 |
 |
|
Mohler Hall of Fame |
Mohler
Country
Mohler Deeds |
Pat's Plats |
Map Links |
The Mohlers in America
Ours
is the story of the Mohlers hailing from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Tradition has it that Swiss born Ludwig Mohler, Sr. arrived in Philadelphia
on August 29, 1730 aboard the "Thistle"
from Glasgow with sons Jacob, Henry and either John or George. A monument
in the Ephrata Mohler Dunkard Church Cemetery between the tombstones of
Ludwig and his frau celebrates his arrival in America. Many sources point
to the record of Ludwig aboard ship. Baptismal,
land
and naturalization records confirm his existence in Lancaster County. The
Ludwig Mohler Reunion Committee organizes an annual family reunion held
on the third Sunday each August. Ludwig, having been the only recognized
Mohler in America born before 1720, must be the Palatine immigrant ancestor of all
Ephrata and Lancaster Mohlers and certainly the father of Henry Mohler
born 20 Jan 1728. Or was he?
Who was the father of 1728 Henry Mohler? Ludwig? Or possibly someone else? This is a very important question to most of us with Lancaster roots because it is the 1728 Henry lineage that remained in the Lancaster County area. "Is It Immigrant Henry or Ludwig Mohler ?", an article in the July 1995 issue of Mennonite Family History, discusses these brothers [if not of blood - certainly in the church].
Recorded
Lancaster County deeds [including Deed N-9]
establish that a Henry Mohler and wife Elizabeth began purchasing land
in Cocalico Twp in 1736. These purchases extend around the 140 acres warranted
to a Henry "Maler" in 1735. This Henry could not be 1728 Henry. Even if
these land deals were made in the name of a minor son, it is hard to imagine
an eight year old married man. How, then, is this Henry related to 1728
Henry?
The last land transaction with names of both Henry and Elizabeth was on 10 Jan 1763, when Henry and Elizabeth gave a portion of their estate to son Henry, Jr. [Deed N-7]. Henry, Sr.'s will, signed 22 Aug 1769 and proved 22 Sept 1769 named son Henry Mohler and friend John Landis as executors for the estate and guardians over "all my minor children until their lawful age" [Lancaster will book B-1-637]. On 14 April 1774, a court hearing was held at the house of Henry Mohler. Henry Mohler and John Landis, executors for the estate of Henry Mohler, Sr., gave money to Martin, John, Elizabeth and Susanna [Orphans Court Record, April 1774]. On 9 July 1774, Martin, who has evidently come of age, received his inherited land [Deed S-33]. This deed reads: "And whereas the said Henry Mohler one of the Executors in the said last Will named died before the said Deed was executed whereby the sole Power of Executing the said Deed or Titles for the said lands is now vested in the said John Landis party hereto."
From other records including execution of his will, we know that the Henry born 20 Jan 1728 died 20 April 1774. 1728 Henry was alive on 14 April 1774 and died before 9 July 1774. This evidence strongly suggests that 1728 Henry was Henry, Jr., son of Henry, Sr. - not son of Ludwig.
Most recently we found evidence that Henry, Sr. arrived in America before Ludwig. Page 37 of "A New Index Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Before Federal Census, Volume 4", by Gary T. Hawbaker and Clyde L. Groff, records Henry Moler paying taxes at the Conistogoe rate in 1726 - four years before Ludwig's 1730 arrival. This Henry certainly was not Ludwig's son.
Several researchers, working independently the last few years have come to the conclusion that 1728 Henry was the son of Henry, Sr., not Ludwig - as tradition led us to believe. In a report, dated 1922, found recently in the Tipp City, Ohio Studebaker Family Foundation, genealogist Lawrence Brainerd reached the same conclusion. Most notable of the current day researchers is Ned Mohler Drees. Our hard working colleague is completing a book focusing on the line of 1728 Henry Mohler and wife Elizabeth Landis.
For those Mohlers who were looking for Ludwig, fear not, he is here too. Anna Catharine Mohler, who we believe was Ludwig's daughter, married John Landis, Jr. [son of Ephrata John]. 1728 Henry Mohler's wife was John, Jr.'s sister Elizabeth Landis. We also captured some of the data from J M Hacker's ged2html pages before they disappeared from the Web. These links depict the lineage of Ludwig Mohler, Jr., a true son of Ludwig.
Other sources of Mohler genealogy include: C C Moler's book, Mohler/Moler Genealogy focused on the lineage of George Adam Mohler (another known son of Ludwig), Cora Garber Dunning's 1921 work, Ludwig Mohler and his Descendants, and Louise Martin Mohler's book, The Mohler Family of Ohio.
We give special thanks to Sherry Koshney for honoring our page with her A Passage in Time Award Of Excellence. Visit Sherry's very beautiful and informative A Passage in Time.
We also want to acknowledge the hard work and to honor the memory of Don Mohler. His notebook passed on to Betty inspires our search for all the Ephrata Mohler descendants and the record of Henry, Sr.'s arrival in America.
|
|
Lance Mohler mohlerl@ix.netcom.com |
|
|
General Genealogy Links
Pennsylvania Dutch & Mohler Related Links
Palatine & Pennsylvania-Dutch Genealogy
Maps
 Mohlers
Church |
Mohler
Country |
| Early
Pennsylvania Map Collection |
East
Cocalico Map c1790 |
| Vicinity
MapBlast! Map Launcher Page |
Stanford
U. Searchable Map Gopher |
| U.S.
Gazetteer |
USGS
Mapping Information |
Los Angeles Area Libraries
| Welcome
to Los Angeles Public Library |
Torrance
Public Library Home Page |
| Redondo
Beach Public Library |
MCLS
Member Libraries |
Thanks for stopping by. You're visitor
Don't
forget to sign our Guest Book! |
 |
GenePool |
This
GenePool
Ring site is
owned by Lance Mohler.
Prev | Skip It | Next 5 | Random | Next Want to join the ring?Click here. |
Next Site |