I've always had an interest in history on some level. In recent months, I've been working on writing about the history of Bossler Mennonite Church. In doing research, I've been working on reading through John Ruth's book called "The Earth Is the Lord's" with a narrative story of the Mennonites who settled in Pennsylvania, starting with their history in Europe. One name I flagged in reading this was Marx Oberholtzer. About a month or so ago when attending an event with the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, I learned more about the 1710 settlement, which included Hans Herr, Martin Kendig, Martin Oberholtzer, as well as few others like Martin Meylins (the first gun smith in the Lancaster County who made the Pennsylvania long rifle).

Last week I had the privilege to see one of my father's aunts at family gathering. She mentioned some information about my grandmother's Oberholtzer family. It sparked a discussion, which flagged the name Martin in my head. You see, Martin and Samuel are 2 names that I've seen in our Oberholtzer family and in local Mennonite history. 

Today as I was doing more research, the name came back to me. I pulled out my family name list and found a few connections. My ancestor Marx Oberholtzer (1634-1680) was born near Zurich, Switzerland and died in the Rheinland/Germany. From what I can tell, he's who John Ruth is talking about in his book as a member of the congregation there. His son Has-Jacob, born in Wald/Zurich, Switzerland, survived persecution, and died in Franconia. Marx's grandson Samuel has no birthdate (probably born in hiding & not baptized, which means no written birth record). It's possible that Samuel was born during the migration through Europe to Germany. There's no way to tell for sure. Samuel probably made the move to PA with his father in early 1700s, then made the move from Franconia to Manor Township without his father. A great-grandson Martin Oberholtzer born in Manor township, 1731. Clearly, he could not have owned a tract of land in 1711 at the same time as Hans Herr. Has-Jacob died in Franconia in 1720. The family could have moved to the township before that but this Martin could not have owned land before he was born. I'm bummed that its not the same Martin, but still excited with the other finds.

The naming pattern goes: Marx, Has-Jacob, Samuel, Martin, Christian, Samuel, Jacob (married a Longenecker), Samuel, Walter, Samuel (my grandma's brother). Can you see the naming pattern and why I was curious if the name had been repeated somewhere or was the same person?

Just a recap: That's persecuted in Switzerland, migrated with hundreds of people to Germany Rheinland, relocated to PA, probably came through Philly port, settled in Franconia for a bit, then moved to Lancaster County (Manor Township) before eventually moved to a farm outside Elizabethtown, where land is still owned by the Oberholtzer family and all because of an expanding persecuted church at the end of the 1600s.