Lancaster County Family Ties

JOHN B. STOVER & MICHAEL WOLF - 1880 CENSUS: Per the 1880 Census for East Earl Township in Lancaster County, PA; John B. Stover (42) with wife Catherine (37) and children: William (18), John J (13), Anna (11), Harry (7), Fanny (5), Charles (4), Emma (2) and Milton (2) are listed as dwelling  430 on pg. 172. The next entry in dwelling 431 on pg. 172 is the  household is the of Michael Wolf, consisting of: Michael Wolf (64), Lydia (60), Ann (20), Mary (21), Issac (18), and Catharine (71) listed as sister and feeble. These are the parents of Lazarus Wolf, who is listed in the same census on page 176.  In my head, I wondered how John J. Stover would have met Mary Ida Wolf.  I suspect that she would visit her grandparents, Michael and Lydia, and in the course of this visiting had opportunity to meet the neighbors on the next farm and their kids - the John B. Stovers, including son John J. Stover. I seriously doubt I will ever know for sure, but this is a reasonable guess.

THE 6 AFFLERBACH BOYS WHO IMMIGRATED TO PENNSYLVANIA: Originally 6 young men immigrated from Wittgenstein, Germany to Philadelphia.  By various census records, marriage records, tax records, and stories - the men can be tracked from Philadelphia to Bucks County, PA and beyond.  In Bucks County is a small town named Applebachsville.  I have walked many of the graveyards around Applebachsville, Haycock, and Strawntown and there are many stones with the Afflerbach or Applebach (or variations) name.  The families were large in Germany and would continue to be so in the USA. Twins are also an interesting feature of this family.  The author of one of the books, Jost Afflerbach, is a fraternal twin.  My father is also a fraternal twin, and his father was an identical.  By looking thru various records and talking to family members, twins are a common occurrence in this family. The first immigrant young man was Johann Daniel Afflerbach (Daniel Applebach) who immigrated in 1766 and later fou

JOHANN HEINRICH AFFLERBACH (HENRY APPLEBACH) 1782-1840:  Henry immigrated to America on the ship "William P. Johnson", and arrived in Philadelphia on 03 December 1807. According to the below immigration roster, all he brought with him was one container of clothes. Henry is about halfway down the first column on the left hand side (click on image to enlarge).  In another record, I have seen him described as "middle sized with flaxen hair and grey eyes".  Many of the boys in this family were blacksmiths in the "old country".  According to Pennsylvania German Marriages pg. 346, he married Anna Elizabeth Triede/Truede on 05 Sept. 1809 in Philadelphia at the First Reformed Church. According to Six Afflerbach Emigrants Who Came to Pennsylvania and their Descendants 1750-1930 by Jane K. Thompson (2009), Henry worked at the government armory at Harper's Ferry making musket stocks during the War of 1812. Johann Heinrich Afflerbach (Henry Applebach) was t