I - The Origins Of The DeVilbiss Family A lsace-lorraine is a 12,356 sq. mile region of northeastern France, on the French-German border. Switzerland lies to the south and Luxembourg to the north. A map shows the region has a shape that resembles a figure "7", with Alsace forming the north-south arm and Lorraine the east-west arm. Throughout history, conquerors have crossed the Alsace-Lorraine many times and the area has long been a prize in wars between France and Germany. In the A.D. 300's and 400's, Teutonic bands drove out the Celtic tribes then living in the region. Alsace-Lorraine became part of Charlemagne's empire in the late 700's, but fell to Germany when his grandsons divided his empire. Alsace and Lorraine remained under German rule until the 1500's.. On January 12th, 1525, the Council of Zurich issued the following decree: "Since there are certain men who falsely teach that young children should not be baptised until they reach the age of understanding, the burgomasters...announce that such men are invited to appear...and openly express their views...and our lords will deal with the matter further." This was a very ominous decree; it set the stage for many violent actions over the next decades. In 1526 Berne accepted the Reformation and this created a real schism with Zurich. Geneva, sensing that Berne was the stronger of the two, sided with Berne and the Reformation was well on its way. This action provided the atmosphere necessary for John Calvin, at the age of 27, to take up residence in Berne in 1536 and further the Protestant movement. Very shortly thereafter a counter reformation was begun by the Catholic Church to stem the rising tide of the Protestants and France then began to regain control of the area in slow stages, while the people living there fought all efforts to turn them into Frenchmen. Part of this effort to establish control included religious persecution of Protestants by the Catholic majority. I n 1677 William Penn, the venerable Quaker leader, made a historic visit to the upper Rhine River valley near the Swiss border. Penn knew that a great pietistic movement was churning throughout the entire Swiss-German region. The causes of this movement were partly to be found in the wretchedness and sufferings of the times and partly in the unforgiving formalism into which the Church was gradually receding. Four years later Penn received from the English King Charles II an immense tract of territory situated between New Jersey and Maryland which he referred to as his "sylvan land." This led to the tract being called "Pennsylvania." Penn looked to the Palatinate and the border region between southern Germany and Switzerland to provide many of the thousands of immigrants his new colonial land-grant would need. In order to procure settlers for his land, Penn visited the Rhine provinces, whose once peaceful valleys, thriving fields and vine-clad hills had become the hunting ground of political and religious fanatics. Personally and through agents Penn disseminated the news of his acquisition and invited the Rhinelanders, -1- Chapter I
the suffering Palatines, to help him found a State in which religious and civil liberty would prevail. Penn's call for immigrants immediately attracted the serious attention of the Reformed Swiss- Germans of the region. The Protestant Church in and around the Palatinate was practically crushed. The church council was reduced to just two men and in one area the Protestants were compelled to share their church with the Catholic Church. By 1695, hundreds of Reformed and a number of Lutheran Church members were fully under the control of the Catholic Orders, to say nothing of the parsonages and school houses. Beginning with the Germantown settlement in 1683, under the leadership of Pastorius, up to the revolution and the dawn of the nineteenth century a large-scale immigration followed, which spread not only through Pennsylvania but into the South and the new West, influencing every phase of American life. Shortly after 1700 the Mennonites and Reformed Church members were granted permission to sell their property, take their families and receive free transportation down the Rhine River on the condition that they pledge never to return to Switzerland. The various Protestant groups left the area to seek freedom in America. Rotterdam was the port from which most of the immigrants to the New World left Europe. They came down the Rhine on small boats to Rotterdam, where they embarked on the ships that were to carry them to America. The entire trip could last up to six months, starting in April or May and continuing to the end of October. See Appendix C for details of the Journey to Pennsylvania. The Ship Britannia of London, with Michael Franklin as Ship's Master, sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1731. Pages 28-35 inclusive of the Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. 17 gives the passenger list of the immigrants Included in this list are the following named persons: 1. Hans Michel Debelbesin, age 22 (b. 1709) 2. Hans Debelbesin, age 18 (b. 1713) 3. Hans Georg Debelbesin age 16 (b. 1715) 4. Magdalena Debelbesin, age 18 (b. 1713) 5. Casper Debelbesin, age 10 (b. 1721) This information is also found in " Pennsylvania German Pioneers," a publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, By Ralph Beaver Strassburger, President of the Pennsylvania German Society, [edited by William John Hinke], in three Volumes, published by the Pennsylvania German Society, Norristown, Pennsylvania, 1934. A ppendix B gives the entire passenger list of the Britannia, as provided by Captain Michael Franklin. It contains the names and ages of all 269 persons, 106 men ages 16 and upwards, 82 women ages 16 and upwards and 81 children under 16 years of age. The oldest passenger, Vrich Keyser, was age 70. There are two children whose ages are given as 5 weeks and 15 days, indicating that they had been born at sea during the long voyage across the Atlantic. -2- Chapter I
