24 October 2001

Much of the writer's information comes from the book Descendants of Jacob Hoots, written by his uncle, Carl C. Hoots of Yadkinville, North Carolina, who spent forty years researching the family (1). Carl also published the book Cemeteries of Yadkin County, which is of great interest to genealogy scholars (2). Another source of information was the book The Heritage of Yadkin County, published by the Yadkin County Historical Society (3). Carl and his brother Hubert were very instrumental in the compilation of that book.

Since the publication of those books, about 1990, genealogical research has been revolutionized by the use of computer systems to store and exchange information. Within the hundreds of genealogical computer sites there are millions of pages of information and access to the genealogical files of such institutions as the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

The writer's research, greatly aided by use of the computer, has resulted in some conclusions that differ from those of Carl and has also divulged additional information on the family history. This document discusses the reasons for those differences and provides background for the new material. However, the writer does not claim that his version is correct - Carl's version is equally acceptable and neither is documented in a formal way.

It is almost certain that older ancestors of the Hoots line had the surname Huth and immigrated to America from what is now Germany. Carl cites three possible ancestors and, without explanation, chooses Johan Jacob Huth who arrived in Philadelphia in 1743 on the ship Loyal Judith (4). He further concludes that Johan Jacob Huth came from the village of Engelstadt, Germany. The writer agrees with those conclusions and tested them by running computer scans on each of the 113 men on the passenger list of the Loyal Judith (women and children are not listed). Of the names found, three were from villages within walking distance of Engelstadt - brothers Gerhart and Friederich Fischkus (modern day spelling Fiscus), born in Wolfsheim and living in Saulheim (5), and Nicolaus Runckel from Wackernheim (5) (6). As noted below, another one of the passengers, Cristoffel Graffert (correct name Johann Cristoph Graffert) lived across the street from Johann Jacob in Engelstadt. Another passenger, Johann Jacob Petry, came from Kirchberg, about 25 miles west of Engelstadt. Of those passengers, Friedrich Fischkus and Johann Jacob Petry ended up in the same vicinity of North Carolina as Johann Jacob Huth. There were probably more passengers from the vicinity of Engelstadt whose names are not in the computer files.

To further test the conclusion that Johan Jacob came from Engelstadt, the writer looked in a computerized German phonebook, found a K. Huth in Engelstadt, and wrote a letter to the subscriber in January 1999. The letter recapitulated the information in Carl's book about Johan Jacob Huth and his emigration to America in 1743. The recipient of the letter turned out to be 82 year old Katherina Huth. Two of her granddaughters, Heike Geis and Sybille Wenzel answered by E-mail. The following is from a 31 January 1999 E-mail from Heike Geis:

"You sent a letter to my Grandmother, Katherina Huth, regarding genealogy. She is now 82 years old and I am her Granddaughter. She asked me to let you know that she received your letter and that she finds it very interesting. She immediately remembered, that in former times, it was spoken about this family, which emigrated to Amerika in 17??. She even knew the name you mentioned."

A search of the Engelstadt church records by Katherine and the granddaughters revealed that Johann (correct spelling) Jacob Huth was confirmed in 1733 at the age of 14, which makes his date of birth about 1719. This is consistent with the records of the Loyal Judith. Much to the writer's surprise, they also found that Johann Jacob married Maria Margaretha Andrae in Engelstadt in 1738. It is the writer's opinion that his wife accompanied him to North America.

Further research in the church records revealed that Johann Jacob's father was a baker named Johann Michel Huth, born in 1696. Johann Jacob was the second child of his first marriage.

On 13 August 1999, the writer received a traditional printed German style death notice informing him of the death of Katherina Huth, in Engelstadt on 7 August 1999.

On 20 September 1999, the writer received a letter from Nial Crawford of Lancaster, Pennsylvania (7). One of his direct ancestors, Johann Cristoph Graffert, lived in a house at Weinberg Strasse 4, in Engelstadt, directly across the street from Johann Jacob Huth. They came to America together on the ship Loyal Judith. The Graffert family has lived in the house since 1643 and the Huth Family at Weinberg Strasse 9 since about 1639. Nial and his wife, Frieda, visit Engelstadt every few years and visit members of the Graffert family who still live in the house, Hans Martin Graffert and his wife, Hildegard (Huth). Katherina Huth was Hildegard's aunt.

