Johann Jacob LEITNER (1750-1806)

2.

Johann Wilhelm LEUTNER, son of Johann Adam LEITNER and Maudlin, was born bef 1700 in Palatinate, Germany. He died in 1770 in Bethel Township, Berks Co., PA. He married Maria Elizabeth. He married Maria Elizabeth SCHIRMANN.

JOHANN WILHELM LEUTNER was probably born about 1714 - derived from actual and estimated birth years of siblings and approximate marriage date. Because Wilhelm spent his adult years in Tulpehocken Township, Lancaster/Berks County, it had been assumed that the Leutner/Leitner/Lightner family had been among the 1709ers who removed to the Tulpehocken from Scoharie, New York, but no record of the family has been found, on this side of the Atlantic, among others in that migration.

The first record found of him to date appears in the records of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Holland, PA where Wilhelm is given as a Sponsor at the 1 September 1734 baptism of Joh. Wilhelm son of Ignatius (Nathaniel) Leitner.

It's not known when Wilhelm had married, but most likely about 1735 since his eldest son, Joh. Peter, was likely born in 1736. He then begins to appear, though somewhat indirectly, in the Land records of Lancaster County: 1) On 2 April 1736, a Land Warrant was granted to Leonard Tabler for "200 Acres of Land situate in Tulpehoccen Township (whereon he has been 3 years settled) & adjoining to William Leidner in the said County of Lancaster". His name appears on surveys associated with this warrant - one made 23 June 1737 (Copied Survey Book, C-107-92) and another made at a later date (Copied Survey Book, C-107-112) - as occupant of adjoining land; 2) On a Land Warrant granted to Peter Leppo, dated 23 January 1737 [unsure if old- or new-style year], for "100 Acres of Land more or less situate between Peter Clupp & William Leydenaar in the said County of Lancaster". This property, located several tracts to the East of that in "1)" above, wasn't surveyed until 1861, when it was divided into three separate tracts. Adjoining lands on the East are labeled on the survey as "formerly William Leydenaar" and adjoining lands to the West are labeled "formerly Peter Clupp". Peter Clupp (Klob, Klopp, Glopp, &c.) also held two tracts of land bordering to the East and South of that "William Leydenaar" land. It doesn't appear that Wilhelm was ever granted a Land Warrant in his own right.

Wilhelm and Maria Elisabetha's eldest son, Joh. Peter, may have been named after one of these neighboring Peters - in which case, one may have been a baptismal sponsor and/or Maria Elisabetha's father.

"Joh. Wilhelm Leitner and his wife" were sponsors at the baptism of Maria Elisabetha Bortner 30 April 1738 at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Little Tulpehocken, near Bernville, Jefferson Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. This is circumtancial evidence for the Christian name of Wilhelm's wife, at the time, since at baptism a child was most often named for one of the sponsors. Baptisms for just five of his own children appear later, beginning in 1744, in the Stoever Record; though, son Peter, aged 21 years, was confirmed and admitted to Holy Communion at Christ Lutheran Church, Stouchsburg, Pennsylvania, on Pentecost (14 May) 1758 placing his birth in 1736 or 1737.

Additionally, William Leidner witnessed the will of Mary Tabler of Talpahalm (sic.) Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, proved in Philadelphia County March 26, 1738/39. And on the 1743 list of charter members of Christ (Tulpehocken) Luthean Church, Stouchsburg, Berks Co. was a William LEITNER. The church was formed in May, 1743 largely from former members of Ried's Lutheran which was founded about 1727.

The 1767 (1768) tax list for Tulpehocken Township, Berks, County shows William Leidner (Leydner) possessed of 100 acres, 2 (3) horses and 2 (3) head of cattle. Letters of Administration were granted at Berks County to his eldest son Peter on6 March 1770, his widow Maria Elisabetha having renounced her right to administer the estate.

Maria Elizabeth SCHIRMANN, daughter of Simon SCHIRMANN ( - ) and Catharine (c. 1693- ), was born in 1711 in Oberhuchstadt, Palz, Germany. She migrated in 1732. She and Johann Wilhelm LEUTNER had the following children:

3.

Maria Elizabeth has few details recorded about her. She and Johann Wilhelm LEUTNER had the following children:

4.

Johann Adam LEITNER was born bef 1689. He died in Lancaster Co., PA. He married Maudlin.

Biography

Johan Adam "Adam" Leitner was likely born before 1689. (This is a very rough estimate based on his being married when he emigrated from Holland in 1709.)

Emigration

On 3 July 1709, Adam Leitner, his wife Magdalena, and two children, boarded a ship in Rotterdam bound for London. They were part of a large contingent of emigrants from the Palatinate who travelled to London that summer. It has generally been assumed that the two children belonged to Adam and Magdalena, but it's possible that they were either Adam or Magdalena's younger siblings instead. [1]

Cecil County, Maryland

"Adam Lytner and Macklen his wife" next appeared in Cecil County, Maryland, where their daughter, Macklen, was born on 19 March 1716. [2]

There are several theories for how the Leitners traveled from London to Cecil County, Maryland:

•They may have arrived in New York with many other 1710 immigrants, and then made their way south to Cecil County.

•They may have come directly to Cecil County in 1710. A ship full of immigrants from the Palatinate arrived unexpectedly in Chesapeake Bay that spring, and it's possible that the Leitners were aboard.

