PUBLICATIONS OF THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Vol. VII. MARCH, 1919. No. 2. MEMORIALS OP THE KNEASS FAMILY OF PHILADELPHIA.* CONTRIBUTED BY MISS ANNA J. MAGEE. JOHAN CHRISTIAN 1 KNEASS,t the first of his name in Penn¬ sylvania, doubtless a native of the Palatinate, arrived at Phila¬ delphia, on the ship Richard and Mary from Rotterdam, John Moore Commander, about 17 September, 1753,J on which day he took the required oath of allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain and the Province of Pennsylvania. He settled in Philadelphia and was a resident of Mulberry Ward until his death in 1801. In signing his name he invariably omitted the “Johan,” which is believed to have been the Christian name of his father. His wife Christina, who died or was buried, 30 July, 1803,|| joined him, as early as 1785, in sundry conveyances of land, and both were members of St. Michael and Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where their children were baptized. She * Compiled by .T. Granville Leacli. •fr Name indifferently written Kniess, Kneass, Niess. £ Pcnna. Archives, second series, vol. xvii, p. 390. || Buried in Lutheran Cemetery, Publications of The Genealogical Society, vol. 1, p. 239. 108 Memorials of the Kneass Family of Philadelphia. was the sister of one of the wives of William Englefried who also came to Philadelphia in the Richard and John in 1758, and whose will * of 3 December, 1781, left legacies to three of his children then living near Carlsruh in Baden, Durlach, Ger¬ many, and to ‘‘late wife’s sister, Christine Kneass.’’ Children, born in Philadelphia : i. WILHELM,2 b. 1 Mar., bpt. 10 Mar., 1754; bu, St. Michael’s and Zion’s ground, 26 Feb., 1759. 2. ii. CHRISTOPHER, b. 18 Jan., bpt. 1 Feb., 1756; d. 1793. iii. CATHARINE, b. 10 June, bpt. 2 July, 1758; m., Old Swedes’ Church, Phila., 19 Mar., 1775, John Specht. iv. CHRISTINA BARBARA, b. 6 Feb., bapt. 17 Feb., 1760; d. y. v. DOROTHEA, m. circa 1784, Jacob Ettwein, b. Bethlehem, Penna., 9 Aug., 1760; d. Philadelphia, 28 Sept., 1798, of yellow fever, son of the Moravian Bishop, John Ettwein.f His will of 1 Sept., 1798, named wife Dorothea, children John Godfrey, John Jacob, Maria Magdalena, and Daniel Kliest and made i 1 wife Dorothea, brother-in-law Daniel Kliest and his wife my sister Maria Magdalena,” executors. vi. WILHELMINA, b. 3 Nov., bpt. 9 Dec., 176’4; d. unmarried, 17 Dec., 1813. vii. CHRISTINA, b. 26 Feb., bpt. 6 Mar., 1766; m. (1) 7 Dec., 1783,J John Henry Horn of Germantown, by whom she had, Hon. Henry Horn, member of Congress, 1831-1833. viii. CHRISTIAN, b. 16 Dec., bpt. 30 Dec., 1770. 2. CHRISTOPHER2 KNEASS (Johan Christian1), was bom at Philadelphia, 18 January, 1756, and died there in 1793. On 30 June, 1777, he took the oath of allegiance to Pennsyl¬ vania, thus manifesting his sympathy with the cause of the colonies in the Revolutionary struggle. He removed to Lan¬ caster, Pennsylvania, about the time of the occupation of Philadelphia by the British || and there remained until 1785 or 1786, when he returned to Philadelphia. * Philadelphia County Probate Records, Abstracts of, 1682-1825, in Col¬ lections of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. •j* John Ettwein, a distinguished clergyman of the American Moravian Church, born Freudenstadt, Wurtemberg, Germany, 29 June, 1721; descended from Protestant Refugees of Savoy ; united with the Moravians 1739 ; was consecrated Bishop in 1784, and stood at the head of his Church in Penn¬ sylvania until his death, at Bethlehem, in 1802. His wife, Joannetta Maria Symbol, was born at Hiackenburg, Nassau, Germany in 1725, married in 1746, came 'to Pennsylvania 1754 ; died at Bethlehem, 1789. Pennsylvania Maga¬ zine of History and Biography, vol. ii, p. 156, and other— writings of John W. Jordan, LL.D., on the Moravians. J St. Michael’s Evangelioal Lutheran Church, Germantown. Copy of, in the Collections of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. — || September 19 [1777]— At one o’clock this morning mews came to town Memorials of the Kneass Family of Philadelphia. 109 He married at Lancaster in 1779, Anna Justina Feltman, bom at Lancaster, 16 July, 1764; died at Philadelphia, 10 January, 1843, daughter of John Feltman, Esq * by his wife Anna Margaret. Their three eldest children were bom at Lancaster, and baptized in its Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church; the three youngest were born at Philadelphia. Children: 3. i. WILLIAM,a b. 25 Sept., 1780; d. 27 Aug., 1840. 4. ii. JOHN, b. 4 Jan., 1783; d. 15 Aug., 1849. iii. MICHAEL, b. 20 April, 1784; m. ANNA LOUISA FINTHER. Issue: 1. Stewart.4 2. Mars. 3. Charles. 4. Ann. 5. Nelson, composer of the music of the well-known song, “Ben Bolt. T 1 6. Alonzo. 7. Martha. 