The Swiss and Germans Arrive in Nova Scotia.
Among the Foreign Protestants who came to Nova Scotia was Henry Shankle, a second great-grandfather of Willy Collins.
The Shankle Family.
At the age of 15, Henry Shankle arrived in Nova Scotia on 2 September 1750 on the ship Ann with his brothers Jacob and Urlich, along with his mother Elizabeth Guettinger and his sister Elizabeth.
Henry Shankle was born Hans Heinrich Schenkel in Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland on 1 May 1735. He was the son of Hans Jacob Schenkel and Elizabeth Guettinger who had a total of ten children. Half of their children died young. Hans Jacob Schenkel died 5 April 1744 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland. His widow and their living children then left Switzerland in June 1750 for Nova Scotia. Likely they traveled from Zurich, Switzerland to Rotterdam, Netherlands to board the Ann for Nova Scotia. Their original party was made up of nine people but only six of them arrived in Halifax and only five would set foot on land in the new world. The original party included the mother of the family, Elizabeth age 58; Jacob, her eldest child, age 29; Hans Ulrich, her second eldest child age 27; her daughter Magdalene age 19; Hans Heinrich age 15; and her daughter Elizabeth age 11. Hans Ulrich had married Margarethe Bosshard in 1749. She and their four-month-old daughter Anna, and a nephew Hans Caspar Briner, age 5, also accompanied Ulrich.
Three of them, Urlich’s wife Margarethe, their young daughter Anna, and Henry’s sister Magdalene, perished on the journey from Zurich to Rotterdam which was likely a raft trip down the Toss, Thur, and Rhein Rivers. When the remaining six members of the party reached Rotterdam, they boarded the Ann as two parties. The first included their mother Elizabeth, brother Jacob and sister Elizabeth. The second included Hans Urlich, Hans Heinrich (Henry Shankle), and the nephew Hans Caspar Briner.
Shortly after reaching Halifax on 2 September 1750, Jacob Schenkel, the eldest child of Hans Jacob and Elizabeth, died in September 1750, having contracted an illness during the voyage and then quarantined on the Ann, while at the port in Halifax, due to the disease which was likely cholera.
Hans Caspar Briner’s fate is not known except that his name did appear on the victualling lists until 1757. These were lists of money owed for provisions secured on credit after arriving in Halifax.
Hans Urlich Schenkel, the second eldest child of Hans Jacob and Elizabeth, married for a second time in Halifax on 24 September 1751 to a widow, Elizabeth Wuerster. In 1753 they moved to Lunenburg, a newly established community southwest of Halifax, and had three children. Ulrich succumbed to poor health at age 36 in 1759. His widow Elizabeth married for a third time to Eberhard Hoffler.
Hans Urlich’s sister Elizabeth Schenkel married Nicolas Storch, son of George Storch and Eva Elizabeth Ackerman 24 April 1755 at St. John’s Anglican church, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
Henry Shankle is shown on the victualling lists through 1755, but not in 1756. Henry’s birth name was Hans Heinrich Schenkel but through the naturalization process at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 10 July 1758, his name was recorded in an English interpretation as Henry Shankle, which he used for the rest of his life.
Nearly eight years later, his marriage to Carey Balsor is recorded on 10 April 1766 at Granville, Annapolis County. Together, Henry and Carey would have five daughters, the first, Elizabeth’s birth was also recorded on 10 April 1766 in the Granville Township Register in Annapolis County. The births of their first four daughters were recorded in the Granville Township Register. Their children include:
1. Elizabeth; born 10 April 1766 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married 11 August 1788 at Québec City, Québec, Luke Gambee; died 4 April 1804 at Québec City.
2. Margaret; born 27 March 1770 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married 21 April 1788 at Québec City, Québec, William Collins; died 22 May 1851 at Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. William and Margaret would have eight children together with their son Jacob continuing the family line that would lead to Willy Collins.
3. Catte, known as Catherine; born 29 October 1772 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married before 1790, Joseph Groom.
4. Hannah; born 1 December 1775 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married first 13 September 1795, Job Young; married second 28 April 1800 at All Saints Anglican Church, Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Andreas Bohaker; died before 1811 at Granville, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia (since Andreas remarried in 1811).