In March 2001, the writer reviewed the Latter Day Saints (LDS) microfilm of the records of the Lutheran church in Engelstadt, Germany ("FHL INTL Film 1475629 Items 9-10," records of the Evangelische Kirche Engelstadt (Kr. Bingen), titled "Taufen (baptism), Heiraten (marriage), Konf. (confirmation), Toten (death) 1666-1705 Taufen, Konf., Heiraten, Toten 1705-1798."). Although the records are in poor condition and difficult to read the writer was able to find the entry concerning the confirmation of Johann Jacob Huth in 1733. Entries were also found pertaining to the Andrae family, the maiden name of Johann Jacob Huth's wife (resolving a question in the writer's mind as to how Johann married a woman with a French name). There were also entries pertaining to the Fiscus, Graffert, and Petri (Petry) families, names of passengers on the same ship that brought Johann Jacob Huth to America. Several entries pertaining to the Huth family were found, although the writer has not been able to establish a relationship to Johann Jacob.

At this point, we come to a major difference between Carl Hoots' version of the lineage and that of the writer. Carl concludes that Johann Jacob Huth went to Virginia on his arrival in North America, married a woman named Margaret, migrated with her to North Carolina, and died there in 1801. He also concluded that three of their nine children were born in Virginia and the rest in North Carolina. The writer thought that the foregoing was improbable, given the life expectancy of persons at that time and what would have been Johann's age when the children were born.

After further research, the writer came to the conclusion that Johann was accompanied to America by his wife Maria Margaretha, that they went directly to North Carolina, and had a son named Jacob about 1745. Further, that the younger Jacob was the ancestor who married a woman named Margaret in North Carolina and had nine children.

The above conclusion was fostered by an item in page 171 of Carl's book, included completely out of context with other material and without comment. It was furnished to Carl by a Mr. Adrian Elarth Allen of Jerome, Idaho, in 1975: "Family sheet information on the Jacob Hoots family, obtained from Surry Co, NC and other records: Jacob Hoots, b. about 1745, will probated Aug. 1801; wife, Mrs. Margaret Hoots, b. about 1748." Mr. Allen and two other contributors also had this information entered in the records of The Church of the Latter Day Saints. The writer obtained copies of Mr. Allen's submissions to the Church but they did not contain documented proof of the entry pertaining to Jacob Hoots. The writer continues to investigate.

The following item is on page 7 of Carl's book: "In the minutes of the Old Heidelberg Lutheran Church of Dutchman Creek (near Mocksville, NC), written in German, there is recorded 'Jacob Huth born 13 May 1793, baptized 15 August; parents Jacob Huth and wife Magdelin. Sponsors Heinrick Kahl and wife Elizabeth.'" The father is Johann Jacob Huth's great-grandson, Jacob Hoots, II, through Jacob Hoots and Jacob Hoots, Jr. The mother is Mary (Polly) Magdalina Carver. Heinrick Kahl is mentioned in Jacob's will as Henry Caul. The fact that the entry is written in German and the name spelled Huth helps to verify the history of Johann Jacob Huth described by the writer.

In October, 1999, the writer attempted to find out why "Henry Caul" was in Jacob Hoots' will. With the help of some "Caul" (correct name Heinrich Kahl) descendants he concluded that Henry was a good friend of Jacob Hoots, Jr., and may have lived with the Hoots family for a time. The writer also found, much to his surprise, that Henry's sister Eve Call was probably his great-great-great half-aunt through marriage to a Garner whose descendant married Ila Jane Hoots, half -sister of the writer's father, Benjamin Hoots.

