A romantic novel trilogy using our family name

Today on the lighter side of genealogy: I found a romance author, Naomi Troyer, who publishes her tales against an Amish background. That makes it probably interesting for a particular audience, who is interested in that particular lifestyle and their approach to life and love. The funny thing now is, that one trilogy series of her novels uses the Eymann family name to weave its web. You can find the Eymann family trilogy on the Amazon website at https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B0B3SNBZWJ?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi. But please keep in mind: that is all romance and fantasy, and nothing of the data in these novels resembles anything from the real genealogy! The author just uses the family name; there is no Lucas Eymann in our tree...

Jacob Eyman in the Revolutionary War

Found this on https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/11391888?h=f27e81 and had to replicate for posterity. Thank you, Gregory Eyman, for putting it all together and online.

Notes for Jacob Eymann (Eiman):

Jacob (1725) Eiman lived in Donnersburg, Germany prior to his immigration (this is a possible residence) between 1730-1749. He lived in Philadelphia Twp, Pa in 1749. He immigrated to the U.S. on the "St. Andrews" from Rotterdam, Netherlands, stopping in Plymouth, England; arrived in Philadelphia. Name listed as Jacob Eiman on 9 Sept 1749. He lived in Bethel Twp, Lancaster (now Daupin) Co., PA: a Jacob Eighman is listed in 1771. He served in the military in Bet 1775-1784, Nov or Dec 1775 (Enlisted as a Private in the Lancaster Co. militia under Capt. James Murray's Company, Col. James Burd's Fourth Battalion of Lancaster County.

9 Sept 1949 upon arrival in America, Jacob moved several times. It is unclear whether he brought his wife or met and married her in PA, although a 1864 genealogy of Peter Eyman indicates that they were married in 1746 before immigration. Jacob took a land partnership with Jacob Raeif (farmeer and distiller)in Upper Paxtang Twp.. Lancaster (now Dauphin) Co., PA. The warrent that interest had been paid on that hundred acres along Clark's Creek since 1770. The land was not surveyed nor was the land grant formalized until August of 1787, after which, it seems that the land was sold between then and 1801 to a Jacob Hutts. The 1787 warrent suggest that the land adjoined grants for James Manama, Ludwig Melsher (various spellings noted, although Ludwig used Minsker.Historians often refer to him as Maksker. Many stories are written of him.) Thomas Carn (sometimes called Kern) and James McNamara, who like the Eymans, served as a private in James Burd's Battalion, although McNamara served under Captain James Cowden. By 1787 McNamara had sold his property to Ludwig Mansker. Between 1787 and 1800, a William Clark had taken possession of the lands earlier owned by Thomas Kern (Carn/Cairn) adjacent to the lands previously of the Eyman/Raief warrent. Most likely this was the Clark after whom the valley and creek were named. This is one of the famous William Clarks of which there are three of that family who served America in many capacities.

While Jacob and his family lived in the area, Upper Paztang settlers were often attacked in Indian raids. Adjacent to the Eyman property was a John Elder (listed in 1779 Upper Paztang tax rolls). John was a preacher of the gospel and developed a Donegal Presbytery, which subsequently divided off to a Paxtang congregation. He took his "leadership of the flock" seriously and provided direction of political and military affairs as well as spiritual ones. In the face of the Indian difficulties he trained some of his congregation as scouts. He superintended the disipline of his men and mounted rangers, who became widely known as the "Paxtang Boys". During two summers at least, in the early 1760s, his parishioners went to church armed. The settlers were perplexed and angry by the lack of action on the part of the Quaker politicians and took steps of their own, which alarmed many and provoked widespread discussion. During the later part of the summer of 1763, amny murders were committed, culminating in the distruction of the Indians on Conestoga Manor at Lancaster. Although the men who exterminated the Indians were thought to have been part of the Paxtang Boys, it was never proven that Rev. Elder had previous knowledge of the plot, though Quaker pamphleteers of the day charged him with aiding and abetting those who took part in these acts. The Quaker authorities denounced the frontiersmen as "riotous and murderous Irish Presbyterians". John Elder took sides with the border inhabitants and sought to condone the deeds as noted in his many writings afterwards.

The "Paxtang Boys Affair" is seen by some quarters as having influenced the onset of the revolutio. In 1774 meetings were held in different townships, the resolvesof only two of which are preserved. The earliest was that of an assembly of the inhabitants of Hanover(now Dauphin). These "Hanover Resolves" struck a note of safeguarding liberty and a committe was nominated to act on the general populations behalf, asemergencies may require. Elected to that committee was the William Clark mentioned earlier.

