JOHANNES LEMLEY 1720-1784
Nancy Simmons
Paul
Simmons - father
June
Putman - grandmother
Cora
Wilson - great-grandmother
Catherine
Deck - 2x great grandmother
Jacob
Deck - 3x great grandfather
Elizabeth
Huffman - 4x great grandmother
Catherine
Lemley - 5x grandmother
JOHANNES
LEMLEY - 6x great grandfather
Many of us have German ancestry. It is one of the largest
strands of European ethnicity in people of the United States. My Ancestry DNA
test revealed I am 14% Germanic but in a range that could possibly extend to
29%. My personal research reveals I am
19% German. My German ancestors all descend from my father's side of the
family. Both his mother’s and his father’s families have German ancestry.
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| My Ancestry DNA estimated ethnicity - 14% German |
Germans have immigrated to America since the settlement
of Jamestown but there are two definite waves of German immigration. The first
wave stretches from the early 1700s to the Revolutionary War. These Germans
came from the Rhine Valley area of Europe. German refugees traveled north up
the Rhine to Rotterdam to board ships to England. And from England many were
transported to the British colonies. Most of these Germans were of Lutheran or
Reformed faith. The second wave of Germans occurred from the 1830s to the 1920s
and they were mainly of the Catholic faith coming from eastern European. My German ancestors all date to the First
Wave.
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| Johannes Lemley lived south of Worms Traveled up the Rhine River to Rotterdam to Cowes, England to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Colony |
Some of my German family surnames are Simmons, Rexrodt,
Arbogast, Huffman, Deck, Lemley and Odewalt to name just a few. To get to my
seminal German immigrants I had to research back to my 5th and 6th
grandparents. Researching ancestors who immigrated before the Revolutionary War
is not an easy task. Most of these German ancestors were refugees fleeing the
area in the Rhine River Valley due to the cruel religious and political wars of
Europe. They lost their homes and their land and were victims of hatred due to
their religious faith or conflicts of governments. This Rhine Valley was also
known as the Palatinate. An estimated 80,000 Palatinates entered America
through the port of Philadelphia from 1683-1775. Many of them sought the
promise of greater toleration in America, especially in William Penn's
"Paradise of Pennsylvania."[1]
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| Port of Philadelphia about 1750 Johannes Lemley arrived in Philadelphia in 1752 |
My 6th great grandfather, Johannes (John) Lemley,
immigrated in 1752 through the port of Philadelphia. John was born in Wurttemberg, Germany about
1720. He and a brother Michael
immigrated to America on October 20, 1752 on the ship called the Duke of
Wirtemburg.[2]
They boarded a ship in Rotterdam and sailed to Cowes, England. There they left
for Philadelphia on the ship “The Duke of Wirtemburg” and after 3 weeks they
arrived in Philadelphia. Before passengers could disembark, all males over the
age of 16 signed an Oath of allegiance to King George the III of Great Britain.
Then, if the passengers passed a health exam they could disembark.[3]
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| Johannes Lemle on the passenger list for the ship Duke of Wirtemburg |
A year later in 1753 John Lemley was granted several land
grants by Sir Thomas Fairfax dated May 26, 1753 for one lot or half acre of
land each in the town of Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia where he
eventually builds an inn and a blacksmith shop.[4]
When a land patent was granted the landowner had to pay annual rent fees and
Johannes was obligated to pay 5 schillings each year on the Feast Day of St.
Michael.[5]
Lord Fairfax also gave a grant to the Germans in Winchester to build a Lutheran
Church. The church, which John Lemley was a member, first built a log
schoolhouse and not until 1764 was the cornerstone for the first church
building laid. John Lemley was one of the founders of the Lutheran Church in
Winchester that eventually was called Grace Lutheran Church. In his will he
left much of his estate to the church.[6]
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| Land grant to John Lemley from Thomas Lord Fairfax Lot # 206 in Winchester, Colony of Virginia 15 May 1753 |
At the same time John Lemley was receiving his land grant
and establishing his businesses as an inn keeper and a blacksmith, in
Winchester, Virginia, George Washington the young 23-year-old colonel in the
British Virginia military was in Winchester organizing the building of Fort
Loudoun. Fort Loudoun was a historic fortification used during the French
and Indian War. George was responsible for fortifications along the Virginia
western settlements from 1748-1758. John
Lemley is mentioned in George Washington’s journal. On October 20, 1755 George gives
orders to his commanding officer to halt troops in Winchester and to house the
men in the courthouse and James Lemen’s barracks. James
Lemen, a tavern keeper and leading citizen of Winchester, lived near the
courthouse.[7]
Orders, 20 October 1755 (archives.gov) This
James Lemen was Johannes Lemley, innkeeper and cooper in Winchester.
