Michael Eichelberger (1774-1830)
of Eichelbergertown
Bedford County
Pennsylvania
2,700 Descendants and Connections
J. 'Allie' Eichelberger II
The Eichelberger Family History appears here courtesy
of J. 'Allie' Eichelberger's daughter,
Katy Eichelberger Gallagher.
The New Homeland
Acknowledgments
Michael Eichelberger (1774-1830)
The Descendents of Michael Eichelberger
Reitstap, the famous authority on Heraldry, records only one Coat of Arms belonging to the Eichelberger family, which is described as follows:
Azure, Three Acorns or Leaves Vert Issuing
From a Cloud Argent
Azure, or blue, signifies loyalty or truth; it was the color devoted to the Virgin by the Roman Church. Acorn is the fruit of the Oak, which holds first place among trees, signifying antiquity and strength. Acorn, in the Germain language is Eichel. Leaves are the emblem of truth. Vert, or green signifies hope, joy, and, loyalty in love. Argent, or silver or white, signifies peace and sincerity.
The Eichelberger family the writer describes descended from those ancient
Germans of whom the Encyclopedia Brittanica says: "In stature they were tall and
vigorous, with long fair hair and fiercely blue eyes. Their dwellings were wooded
huts, and war and chase were the favorite occupations of the men. Although
violent and cruel in moments of excitement, they were rarely treacherous, and in
ordinary life they appear to have been kind and considerate. Some of these rough
traits my be noticed in the Pennsylvania German character even at the present
day; but also their bravery, their religious devotion and their attachment to home
and family. They greatly cherished the memory of illustrious ancestors and often
listened with delight to songs delebrating their famous deeds." This final trait may
be the inspiration which brings one to write his own family history.
Our German ancestors are recorded early in history. In St. Gallen in the German
section of Switzerland is a monastery built around 1197 AD, and it has records of
all born in St. Gallen. There is quite a list of Eichelbergers, and during the
Reformation, in the 16th Century, the Eichelbergers fought among themselves.
Such was the internal turmoil created by this dissension that the Eichelbergers
were ordered out of St. Gallen. The Catholic Eichelbergers, known as workers of
wood, went down into Austria. The Protestant Eichelbergers, known as men of
arms, went across Lake Constance and up the Rhine River Valley. It is reported
that during World War II some servicemen from Saxton walked along
Eichelberger Strasse and Eichelberger Stadtpark (park) in Heidelburg, West
Germany.
It is firmly entrenched in tradition that our Eichelberger ancestors, for whom liberty was dear, frequently longed for a country across the oceans where religious freedom would be theirs. It is no wonder they emigrated to America in such numbers. Rupp and Kapp record that "in 1709, between the middle of April and the middle of July, the number of German Protestants that came to America, by way of London alone, was 11,294." Other forces of human consideration deprived German citizens of a satisfactory life at home and, to the energetic and committed, only emigration afforded them relief.
In early days all surnames were given or chosen for a family or clan, either for the
meaning or the name or derivation, or bearing upon family residence or
occupation. In 1900 in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Abdiel Wirt Eichelberger published
a book entitled The Eichelberger Family Record 1693-1900, which detailed the
early immigrant Philip Frederick Eichelberger. In the book Captain Eichelberger
states, "after some study over the matter, I have come to the conclusion, that in
our case there must have been, according to the church records at Ittlingen
(Germany), as well as the fact of our having found other Eichelbergers of different
descent than ours, a very large clan comprised of many families of Eichelbergers.
Now the heads of each of these households most likely had a name which bore
some relation to this occupation. But the name borne by the entire clan, related to
the situation of their family homestead or castle. It translated thus: Er-he or they:
Eiche- oak: Berg- mountain: the letter "L" is apparently used only for the sake of
euphony. "The Eichelbergers"- they are the mountain oaks, a name suggestive of
strength and tenacity. Some advance the theory that the family home, as by
translation of the name, was near the Black Forest.
In an interesting notation occurring in the 1900 book, the writer states that in the correspondence he received from the Burgess of Ittlingen, "in the old town records he has found vouchers given to Eichelbergers, early in 1600, for quantities of wood delivered to the town." This would make one think that our ancestral home was out upon the wooded mountains, as given in the translation above.
One of our ancestors left a note that states our early ancestors came from
Germany, from a town called Ittlingen. That same town is the origin of A.W.
