Zug immigration
Also Zug History
Harry D. Zook, Zug/Zuck/Zouck/Zook Genealogy, Gateway Press, Baltimore, 1983
Christian Zug, family #C, d. 17 Dec. 1787, E. Whiteland T. Chester Co. Pa.
p. 44
The ship Francis and Elizabeth, George North, Master, from Rotterdam, but last from Deal, brought to Philadelphia on 21 September 1742, Christian, Moritz, and Johannes Zug, ancestors of many present day Zooks/Zucks in America. Strong tradition exists in several family lines that these immigrants were brothers, born in the German Palitinate, and lineal descendants of a a Swiss Anabaptist minister Hans Zaug.
Menonite Teacher
An Amish Mennonite community had been established as early as 1737 about sixty miles northwest of Philadelphia between Northkill and Irish Creeks, branches of the Schuylkill River. The Blue Mountains on the north served as a natural boundary for this colony, then in Bern Township, Lancaster County. The same region today is in Upper Bern, Centre, and Tilden Townships of Berks County in the vicinity of Shartlesville and Centreport. The earliest land records show that the three immigrants soon found their way up the Schuykill Valley to this community. They filed at least eight applications between 1742 and 1758 for land in this location (page 374). The earliest acquired warrant was granted to Johannes who was likely less encumbered by family and better able to make the long return journey to Philadelphia. (The relative ages of the immigrants are unknown but can be inferred from the birth of their children: Christian's family was begun before his arrival in 1742 and the last child born in 1752; Morit's and Johannes children were born 1748-1763 and 1756-1763 respectively).
By deed of 30 Nov 1744, Johannes transferred to Christian for 25 pounds, 167 acres of land on which Christian was already living. The deed is important in two respects; it was signed only by Johannes, a suggestion that he was single at the time. And for those who for good reason question any three brother tradition among immigrants, the deed states explicitly that the 25 pounds was paid by his brother Christin Zug.
The French and Indian War proved particularly disastrous for the colonists along the Blue Mountains. Following Braddocks defeat in the western part of the province in July 1755, the once peaceful Delaware Indians became increasingly bold and hostile as they were goaded by the French to drive out the English settlers. Fort Northkill erected in 1756 several miles west of Christian's farm was one of a number of hastily constructed forts stretching from the Susquehanna to the Delaware. Although designed to protect the settlers, the forts were frequently manned by only a few soldiers who scouted the woods and assisted farmers with their crops. Small bands of Indians were able to kill and capture several hundred colonists. The Northkill community, near a gap in the mountain, did not escape these hostilities. On 19 Sept 1757 the home of Christian's neighbor Jacob Hostetler was attacked and burned. The mother and two children were murdered, while Jacob and two sons were taken as captives hundreds of miles to the northwest. Their lives with the Indians over the next several years and their eventual escape and return is one of the well documented stories of that century. (cites Pennsylvania Archives, 1st series 3, 277, 283)
The Northkill settlement never fully recovered from the shock of the raids; many settlers left their homes for more secure communities farther to the south, and although some eventually returned, this early Amish colony dwindled and disappeared (cites Smith, Pennsylvania German Society 35, 240 (1929). Christian's name is missing from the 1758 Berks County Tax List although a year earlier he was listed in Maidencreek Township.
Christian Zug was accompanied to this country by his wife Anna, an infant daughter Anna, and possibly a second daughter Barbara born about the time of the landing in Philadelphia.
In addition to the 167 acres purchased in 1744 from his brother Johannes, Christian "Sooke" obtained a warrant for another 30 acres from the Penn Proprietaries in 1746. His name appears on the Bern Township, Lancaster County tax lists for 1752 and 1754. The site of his original home is believed to be at or near an old stone house presently owned by John Landis on Wolf Creek north of Shartlesville. (Cites Paul V. Hostetler, The Three Zug(Zook) Brothers of 1742. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1982)
In 1757, the year of the Hostetler massacre, Christian "Zugg" was taxable in the adjacent township of Maidencreek, a few miles to the southeast. Although he appied the following year for a new 200 acre parcel of land back in Bern Township, a plot labeled Zugsberg in later survey, it is doubtful whether he ever returned. The land was patented a decade later to Jacob Aliveintz. A deed dated 10 Oct 1759 describes"Christian Zug of Maidencreek Township" and already an occupant of a home purchased in Cumru Township near Reading, Pa. Sometime during this period his wife Anna Knoble died for in 1760 when he finally sold his original homestead near Shartlesville, he was the only signer of the deed.
