Although his father was Catholic, Jacob was raised as a Lutheran. Apparently after Georg died, his widow took the children from Dorf Erbach back to her home of Bad K�nig (known at that time simply as "K�nig"). There she must have resumed her old faith and brought up her children in the Lutheran church as well.
Jacob married in Bad K�nig on 13 Aug 1726 to Anna Margaretha Barbara Eichelbauer. The marriage record tells that he was a master shoemaker. It also mentions that the father of each had already died:
On 13 Aug 1726 Master Johann Jacob Zettelmeyer, shoemaker in K�nig, legitimate son of the deceased Beysitzer Georg Zettelmeyer in Dorf Erbach, and Anna Margaretha Barbara, legitimate left-behind daughter of Johannes Eichelbauer deceased, formerly a miller and citizen here in K�nig.Jacob and Anna Margaretha Barbara's first recorded child was Johann Georg Zettelmeyer, who was born 3 Sep 1735 in K�nig. While it is likely that there were other children born after his 1726 marriage but before this child in 1735, I have no record of them at this time. This record tells us that Jacob had relocated from Erbach to K�nig.
The K�nig church records disclose the names of eight children born to Jacob and Anna Margaretha Barbara:
Jacob and his family left Germany in 1751 for the New World, arriving at Philadelphia on 24 Sep 1751 aboard the ship Neptune. The passenger list indicates that Jacob made a mark for his signature. His son Georg was sick on board and made no effort to sign.
Name Born Christened Godparents/Sponsors Johann Georg 3 Sep 1735 5 Sep 1735 Johann Georg ---- Johan Peter 20 May 1737 23 May 1737 Hans Peter Gebhard [from Vielbrun] Friedrich 16 Sep 1738 17 Sep 1738 Friedrich ---- [Sigmund?] Anna Margaretha 20 Oct 1739 23 Oct 1739 Anna Margaretha, wife of Leonard Straub [from�Rimhorn] Anna Maria 18 Jun 1744 20 Jun 1744 Anna Maria Kuhl Adam 7 Dec 1745 2 Dec 1745 Adam Bechtold [from K�nig] Anna Maria 3 Feb 1748 4 Feb 1748 Anna Maria, wife of Tobias K�nig [a shoe-maker in Brensbach] Jacob 23 Jul 1750 26 Jul 1750 Jacob Kuhl
Jacob and Anna Margaretha Barbara also had children born after they arrived in America. There are baptismal records for some but not all of them: George Adam, Godfrey and Elizabeth (identified in his will) have no baptismal record that has been located to date. But two sons do have baptismal records:
So it appears that there were at least 13 children born to the immigrant couple. Some probably died in childhood, but to date I do not have that information.
Name Born Christened Godparents/Sponsors Hans Adam ? 30 Mar 1755 Adam Luckenbild and wife Johann Martin 22 Apr 1757 27 Jun 1757 Johann Martin Rausch and wife, Catharina
These records are quite interesting and raise several questions. First, were there other children born in the nine years between their marriage and the birth of Johann Georg? Logic suggests there were. Perhaps they were living in some other town for a few years. Second, why did they name two children Anna Maria? The first one most likely died shortly after birth, but it is possible that both lived and were called by different names (although I seriously doubt it). Third, what became of Adam? Berks Co PA church records show that Hans Adam was born to the couple in 1755. Perhaps Adam died as a child and Hans Adam was the person who moved to Burke Co NC. Fourth, was Johann Georg the same as Georg Zettelmeyer who was listed as on board the ship when Jacob came to America in 1751? He was the right age to have been listed by name. And he may be the child listed in Jacob's will that I thought might have been an error, in that Hans Adam was omitted.
The records sometimes provide as much frustration as they do satisfaction. For example, when a widower marries, the records do not mention his former wife's name nor the names of his parents. The man's parents are listed for a first marriage. A widowed woman who remarries does not have her parents listed, but her former husband's name is given.
Another item of interest is that when Jacob's son Johann Martin was born in Berks Co PA in 1757, Johann Martin Rausch was a godparent. Martin Rausch was also a witness to Jacob's will in 1774. He and his wife came from Brensbach and Nieder Kainsbach, a few miles west of K�nig. Martin was born in Ober Kainsbach.
Armed with this naming pattern information, an analysis of the Johann Jacob Zettelmeyer and Anna Margaretha Barbara Eichelbauer children with each of the three naming patterns applied. I have reordered the children in light of several factors:
Often the youngest child was the one left at home to take care of aging parents, and that may account for his being mentioned so prominently in the will. I am not certain that he was the youngest, but he may have been the last son at home. An analysis of the census information indicates that he was born between 1750 and 1755, assuming those entries were correct. (I do not know where he is buried nor what dates are shown on his tombstone.) Smoke Church in Berks Co PA was not organized until 1756, and the birth records for children before that date were likely kept by the minister who baptized them. Rev. Daniel Schumacher's records include Hans Adam and Johann Martin in 1755 and 1757, and I have considered that Johann Martin may have been the last son born. Otherwise I would expect the Smoke Church records to include later-born children.
- the German birth records
- the 1840 Cambria Co PA census marginal notation that indicated that Godfrey Settlemire was age 88 (and thus born about 1752)
- information from a descendant that Godfrey was born 14 May 1752 and died 27 Apr 1842
- re-analysis of census information on George Adam
Of the three patterns, Pattern A comes closest to matching the results of this family. If these are all of the children and if this order of birth is accurate, then we may be able to determine, at least partially, that another naming pattern was used:
Name Yr Born Named For Result Johann George 1735 F's F Johann Georg Zettelmeyer Johan Peter 1737 M's F Johannes Eichelbauer Friedrich 1738 F's oldest brother? Anna Margaretha 1739 M's M Margaretha Lang? Anna Maria 1744 F's M Anna Maria D�rffler Adam 1745 F's F's F ? Anna Maria 1748 F's M Anna Maria D�rffler Jacob 1750 F Johann Jacob Zettelmeyer Godfrey 1752 M's F's F? Elisabetha 1753? M's oldest sister? George Adam 1753? ? Hans Adam 1755 ? Johann Martin 1757 ?
That pattern appears to be as follows:
Sons named after Daughters named after 1 father's father mother's mother 2 mother's father father's mother 3 ? reused 4 ? ? 5 father mother 6 ? 7 ?
Whatever naming pattern was used, it seems clear that the second daughter, named Anna Maria, died before the third daughter was born. As a result, the third daughter was also named Anna Maria.