Links
Home
Ancestors of Louie Price
Preiss Family in Germany
Price Family in Ohio

The Price Immigrants and the "Famous Dove"

CHRISTIAN and ANNA PREISS
    Johann Christian Preiss was born Aug. 17, 1764 in Gadernheim, Germany, to Johannes and Maria Magdalena (Braun) Preiss.  (1)
    Married Anna Margarethe Ripper.  (See below.)
    Children: (2)
   Anna Elisabetha, born Dec. 14, 1797.
    Johann Georg, born Nov. 15, 1799.  Died April 16, 1801.
    Anna Margaretha, born June 25, 1802.
    Johann Nikolaus, born July 7, 1805.
    Anna Maria, born Feb. 24, 1807.  Died Feb. 24, 1807.
    Anna Susanna, born April 3, 1808.
    Anna Christina, born March 25, 1811.
    Christian married Anna Margarethe Ripper on Feb. 9, 1796, in Reichenbach, the site of the parish church for Gadernheim.  (3)  Anna Margarethe was born Dec. 28, 1777 in Gadernheim to Johann Nikolaus and Anna Margaretha (Wiener) Ripper.  Johann Nikolaus was a carpenter.  The Rippers were married on Aug. 15, 1775 in Reichenbach. (4) 
    Christian followed his father into the trade of blacksmithing.  He is listed as a master smith at the time of his marriage in 1796, which would normally entitle him to run his own business.

The Preiss family's weddings and baptisms are recorded at the Lutheran church in Reichenbach, which is still the administrative center of the area around Gadernheim.

   Christian also is listed as an "Einwohner," or resident of the village.  People classified as residents didn't hold full rights of citizenship.  Christian may have attained the status of  "Gemeinsmann," or village citizen, later because he is listed as a citizen in the 1827 marriage record of his son Johann Nikolaus.  However, it is also possible that this was a mistake by the minister.  
    In 1831, Christian, Anna Margaretha, their son Nicholas and daughter Anna Margaretha immigrated to the United States with a party from Gadernheim and neighboring villages in the Odenwald region.  Much of the party crossed the Atlantic on the Famous Dove, which ran aground in a storm off Virginia.  A second ship carrying members of the party missed the storm and arrived safely.  (For a full account of the journey, see the item on Nicholas Price.)
    Most of the immigrants in the Odenwald party made their way to Baltimore, then moved on to Washington County, Pa.
    In 1835, Christian, who is listed as living in Washington County, bought 80 acres of land in Hancock County, Ohio.  The land was purchased from the state of Ohio on Dec. 30, 1835.  He sold the land for $100 on Feb. 22, 1837.  These records show how quickly German names became anglicized.  They list ``Christian Price and Margarite, his wife.'' (5)
    ``History of the Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jenera, Ohio'' lists Christian as among the first members of the Hesse-Darmstadt party to settle in Hancock County, arriving in 1834.  However, the 1835 deed lists him as being ``of  Washington County.''
    The 1840 Census lists Christian as living in Van Buren Township, surrounded by many of those in his immigration party.
    Christian died in November 1848.  Margaretha died Feb. 13, 1862.  They are buried at the St. Paul Lutheran Church cemetery in Jenera. (6)
    (1) Reichenbach Church Books. With his birth record, there is a notation that Christian left for North America in 1831.  (2) Reichenbach Church Books, pages 207, 214, 737, 223, 235, 245, 762, 42 and 14.  (3) Reichenbach Church Books, page 591.  There are also indications in some secondary sources that the Preisses had a daughter named Katharina on Jan. 28, 1817, but I have not been able to find this record.  (4) Anna Margaretha's birth and her parents' marriage are listed in "... wir ziehen nach Amerika," page 119.  The German book - "... we are moving to America" - contains letters from people who had emigrated from the Odenwald region to America.  The book also contains a good amount of genealogical information about the survivors of the shipwreck that the Prices experienced.  It was compiled by Marie-Louise Seidenfaden and published in 1988.  (5) Hancock County Deed Book 69, page 263, and Book 2, page 159.  (6) Tombstone inscriptions.