The Ship Britannia of London At the Courthouse of Philadelphia., 21 st September, 1731. Present: The Honorable PATRICK GORDON, Esqr., Lt. Govr Clement Plumsted, Esqr., Member of Council Thomas Laurence, Esqr., Member of Council Derick Jansen, Esqr., one of His Majesties Justices of Peace for the county of Philadelphia. A list was presented of the Names of One hundred and six Palatines, who with their Families, making in all Two hundred and sixty - nine Persons, were imported here in the ship Britannia of London, Michael Franklyn, Mr., from Rotterdam, but last from Cowes, as by Clearance from that Port. The Master, being Examined, said he had no particular License for their Transportation. They were then called in, and having declared that their Intentions were to settle and live Peaceably in this Province, the several persons whose Names are subjoyned, did repeat and sign the Declaration inserted in the Minutes of the 21st September 1731 and likewise took and subscribed the Declaration of Fidelity and Abjuration. (See Appendix D) -3- Chapter I
There were three different lists of names, designated A, B and C. The names of all 269 passengers, including the above members of the DEVILBISS family, appear on List A, the Captain s List. (See Appendix B for the names of all passengers on List A). Of the names on List A, the first 106 are designated as men aged 16 years and upwards. List B, has the names of 105 adult men, who took and signed the Oath of Allegiance. List C contains the names of 105 men who took and signed the Oath of Abjuration. (Appendix D gives both Oaths) The one name from List A that is missing from List B and List C is that of Hans Debelbesin. List B contains the names of Hans Mich (H) Debilbissen and Hans George (HI) Deibelbesin. List C contains the same two family names; Hans Mich.(H) Debelbissen and Hans George (HI) Debelbissen.'' The variations in the spelling of the last name (Debelbesin, Debilbissen, Deibelbesin, Debelbissen) resulted from different persons preparing each list. List A was prepared in English by the Captain. Those who could read and write signed the oaths. Clerks wrote the names of those who could not write and the individual then made his mark The two Debelbesin brothers initialed the oaths. Why Hans Debelbesin did not sign the B and C lists is unknown. He may have been sick and did not accompany the others to the courthouse. Perhaps he died shortly thereafter, as there is no reference to him in the records of Frederick County, Maryland where the other three brothers settled. Heading each of the Lists A, B. and C is the name Johannes Bartholomay Rieger. This is the well known Reformed minister, John Bartholomew Rieger, who headed up a group of immigrants from the Palatinate. According to the custom of the times, the immigrant brothers probably paid for their passage by being bound out, after their arrival, to the plantation owner who bid the shortest term of service. After their arrival, passengers who could not pay for their passage were auctioned and became indentured servants for a specified time period to the successful bidder. (Appendix C gives an eyewitness witness account of this process) After completing their terms of service, Michael, George and Casper went to what is now Frederick County, Maryland and settled along the Monocacy River. The 1976 works of Dr. Devilbiss includes an additional name, Elizabeth Margarita, age 18 (b. 1713) with the five Debelbesin immigrants (see Appendix A). I have not included Elizabeth in the family tree although she could be a sister of the five listed above. Devilbiss has been spelled many ways in the early Maryland church records. There was no consistency since the writing was done by many different pastors. Some of the variations on the name include :Debelbiss, Deivilbiss, Deubelbiss,, Dewelbiss, Feubelbiss, Leubelbiss, Teubel, Teubelbiss, Teufelbiss, Teufersbiss, Teufersbissen, Teuffel, Teuffelbiss. ("DeVilbiss" was first adopted around 1840.) Today there are at least seven variations of the name. It appears that some of the descendants of Michel use Divelbiss or Divilbiss while most descendants of George and Casper C use DeVilbiss or Devilbiss, but the spellings Develbiss, DeVelbiss, and DeVelbess also appear from time to time. A ny information concerning the parents of these five individuals and their specific origin remained shrouded in mystery until the year 2004. At this time, Sabine Schleichert, a genealogist from Munich, Germany, who was employed by a member of the extended family, -4- Chapter I
