Here is another Tennessee family from the Germanna community. The chances are that you have not heard of this family. I don’t know that I have any descendants of this family on my mailing list but let’s hope for the best.
Rudolph Crecelius and his wife Maria Elisabeth were the parents of Johannes, born 14 Oct 1777, and baptized 30 Nov 1777 at the Hebron Lutheran Church, which was in Culpeper County at the time. It would be worth mentioning the sponsors of Johannes, who were Johannes Jäger and his wife Maria. Probably this Johannes was the one known as blind John, the son of Adam Jäger. If so, his wife Maria was a Willheit.
Once Rudolph was a sponsor. This was for a child, Margaret, born 12 Mar 1775, to Daniel Diehl and his wife Elisabetha. Another sponsor was Catharina Hirsch (a.k.a. Deer). An Elisabetha Crecelius was confirmed the fifth Sunday after Easter in 1777. Probably, Rudolph and Maria Elisabetha Crecelius were middle-aged, and the Elisabeth who was confirmed was an older child, and Johannes, the infant mentioned earlier, was the youngest.
Apparently the family moved to Washington County, Tennessee, for tombstones there in the Old Dutch Meeting House cemetery have Rudolph Cretselious and his wife Elizabeth Cretselious. These are not the only people of the Crecelius name mentioned in the graveyard.
The Bulletin of the Watauga Association of Genealogy , v.7, n.1 & 2, has a transcript of the Cretzelious-Walters Bible, with the family for Samuel, who was probably a son of the John above. John operated a general store a few miles southwest of Johnson City, TN.
Other names in the Old Dutch Meeting House that suggest Germanna people are Swingle (Schwindle?), Harnsbarger, and Good. The name Good is not as definitive as the first two.
This information came to me from Loraine Rae of Johnson City. Loraine admits to Broyles, Yowell, Klug, Mauk, and Fleshman families in ancestry. In the last note we saw how the Broyles and Mauk names could have come about. If Loraine were to come to the East Tennessee Reunion, it would add three more names that we have not yet mentioned.
If you think the Crecelius name does not look or sound German, you would be correct. The name is a Latin name. Several well-educated Germans in the sixteenth century changed to a Germanic Latin form. In this particular case, Hans Bahlow thinks the name might have been Kretzel.
(27 Jul 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the [email protected] 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.