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Jacob Conrad comes to America
Following is a brief history of the Jacob Conrad family. This information has been compiled by many Conrad researchers over the years. Much of it began with the "Conrad Family Chart, Genealogical Information on the Conrad's of Northumberland County", compiled and published by my late father, Robert E Conrad, Jr, who grew up in Sunbury (see his booklet for sources). Special thinks for Robin Sutherland for her updates.
Jacob Conrad signatures
"Jacob Conrath," as he spelled it, immigrated from Germany to America on the ship "Boston", arriving 9 Nov 1764 at the port in Philadelphia. It seems he went right to Berks County, Pennsylvania. When his son Jacob Jr was baptized in Reading, PA in 1765, his wife is listed as Anna Catharine (who is also mentioned in deeds) and it would appear that they were married in Germany. If one compares the signatures of Jacob on the ship list, later as the 1786 tax assessor in Augusta Township, and on his will, there should be no doubt that this is the same person. Further, attempts to link our Jacob to other Pennsylvania Conrad families can all be easily discredited. The Jacob Conrad, son of Peter of Montgomery County had a different wife and lived at the same time in Southeast Pennsylvania. The Jacob Conrad's of Berks, Lancaster, and Dauphin Counties also led separate lives.
Jacob's will of 1811 appears to list his children in birth order (as do some of the other early Conrad wills) and from this we can infer that his first two children, Johan Nicholas Conrad and Mary Conrad, were born in Germany. I think Nicholas's age is off in the following, and was likely born a year earlier based on tax records.
Jacob is found in the Oley tax list as a blacksmith but he doesn't make much of a presence in Berks County, other than the baptism of his son Jacob Jr. He began acquiring land in 1769, but the tax list suggests he hadn't moved his family until closer to 1773. It seems he didn't own any land at this time in Berks County and was waiting to acquire cheaper land in the newly released areas in Northumberland County (which would also require going through the warrant process, clearing the land, etc). When he moved to Northumberland County, he bought land alongside Frederick Hill, who was also from Berks County. It's not clear if there is any relationship between them or if they just became friends in Oley Township. Jacob later bought the neighboring Frederick Hill land to extend his holdings along Hallowing Run.
Jacob Conrad Jr, baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, Berks Co, PA, 29 Sep 1765
Jacob Conrad, smith, in Oley Twp, Berks Co, PA tax list, 1768
Jacob Conrad of Oley Twp, Berks Co, surveys 300 acres in Augusta Twp, Nortumberland Co, New Purchase Registry #1803, 3 Apr 1769
Here Jacob Conrad's son, John Nicholas Conrad (1763-1841) writes about the early years in his own words (tax records suggest he was actually born a year earlier than this says) in the following affidavit from 1830...
"Also came John Nicholas Conrad, who, on his solemn oath duly administered, says he was born on the 15th of October 1764, that in the fall of 1773 his father moved from near Reading Pennsylvania to Mahonoy Township Northumberland County Pennsylvania, and that soon after, deponent became acquainted with Mary M Shaffer, now Mrs. Peiffer, the within application and daughter of John Shaffer who then resided in said township about six miles distant from deponents father."
signed in Crawford County, 1830, "Jo han _ich? las Conroth"
Jacob Conrad, with 300 acres and a saw mill, in Augusta Township tax list, 1788
Jacob Conrad deed, L:122, selling land "Crout Garden" in Augusta Township to daughter Susannna (Hall) in 1799. Note spelling of facsimile signature in deed book "Jacob Conrath" and wife Catharine "T (her mark)" Conrad. Deed index shows "Jacob Conrad".
Charles Elias Conrath (1819-1849) one of the last uses of Conrath
Upon arriving in Augusta Township, Jacob continued to buy land via the Pennsylvania land warrant process as well as a sheriff's sale and later gave this land to his children. In 1796, Jacob bought land in the "big city" of Sunbury and retired there, being listed as occupation "gentleman" in 1810, prior writing his will. Jacob's exact date of death is unknown, but one can presume he died about 2-4 weeks prior to his will was probated, probably dying in June of 1812. There is no known burial location, but a guess would be the Old Sunbury (Spruce Street) Cemetery.
Jacob and his children spelled their surname "Conrath" in wills and deeds, but the county recorded them all as "Conrad". Everyone after the first generation changed their name to "Conrad". Even the John's youngest son has Conrath on his tombstone. Realize that the German 'th' sound is different from English as in "bath". It's a hard 't' sound, more like "bat". My father who lived in Sunbury was told by his grandparents to pronounce the name "Coonrod" (he never did!) and it's interesting that the Christian Conrad family that went to Iowa changed their spelling to "Coonrod".
