From the Rhineland to the Promised Land of the Shenandoah
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About the Author From the Rhineland Harvey Wise enjoys a to the Promised Land pure Shenandoah Valley family pedigree with all of the Shenandoah eight of his great-grand parents having lived in Religious persecution, wars and threats of either Rockingham or wars were constant in the Rhineland of Augusta County, Virginia, Germany, France, and Switzerland in the at one time or another. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. While born in Virginia, Therefore, William Penn's invitation in he was raised in Mary Susana & Harvey Wise the late 1600s and early 1700s to the land, making frequent 2005 inhabitants of those lands to engage in a trips to Bridgewater, Virginia, to visit both maternal "Holy Experiment" in America was most and paternal relatives. It would not be until college that needed and welcomed. This book traces he would return to live near his roots, attending the life stories of over twenty of Mr. Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, Wise's family lines and the ancestors who -for his bachelor's degree. emigrated from the Rhineland to America Mr. Wise's professional career included audit in the 1700s. experience with Arthur Andersen &. Co., a former "Big Eight" accounting firm, from which he was recruited by one of their clients, JACS. Founded in 1967 by the By the late 1700s and early 1800s, many of Inter-Religious Committee Against Poverty, JACS is a these family lines had found their way national non-profit human service organization. Mr. into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Wise retired from JACS in 2006 after thirty-five years, including nineteen years as Chief Executive Officer. In the 1850s, famed author Washington Active on many boards and with many national Irving visited the valley and penned the organizations, he has been listed in Who's Who in following words, "The Shenandoah is a America since 1999. glorious valley, equal to the promised land Mr. Wise became interested in family history as a for fertility, far superior to it for beauty, young boy. An only child of an only child, he was and inhabited by an infinitely superior constantly thrown into adult conversations with people." grandparents, parents, and great-aunts and uncles who not only reminisced about their own lives but told the stories of their parents, grandparents, and great- For all of Mr. Wise's "plain and fancy grandparents. It was impressed upon him that these Dutch" ancestors, the valley had become stories were his history, and he should cherish it. In his their promised land, and their story early twenties he began collecting pieces of family became his children's and grandchildren's history, both oral and written, with an eye toward one history. Thus the title, From the Rhineland day crafting them into a book. Upon retirement in to the Promised Land of the Shenandoah. 2006, he began the adventure of emptying file drawers and boxes and then organizing the material in some coherent fashion. After this, he conducted his own The 1905 painting of the Town of research to "fill in some blanks" and "connect some Bridgewater, Virginia, by Rebecca Bowman, dots." is used courtesy of Special Collections, Mr. Wise's lifetime of collecting the family stories, Alexander Mack Memorial Library, pictures, and materials, his time of research and travels, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia. and now nearly two years of organizing and writing have culminated in From the Rhineland to the Promised Land of the Shenandoah.. Having completed this book, he will now have more time to spend with his wife, three children, and two grandchildren on his property on Shenandoah Lane in Augusta County, Virginia. - Ilcp^ /«A z> From the Rhineland to the Promised Land of the Shenandoah W. Harvey Wise IV FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY 35 NORTH WEST TEMPLE ST , \)J SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84150 1 From the Rhineland to the Promised Land of the Shenandoah ©2009 W. Harvey Wise IV ISBN: 978-0-9801315-8-1 No portion of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the author. j Warwick House Publishers 720 Court Street ^§ Lynchburg, VA 24504 To those for whom this is their history: my children—Adam, An, and Ginny and my grandchildren—Daniel and Evan. CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction x Maps with Ancestral Associations xiv Abbreviations and Such xxi Chapter One: "The Holy Experiment" 1 Generations 10 and 9 (1680 to 1780) Johann Michael Mueller 11 Johann Michael Miller (Muller, Mueller), Sr. 13 Nicholas (Niclaus) Bucher I (Booher, Booker, Boocher) 17 Nicholas Bucher II 21 Hans Berchtoll 23 Hans Jacob Berchtoll 25 Samuel Bechtel/Bachtel/Bechtol/Berchtoll I 27 Casper Elias Diller 28 Joseph J. Flory (Floriey, Fleure), Sr. 30 Christian Gerber (Garber) 32 Niclaus Gerber 34 Nicholas Garber (Niclous Gerber) 35 Jo Hannes Garber (Gerber) 38 Conrad Koiner (Konradt