Saturday, August 17, 2013

Surname Saturday: Knauff, how many ways can that be spelled?

Ugh. Knauff. I know that you can anticipate a number of variations on that name that should be searched, thus slowing down the whole parade. But never mind, because here it is Saturday once more and time for my all-time fav blogging blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday. On this day we explore another line going back in time on Mom's Big Tree.

We're into the 4th great grandmothers now, with the previous grandmother and their surname lines already covered in earlier posts. If you're curious if we're related, and I do hope you might be, just type a surname into the handy search box there on the right hand column under the surname graphic at the top:)

This line reaches back to the Pennsylvania Palatinates who came over to the New World looking for religious freedom and a better life. Of German roots, this group and their story is fascinating. Here's a link to Wikipedia. And of course as you might know if you have any ancestors from this area, these folks are included in the moniker, Pennsylvania Dutch. Many of them came into the port of Philadelphia throughout the 1700s, but that's a long story for another time. Our bunch mostly came that way and landed around York, PA and on down into Maryland and as far west as Frederick. It was good farm land they were after. They found it in abundance and a new life with religious freedom and economic prosperity.

As I work my way back on branches of Mom's Big Tree, I notice over and over again how important land has been to my ancestors. I've come to see that it's one of the main themes of my heritage.


1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly
(1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, that's Mom, living and loving it!

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly (1892 - 1969)
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller (1894 - 1985)

8. Francis Patrick Kelly (1854 - 1923)
9. Christiana Eckhart (1861 - 1932)
18. John Eckhart (1831 - 1917)
19. Mary Myers  (1837 - 1909)

38. Jacob Myers (1789 - 1852)
39. Christiana Newans (1811 - 1865)
They had these children:
Margaret Myers (1835 - ????)
19. Mary Myers Eckhart (1837 - 1909)
Chrissie Myers ( about 1840 - ????)
Thomas F. Myers (1841 - before 1920)
Laura Myers (1845 - ????)
Thomas F. Myers most likely wrote himself and had published a small book, The Ancestral History of Thomas F. Myers, which you can see by clicking on the tab above. (Thomas was the younger brother of Mary Myers Eckhart.)

78. Thomas Newans (1780 - 1825)
79. Mary Knauff (1780 - 1841)
Thomas and Mary died before the juicy censuses were taken. Bummer.
They had the following children:
39. Christiana Newans (1811 - 1865)
John Thomas Newins (1808 - ????)

158. Adam Knauff (1761 - 1794)
159. Eva Christina Keplinger (1760 - 1815)
Adam was born in Littleston, York, Pennsylvania, and was the last of his siblings to be born there, the last two being born in Frederick County, Maryland. Eva Christina was born in Frederick County, Maryland. How and when they met is unknown to me, but it seems likely that they were both of the same faith and proximity.
Mom has it in her deep notes that she saw that Adam Knauff served in the Revolutionary War, 4th Company, Benjamin Ogle, Capt. Now that this sort of thing is more easily researched online, it's time to do so. He would have only been 15 but that's not impossible, especially if he fought in the later years.
They raised these children:
William Kepplinger (1778 - ?) and was the stepson to Adam Kanauff from Eva Christina's previous marriage.
79. Mary Knauff (1780 - 1841)
Jacob Knauff (1787 - 1867). He married Deborah Phillips and fought in the War of 1812.
Adam Kanuff Jr. (1793 - 1798)

316. Johann Heinrich Knauff (about 1713 - about 1777)
317. Maria Margaretha Mittelkauff (about 1727 - 1780)
Johan Heinrich, Mom's notes indicate, immigrated to Philadelphia, PA about 1743 at age 30 with his brother Anthonius. Quite an adventure! He met Maria Margaretha here and they married about 1743. Both were born in Germany, Johann in Machheim,Kinchheim, Boland, Palantinate,  and his lovely wife, Maria Margaretha in Wachenheom, Pfalz, Barvaria.
They had these 11 children:
John Jacob Knauff (about 1744 - 1803). He married Elizabeth Dern.
Susanna Knauff (1746 - ?)
Johannes Knauff (1748 - 1833) He first married Judith Sullivan and then at her demise, he married Maria Ottilla.
Peter Knauff (about 1760 -?) He married Julia Sullivan. Look at that: brothers marrying sisters?
Johan Heinrich Knauff (1751 - after 1830) He married Mary Ann Wile.
Catherine Knauff (1753 - ?)
Elizabeth Knauff (1755 - ?)
158. Adam Knauff (1761 - 1794)
Mary Knauff (1762 - ?)
Ann Knauff (1763 - )

