A COLLECTION of over SIX HUNDRED NAMES Descendants of BALTHASER AND SUSANNA PHILLIPINA LOESCH Palatines from Gernsheim WITH HISTORICAL NOTES Compiled by WILLIAM W. LESH (LOESCH) of Newport, Perry Co., Pa. COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY NATIONAL CAPITAL PRESS, INC. WASHINGTON, D. C. July 20, 1915 Inv. 1189 es 71 4629 1914 PREFACE. Few people can trace back the line of their ancestry more than three generations; and if they reach the limit of three score years and ten they will see from two to three succeeding generations, making a total of five or six generations, of whom they have actual knowledge. Beyond that the past and the future are alike shadowy and mysterious: Gone tomorrow. Mourned by dear ones, Soon to follow. After a few short years, seldom thought of; and, finally, obliterated from the memory of all the living. Some forty years ago my attention was called to the name of Johann Adam Lesch, in Professor I. D. Rupps collection of upwards of 30,000 names of Immigrants in Pennsylvania, who, with other Palatines, had located with his family, in Tulpehocken valley, Berks County, Pa., in 1723. I knew that my father was born in that section of Berks County, in 1808; and, I assumed that he was a descendant of said Johann Adam Lesch. I knew that my grandfather's name was George Lesch, and after further investigation I learned that his father's name was Balthaser, but whose son was Balthaser? (or Balser as it appears on some records?) From his will, found at Reading, Pa., I learned the names of his children, my father's aunts and uncles, some of whom I had seen, when quite young. From the will of Johann Adam Lesch recorded in Lancaster, Pa., it was learned that Johann Adam Lesch left no male descendants; but he referred to his brother George Lesch, and appointed him as guardian, to look after the property of one of his daughters in North Carolina. The will of George Lesch (Loesch) recorded at Easton Northampton County, Pa., gave the names of his children, among whom was Balser, one of his younger sons. From the archives of the Moravian church at Bethlehem, Pa., reliable data, showing the death at sea of Balthaser Loesch of Gernsheim, Germany, on his way to America, and the ancestral line from him to my great grandfather was established. To the skillful, painstaking, and unremitting labors of Mrs. Ora W. Lesh, of Indianapolis, Ind., traveling over the counties of Berks, Lebanon, Lancaster and Northampton, collecting data from wills, deeds, church records, cemeteries, and all possible sources accessible, we owe the comlpeteness of this record, and, without her efforts, or similar work by others, my efforts to compile this sketch would have been a failure. I am also indebted to Miss Lily M. Lash of Rural Hall, N. C., and Mrs. Jessie Loesch Saunders, of Jersey City, N. J., for valuable data as to the descendants of Jacob and Herman Loesch, brothers of my g. grandfather Balser Loesch; and to Miss Esther M. Lesh of Millerstown, Pa., for list of descendants of my grandfather's brother, Balser Lesh, of Perry County, Pa., and to others, for valuable help. In the preparation of the historical notes, the following publications were consulted, and quoted: Rupps Collection of Thirty Thousand names of Immigrants of Pennsylvania. Rupps-History of Berks County, Pa. Rupps-History of Lebanon County, Pa. Martin-Historical Sketch of Bethlehem, Pa. Miss E. A. Lehman-Sketch of Bethania, N. C. For the Sesqui Centennial, 1759-1909. Sims.-History of Schoharie, N. Y. Washington, D. C., July, 1914. WM. W. LESH (LOESCH). |