Notes:

According to Philip Mellinger, there are two distinct families....

1. Ulrich Mellinger, Mennonite, and his descendeants, living in the Palatinate beginning in the late 1600s, some came to America later, and;

2. Benedict Mellinger, whose son Johannes has a large family with four sons that came to Pennsylvania in the mid 1700s, most were Reformed/Protestent, and not Mennonite. Benedict, however, was a Mennonite.

Benedict and Hans Ulrich Mellinger were possibly brothers. There may even have been a third brother, William, who left Switzerland in 1653 and came to VA, indicating that perhaps all of the Mellinger brothers left Switzerland at the same time, one to Virginia and two to Germany.

Benedict Mellinge was living in Ruchheim, Germany by 1654, he was still there in the 1690s. Benedict was apparently a Mennonite and from Swtizerland. Benedict was one of seven Palatinate Ministers that signed the letter on 13 March 1694 against Jacob Ammann that served to form the split between the Amish and the Mennonites.

From Goshen College:

A major attempt at reconciliation was made in the second week of March 1694 at a meeting called at Ohnenheim in Alsace at the request of the ministers of the Palatinate, at which both sides were to be represented. Ten men came from Switzerland and seven from the Palatinate, but the number of "Amish" present is now known. When no agreement could be reached, the Amish left the meeting. On the following day the Swiss ministers decided to agree with the Palatines and drafted a joint statement giving the reasons why they could not agree with Jacob Ammann, dated March 13, 1694. The list of signers was as follows: For the Swiss, Hans Reist, Peter Habegger, Ulrich Falb, Niklaus Baltzli, Peter Geiger, Dursch Rohrer, Jakob Schwartz, Daniel Grimmstettler, Ulrich Blatzey: for the Palantines, Jakob gut, Hans Gut, Peter Zolfinger, Christian Holi, BENEDIKT MELLINGER, Hans Heinrich Bar, Hans Rudi Nageli.

From Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of South-Eastern Pennsylvania by Frank Eshleman 1917:

1693--Origin of the Amish Mennonites.

"This year there was a division among the congregations of Mennonites in Berne. A faction of them followed Jacob Ammon, and the remainder remained under the leadership of Hans Reist. The factions were known as the Amish and Reist factions. The parting was quite bitter: each party putting the other under the ban.

The Reist party were the Emmenthalers--that is, their stronghold was in the Thal or valley of the Emmen creek, which lies a short distance northeast of Berne. They held that there should be no emigration or at any rate that they should neither emigrate nor mix with the Amish, who were the Oberlanders (they lived on the Ober or upland regions in Switzerland.) "

From Goshen College:

"From the original documents which have been preserved, it is clear that Jakob Ammann's attempt to force the elders in the Emmental to accept the Meidung (the shunning or avoidance of excommunicated persons) was the chief if not full cause of the division."

As a result of the disagreement, Ammann excommunicated Reist and others. At the end of the meeting, after refusal to accept the meidung by several others, the Ammann party left the building without shaking hands and started their own meeting nearby.

From Goshen College:

"Various attmept swere made by both ministers and lay members to persuade Jakob Ammann to recall his hasty action of excommunication but to no avail. The Palatinate ministers wrote a letter to the Amish asking them to seek a reconciliation.

A major attempt at reconcilation was made in the second week of March 1694 at a meeting called at Ohnenheim in Alsace at the request of the ministers of the Palatinate, at which both sides were to be represented. Ten men came from Switzerland and seven from the Palatinate, but the number of "Amish" present is not known. The Palatines begged the Amish not to continue acting so rashly, but the Amish insisted that the opposing side accept their 3 major points of disagreement. When no agreement could be reached the Amish left the meeting. The following day, the Swiss ministers agreed with the Palatinates and drafted a joint statement giving their reasons for not agreeing with Jakob Ammann, dated Margh 13, 1694, it was signed by BENEDIKT MELLINGER among others. The opposing Palatine ministers were placed under the ban by Jakob Ammann, it is assumed that included among those who were excommunicated was BENEDICT MELLINGER.

