#480 Johann Gottfried "Gottfried" Knepper◊ ( Clemens Knepper◊ • Hans Peter Knepper◊ • Tilmann Knepper◊ )
Gottfried was born 18 Aug 1736 in Solingen Reformed Church, Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He died 12 Jul 1789 in Antietam, Quincy Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania. He was buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Quincy Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania.
Gottfried was one of twenty men who founded Berlin, Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. He was a shoemaker.
He arrived on the ship Richard and Mary, from Rotterdam, on the 15 Sep, 1753 and took his affirmation on 17 Sep, 1753. Stanley Knepper writes, "Having read at great length of the terrible conditions these people endured at the hands of land agents and the shipping companies, I felt the need to include part of a diary written by Johannes Naas, a fellow Brethren who took the same trip 20 years before."
24 June 1733. We went from Rotterdam to within half an hours distance from Dort, where we lay still, the wind was contrary. July 3rd we started and the ship was drawn by men several times on the River Maas, as far as the neighborhood Of Halvoetsluys. The wind became favorable so we sailed into the sea on July 5th. The seasickness then began among the people, that is, dizziness and vomiting.July 13. Early in the morning, we arrived in the port of Plymouth, which port lies in the midst of rocks. We had to lie in the middle of the harbor until the ship was released by the customs officer and provisioned.
July 21st. We sailed into the big ocean and on the left we lost the land, France and Spain. On the 24th we also lost it on our right, namely England.
July 25th. A little child died. It came upon the ship very sick; the next day about 8 o'clock it was buried in the sea. When the body fell from the plank into the water I saw with great astonishment that a large number of big fish appeared and quickly darted away in front of the ship, as if to flee from the corpse. For ten days we had steadily a good breeze, so that we sailed a long way in the big ocean.
July 28th before daylight. A french man-of- war by the name of Elizabeth, came near us. This Captain examined our Captain in French. After having made themselves known to each other, they wished one another a happy trip and each went on his course. After this day we had very changeable weather so that in three weeks we made only sixty hours (about 180 miles) which in good wind we could have made in one day.
August 3rd. I got up an hour before day in order to see how it was going, as I had made up my mind to watch the compass during the entire trip to see if there would be a change in our course. (To shorten the story by eliminating the details, the ship was extremely crowded and when he tried to climb the rain slick ladder to go topside he fell into the sleeping people below.)
August 4th. The crew in the early morning spiked a big fish with a harpoon. It was as long as an ordinary man and shaped in it's head like a pig, also in body and insides like a pig.
August 7th. During the night a little child died and in the same hour a little boy was born, and the dead child was buried at sea on the 8th. August 11th and 12th, we had a storm, which was not very strong, it lasted fourty-eight hours, so that all the sails had to be reefed, the rudder fastened, and the port holes boarded up, so we were sitting in the darkness, while the force of the waves struck through the porthole glass into the beds. People always have to vomit during every storm and strong, stiff winds.
August 13th. Again a little boy was born. The 17th we had another storm which was much stronger than the first. For six or eight hours it blew the sea very high up. It lasted for one and one-half days and one and one-half nights, but towards the end it was not so strong. Sails, rudder, holes, very thing was hurriedly fastened up and left to wind and sea. After that it grew so calm that we did not get much from the spot for the following several days. During this time the people got well from dizziness and vomiting. Then we got again strong winds from the side by which we made good headway.
August 23rd. Again a child died and was buried at sea.
August 26th. At about 5 o'clock P.M. we passed by a mast standing fast, the point of which showed a half a yard above the water, quite immovable and with the ends of the rope till on it. By good fortune our ship passed it at about a rods distance. The Captain had just been drinking tea. Many
people were frightened by this sight, because it was impossible for this mast to be standing on the bottom and yet it was immovable.
August 30th. The last mentioned man again lost a child and it was buried at sea that night. Then we saw the first little fish with wings flying over the sea for two or three rods.
September 6th. In the morning the First Mate spiked a dolphin, which are quite different from what they are pictured in Germany.
September 7th. Another big fish was caught by the crew, which is called a shark. The crew took a hook, which was very large and strong and of about a fingers thickness to this they fasten 1 1/2 pounds of bacon. When they saw the fish near the ship's side they threw the hook with the bacon to him, which he swallowed at once and since the fish was very thick and five feet long and of great strength in his tail, as well as out of the water, they drew him into the ship with a very hard pull, and drove back all the people, so it would not hurt anybody, as he struck the deck so powerfully with his tail that if he should have hit anyone gainst the legs, those would certainly have been struck in two. But after the ships carpenter had cut off his tail with his axe after ten strokes, his strength was all gone. His mouth was so big that he might have swallowed a child of two years. The flesh the captain ordered to be distributed to the delighted people.
August 11th. Again a little child died, without any-body having noticed it until it was nearly stiff, and on the 12th it was buried at sea.
August 13th. A young woman, who had always been in poor health, died in childbirth and was buried at sea on the 14th, with three children, two of them before and now one just born, so that the husband has no one left now.
August 16th. In the morning about four o'clock years a woman fifty of age died; she had not been well during the entire trip and always repented having left her native place. She was buried at sea that same day.
