Part Two of Erich's Enke Findings

Quoting from Erich..."It turns out there was indeed a Ludwig Jakob Encke, age 23 as of 1776, from Bieber in the Hesse province in Germany. He was enrolled and immediately shipped to America in May 1776 as a bombadier in the Hanua Artillery Unit, after the first wave had already left. Incidently, a Johann Ludwig Encke of similar age and enrolled at the same time from Bieber, seem to have accompanied Ludwig. The nature of their relationship to him is unknown." Note: I guess I can see why I previously had John's father written down as Jacob.

"The majority of the unit was captured at Saratoga by the Americans. The prisoners were transferred to Virginia in Nov. 1778. The commander feared being transferred to Pennsylvania, because of the close association the Hessians had with the Pennsylvania Deutsch. In September 1782, "selling oneself" into three years indentured servitude began and subsequently being able to stay in the New World, as well as recruitment amongst the prisoners for the American side. The records say that Ludwig was indeed sold."

"How interesting...on April 10, 1786, almost exactly after those three years are up, we see Ludwig having his first child, Magdelene, with his wife, Elizabeth Muschlitz, daughter of Gottfried Muschlitz from Towamensing. Ludwig almost assuredly served Gottfried Muschlitz and became acquainted with his daughter. Gottfried was a German-speaking immigrant. At this point, we start seeing 'Lewis' in some documentsw, and 'Ludwig' in others.?"

"It is my belief that Lewis and Elizabeth had three children; the aforementioned Magdalene, Elizabeth born 1788 who later married Henry Swank, and John. If John's gravestone can be believed, John was born in 1786, and would have been twins with Magdalene, but if this is the case, then why isn't John recorded beside Magdalene in the baptismal registers?"

Erich then lists the documents that Lewis shows up in over the years. He ends this particular document with "Since Lewis doesn't appear on the 1830 census (but John does), my guess is that Lewis died by 1830, and did not move to Ohio with John. Finding Lewis' grave would be most helpful, as would any other primary sources."

I can use Erich's finding as examples of how to do family research the correct way. He doesn't assume anything, uses family "knowledge" as pointers, but looks towards documentation for everything. Erich is patient and though the internet is very important, he checks and double checks what is found there. I've spent too long assuming that gggrandfather, Peter DeLong, was indeed lost in a snowstorm in SD, as per my aunts. There is not hard evidence of this, and I'm going to direct my research to the state of Michigan where a death certificate awaits. A lesson learned!