Eichelberger's earliest ancestor quoted from above. Whether our source is
correct, or based on the judgment of an earlier genealogist is uncertain. It is
interesting that A.W. Eichelberger, in tracing his ancestors to Ittlingen, learned
from the Burgess in May of 1887 that the church records of the Evangelical
Congregation, while revealing numerous Eichelbergers recorded births, marriages,
and deaths, in the year 1732 the name Eichelberger disappears from the birth and
baptismal records, and it no longer appears after 1744. Consequently one could
surmise that by 1744, no Eichelbergers were left in the town of Ittlingen, and all
must have emigrated, or perhaps moved to other communities in Germany. All the
records of Eichelbergers appear in Ittlingen earlier than those dates. This writer's
sources including his grandfather's cousin Cora Eichelberger, our family's earliest
genealogist, identify Ittlingen as the ancestral homeland of the original
Eichelbergers which we believe began the clan known as the Eichelbergers living
in Ittlingen at the time of his correspondence with A.W. Eichelberger, or 1887.
For historians in particular, Ittlingen is situated in the Barony of Gemmingen, as it
was described at the end of the nineteenth century. The Philip Frederick
Eichelberger of whom the earlier genealogist wrote, was born April 17, 1693, the
son of John and Maria Barbara Eichelberger of that German town. Philip came to
America on the ship Albany, leaving Rotterdam, Holland, on June 22, 1728 and
arrived in Philadelphia on September 4 of the same year. Philip is documented as
progenitor of the many Eichelberger families of Baltimore, Harrisburg, York,
Lancaster, Lebanon, Hanover, and Frederick. We, the Bedford County Family,
find no direct tie between our ancestors, Jacob, Christopher and Michael, and the
Philip Frederick of Ittlingen.
As immigrants landed in America and established themselves in countless cities, villages, and homesteads, their families grew and spread and became difficult to effectively trace. The idea of tracing an early family through several generations is an awesome task since so many descendants moved, relocating into various parts of America, and our nation grew so large and expansive as to absorb people into almost anonymity throughout. Additionally, in earlier times records were rarely maintained in accurate manner and to follow the migratory patterns of our ancestors requires examination of census documents, dated tax records, last wills and testaments, and land surveys and transfers for clues to relationships among people.
In book by Halberts, incorporated, published in 1982, it is stated that Pennsylvania is the state most populated by Eichelbergers, with 277 households by that name. There are Eichelbergers residing in 46 of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. None appear to live in Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, or Vermont. It was determined by Halberts that 1,504 Eichelberger households were in the United State in 1982, this based on telephone directories, city directories, and other miscellaneous public listings.
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A book of this nature cannot be developed alone. It requires the contributions of many family members who describe their own family units, their early family backgrounds, and share family trees, dates and residence information about their relatives. Early work on the Eichelbergers of Bedford County was conducted by Pauline A. Rees of Saxton, who gathered information during the 1930's and early 1940's. Much of her work cornerstones this record. Many interesting letters were sent to the writer by Mrs. Mildred ‘Mid' Weaverling of Saxton, she was formerly an Eichelberger. Countless others shared glimpses of our ancestors through notes, letters, anecdotes, references to family Bibles, and stories of tradition and hearsay. The several maps appearing within were reproduced from F.W. Beers County Atlas of Bedford, PA (1877). To all these kind folks we owe a debt of gratitude for their contributions.
This has been a work of many years, and is still unfortunately imperfect. Many branched of the family have moved afar and lost contact with others. Some have truly died out. Following the female branches has been arduous at best, however equal in importance to true genealogists.
Because family records of this type are comparatively rare and the research required is fairly exhausting and expensive, it makes sense to maintain and update this document as new and illuminating evidence becomes available. Room has been left for extemporaneous notations by individuals keeping this book current. It is hoped that owners of this book will continue to document family growth and changes, plus new information discovered during future years. This writer welcomes information on the family and invites contributions of additional data relevant to the Eichelbergers.
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Michael Eichelberger (1774-1830)
Michael Eichelberger (1774-1830) is the first known Eichelberger to settle in the Bedford County area. He arrived in the region about 1801 or 1802, traveling from Path Valley in Franklin County. But who was he, and who were his parents?
An old handwritten document passed down from Cora (Eichelberger) Sweet (1879-1945) is in the possession of this writer. It reads as follows: "Jacob Eichelberger landed in Harrisburg in 1760. The town was then Harris Ferry. Christopher, son of Jacob, came to Bedford County in 1785. Michael, son of Christopher, settled in Brush Valley - Peter and John settled in Firmstone, Maryland. Michael was our great-grandfather. He was a collier at Lemnos near Hopewell. Grandmother rode on horseback to Path Valley to have Michael taken out of the draft in 1812. Michael married Mary Johnston from Ohio who came to Pennsylvania about 1785. She was Scotch Irish. Her brother Kale Johnston came with her to Pennsylvania."
From this early written record we can conclude that Jacob Eichelberger was the first of our name to be tied to the present day family members. Also we can accept that Christopher was Jacob's son and that Michael was a son of Christopher. Peter and John were either brothers of Michael, or were brothers to Christopher. Jacob probably arrived in America from Germany before 1760.
