_______________________ _______________________| | |_______________________ _John Hamon CHINN _| | | _______________________ | |_______________________| | |_______________________ | |--John CHINN | | _Samuel Grandin WURTS _ | _Samuel Grandin WURTS _| | | |_Rebecca HOOPER _______ |_Mary WURTS _______| | _______________________ |_Matilda CARTWRIGHT ___| |_______________________
_______________________ _________________________| | |_______________________ _Acie or Asa KIMBLE _| | | _______________________ | |_________________________| | |_______________________ | |--Clarence KIMBLE | | _______________________ | _William Lindsey SAVAGE _| | | |_______________________ |_Pearlie SAVAGE _____| | _Samuel Grandin WURTS _ |_Isabell (Belle) WURTS __| |_Matilda CARTWRIGHT ___
__ __| | |__ __| | | __ | |__| | |__ | |--Richard LITTERAL | | __ | __| | | |__ |__| | __ |__| |__
________________ _________________| | |________________ _Samuel Davis PAGE _____| | | ________________ | |_________________| | |________________ | |--Ethel Nelson PAGE | | _John WURTS ____ | _William WURTS __| | | |_Sarah GRANDIN _ |_Isabella Graham WURTS _| | ________________ |_Elizabeth TATE _| |________________
__ __| | |__ __| | | __ | |__| | |__ | |--Richard PRITCHARD | | __ | __| | | |__ |__| | __ |__| |__
__ __| | |__ __| | | __ | |__| | |__ | |--Matilda STEELE | | __ | __| | | |__ |__| | __ |__| |__
__ __| | |__ __| | | __ | |__| | |__ | |--Susan Howard WARRENER | | __ | __| | | |__ |__| | __ |__| |__
_click link below for more on all these lines_ | _Rev. Johannes Conrad Wirz_| | | | |__________________________________________ | | |--Johannes Conrad WIRZ | | | __________________________________________ | | |_Magdalena Klingler_| | |__________________________________________
!DATA-CHILDREN: Anna Maria Magdalen, Conrad, John (md. Sarah Grandin), George (md. Esther Hasbrouck), Peter, Maurice (md. Sarah Williamson).
!Pastor of the Tohickon Reformed Church (Bucks Co., PA) from 1745 to 1748. Died and buried in York, York Co., PA, NOT in York, Lehigh Co., PA (I haven't yet found such place). Was buried under the altar in the Old First German Reformed Church on West Market Street near Center Square in York, PA, and later removed to an inside wall of Zion Reformed Church, York, PA, on 9 May 1914.
!Johannes Conrad Wirz (Wurts) died in York, York Co., Pennsylvania, NOT in York, Lehigh Co., as listed in some records. He was buried under the altar in the old First German Reformed Church erected during his pastorate on West Market Street near center Square, [York, PA], and later removed, on 9 May 1914, to burial in a wall of the Zion Reformed Church at York, Pennsylvania, where a bronze tablet marking the site was unveiled 17 Oct 1915, by Miss Elizabeth Reed Wurts. [see John S. Wurts, MAGNA CHARTA, Brookfield Pub. Co., Philadelphia, 1954, Part VII, p. xix]
PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE DESCENDED FROM Johannes Conrad Wirz, or would like to investigate the possibility. DESCENDANT LINES INCLUDE THE SURNAME SPELLINGS WURTS, WERTS, and WIRTS, and can be found in some records as WURTZ and WERTZ.
!Charles Pemberton Wurts, A GENEALOGICAL RECORD OF THE WURTS FAMILY, THE DESCENDANTS OF REV. JOHANNES CONRAD WURTS..., 1889, (91+ pages), p. 16-19, 21, 49. [reprint available from the Higginson Book Co., Salem, MA, (508) 745-7170. Family History Catalog 15, p. 98. Be sure to specify HARDBOUND cover; $28.00]
[the entry for Johannes Conrad Wirz is as follows: ]
"Johannes Conrad, son of the foregoing, was born in
Zurich, Switzerland, November 30, 1706. He was the
fifth son among a large family of children, three having
received his name and died before his birth. His elder
brother, Jacob, was a noted preacher, who having, by his
talents, attracted the attention of the Princess of Wurtem
burg, niece of the Queen of Prussia, was by her invited to
become court preacher at Wurtemburg; but, after accept
ing the offer, he was obliged to decline in consequence of
an appointment to another parish by the ecclesiastical
authorities.