NICHOLAS and ANNA ELIZABETH PRICE
    Johann Nikolaus Preiss was born July 7, 1805 in Gadernheim, Germany, to Johann Christian and Anna Margaretha (Ripper) Preiss.  (1)
    Married Anna Elizabeth Reimund.  (See below.)
    Children: (2)
    Johann Georg, born April 5, 1828, in Gadernheim.
    Elisabetha Catharina, born July 6, 1830, in Gadernheim.
    Peter, born in 1831 in Pennsylvania.
    Nicholas E., born in March 1835 in Ohio.
    Margaret, born in 1838 in Ohio.
    John, born in 1842 in Ohio.
    Elizabeth, born in 1844 in Ohio.
    Mary, born in 1845 in Ohio.
    Philip.
    Nicholas, as his name came to be spelled in America, married Anna Elizabeth Reimund on Nov. 13, 1827 in Reichenbach, the site of the parish church for Gadernheim. (3)  Anna Elizabeth was born Aug. 26, 1808 in Gadernheim, Germany, to Johann Peter and Elisabeth Margarethe (Wendel) Reimund.  Peter Reimund was a citizen of Gadernheim and a court official who was responsible for setting the boundary stones between properties.  The Reimunds were married on March 18, 1800 in Reichenbach, Germany. (4)

A model of the "Famous Dove," which carried the Preisses and other immigrants from the Odenwald to America.  It ran aground on the shore of Virginia during a storm.  The model is a St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jenera, Ohio.