Jacob was owner of 300 acres of land in Paxton Manor near Shiremanstown in Cumberland County, the manor consisting of major parcels of 150 acres to 500 acres sold to settlers of German origin. Two other Paxton Manor purchasers were Adam and George Eichelberger, maybe brothers or cousins to Jacob, perhaps fueling the tradition that ‘three brothers' came to America named Eichelberger, spit up and that's why we have so many seemingly unrelated Eichelberger families in America. Christopher, Jacob's son, is recorded as owning 100 acres, 2 horses, and 2 cattle (cows) in East Pennsburgh township of Cumberland County, and other references to Christopher set him in a key role developing a Lutheran Church congregation in lower Cumberland County in 1770-1775. Then Michael could have moved to Brush Valley and on to Bedford County around 1801.
Michael, in any case, was the first to settle and remain in the Bedford County area. Some documentation exists that Michael and Mary's first child, David , was born in Path Valley, and that shortly after his birth, the young family moved to Bedford County to establish residence in the place which became known as Eichelbergertown.
This writer sets the marriage between Michael and Mary as occurring in 1801 while still in Franklin County, and the birth of their first child as taking place in November of that year. Afterwards, their children were born in Hopewell, Hopewell Township, Eichelbergertown, and the Gap on Yellow Creek below Loysburg, all according to independently offered information about the various children of Michael and Mary. We can conclude that either Michael or Mary moved about in the general region of Hopewell and Yellow Creek settlement, or that due to the uncertainty of geographic boundaries and the lack of specific documentation it was traditional family information that placed the birthplaces of several of Michael and Mary's sons as slightly different locations from one another.
We know that Michael was born in 1774 and he died on July 26, 1830, based on the weathered tombstone situated in the graveyard at St. Paul's Reformed Church in Yellow Creek, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The stone is inscribed: "In memory of Michael Eichelberger, died July 26, 1830, aged 56 years". His wife Mary, is buried nearby in a grave marked "Mary Eichelberger, departed this life January 1, 1853 in her 74th year". This cemetery originally called St. Mathews, is one of the oldest in the county.
In addition to the parents, this graveyard is final resting place for many of their descendants, in including children, grandchildren, and various in-laws. The other major resting place for Eichelbergers, in shear numbers, is the Hopewell cemetery at Sunnyside, several miles north on state Route 26.
Michael Eichelberger worked as a collier at Lemnos Forge and Furnace in the Eichelbergertown region of Hopewell Township, along the banks of Yellow Creek. The furnaces made large quantities of iron for the colonists in the area. Though sparsely populated at the turn of the nineteenth century, Bedford County was experiencing rapid growth as pioneers began to inhabit the once treacherous reaches of Penn's Woods. Only sixty years earlier, no white man lived in western Pennsylvania; the only ones who ventured there traded with the Indians and left upon completion of their business.
William Lane and Isaiah Davis had settled Yellow Creek and erected the furnace in 1801. Two miles upstream from Hopewell, it was named Lemnos, and it operated until the end of the Civil War. Records indicate that the furnace and forge were owned by John King & Company later in its existence. Iron making was a thriving business and owing to mineral resources alone int he Juniata Valley, there were by 1850 seven iron establishments in Bedford County, 32 in Blair County, 23 in Huntingdon County, and 12 in Mifflin County. As a collier, young Michael Eichelberger had acquired a certain skill for manufacturing charcoal from wood, a process of heating wood in the absence of air, preventing burning or combustion. The resulting product is charcoal which, when used in iron making, generates ‘burning' of wood or coal. Without charcoal, iron could not be smelted, nor could forging temperatures be readily attained.
Michael Eichelberger worked at the forge and furnace and established a family home for Mary and their eight children: David, John, Catherine, Fannie, Michael, James, Eli, and Alexander. Another son, Michael, died as an infant and the couple called the next-born son the same name. Eight of the children grew to adulthood, married and started their own families, almost completely within several miles of father Michael's homestead. Eichelbergertown became the name of the town because so many Eichelbergers lived there; tradition says that seven of the first nine houses were occupied by Eichelbergers.
When Michael died in 1830, Mary was left with young children still at home. Young Alexander was yet seven year of age, Eli was on ly nine, and James was less than twelve. Certainly the family members learned sacrifice at an early age, and the characteristic of self-reliance was established as they survived those years without their father.
We believe that six Eichelberger brothers remained friends of one another as adults and reasonably close to their nieces and nephews. Though their occupations and prosperities varied, there is evidence that family contact among the six sons of Michael and Mary were maintained and that each brother developed a common set of characteristics; love of family, hard work in their occupations, and respectable and even distinguished forms of citizenship.
The eight children of Michael and Mary Eichelberger achieving adulthood appear on the chart following, and include their children also, Michael and Mary's sixty-six grandchildren.
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