The new home in Cumru Township was along Wyomissing Creek on which Christian and neighbors Philip Thomas and William Lewis built a dam to irrigate their meadows, dividing the water, labor, and maintenance among themselves by an elaborate, recorded agreement. To this home Christian brought his second wife Dorothea, the widow Mishler, mother of six children. On 10 Sep 1761 Christian was naturalized before the Supreme Court held at Philadlephia as a member of a group of "Persons being Quaker or such who conscientiously scruple to take an oath, being also foreigners, and having complied with the terms required by the aforesaid Act of Parliament." In the published account in the Pa Archives he is listed as "Christian Luke".
The Cumru Township tax list for 1767 shows Christian Zug as owner of 150 acres, four horses, three cows, and ten sheep. In March of that year he and Dorothea sold this property for 1200 pounds and for 1325 pounds bought a 161 acre portion of Plumpton Manor in Heidelberg Township near Womelsdorf. The tax lists for 1768 to 1771 indicate that this estate was one of the finest in the Township. Christian's son John "Zoge" in 1769 gave his address as Heidelberg Township when he bought land in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Christian followed in 1772-73, purchasing three tracts, one of which he resold at cost to his daughter Elizabeth and husband Jacob "Caufman" two days after Christmas 1774. The other two were sold to his son Christian, Jr. in April, 1755. It is not known whether Dorothea accompanied Christian to Chester County. No wife participated in the transfers of his Chester County property, and he was married to Anna, widow of John Reichenbach at the time of his death in 1787.
During the Revolutionary period, Christian, daughter, Elizabeth Kaufman, and sons John John and Christian, Jr. lived close to one another near the present town of Malvern, Pa. Sons Yost and Jacob and daughters Barbara Beeghly and Mary Olinger had migrated to the western part of the Province. Chester County at the time was heavily populated by Quakers, Moravians, Amish, and other sects opposed for religious reasons to the bearing of arms. Many others were loyal to the Crown and branded as "tories" when they refused to enlist in the militia. The fall and winter of 1777 saw both British and American troops overrun much of the area in East Whiteland and adjacent Tredyffrin Townships. Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge was only a few miles to the east. Looting by both armies was heavy, even though the extreme penalty of "execution for plunder" was carried out on at least two occasions. The farmers lost livestock, crops, and household goods. A record of damages by British troops stated that Christian and his son-in-law Jacob Kauffman lost property valued at 146 pounds, an average higher than most of their neighbors. C.Z. Mast in Annals of Connestoga Valley records the legend that "Old mother Zug, "baking bread in an outdoor oven, lost all but one of the loaves to the American soldiers. With one loaf wrapped in her apron, she ran to the house exclaiming, "This one is for me." (Cites C.Z. Mast and R.E. Simpson, Annals of the Connestoga Valley. Scottsdale, Pa.: Mennonite Publishing House, 1942, pp. 196-199)
By 1785 Christian had married his third wife Anna, "widow and relict of John Reichnbach, late of the Township of Caernarvon in the County of Berks"...
Christian's will and estate papers have provided information on his wives, children, and step children. These Chester County documents have served to clarify the discrepancies among the early published genealogies of this family where wives Dorothea and Anna and the families of sons Yost and Jacob have been confused. A few excepts from John Scott's 1787 translation of the will are illustrative of the man and his times excerpts at p. 49 are omitted here.
p. 1
The surname Zaugg (Zougg), from which the spellings Zouck, Zug, Zuck, and Zook have been derived, is of ancient Swiss origin. In early times, people with this name were found principally in the valley of the Emme River (Emmental) which comprises a large section of present day Canton Berne.
Emmental Farmhouse
Emmental is a fairyland of heavily forested hills and fertile farmland dotted with hundreds of small villages where one finds mammoth farm homes of traditional Bernese architecture. The Emme one of Switzerland's large rivers, rises in the Bernese Oberland and flows northwest to its junction with the Aare near the city of Solothurn. The people have always been close to the soil; their patient cultivation of steep hillsides and vineyards attest to their industry and frugality through many generations. The peacefulness of the valley belies the turbulent scenes that occurred here during the sixteenth and seventeenth century persecutions when a number of of Zaugg families were caught up in the anabaptist movement. At least two such family heads of the mid 1600s were named Hans Zaugg, one of whom may have been the legendary Hans believed by many to have been the ancestor of several Zug immigrants to America.
