This post is extracted from my book, The Mark Family Story; The Story of the Mark and
Other Related Families: Brown, Dick, Gruissy,
Heffelfinger, Keck, Ritter & Wolf.
Johan Adam Dick
1 April 1709 Germany – 29 Sept 1785 PA
My 6x Great Grandfather
Johan Adam Dick and his wife,
Anna Ottilla (Knack) Dick were born in Germany. They married in 1731. Three
daughters, Elisabeth Margretha Dick, Maria Christina (Dick) Brown and Maria Juliana Dick were born in Germany.[1] They
came to America on the ship Robert & Oliver from Rotterdam, arriving in
Philadelphia on 11 September 1738.[2]
Their daughter, Appollonia (Dick) Wolf, was born on board the ship during
the journey.[3]
They became part of the many Germans leaving their homes.
At
different periods, various causes and diverse motives induced them to abandon
their ‘Vaterland’. Since 1606, millions have left their homes, the dearest
spots on earth, whither the heart always turns. Religious persecution,
political oppression drove thousands to Pennsylvania – to the asylum for the
harassed and depressed sons and daughters of the relics of the Reformation,
whither William Penn himself invited the persecuted of every creed and
religious opinion.[4]
Germans landed at the port in Philadelphia and spread from there, venturing further west
as more new comers arrived.
About
1728 and 1729, the Germans crossed the Susquehanna, located within the present
limits of York and Adams county, and made improvements under discouraging
circumstances. … From 1735, settlements in Pennsylvania multiplied rapidly.[5]
The German Baptists, followers of
Alexander Mack, began to settle in the southwestern portion of York County as early as 1738. The Germans were “among the
first people to form church organizations in York County”[6]
This is precisely the time and location our Johan Adam Dick and family can be found.
They transported their families
and effects into the interior on rude wagons or ox-carts, the men going ahead
and alongside to protect them from surprise by the Indians or wild beasts, and
to remove the obstructions by trees and dense undergrowth. When they had
determined on a place of location – generally along streams or in valleys where
the soil was the richest – they built themselves cabins, with brushwood roofs,
or some old wagon-cover, and there they lived until a more comfortable home
could be provided.[7]
They
brought seeds of various kinds with them from the old country, and others were
supplied by the Proprietaries. Indian corn or mace was found almost everywhere
in the new country, on which they subsisted for a time. Not in the least,
however, were they in want of food … and an hour’s walk in the woods with rifle
and basket furnished sufficient game and fruit to supply the largest family for
a week, while a mess of fish could soon be secured in the streams, from the
luscious shad to the savory trout.[8]
Adam Dick is listed in the tax records
for York County in 1762 and
1772 in the town of Berwick.[9] In
York County, on 18 November 1768, Adam Dick became a citizen
of the Province of Pennsylvania.
At
a Nisi prius Court held at York, for the county of York, Before John Lawrence
& Thomas Willing, esquires, two of the Judges of the Supream [sic] Court of the Province of Pennsylvania, on
the eithteenth Day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred & sixty-eight, Between the Hours of nine & twelve of the Clock
in the Forenoon of the same Day, Jacob Lambert, Christian Ratfoun, Adam Dick
& Nicholas Yoner being Foreigners, & having
inhabited & resided for the space of seven years and upwards in his
Majesty’s Colonies in America, and not having been absent out of some of the
said Colonies, for a longer space than two months at any one time during the
said seven years, And being severally of the People who conscientiously scruple
and refuse the taking the oath, did take & subscribe the affirmations &
declarations.[10]
On
17 March 1770 Johan Adam Dick purchased 176 acres of land in Hamilton
Township, York County. He called his home “Pleasant Level”.[11]
Later that year Adam Dick sold his land to his daughter Appollonia (Dick) Wolf’s husband, Johann Jonas Wolf,
and his daughter Susanna (Dick) Horner’s husband, John Horner, both of Berwick Township. The transaction said Adam and his
wife would continue to live on the land for the rest of their lives. Jonas and
John would make payments to “certain heirs”.[12]
In 1770 they belonged to the German Baptist Church
in Abbottstown, York County, called Upper Conewago Church
of the Brethren, Mummert’s Meetinghouse. The German Baptists usually called
themselves ‘Brethren’.[13] Johann
Adam and Anna Ottilla (Knack) Dick are buried in the Upper Conewago Church of
the Brethren Cemetery there, along with other Dick and Wolf family
members.