In April, 2000, the writer received correspondence (12) from Mr. Ron Booe concerning the "Heidelberg Settlement" and the "Heidelberg Evangelical Lutheran Church" (called the "Old Dutch Meeting House"). The leather-bound record book of the church still exists and is on display in the Lutheran Church Museum in Salisbury, North Carolina. The church is gone but vestiges of the settlement remain, including the untended church cemetery. One of the gravestones contains the inscription "Adam Gaul was born 9 December 1758 departed this life November 21, 1800." Adam Gaul was Henry Caul's brother. Mr. Booe notes "The other remaining Heidelberg artifact is the ancient weathervane, which is said to have been sent from Germany to be placed on top of the Heidelberg Evangelical Lutheran Church steeple. It is in the traditional form of a cock, a reminder of Peter's denial of Christ and thus a warning to others not to follow his example. It is displayed in the Rowan County Museum in Salisbury, North Carolina."

Carl's book describes Johann Jacob Huth as possibly being a professional soldier, with military service from 1757 to 1783. The writer believes that the early military service, in 1757, was performed by a Jacob Hutts, Sr., of Virginia who may be related but is not a direct ancestor, and the latter service, 1777 to 1783, was performed by his son Jacob Hutts, Jr. The younger Jacob and his brother Leonard both received a "bounty land warrant" (Land-Office Military Warrants No. 1427 and 1426) on 25 July 1783, for Revolutionary War service in the Virginia Continental Line, which they each used to obtain 200 acres of land in Kentucky.

The writer also believes that Johann Jacob Huth did not serve in the military but that his son, Jacob Hoots, served in the North Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War (8).

In Carl Hoots' book, there is the following: "The marriage records of Campbell County, Rustburg, Virginia, show Jacob Hutts married to Ann Gough 29 April 1786. The Gough land was adjacent to the Hutts land in Surry County (now Yadkin County), North Carolina." Carl notes that this is "confusing" but does not elaborate.

The marriage records of Campbell County actually show the brides name as Ann Goff. The writer believes that the groom was Jacob Hutts, Jr. of Virginia, not of the North Carolina Hoots' family, and that the bride was not of the Gough's of North Carolina.

The Gough family that lived adjacent to the Hoots' was that of James Gough, Sr. Information obtained from a descendant of James indicates that in 1786, when the Campbell County marriage took place, James Gough, Sr., was six years old and living with his family in Stafford County, Virginia (9). James came to North Carolina just before 1800 and purchased the land adjacent to the Hoots' in 1804.

There was an especially close friendship between the Hoots and Shore families that, in the writer's opinion, helped to shape the course of the Hoots family. For that reason, the writer has attempted to determine the source of that friendship.

After they arrived in Philadelphia in 1743, the writer thinks that Johann Jacob Huth and his wife Maria Margaretha went to North Carolina Colony and originally lived in a settlement on Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Yadkin River, in Bladen (now Forsyth) County. The Muddy Creek settlement was started by German immigrants about 1740. In 1753, the Moravians started the village of Bethabera on land near the settlement and in 1759, three miles west, the village of Bethania. In a 1766 map of Wachovia, the Moravian's original tract of land in America, the "Muddy Creek Settlement" is shown adjoining the southwest part of the tract (10). Another passenger on the "Loyal Judith," Johann Jacob Petri, also settled in Bladen County and died in Muddy Creek 3 May 1804. In 1790, Petri was instrumental in obtaining land for the Nazareth Lutheran Church in Rural Hall, Stokes (now Forsyth) County, and in 1812, when the land was formally conveyed to the church, one of the witnesses on the conveyance document was Valentine Fry, a landowner shown on the 1766 map (13).

It was probably in Wachovia that Johann Jacob Huth and his son Jacob Hoots met Friedrich Schor and his son Frederick Shore. Friedrich Schor was born in 1706 in Muttenz, Switzerland, married in 1730 and had several children. Frederick was born in 1731. Friedrich and the family left Switzerland and arrived in Philadelphia in 1750. His wife died at sea and Friedrich did not remarry. About 1756, after living in Pennsylvania and Virginia, he and the children arrived in Bethabara and by 1759 were living in Bethania. They were probably among a large group of settlers who fled Virginia during the French and Indian Wars because of attacks by the Cherokee Indians. The Shores were not Moravian but were allowed to live in Bethania because "they were in sympathy with the views of the Brethren." (11)