5. iv. CHRISTIAN, b. 16 Dec., 1787; d. 15 Jan., 1845. v. JACOB. vi. FREDERICK FELTMAN, died unmarried. 3. WILLIAM 3 KNEASS (Christopher,2 Johan Christian 1), bom at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 25 September, 1780; died at Philadelphia, 27 August, 1840. Educated at Philadelphia, he became a copper and steel-plate engraver and an artist of much repute and merit. On 24 October, 1824, he was ap¬ pointed engraver and die-sinker of the United States Mint, . and while in this position superintended changes in the coinage, notably the gold coins of 1834 and 1838, and the silver coins of 1836-7-8, and 1840. Prior to this he, at one time, was a member of the firm of Kneass & Dellaker and at another of Kneass, Young & Company, and his engraving office on Fourth Street above Chestnut, was a meeting place / that General Howe's army was crossing the Schuylkill at Swedes’ Ford, which set many people moving. Congress and other public bodies left before day¬ light. Diary of Jacob Hiltsheimer. Sept.— 26. Well ! here are ye English in earnest ; about 2 or 3000 came in through Second street, without opposition or interruption— no plundering on ye one side or ye other.— Journal of Elizabeth Drinker. * John Feltman was a prominent citizen of Lancaster where he held the office of Burgess from 1764 until his death in April, 1777. Hi® son, Lieu¬ tenant William Feltman, was an officer of distinction in the Continental Army ; was commissioned ensign in Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment, 4 Dec., 1776, and was promoted first lieutenant, 7 Nov., 1777. Under the re¬ arrangement of the Line in 1781 he was transferred to the First Pennsylvania Regiment, and, with his command, participated in the Southern campaign, which included the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis. His Journal, covering his service from 26 May, 1781 to 25 Apr., 1782, was pub¬ lished by The Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1853. It contains several mentions of letters to and from “ sister Nancy Kneass ” and “ brother Kneass.” 110 Memorials of the Kneass Family of Philadelphia. for the leading wits and men of letters of that day. During the War of 1812, he was one of the volunteer association of field engineers, who constructed fortifications on the western front of Philadelphia to ward off attacks, and, in 1815, at the February meeting of the American Philosophical Society, Colonel Jonathan Williams placed on deposit “A very large and elegant Military Map of the Vicinity of Phila., made from actual survey for the Committee of Defence of the City, by Messrs. Strickland, Brooke and Kneass.” In 1813 he ex¬ hibited at the Academy, a fine aquatint of Strickland’s sketch, I l A View of Quebec.” From that time to 1824 he engraved several pictures, and did good work on illustrated books.” He was one of the first members of the Franklin Institute, indeed it was from his suggestion that the Institute had its origin.! He was also an early member of the Academy of Natural Sciences,$ the Musical Fund and Artists Fund Societies, and a member of the famous ‘‘Beef Steak Club,’’ || which numbered among its devotees Judge John K. Kane, William Strickland,§ John Struthers, Titian Peale and other equally known co¬ temporaries. Several of his verses, composed for special oc¬ casions and sung by the author, testified to his keen sense of humor and good-fellowship. At the exhibition of the Artists Fund Society in 1841, a portrait of Mr. Kneass, by Sully, was exhibited by his son, Samuel H. Kneass. A good en¬ graving of him, hangs in the Assayers’ office, United States Mint.** * Seharf and Westcott’s History of Philadelphia, p. 1057. |Fiftieth Anniversary of the Organization of the Franltlin Institute, 1824- 1874, p. 13 et seq. J Admitted May, 1814. Foundation of Society, 21 March, 1812. || That the members of this ancient organization did not confine their menu to beef steak is evidenced by the diarist William Black of Virginia, who, during his stay in Philadelphia, in 1744, makes mention under date of Satur¬ day, June 2d., of his visit “ to the Tuun Tavern to Bine, having an Invitation the day before from the Governor who Is a Member of the Clubb or certain Number of Gentlemen that Meet at this house every Saturday to Eat Beef- Steakes, and from that is Call’d the Beef-Stake Clubb ; but when Dinner came there was more than twenty Dishes besides that of Stakes.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. i, p. 409. — § WILLIAM STIMCKLAND, 1789-1854, an architect without any superior in his own time in Philadelphia. With him was associated John Struthers, who came to Philadelphia, in 1816 from Glasgow*, Scotland, where he and his father had been prominent architects and builders. ** History of United States Mint (1893), pp. 126-7.