Various attempts at reconcilation were undertaken between 1694 and 1698, both by correspondance and in meetings, but all failed. The Amish finally decided they had been too rash with their use of the ban, and accordingly placed themselves under the ban (probably in 1698.)"

From Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of South-Eastern Pennsylvania by Frank Eshleman 1917:

"There are manuscripts upon the division and the discussion resulting from it at the time, in the library of the Reist Mennonites in the Emmenthal or valley. These documents among others, consist of:

A declaration by the servants, elders and deacons from the Palatinate and from Switzerland, who adhered to the Reist faction and who called themselves, "such as can not be in accord with Jacob Ammon, and therefore, his opponents," containing considerable doctrinal controversy. This is signed by those Reist Mennonites who are mentioned in an earlier letter and also by Hans Reist, BENEDICT MELLINGER as well as 4 others from the Palatinate."

Though Ruchheim was "in the Palatinate," it formally fell outside the jurisdiction of the ruler of the Palatinate. Therefore, there was no Mennonite census records that included Ruchheim. This means that many Mennonite Mellinger ancestors at Ruchheim were unaccounted for.

Benedict married . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Jacob married UNKNOWN in ABT. 1685 in Ruchheim, Germany. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The first record of Johannes is at the birth of his oldest son Johannes Jr. who is recorded in the Ruchheim Reformed Churchbook on August 31, 1695. Records indicate Johannes apparently had 13 children with three dieing at birth. The others were Johannes Jr., Maria, Christhof, Charlotta, Johann Ernst, Hannibal Frederick, Ernst Wilhelm, Benedictus, David, and Johann Jacob. Four of these sons came to America and lived in Cocalico, Lancaster County, PA by the 1750s. These were Christhof, Johann Ernst, Benedictus, and David.

Johannes married . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Jacob lived first at Eppstein but was living at Freisenheim by 1717 and in 1724.

Jacob married . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Born at Ruchheim, Germay about 1690, was living at Scharhof by 1717. In 1720, his father left Ruchheim to join with him and take over one fourth of the tenancy of Hemshof. 64 yar old Jacob and son Johannes were still residing at Hemshof in 1724. Johannes was last recorded there in 1738.

Johannes married . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Johann Ernst and his brother Benedict both arrive on the ship the St. Andrew on Sept 9, 1749. Johannes is taxed at Cocalico Twp in 1757 and 1763.

Jonannes married . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The last record of Christhof in Germany lists him as single at 21. No ship records or marriage records for him have been found. In 1746 Christhof is found in the Ephreta Cloister Death Register. His apparent widow in 1751 is listed as having three sons: Wilhelm, John, and Joseph. Gertrude died Feb 3, 1778 and is listed in the Ephreta Death Register.

Christoph married GERTRUDE. died on 3 Feb 1778 in Ephrata, PA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Arrived with his brother Johann Ernest on the ship the St. Andrew on Sept 9, 1749. The last record of Benedict at Ruchheim is for the death of a child on Feb 14, 1749. On May 4, 1783, Benedict and Margaretha are identified as being present at the Tabor Reformed Church in Lebanon, Pa for the baptism of the adult son John Jacob Mellinger who was born June 2, 1756 in Lebanon, PA and died on July 5, 1819 in Lebanon, PA. No other children of Benedict and Margaretha have been identified.