632. Johannes Knauff  (1682 - 1746)
633. Susanne Armknecht (1688 - 1723)
This happy couple were both born in Bavaria, and some day soon I'm going to go look at a map of their townlands and see where they hail from. They had these children:
Lorentz Knauff (1711 - 1777) He married Maria Magdelina Sultzen.
316. Johann Heinrich Knauff (about 1713 - about 1777)
Johann Adam Knauff (1715-?)
Anthonius Knauff (1721 - ?) Where did this brother go once he came to the New World with his brother, Johann? That's a topic to investigate!
Johannes Knauff (1725 - ?)

Well, that's the end of the line for our Knauff ancestors. Some fine day in the future, when I've had some time to learn about researching German records, and these ancestors are German Lutherans to boot, I'll hit this bunch again. Looking forward to it:)


The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/08/surname-saturday-knauff-how-many-ways.html


4 comments:

  1. Hi..Stacey Knouff Smith here (from Tennessee) This is my family and I'm a descendant of John Knouff...as it was written in the immigration records and he kept that spelling because that's still how we spell it. Here's the family tree from online, but Dad checked it against his own docs handed down and this is it:

    Johannes Knauff, 1748 - 1833
    Johannes Knauff was born on month day 1748, at birth place, Pennsylvania, to Johan Heinrich Knauff and Maria Margaretha Knauff (born Mittelkauf).
    Johan was born in 1713, in Marnheim, Kirchheim-Boland, Palantinate, Bavaria.
    Maria was born in 1727, in Wachenheim, Pfalz, Bavaria.
    Johannes had 8 siblings: Catharine Knauff, Elizabeth Knauff and 6 other siblings.
    Johannes married Judith Knauff (born Sullivan) on month day 1779, at age 31 at marriage place, Maryland.
    Judith was born on October 10 1755, in Ev Lutheran Ch, Frederick, Frederick, Maryland.
    They had 4 children: Jacob Knouf and 3 other children.
    Johannes married Anna Maria Knauff (born Ottillia).
    Anna was born circa 1752, in Christ Ref Ch, Germany Twp, York, Pennsylvania.
    They had 6 children: John Knouff, Johann Adam Knauff and 4 other children.
    Johannes passed away on month day 1833, at age 85 at death place, Pennsylvania.
    He was buried in month 1833, at burial place, Pennsylvania.

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  2. My bunch apparently became Anabaptists and Mennonites.."Church of the Dunkards" (one dunk for God, one dunk for Jesus and one dunk for the Holy Spirit) I'm not sure how they got that from the Bible! Anyhow..the ones that migrated down here from Ohio and Indianna during the 1800's became Baptists and Church of Christ (not Morman, similiar to Baptists) They went to Alabama.

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    Replies
    1. No, Church of the Brethren and people called them the "Dunkards" sorry! There is something about that church in your link to Wiki's Palatines. We saw an old photo of members of an American church and they were dressed like Mennonites. I am beginning to be curious about the origins of the name...Dad said it meant the Pommel of a sword and they did the engravings on the pommels of swords, but now the name means knob, button and pommel. Supposedly, the Knaufs came into the Netherlands and Germany from Flanders..invaded from the North as Saxons/Vikings. Anyhow, it would be nice to know more!

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  3. I have spent hours researching and apparently my family may have descended from Anthonius. My gggg-grandfather is Jacob Anthony Knouff and Jacob apparently came to America from York, Germany (now the Netherlands). I don't think Anthonius immigrated to America, but it's possible, just can't find a record of it online. Anyhow...funny how everyone on the planet is eventually related somehow, some way.

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