Peter Vogele Biography
(Return to Peter Vogele).
The parentage of Elizabetha Vogele is not fully resolved. Her father appears to be either Peter or Heinrich Vogele, and her mother either Elizabeth Marz or Barbara unknown, possibly Barbara Marz. Elizabetha Vogele's death record at the Lehigh Church indicates 1st) that she was the wife of Johan Jacob Klein; 2nd) that her birth date was (calculated from age at death) 22 Mar 1775; 3rd) that her parents were Peter Vogele & Elisabeth Marz; and 4th) that Elizabeth Marz was deceased at the time of Elizabeth's death; this last notation implies that Peter Vogele was still alive. (The Marz (Martz) surname is familiar, found among neighbors of the Klein descendants living in Clarion Co. PA two generations later.)
The baptismal records of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, however, reveal a mystery. Our Klein family of Macungie Twp., Lehigh Co. PA attended the Lehigh Church, also called the Zion's Lutheran Church. The Reformed congregation was located neaby, across the Berks County line, in Longswamp Township, and was attended by the Vogele family. In the Longswamp records, an Elizabetha Vogele was born 10 Mar 1775 to a Heinrich & Barbara Voegele, with Peter Vegly & Elisabeth Mertz as sponsors. This date corresponds within 12 days of the calculated date from Elizabetha Vogele Klein's death record. The only record found for baptism of an Elizabetha born to Peter Vogele & wife is dated 18 July 1784.
.Several explanations are possible, one being that our Elizabethawas born to Heinrich and Barbara, and the parentage was miss-recorded by the minister in her death record. It has also been suggested that she was born to Heinrich Vogele, with Peter & Elizabeth as sponsors, and then may have been raised by Peter if Heinrich & wife died. This does not appear to be the case however; Peter is implied to be alive at the time of Elizabetha's death record.
Heinrich Vogele & wife are the sponsors at the baptism of the 2nd child of Elizabetha & her husband Johan Jacob Klein. A German custom, in naming children, was to honor first the paternal grandfather, then the maternal grandfather. After some time away from Germany, that naming custom seemed to have waned, and yet an echo of it persists in the baptismal sponsors. Johan Jacob Klein's parents were sponsors at the baptism of their (Johan Jacob Klein & Elizabetha Vogele's) first child, and Heinrich & Barbara Vogele were sponsors at the baptism of their second child. This argues in favor of Heinrich Vogele being the maternal grandfather. It is also worth noting that John Klein named his first son Henry. John Klein was a son of Johan Jacob Klein & Elizabetha Vogele, and a grandson of (Peter or Heinrich) Vogele; this argues that Henry/Heinrich Vogele, rather than Peter, would have been John Klein's grandfather.
We believe that Peter and Heinrich Vogele were probably brothers. A study of the baptismal records of Longswamp Reformed Church, suggests that Elisabeth Marz and Barbara (wife of Heinrich Vogele) may have been sisters. Because Heinrich & Barbara Voegele are sponsors at a Mertz baptism, and an Abraham Mertz is sponsor at the baptism of one of the Heinrich Vogele children, it is thought that Heinrich Vogely's wife may have been a Barbara Mertz. Thus two brothers may have married two sisters (Peter & Heinrich Voegele possibly married to Elisabetha & Barbara Mertz/Marz). Although it is unclear which of these two couples are our direct line ancestors, the possibility of their being siblings would make the implications less critical for identifying or miss-identifying the preceding generation.
The Vogely ancestry of is presently unknown. The literature suggests two possible families in the Lehigh/Berks Counties border area of Pennsylvania. A Fogel (von Vogel) family originally from Chur Hesse, Germany, emigrated in 1731 and founded the town of Fogelsville. Several lines of descents are traced, but no Peter Vogele is found. This family appears to have been Lutheran, and to have consistently used the "Fogel" spelling after the immigrant generation. Both these items argue agains their being related to our Vogele line.
Among the families settled along the Little Lehigh River was a Wilhelm Fegley (Vogelein). In this valley,it has been noted, the Vogele surname "came principally from Wurtemberg". Most of the settlers in this valley were Lutheran, but some Reformed families settled there also. They had to attend the Reformed church in either Salisbury, or in Longswamp Twp., Berks County. Our Vogeles attended the Reformed church in Longswamp. They could have resided in either Longswamp Twp., Berks Co. PA, or in the Little Lehigh River valley, Lower Macungie Twp. Lehigh Co. PA. Their intermarriage with the Kleins might argue the latter.
