diefenderfer family heritage in europe · diefenderfer family heritage in europe ... hans...

Tobias History Research © 2015

Diefenderfer Family Heritage in Europe Research question: From where in Europe did my Diefenderfer family originate?

Are they German? Surnames: Diefenderfer

Locations: Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Pennsylvania, Illinois Time frame: 1500-late 1700s

Your Diefenderfer line is actually Swiss. Your people survived some pretty hairy warfare, disease and religious persecution in Europe in the 1500s and 1600s.

Congratulations, you're a survivor! Good genes.

I traced your line back to Peter Diefenderfer (1520-1587), aka Dübendorfer, born in Bassersdorf, Zurich, Switzerland. Four or five generations (at least) of Diefenderfers lived in this area, just north of Zurich.

Bassersdorf, Zurich, Switzerland

Switzerland in the 1500s was an interesting place to be - a cultural Renaissance during the period. Art, music, science, botany, innovation, and a

modicum of religious tolerance.


In the mid-1600s, your Diefenderfers migrated approximately 250km north to Germany, near Heidelberg. I'm not sure why - this was a pretty all around bad time to be in Germany. This was the time of the Thirty Years' War, a series of

wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest, most destructive conflicts in European history. Pretty much every city on the

Rhine was sacked multiple times. It was a war between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmenting Holy Roman Empire and gradually developed into a

more general conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe, becoming less about religion and more a continuation of the France–Habsburg rivalry for

European political pre-eminence.

Bassersdorf, Zurich, Switzerland to Heidelberg, Germany

I’m confident your Diefenderfers were German Palatines. They immigrated to America in 1727 with a group of German Palatines. The German Palatines were

early 18th century emigrants from the Middle Rhine region of the Holy Roman Empire, including a minority from the Palatinate which gave its name to the entire group. "German Palatines" were early "Pennsylvania Dutch" settlers in

North America. The terms are often used synonymously.

Throughout the Nine Years War (1688–1697) and the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), recurrent invasions by the French Army devastated

the area of what is today Southwest Germany. Unfortunately, your Diefenderfers were living there at the time. The depredations of the French


Army and the destruction of numerous cities (especially within the Palatinate) created economic hardship for the inhabitants of the region, exacerbated by a rash of harsh winters and poor harvests that created famine in Germany and

much of northwest Europe.

The German Palatines came principally from regions comprising the modern German states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and northern areas of Baden-

Württemberg along the lower Neckar. Google it. During the so-called Kleinstaaterei period when this migration occurred, the Middle Rhine region

was a patchwork of secular and ecclesiastical principalities, duchies and counties.

What triggered the first mass emigration in 1709 of mostly impoverished German Palatine people to England was the British Crown's promise of free

land in the American Colonies which turned out to be only partially true. Parliament discovered in 1711 that several “agents” working on behalf of the

Colony of Carolina had promised the peasants around Frankfurt free passage to the plantations. Spurred by the success of only a few dozen families the year before, thousands of German families headed down the Rhine to England and

the New World.

These "Poor Palatines" as they were known, were some 13,000 Germans who came to England between May and November 1709. Their arrival in England,

and the inability of the British Government to integrate them, caused a highly politicized debate over the merits of immigration. The English didn't want them and tried to settle them in Ireland and the Colonies. This provides a little

context for the political and economic climate at the time your Diefenderfers immigrated to America, even though they left about 20 years later in 1727.

Along with several thousand others, they most likely floated approximately

500km up the Rhine from Heidelberg to Rotterdam, where they set sail for American in September 1727 on the William and Sarah.

Heidelberg to Rotterdam on the Rhine River.


Sadly, your ancestor, Hans Diefenderfer, died at sea on the journey, leaving his wife and two sons to soldier on. It took almost six weeks to sail to Rotterdam and another four to six weeks to cross the Atlantic. I’ve included in the

Resources listed at the end of this report, a quick read about the typical migration experience for German Palatines sailing from Rotterdam to Philly. I

suspect your ancestors had a similar journey. Spoiler alert! It wasn't so nice for them.

Your family arrived in Philadelphia, PA. At that time, Pennsylvania was the

proverbial “Promised Land” for immigrants fleeing religious intolerance. William Penn was a righteous Quaker, lover of democracy, etc. The Diefenderfers settled first in Lehigh County, then moved on to Union County and

finally, Luzerne County. Three or four generations stayed in Pennsylvania, until your grandfather, George Woodruff Diefenderfer arrived on the scene. He was

born in Cook County, Illinois.

So your people arrived in the New World JUST IN TIME to join General Washington's armies. They enlisted in the Pennsylvania militia in 1775 and fought bravely for the Pennsylvania Northampton County Militia as members of

the 7th Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. General Washington was very dependent on the boys from PA. Among other

engagements, they joined him for the horrible winter at Valley Forge. Those who survived (including your ancestors) were hailed as heroes, decorated and

eventually returned to their farms in Pennsylvania where they had GIANT Diefenderfer families of 10-12 children each for a few generations, all named Johannes or Johan or Hans or Alexander or Marta or Anna which is not at all

confusing for a genealogist (sarcasm).

Diefenderfer Line

Peter Diefenderfer (1520-1587) married Anli Keller (1538-1588) on June 26, 1558 in Bassersdorf, Zürich, Switzerland.

(son) Jakob Diefenderfer married Barbel Muller in 1599 in Bassersdorf, Zürich, Switzerland.

(son) Andreas Diefenderfer (1600-1684) married Ellsbeth Bantz (1605-1684) on February 20, 1621 in Zürich, Switzerland.