5. Anne; born about 1788 (birth record has not been found in the Granville Township register); married 17 March 1801 at the Protestant Church at Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, John Mittleberger, Jr., son of John Mittleberger Sr. and Mary Jane Davis; died 1853 at Montréal, Québec, Canada. At her wedding in Trois-Rivières, her witness is shown as “Margaret Collins, sister to Anne Shankle.”
Henry Shankle was a landowner in Annapolis County. On 13 July 1774, he purchased 500 acres of land (Lot No. 4) from Crispus Shaw for the sum of 13 pounds, 15 shillings. On 28 August 1783, he sold the Granville Township Lot No. 4, Stoney Beach Marsh Lot No. 17, Basin Lot No. 29, totaling 500 acres to George Cornwell of New York for 340 pounds.
In 1783, Henry and his family relocated to Québec City where his two eldest daughters were married. At some point the family relocated again, this time to Trois-Rivières where their youngest daughter Anne was married in 1801. Henry died in Trois-Rivières 17 April 1800. It is not known when or where his wife Carey Balsor died.
Note: The above information was largely extracted from research and documentation in The Descendants of Hans Heinrich Schenkel by Don Shankle of Oceanside, California on 26 August 2000, viewed on 6 October 2020 at http://freeepages.rootsweb.com/~downeast/genealogy/SchenkGZ.html
Two years after Henry Shankle and his family arrive in Halifax, a German family takes the same voyage. The Baltzer family is much larger and they eventually settle in Lunenberg, a new community created with these recent immigrants in mind.
German Protestants.
The Baltzer Family in Nova Scotia.
The information about the Baltzer family is extracted from The Baltzer Family in America: The Descendants of Johannes Christopher Baltzer by Philip Baltzer. 2003.
Emigration from Hesse (Germany) to Nova Scotia
Hearing about the prospects of a new life in Nova Scotia, the Baltzer family of six decided to take advantage of this opportunity. It is very likely that the Baltzers either took a raft trip to Ruhrort (or traveled overland to Ruhrort), where they met the Dutch boats (hired by John Dick, the British agent) going to Rotterdam. By the time they arrived at Kleve on the Rhine, they would have had been met by a Dick agent who would have brought them directly to their ship the Sally. The passage from Rotterdam to Nova Scotia could either be paid ahead of time or "redeemed" in Nova Scotia through one year’s work for the Nova Scotia government in Halifax.
On 30 May 1752, Johann Christoph Baltzer, age 41, a butcher from Hessia, and his family were on board the Sally and charged for one male and one female adult, three half freights and two children (free) totaling 3 1/2 freights for seven persons, fee 264.12.0 Dutch florin (264 gulden, 12 stuivers, & 0 penningen) or £24-1-3. He signed his name "Johannas Baltzer" to the indebtedness list. The Sally, with a total of 258 souls (204.5 freights) "fell down river" (no engines) to Hellevoet Roads on 2 June 1752. John Dick later claimed the Sally had proper bed places for as many as 287 freights.
Once on board, the passengers were started on ship food: Sunday--1 lb. boiled beef with as much boiled rice as they could eat. Monday--barley or grout boiled, which they could eat with treacle, as much as will. Tuesday--1 lb. boiled beef with as much boiled rice as they could eat. Wednesday--barley or rice boiled as on Mondays. Thursday--1/2 lb. pork and 1 lb. of four. Friday--As much stock fish [dried salt codfish] boiled as they choose and 1 lb. of butter. Saturday--boiled peas and 1 lb. of cheese. They were allowed a quart of beer everyday so long as it was still good, and two quarts of water, and 6 lbs. of bread per week, to which Mr. Dick have added Geneva [i.e. gin] “which agrees with them better than brandy” to be distributed as the Captain saw prudent.
