The Hoff / Hooff / Hof & Related Families of Weidelbach, Hesse-Nassau
The purpose of this website is to provide information from the protestant church records of the Weidelbach area as they pertain to the Hoff family and other related families, and to encourage others to find the records of their ancestors from the Weidelbach area. Since the residents of Weidelbach had no local church, their baptisms, marriages and deaths were recorded by the protestant church in nearby Bergebersbach. These records are available on microfilm from any LDS Family History Center for a nominal rental fee.
Bergebersbach and some of the neighboring towns have long since grown together and are now known as Ewersbach. Ewersbach is located about 82 kilometers to the N of Frankfurt, Germany. Weidelbach is about 5 kilometers to the SW of Ewersbach, about 8 kilometers directly N of Dillenburg and about 20 kilometers to the ESE of Siegen. The area is now in the German State of Hesse.
The Bergebersbach church records cover many of the surrounding towns such as Weidelbach, Offdiln, Mandeln, Oberroßbach, Niederroßbach and Ebersbach. Although the records often provide much more information than is found in a similar American record, the earliest baptismal records often record only the name of the father, the date of the baptism, and the names of the godparents. The name of the child and the name of the mother are frequently omitted. Nevertheless, since children at the time were usually named after a godparent, it is often possible to identify a person's baptism record based upon information from their marriage and death records. The early records are frustrating because the handwriting is difficult to read, the spelling of names is not standardized, many first names are unfamiliar to us, and abbreviations are frequently used. Nevertheless, many of the records can be read by a person who has little knowledge of German once the basic terms are mastered and the format of the record is understood.
My connection to Weidelbach is through my g-g-g-g-Grandfather, Johann Jacob Hoff. Jacob was born in Weidelbach on 7 Mar. 1751 to Johann Jost Hoof and his wife Anna Elisabeth Saalbach. Jacob had a hard life in Weidelbach; he lost his father in 1755 and his mother in 1760 when he was just nine. He was probably farmed out to relatives and by the time he reached young adulthood, emigration no doubt looked attractive. Other people from Weidelbach, Johannes Aurandt and his wife Anna Christina Hoff, had already immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1753 and settled in Berks County. Jacob immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1773 on the ship "Union" which arrived at Philadelphia on 27 Sep. The manifest listed "Johann Jacob Hoof" and "Johann Jacob Aurandt." The two were no doubt headed for Berks Co., PA, to get their start in a new country with the comfort and help of relatives and friends from Weidelbach. Jacob Hoff later served in the Revolutionary War for one year and nine months, was in a number of notable battles, and wintered with Washington's Army at Valley Forge in 1777. More information will be provided about Jacob Hoff as I develop this web site.
The Johannes Aurand(t) and wife Anna Christina Hoff who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1753 were the ancestors of the well-known radio commentator Paul Harvey, whose name is actually Paul Harvey Aurand.
Please let me hear from you if you have ancestors in the Weidelbach/Ewersbach area. I would like to know who you are, what kind of research you have done and how or if we are related. You can e-mail me by clinking on this link.
I will be adding information on Hoff marriages and deaths. Following that there will be records added for the Saalbach, Haas, Schuler, Rübsamen, Dinst, Becker, Henrich, Orthmann and Aurandt families.
Site Index
Hoff Births and Baptisms 1710 - 1739
Hoff Births and Baptisms 1740 - 1756
Hoff Births and Baptisms 1757 - 1777