Lancaster County Family Ties

Being a patriot did not always involve going into battle - it also involved giving supplies, money, medical help, and general support to the Colonial troops or individual soldiers.  Many Mennonite and Amish non-combatants can fulfill the description of patriot because they helped in other ways besides actually killing the enemy.  If I ever get around to gathering together the documentation to file for "supplemental" patriots for my DAR lines I am currently aware of 6 - 8 "patriots" within my own family line - most were Mennonite and refused to actually kill other human beings but they valued their personal and religious freedom and did contribute to the cause. There is now a wonderful book available " Revoluntionary Patroits of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 1775-1783" by Henry C. Peden, Jr. published in 1998 by Family Line Publications. On pages 105-106 are listed these Grof/Graff/Graeff men with brief descriptions of their service.  I have chosen to

My Groff line goes back to "Swamp John Graf of Martic".  I greatly admire people such as Clyde and Walter Groff along with Jane Evans Best who spent years and money along with probably much frustration trying to separate and organize the Graf/Groff/Grove/Graeff lines of Lancaster County into a reasonable pattern. I have both Vol 1 and 2 of the Groff Book.  I understand there are some mistakes, and disagreements with exactly who some of the people are and how they are related - it is certainly not a project I would want to take on. If nothing else, these books give a rational foundation and starting place for anyone searching for Groff roots in Lancaster County, PA. According to the Groff Book Vol. 1 (pg. 1): the Graf family was recorded as living in Bettswil, Switzerland in 1469. In 1541 there are three Graf families listed as living there.  I have seen previous articles that the Grafs and Barr/Bear/Bahr/Bare families were from the same area and very interconnected, even to

Henry Applebach was the son of Henry Applebach (Johann Heinrich Afflerbach - emigrant) and Anna Elizabeth Triede (Trude) Applebach. At this point, exact years are conflicting and sketchy but it appears that he was born 1814-1817 and died sometime between 1870-1878. #1. According to "Six Afflerbach Emigrants Who Came To Pennsylvania and their Descendants 1750-1930" by Jane K. Thompson, pg. 178 lists his siblings as: Mary 1810-1883 - married to Jacob Rorerbacher Henry (approx) 1814-1878 married to Catherine (Mary) Stehr/Stahr in 1840 and Ellen Shelly after 1855. Louise 1815- _____. Married to Mathias Weaver Susan 1817 - ____. Married to Joseph Clark. William 1818 - _____.  Married to Elmira _________. Charles 1825 - _______. Married Margaret __________. According to the same source above, Mary Stehr/Stahr may be the one christened at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Beaver Township in Clarion, PA on 10 July 1825 and that list says she was the daughter o