The Swiss reformation began in 1525 under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli, pastor of the great cathedral in Zurich, and led to the establishment of a state church with a reformed theology. The early anabaptists Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel, were friends and followers of Zwingli, but held out for the complete separation of church and state. They sought to establish a church of believers only, and to this end, began to Baptise adults on confession of faith. Small groups of believers knowns as Swiss Brethren, but nicknamed Anabaptists, rapidly grew to several hundred members in the rural districts near Zurich and Bern, then spread to other parts of Switzerland and then down the Rhine to Alsace, the German Palitinate, and Holland. Toward the middle of the century, the Swiss Brethren in the lower Rhineland were called Mennoists or Mennonites as followers of the Anabaptist leader and writer Meno Simons (1496-1561) of Holland and North Germany.
The Anabpatists were considered a danger to both the established church and the state; their refusal to take oaths, hold office, and bear arms seemed to undermine the foundations of civil government. Various measurers were taken to suppress the movement.
The death penalty was decreed for teaching or preaching Anabaptism and for those who were banished for its practise but returned to their homes. The first martyr, Felix Manz, was executed in 1527 ... The execution marked the beginning of half century of martyrdom in which men were beheaded and women drowned. At least 40 executions occurred in Bern alone from 1529 to 1571.
That the immediate ancestors of several American Zugs lived in Germany rather than in Switzerland is supported by the spelling of the name Zug rather than Zaugg by the immigrants and by the histories of certain families with whom they travelled, settled and intermarried. However, no direct evidence has been brought to bear on this question, so the birthplaces or European towns of residence are unknown at this time for all American Zugg and Zaugg immigrants.
Events in the seventeenth century Palitinate played a major role in the odyssey of many families from the Swiss homeland to the shores of the New World. It is in this period in the Paltinate that we seek a lost generation of Zugs - a generation needed to relate the American immigrants to the Swiss Zuaggs, many of whom can trace their ancestry into the 1500s. At this writing no American line has been traced to Switzerland. The almost total destruction of the Palitinate during the Thirty Years' War and the continued devastation by the armies of Louis XIV in the late 1600s suggest that few records will be found for the refugees who came down the Rhine, particularly those to whom citizenship was denied.
There is a growing body of facts albeit weak evidence to suggest that the Zug immigrants to America in 1742 came from Wilensteinerhof.
Follow up: obtain copies of following documents:
1. Will of Christian Zug
2. Naturalization of Christian Zug
3. Deed to Christian Zug
C. Z. Mast, Mast Family History, p. 691:
Many of the Amish Menonites were severely tried during the dark days of the Revolutionary War as they were drafted into service being a nonresistant people and refusing to serve, they were imprisoned in Reading. So many of these people were thrown into prison that the women were compelled to work the fields to support their families. According to tradition those who were imprisoned for refusing military service were sentenced to be shot and a day set for execution. A meeting was held in Reading to prison to administer the Lord's Supper to the condemned brethren. But the execution was never carried into effect. Through the leading of a kind Prividence friends interfered, particularly Henry Hertzell, pastor in the German Reformed Church, who appealed to authorities in behalf of those who fled Europe to escape military service and who could not now be expected to do what their conscience forbade them to do in Europe. The appeal was heard and the peace-loving prisoners were set free. Among those released from prison were John Hertzler, Jacob and Stephen Kauffman; the writer having spoken recently with a grandson of the latter known as Jacob Kauffman of Davidsville, Pa. about this historical incident contained on page 139 in the "Mennonite Church History" compiled by Hartzler and Kauffman. Others that were released at this time were John and Christian Zug and Jacob Mast who is supposed to have been evidently our progenitor who was some years afterward known as Bishop Jacob Mast.
