a son of Jacob Wolf and Barbara Orth as a plausible possibility, but with no known documentation. We seek documentation to clarify this potential relationship. [2]
1739 Jonas Wolf was born about this time. [3]
1770 Adam Dick sold the plantation where he lived to Jonas Wolf and John Horner Jr, all of Berwick Twp, York County. Jonas and John were to let Adam Dick live on the land for the remainder of their natural lives. Adam and John were to make payments to other heirs of Adam Dick. [4]
1771 Frederick Wolf, Nicholas Wolf, and Jonas Wolf were taxed in Berwick Twp, York County, Pennsylvania. [5]
1775 John Jonas Wolff, son of John Jonas and Apollonia Wolff, was born on February 8. He was baptized on June 4, 1775, at Emanuel Reformed Church, Abbotstown, Adams County, Pennsylvania. [6] [7]
1776 Friedrich Wolff, Jacob Wolff, Johnas [Jonas?] Wolff and Elizabeth Wolff and Applona Wolffin (apparently all married) and George Wolff and Christina Wolffin (unmarried) were named, among others, as people who appeared on Easter to go to Holy Communion, in the records of Lewis Boehme, Reverend of the Abbotstown Reformed Church, Adams County. [8]
1782 Maria Elizabeth Wolff, daughter of Jonas and Apollonia Wolff, was born on June 27. She was baptized on September 8, 1782, at Emanuel Reformed Church, Abbotstown, Adams County, Pennsylvania. [9] [10]
1784 Jonas and Appolonia Wolff were witnesses at the baptism of Jonas, son of Jacob Wolff and Catharina, on June 27 at the Abbotstown Reformed Church. [11] [Perhaps Jonas was a grandson.]
1784 Jonas and Appolonia Wolff were witnesses at the baptism of Eve, daughter of John Fissell and Magdalene, on October 2 at the Abbotstown Reformed Church. [12]
1785 Lieutenant Jonas Wolf served under Capt Peter Ickes in the Seventh Battalion in 1785 [13] and under Capt Tobias Kepner in 1786. Jonas was the son of an immigrant who came to America at age 40 in 1732. Jonas settled in Berwick Twp where he married Appolonia Dick, daughter of Adam Dick. They were members of the Reformed Church in Abbottstown and are buried in its cemetery. [14]
1787 Andrew Wolff, son of Jonas and Apollonia Wolff, was born on March 18. He was baptized on May 6 with witnesses Andrew Wolff and Elizabeth at the Emanuel Reformed Church, Abbotstown, Adams County, Pennsylvania. [15] [16]
1787 The will of Jonas Wolf was proved in Berwick Twp, York County, Pennsylvania on September 21. The will was dated September 7, 1787, and named wife Appolonia, son Jacob, daughter Apollona, John, Catharina, Adam, Christina, Frederick, Elizabeth, Andrew. [17]
1787 Jonas Wolf was buried at Emanuel Reformed Church cemetery in Abbotstown, Adams County, Pennsylvania. He died on September 21, 1787. He was born on December 4, 1739. [18] [19] [20]
1791 Appolonia Wolf died on June 26, according to a cemetery memorial. [21] [22]
1793 Jacob Wolf, eldest son and heir of Appolonia Wolf, late of Berwick Twp, York County, made a petition to the Orphans Court on June 26 to partition the estate. John Wolf, Adam Wolf, Frederick Wolf, Andrew Wolf, Catharine intermarried with Henry Becker, Christina Wolf, and Elizabeth Wolf were other heirs, some of whom could be minors. [23]
1805 Andrew Wolf, age 18, son of Jonas Wolf, late of Berwick Twp, deceased chose John Null (perhaps husband of cousin Elizabeth Wolf, daughter of uncle Frederick) as guardian. Dated November 28 at the Adams County Orphans Court. [24] [25]
1830 Son Jacob Wolf died on March 31 and was buried at Emanuel Reformed Church Cemetery, Adams County, Pennsylvania. Jacob Wolf was born on June 5, 1762.[26] [27]
1854 Son-in-law John B Coons Sr. died on April 20 and was buried at Saint Michael Cemetery, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. John B Coons Sr. was born on February 12, 1763.[28] [29]
1856 Daughter Christina Wolf Coons died on January 21 and was buried at Saint Michael Cemetery, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Christina Wolf Coons was born on November 16, 1776. [30] [31]
1867 Andrew Wolf died on April 28 and was buried at Emanuel Reformed Church Cemetery, Adams County, Pennsylvania. Andrew Wolf was born on March 18, 1787. [32] [33]
Research Notes:
My summary of Eisenhart research [34]:
