1695 Hans Georg, son of Hans Bernhard Wolff (q.v.) and wife Susanna, was baptized on December 18, 1695. He was confirmed in 1709 at age 13. Steinsfurt, Germany Reformed church. [1]
1723 Joh. Jacob, son of Hans Görg Wolff and wife Susanna, was baptized on December 2, 1723 at the Steinsfurt Reformed Church. He was confirmed in 1709 at age 13. [2]
1727 Anna Catharina, daughter of Hans Görg Wolff and wife Susanna, was baptized on April 21, 1727 at the Steinsfurt Reformed Church. He was confirmed in 1709 at age 13. [3]
1727 Hans Bernhart Wolff and Hans Jörg Wolff arrived in Philadelphia on the ship William and Sarah from Rotterdam on September 18. Oaths were taken on court on September 21, 1727. List 1A named Jan Bernard Wolf with 6 persons and Hans Jerrick Wolf with 2½ people. Hans Jerrick Swaep was also listed [George Michael Swope was the executor for the 1756 will of Bernard Wolf] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
1739 Joh. Philipp, son of Joh. George Wolff was born on February 20, 1739. Recorded at the Trinity Lutheran church of Lancaster. [9]
1756 Bernard Wolf, of the Borough of Lancaster, wrote his will, dated November 2, 1756. The will named Jeremiah Wolf and John George Wolf (1 shilling each), friend Friedrick Feldberger, brother in law Lorantz Hooft and George Michael Wolfes his childrens and George Kinder deceas'd his three daughters … and the children of Jacob Schirche deceased … Friend George Micheal Swob was named executor. The will was proved on November 6, 1756. [10] Since the will did not name a son Bernard, it is plausible that this is not the will of Bernard born 1674, but is the will of his son Bernard, born 1701, naming his brothers and sisters in his will.
Research Notes:
1758 Johan George Wolf and wife Susanna sold land purchased from Johan Kunkle to Conrad Wolf of Bethel Twp, Lancaster County. A mare with colt, one cow, three sheep, the wagon, two plows, one harrow, four collars with the gears and the windmill were also sold. Deed dated November 26. Recorded August 8, 1792. [11]
1792 Johannes Kunckle sold land to Johan George Wolf, blacksmith. Peter Graff had sold the tract to John Gungell of Bethel Twp, Lancaster County in 1746. The tract was in Tulpehocken Twp, Berks County on Suartaro Creek adjoining Captain Freams Manner, John Triob Summer & Johan Dournstein. Deed recorded August 14. [12]
A biosketch from Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania (J.H. Beers & Co.) reports that John George had a son named George Wendell Wolf. We seek further evidence of this relationship. We show George Wendell Wolf as a son with no further evidence. [13]:
WW. WOLFE, a prominent resident of Lewisburg, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Buffalo Valley, his great grandfather, George Wendell Wolfe, having located there more than a century ago.
The family originated in Germany, and their history is traced to the time of the arrival of the ship "William and Sarah," at Philadelphia, September 18, 1727, with a large company of emigrants from the Palatinate. On this vessel was Hans Bernard Wolf and Hans Jerrick Wolf, or in plain English were John Bernard and John George Wolf. The latter is presumed to have been a son of the former. The valley of the Tulpehocken in northern Berks county was at that time settled by Palatines who came overland from Schoharie, N. Y. , where their land titles had been invalidated by the New York authorities. The Wolfs pushed their way also to Tulpehocken, and settled among these unfortunates. John Bernard Wolf died in 1748. His executors were his wife and his son, John George. The latter had among other children a son George Wendell, born on the Tulpehocken, March 16, 1740, who in 1758 was bound out to Jacob Miller to learn the art of cordwaining. On March 12, 1766, he married Ann Elizabeth Reid. He was very prosperous in business, and accumulated a considerable estate. He served with credit in the war of the Revolution, entering as a private in Capt. Michael Furrer's Company, Colonel Patton's Regiment, Berks County Militia, on August 27, 1776. [See Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. XIV, P. 249.] In 1793, when advanced in years, he disposed of his property in Berks county and purchased from Abraham Mensch about 1,000 acres of fine land in Buffalo Valley, in order to locate his children to better advantage then was possible in his old home, and himself removed thither in 1796. The estate was situated on Turtle creek a few miles southwest of Lewisburg. George Wendell Wolf died there March 12, 1826, and his wife, Ann Elizabeth, on March 7, 1829, both being interred in the Dreisbach cemetery. Their family consisted of the following children: (i) Michael, born August 2, 1767, died in 1847. He married Catherine Smith, of Lewisburg, who died in 1858. They had twelve children, among whom were three sons — George, who died in 1882, aged eighty-three years; Abraham, our subject's father; Michael, born August 6, 1809, who married Mar- garet Engelman and removed to