The last note closed with a remark that the page numbers in the Hebron Church Register were not used in sequence according to when the first child was born. Also some pages had more than one family which raised the question as to how the writers knew that the first or top family wouldn't grow to require the space which was being used by the second family, lower on the page. Another point that was mentioned was that the page numbers were not in sequence.
Another major question (call it number 2 on the list of problems) occurs because, almost universally in the first 24 pages, no dates of baptisms are given. Remembering that the major reason the church register was kept was to record baptisms, it seems strange that the dates are not recorded. The few dates that are given are almost always after November of 1775. The one date of baptism before 1775 is for 1772 when the Miller twins were six years old before they were baptized. In a church where an attempt is made to baptize the babies at the earliest possible moment, being six years old is unusual and perhaps this is the reason the date was entered.
Another problem, major enough to warrant being called problem 3, is that the children are sometimes out of sequence. In the Nicholas and Margaret Crigler family, Anna, who was born in 1768, is listed before Susanna, who was born in 1764. In this same family, a note is made at the bottom that Jacob and Ludwig are dead. The implication is that Jacob and Ludwig lived for a while. Why weren't they listed as baptized at the time? A similar situation occurs for Zacharias Blankenbaker and his wife Els. A note says, "Four are dead whose names are not mentioned here." Nancy and George in the family of John and Susanna Carpenter (given as Zimmerman) are reversed in the sequence.
Problem number 4 occurs when a sponsor is called Barbara Chelf in 1759. Barbara Chelf did not come into existence, by marriage, until after this date when she married Philip Chelf. Born as a Yager, Barbara married Peter Clore who did not die until 1763.
As long as there are unexplained problems of this type, the data in the Register is called into question. A document that calls someone Barbara Chelf in 1759 when Barbara Chelf did not come into existence until about 1764 is not to be trusted unless an explanation can be offered for these problems.
It might be useful to review who the pastors were. From about 1739, until about the beginning of 1764, Rev. Klug was the pastor. Then came John Schwarbach from about 1765 to the spring of 1774. There was a gap of about one and half years before Jacob Franck came in the fall of 1775. He left in 1778 and it is not clear that there was a pastor for a few years. The church may have been under lay leadership until William Carpenter assumed his duties at the start of 26 years as a pastor in 1787.
[There is not enough space in this note to give the resolution of these problems. Besides, you may wish to use the time until the next note to resolve the problems yourself. Maybe you want to send your solutions to me.]
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.