Eisenhart (a descendant of Frederick Wolf) in his history of the Eisenharts, and in his history of Abbottstown, details Wolf family records in York County in the 1700's. He wrote sketches of Jacob and Barbara, Peter, Johannes, Nicholas, Frederick and Jonas wolf. Although conceding he could not prove blood relationship, he felt they must have been closely related by the civil relationships found in the records. This has been confirmed by Annette K. Burgett in "Emigration from the Western Palatinate", 1985. The Ulmet Reformed K.B. has the 1694 baptismal record of Jacob, son of Peter and Susanna Wolf; Jacob's 1716 marriage to Anna Barbara Orth; the baptisms of ten children, (including all of the above named by Eisenhart, except Jonas); and their leaving for America in 1737. The passenger list for the "Samuel" of 1737 contains Jacob Wolf, aged 43, and Peter, 17.
Jonas Wolf, born 1739, has been added as a child to this family, although no direct documentation has yet been found. Jonas, along with Frederick and Peter's oldest son Andrew were on the 1779 tax list of Berwick Twp. Jonas named his oldest son Jacob, as did Peter and Johannes (Frederick's second son was named Jacob), following the German pattern of naming the first son for the paternal grandfather. Jonas' other sons included Frederick and Andrew, after the other adult Wolfs of Berwick Twp (presumably the children's uncle and first cousin). Both Jonas and Frederick were members of the Reformed Church of Abbottstown. In the spring of 1785, Jonas Wolf was Lieutenant in the Eighth Company, Seventh Battalion of Berwick Township, York County, Capt. Peter Ickes in command; in May 1786, Tobias Kepner replaced Ickes. The rolls of 1783-1790 include the following names under Seargeant Jacob Noll: Andrew Wolf [of Peter], John Noll [son-in-law of Frederick], and Frederick Wolf [of Frederick]. (Pennsylvania Archives, 6th Series, V., 3, pp. 1444, 1454 and 1456). When Jonas died in 1787, Peter's son-in-law Henry Holl administered Jonas' will. Frederick was named guardian of Jonas' daughter Elizabeth, and Frederick's son-in-law John Noll was guardian for the son Andrew.
Jonas Wolf of Berwick Twp, York County, has been reported by some as the son of Jonas of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Jonas of Lebanon left a will but did not name his children, and the estate papers only named the younger children. A record in the files of the York County Historical Society referring to a Jonas Wolf who settled in Lebanon County, Pa., and married Appolona Croix in 1761.
The record also refers to him as living in Berwick Township afterward. Jonas Wolf of Berwick Twp did marry Apollonia Dick about 1761, as their oldest child Jacob was born in 1762. It is documented in the deeds and probate of Adam Dick that it was his daughter who married Jonas Wolf, that her surname was not Croix, and that Adam Dick had been a resident of Berwick Twp since 1752. Jonas Wolf of Lebanon County does have four children baptized by Rev. John Caspar Stoever in the 1740's, but none named Jonas. There is no documentation that Jonas of Lebanon County ever had a son named Jonas, and there is also none that can place Jonas of Berwick Twp, York Co in Lebanon Co. Perhaps there was a Jonas Wolf married to Apollonia Croix, and some past researcher assumed it was the couple in Berwick Twp. However, Burgett's notes for Jonas Wolf of Lebanon give his parents as Simon and Anna Maria Wolff of Miesenbach, with Simon's father Frantz, a resident of Ulmet in 1682. Ulmet is a kilometre from Rathsweiler, the residence of Peter Wolf in 1694. Given the very close proximity in Germany, it is likely that these families are connected there in the middle to late 1600's." Source: Brian Cartwright's western Pennsylvania families at rootsweb. [Brian L. Cartwright, 27 Mar 2003]
Baptismal witnesses for children of son Jacob Wolf and Catherine:
1784 Jonas Wolff, son of Jacob Wolff and Catharine, was born on May 11. He was baptized on June 27 with witnesses Jonas Wolff and Appolonia at the Abbotstown Reformed Church. [35]
1786 Maria Wolff, daughter of Jacob Wolff and Catharine, was born on June 4. She was baptized on July 2 with witnesses John Conrad Knecht and Maria at the Abbotstown Reformed Church. [36] Is "Knecht" an alternate spelling for "Knight"?