Mast, p. 695
The first Amish Menonite church in America was built by the members of the second Amish Menonite colony that was composed of a number of refugees from Berks Co. Pa and emigrants from Europe who had come direct from Holland, Germany and Switzerland. The exact date of its erection is unknown but it was probably around 1790. The walls of the old church and burial ground still remain and mark the place where once flourished a large congregation. The site of this old church is three miles north of Malvern, Pa. The writer and his father visited the place in June, 1907. We found ourselves in a beutiful valley known as Old Chester Valley in a rich farming district .... In this vicinity may also be found places of much interest in United States History, such as Valley Forge about ten miles northeast of the old ruins of the church. The soldiers lived miserably in comfortless huts or on frozen ground with little food or clothing and became very troublesome to the farmers nearby; some farms being owned and occupied by these sturdy Amish Mennonite pioneers.
About the last family that moved away from the church in East Whiteland Twp., Chester Co. was the Zook family who settled near Binkleys Bridge, Lancaster County, Pa. in 1834.
Among those visting this congregation during its early history was Bishop Jacob Hertzler of Hamburg, Berks Co. Pa. who was the first Amish Mennonite Bishop in America and founded the first church of his sect in the country. He was noted as a tireless worker and was long known as the overseer of the church in Chester Valley. At the age of eighty years he walked from his home to visit the place in preference to riding on horseback covering the distance of sixty-five miles in two days.
Among the noted and influential pastors of the Chester Valley congregation was Christian Zook who was noted as a zealous Christian worker and a strict disciplinarian. He preached regularly in the old meeting house and was also one of the first ministers to hold evening services at their house of worship. He also visited with his wife among the congregations located in adjoining counties having frequently traveled to Conestoga Valley in the vicinity of Morgantown, Berks Co. Pa. in an oxcart which was at that time a modern mode of conveyance - the cart ussually being covered with white muslin.
The Zook family and other living in the vicinity were harrassed greatly by the Revolutionary soldiers who became a perfect menace to the people. It is related that the soldiers had torn away all fences on the farm to build a fortress. Once when old mother Zug was taking her fresh loaves from the oven a group of hungry soldiers came up and snatched away all but one of the loaves with which the frightened woman hiding it under her apron ran into the house saying, "This one is for me" and the soldiers were merciful enough to let her have it.
Deed Book 2A, p. 162, Court House, Reading, Pa
Hans Zug of Twp of Bern in County of Lancaster yeo man in consideration of 25 pounds to his brother Christian Zug of the Township and County aforesaid yeoman in his actual possession now being 167 acres bounded on Jacob Hochstetlers on south, westward by land in possession of Valentine Nye, Jacob Hochstetler and George Christian; on north vacant land by the foot of Blue Mountain and east by vacant land, granted to Hanz Zug by warrant 1742. Signed Nov 30, 1744 by Johannes Zug. Acknowledged Aug 1, 1760. Recorder Aug 4, 1760.
Will of Christian Zug dated Nov 19, 1786
Evan and Ada Maust, Descendants of Jonas Mast
p. 30 Christian Zug came to America with his two brothers on Sept 21, 1742 on the ship Francis and Elizabeth, George North, Master from Rotterdam. They were sold for their passage money. Christian was first married to Anna Kanabell who was the mother of his children. After her death he married widow Dodera Mishler, who was the mother of Veronica Mishler, wife of Christian Miller. After her death he married widow Anna Reichenbach. Christian settled in Berks County, Pa. Christian's grandfather Hans Zug was was a mennonite minister who was imprisoned in Bern, Switzerland with six others for their faith. Spelt and Rye being their main food while forced into hard labor to pay the expenses they caused as recorded in the Martyrs Mirror. By the intercession of the United Netherland's government, they were released and banished from the country. Hans went to southern Germany where he raised his family of twelve children.
Christian's son Jacob married to Anna Long, moved to Somerset County in 1776 in the Berlin area on the farm now owned by the Calvin Will family, and occupied by James Will. In 1812 Jacob moved to Holmes County, Ohio.
