Martinis
Eichenberg (ca. 1701 - ?)
Background Information
When the Peter Eichenberg genealogical record was published in 1955 1 it was thought that Peter was the immigrant progenitor of his family line. Nearly thirty years after the publication of his family record, the researcher Hank Jones 2 discovered that Peter was, in fact, a native America and that his parents, Martinis and Anna Maria (Dorn) Eichenberg were in America about 1725. It was at that time that the couple joined the Reformed church in New York City.
Sometime between the early 1730's and 1745 Martinis and his family left New York and found their way to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 3. It was there that his son, Peter went from a "poor inmate" (ie. he did not own property and was a man of little means) to acquiring patented land amounting to 100 acres. Peter eventually left the Lancaster area and first moved to Virginia. From there he, along with several of his family members, migrated westward to Ohio where Peter died in 1812. His surname was, over time, changed to a variety of spellings, most of which are unrecognizable as having their origins in "Eichenberg" and range from Eikenbary to Eikenberry to Ikenberry. Many of these families have been well documented and appear in the Peter Eichenberg genealogical record. In order to comply with copyright laws, that record is not to be found in its entirety on this web site. (Much of the record can be found on other web sites; links to those sites are listed on the Martinis Eichenberg main page). What is included on this site is the result of my personal of the family in Lancaster County as well as independent work by other researchers who have sumitted their data to me.
The question remains: what became of Peter Eichenberg's eight siblings? It is very possible that some did not survive to adulthood. But at least one, Johannes (John) born in 1727, appears to have been a resident of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania 4 and in the same locale as where his brother, Peter, owned patented land. This family has been dubbed by this writer as "The Eichelbergers of Cocalico Township" and data is included on this site (click HERE)
JoAnn Eichelberger Bauer
Endnotes:
1. Ikenberry, Charles S. and W. Lewis Eikenberry; A History and Genealogy of Peter Eichenberg Family in the U.S.A.; Church Center Press, Myerstown, PA.; 1955. 2. Jones, Hank, The Palatine Families of New York; publisher and dt. unknown; a discussion of the Martinis Eichenberg family was published in the Fellowship of Brethren Genealogists Newsletter; Vol. 15; No. 1; Spring, 1983; p. 3-4.
3. Lancaster Co., PA. Deed Book B, Vol. 1, p. 344: 10 Jun 1746: Jacob Huber and wf., Elizabeth, of Warwick Twp., to Henry Dehrdorf of Warwidk Twp: 170 acres of patented land in Warwick Twp. One of the witnesses was "Martinnus Aigenberg."
4. To read about the Eichelberger families of Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania click HERE