Johannes Conrad, when a young man, entered the
service of the King of the Netherlands as a cadet, probably
led thither by the fact that a married sister, whose husband
was an officer in the Dutch service, was residing at the
Hague. He soon abandoned the military profession,
however, and returned to his native city, Zurich, where
he engaged in the practice of law. In the year 1734, he
joined a company of more than 250 persons, men, women
and children, who proposed to try to better their fortunes
by emigrating to America. They left Zurich on the 4th
of October, under the leadership of the Rev. Moritz
Goetschi, their destination being the Carolinas, in regard
to which high hopes and expectations had been raised by
a certain pamphlet describing the country as a second
Canaan. They encountered many hardships and difficulties
on their way from Zurich to Rotterdam, not the least of
which were occasioned by the opposition of the Swiss
government to a movement which was probably regarded
as but the forerunner of a still larger exodus. After
reaching Holland, they were again subjected to many
serious and vexatious detentions, so that many of their
number were scattered and either found occupation in
Holland or returned to their own country. Those who
persevered in the enterprise did not sail for America until
the following Spring, after being obliged by circumstances
to change their plans so far as to make Pennsylvania their
objective point, instead of the Carolinas. While they
were thus detained in Holland, Johannes Conrad married
Anna, daughter of Rev. Moritz Goetschi.
[--rmww comment--Johannes and Anna were actually married at Neiweid, Germany, (on the Rhine river) along with two other couples, according to a chronicle of the journey
published by the Pennsylvania-German Society, in a Chapter entitled "The Ministry of John Henry Goetschy", that also includes the ship Mercury (1735) passenger lists.
Another publication from the Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, NY, "The Goetschy Family and the Limping Messenger", has another interesting (rather critical) account of the first part of the journey (from Zurich to Rotterdam), from an individual that changed his mind and returned to Zurich, and also identifies the individuals in Goetschy's Colony (per Faust's Swiss Emigrants)--]
After a long and perilous passage of twelve weeks,
they landed at Philadelphia, where Goetschi, who had
been ill during the voyage, was attacked with a serious
malady, which quickly terminated his life.
Precisely in what part of Pennsylvania the emigrants
made their home, we are not informed ; but a long and
very pathetic letter from the widow of Herr Goetschi to
her sister in Zurich is on record among the public archives
of that city, in which she lamented the unhappy lot of
herself and family in the absolute wildemess, and bewailed
the folly which had led them to forsake the friends and
the comforts of her Swiss home for this land of "wild
beasts, barbarians and Anabaptists."
We now lose sight of Johannes Conrad for some
years. It is probable that his thoughts were soon turned
to the ministry, for which his early education had fitted
him, and that, as soon as the opportunity offered, he
began to worK for the spiritual good of his fellow-men
The following is an extract from a paper prepared
by George S. Mott, D.D., of Flemington, N. J., for the
New Jersey Historical Society, entitled " The First
Century of Hunterdon County, N. J."
"The colony of Germans who passed over the York Road
in 1707 was the beginning of a large and continued immigration.
Some settled at Mt. Airy and around Ringos, others near Round
Valley ; some at length passed over to Stillwater and Newton in
Sussex County. By the year 1747, a German Reformed congregation
was worshipping in a log church which stood in the old graveyard
at Larison's Corner, a mile from Ringos. The first pastor was
John Conrad Wirz, who, for ten years, until 1751, had charge of
that and the churches of Lebanon, German Valley and Fox hill."
---
From "A History of the Presbyterian Church
(Amwell)," published since the above was written, Dr.
Mott has also sent the writer the following extract
relating to the Rev. Johannes Conrad Wirz :
"From 1750 to 1762 he supplied the Rockaway and Fox Hill
congregations as pastor, and resided near one of these churches.
It appears that he served Amwell a part of the time, but how
frequently or for how long a period is not known. Pressed by a
sense of the destitution of the churches he had preached for a
season near Easton, Pa., without ordination or ecclesiastical
connection. When Mr. Schlater became superintendent of the
German churches, he applied to him to be inducted regularly into
the ministerial office. Failing here, he was ordained by the
Presbytery of New Brunswick, after laboring two years in New
Jersey. After his labors in this region were ended he removed to
York, Pa., where tradition has preserved his name in good savor
as an earnest, pious minister. "
---
This brings us to the closing years of his life. As
related above,he was called to take charge of the German
Reformed Church at York, Pa. He accepted and removed
to York in May, 1762. His connection with this church,
however, was of short continuance, as he died September
21, 1763. It is said that "the congregations under the
pastoral care of Rev. Wirz prospered greatly; that he was
much loved, his influence long felt and his memory
revered." It is recorded of him that at the laying of the
corner-stone of his new church at York, he said : "In the
church now to be erected may piety preside, holiness reign,
truth prevail, love and harmony dwell, that the congrega-
tion may triumphantly flourish."