1788 John Wolff, son of Jacob Wolff and Catharine, was born on March 23. He was baptized on May 4 with witness John Wolff at the Abbotstown Reformed Church. [37]
1789 Anna Wolff, daughter of Jacob Wolff and Catharine, was born on November 6. She was baptized on December 15 with witnesses John Conrad Knecht and Maria at the Abbotstown Reformed Church. [38]
[1] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Jacob Wolf, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[2] J. Arthur Wolfe, Jonas Wolf of Berwick Township, York County, Pennsylvania: a history and genealogy of a Colonial ancestor and some of his descendants, [URL].
[3] Willis Wolf Eisenhart, A History of Abbottstown (1953), 56.
[4] York County, Pennsylvania, Deed 2E-203, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[5] York County, Pennsylvania, Township assessment lists, 1762-1849, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[6] Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950, [FamilySearchRecord].
[7] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 88, [GoogleBooks].
[8] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 101, [GoogleBooks].
[9] Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950, [FamilySearchRecord].
[10] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 91, [GoogleBooks].
[11] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 92, [GoogleBooks].
[12] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 93, [GoogleBooks].
[13] Thomas Lynch Montgomery, Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, Volume 2 (Muster Rolls Washington) (1906), 687-688, [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[14] Willis Wolf Eisenhart, A History of Abbottstown (1953), 56, 92-93.
[15] Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950, [FamilySearchRecord].
[16] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 94, [GoogleBooks].
[17] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, York, Will G-207, FHL film 22132, image 521, [FamilySearchImage].
[18] Find A Grave Memorial 16352518, new stone has incorrect death date, [FindAGrave].
[19] Willis Wolf Eisenhart, A History of Abbottstown (1953), 56.
[20] Find A Grave Memorial at Ancestry.com, [AncestryRecord].
[21] Find A Grave Memorial 16352584, [FindAGrave].
[22] Find A Grave Memorial at Ancestry.com, [AncestryRecord].
[23] York County, Pennsylvania, Orphans Court Docket {2}, page 22, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog York Orphans Court].
[24] Adams County, Pennsylvania, Orphans Court, A-182, [FamilySearchImage].
[25] D.A.R., Adams County court records, Vol. 1 (), 111, [FamilySearchBook].
[26] Find A Grave Memorial 109615039, [FindAGrave].
[27] Find A Grave Memorial at Ancestry.com, [AncestryRecord].
[28] Find A Grave Memorial 62571010, [FindAGrave].
[29] Find A Grave Memorial at Ancestry.com, [AncestryRecord].
[30] Find A Grave Memorial 55590145, [FindAGrave].
[31] Find A Grave Memorial at Ancestry.com, [AncestryRecord].
[32] Find A Grave Memorial 41883460, [FindAGrave].
[33] Find A Grave Memorial at Ancestry.com, [AncestryRecord].
[34] Willis Wolf Eisenhart, Ancestry of the John Franklin Eisenhart Family (1951), [GoogleBooks].
[35] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 92, [GoogleBooks].
[36] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 93, [GoogleBooks].
[37] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 95, [GoogleBooks].
[38] F. Edward Wright, Adams County Church Records of the 18th Century (2000), 96, [GoogleBooks].