I. Daniel Rupp, A Collection of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776, Reprint Genalogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1985
p. 157
Sept 21, 1742. Foreigners imported in the ship Francis and Elizabeth, George North Master, from Rotterdam, last from Deal
Moritz Zug
Christian Zug
Johannes Zug
The earliest event is the birth in 1527 of Ulrich Zugg Direct ancestor by maternal grandfather's side (14 generations) from Switzerland. His wife Anna Neukcomm was born in 1531, born in Lutzelfluch, Berne, Switzerland.
next generation:
Hans Zugg
Harry D. Zook, Zug/Zuck/Zouck/Zook Genealogy, Gateway Press, Baltimore, 1983
Christian Zug, family #C, d. 17 Dec. 1787, E. Whiteland T. Chester Co. Pa.
p. 44
The ship Francis and Elizabeth, George North, Master, from Rotterdam, but last from Deal, brought to Philadelphia on 21 September 1742, Christian, Moritz, and Johannes Zug, ancestors of many present day Zooks/Zucks in America. Strong tradition exists in several family lines that these immigrants were brothers, born in the German Palitinate, and lineal descendants of a a Swiss Anabaptist minister Hans Zaug.
Menonite Teacher
An Amish Mennonite community had been established as early as 1737 about sixty miles northwest of Philadelphia between Northkill and Irish Creeks, branches of the Schuylkill River. The Blue Mountains on the north served as a natural boundary for this colony, then in Bern Township, Lancaster County. The same region today is in Upper Bern, Centre, and Tilden Townships of Berks County in the vicinity of Shartlesville and Centreport. The earliest land records show that the three immigrants soon found their way up the Schuykill Valley to this community. They filed at least eight applications between 1742 and 1758 for land in this location (page 374). The earliest acquired warrant was granted to Johannes who was likely less encumbered by family and better able to make the long return journey to Philadelphia. (The relative ages of the immigrants are unknown but can be inferred from the birth of their children: Christian's family was begun before his arrival in 1742 and the last child born in 1752; Morit's and Johannes children were born 1748-1763 and 1756-1763 respectively).
By deed of 30 Nov 1744, Johannes transferred to Christian for 25 pounds, 167 acres of land on which Christian was already living. The deed is important in two respects; it was signed only by Johannes, a suggestion that he was single at the time. And for those who for good reason question any three brother tradition among immigrants, the deed states explicitly that the 25 pounds was paid by his brother Christin Zug.
The French and Indian War proved particularly disastrous for the colonists along the Blue Mountains. Following Braddocks defeat in the western part of the province in July 1755, the once peaceful Delaware Indians became increasingly bold and hostile as they were goaded by the French to drive out the English settlers. Fort Northkill erected in 1756 several miles west of Christian's farm was one of a number of hastily constructed forts stretching from the Susquehanna to the Delaware. Although designed to protect the settlers, the forts were frequently manned by only a few soldiers who scouted the woods and assisted farmers with their crops. Small bands of Indians were able to kill and capture several hundred colonists. The Northkill community, near a gap in the mountain, did not escape these hostilities. On 19 Sept 1757 the home of Christian's neighbor Jacob Hostetler was attacked and burned. The mother and two children were murdered, while Jacob and two sons were taken as captives hundreds of miles to the northwest. Their lives with the Indians over the next several years and their eventual escape and return is one of the well documented stories of that century. (cites Pennsylvania Archives, 1st series 3, 277, 283)
The Northkill settlement never fully recovered from the shock of the raids; many settlers left their homes for more secure communities farther to the south, and although some eventually returned, this early Amish colony dwindled and disappeared (cites Smith, Pennsylvania German Society 35, 240 (1929). Christian's name is missing from the 1758 Berks County Tax List although a year earlier he was listed in Maidencreek Township.
Christian Zug was accompanied to this country by his wife Anna, an infant daughter Anna, and possibly a second daughter Barbara born about the time of the landing in Philadelphia.
In addition to the 167 acres purchased in 1744 from his brother Johannes, Christian "Sooke" obtained a warrant for another 30 acres from the Penn Proprietaries in 1746. His name appears on the Bern Township, Lancaster County tax lists for 1752 and 1754. The site of his original home is believed to be at or near an old stone house presently owned by John Landis on Wolf Creek north of Shartlesville. (Cites Paul V. Hostetler, The Three Zug(Zook) Brothers of 1742. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1982)
In 1757, the year of the Hostetler massacre, Christian "Zugg" was taxable in the adjacent township of Maidencreek, a few miles to the southeast. Although he appied the following year for a new 200 acre parcel of land back in Bern Township, a plot labeled Zugsberg in later survey, it is doubtful whether he ever returned. The land was patented a decade later to Jacob Aliveintz. A deed dated 10 Oct 1759 describes"Christian Zug of Maidencreek Township" and already an occupant of a home purchased in Cumru Township near Reading, Pa. Sometime during this period his wife Anna Knoble died for in 1760 when he finally sold his original homestead near Shartlesville, he was the only signer of the deed.