The voyage of the Sally proved to be the longest and most arduous of all of Dick's 26 immigrant ships to Nova Scotia. "The Sally experienced terribly adverse weather with exceptionally violent westerly gales, and so arduous that some seamen actually died of fatigue and exhaustion." The Captain (Master John Robinson) died and the first mate, William Broeklebank, brought the ship to Halifax under his own command. On the Sally, a young man was listed as a surgeon and charged only half a freight for his passage. His presence must have helped to mitigate the suffering on board for both the crew and passengers. However, the mortality aboard the Sally was the worst of all of Dick's 26 ships. Of the original 258 souls, only 218 arrived alive in Nova Scotia. Of the passengers, 12 adults and 26 young children died. In four of the families both parents died, and in four families one parent died. They finally reached Halifax Harbor on 6 Sep 1752 (a voyage of 14 weeks).
The passengers from the Sally found themselves in the middle of confusion regarding provisioning and housing. Other settlers sent by Dick from Rotterdam in both 1750 and 1751 were still not settled with the land and housing that had been promised and were temporarily housed in Halifax and had just come off free provisioning and some were still trying to work off the cost of passage for their families. The new governor, Colonel Thomas Peregrine Hopson, found there was no housing for the newly arrived immigrants and winter was already starting in Nova Scotia. The new immigrants were immediately put to work building minimum housing for themselves in Halifax. Hopson was also just barely able to purchase food and other supplies to get them all through the winter. Such hard work immediately after surviving the terrible voyage and the poor provisions, made for a very difficult winter.
The Lords of Trade in England and the Nova Scotia Government had no intention of settling the Foreign Protestants in Halifax but wanted to settle them in 1750 on and around the Isthmus that connects the present-day Nova Scotia with the mainland of Canada. However, the presence of the French and their Mi’kmaq allies made that impossible. Finally, in early 1753 Hopson negotiated with the Lords of Trade to settle them in a location west of Halifax, at a newly created town, which Hopson named Lunenburg. Before he had the new settlers go to Lunenburg he ordered supplies from England, ordered transportation, provisions, and tools from the New England Colonies, and organized the town government, officers, and put Lt. Colonel Charles Lawrence in charge.
The conflict between the English and the French and the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia finally ended by 1759-1760, permitting migration of the German farmer immigrants, including the Baltzers from Lunenburg to other locations that included Granville and Wilmot in the verdant Annapolis Valley, thus occupying much of the land originally used by the French Catholic Acadians who had been forcibly expelled from Nova Scotia beginning in 1755.
The Baltzer Family in Nova Scotia
Carey Baltzer (Balsor), AKA Anna Catherine Gertraudt Baltzer, arrived in Nova Scotia with her parents and family in 1752. They were from Hesse, an area that one day would be part of today’s Germany, where Carey was born 15 August 1743 in the town of Marburg. Her father, Johann Christoph Baltzer, was born 12 April 1711 in Bracht, Hesse.
The Baltzer family were among the Foreign Protestant settlers of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. Johann Christoph Baltzer came in the Sally in 1752, he was listed as aged 41 and a butcher. The ship's list said he was "indebted for 3 1/2 freights, fee 264.12.0.” He signed his name "Johannas Baltzer".
He had previously married Anna Elizabeth Weber 14 May 1730 in Rosenthal, Hesse, Germany who, after Christoph's death in 1755, married on 29 June 1756 Adam Shafner, recorded in Saint John's Parish, Lunenburg as 'Schaufner'. She died in July 1782. In 1764 two sons of Christopher moved to Granville Township and then in 1792 to Wilmot Township, Annapolis County.
The following are the children of Johann Christoph Batlzer and Anna Elizabeth Weber:
1. Christopher (Stophel) Heinrich; "Christoph Henrich Baltzer"; born 12 Apr 1737 in Rosenthal, Hessen;
2. Anna Maria; "Anna Maria Baltzer"; born 27 May 1739 in Marburg, Hessen; a 'Marina BALTSER' married 17 Sep 1754, Saint John's Anglican, Lunenburg, Bernard Herman;
3. Johann Peter; "Johann Peter Baltzer"; born 14 Nov 1742 in Marburg, Hessen;
4. Anna Gertroud Baltzer; (or Gerdruth, married in Lunenburg to Johann Nikolas Berghaus (now Barkhouse); he was a farmer, from Darmstadt, on ship Sally, 1752 age 36 years; they had 8 or 9 children;
5. Anna Eva Baltzer;
6. Elizabeth Baltzer; from St. John's Church, Lunenburg the following entry is for 'Johannes Baltzer' and Eliza: Elizabeth, christened 10 Aug 1753;
7. Anna Katherine Gertraudt; “Anna Catherine Gertraudt Baltzer”; AKA Carey Balsor, born 15 Aug 1743 in Marburg, Hesse, Germany; marriage recorded 10 April 1766 Granville, Annapolis, Nova Scotia to Henry Shankle.