Benedict married HASSERT Anna Margaretha on 6 Aug 1741 in Ruchheim, Germany. Anna was born in ABT. 1720 in Probably Ruchheim. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Five children were listed as born in Germany, two of them died. First born is Johann Jacob Mellinger on Dec 14, 1739. The last record of David in Germany is at the birth of his son Philip Jacob Mellinger on Oct 4, 1751. No later records were found in Germany for David, wife Catharina Magdelena, son Johann Jacob, daughter Maria Magdelena, and son Philip Jacob. On November 8, 1752, David is listed as a passenger on the ship Snow Louisa arriving in Philadelphia. It would seem likely that his wife and three remaining children traveled with him. David was taxed at Cocalico Twp in 1756 and 1757 and apparently died sometime shortly after the 1757 tax record. In a will written Oct. 13, 1784 and executed Dec 15, 1784, Magdelena Mellinger left her possessions to "the children of my deceased husband John Jacob: Magdalena, Susanna, and Anna." Her will does not mention other of her own children. Apparently son John Jacob Mellinger was married and had four daughters.

David married BAERENFELS Catharina Magdelena in 1738 in Ruchheim, Germany. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Johannes moved to Bruehl-Rohrhof in the Palatinate in 1751 and married Melchior Fellman's daugher, remaining there through at least 1759. They had one daughter.

Johannes married FELLMAN Unknown in ABT. 1755 in Bruehl-Rohrhof in the Palatinate. (daughter of FELLMAN Melchior) [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Johann Jacob and wife Ester lived at Wachenheim, just outside the Palatinate sovereignty, and had four daughters. Ester died there in 1760. Johann Jacob next married Anna Clara Jutzi and had one daughter.

Johan married ESTER in Wachenheim, Germany. was born in 1734; died in 1760 in Wachenheim, Germany. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Melchior Mellinger migrated to America on October 16, 1772 along with his wife who died at sea, two nephews, and his sister Christine Mellinger Burkholder and her husband. The nephews were the sons of Melchior's brother, Johannes Jacob Mellinger.

Melchior can be found on the 1790 Lancaster Co, PA census records and the 1800 census records where he is recorded as overseer of the poor house.

Goshen Archives: That frontier settlements were not without certain cultural treasures is testified to in the recod of Melchior Mellinger's personal property. Mellinger's heirs sold on January 20, 1807 his library consisting of at least forty-four books. Many were in German. the books were on theology, the bible, geography, arithemetic, and history. There were Latin and German dictionaries, maps of South America and Asia, Barclay's Apology, Godfred (sp) Arnold's History and Menno Simons' Confession. The county probate Court Record, C.P. Dock 13, 1807, which records the sale is one of the earliest records of its kind in Columbiana County. A copy of a Devotional Book of the Swiss Mennonites that was owned by Melchior Mellinger and listed in his estate at time of his death, is housed in the Schwenkfelder Library at Pennsburg, PA. This writer was allowed to hold and look through the book, it is still in pretty good condition though the clasps have been broken and the cover is somewhat used. There was no

The founding of Mennonite communities in Columbiana County, Ohio, began in 1801 or before. Melchior Mellinger settled in Salem Township in 1803, having come from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Melchior purchased section 24 with his son in law Martin Hoke.

It seems likely that the ship they came over on was the Crawford which docked in Philadelphia on October 16, 1772. The ship had started out in Amsterdam and then stopped in Cowes, England, and then proceded on to Philadelphia, a normal route for those days.

Melchior married UNKNOWN in ABT. 1766 in Germany. was born in ABT. 1740; died in 1772 in Died at sea. [Group Sheet]

Melchior married HAMILTON Margareta in ABT. 1777 in Lancaster Co, PA. Margareta was born in ABT. 1758 in York County, PA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

By 1743 he had taken over the hereditary tenancy at Hemshof and had two sons and two daughters.

Notes:

In 1744, Jacob left Henshof to marry Katharina Graf and took over her father Peter Graf's tenancy at Graefenau, a small farm close to Hemshof. Jacob remained there through 1753 and sometime thereafter moved back to Hemshof to split the hereditary tenancy of his brother Johannes Jr.

Jacob married GRAF Katharina. (daughter of GRAF Peter) [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Left Hemshof for America in 1754.

Notes:

Left Hemshof for America during the 1750s, although there is no ship record.