Of his call to the church at York and his acceptance,
we have an interesting account in the following entry by
himself in the Eirchenbuch of that church :
"On the 21st day of August, in the year of our dear
Redeemer, Jesus Christ, 1761, I, Johannes Conrad Wirz, minister
of the word of God and installed pastor of the congregations of
Rockaway and German Valley in Jersey, received an invitation
from this congregation by the hands of Mr. Balthasar Spangler, to
visit and preach to them, in the hope that a gracious God would
incline our hearts to an affectionate union, and thus again supply
this forsaken flock with a faithful pastor and teacher. With the
divine blessing and favor, I concluded to accept this invitation,
and determined to undertake the journey accompanied by the afore-
mentioned Mr. Spangler. Accordingly, we set out on the 27th day
of August and arrived here safe and in good health on the first
day of September. On the following Sabbath, I preached my first
sermon, and, by request, delivered three or four additional
discourses subsequently, which were so blessed by the Father of
Light that the respected congregation, with unfeigned affection
unanimously desired me to become their pastor, inasmuch as the
Rev. Mr. Lischy, had forsaken them, and as the members,
individually, had confidence in me. A formal and regular call,
dated September 12, 1761, and signed by the elders and members
was tendered to me, which I was unable to decline, yet accepted
only on condition that I should be able to obtain the consent of
my congregations in New Jersey and of the reverend Presbytery
of New Brunswick, by which I had been ordained to the work of
the ministry. Subsequently, on obtaining the consent of my
congregation and receiving a dismissal from the reverend Presby-.
tery of New Brunswick, dated October 24, 1761, I removed to this
place, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and arrived on the 5th of
May, 1762, and on the following Sabbath, being the 9th day of
May, preached my introductory sermon from Rev. X. 10, having
resolved to serve this congregation according to the grace of God
in the preaching of the Word and the administration of the
sacraments, whereunto may a merciful God, for Jesus' sake, grant
and communicate the grace, strength and aid of his Holy Spirit.
JOHANNES CONRAD WIRZ, V.D.M.
May 12, 1762."
!***See link above to my "Ancestors of Reed M. W. Wurts" database which takes the male Wirz line back through generations of Swiss Knights to the great-granddaughter of Charlemagne***
Also, see the web site of Buckner Ashby Wallingford II for another database of the Wirz ancestry with biographical information from the C.P. Wurts book. (Gendex indexed)
_Jacob WURTS ______ _David WURTS ______| | |_Catherine DUBOIS _ _Jacob David WURTS _| | | ___________________ | |_Albina HASBROUCK _| | |___________________ | |--Albina Hasbrouck WURTS | | ___________________ | ___________________| | | |___________________ |_Arabella BLOOMER __| | ___________________ |___________________| |___________________
_William (2nd) WURTS _______ _Theodore Frelinghuysen WURTS _| | |_Lucretia Jeanette LATHROP _ _Edward Vanuxem WURTS ___| | | ____________________________ | |_Anna VANUXEM _________________| | |____________________________ | |--Ann Bronson WURTS | | ____________________________ | _______________________________| | | |____________________________ |_Elizabeth White ROBINS _| | ____________________________ |_______________________________| |____________________________
_George WURTS _____ _Jacob WURTS ______| | |_Esther HASBROUCK _ _David WURTS ______| | | ___________________ | |_Catherine DUBOIS _| | |___________________ | |--Cornelia WURTS | | ___________________ | ___________________| | | |___________________ |_Albina HASBROUCK _| | ___________________ |___________________| |___________________
!WFT 9, #1635 has their marriage date as 4 Feb 1868.
_George WURTS _____ _Jacob WURTS _____| | |_Esther HASBROUCK _ _Cornelius WURTS __| | | ___________________ | |_Maria HOORNBECK _| | |___________________ | |--George WURTS | | ___________________ | __________________| | | |___________________ |_Margaret LEFEVRE _| | ___________________ |__________________| |___________________
_Johannes Conrad WIRZ _ _George WURTS _____| | |_Anna GOETSCHI ________ _Jacob WURTS ______| | | _______________________ | |_Esther HASBROUCK _| | |_______________________ | |--George WURTS | | _______________________ | ___________________| | | |_______________________ |_Catherine DUBOIS _| | _______________________ |___________________| |_______________________
!other source has md. to Cornelia Lefevre on 2 Aug 1825, in Ulster Co., NY
_Johannes Conrad WIRZ _ _John WURTS ____| | |_Anna GOETSCHI ________ _William WURTS __| | | _______________________ | |_Sarah GRANDIN _| | |_______________________ | |--John Francis WURTS | | _______________________ | ________________| | | |_______________________ |_Elizabeth TATE _| | _______________________ |________________| |_______________________
_George WURTS ________ _William Lawrence Ross WURTS _| | |_Elizabeth Camp ROSS _ _William Hogencamp WURTS _| | | ______________________ | |_Florence HOGENCAMP __________| | |______________________ | |--John Halsey WURTS | | ______________________ | ______________________________| | | |______________________ |_Jean HALSEY _____________| | ______________________ |______________________________| |______________________