Adam owned 100 acres in Bohemia Manor, which was a large tract of land in Cecil County located between Bohemia River and Back Creek on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. His land was on the south side of Back Creek, and is now the site of the Back Creek Golf Club. When the Mason-Dixon line was set in the 1760s, this area became part of New Castle County, Delaware. No deeds have been found for Adam purchasing or selling the land, but he is mentioned in several records:

•A 1723 Cecil County lease was for land "taken up by Adam Lightner and by him sold unto [Thomas] Bettel being part of Bohemia Manor. [3]

•A 1722 Cecil County lease to John Noackre was for land adjacent to Adam's land. [4]

A number of Cecil County residents, some of them close neighbors to Adam, moved to Leacock Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where they were again close neighbors. Several of those families intermarried with the Leitners:

•Conrad Rutter was a witness when Samuel Bayard signed his will in Cecil County in 1717. He later owned land in Lancaster County adjoining Adam's land. Four of Conrad's grandchildren married four of Adam's grandchildren.

•John Noacker leased land in Cecil County adjacent to Adam Lightner, and later owned a farm in Lancaster County several miles west of Adam.

•Henry Skiles owned land in Lancaster County a mile east of Adam.

•Jeremiah Everts owned land in Lancaster County a mile west of Adam.

•Dietrich Elrod owned land in Lancaster County 4 miles northwest of Adam.

Chester / Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

By 1725, Adam and his family had moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania, where Adam appeared in the January 1724/5 tax list. [5] He also appeared in the 1725/6 and 1726/7 tax lists.

In 1736, Magdalene acquired a warrant for 200 acres of land in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, from Anthony Prettor. (Lancaster County had been created from western Chester County in 1729.) She sold the land to her son Nathaniel in 1744. In order to create a clear title, Nathaniel had the patent confirmed on 13 March 1749. According to the document, the land was on

a Branch of Mill Creek, formerly in Chester County, now in the County of Lancaster, And Whereas the said Anthony Pretter, by Deed Poll dated the fourth Day of March 1736, granted two hundred acres … unto Maudlin Lightner, And the said Maudlin Lightner by an Indorsement on the aforesaid Deed Poll dated the Eighteenth day of January 1744 for the Consideration of the Sum of twenty Pounds granted the said Two hundred acres unto her Son Nathaniel Lightner … [6]

The land was located just north of what is now the village of Intercourse, between N. Hollander Road and N. Westview Drive, extending north from the intersection of N. Hollander Road and Diller St. The stream that runs through the property is Muddy Run, a tributary of Mill Creek, which eventually joins the Conestoga River. [7] The land survey identifies the creek as a branch of Pequea Creek, which appears to be incorrect. [8]

Adam and his wife Magdalena were sponsors at the baptism of their grandson, Ignatius Leitner, who was born 7 August 1736. The baptism took place at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Holland, Lancaster County, not long after his birth. [9] New Holland was about 5 miles north of the Leitner farm. Adam (or sometimes Joh. Adam) continued to serve as a sponsor at baptisms in New Holland through 1743, but it is not clear whether it was this Adam or his son.

Children

Provisional list of Adam and Magdalene's children:

•Nathaniel Ignatius Leitner

•Regina Leitner, m. Wilhelm Scheil, 1730, Lancaster County

•Johann Wilhelm Leitner

•Magdalen Leitner, b. 19 March 1716, St. Stephens, Cecil County, m. Martin Noecker, 1737, Lancaster County

•Susanna Leitner, m. Johann Peter Ernst, 1738, Lancaster County

•Johannes Leitner, b. 31 December 1722, St. Augustine's, Cecil County

•Johann Adam Leitner

Sources

1↑ Rotterdam Embarkation List (5th Party - partial, 1709 United Kingdom Public Record Office, National Archives, T1/119. Source: FamilySearch Person: LZP4-GF1 (Johan Adam Leitner, 1678-1736). (Accessed Feb. 2024)

2↑ St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Earleville, Cecil County, Maryland, Parish Register, Volume 1 (1687-1837), page 46. Compiled by Annie Walker Burns, 1939.

3↑ Maryland State Archives. MDLandRec (Access requires free registration.) Cecil County, Maryland, Deed Book 4 (1723-1751), page 78. (MSA CE 133-6)

4↑ Maryland State Archives. MDLandRec (Access requires free registration.) Cecil County, Maryland, Deed Book 3 (1716-1723), page 533. (MSA CE 133-5)

5↑ Chester County, Pennsylvania, Tax Rolls: 1724/5, page 35.

6↑ Pennsylvania, Patent Books, 1676-1960, Book A15, page 360. FamilySearch film #008248623, image 322 of 929.

7↑ Pennsylvania Warrantee Township Maps, Leacock Townshp, Lancaster County Records of the Land Office, RG-17, Pennsylvania State Archives.

8↑ Pennsylvania Copied Surveys (1681-1912), Book D-78, page 202. Pennsylvania, Records of the Land Office, RG-17.

9↑ Records of Pastoral Acts of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1730-1799, page 4. Translated and edited by Glenn P. Schwalm and Frederick S. Weiser, published by the Pennsylvania German Societ, 1977. FamilySearch film #1305845.

See also:

•Tracking the Early Lightner Family in America, by Paul Lightner Whitehouse, no date. Available at FamilySearch Person: LZP4-GF1 (Johan Adam Leitner): Memories (accessed Feb. 2024).

•Conrad Ritter / Rutter: Pennsylvania Pioneer, by Chris Rutter (accessed Feb. 2024).

•FamilySearch Person: LZP4-GF1 (Johan Adam Leitner)

Emigrated from Palatinate to London 1709.

To New York 1710.

To Pennsylvania 1723 (via Bohemia Manor, Maryland).

5.

Maudlin has few details recorded about her. She and Johann Adam LEITNER had the following children: