Revision as of 14:30, 21 April 2021

Immigrant from Germany 1744

Johan JACOB Klein was born 23 August 1736 in Germany and died in Frederick County, Virginia, on 27 August 1816.^[V1]. In Pennsylvania he married Anna EVA Dusong, who was born on 6 October 1739, possible in Germany, and died in Frederick County, Virginia, on 1 May 1816.^[V1c].Jacob and Eva are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery in Stephens City.^[V1a][V1b] On 20 Oct 1744, the male passengers aged 16 and older took the oath of allegiance at the Philadelphia Court House^[V2]. Among them were Thiebald Klein, Philip Wendel Klein, Johannes Klein - all three signed their name in German script - and John Adam Klein whose name was written in English script and signed with a mark. It is Jacob's association with Philip Wendell Klein that makes this 1744 voyage on the Phoenix the most likely one to have transported Johan Jacob Klein to America. If so, he was eight years old and not required to sign the oath.

Twenty-three years later, Maria Magdalena, the fourth child of Johan Jacob and Anna Eva Klein, was baptized at Ziegel Church in Northampton (now Lehigh) County, Pennsylvania.^[3] Her baptismal sponsors were Philip Wendel Klein and his wife, Maria Magdalena.
Jacob's first son was named Philip, first daughter Catherine, and second daughter Maria Magdalena.

In Frederick County, Virginia, on 10 March 1787 at Newtown [Stephens City] Rev. Christian Streit conducted the funeral of Maria Magdalena Klein, born in early 1699. She died at age 87 years 10 1/2 months.^[V3] Maria Magdalena was thirty-seven years older than Jacob. Could she have been the wife of Philip Wendel and the mother of these Klines?

Jacob was affiliated with the Lutheran Church. Four miles southeast of Stephens City, then called Newtown, near Jacob's home, was Pine Hills Church, or St. Joseph's Pine Church. In 1784 that congregation sent Jacob as a lay representative of the Pennsylvania Ministerium at Lancaster. The Pine Hills congregation constructed a church building in 1800, but disbanded around 1812, its members probably absorbed by the Lutheran congregation in Newtown.^[V4]

Family
Jacob had two brothers who also settled in Frederick County, Adam (died 1800) and Anthony (d. 1829). Adam named his brother Jacob, as co-executor of his estate.^[V5] Anthony named his nephew, Anthony Kline, as co-executor of his estate.^[V6]
I have found no birth dates for Adam or Anthony, but both had children born in the 1760s, so they likely were born in the 1730s.^[V7] I have not found any Kleins in Pennsylvania German Pioneers who could be Adam or Anthony, who likely were under sixteen when they immigrated or they were born in America.

Also in Frederick County was Maria Magdalena Klein, born in early 1699, over whose burial the Rev. Christian Streit presided on 10 March 1787 at Newtown [Stephens City]. She died at age 87 years 10 1/2 months.^[V8]Maria Magdalena was thirty-seven years older than Jacob. Could she have been the mother of these Klines?
In the "Old Graveyard" on Mulberry Street in Stephens City there is an eroded, broken stone for "Katherine Kli..." and contains only five or six letters. It is likely that the name is Katharine Kline. She died in 1814 at age 77.^[V9] A birth year of 1737 makes her of an age to be a sister of Jacob. There is no record of a Kline to whom she was married. Could Katharine be an unmarried sister of Jacob, Adam, and Anthony or a sister-in-law?^[V10] Could she be the wife of Anthony?

The Pennsylvania and Virginia sources are listed and numbered separately. Note that some sources are under copywrite restrictions.
While contradictory sources exist with alternatives for Jacob's birth and year of arrival, we consider them less likely than the sources charted below. The contradictory sources are presented separately HERE, so viewers may make their own informed interpretations.

Ancestry chart segment

     Generation 8           Generation 9
                        +-- Philip Wendel Klein   
                        |   (17??-????)                                                                                                     
+-- Johan Jacob Klein --+
|   (1736-1816)         |
+                       +-- Maria Magdalena Unknown
|                                (17??-????)
+-- Anna Eva Dusong  
    (1739-1815)                                  

Sources: ^[]

Children

Ten or more children with Anna Eva Dusong,
Birth order unknown;the first six listed are perhaps older than the last 4. Excepting Maria Magdalena, children's sources contributed here by James Funkhouser.

Places of Residence

Sources regarding Pennsylvania

Sources regarding Virginia

These sources from contributor James Funkhouser