30 June 1775bduring a Parliamentary Assembly of PA, deputies, it was resolved "That this House approves the association entered into by the good people of this colony for the defense of their lives, liberties, and property". A Committee of Safety, consisting of 25 citizens, was appointed and authorized to call into active service such number of the "associators" as they may deem proper. Organizations of "associators" were formed in most, if not all, the counties. The committee organized July 3rd by the choice of Benjamin Franklin, president. Congress, July 18, recommended that all able bodied effective men between sixteen and fifty years of age should immediately form themselves into companies of militia to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, one clerk, one drummer, one fifer, and about sixty-eight privates. The companies to be formed into regiments or battalions, officered with a colonel... Congress, June 14, 1775, authorized the raising of six companies of expert fiflemen in PA, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia to join the army near Boston. On the 22nd the "Colony of Pennsylvania" was directed to raise two more companies making eight in all, which were to be formed into a battalion. Lancaster County furnished two companies instead of one... This battalion was the first unit raised in the area. This description is offerd  to provide a basis for how and why Troops were enlisted in the area and it serves as a prelude to the later formation of the 4th Battalion, which also included men of Lancaster Co., among which were the Eyemans .

Nov or Dec 1775 Jacob and his sons Jacob, Jr. and Christian volunteered in the militia, quite early and before strong pressures of muster began in 1776. Important items to note are that the Eymans were not serving with German speakers, but with neighbors who were of predominately Scottish and Irish backgrounds. This company of vounteers was among the veery first in the area and in the nation to get into the field battle. They also seem not to have been concerned about fighting to protect the community based on religious restrictions. There is some evidence that they avoided some subsequent calls to duty, with both Jacob (Jr. ?) and Christian paying fines. Son Peter Eyman enlisted around 1781 also serving under Captain James Murray.

13 Mar 1776 a return of Captain James Murray's (b. 1729 d. 15 Feb 1804 Dauphin Co., PA) company of Associators of the Fourth Battalion (Revolutionary Roll Records - PA. Jacket No. 71) of Lancaster County, commanded by Colonel James Burd (b. 10 Mar 1726 - Ornistan, Scotland d. 1795-98 Lancaster, PA.) (partial list as follows:) First Lieutenant; Peter Sturgeon; Second Lieutenant: John Simpson; Ensign: John Ryen; Privates:...Eyeman, Christopher , Eyeman, Jacob , Eyeman, Jacob ...

Captain Murray was captured by the British at the battle of Long Island, NY in 1776 (possobly held on a British prison-ship and later released (5 months) in aprisoner exchange along with others captured in that engagement, including Maj. William Henderson). Willian Bell, Sr. promoted to Captain, serving in the retreat from Brooklyn, Harlem Heights, Fort Lee. His company was then surprised at Fort Washington, a horrific loss for the Patriots with many killed and captured, including crucial weapons and supplies. A detailed accounting was later provided listing the loss of guns, powder horns and blankets. Jacob and or his son Jacob, Jr. is said to have suffered the loss of pouch and horn during this engagement on 16 Nov 1776 ("the reduction of Fort Washington"). Affirmation of the losses certified by Capt. James Cowden 8 Aug 1777.

Jacob, Jacob, Jr. and Christian are noted to have participated in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, NJ. They accompanied General George Washington during the famous crossing of the partiaaly frozen Delaware river on Christmas night, 25 Dec. 1776 daring a surprise raid on the Hessian mercenary encampment in Trenton. With only a portion part of his planned forces, the remainder either unable to make the crossing or not in time, Washington determined to press on with the attack on the morning of the 26th, catching the unsuspecting German's fully off guard as hoped, duled into a false sense of security resulting from their previous days Christmas celebration, completely routing the enemy and winning a much needed critical victory for Washington and his troops. The Patriots recrossed the river back into PA., but Washington, upon discovering that the British were sending a reactionary force against him from their position in Princeton, immediately reformed his forces,  crossing over once more into Trenton then marched a parallel path towards Princeton in an attempt to perform a flanking attack against the rear guard of the very forces that were indeed being sent towards him. Washington and his highly outnumbered troops out-manoeuvered their foes, scoring another successive victory, this time against the shocked British, 3 Jan 177.

6 Nov 1778 Jacob Eyeman (Eylman) signed an Oath of Allegiance in Town of Lancaster, Lancaster Co. He is also shown that year as Jacob Eyman in the Military card file. Signing this type of oath was often required of foreign born soldiers. In 1793 there is an apparent Dauphin Co., PA record of Letters of Administration for a settlement of jacob's estate granted for his wife Catherine Emen to Jacob Emen (Jr.). Once completed it appears that Jacob Jr. left to join his brothers in Hardy Co., VA (now WV).

Catherine Shaver emigrated from the U>S> with husband, Jacob Eymann on 9 Sept 1749.

