- Born: April 19, 1819 (possibly Ettenhausen, Wartburgkreis, Thuringia, Germany)
- Immigrated: 1837
- Died: around 1848 in Upper Salford, Montgomery Co, PA
- Buried: Unknown
- Parents: Not confirmed
- Spouse: Henrietta (Harriet) Schuler
- Born: March 6, 1821in Montgomery Co
- Died: Feb 24, 1908 in Richland, Bucks Co
- Parents: Samuel Schuler & Mary Magdalena Strohman
- Married: Most likely 1837
- Children: Samuel (May 30, 1838 – Oct 22, 1918), John Michael, Mary Magdalena (Nov 9, 1844 – April 12, 1924), Harriet (1848 – ?)
Little conclusive information about the life of John Michael exists.
His birth on April 19, 1819 in Ettenhausen, Wartburgkreis, Thuringia, Germany is listed on numerous Ancestry.com member family trees, but I have not found any documentation to support this.
A baptismal record for a John Michael Heimbach lists parents as Johann Heimbach & Magdalena Hassler. However, this information is low confidence. The baptismal date is the same as John Michael’s birthdate, which may have been customary in the early nineteenth century. However, the baptismal location in Bartenstein, Wurtemburg is 75km away from his place of birth. To travel that distance with an hours-old newborn for a baptism seems highly unlikely, as the family would have been established at a church in their own town.
A “Johann Hambach” appears on a passenger list, indicating that he traveled with a family member and arrived in America in 1837, around the age of 18. This date lines up with other details we know about John, and this variation on his name is an appropriately German one.
The source of this passenger list is:
AUERBACH, INGE. Hessische Auswanderer (Hesaus): Index nach Familiennamen: Bd. II: Auswanderer aus Hessen-Kassel, 1840-1850. Marburg: Archivschule Marburg, 1988. 517p. (Veroeffentlichungen der Archivschule Marburg, Nr. 12)
(Hessian Immigrants: Index to Family Names. Book II: Immigrants from Hesse-Kassel 1840-1850.)
John Michael married Henrietta (aka Harriet) Schuler. The date of their marriage is unknown, but can be estimated as mid- to late- 1837, shortly after arriving in Pennsylvania. Some Ancestry.com family trees list their marriage date as 1840.
John Michael died young, at the age of 29 or 30, leaving his young wife and four children. His burial location is unknown.
More on Henrietta
Henrietta remarried to Peter Long (1810 – May 29, 1866) shortly after John Michael’s death, with some Ancestry.com trees listing their marriage as early as 1848. Their children were Henry (1853-1918), Charles (1857-1931), Peter (1859-?), and Frank (1860-1944).
Henrietta’s father, Samuel Schuler, is buried in the Old Goshenhoppen Cemetery. Henrietta’s mother, Mary Magdalena Strohman, as well as most of her siblings are buried in Friedman’s Union Cemetery in Sumneytown.
Henrietta’s brother, Franklin, was in the Union Army in the Civil War.
Henrietta outlived both of her husbands by several decades. She died in 1908 at the age of 86 due to complications from asthma. She is buried at the Union Cemetery in Quakertown. Her second husband is buried in the Old Goshenhoppen Cemetery.
Children of John Michael & Henrietta
Samuel was born on May 30, 1838 and died October 22, 1918. He married Sarah Long Nace, daughter of John Nace and Sarah Long (no apparent relation to Henrietta’s second husband). Sarah was born June 4, 1840 and died October 22, 1914. Their children were John (1862-1928), Albert (1865-1913), Katie (1868-?), Mary (1873-?), Henry Harrison (1876-1945), Benjamin Franklin (1878-1908), and Edward (1885-1943).
John Michael is discussed here.
Mary Magdalena, likely named after her grandmother, was born on November 9, 1844 and died on April 12, 1924. She married George Hartman, who was born in 1831 and died in 1912 and served in the Civil War.
Harriet was born around 1848, but we don’t have exact dates for her birth or death. There is another Harriet with the middle name Schuler who lived in the area around the same time, but it appears that this Harriet married Christian Wick. Christian was born March 15, 1845 and died June 20, 1902 and was a private in the Civil War. Their children were named Oliver, Katy, Henrietta, and Annie. Oliver was a foreman at Bethlehem Steel, and died tragically at the age of 40 when the dynamite being used to break up scrap exploded prematurely. He is buried in the Union Cemetery in Quakertown.
Documents & Photos
Leaves on the Tree 