August 17th. A small bird called the little yellow wag-tail lighted several times upon the ship. This caused great rejoicing among the people, that they clapped their hands with joy.
August 18th. A ship from Rhode Island came up to us. It had a cargo of sheep and other things bound for the West Indies. After speaking through a speaking tube a long boat was lowered and the captains drank together after which the Captain returned with a bag of apples, a goose, a duck, and two chickens, and distributed the beautiful apples at once among the people. (Shortened)
August 20th. Again a young married woman died and was buried at sea. Thereupon we had a very heavy rain that some people caught half kegs of water from the sails and the Captain's cabin. The sea rose so high that when one looked into it, it was just as if one were sailing among mountains. The water came in every hole and the beds were filled with water. The storm had been so severe that boards had been torn from the sides of the ship. The people were terrified.
August 23rd. At about twelve o'clock land was spotted. The people rejoiced.
Stanley goes on to say:
| “ | I hated to shorten the preceding diary however there was not sufficient room to copy the entire diary. The misery did not end here for as they entered the Delaware River a child which had been born on the 25th was buried in the river on the 26th. To all the above mentioned horrors add the beatings (fights) and the stealing among the passengers, then upon arrival at the port in Philadelphia, find that your trunk was either lost, broken in to, or was shipped on another ship to arrive at a letter date. That trunk contained all your earthly possessions including your money and your clothes. In this case you stood at the port with only the clothes on your back, most likely stinking and so full of lice that they could be scraped off with a knife. According to a letter signed by Christian Saur (an early Brethren member), a scam was being perpetrated against these devout German Christians who spoke and understood little English, as follows: Price for passage was quoted at 7 1/2 pistols (a gold coin worth about $4.00). Upon arrival in Philadelphia the passenger was told that the passage was 9 pistols and the balance due was 1 1/2 pistols, whereupon the chest or trunk belonging to the passenger was kept to cover his balance. |
Gottfried died at the home of Peter and Abraham Knepper. He was on his way from his home in Berlin, Pennsylvania to visit his cousins in Quincy, Pennsylvania. At that time, the closest thing to a road through the mountains was likely to be the wagon ruts that eventually became U.S. Route 30. At age 53, this was probably a difficult journey.
∞ Gottfried married #488 Maria Catharina "Catherine" Frey◊. She is the daughter of Johnn Michael & Anna Margaretha (Mayer) Frey. She is an ancestor in the Frey Line.
Marriage notes |
They married. |
Catherine was born 25 Nov 1729 in Schoemberg, Freundenstadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She died Aft 1789.
She survived her husband for many years, living with her son, John.
The following is a transcription of a letter from Peter and Abraham Knepper to her about the death of her husband. I received it from Stanley Knepper who says that the original was written in German and translated by Myrtle Knepper of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Our regards to the worthy Catherine Knepper, from him who wishes to you and all your children, both for body and soul.The reason for my writing is to tell you that your house father Gottfried was ill at our house and died while with us. We have had him buried according to all Christian customs, May God grant him peaceful resurrection. It was his will that Jacob Koebel (or Koeber) should be your guardian and I think he will be good to you. If you accept him according to your house father's wish, you can be assured of being cared for in the best way and that everything will go in order and will be divided justly among the children.
It was also his last wish that all righteous demands be deducted from the amount, and it is also necessary that someone should come down here soon on account of the horse and the other things which he has left at our place. May God grant that it will be to your favor, and I trust that you will make good use of them.
Do not be too sad, Catherine, and trust in God, for it is written that God will be the widow's husband and the father of the orphans, therefore place your confidence in the Lord, as he will not leave you in your old age.
Be greeted most cordially from us. We remain.
Peter and Abraham Knepper
Antietam in Franklin County
July 27th, 1789
P.S. Your housefather died July 12 forenoon.
Stanley goes on to note:
| “ | I visited the place where Johann Gottfried was laid to rest near the Old Dunkard Church near Waynesboro, Pa. His stone that once simply said "GK" is now gone. The pebbled base still remains and slight depression in the ground where time has returned the body of Johann Gottfried Knepper to the place from which it came. |
Children of this relationship:
| #14 | M | i | Godfrey Knepper◊ | (Abt 1762–6 Jul 1837) |
| #5309 | F | ii | Catherine Anna Knepper | |
| #5310 | M | iii | Johann Knepper | (13 Mar 1765–25 Aug 1817) |
| #5311 | M | iv | John William "William" Knepper | (May 1770–Aft 1841) |
Somerset County Atlas of Surveys and Warrants Collected and Plotted as a WPA Project, sponsored by Somerset County Commissioners and Bar Association, Somerset, PA: 1939, Copy located in the Office of Recorder of Deeds, Somerset Co., PA, Page: Brothers Valley Twp.
Bill Terrill, Descendants of Tilman Knepper and Christina Boegel, (unpublished, 30 Jun 2009). Ref. as [Terrill].
Clifford T. Wig & Dorothy H. Wig, The Knepper Family Tree, (unpublished, Apr 1997). Ref. as [Wig].
Stanley Knepper, email to Tad Deffler, dated: 17 Apr 1997.
Stanley Knepper, email to Tad Deffler, dated: 20 Apr 1997.
Line Generation: 4
Relationship: Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather