THE CREAGER HISTORY
by
Irene Creager Lawson

Title Page
pp. 1-10

CREAGER COAT OF ARMS

"Until about 1100 A.D. most people in Europe had only one name. As the population increased, it became awkward to live in a village with so many of the same name. And so, to distinguish one from the other, a second name was needed. The four primary sources were:

1) Occupation - such as Cook, Shepherd, Hunter, Fisher, Driver, etc.;

2) Location - such as Hill, Brook, Lane, etc.;

3) Characteristic - such as Small, Short, Long, Young, Fox, Dove, Good, etc; and

4) Patronymical (father's name) many of these surnames are recognized by their ending in ...son. Some endings used by other countries to indicate "son" are: Armenian's ....ian, Danes and Norwegians ...sen, Finns ...nen, Greeks ...pulos, Spaniards ...ez, and Poles ...wiecz. Prefixes denoting "son" are the Welsh Ap..., Scots and Irish Mac... and Normans Fitz... while the Irish O' denotes grandfather.

In addition to needing an extra name, the fighting man found it necessary to have further identification. The fighting man of the Middle Ages wore a metal suit of armor for protection. This suit of armor included a helmet that completely covered the head and made him unrecognizable. To prevent friend from attacking friend, it became necessary for each knight to identify himself. This was accomplished by painting colorful patterns on their shields, as well as the same pattern woven into their cloth worn over the suit of armor. Thus was born the term 'Coat of Arms.'

To prevent knights using the same insignia, records were kept that granted the right to a particular pattern. His family also shared the right to display these arms. In many instances, these records have been preserved and lists the names and exact description of the 'Coat of Arms' granted to that family. Families who resent the attempt of our society to reduce each individual to a number in a computer especially takes pride in this one rare device remaining that can provide an incentive to preserve our heritage.

The 'Coat of Arms' were drawn by an heraldic artist from information recorded in ancient heraldic archives. Documentation for the Creager Coat of Arms can be found in Reitstap Armorial General, page 1136, under the variant Krieger."

Our earliest known ancestor, to date, is Ernst Krieger, father of Casper. Ernst was listed as a citizen and baker at Klein Gartach in Germany.

The authentic facts about our first ancestor in America are clearly documented in various records in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in Frederick County, Maryland. Casper arrived in America August 29, 1730. The port entrance for Casper Creager can be found in Rupp�s Thirty Thousand Names of Immigrants to Pennsylvania, 1727-1776, page 62. �Palatines with their families, 260 persons, imported in the ship �Thistle of Glasgow," Collins Dunlap, master, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes� among them was Caspar Krieger. (The Creager name was spelled with a K and in many different variations, but for easier reading it will be spelled Creager.)

Figure 1

Casper and his family made their home in Berks, Philadelphia County, near Reading, Pennsylvania. He was a member of a committee, which bought land for Oley Hill Church in 1747. Records of his land purchases in Philadelphia County, [Pennsylvania] are in the Pennsylvania Archives Volume 24, 3rd series, pp. 9, 27, and 28; 150 acres � March 8, 1734, 25 acres � April 15, 1737, 25 acres � November 17, 1744 and 25 acres � May 13, 1751. The Pennsylvania land was sold in 1751, but the exact date of Casper�s arrival in Frederick County, Maryland is not certain. He bought land

There are numerous references in the Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume II, to the Creager men in service. All members of the Creager family would qualify for membership in the D.A.R. (Daughter�s of the American Revolution). Casper, himself, was in the French and Indian War according to Margaret Myers, genealogist of Frederick, Maryland. All of the living sons of Casper Creager: Valentine, Conrad, Adam, Michael, George and Henry, were loyal Americans and were all in the Revolutionary War. (Christian had died prior to the war.) In the notes of Mrs. Stella Risinger, who researched the Creager family in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland in 1952, was the following notation; �The ill-fated Braddock Expedition was organized in Creagerstown in 1755 and there is a tradition that two of Casper�s younger sons joined the party as guides � no official data on this. In the Revolution and Civil War, Creagers bore their part.�

The Creager families of Frederick County, Maryland made their homes in the same general community fifteen miles north of Frederick, Maryland in and around Thurmont, Monocacy and Creagerstown. Creagerstown, Kriegerstadt as it was recorded in early Lutheran Church records was founded by John Creager, for whom the town was named, owned the land and laid out the town before the Revolution sometime between 1760 and 1770. Johannes Franz Creager was baptized September 18, 1703 at Beddelhausen (no further information on him) and Anna Elizabeth Krieger was born 1717 and baptized on January 25, 1718 at Beddelhausen. Isaac Kolb built a house in 1775 and possibly was the first house to be built in Creagerstown. The land which

Thurmont was formerly named Mechanicstown and the first settlement of Mechanicstown was about 1751. The town was laid out into lots by James and Lawrence Creager, who owned large tracts of land in the county. The first family to settle upon the site of the present town was that of the Weller family, who came from Berks County, Pennsylvania. It is often recognized that John Weller is the founder of Thurmont. In 1800, the village had increased in size as to justify the building of a tavern to accommodate the travelers from the mountain gap to Hagerstown and beyond. It was operated by Jacob Weller, the son of John Weller. According to facts gathered throughout the years, five families: the Wellers, Creagers, Wilhides, Firors and Eylers were the early settlers of Mechanicstown and the vicinity. Around the year 1892, the name of Mechanicstown was legally and officially changed to Thurmont, which means �Gateway to the Mountain.�

There were numerous marriages among the Weller and Creager families. James and Lawrence Creager were from the family of Johann Lorenz Krieger, born March 15, 1715, baptized April 10, 1715. His godparents were his father�s brother, Johannes Krieger, and Lorenz Schreiber. He came from Elsof (the Parish) , Beddelhause (the Town), Wittgenstein (the Province), Westfalen (the area), Prussia (now a part of East Germany).

Most of the Creagers were farmers and acquired large tracts of land, both by inheritance and purchases. As with all Germans of the era, they worked exceptionally hard and reared large families.

The Casper Creager family, as well as other Creager families were devout Lutherans. Had it not been for their religious background many interesting and important records would not be available. Many of the church records, referring to the Creagers, have been translated and copied by the Maryland Historical Society. One record states �1763 � Casper Creager promised one pound annually for the support of the schoolmaster and preacher.� Casper died in 1765. His will was made September 5, 1763, being witnessed by Thomas Schley, Philip Smith and Andrew Link. Casper�s will can be found in Will Book A, Folio 254, Frederick County, Maryland Records and Book 33, page 242 of Frederick County Wills (probated October 1, 1765). Christina was still living in 1769, as the following was taken from the Communicant List, dated September 24, 1769, the 18th Sunday after Trinity: �Christina Kruger, wife of the late Casper Kruger.� (Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, formerly St. Peters, Rocky Hill, near Woodsboro, Frederick Co. [MD] Parish Register 1767-1889.)

From the Schwaigern (Germany) Lutheran Church Book: �Hans Jerg Hoffert, son of Stofel Hoffert and Anna Margretha, the daughter of Marx Mest, were married August 24, 1702. They had five children: 1) Hans Ulrich, baptized September 29, 1703; 2) Hans Georg, born March 20, 1705; 3) Anna Christina, born December 1, 1706, married Casper Krieger, the immigrant; 4) child (not named) born January 2, 1710; and 5) Christianus, born January 5, 1716.�

�Johann Casper Krieger, weaver, the son of the late Ernst Krieger, citizen and baker at Klein Gartach, and Anna Christina, daughter of Hans Jerg Hoffert, were married August 17, 1728, and they had: 1) Philip Casper, born September 5, 1729� (of course, they arrived in America August 29, 1730).

FREDERICK COUNTY CEMETERIES

Number 68 The Devilbiss Family Cemetery in lower center section.

Number 72 St. Peter�s Rocky Hill Lutheran Church in lower right hand section, just east of Woodsboro.

Number 75 The Daysville Link-Creager Family Cemetery in lower right hand corner.

Number 78 The Glade Reformed Cemetery just north of Walkersville in lower center section.

CASPER CREAGER�S WILL

Caspar Kruger

Phillip Casper Creager was Casper and Christinah�s first born child. The Falckner Swamp Lutheran Church in New Hanover, Pennsylvania has in their records Casper being confirmed and admitted Holy Communion on November 5, 1749, at age 20. this verifies their first son was born in Germany and would have been about one year old when they arrived in America. His birth record was found listed in the Schwaigern, Germany Parish records giving his birth date as September 5, 1729.

Johann Christian Creager, second son of Casper and Christinah, was born in 1731. According to the Falckner Swamp Lutheran Church records, Christian was confirmed on November 5, 1749, aged 18 years. He was married to Anna Mary Abolina. Christian�s will was dated August 21, 1768 and probated September 8, 1768. It is recorded in Will Book Liber A, Folio 321 in the Frederick County Court House, Frederick County, Maryland. His brothers Valentine and Conrad were named Executors. His will can also be found in it�s entirety in the Texas Creager Connection. He mentioned the name of his wife, Mary Abolinia, but referred to his family as �my children.�

According to Margaret Myers, genealogist in Frederick, Maryland, Christian and Anna Mary had a son Casper Creager. The birth date of Casper in one reference is given as the year 1763, but possibly should read 1761 as Casper would have been too young to have served in the American Revolution. They took men from the age 15 through 50. Casper would have been near his 15th birthday if his birthdate was 1761. From the DAR magazine, February 1958 (Vol. 92, No. 2) page 77, it reads, �In a list of men of an age to have served in the Revolutionary War, but whose names are not found in the �Roster, Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Ohio,� under Warren County, is found the following: �Creager, Casper, b. 1763, d. May 29, 1847.�

Casper, son of Christian and Anna Mary, was married to Barbara Smith. She was born in 1761 and the daughter of Regina Nusbaum and Adam Smith (Schmidt). Barbara�s sister, Anna Maria, married Solomon Creager (see page 29). Adam Smith mentions his daughter Barbara Creager in his will which was probated December 13, 1824 in Frederick, Maryland. Casper and Barbara had three children born in Maryland: Christian Wilhelm Creager, born November 21, 1812, sponsors were Solomon Creager and his wife Anna Maria (Evangelical Lutheran Church, Woodsboro, Maryland); Adam Creager, born in Maryland; and Solomon Creager, born in Maryland.

Casper, his wife and three children left Maryland for Ohio around the year 1815. They settled in Warren County, Ohio near Franklin. Six more children were born to them: Ezra, David, John, Sophia, Daniel and Mary, all born in Warren County. Their oldest son, C. W. (Christian Wilhelm)

Creager, and Susan Dolan were issued a marriage license March 25, 1841, in Montgomery County, Dayton, Ohio. Susan�s birth date was April 14, 1822. C. W. was a farmer and lived in Van Buren Twp., Montgomery County, Ohio. They had eleven children, one died as an infant. The other ten were: William Henry, John P., Mary A., Ezra, Susan, Jacob, Eliza Jane, Daniel, George and Emma Florence. Have no knowledge of the C. W. Creager family at this time. Casper died May 29, 1847 aged 85 years, and his wife, Barbara, died on the same day one year later at the age of 86 years. He died at 6 A.M. and she at 6 P.M.