Loose Strands

Some days ago, after having received a fresh backup of the genealogical data from Wolfgang, I took up research again. Trying to avoid Anc* and MyHe* for uploading the fresh data, so that everybody in the family can benefit from the data without having to pay for it, I discovered Wikitree.  However, Wikitree does not allow me to upload GEDCOM, and it requires to give proper sources for each data entered.

Familysearch does also have a new and better look, and thus I turned there to get some credible source material. My main interest currently is to better sort out who emigrated from Steffisburg, and who was left back. We know from Ernst Müllers "Geschichte der bernischen Täufer" that 1671 a large group of 700 anabaptists emigrated, and that Hans, Hans and Ulrich Eymann were part of that group. What we don't know, is how they were related to each other (current guess is that Hans and Hans were father and son, and Ulrich is a brother of the father).

So I turned to Familysearch to check for Eymann entries in official documents in the 1600s in Switzerland. There are only 4 entries. Disappointing. Let us check again, and relax the writing of the name; at that time, only a few people could write and they would note the name as they heard it. Let's try for Eiman, in the 1600s. Success! There are several entries in Steffisburg! We have one name we already know, that is Hans Eiman b.1623 m. Anna Opliger. And we have Hans Eiman b. 1630 m. Katharina Roth. Which one is the Hans who emigrated? The entries here are for child baptism's; were they anabaptists, or not?


Out of curiosity, I tried to search for the first sources for Germany. I expected to find the first Swiss emigrant's children in Ibersheimer Hof or Sioner Hof for about 1670s/1680s, and some Alfhausen Eymann's some time earlier. Imagine my surprise, when I found an entry for the baptism of Anna Eymann, b. 1585, in a small town near Stuttgart. Does that mean that there is another family with the same surname in Germany, or is that an earlier emigration?

Links to available books on Swiss and Palatine genealogy and emigration

Julius Billeter (ca. 1900): A collection of Swiss surnames, http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/sursou-e.htm#Billeter

Albert B. Faust (1920): Lists of Swiss emigrants in the eighteenth century to the American colonies (1920), https://archive.org/details/listswissemigrant01fausrich

Daniel I. Rupp (1927), A collection of upwards of thirty thousand names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727-1776 ... = Chronologisch geordnete Sammlung von mehr als 30,000 Namen von Einwanderern in Pennsylvanien aus Deutschland, der Schweiz, Holland, Frankreich u. a. St. von 1727 bis 1776 ... (1927): https://archive.org/details/collectionofupwa00rupp


William J. Krehbiel (1953): History of one branch of the Krehbiel family. https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE84567&from=fhd

Olga A. Hirschler (1966): The Altleiningen Krebills 1730-1966. A genealogical and historical report. http://www.mdhervey.com/xtra_pages/archive/KREBILL/KREBILL.PDF

Many more books can be found at the Family History Books library of the FHL.Searching for Eymann yields the following list: https://books.familysearch.org/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?fn=search&ct=search&mode=Basic&tab=default_tab&indx=1&dum=true&srt=rank&vid=FHD_PUBLIC&frbg=&vl%28freeText0%29=Eymann

A noteworthy author is Henry C. Smith (https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Smith%2C+C.+Henry%2C+1875-1948%22), who was a professor at Goshen College and wrote books on the history of the Mennonites in the US and in general. The link above will lead you to "The Mennonites of America" (1909) and "The Mennonites - A brief history" (1920).

 Of particular interest for me (working in academia), was how many other fellow genealogists have written books about their own Palatine families, and taken text parts to describe historical situations from each other. I am myself guilty (in an earlier post) to have used text from Kraig Ruckel, who very poetically described the situation shortly after 1700, when William Penn came to the Palatinate to hire immigrants for the newly founded Pennsylvania. If you look for the beginning sentence "The winter of 1708-1709 was very long and cold in the Rhineland", you find many websites and books from fellow genealogists: https://www.google.de/search?q=The+winter+of+1708-1709+was+very+long+and+cold+in+the+Rhineland&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&client=firefox-a&channel=nts&gfe_rd=cr&ei=3qgaVIqpGs6POuSEgcgM#rls=org.mozilla:de:official&channel=nts&q=%22The+winter+of+1708-1709+was+very+long+and+cold+in+the+Rhineland%22

Links to online obituaries

Always a good source of biographical information, obituaries get increasingly published. Some of these will be linked in this post.

An obituary for Commander Raymond P. Eyman, who served at NOAA 1915-1947.

An obituary for Jacob S. Eyman, Halstead, Kansas, d. June 29, 1916, and a record entry for Joseph L. Eyman, El Dorado, Kansas, from “A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans”, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918; transcribed 1997.

Biographical Information on Walter C. Eymann, 1907

Provided by Linda Carter, great-granddaughter of Walter C. Eymann.