Ronald Ray Cassel # 511.434.11, discovered the christening record of Casper Devilbiss. The following excerpt from the Lutheran Parish Church Record of Woerth, Lower Alsace, was presented on June 19, 2004 to attendees of a DeVilbiss Family Reunion in Sacramento, California: [1721] On the 19 th of March was born to Samuel Teuffelbeß (Teuffelbess), the cow-herder from here, from his wife Magdalena, a little son, who was christened on the 22 nd, and received the name Caspar. [See pages 6A and 6B for a copy of this record.] The above definitely establishes Samuel and Magdalena Teuffelbess as the parents of Casper Devilbiss and almost certainly the other four siblings, Michael, Hans, Magdalena and George. A later entry in the Woerth Parish Record states that Samuel Teuffelbeß was witness at a christening in 1725. Beyond this, no further record of Samuel and Magdalena has yet been found. As to the spelling of the family name, Devilbiss appears to be a direct translation of the German Teuffelbess. Teuffel = Devil and Teuffelbiss translates as Devil s bite. Sabine Schleichert stated this could mean One who is bold enough to bite the devil, a person who has a devil-maycare attitude, or one who has been bitten by the devil. The spellings on the Captains List of the Brittania, as well as the B and C lists, represent an Englishman s attempt to spell a name spoken in German. Note that Michael, George and Casper all used the spelling Devilbiss at the time of their deaths, as reflected in land records and their wills. In his 1976 work, Dr. David Devilbiss wrote: Definite proof of the relationship of the six persons is lacking. Why the six young people and no parents is unknown. One possibility is that these children had lost their parents before coming to the United States. Another possibility is that the parent or parents died at sea. However, a reasonable assumption is that these persons were brothers and sister(s). This assumption is supported by statements that were passed from generation to generation to the effect that three or four brothers came together to this country, landing in Philadelphia, and going shortly thereafter to Maryland, settling on land along the Monocacy River. Land and other records tend to support this assumption. The late Dr. Grace Louise Tracey, in her excellent unpublished material, Notes From the Records of Old Monocacy, Hampstead, Maryland, 1958, page 167 states "The DEVILBISS family (Hans Michael, aged 22; Hans, aged 18; Hans George, aged 16; Magdelena, aged 18; Casper, aged 10) arrived in this country with the Reformed Minister, Johannes Barthelomus Rieger and the Wellers. George Devil (Hans George Devilbiss) was the tenant farmer on Lot #5 leased by Peter Evelent in 1743. The land lay along the east side of Monocacy River midway between Biggs' Ford and what is now Devilbiss Bridge. At later dates he leased land on Monocacy Manor under his own name. Casper Devilbiss was the tenant farmer of John Biggs' leased Lot #2 (1741), which lay on the east side of the River at Biggs' Ford. In 1743, Casper removed to his own leased Lot #5. In 1751, he received the patent for Dulany's Hunting Lot located at the junction of the roads near present day LOYS, the land adjoining Joseph Ogle's homestead. " F rom Dr. Tracy, page 168, "The early DEVILBISS family were associated with the Reformed Church. According to confiscation records of Moncacy Manor, John Devilbiss (son of Casper C.) was a tenant farmer on Lot #9 at the time of the sale - Lot # 9 lay at the ford (now bridge) -5- Chapter I
known as Devilbiss', across the river from the Williams-Ogle-Devilbiss home. Casper Devilbiss was appointed overseer of the road from Major Ogle's Ford to Biggs' Ford on the Monocacy by the court of 1758." A fine stone house, on 250 acres, had been built by the Reverend William Williams about 1749. The land, originally named Williams Project, was sold to Alexander Ogle, Sr., father of Rebecca Ogle who married John Devilbiss, son of Casper C. Devilbiss. Alexander Ogle, Jr. inherited the plantation, renamed "Ogle's Necessary Compact", when his father died. In 1806 Alexander Ogle, Jr. moved to Bourbon County, Kentucky and sold the plantation to his brother-in -law, John Devilbiss, for 4,000 pounds sterling. At John's death, the estate passed to his son, Samuel Devilbiss. Ogles Necessary Compact is located at the confluence of Fishing Creek and the Monocacy River on Devilbiss Bridge Road. Dr. Devilbiss (1976) stated: "The records that have been researched reveal much information relative to the immigrant brothers Michael, George, and Casper Devilbiss. Nothing has been found that relates to Hans (John) Devilbiss or the sister Magdelena Devilbiss. It is interesting to note from the study of the early land records that George Devilbiss and Casper Devilbiss were farmers and millers and acquired many acres of land in their own rights. While no records have been found that show Michael Devilbiss was either a farmer or miller, he almost certainly was. Michael lived in Frederick county until his death in 1755. His brother, George was the administrator of his estate. Chapter XX gives further details on the lives of Michael and George Devilbiss. C hapter II of this work lists the known children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of the three Debelbesin brothers who were the founders of today s extended family. Most of this information was extracted from the various volumes by Dr. David Wilbur Devilbiss. Beginning in Chapter III, the scope is narrowed to the descendants of Casper C. (#5) through Casper (#56) and John (#562). Their biographies and stories are in Chapters V and VI. -6- Chapter I
- 6A -
- 6B -