Note: There have been several variations in the spelling of this family name as it was Anglicized during the early years in Annapolis County. The name Balsor, Balser and Bolser appear in early Granville Township and Wilmot Township records.
Historic Generations.
The Ancestors of Henry Shankle.
Eight Generations in Switzerland.
Source: The Descendants of Hans Heinrich Schenkel by Don Shankle, Oceanside, California, 26 August 2000, viewed 6 October 2020. http://freeepages.rootsweb.com/~downeast/genealogy/SchenkGZ.html.
Generation One.
Jacob Schenkel was born about 1515 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland and married (unknown) before 1542 at Neschwil, Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland.
Children of Jacob Schenkel and (unknown):
1. Urlich; born 1546 at Neschwil, Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
2. Jacob; baptized 24 Jun 1552 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerlan;
3. Jorg; born about 1554 at Neschwil, Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
4. Heinrich; born about 1554 at Neschwil, Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
5. Conrad; born about 1543 at Neschwil, Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland.
Generation Two.
Conrad Schenkel (Jacob), was born about 1543 at Neschwil, Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland, married 17 November 1567 at Weisslingen, Zurich Switzerland, Elizabeth Jucker, daughter of Urlich Jucker.
Children of Conrad Schenkel and Elizabeth Jucker:
1. Jacob; baptized 28 May 1570 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
2. Margaretha; baptized 17 July 1575 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
3. Klein Hans; born 1577; married Magdalena Koch;
4. Marx; baptized 12 January 1584 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
5. Regula; baptized 12 January 1584 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland;
6. Hans Jacob; baptized 11 December 1586 at Weisslingen, Zurich, Switzerland.
Generation Three.
Klein Hans Schenkel (Conrad, Jacob) was born 1577; married Magdalena Koch.
The first person in the Schenkel family line we can feel confident of is Klein Hans Schenkel. He was born about 1577. He first appears in the writing of the baptism of his son Conrad on 25 January 1618 in the town of Fallanden, about 7 kilometer east of Zurich. On the 1634 church census for Fallanden, the family is listed as coming from the village of Kahlhof. It is possible that Klein Hans Schenkel is the son of Conrad Schenkel and Elizabeth Jucker who were married at Weisslingen 17 November 1567. Klein Hans is listed in the Swiss church census as having come from Kaelenhof.
Children of Klein Hans Schenkel and Magdalena Koch:
1. Hans Jacob; born about 1607 at Wildberg, Zurich, Switzerland; married Margaretha Wettstein;
2. Anna; born about 1609 at Zurich, Switzerland;
3. Joerg; born about 1611 at Zurich, Switzerland, married Anna Gossweiler;
4. Verena; born about 1613 at Zurich, Switzerland;
5. Hans Conrad; born 25 January 1618 at Fallanden, Zurich, Switzerland, married Barbara Buri;
6. Elisabeth; baptized 3 October 1619 at Fallanden, Zurich, Switzerland;
7. Hans; born 18 May 1626 at Fallanden, Zurich, Switzerland, married Barbara Wydler;
8. Heinrich; born 16 November 1628 at Fallanden, Zurich, Switzerland, married Regula Pantli.
Generation Four.
Hans Jacob Schenkel (Klein Hans, Conrad, Jacob) was born about 1607 at Wildberg, Zurich, Switzerland; married Margaretha Wettstein (Wetzstein), daughter of Felix Wettstein and Barbara Morf, 12 October 1630 a Fallanden, Zurich, Switzerland. He is on the 1643 Swiss church census as being from Wildberg.