History of the State of California and an Extended History of its Southern Coast Counties. By James Miller Guinn, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1907 . Calif. State Library History Room (RR). Call Number: [Alcove] 979.4G9 – 2 – Book NC. Eymann, Walter C Page 1782

WALTER C. EYMANN. Prominent among the highly esteemed and influential citizens of Ocean Park is Walter C. Eymann, a practical business man and a leading real-estate dealer, who has been an important factor in promoting the rapid growth of this beautiful coast city, and a liberal contributor towards the establishment of its varied enterprises. Distinguished not only as a native-born son of California, but for the honored ancestry from which he traces his lineage, he occupies a conspicuous position in the annals of Los Angeles county, and no person is more worthy than he of representation in a work of this kind. A son of Charles F. Eymann, M.D., he was born November 3, 1867, in Anaheim, Orange county. The Eymann family has long been prominent in Germany, among its members being doctors, lawyers and merchants of distinction, one of its members having served as court physician to the Czar of Russia.

A native of Germany, Charles F. Eymann was born, reared and educated in Oldenburg, the home of many of his ancestors. Immigrating to the United States when a young man, he continued his studies in the medical college at Cincinnati, Ohio. Subsequently going overland to California, he engaged in mining and prospecting with unusual success, amassing a fortune. As banks were unsafe in those days it was customary to bury money; one day he returned and was bitterly disappointed to find that some one had visited the spot where he had secreted his wealth, and robbed him. Afterwards settling in San Francisco, he built up a substantial business as a merchant, and became a large property owner. He married Amalia Hammes, whose father, Philip Hammes, immigrated to San Francisco from Germany in 1856, and there followed his trade of watchmaker, clockmaker and jeweler until his removal to Anaheim with the original German colony.

Leaving school when about sixteen year of age, Walter C. Eymann assumed charge of the vineyard of thirty-three acres, managing it successfully until the destruction of the vines by a disease that killed all of the vineyards of that locality and ruined the wine industry. He subsequently took a course of study at Heald’s Business College, after which he was a resident of San Francisco for two and one-half years, being employed as collector, salesman and bookkeeper, first for Hueter Brothers, and later for the Bass-Hueter Paint Company. Going then to Europe, he visited a favorite aunt at the home of his ancestors, after which he traveled extensively on the continent, visiting the principal art galleries, and other places of interest.

On returning to California, Mr. Eymann settled near Anaheim, on land left him by his father, and at once began its improvement, in the course of a few years developing a valuable walnut grove. He built a fine house and substantial farm buildings, making noteworthy improvements. This place he sold in November,1904, realizing a handsome profit from his expenditure of time and money. Coming to Ocean Park, he bought the Summerheim flats, which he has since managed, and continued in the real-estate business, with which he had previously been associated for three years. In the spring of 1905 he opened a real-estate office in the city of Los Angeles, but this he abandoned when the beach cities began to show signs of life and activity and has since maintained and office on ocean front. He not only deals in Southern California property, but also handles northern lands, owning property in the San Joaquin valley and Tulare county.

Mr. Eymann is a man of great inventive talent as well as a business man of ability. In 1895 he received from the United States government a patent that he then possessed, it being a valuable invention utilizing a combination of goal and gas ranges. In introducing it to the public he traveled over one-half of the states of the Union, and from the royalty now given him by its manufacturers, the J. L. Mott Iron Works Company, of New York City, he receives a good annual income. He also has other incomplete inventions, one contemplated one being the taking of electric currents from the earth using them in stationary engines. He is an expert in oil and water, and acted in this capacity in Southern California for a number of years, always with satisfactory results. He is a fine business man, and has acquired extensive property interests in Ocean Park, San Joaquin valley and Tulare county.

In Europe in 1894, Mr. Eymann married Dorothea H. Schellens, daughter of Richard Schellens, noted railway man, who is a government director of all the railroads in the Rhine provinces, and an inventor of the Schellens railway train blocking devices. Mr. And Mrs. Eymann has one child, Gilbert H. W. Eymann. Fraternally Mr. Eymann is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters.

 

Links to historical and lexical information

Swiss Mennonite History, covering emigration from Berne to the Palatinate, Alsace, Montbeliard and Volhynia, by the Swiss Mennonite Historical and Cultural Association. You can find related information on the emigration history and the settlement places also here (Judy Voran) and here (MSHC). If you are interested in the differences between Mennonite and Amish, this text from Goshen College gives some detailed information.

The Ellis Island Foundation holds records for immigrants starting from ca. 1890. If you click on this link, you can see a result list for searching the Eymann surname (and related spellings).

The Cemetery Transcription Library has a list of transcribed epitaphs from tombstones. Here are the links for searching “Eyman” or “Eymann” against this list.