   Anna Elizabeth was born Aug. 26, 1808 in Gadernheim, Germany, to Johann Peter and Elisabeth Margarethe (Wendel) Reimund.  Peter Reimund was a citizen of Gadernheim and a court official who was responsible for setting the boundary stones between properties.  The Reimunds were married on March 18, 1800 in Reichenbach, Germany. (4)Nicholas was trained to be a blacksmith like his father.  At the time of his marriage in 1827, he was listed as a citizen of the village of Gadernheim and a smith.  A year later, in the birth record of his first child, he was listed as a master smith, a designation that would allow him to run a business.
    In 1831, the Preiss family and others from neighboring villages in the Odenwald region decided to join a party immigrating to the United States.  A poor economy, high taxes, compulsory military service and general dissatisfaction were primary reasons for leaving Germany at that time.
    The immigrants' saga is recorded in ``History of the Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jenera, Ohio.'' (5)
    ``The summer of 1830 was decided on for the voyage; but, due to unavoidable circumstances, it was twice postponed.
    ``And so it was in the middle of May 1831, a group started on the 400 mile trip through Darmstadt and Kassel to Bremen, where they finally sailed for America on July 14.  They severed all the ties that bound them to their homeland and relatives left behind.  Those sailing on the British vessel `Famous Dove' were bound for Baltimore, Maryland.  Families onboard were named Arras, Beach (`Bietsch' in the original German), Bosse, Essinger, Gossman (Gassmann), Heldman, Luniak, Price (Preisz), Traucht (Tracht, with 22 individuals so named), Wilch (Willisch), and others.  Land was sighted on the 65th day of the voyage and the people rejoiced.  Despite inferior food and the usual hardships of ocean travel in those days, everyone was in good health.  An infant had been buried at sea; otherwise the trip was uneventful.
    ``The emigrants were on the water several months when a northwest storm caught them when they were close to the shore of America.  They were cast about and blown off their course, losing first the mast and then the rudder.  The wind changed to the northeast with heavy seas washing the decks.  For two days and two nights they drifted helplessly.  On September 16, the ship started to fill with water faster than the sailors could pump it out.  At about midnight, all had to move to the upper deck, and waves were running high.  In the darkness on the ocean, no one knew just where, the ship was sinking.
    ``Some were praying, but the captain, having been under the influence of liquor from the time the ship left Bremen, became sober in the face of disaster and ordered the mates to launch a lifeboat in which he intended to escape from the sinking vessel.  However, the leader of the expedition, Johann Adam Tracht, was inured to danger; he had not campaigned with the mighty Napoleon for naught! He was the owner of seven guns which he was bringing to America - not for the purpose of shooting Indians, but in anticipation of hunting game, a pleasure which was 'verboten' to the common people of Germany.  Perceiving that the captain intended to abandon the ship and leave the passengers to their fate, he armed six men of  his party, keeping a gun for himself.  His orders were to shoot either captain or sailor who tried to go over the side of the boat.  None tried.
    ``In the midst of all the confusion, nine-year-old Margaret Arras said that Christ stilled the waves and saved the disciples from drowning.  'Maybe He will save us also.' A sailor standing nearby said to `slap that dumb girl in the mouth for talking so foolishly, that anyone could see that the ship was sinking and all will be drowned.' The girl started singing a hymn `A Mighty Fortress is Our God'; her faith was contagious, and the emigrants were soon singing, with even most of the sailors joining in.  The ship sank no further, and the waves began to be smaller.
    ``When daylight came, they found that they were close to land (about one-half mile away).  The ship had blown off course to the sand bar off the coast of Virginia, east of Norfolk, close to Cape Henry.  The unmarried men remained aboard the wrecked `Famous Dove' until the children and parents were landed ...  Many, on reaching shore, knelt down and poured out their hearts in gratitude to the Savior for deliverance.  They solemnly vowed that annually on that day a `Schiffbruchsgottesdienst' (ship-wreck thanksgiving festival) should take place in remembrance of the abject terror and the wonderful rescue.''
    Descendants of the shipwreck survivors still hold a celebration each Sept. 17.
    The Famous Dove ran aground on Sept. 17, 1831.  The Norfolk Herald on Sept. 19 reported: ``The brig James Beacham, Galt, of & for Baltimore fm Bremen whence she sailed 1st Aug.  with 160 passengers went ashore about 15 miles to the S.  of Cape Henry on Friday night last at about 11o'clock in a gale fm N.E.  the crew & passengers have got ashore - vessel bilged and nearly full of water.  When our informant left the wreck exertions were making to save the baggage of the passengers, cargo, &c.'' (6)
    Customs records in the National Archives provide a brief description of immigrants' arrival in listings for Virginia under the quarter ending Dec. 31, 1831.  It reads: ``Brig, James Beacham, Galt, Master, from Bremen (wrecked near Cape Henry) - a list of names.'' Many of the names are illegible, but of those that can be read include people known to have been aboard the Famous Dove, including Nicholaus Preisz, Adam Arras, Peter Arras, Johs Arras, Adam Tracht and P.  Tracht.  None of the records explain the discrepancy in the names of the ship (ie.  Famous Dove, James Beacham).  (7)
    The immigrants made their way to Baltimore, then to Washington County, Pa., where journeys to the West began.
    Nicholas Price was naturalized in 1834 in Washington County.  This is the first record that spells the name Price.  German names were commonly anglicized upon arrival in the United States.  (8)
    In 1834, Nicholas paid the U.S. government $100 for 80 acres of land in Hancock County, Ohio.  The deed, which is dated June 25, 1834, says he lived in Washington County at the time.  (9)