Children of Hans Jacob Schenkel and Margaretha Wettstein, all born in Fallanden, Zurich, Switzerland:
1. Barbara; born 24 July 1631;
2. Verena; baptized 27 January 1633;
3. Jacob; Born 16 January 1634; married Barbel Guettinger;
4. Elisabethe; baptized 22 February 1635; married Conrad Schenkel, son of Conrad Schenkel;
5. Mathias; born 6 March 1636; married Anna Weber;
6. Hans Jacob; baptized 4 June 1637;
7. Hans; baptized 1 December 1639;
8. Barbara; baptized 21 March 1641;
9. Heinrich; baptized 18 November 1645.
Generation Five.
Mathias Schenkel (Hans Jacob, Klein Hans, Conrad, Jacob) was baptized 6 March 1636 at Fallanden, Zurich, Switizerland; married about 1658 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland, Anna Weber, daughter of Jacob Weber and Barbara Dentzler.
Children of Mathias Schenkel and Anna Weber, all born at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland:
1. Anna; born about 1659;
2. Ulrich; born 1660;
3. Elisabeth; born about 1661; married Heinrich Briner at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland; died 23 March 1729 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
4. Heinrich; born 1663; married Anna Meier;
5. Jagli; born 1668; married Anna Ochsner;
6. Joerg; born 1671;
7. Felix; born 1672; married Elizabeth Kuederli;
8. Hans Jagli; born 1673;
9. Conrad; born 14 April 1681; married Susanna Zollinger.
Generation Six.
Heinrich Schenkel (Mathias, Hans Jacob, Klein Hans, Conrad, Jacob) was born 1663 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland; married before 1685 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland, Anna Meier, daughter of Hans Heinrich Meier and Barbara Stettbacher.
Children of Heinrich Schenkel and Anna Meier:
1. Anna; born about 1685 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
2. Hans Heinrich; born about 1688;
3. Barbara; born 1688 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
4. Hans Jacob; born March 1696 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland; married Elizabeth Guettinger;
5. Anna; born about 1697 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland; married Leonhard Mueller 4 March 1721 at Zurich, Switzerland;
6. Kleopha; baptized 1 February 1700 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
7. Anneli; born about 1703 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland.
Generation Seven.
Hans Jacob Schenkel (Heinrich, Mathias, Hans Jacob, Klein Hans, Conrad, Jacob) was baptized March 1696 at Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland; married 15 July 1721 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland, Elizabeth Guettinger, daughter of Caspar Guettinger and Verena Bruengger; died 5 April 1744 at Lutheran Church, Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland.
At this time, with the move from the urban area to the rural area, the spelling of the name changes from Schänkel to Schenkel. Hans Jacob and Elizabeth had ten children, five of them died at early ages. Of the remaining five children, four of them, along with their widowed mother, emigrated to Nova Scotia in June 1750.
Children of Hans Jacob Schenkel and Elizabeth Guettinger, all born at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland:
1. Jacob; born 9 September 1721; died September 1750 at Halifax Harbor, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Died while in shipboard quarantine, most likely from cholera);
2. Hans Ulrich; born 28 March 1723, married Margaretha Bosshard; married Elizabeth Wuerster widow;
3. Hans Jacob; baptized 16 August 1724; died 27 August 1724 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
4. Hans Jacob; baptized 15 July 1725; died 9 November 1735 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
5. Anna Barbara; baptized 27 January 1727; died 18 June 1727 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
6. Heinrich; baptized 15 August 1728; died 21 October 1730 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
7. Magdalene; baptized 17 September 1730;
8. Heinrich; baptized 23 November 1732; died 4 September 1745 at Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland;
9. Hans Heinrich [Henry Shankle]; born 1 May 1735; married Anna Catherine Gertraud (Carey) Baltzer (Balsor);
10. Elizabeth; born 26 October 1738; married Nicholas Storch.
Generation Eight.
Hans Heinrich Schenkel [Henry Shankle] (Hans Jacob, Heinrich, Mathias, Hans Jacob, Klein Hans, Conrad, Jacob) was baptized 1 May 1735 in Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland; marriage recorded 10 April 1766 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada to Anna Catherine Gertraud Baltzer (Carey Catte Balsor), born 15 August 1743 at Marburg, Hess, Germany; daughter of Johann Christoph Baltzer and Anna Elizabeth Weber; died 15 December 1800 at Maskinonge, Mauricie, Québec, Canada.
