Jacob Bossert, Cleffia Schenkel, & an Unidentified Wife

Jacob Bossert lived and raised a family in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.  Jacob arrived on the Mercury on May 29, 1735.  At least one researcher feels that he is the same person as the Hans Jageli Bossert born January 10, 1695, in Turbenthal, Zurich, Switzerland to Hans and Elisabeth (Schneider) Bossert, but this has not been confirmed.  (Jageli is a variant form of Jacob.)  Jacob died in 1753; his will was written September 12, 1753 and probated November 29, 1753.  Jacob was married twice.  The name of his first wife is unknown; she apparently died before arriving in America and might have died before the family left Europe.  Jacob’s second wife was Cleffia.  Cleffia is probably the same person as Cleovea Schenkel, age 30, who arrived with Jacob on the Mercury.  Cleffia survived Jacob, but her death date is unknown.

Jacob and Cleoffia were part of a group of Anabaptists led by Reverend Maurice Goetschy that emigrated from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland.  The party journeyed northward from Zurich to Laufenburg, then went by boat down the Rhine to Rotterdam.  They originally intended to sail to Carolina, but while they were in Rotterdam Rev. Goetschy was promised a position as general superintendent of the Reformed churches in Pennsylvania.  Rev. Goetschy accepted the position, and the majority of the group decided to go with him.  They sailed to Philadelphia on the Mercury.

After Jacob Bossert’s death, his son Rudolph bought the family property from the other heirs.  The five surviving children and his widow Cleffia are identified in the deed of transfer.  The following is excerpted from the deed of sale recorded in Berks County.  Notice how the letters b and p are interchanged in some of the words, Abrill for April and Possert for Bossert.  This was a common attribute of German-speaking people when spelling phonetically.  Oddly, the surname is correctly spelled as Bossert in the book margin and in the deed index, which indicates that the words were misspelled in the original deed and copied verbatim into the deed book by the transcriber. 

The children of Jacob and ____ Bossert are:

1. Elizabeth Bossert.

2. Rudolph Bossert married but his wife’s name in not known.  They had at least one child.

3. Anna Bossert, born about 1729; died after 1803.  She married Johann Phillip Lenhart, son of Johann Peter Lenhart and Maria Margaretha _____.  He was born in 1734, and died in1803.

The children of Jacob and Cleffia Schenkel are:

1. Rebecca Bossert. She married George Ley

2. Susanna Bossert.  She married Henry Kalbach