Johann
Adam Dick died in 1785. In 1786 Christian Dick filed papers to settle the
estate of his father, Johann Adam Dick of Berwick Township, York County. A list
of payments against the estate included money for Jonas Wolff “for maintaining
a daughter of the deceased”.[14]
1 Johan Adam Dick b: 1
Apr 1709 Germany, d: 29 Sep 1785 in York, PA
.. + Anna Ottilla Knack
b: 4 Nov 1711 Germany, m: 12 Jun 1731 Germany, d: 20 Oct 1782 York, PA
....2 Elisabetha
Margretha Dick b: 1732 Germany, d: Unknown
....2 Maria Christina
Margretha Dick b: 1734 Germany, d: Unknown
.... + Jacob Brown
....2 Maria Juliana
Dick b: 1736 Germany, d: Unknown
....2 Appollonia Dick
b: 14 Aug 1738 at Sea, d: Abt. 1791 PA
.... + Johann Jonas
Wolf b: 27 Dec 1739 Lebanon, PA, m: 1761, d: 21 Sep 1787 Abbottstown, York, PA
......3 Jacob Wolf b:
05 Jun 1762 York, PA, d: 31 Mar 1810 York, PA
...... + Cornelia
Knight b: 27 Oct 1765, d: 6 Oct 1806
......3 Appollonia Wolf
b: 31 Dec 1763 York, PA, d: Aft. 1787
......3 John Wolf b: 18
Sep 1767 York, PA, d: 28 Aug 1851 Hamilton, Adams, PA
......3 Catherine Wolf
b: 21 Nov 1770 York, PA, d: Aft. 1787
...... + Henry Becker
......3 Adam Wolf b: 12
Feb 1773 York, PA, d: 13 Mar 1865
...... + Eva b: 1771,
d: 1839
......3 Johan Jonas
Wolf b: 08 Feb 1775 Abbottstown, Adams, PA, d: Unknown
......3 Christianna
Wolf b: 16 Nov 1776 York, PA, d: Unknown
......3 John Frederick
Wolf b: 30 Jun 1779 Berwick Twp, York Co, PA, d: 25 Apr 1872 York Springs,
Adams, PA
...... + Esther Barbara
Shaffer b: 29 Dec 1777 PA, m: 8 Apr 1800, d: 16 Oct 1866 York Springs, Adams, PA
......3 Maria Elizabeth
Wolf b: 27 Jun 1782 York, PA, d: Unknown
......3 Andrew Wolf b:
18 Mar 1787 York, PA, d: 28 Apr 1867 Berwick, York, PA
...... + Catherine Dick
b: 1795, m: 1829
....2 Christian Dick b:
02 Jan 1740 PA, d: 4 May 1800
.... + Catherine Naugle
b: 28 Jun 1743, d: 4 May 1800 York, PA
....2 Susanna Dick b:
1742 Berwick Twp., York Co., PA, d: Unknown
.... + John Horner
....2 Catherine Dick b:
1744 Berwick Twp., York Co., PA, d: Unknown
....
+ George Bittinger
[1] Bugert, Annette Kunselman. Eighteenth
Century Emigrants from German - Speaking Lands to North America. Volume II:
The Western Palatinate. Birdsboro, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania
German Society, 1985.
[2] Rupp, I. Daniel. A
Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French
and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania From 1727 - 1776. Second Edition.
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1965.
[3] Wolfe, J. Arthur. Jonas
Wolf of Berwick Township, York County, Pennsylvania: A History and
Genealogy of a Colonial Ancestor and Some of His Descendants. Privately Published: 1987.
[4] Rupp, I. Daniel. A
Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French
and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania From 1727 - 1776. Second Edition.
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1965.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Prowell, George R. History of
York County, Pennsylvania. Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Company, 1907.
[7]
Reilly, John T. History and Directory of the Boroughs of Gettysburg, Oxford,
York springs, Berwick and East Berlin, Adams County,
PA with Historical Collections. Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania: J. E. Wible Printer, 1880.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Tax Records
for Berwick, York County, Pennsylvania, 1762 & 1772,
York Heritage
Trust, 350 E Market Street, York, PA 18 November 2010. Adam Dick.
[10] Pennsylvania Archives; Series 2; Volume II; Persons
Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania; pp. 403 – 4. Adam Dick naturalized
on 18 November 1768.
[11] Hively, Neal Otto. Original
Pennsylvania Land Record Series: Berwick, Oxford, Hamilton, Reading,
Tyrone, Huntington and Latimore Townships. Volume II. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: The Adams
County Historical Society, 2009.
[12] Deeds
recorded in the period 1749 – 1850 inclusive; in the Office of Recorder of Deeds, Court House, York, Pennsylvania.
Taken from: Young, Henry James. Genealogical Reports for the Historical
Society of York County, evidences of
the Wolf Families of York County before the year 1950. Volume XX.
The Historical Society of York County, 1938. . Copy of book owned by
York County Heritage Trust, 250 East Market Street, York,
Pennsylvania.
[13] Prowell, George R. History of
York County, Pennsylvania. Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Company, 1907.
[14] Administration Bond of the
Estate of Adam Dick, deceased, 1786. York County Heritage Trust, York,
Pennsylvania.