Hans Heinrich Schenkel arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia 2 September 1750 on the Ann with his brothers Jacob and Ulrich, his mother Elizabeth Guettinger, and his sister Elizabeth. Hans Henrich Schenkel was naturalized at Halifax 10 July 1758 as Henry Shankle He next appears in the records marrying Carey Balsor (Anna Gertraud Baltzer) on 10 April 1766. Her family resided in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. Henry and Carey were married at Granville, Annapolis County and by 1755 had four daughters and possibly a fifth by 1778. Henry Shankle and his family moved to Québec in 1783.
Henry Shankle was awarded Lot D-2, Back Range, north Suburbs of Halifax, likely as a result of having served in the militia. His brother Ulrich was awarded Lot D-1, Back Range. Henry is shown on the victualling lists through 1755 (these were lists for monies owed for repayment of his passage to Nova Scotia.) The births of his first four children are listed in the Granville Township Register in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia: Elizabeth on 10 April 1766, Margaret on 27 March 1770, Catherine on 29 October 1772, and Hannah on 1 December 1775.
Land records show the purchase of 500 acres from Crispus Shaw on 13 July 1774 for the sum of 13 pounds, 15 shillings; property listed as Lot No. 4, Granville Township. The next entry in records is for having stood watch at Scotch Fort for a period of ten weeks. This is recorded in the Granville Township Register on 5 July 1777. The last record in Granville is for the sale of Granville Township Lot No. 4, Stoney Beach marsh Lot no. 17, Basin Lot No. 29, totaling about 500 acres, on 28 August 1783, to George Cornwell of New York for the sum of 340 pounds.
Children of Hans Henrich Schenkel [Henry Shankle] and Anna Catherine Gertraud Baltzer (Carey Catte Balsor):
1. Elizabeth; born 10 April 1766 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married 11 August 1788 at Québec City, Québec, Luke Gambee; died 4 April 1804 at Québec City;
2. Margaret; born 27 March 1770 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married 21 April 1788 at Québec City, Québec, William Collins; died 22 May 1851 at Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada;
3. Catherine; born 29 October 1772 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married before 1790, Joseph Groom;
4. Hannah; born 1 December 1775 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia; married first 13 September 1795, Job Young; married second 28 April 1800 at Granville Township, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Andreas Bohaker; died before 1811 at Granville, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia;
5. Anne; born about 1788; married 17 March 1801 at Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, John Mittleberger, Jr., son of John Mittleberger Sr. and Mary Jane Davis; died 1853 at Montréal, Québec, Canada. No records have been found for Anne Shankle’s birth. At her wedding in the Protestant Congregation in Trois-Rivières, her witness is shown as “Margaret Collins, sister to Anne Shankle.”
Baltzers in Germany.
The Ancestry of Johann Christoph Baltzer.
The information about the Baltzer family is extracted from The Baltzer Family in America: The Descendants of Johannes Christopher Baltzer by Philip Baltzer. 2003.
Generation One.
Hinrigge Balthasar is the earliest identified ancestor of the Nova Scotia branch of the Baltzer family. He was born about 1466 in the Rhaetian Alps (remains of the Holy Roman Empire and now part of Switzerland). Hinrigge is an ancient form of the name "Heinrich or Henry". The name Balthasar was derived from the Hebrew word "Balthasar", which means "shining prince" and also "may God protect his life". It became a very popular name in Germany because of the Three Kings: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.
By the early 1500s Hinrigge Balthasar, for reasons unknown, moved to Breidenbach (which is now in the state of Hesse, Germany). Here his son Christian Balthasar was born.
In 1517 Martin Luther put out his 95 theses against the pope on the church door in Wittenberg. In 1523 Ulrich Zwingli started the protestant reformation in Switzerland. The Peasants War in Germany (1524-1525) was inspired by Lutheran religious ideas. Ulrich Zwingli was an important Swiss Protestant Reformer whose views conflicted in part with those of Martin Luther.
Generation Two.
Christian Balthasar (Hinrigge) was born about 1509 in Breidenbach, Hesse, Germany. He died about 1554 in Breidenbach. His wife's name is unknown.