The new home in Cumru Township was along Wyomissing Creek on which Christian and neighbors Philip Thomas and William Lewis built a dam to irrigate their meadows, dividing the water, labor, and maintenance among themselves by an elaborate, recorded agreement. To this home Christian brought his second wife Dorothea, the widow Mishler, mother of six children. On 10 Sep 1761 Christian was naturalized before the Supreme Court held at Philadlephia as a member of a group of "Persons being Quaker or such who conscientiously scruple to take an oath, being also foreigners, and having complied with the terms required by the aforesaid Act of Parliament." In the published account in the Pa Archives he is listed as "Christian Luke".
The Cumru Township tax list for 1767 shows Christian Zug as owner of 150 acres, four horses, three cows, and ten sheep. In March of that year he and Dorothea sold this property for 1200 pounds and for 1325 pounds bought a 161 acre portion of Plumpton Manor in Heidelberg Township near Womelsdorf. The tax lists for 1768 to 1771 indicate that this estate was one of the finest in the Township. Christian's son John "Zoge" in 1769 gave his address as Heidelberg Township when he bought land in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Christian followed in 1772-73, purchasing three tracts, one of which he resold at cost to his daughter Elizabeth and husband Jacob "Caufman" two days after Christmas 1774. The other two were sold to his son Christian, Jr. in April, 1755. It is not known whether Dorothea accompanied Christian to Chester County. No wife participated in the transfers of his Chester County property, and he was married to Anna, widow of John Reichenbach at the time of his death in 1787.
During the Revolutionary period, Christian, daughter, Elizabeth Kaufman, and sons John John and Christian, Jr. lived close to one another near the present town of Malvern, Pa. Sons Yost and Jacob and daughters Barbara Beeghly and Mary Olinger had migrated to the western part of the Province. Chester County at the time was heavily populated by Quakers, Moravians, Amish, and other sects opposed for religious reasons to the bearing of arms. Many others were loyal to the Crown and branded as "tories" when they refused to enlist in the militia. The fall and winter of 1777 saw both British and American troops overrun much of the area in East Whiteland and adjacent Tredyffrin Townships. Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge was only a few miles to the east. Looting by both armies was heavy, even though the extreme penalty of "execution for plunder" was carried out on at least two occasions. The farmers lost livestock, crops, and household goods. A record of damages by British troops stated that Christian and his son-in-law Jacob Kauffman lost property valued at 146 pounds, an average higher than most of their neighbors. C.Z. Mast in Annals of Connestoga Valley records the legend that "Old mother Zug, "baking bread in an outdoor oven, lost all but one of the loaves to the American soldiers. With one loaf wrapped in her apron, she ran to the house exclaiming, "This one is for me." (Cites C.Z. Mast and R.E. Simpson, Annals of the Connestoga Valley. Scottsdale, Pa.: Mennonite Publishing House, 1942, pp. 196-199)
By 1785 Christian had married his third wife Anna, "widow and relict of John Reichnbach, late of the Township of Caernarvon in the County of Berks"...
Christian's will and estate papers have provided information on his wives, children, and step children. These Chester County documents have served to clarify the discrepancies among the early published genealogies of this family where wives Dorothea and Anna and the families of sons Yost and Jacob have been confused. A few excepts from John Scott's 1787 translation of the will are illustrative of the man and his times excerpts at p. 49 are omitted here.
p. 1
The surname Zaugg (Zougg), from which the spellings Zouck, Zug, Zuck, and Zook have been derived, is of ancient Swiss origin. In early times, people with this name were found principally in the valley of the Emme River (Emmental) which comprises a large section of present day Canton Berne.
Emmental Farmhouse
Emmental is a fairyland of heavily forested hills and fertile farmland dotted with hundreds of small villages where one finds mammoth farm homes of traditional Bernese architecture. The Emme one of Switzerland's large rivers, rises in the Bernese Oberland and flows northwest to its junction with the Aare near the city of Solothurn. The people have always been close to the soil; their patient cultivation of steep hillsides and vineyards attest to their industry and frugality through many generations. The peacefulness of the valley belies the turbulent scenes that occurred here during the sixteenth and seventeenth century persecutions when a number of of Zaugg families were caught up in the anabaptist movement. At least two such family heads of the mid 1600s were named Hans Zaugg, one of whom may have been the legendary Hans believed by many to have been the ancestor of several Zug immigrants to America.
The Swiss reformation began in 1525 under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli, pastor of the great cathedral in Zurich, and led to the establishment of a state church with a reformed theology. The early anabaptists Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel, were friends and followers of Zwingli, but held out for the complete separation of church and state. They sought to establish a church of believers only, and to this end, began to Baptise adults on confession of faith. Small groups of believers knowns as Swiss Brethren, but nicknamed Anabaptists, rapidly grew to several hundred members in the rural districts near Zurich and Bern, then spread to other parts of Switzerland and then down the Rhine to Alsace, the German Palitinate, and Holland. Toward the middle of the century, the Swiss Brethren in the lower Rhineland were called Mennoists or Mennonites as followers of the Anabaptist leader and writer Meno Simons (1496-1561) of Holland and North Germany.
The Anabpatists were considered a danger to both the established church and the state; their refusal to take oaths, hold office, and bear arms seemed to undermine the foundations of civil government. Various measurers were taken to suppress the movement.
The death penalty was decreed for teaching or preaching Anabaptism and for those who were banished for its practise but returned to their homes. The first martyr, Felix Manz, was executed in 1527 ... The execution marked the beginning of half century of martyrdom in which men were beheaded and women drowned. At least 40 executions occurred in Bern alone from 1529 to 1571.
That the immediate ancestors of several American Zugs lived in Germany rather than in Switzerland is supported by the spelling of the name Zug rather than Zaugg by the immigrants and by the histories of certain families with whom they travelled, settled and intermarried. However, no direct evidence has been brought to bear on this question, so the birthplaces or European towns of residence are unknown at this time for all American Zugg and Zaugg immigrants.
Events in the seventeenth century Palitinate played a major role in the odyssey of many families from the Swiss homeland to the shores of the New World. It is in this period in the Paltinate that we seek a lost generation of Zugs - a generation needed to relate the American immigrants to the Swiss Zuaggs, many of whom can trace their ancestry into the 1500s. At this writing no American line has been traced to Switzerland. The almost total destruction of the Palitinate during the Thirty Years' War and the continued devastation by the armies of Louis XIV in the late 1600s suggest that few records will be found for the refugees who came down the Rhine, particularly those to whom citizenship was denied.
There is a growing body of facts albeit weak evidence to suggest that the Zug immigrants to America in 1742 came from Wilensteinerhof.
Follow up: obtain copies of following documents:
1. Will of Christian Zug
2. Naturalization of Christian Zug
3. Deed to Christian Zug
C. Z. Mast, Mast Family History, p. 691:
Many of the Amish Menonites were severely tried during the dark days of the Revolutionary War as they were drafted into service being a nonresistant people and refusing to serve, they were imprisoned in Reading. So many of these people were thrown into prison that the women were compelled to work the fields to support their families. According to tradition those who were imprisoned for refusing military service were sentenced to be shot and a day set for execution. A meeting was held in Reading to prison to administer the Lord's Supper to the condemned brethren. But the execution was never carried into effect. Through the leading of a kind Prividence friends interfered, particularly Henry Hertzell, pastor in the German Reformed Church, who appealed to authorities in behalf of those who fled Europe to escape military service and who could not now be expected to do what their conscience forbade them to do in Europe. The appeal was heard and the peace-loving prisoners were set free. Among those released from prison were John Hertzler, Jacob and Stephen Kauffman; the writer having spoken recently with a grandson of the latter known as Jacob Kauffman of Davidsville, Pa. about this historical incident contained on page 139 in the "Mennonite Church History" compiled by Hartzler and Kauffman. Others that were released at this time were John and Christian Zug and Jacob Mast who is supposed to have been evidently our progenitor who was some years afterward known as Bishop Jacob Mast.