 |
| George Washington's Office Winchester, Virginia |
I also found John Lemley in the Frederick County court
records[8]
as a plaintiff seeking reparation for damages. As an owner of an inn that sold
liquor in a town on the edge of civilization with many soldiers waiting for
orders to march into the wilderness, one can visualize how the damages
occurred. In one case the sheriff is told to sell the boots and clothes left in
the inn to reimburse John Lemley for damages.
 |
| Order that the Sheriff of Winchester sell one great coat, pair of boots, and one gun belonging to the defendant, Daniel Stephens, totally a sum of six pounds four schillings and seven pence. The sum to be paid to the plaintiff, John Lemley, to cover his loss due to the debt of the defendant. |
According to some researchers John's wife was Catherine,
but in his will, he addresses her as his wife. The will dated August 26, 1784,[9]
stated that he bequest his wife the house with all his furniture, his land, and
his tenements. He gives George Lemley fifty pounds, and his clock, he gives
Michael Huffman, son in law, married to his daughter Catherine, my direct
descendant fifty pounds and his still, (more evidence of John serving liquor)
and gives John Kerns, son of Adam Kerns 12 pounds. I still do not know the relationship if any
of John Lemley to John and Adam Kerns. John tasked his executors to sell the
rest of his worldly possessions and give the money to the Lutheran Church in
Winchester. The will is probate November
4, 1784,[10] so
John had to have died sometime after he signed his will on August 26 and before
the will was probated on November 4th.
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| First page of the Will of John Lemley, Frederick County, VA 1784 |
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| Joh Lemley's bequest and gift to the Lutheran Church in Winchester |
As I research my families, I always hope to find someone
notorious but in most cases I find I am related to only plain regular folks.
Johannes (John) Lemley was not famous but he is one of my German ancestors who
left Germany in 1752 and immigrated to the British colony of Pennsylvania. He
moved to Winchester in the Virginia colony and there on the outskirts of civilization
he settled and lived out his life. He probably saw or even talked to the soon
to be famous young British colonel, George Washington, who was trying to
protect settlers from the ravages of the French and Indian war fought from
1754-1763. Johannes Lemley died in the fall of 1784, and there is no record of
his burial, but he was probably buried in the graveyard of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Winchester, Virginia.
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| The Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery in Winchester, Virginia Stone wall is remnant of original church built in 1764 |
[1] Wokeck, Marianne S., Trade in
Strangers: The Beginnings of Mass Migration to North America, Philadelphia:
The Pennsylvania State University, 1999, page 44.
[2] Strassburger, Ralph Beaver &
William John Hinkle, Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of
the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808,
Vol 1, page 498, Camden,
Missouri: Picton Press, ©1992.
[3] Ibid, page 497
[4] Virginia Land Patents and Grants,
The Library of Virginia, digital image 295_0056
[5] Ibid
[6] Eisenberg, William Edward, This
Heritage, Winchester, VA: The Trustees of Grace Evangelical Lutheran
Church; 1954, page 292.
[7] “Orders, 20 October 1755,” Founders Online, National
Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-02-02-0127, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series,
vol. 2, 14 August 1755 – 15 April 1756, ed. W. W. Abbot.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983, p. 130.]
[8] FamilySearch, film #8141184, Frederick Co VA Order Books, Vol 9, 1760-1762, page 356, image 662, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKH-ZBLZ?i=661&cat=400321
[9] FamilySearch, film # 007644644, Frederick Co VA Will Book 5, pages 61-64https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99PC-KXP?i=426&cat=416730
[10] Ibid,
page 64