Children:
1. Martin BALTZER; b. abt. 1540;
2. Christian Heinrich BALTHASAR; b. abt. 1545 in Breidenbach; Christian Heinrich Balthasar became the progenitor of Balthasars, Baltzers, and Balzars in Briedenbach and Briedenstein of Hesse-Darmstadt Prussia, and Laasphe of Westphalia Prussia, that spread from what is now Hesse into Westphalia, Germany;
3. Seifert BALTHASAR; b. abt. 1547 in Breidenbach; d. 1604 in Schoenstadt, Hesse,Germany; m. Elizabeth; Siefert Balthasar became the progenitor of the Baltzers, Balsers, and Beltzers of Giessen, Hesse, Germany;
The Peace of Augsburg, in 1555, granted to each prince of the empire the right to choose Catholicism or Lutheranism, but not Calvinism as the religion of his state, the choice to be binding on all his subjects). In general, Lutheranism prevailed in the northern states and Catholicism in the southern states and the Rhineland.
During 1541 - 1564, John Calvin headed a theocratic state at Geneva. Almost all the available genealogical information from the early German-speaking states is from the church records. In 1563 the Catholic parishes began keeping registers of christenings and marriages. Also about this time Protestants began keeping registers of vital data, such as christenings/births, marriages, and burial/deaths. In 1614 Catholic priests were ordered to start keeping death records, in addition to records of christening and marriage.
Although we found some Catholic Baltzers, all those in this lineage were either found in Lutheran or Reformed churches, since the Reformation.
Generation Three.
Martin Baltzer (Christian, Hinrigge) was born about 1540 possibly in Breidenbach, Hesse, Germany. His wife's name is not known, but they had a son.
Children:
1. Christian Baltzer; b. abt. 1575.
Generation Four.
Christian Baltzer (Martin, Christian, Hinrigge) was born about 1575. He died 11 Aug 1639 in Quotshausen, Hesse, Germany. Anna Katharina, his first wife, was born about 1589 and died 10 Jan 1669.
Children by first wife, Anna Katharina:
1. Jacob Baltzer; b. 17 Oct 1624 in Quotshausen, Germany; Jacob BALTZER is the progenitor of many Batlzers and Balzers in Quotshausen, Bracht, and Rosenthal, Hesse-Darmstadt;
2. Anna Baltzer; b. 8 Oct 1626 in Quotshausen;
3. (unknown) Baltzer; b. abt. 1627 in Quotshausen; d. 1636;
4. Bernhard Baltzer; b. 6 Jan 1628/1629 in Quotshausen;
5. Elisabeth Baltzer; b. 6 Mar 1629/1630 and d. 17 Dec 1630;
6. Johann Baltzer; b. 1639 in Bracht, Hesse, Germany.
Generation Five.
Johann Baltzer (Christian, Martin, Christian, Hinrigge) was born in 1639 in Bracht, Hesse, Germany. He died 16 Feb 1717. He married first in 1675 Anna Katharina Schneider. He married second in 1705 Katharina Kohler and third in 1713 to another Schneider.
Children:
1. Wilhelm Friederich Baltzer; b. 6 Aug 1676 in Bracht, Hesse, Germany;
2. Johannes Konrad Ludwig Balzer; b. 1679 in Bracht, Hesse, Germany; d. 7 Feb 1723 in Willersdorf; m. 26 Jun 1704 Anna Elisabeth Vaupel.
Generation Six.
Wilhelm Friederich Baltzer (Johann, Christian, Martin, Christian, Hinrigge) was born 6 Aug 1676 in Bracht, Hesse, Germany. He died in 1720 in Frankenberg, Hesse, Germany. Wilhelm married Anna Margaretha Groll who was born about 1680 in Frankenberg.
Children:
1. Johann Christoph Baltzer, born 12 Apr 1711 in Bracht, Hesse, son of Wilhelm Frederich and Anna Margarethe Groll, who married 14 May 1730 in Rosenthal, Hesse, Anna Elizabeth Weber;
2. Johann Friederich Baltzer; b. 20 May 1713.
Generation Seven.
Johann Christoph Baltzer (Wilhelm, Johann, Christian, Martin, Christian, Hinrigge) the founder of the Nova Scotia Baltzer line.
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