    It is uncertain exactly when the Prices moved to Hancock County.  Information in a pamphlet compiled by descendants of the shipwreck survivors says the Prices moved to Madison Township in the fall of 1835.  (10) The St.  Paul account states that the Prices were among the first families to arrive in the area, doing so in 1834.  ``History of Hancock County,'' published in 1886, says the family settled in the western end of Madison Township in the fall of 1835.  This book also says that the Prices where among the first settlers.  (11)
    Nicholas' son George was interviewed by The Findlay Daily Courier just before his death in 1909.  He had been 3 years old when his parents came to the United States and about 7 when they moved to Hancock County.  He told of how his parents and the John Rauch family loaded their possessions into two wagons and headed west.
    ``Mr.  Price was taking the lead when his team reached what was then called Potato Creek Swamp, near Mount Blanchard.  Here one horse sank to his sides in the mud and could not move.  Darkness was already settling over the unhappy immigrants, and surrounded as they were by a howling wilderness, the women broke down and cried in despair.  But the animal was finally pried out of the mud and the travelers moved on to Mount Blanchard and put up for the night.  The next day they were able to get seven miles farther west and spend the night at the tavern on Eagle Creek, kept by Mr.  John Diller.'' (12)
    Many of the Odenwald families settled in the area of Jenera.  There were few other settlers in the area at that time.
    ``When the settlers first arrived, the region was a vast wilderness,'' according to St.  Paul's history.  ``The aim was to clear the land for farming and rid it of beasts of prey, such as bears and wolves.  It is noted in an Essinger family history that Indians still camped in this area at that time.  Log cabins were the homes of the people.  Wagons were made by the settlers themselves, as were the two-wheeled carts.  These were usually drawn by oxen moving sluggishly and awkwardly through an almost pathless country.  The women spun, wove and dyed garments from wool.''
    Trading posts were few and the settlers made or grew most of what they needed.  Some of this process is described in an article published in a German historical magazine that took an interest in the immigrant party.
    "In the beginning, flour was especially scarce since there were no mills.  Nikolaus Preiss, from Gadernheim, solved the problem: from a small creek near his home he got a large 'niggerhead stone' which he cut in half.  The surface of the stones was made smooth, then holes were drilled.  A pole was passed through the holes and through an opening in the ceiling to the upper floor of the house.  There a diagonal pole was attached which was turned by his two sons.  This was the first mill in the settlement, and they ground flour from corn, wheat and buckwheat.
    "The settlers also had to fight against other difficulties.  In the 1840s a small pox epidemic broke out, followed by cholera.   An old cemetery near Findlay, the cholera cemetery with 75 graves still reminds us of this time." (13)
    In 1843, the families banded together to establish a church, which eventually became Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church.  Nicholas Price was one of the church's first councilmen.  As the congregation grew and changed, he remained active as a church official.
    According to Hancock County death records, Nicholas was a blacksmith.  Census records list him as a farmer.
    Nicholas died Dec. 19, 1879 and Anna Elizabeth died July 26, 1869.  ``History of Hancock County'' says they died on the ``old homestead.''  (14) Both are buried at St.  Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jenera.
    (1) Reichenbach Church Books, page 235.  There is also a notation that Nicholas left for America in 1831.  Nicholas' name was spelled a variety of ways during his life.  His birth record lists him as "Nickolas."  Later, the Lutheran minister in Reichenbach spelled his name "Nicolaus" in the records, while the signature at the bottom spelled it "Nikolaus."  Upon arrival in America, the name was spelled "Nicholas."  His last name was generally spelled "Preiss" in Germany and "Price" in America.  (2) The records of the births of Johann Georg and Elisabetha Catharina are recorded in the Reichenbach Church Book, pages 29 and 73, respectively.  Other dates come from the 1850 Census of Hancock County, Ohio.  (3) Reichenbach Church Books, page 16.  Ella Gieg, a genealogist from Luetzelbach, Germany, helped me with several translations and advice. (4) Anna Elizabeth's birth is recorded in Reichenbach Church Books, page 52.  The Reimunds' marriage is listed in "... wir ziehen nach Amerika," page 119.  The German book - "... we are moving to America" - contains letters from people who had emigrated from the Odenwald region to America.  The book also contains a good amount of genealogical information about the survivors of the shipwreck that the Prices experienced.  It was compiled by Marie-Louise Seidenfaden and published in 1988.  (5) Information on the shipwreck comes from ``History of the Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jenera, Ohio.''  This account is taken almost verbatim from ``The Tracht Family Tree,'' pages 17 to 19.  Information on the early settlement of Hancock County and church activity also comes from the history of  St. Paul's.  (6) The Herald of Norfolk, Va., Sept. 19, 1831.  Theron Arras of Columbus, Ohio, has done a tremendous amount of research on the shipwreck and the families who survived it.  He originally uncovered most of this information.  (7) Information in this paragraph comes from a pamphlet written by descendants of shipwreck survivors and members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jenera.  (8) ``Naturalizations From Circuit County Court Proceedings, Washington County, Pa.,'' page 78.  (9) ``History of Hancock County,'' page 446.  (10) The pamphlet is called "The Shipwreck Story: A Supplement" and was compiled for the 150th anniversary of the shipwreck, which was held at St.  Paul Lutheran Church in Jenera.  (11) Hancock County Deed Book 56, page 280.  (12) Shipwreck pamphlet.  (13) From an English translation of "Odenwald Emigrants in Hancock County, Ohio," in the Geschichtsblaetter Kreis Bergstrasse, Band 19, 1986, compiled by Goldie E. Wilch and Heinz Bormuth.  (14) Nicholas' death listed in Hancock County Record of Death 2, page 30.  Administration of estate is in Hancock County Probate Court Case No.  3380.

Links
Home
Ancestors of Louie Price
Preiss Family in Germany
Price Family in Ohio

Contact me: brianingrid@hotmail.com