John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes
Note 2476
*[Wie alt bist du?]
To go to a new family, this Note starts a little bit about John Rector (Richter), who at the age 26 arrived at Philadelphia, 23 September 1734, on the ship
Hope
with 19 other Nassau-Siegen Colonists. This John Rector may have married a daughter of John and Mary Spilman of the First Colony. John Rector died in 1742 and left a young family. Dr. Holtzclaw thought that John Rector was a nephew of the 1714 immigrant, John Jacob Rector. From an examination of the church records in Nassau-Siegen, it is not possible to infer any relationship between John Rector and John Jacob Rector, even though the surname and point of origination suggest there may be one.
B. C. Holtzclaw observes that birth records of 1707 or 1708 could apply to John Rector. Only one is to found. “Johann Jacob Rector was born March 31, 1707, at Siegen and baptized at the Evangelical [here Evangelical means Protestant Reformed] Church in Siegen on 10 April 1707. His father was Joerge Henrich Richter and his mother was Anna Maria. The godfather was Johann Jacob Druepler, single.” (Statement by Siegen District Church Office on 8 August 1977.)
Dr. Holtzclaw identified the father above, Joerge Henrich Richter, as the Henrich Richter who was born the 6th Sunday after Trinity in 1681. This identification is probably based on the age, which would be about right, and the common occurrence of the name Henrich; however, there exists the following marriage record: “Joerge Richter and Anna Maria Druepler were married on 20 July 1706. The groom’s father was Christoff Richter, formerly a citizen of Magdeburg, foot soldier in the royal palace guard at Siegen. The bride’s father was Daniel Druepler, citizen of Siegen.” (Also from the Church Office.)
It is extremely probable that this marriage record pertains to John Rector’s parents. The most telling factor is that Johann Jacob Druepler was a godfather for John Rector. This name ties the marriage to the birth. The godfather was very probably the mother’s unmarried brother. Dr. Holtzclaw assigned a Hermann as the father of Heinrich who was equated to Joerge Heinrich but the church records do not support this.
Joerge Richter, married 20 July 1706, has not been identified yet as being related to the 1714 Richter, Johann Jacob.
This note is substantially the work of James F. McJohn, who wrote an article in volume 4 of
Beyond Germanna
on p. 194f.
(To be continued.)
*[How old are you?] (Sehr alt hier.)
(09 Mar 07)