Ohio. (2) Magdalena, born December 6, 1768, married a Mr. Noll before her father's removal to Buffalo Valley, and died at her home in Berks county. (3) Peter, born in 1771, married a Miss Reid, and settled in Buffalo Valley, where he died in 1851. He had sons, Peter, Leonard, and Daniel, who went to Ohio. (4) Jacob, born May 29, 1773, married Catharine, a daughter of John Bashore, who was killed by the Indians in Buffalo Valley in 1778. Jacob died in 1814, leaving a widow and children, viz. : Catharine, Elizabeth, Jacob, John, Samuel and Jonathan. (5) John, born July 17, 1777, married and removed to Ohio at an early day. (6) Christian, born in April, 1779, married Barbara Books, of Buffalo Valley. In early life he was a hatter, and lived at Lewisburg, but in 1807 he removed to Fayette, Seneca Co., N. Y., where he died in 1833, leaving but few descendants. He was a minister and a prominent supporter of the Rev. Jacob Albright, the founder of the denomination known as the Evangelical Association, which is also known as the German Methodist Church. (7) Leonard, born May 2, 1782, married and removed to Ohio at an early day. (8) Andrew, born May 3, 1784, married Anna Dreisbach, a daughter of Martin Dreisbach, and settled in Buffalo Valley, where he died January 21, 1871, his wife passing away the same year. The family were prominent members of the Evangelical Association. Mrs. Wolf was a sister of Rev. John Dreisbach, a colleague of the founder of the Church (Rev. Jacob Albright, 1 796-1 808). Two sons, Aaron and Simon, were ordained clergymen, and two daughters were ministers' wives. Revs. Benjamin Hess and Rohland, respectively.
Abraham Wolfe, the father of our subject, was born in 1800, and died in 1878, and was reared in Union county. He became extensively engaged in agriculture, and was also successful in general business, accumulating a fine fortune for that day. In 1859 he returned to Lewisburg to spend his declining years, and his death occurred there. Politically, he was a Democrat, and for many years he was a leading member of the Evangelical Church. His first wife. Miss Herbst, died from typhoid fever in the second week after their marriage, and he formed a second union, this time with Miss Elizabeth Hoffman, who was born near Mifflinburg, December 24, 1818, and died October 4, 1850. They had three children, of whom our subject was the youngest. Joanna E. married W. P. Thomas, of Levvisburg; and Hiram M. resides at the old homestead, a part of the original purchase.
W. W. Wolfe was born in East Buffalo township, Union county, July 15, 1849, and was reared at Lewisburg, attending the public schools and the academy, now Bucknell College. Several years of early manhood were spent in general mercantile business, but he disposed of this to engage in the grain and coal business, in which he has continued. He also represents in Lewisburg and vicinity several leading insurance companies.
In 1878 Mr. Wolfe was married to Miss Mary M. Gaunt, a native of Centre county, born July 17, 1850, whose father, Richard Gaunt, was of English birth. No children have blessed this union.
[1] Annette Kunselman Burgert, Eighteenth Century Emigrants From German-Speaking Lands to North America, Vol. 1: The Northern Kraichgau (1983), 402.
[2] Annette Kunselman Burgert, Eighteenth Century Emigrants From German-Speaking Lands to North America, Vol. 1: The Northern Kraichgau (1983), 402.
[3] Annette Kunselman Burgert, Eighteenth Century Emigrants From German-Speaking Lands to North America, Vol. 1: The Northern Kraichgau (1983), 402.
[4] Ralph B. Strassburger, William J. Hinke, ed., Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 1 (1934, Pennsylvania German Society), 7, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[5] Ralph B. Strassburger, William J. Hinke, ed., Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 1 (1934, Pennsylvania German Society), 9, List 1B names Hans Jörg Wolf, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[6] Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, Vol. 3 (1840), 300, names Hans Jerig Wolf, [HathiTrust].
[7] Ralph B. Strassburger, William J. Hinke, ed., Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 2 (1934, Pennsylvania German Society), 1, signatures, [HathiTrust].
[8] Ralph B. Strassburger, William J. Hinke, ed., Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 1 (1934, Pennsylvania German Society), 7, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[9] Annette Kunselman Burgert, Eighteenth Century Emigrants From German-Speaking Lands to North America, Vol. 1: The Northern Kraichgau (1983), 402.
[10] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Probate Records, [FamilySearchImage].
[11] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Deed 13-44, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[12] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Deed 13-44, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[13] Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), 1185-86 and 1192, [HathiTrust].