(son) Jakob Diefenderfer (1629-1684) married Ester Rodelstab (1630-

1689) on April 29, 1651 in Schriesheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

(son) Johannes Diefenderfer (1663-1727, died at sea) married Anna Kopp (1659-1726) on April 29, 1651 in Schriesheim, Baden-Württemberg,

Germany.

(son) Johann Diefenderfer (1702-1768) married Anna Mack (1699-1764) on November 14, 1725 in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.


(son) Gottfried Diefenderfer (1730-1806) married Anna Mattern (1727-1801) on May 3, 1753 in Macungie, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

(son) Jacob Diefenderfer (1759-1823) married Anna Flick (1766-1822) in 1783 in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

(son) Paul Diefenderfer (1800-1849) married Harriet Kline (1805-1886)

(son) Ephraim Diefenderfer, MD married Sarah Brown in 1864 in Pennsylvania.

(son) Harold Diefenderfer, MD (1869-1952) married Eleanor Doty (1874-?) in 17 Oct 1900 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.

(son) George Diefenderfer (1901-1897) married Margaret McGrath (1907-2003) in California in 1931. These are your maternal grandparents.

Supporting Research

Johannes Diefenderfer family immigration. Ancestry.com. U.S. and

Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [database

on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.

Johannes Diefenderfer on FindaGrave.com -

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=118715244

Johann Alexander Diefenderfer on FindaGrave.com -


Godfrey Diefenderfer - Probate Date: 17 May 1806 in Northampton,

Pennsylvania. Inferred Death Year: Abt 1806 in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 for Godfrey

Diefenderfer, Northhampton Will Book, Vol 4-5, 1800-1842.

Gottfried Diefenderfer on FindaGrave.com -

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-

bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=DIEF&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=40&GS

cntry=4&GSsr=201&GRid=22951455&

Jacob Diefenderfer on FindaGrave.com -

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-



Paul Diefenderfer on FindaGrave.com - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-



Ephraim Diefenderfer - Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-

1929 [database on-line].



http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=DIEF&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=40&GScntry=4&GSsr=201&GRid=22951455&










Ephraim Diefenderfer - U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-

1971.

Harold Diefenderfer - Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920

Resources

1. Brief History of Switzerland -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Switzerland

2. History of Switzerland - https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland

3. German Palatines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Palatines

4. History of Palatines -

http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/palatines/palatine-history.shtml

5. Thirty Years’ War - http://www.britannica.com/event/Thirty-Years-War

6. The Great Migration 1717-1754: The Ocean Crossing and Arrival in

Philadelphia - http://www.lookbackward.com/migration.htm

7. William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania -

http://www.ushistory.org/penn/bio.htm

8. Explaining Pennsylvania’s Militia -

http://allthingsliberty.com/2014/06/explaining-pennsylvanias-militia/

9. Valley Forge Legacy - http://valleyforgemusterroll.org/index.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Switzerland

https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Palatines

http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/palatines/palatine-history.shtml

http://www.britannica.com/event/Thirty-Years-War

http://www.lookbackward.com/migration.htm

http://www.ushistory.org/penn/bio.htm

http://allthingsliberty.com/2014/06/explaining-pennsylvanias-militia/

http://valleyforgemusterroll.org/index.asp


Documents

U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 for

Alexander Diefenderfer


U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 for Ephraim L Diefenderfer


DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA - PORT OF PHILADELPHIA

Ship William and Sarah. William Hill, Master, from Rotterdam, last for Dover,

England, landed in Philadelphia, Pa. on 21 Sept. 1927.

There were one hundred and nine Palatines who with their families numbered

about four hundred persons. The said Master had no license from the Court of

Great Britain for transporting those people and that the Master believed they

designed to settle in the Province of Philadelphia. All male persons above the

age of sixteen did subscribe their names or made their mark to the Declaration

to promise and engage true allegiance to His present Majesty, King George the

Second, and his successors, Kings of Great Britain and will be faithful to the

proprietor of this Province.

1 G. M. Weis, V. D. M. 2 Rudolph Beyl 3 Sebastian Graff 4 Tobias Frey 5 Johan Peter Fritz 6 Jacob Jost

7 Rudolph Wellecker 8 William Herry 9 Jacob Bausel 10 Philip Rutschly

11 Elias Meyer 12 Johannes Leib 13 Hans Georg Ziegler 14 Henrich Meyer

15 Christoph Walter 16 Johannes Huth 17 Philip Zigler 18 Joseph Albrecht 19 Michael Bottle 20 Georg Petter

21 Johannes Barth 22 Hans Ernst Rudy 23 Hans Georg Hertzer 24 Jacob Meyer

25 Henrich Meyer 26 Hans Philipp Schweickhardt 27 Philip Jacob Rheinlender 28 Johann Friderich Hilligass

29 Hans Michael Zimmerman 30 Johann Georg Schwab 31 Hans Bernhart Wolff 32 Johannes Eckman 33 Hans Martin Wellmer 34 Hans Caspar Spangler

35 Hans Martin Will 36 Johann Jacob Cuntz 37 Hans Georg Welcker 38 Alexander Dubendoffer

39 Johan Friderick Rudi 40 Hans Michael Diel 41 Hans Michael Pfautz 42 Hans Jerg Anspacher

43 Georg Schumacher 44* Hans Georg Nogelle 45 Hans Georg Kremer 46 Andreas Holsbacher 47 Hans Adam Wilder 48 Hans Georg Wolff

49 Hans Martin Liebenstein 50 Johan Henrich Hartman 51 Johannes Haberacker

Transcribed by the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild -

http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1700v4/williamsarah17270921.html

http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1700v4/williamsarah17270921.html