• Born: about 1675 in Ober Harpersdorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
• Immigrated: 1733 in Philadelphia
• Died: January 14, 1755 in Kraussdale, Pennsylvania
• Spouse: Melchior Krauss
  • Born: 1692
  • Died: 1733
• Married: November 18, 1704 in Harpersdorf, Greiz, Thueringen, Germany
• Children: 
  • Anna Maria (1700-1778)
  • Balthasar (1706-1774)
  • Maria (1707-1790)
  • Susanna (1710-1794)
  • Melchior (1711-1779)

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Anna Krauss is one of those names in Schwenkfelder history that pricks up ears when heard. She was not one of the famous Reverends, not an inventor, not a scholar or writer to whom we owe so much for the wealth of history that remains centuries later. Rather, Anna is seen as something of a heroine.

To be a Schwenkfelder in Europe was tough; deadly, even. The trek from Silesia to Pennsylvania was a long one and hard. After all, this was the early 1700’s – no running water, no refrigeration, questionable medicine, and things like plagues running around. Add to that being severely persecuted in much of Europe for her religion. Anna was 58 years old when she made this journey. In the early 18th century, this would have been considered most folks’ twilight years, yet on she trekked. And to make matters more challenging, her husband died suddenly a mere month before their ship left Rotterdam for America, leaving her to cross that great sea allein with her five, albeit grown, children.

To me, the fact that the little corner of land the family settled in what is now East Greenville, PA, is still known as Kraussdale is a testament to the persecution and challenges Anna and her family faced and overcame.

Anna was born around 1675, her parents possibly Melchior Heydrick (1655-1733) and Rosina Hubner (1651-1696). Anna’s siblings may have been Susannah (1682-1752), Apollonia (1690-1722), Melchior (1690-1734), Maria (1693-1738), and Eva (1696-1776).

Anna married Melchior Krauss on November 18, 1704 in Harpersdorf, Greiz, Thueringen, Germany.

Arriving in Pennsylvania in the fall of 1733, it is likely that Anna lived with one of her sons, possibly her eldest son, Balthasar. She lived nearly 22 years in the rolling farm fields of Kraussdale, now in East Greenville, Lehigh County, before her death on January 14, 1755. Despite being the oldest, she was outlived by only her youngest sibling. Anna was buried in the Kraussdale Meeting House Cemetery. Her name appears on the large stone that commemorates those first Schwenkfelder immigrants. However, as of this writing in 2022 my family has been unable to locate her individual headstone and E11 marker which was present in the cemetery at least in the late 1990’s.

As is unfortunately the case with women especially so long ago, that is the most we know about her life.

The Children of Melchior & Anna (Heydrick) Krauss

The Schwenkfelter Genealogy lists five children, at least five who lived to adulthood.

BALTZER (E10 /11-1), aka BALTHASAR is in my direct line and is discussed further here.

MARIA (E12/11-2) was born on September 29, 1707 in Lower Harpersdorf, and baptized on October 1 of the same year. She was 25 years old when she immigrated to Philadelphia. She married Leonhard Knopf, who died on September 17, 1782. Maria died on April 5, 1790 and is buried at New Goshenhoppen UCC Cemetery, though her headstone appears to have been lost. The Schwenkfelder Genealogy includes a snippet of New Goshenhoppen records indicating that Maria migrated to the Reformed faith after her marriage. Two children are also listed: Maria, and another child whose name has been lost to time.

SUSANNA (E13/11-3) was born on December 1, 1710 in Lower Harpersdorf, and baptized on December 4. She was 22 years old when she immigrated to Philadelphia.

Susanna married Cornelius Neis (or Nice), a distiller, and the couple lived in Germantown (now part of modern Philadelphia, and a town that our Custer ancestors helped found). Cornelius was born in 1697 in Krefeld, Stadtkreis Krefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, and was the son of Johannes/Jan Neuss and Elizabeth Luecken. Cornelius died on October 23, 1754. At the time, legend states, Susanna was still pregnant with their youngest child.

Susanna died on July 24, 1794. According to the Schwenkfelder Genealogy, she and Cornelius are buried in the Mennonite Cemetery in Germantown (interestingly, the same Mennonite Cemetery in Germantown that several of our earliest Custer immigrants are interred in).

The Schwenkfelder Genealogy also includes their known children, many grand- and great-grand children, as well as details of their estate and wills.

MELCHIOR was born in October, 1714, and died on September 16, 1779. He was just about to turn 20 when the family immigrated to Philadelphia. According to the Schwenkfelder Genealogy, he was “said to have been of unsound mind.” Melchior did not marry, and is buried in the Kraussdale Meetinghouse Cemetery.

ANNA Krauss’s (E15/75b) birthdate is unknown, though some on ancestry list it as 1700; if this is correct, she would have been the eldest sibling by 5 years and 33 at the time of her immigration.

Anna married David Schubert on April 29,1740, by the Rev. Balthasar Hoffman. David was born around 1693. Previously, David had been married to Maria Teichman. The couple had four children and were part of the “third migration” of Schwenkfelders who came to Philadelphia aboard the Saint Andrew in 1734. However, Maria and their youngest child (born on the ship) both died only about a month before landing in America.

The Oddity of Anna’s Burial Place:

Anna is buried in the tiny Yeakel Cemetery near Palm, Montgomery County, PA with two other original Schwenkfeld immigrants: Hans Heinrich Yeakel and Andreas Warmer. Though the Schwenkfelder Genealogy lists David’s place of burial as unknown, modern records (including a large monument) show he is buried in the larger Yeakel Schwenkfelder Cemetery in Wyndmoor, PA.

Why is David in a large Schwenkfelder cemetery, and Anna in a tiny private family plot with two men not related to her? My best guess is that either (a) the plaque on the family plot is wrong, or (b) perhaps Anna remarried either Hans Yeakel or Andreas Warmer. If the latter is the case, the event has not been recorded or found. The Schwenkfelder Genealogy (page 468) clearly lists Hans Yeakel’s wife as Susanna Heydrick (E126) , and indicates that she is buried with him in this same private plot – yet Susanna is not listed on the plaque, despite herself also being an original immigrant.

Another possibility is that the large monument with David’s name is incorrect, in which case he may also be buried with Anna, or somewhere else we will never know of.

The historic Yeakel cemetery (Anna’s place of burial) is located in a field near the intersection of Treichler and Station roads, several miles east of Palm, Montgomery County, PA. A plaque on the surrounding stone wall honors three “Schwenkfelder immigrants from Silesia whose remains repose in this sacred plot.”

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