Benedict married HERSHEY Maria in ABT. 1756 in Lancaster Co, PA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Arrived with his brother Johann Ernest on the ship the St. Andrew on Sept 9, 1749. The last record of Benedict at Ruchheim is for the death of a child on Feb 14, 1749. On May 4, 1783, Benedict and Margaretha are identified as being present at the Tabor Reformed Church in Lebanon, Pa for the baptism of the adult son John Jacob Mellinger who was born June 2, 1756 in Lebanon, PA and died on July 5, 1819 in Lebanon, PA. No other children of Benedict and Margaretha have been identified.

Benedict married HASSERT Anna Margaretha on 6 Aug 1741 in Ruchheim, Germany. Anna was born in ABT. 1720 in Probably Ruchheim. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Baptised 5/4/1783 Labor Reformed Church, Lebanon, PA.

WILL OF JACOB MELLINGER

(Born 2 June (July 22) 1756 in Lebanon, Lancaster (now Lebanon) Co, PA to Benedict and Margareta Hasset.

In the name of God Amen, I, Jacob Mellinger of the bourough of Lebanon, in the County of Lebanon and the state of Penn., being weak in body but of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, praised be to GOD for the same and being desirous of settling my wordly affairs whilst I have the strength and capacity so to do, do make and publish this my last will and testament, thereby revoking and making void all former wills by me, at any time here-to-fore made.
And first and principally I commit my soul into the hands of my creator who gave it and my body to the earth, to be buried by my executors., hereinafter named in a decent and Christian like manner and as to such wordly estate wherewith it has pleased GOD to bless me., I dispose of the same as follows:
Impremis; I give and bequeath unto my youngest daughter, REBECCA, one good bed and bedstead, one chest, and spinning wheel, one kitchen dresser or cupboard and one table, after the payment of my just debts,
Item, It is my will that my beloved wife, BARBARA, after my decease shall have the right to take all or any of my personal estate, of what-so-ever kind or nature and make use of same as her own., under her lifetime. And it is further my will that after my death, all my personal property (which my beloved wife BARBARA shall not choose to take and keep during her natural life) shall be sold by my executors as soon after my decease as may be convenient, at public vendue.
Item--, It is my will that all the personal property which my wife shall or may choose to take and keep during her lifetime, after her death shall be sold at public sale.
Item--, I do hereby give and devise unto my beloved wife BARBARA, the possession of my house and lot, in which we now live and all the rents, issues, profits of same and of all my real estate what-so-ever and where-so-ever for and during her mature life.
Item--, It is my will after the decease of my wife, that then all my real estate either in possession or revision shall be sold at public vendue by my executor whom I do hereby authorize to make a title to the purchaser or to purchasers by deed of conveyance or such other mode as shall be advised.
Item--, It is my will that my and my wifes wearing apperal shall not be sold at public vendue but shall be divided amongst all my children here-in-after named.
Item--, It is my will that all the monies arising out of the sale of my real and personal property, after the death of my wife, shall be equally divided, share and share alike among all my children to-wit one share unto my daughter, CATHERINE, intermarriexd with PETER SNIVELY; and one share unto my daughter, BARBARA, intermarried with CHRIST KREIDER, and on share unto my son, JACOB; one share unto my son, JOHN; one share unto my son, DAVID; one share unto my son SAMUEL; one share unto my son WILLIAM, and one share unto my daughter REBECCA, after deducting such sums of money as any of my children shall have advanced to me here-to-fore or may advance to me here-after; but if any of my children should happen to die before the property above mentioned is sold, as above directed, leaving lawful issue, then in such case it is my will that such issue shall receive the same share as my child would have done had it then been alive; and I nominate and appoint my son JOHN MELLINGER, executor of this my last will

Jacob (his mark) MELLINGER

John Jacob fought in the Revolutionary War.

John married AARENDT Barbara on 26 Oct 1779 in Bethany Reformed Church, Ephreta, PA. Barbara was born on 16 Feb 1760; died on 22 Oct 1821 in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland Co, PA. [Group Sheet]

John married . Unknown [Group Sheet]