Mast, p. 695
The first Amish Menonite church in America was built by the members of the second Amish Menonite colony that was composed of a number of refugees from Berks Co. Pa and emigrants from Europe who had come direct from Holland, Germany and Switzerland. The exact date of its erection is unknown but it was probably around 1790. The walls of the old church and burial ground still remain and mark the place where once flourished a large congregation. The site of this old church is three miles north of Malvern, Pa. The writer and his father visited the place in June, 1907. We found ourselves in a beutiful valley known as Old Chester Valley in a rich farming district .... In this vicinity may also be found places of much interest in United States History, such as Valley Forge about ten miles northeast of the old ruins of the church. The soldiers lived miserably in comfortless huts or on frozen ground with little food or clothing and became very troublesome to the farmers nearby; some farms being owned and occupied by these sturdy Amish Mennonite pioneers.
About the last family that moved away from the church in East Whiteland Twp., Chester Co. was the Zook family who settled near Binkleys Bridge, Lancaster County, Pa. in 1834.
Among those visting this congregation during its early history was Bishop Jacob Hertzler of Hamburg, Berks Co. Pa. who was the first Amish Mennonite Bishop in America and founded the first church of his sect in the country. He was noted as a tireless worker and was long known as the overseer of the church in Chester Valley. At the age of eighty years he walked from his home to visit the place in preference to riding on horseback covering the distance of sixty-five miles in two days.
Among the noted and influential pastors of the Chester Valley congregation was Christian Zook who was noted as a zealous Christian worker and a strict disciplinarian. He preached regularly in the old meeting house and was also one of the first ministers to hold evening services at their house of worship. He also visited with his wife among the congregations located in adjoining counties having frequently traveled to Conestoga Valley in the vicinity of Morgantown, Berks Co. Pa. in an oxcart which was at that time a modern mode of conveyance - the cart ussually being covered with white muslin.
The Zook family and other living in the vicinity were harrassed greatly by the Revolutionary soldiers who became a perfect menace to the people. It is related that the soldiers had torn away all fences on the farm to build a fortress. Once when old mother Zug was taking her fresh loaves from the oven a group of hungry soldiers came up and snatched away all but one of the loaves with which the frightened woman hiding it under her apron ran into the house saying, "This one is for me" and the soldiers were merciful enough to let her have it.
Deed Book 2A, p. 162, Court House, Reading, Pa
Hans Zug of Twp of Bern in County of Lancaster yeo man in consideration of 25 pounds to his brother Christian Zug of the Township and County aforesaid yeoman in his actual possession now being 167 acres bounded on Jacob Hochstetlers on south, westward by land in possession of Valentine Nye, Jacob Hochstetler and George Christian; on north vacant land by the foot of Blue Mountain and east by vacant land, granted to Hanz Zug by warrant 1742. Signed Nov 30, 1744 by Johannes Zug. Acknowledged Aug 1, 1760. Recorder Aug 4, 1760.
Will of Christian Zug dated Nov 19, 1786
Evan and Ada Maust, Descendants of Jonas Mast
p. 30 Christian Zug came to America with his two brothers on Sept 21, 1742 on the ship Francis and Elizabeth, George North, Master from Rotterdam. They were sold for their passage money. Christian was first married to Anna Kanabell who was the mother of his children. After her death he married widow Dodera Mishler, who was the mother of Veronica Mishler, wife of Christian Miller. After her death he married widow Anna Reichenbach. Christian settled in Berks County, Pa. Christian's grandfather Hans Zug was was a mennonite minister who was imprisoned in Bern, Switzerland with six others for their faith. Spelt and Rye being their main food while forced into hard labor to pay the expenses they caused as recorded in the Martyrs Mirror. By the intercession of the United Netherland's government, they were released and banished from the country. Hans went to southern Germany where he raised his family of twelve children.
Christian's son Jacob married to Anna Long, moved to Somerset County in 1776 in the Berlin area on the farm now owned by the Calvin Will family, and occupied by James Will. In 1812 Jacob moved to Holmes County, Ohio.
I. Daniel Rupp, A Collection of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776, Reprint Genalogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1985
p. 157
Sept 21, 1742. Foreigners imported in the ship Francis and Elizabeth, George North Master, from Rotterdam, last from Deal
Moritz Zug
Christian Zug
Johannes Zug
The earliest event is the birth in 1527 of Ulrich Zugg Direct ancestor by maternal grandfather's side (14 generations) from Switzerland. His wife Anna Neukcomm was born in 1531, born in Lutzelfluch, Berne, Switzerland.
next generation:
Hans Zugg
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