Keinath/Keinadt/Keinet) 41 Johann Nicholas 'Nikol' Lang (Long) 44 Chapter Two: The Church People and the American Revolution 45 Generation 8 (1715 to 1845) 52 Johann Adam Weiss (WeisAVyse/Wise) 54 Lodowich (Ludwig, Lewis) Miller 60 Nicholas Bucher III 64 Christian Baer (Bear, Baar, Bar, Bair) 66 Samuel Bechtel II (Bachtel/Bechtol) 68 Mathias Blocher (Plocher, Plougher, Blouher, Blocker) 69 Joseph Byerly, Sr. (Beirle, Birely) 71 Michael Danner (Tanner) 73 Abraham Diehl I, or Sr. 81 Abraham Flory, Sr. (Flora) 83 Elder John (Johannes) H. Garber, Sr. 85 Elder Martin Garber, Sr. (Garver) 90 Elder John Glick, Sr. (Gluck, Kluck, Click, Klick) 94 Michael Koiner (Keinadt, Keinath, Keinet, Coiner, Kyner, Coyner) 99 (Johann) Peter Roller (Rohler), Sr. 108 Johann Georg Wine (Wien, Wein) 110 Chapter Three: Auf Diese Welt Geboren 114 Generation 7 (1745 to 1845) Adam Wise I (Weis, Weiss) 121 Jacob Miller of 1748 125 Abraham Miller, Sr. 132 Nicholas (Nichlus) Bucher IV 135 Peter Blocher 137 Joseph Bowman 139 Elder Henry (Heinrich) Danner 141 "A Journey Song" 145 Elder John Flory, Sr. 146 Samuel Garber 149 Elder John Glick, Jr. (Kluck, Click, Gluck) 151 Henry Harnsberger (Hansberger) 155 George Adam Koiner (Coiner, Kyner) 158 Andrew Lago 162 Peter Roller, Jr. 164 Nicolaus Switzer (Schweitzer, Swisher) 167 Chapter Four: A Golden Age with Recurring Themes: Family, Faith, Farm, and German Heritage 170 Generation 6 (1770 to 1870) Adam Wise II (Weis) 175 John Cullen 178 Martin Miller 182 Christian Miller 185 Christian Bucher 189 John Blocher 193 Rev. Dr. Johannes Braun (John Brown) 198 Christian Garber 206 Abraham Glick 208 Daniel Keiser 212 Andrew Barnes Lago 214 Valentine Switzer 217 Christian Wagner (Waggoner) 220 Jacob Wynant II (Weyandt, Wyand, Wynand, Weynandt) 222 Chapter Five: The Census of 1850 225 Generation 5 (1795 to 1895) Peter Wise 231 James Johnson Cullen 235 Joseph Miller 238 David Bucher 241 John Drake 245 David Garber 247 Jacob Lago 251 Henry Harnsberger Wynant 256 Chapter Six: The Civil War and Its Aftermath 260 Generation 4 (1840) to 1930) William Harvey Wise I 265 Daniel Cornelius Cullen 274 Joel B Miller 280 Dr. Jesse Danner Bucher 285 Chapter Seven: Prosperity, Methodism, The Great Depression, and Bridgewater 294 Generation 3 (1880 to 1955) Dr. William Harvey Wise II 298 Otho William Miller 309 Chapter Eight: Religious Revival, World War II, and Miracle Drugs 315 Generation 2 (1910 to 1985) William Harvey Wise III 318 Chapter Nine: The Baby Boomers 329 Generation 1 (1950 to ?) William Harvey Wise IV 333 Appendix I Pedigree Chart 345 Appendix II Pedigree Chart For Selected Generations 346 Appendix III The Religious Context 348 Appendix IV The Journey Described from the Rhineland to the Port of Philadelphia 356 Appendix V Oaths and Declarations of Allegiance and Abjuration 360 Appendix VI The Church of the Brethren Described 364 Appendix VII Life in the Shenandoah Valley Mid to Late 1700s 369 Appendix VIII Family Heirlooms—Furniture 372 Appendix IX Family Heirlooms—China, Glass, and Curiosities 379 Appendix X Family Heirlooms—Clocks 392 Appendix XI Family Heirlooms—Books and Diaries 397 Appendix XII Family Heirlooms—Recipes 409 Appendix XIII The Thirty Lessons of the Wise 431 Bibliography 433 Index 441 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Family histories can never be accomplished alone. First and foremost I must recognize and express appreciation to my distant cousin Roberta Miller Herbert who, through her own research, dedication, and love of family, inspired me to write this book. Secondly, to those who told me the old family stories and made them come alive: my great aunts Eva Bucher Jones and Bettie Wise Perrow; my parents' first cousins Edith Perrow and Ellen Ann Gardiol; my aunt Janet Miller; and my parents W. Harvey Wise III and Emily Miller. Thirdly, to those who "took me around" to the old family homes and burial sites: author and professor C. E. May (Virginia); Roberta Miller Herbert (Maryland and Virginia); Ellen Ann Gardiol (Pennsylvania); Edith Perrow (Virginia); Lewis Coiner (Virginia); and of course, my parents. Fourthly, to my great-grandmother Mary Lago Family historian Edith Wise whose daguerreotype family album was the Perrow (granddaugh source of many old pictures, and which then inspired ter of W.H. Wise I) on me to accumulate more family pictures. the occasion of her All the above are much loved, and all but two 97th birthday in 1992. have passed away. The bibliography lists many authors and contributors. Of particular note are: C. E. May (Life Under 4 Flags), Floyd and Kathryn Mason (The Michael Miller Family Record), Roberta Miller Herbert (unpublished material), and Eva Bucher Jones (unpublished material). My proof-reader, Joyce Maddox of Warwick House Publishers, Lynchburg, Virginia, who found the most minute of errors. My formatter and cover design er, Amy Moore, also of Warwick House. This is one book that I hope will be judged by its cover! My daughter, Virginia "Ginny" Wise, who carried me over many computer hurdles.