Note that a German custom at the time was to use a "rufname" which is actually more like a "prefix name". Unlike the modern "middle name", the person then used the full name only in certain formal occasions, and otherwise used only the middle part, dropping the prefix. So "Johan Jacob Conrad" would actually go by "Jacob Conrad" in most cases. Contract this with the longer name "Johannes" which didn't use prefix. Johannes would would be shortened to "Johan", "John," "Hannes," or just "Hans". So don't be confused by the rufnamen used by the early Conrad's. Only someone with first name of Johannes or only John would be found under "John" in later records. By the early and middle 1800's, this practice fell out of favor, depending on the surrounding culture. More Anglicized areas switched to the middle name convention earlier than in the country.
Jacob Conrad's early land in Northumberland County. Survey IDs shown. More can be found by clicking here.
Deed Z:167 from 1834 draws out Jacob Conrad's original land showing houses and barn.
German Roots
Over the years I've seen many suggestions for Jacob's wife's maiden name and his supposed roots in Germany, but I never saw anyone present any evidence for these assertions. Each time these things show up, I get excited and investigate. The deeds in Northumberland County mentioned his wife was Catharine, but I believe it was only after I made the connection back to the Reading, PA church record that we knew wife's full name was "Anna Catharine". Today on the internet, you'll see Jacob's wife listed as "Anna Catharine Hirschberger" or "Anna Catharina Elisabetha Funk". In the old days, there was confusion between our Jacob and a different one in Bern Township, Berks County who's wife was "Maria Catharine Royer".
From my Y-DNA test (which traces only the paternal path), I found a moderate match (distance 4) with a descendant from the Southwest Germany where many Conrad families lived. This was the only reasonable match to another Conrad on the site. I am "J39TG" on Ysearch and user "HBXAE" is from Ottersheim. While our Jacob could have really come from anywhere in the world, this DNA connection made me think that the best place to find our origins would be in this part of Southwest Germany (as opposed to Austria, Switzerland, etc) like the other Pennsylvania Germans.
On 5 Mar 2018, Donna Roberts showed me a birth/baptism record for a Jacob Conrad in Sien, Birkenfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate. Ancestry had the original images of the church records online, with the main parts indexed and searchable. On further investigation, we found a marriage and birth records that seemed to align with our family. I've tentatively added the extended Sien Conrad family to my ancestry tree here. I say "tentatively" because I'd still like to find some other indicator other than matching names. But the connection seems strong enough to put online for others to share in the research. This Jacob Conrad got married and had three children and then disappeared from the area at the time that our Mystery Jacob appears. Sien is about 28 miles from Ottersheim (where Y-DNA match HBXAE's ancestor came from). The links used for our Conrad German research are located here.
Jacob Conrad of Sien, Germany:
- Jacob Conrad (Jr) was born 1735 in Sien, Germany to Jacob Conrad (Sr), "Schmidt" (blacksmith) and wife Maria Dorothea Jung
- Jacob's brothers were named Peter and Nicholas
- Jacob's grandfather was named Peter and uncles were named Peter, Nicholas and Henry
- Jacob's father died in 1743. This Jacob would have been the oldest son (and possibly had the biggest inheritence)
- Jacob had a daughter Maria Margaretha out-of-wedlock with Anna Catharine Müller from Schmidthachenbach in 1757
- Jacob married Anna Catharine in 1759 back at his home church in Sien
- Jacob had Anna Elisabetha in 1760 and John Nicholas in 1761 in Schmidthachenbach (recorded at Becherbach bei Kirn)
- the last record of Jacob in the area is 7 Jan 1764, where he is listed as a master blacksmith as a baptismal sponsor to his brother-in-law, Johan Nickel Müller.
Jacob Conrad of Berks County, PA and later Northumberland County:
- our Jacob Conrad with his family would likely have left his home early in 1764 for the 4-6 week trip down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, Holland
- after processing, they would board a ship first to Cowes, England, then on an 8-10 week ocean voyage to Philadelphia, arriving 10 Nov 1764
- Jacob's sons and daughters are each listed in birth order in Jacob's will
- Jacob and wife Anna Catharine appear in the 29 Sep 1765 baptism of J Jacob Conrad (Junior) at Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, PA
- from various records in Pennsylvania, it's likely that Jacob's first three children were born in Germany
- Jacob's first children were: Mary Margaretha (married David Malick), Elisabetha (married Jacob Steinbruch), and John Nicholas
- Jacob Kunrad's (spelled "Conrad" in other years) occupation was listed as "smith" (blacksmith) in the 1768 Oley tax list
- note that Jacob's sons were named John Nicholas, Jacob, Peter, Henrich, and Johannes
Jacob Conrad migrated from Berks County to Northumberland County about 1773. The History of Northumberland County records this as, "Jacob Conrad settled on the Holland Run some time before the Shipmans came to the country.... The Conrads located under a big white-oak tree, and there remained until they had time to build houses."
I ordinarily don't find too much significance in the reuse of family names. Names like Jacob and Peter are the norm among early German families. Looking closely at the other Conrad families in the Sien area shows that they recycled the same names, but didn't use them in any particular order. But if you look at other Conrad families further away, they were regularly using other common German names like Daniel, David, Friederich, Valentine, Wilhelm, etc that didn't catch on with the Sien families.