The writer thinks that the friendship between the Hoots' and Shores may have started when Frederick Shore married Maria Fiscus. The following is from page 35 of Ancestors and Descendants of Frederick Shore: "It is said that Frederick Shore, Jr., married first a Maria Fiscus (Fisher or Fishel). We can find no proof of this marriage. At the time of his death, his will names his wife as Barbara." The writer thinks that Maria was the daughter of Friedrich Fischkus who, as noted above, came to America on the same ship as Johann Jacob Huth and became a land owner in Wachovia (10). Another indication of the possible relationship is contained in correspondence received by the writer (5), as follows: "Friederick Fischkus was born in 1707 and died 19 March 1772 near Bethania, Rowan, No. Carolina (Shore Graveyard)." If the marriage did take place Maria must have died before 1776, because Frederick married Barbara Ries about 1777.

In 1762, Friedrich Schor received a land grant of 313 acres on "...a branch of Mill Creek, waters of Muddy Creek and adjoining the Moravian land..." His name and the plot are identified on the 1766 Wachovia map. It is believed that he died on that land in 1773 (11).

Also in 1762, his son Frederick Shore bought 500 acres "...on both sides of South Fork Deep Creek on West side of Yadkin River, adjoining John Harm..." It is the writer's opinion that the Frederick Shore and Jacob Hoots families moved to Frederick's land on Deep Creek sometime after 1762. It is not known whether Johann Jacob Huth moved with his son.

In 1780, Jacob Hoots started to claim land grants on Harmon Creek, a tributary of Deep Creek. He and his family then moved to that land. In his land grants, the name is spelled Hutts until 1794 and thereafter Hoots. In the writer's opinion, this is the strongest evidence that Carl Hoots' contention that Johann Jacob Huth came to North Carolina through Virginia using the name Jacob Hutts.

Jacob Hoots died in 1801 and Frederick Shore was executor of his estate. In 1807, Jacob Hoots' son Daniel married Elizabeth Shore, daughter of Frederick. Daniel and Elizabeth were the writer's paternal great-great grandparents. In 1814, a grandson of Jacob Hoots bought 100 acres of land on Muddy Creek and farmed it until he went west in 1826 (1). Frederick Shore died in 1818.

Written by Dad Hoots

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Footnotes

1. Hoots, Carl C., Descendants of Jacob Hoots, 1991, privately published, Yadkinville, NC, Library of Congress Call No. (LCCN) CS71.H78691990

2. Hoots, Carl C., Cemeteries of Yadkin County, North Carolina, reprint 1985, published in Spartanburg, SC, ISBN 0-87152-399-X (pbk.), LCCN F262.Y19H661985

3. The Heritage of Yadkin County, Yadkin County Historical Society, Yadkinville, NC, 1981, Hunter Publishing Company, Winston-Salem, NC

4. Pennsylvania German Pioneers, page 337, Vol. I, Strassburger & Hinke, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1966

5. E-mail from Ida Mae Kirkwood ([email protected]) to Rodney Hoots, 7 January 1999

6. Posting on Rootsweb Germany GenWeb Inquiries by Lloyd E. Runkle ([email protected]), 15 May 1998

7. Letter, 16 September 1999, from Nial Crawford, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

8. In 1783, the Continental Congress authorized the Paymaster General of the Continental Army, John Pierce, to settle unpaid military pay for veterans of the Revolutionary War. He completed the task in 1785 and issued a record of the pay certificates called "Pierce's Register." On page 386 of Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution, under "Sundry Names," it is noted that Jacob Hoots, Militia, Salisbury District, filed claim 4651, apparently for back pay. The town of Salisbury, North Carolina, was and is located about 30 miles south of the site of Jacob's farm. In the first census of the United States in 1790, Jacob's family is shown as being in the Salisbury District.

9. E-mail from Susan Gall ([email protected]) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina

10. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, by Adelaide L. Fries, Edwards and Broughton Printing Co, 11 volumes, LCCN F265.M7F75 1922

11. Ancestors and Descendants of Frederick Shore, by Leo Jane Shore, privately published, CS71.S55838 1983

12. E-mail from Ron Booe ([email protected]) of Davie County, North Carolina, 30 March 2000

13. Family web site of Jo Martin ([email protected])

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