Jacob Conrad the immigrant - details and timeline
Here are some of the records mentioned above shown in chronological order.
Matthias Müller of Schmidthachenbach's daughter Anna Catharina is the mother of Maria Margaretha born 4 Jun 1757 and baptized 9 Jun. Johan [Jacob] Conradt from Sien, the Schmidt handwerk erlerne (apprentice blacksmith) is found to be the father. Baptismal sponsors include Daniel Müller [her brother].
Jacob Conrad from here (Sien) and Anna Catharina Müller from Schmidthachenbach are married 6 Feb 1759 in Sien "nach ihrer vermischung priesterlich getraut" (priestly married after their mixing, eg after already having a child)
Jacob Conrad of Schmidthachenbach and wife Anna Catharina have a daughter Aanna Elisabetha born 11 Jun 1760 and baptized 13 Jun. Baptismal sponsors include Johann Nickel Conradt, s/o Jacob Conradt from Siehn [Sien].
Jacob Conradt of Schmidthachenbach and wife Anna Catharina have a son Johann Nickel born 15 Nov 1761 and baptized 18 Nov. Baptismal sponsors include Johann Nickel Müller [her brother], s/o Mathias Müller of Schmidthachenbach, and Dorothea Catharina [his sister] d/o Jacob Conradt of Sien.
Jacob Conradt, Schmidtmeister allda (master blacksmith from same place = Schmidthachenbach) is the baptismal sponsor to Johann Nickel Müller [her brother] and wife Dorothea Catharina [nee Conrad, his sister] 10 Jan 1764. This is the last record of Jacob Conrad and Anna Catharina of Schmidthachenbach in the church records.
Jacob Conrath is recorded on the ship "Boston", arrived 9 Nov 1764 in Philadelphia, signed immigration list 10 Nov 1764.
Jacob Conrad and wife Anna Catharina had son Johann Jacob [Jr] born 23 Sep 1765 and baptized 29 Sep at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Kunrad [Conrad], Smith, 1768 tax list of Oley Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania (just east of the city of Reading).
Jacob Conrad's will of 1812 lists his sons and daughters each in birth order. From tax records it's clear that Nicholas was older and born in Germany. Elizabeth's son Jacob said in 1870 census that his mother was "of foreign birth" in 1870, implying both Mary and Elizabeth were born in Germany.
When Mary (Conrad) Malick's son John Malick died in 1852, his death certificate lists his mother as Margaret Conrad (implying she would have gone by both Mary (father's will) and Margaret (son's DC). This matches the baptism of Maria Margaretha in Germany above.
The extended family of Jacob Conrad of Sien can be found on the Jacob Conrad tree on ancestry. A quick summary of the records is that our Jacob Conrad the immigrant would be a son of Jacob Conrad the blacksmith in Sien. His father was Peter Conrad, a cooper ("Kiefer" in German) who was a church official ("Kirchen Censor"). Peter seems to have come from Wieselbach, Germany, where his father Johan Nicholas Conrad was living in 1703. There is another family of Conrad's nearby who were millers by trade, but uncertain how that family might be connected. There are also Conrad's nearby in Mahbechel/Mambachel (recorded in the Baumholder records), Fischbach, Kirn, and others, but I would guess they are not close relatives. Several of these church records go back to the middle 1600's, but I have not seen any others reference a Johan Nicholas Conrad in the latter mid/late 1600's. Since the little town of Wieselbach no longer exists, and the church records for that parish did not survive, I have some doubts we'll be able to trace back any further in time.
I previously made note of a possible connection to the Boley family. A Johan Carl Boley was on the ship Boston with Jacob Conrath. Later in 1766 in Reading, a Carl Ludwig Boley (supposed relative of Johan Carl) was a baptismal sponsor to the other Jacob Conrad and wife Margaretha from Falckner Swamp in Montgomery County. And finally, in 1806, there is a Nicholas Baily living on Jacob's land in Northumberland County, according to a tax list. The Boley family is from Alsenz which is about 16 miles from Sien. It's not clear if there was a family connection back in Germany, or if they just met and became friends the long ocean voyage.
Here is a diagram showing which of our German Conrad cousins from Sien carried on the Conrad name to about 1900. There were many daughters and many children died young, limiting the number of our Conrad's that remained in Germany. Several immigrated to the USA later on.
If you would like to help with more research of Conrad's in Germany, see more information here.
Robert E Conrad, Jr (1925-2011)
Dedication
This web page is dedicated to my father, Robert Earl Conrad, Jr, who spent considerable time between the late 1970's and
his death in 2011 doing research on all descendants of Jacob Conrad. He was doing the original "old school" research
of driving to court houses, historical societies, cemeteries, and calling and interviewing people to put this
tree together. We both had considerable input from
Dr. Joseph Meiser who spent his life dedicating to researching *all* of the early Northumberland County families as
well as many others (see Dad's Conrad Family Tree at the Northumberland County Historical Society for the complete list).