Palatine Family Roots

I have had my battles with common surnames.  I have Johnson, Smith, Jones and a few Allens.  Needless to say, research on these families can be a bit daunting.  There is an Allen line on my Mom’s side of the family that stretches back to New England…however, the Allen line on my father’s side of the family is a window into the German side of my great grandfather’s family.

Phoebe Allen Gage with grandchildren - around 1910.

Phoebe Ann Allen was born 7 Jan 1830 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  She married Gilbert Gage in 1849, most likely in Knox, Albany Co., NY as well.  They were the parents of five children:  Orlando, Elizabeth, Juliette, Frank, and Gilbert Gage.  Phoebe was daughter of Elizabeth Zeh and John P. Allen.  It seems somehow unfortunate that I’ve never been able to taker Phoebe’s paternal line back any further than her father.  John P. Allen is much too common a name to differentiate him from other John Allen’s in the vicinity.  Perhaps someday when I have the chance to go to New York to research, I may find something interesting.  Here is what I know about John P. Allen.  He was born in NY on 24 Sep 1783 and died on 2 Apr 1868 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  He was married to Anna Eva Weidman (daughter of William Weidman and Maria Chambers) sometime in 1807. (The Weidman family shows up often amongst these German families around Albany Co., NY).  She probably died in childbirth or shortly after childbirth in 1821 probably in Berne, Albany Co., NY (which was called Beaverdam at the time) They were the parents of seven children:  Asa, Hannah Maria, William, John P. Jr., James Ira, Sylvester, and Susanna Allen.  In about 1825, John P. Allen married Elizabeth Zeh.  She was born 24 Sep 1793 in Berne, Albany Co., NY and died on 14 Oct 1851 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  They were the parents of Ann Eliza, Emma Elizabeth, Phoebe Ann (my 3^rd great grandmother), Peter Zeh, and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Peter Jost Zeh and Annatje Truax. 

The Zeh family was a whole new kettle of fish for me.  I had had no idea that there had been such a strong German contingent in my great grandfather’s family.  When I initially learned of the line, I did what I normally did.  I posted queries on the appropriate news lists early and often.  Through email, I was educated on a bit of the history of the Zeh family in NY.  I may never make much progress on the Allen line – but there was a wealth of information on the Zeh family and they had been amongst some of the earliest settlers in the Schoharie river valley.    Johannes Zeh was born in Oppenheim, Germany in 1667.  He was married to Anna Magdalena in 1692 and they were the parents of Johann George, Johannes Gerhardt, Ignatius, and Johannes Petrus.  You can label the Zehs among many other families as Palatine Germans.  Germany at this point was essentially a bunch of small countries and one of these areas was Palatine.  It was a land that was battled over by the French, Dutch, Germans, and later the English.  There were numerous battles –but Queen Anne’s War which was between 1701 to 1713 was probably the biggest impetus for many to leaving the Palatine region along the Rhine.  In a short amount of time over 13,000 Germans left and headed to America.  Many arrived around 1710, but the Zeh family were first recorded in the Schoharie Valley in 1709.  Of the four children that traveled with Johannes and his wife in 1709 died within a few years after their arrival.  My ancestor, Johannes Zeh, Jr was born about 1710 near Germantown, NY.    Johannes married Maria Bellinger and Anna Catherine Bellinger – sisters who were the daughters of Marcus Bellinger and Anna Catherine Deckmann.  (Also German immigrants)  I’m not really sure which sister he married first, but it is Anna Catherine who he marries in 3 Mar 1738 and they have nine children.  Their third son, Jost Bellinger Zeh and Anna Barbara Wanner were the parents of Peter Jost Zeh and grandparents of Elizabeth Zeh…my 4^th great grandmother.

I considered myself to be fairly well educated in United States history, however, I had never heard of the Palatine Immigration to America.  While living in their homeland along the Rhine River, these people had to live with repeated military invasions by French for numerous years.  They left their homes and headed towards England to escape the Palatine with the promise of land in the American colonies.  The British found out that very quickly couldn’t take care of this large group of people and started to find ways of sending these refugees to the American colonies and many of these families ended up in New York.   They were unlike the Huguenots of an earlier generation because they were not as well educated or skilled of laborers.  They were laborers who knew how to raise livestock, farm land or make cheese and wine.  Queen Anne’s government decided to provide a way for these German Protestants to make their way to the colonies.  They were booked passage on a ship and had to work in trade for passage. 
Many of these families were originally brought to New York but within the next five years they moved to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Carolinas but about 40 families went to the Schoharie area of New York and settled there.  I would estimate that just about all of Phoebe Ann Allen’s ancestry came from the Palatine families including names like: Zeh, Zeybel, Bellinger, Folmar, Wanner, and Deckman which are all direct ancestors of Phoebe’s and mine!  Here are some of the ancestors I've discovered along the way!

• Phoebe Ann Allen m. Gilbert Gage
• John P. Allen m. Elizabeth Zeh
• Peter Jost Zeh m. Annatje Truax (See line below)
• Jost Bellinger Zeh m. Anna Barbara Wanner (See line below)
• Johannes Zeh Jr. m. Anna Catherine Bellinger
• Johannes Zeh m. Anna Magdalena - Marcus Bellinger m. Anna Catherine Deckman
• Nicholas Bellinger m. Anna Maria Margaretha Kuhn - Johan Conrad Deckmann m. Juliana Stroh

• Willem Truax m. Anna Elizabeth Zeybel
• George Seibel m. Anna Maria Reyin
• Jacob Zeybel m. Anna Getha
    
• Michael Wanner m. Elizabeth Folmar (daughter of Christian Fulmar)
• Ludwig Wanner m. Anna Barbara Beisels
• Hans Wanner m. ?, Hans Andres Beisels m. ?

Walloon's to New Amsterdam

As far as I can tell, almost all of my ancestors definitely came from Europe…some came on the Mayflower or shortly thereafter…others during the mid  1700’s and few other lines came during the early 1880’s.  I have no ancestral lines that I know of who arrived after 1825.  So…my ancestral history almost showcases some of the early immigrants who came to America.  One of those early lines is the Truax family.

My 5^th great grandmother probably has one of the more unusual names that I have come across…her name was Annatje Truax.   From what I was able to discover, it is a Dutch name.  I assume that is probably a version of Anna and Annatje was named for her mother, Anna Elizabeth Zeybel.  The only Dutch influence that was close was through Annatje’s paternal grandmother, Lysbeth De La Grange.  Annatje was born in 1769 to Willem Truax and Anna Elizabeth Zeybel.  She married Peter Jost Zeh on 4 Dec 1790.  Her great great grandson, Ora Gage was my beloved great grandfather.  Granddad Gage moved from New York in 1915 and I found out very early on that his mother’s Gallup family arrived in New York from Connecticut in the late 1780’s.  I was surprised to discover that his grandmother, Phebe Allen’s line arrived in the New York area much earlier.

Annatje’s great great grandfather, Philippe Du Trieux arrived in New Amsterdam in 1624.  He was born about 1588 in Rubaix, France.  The Du Trieux family were Walloons who were probably from what is known today as Belgium.  According to what I have read , they were primarily Celtic stock who fled their native area during the time of the Reformation.  This area of Europe was still under Spanish rule and there was a great deal of persecution for those who became Protestants.  The Du Trieux family fled to Leiden and Amsterdam, Holland.  Philippe Du Trieux was a dyer  - which was considered a very importat skill for the day.  By the time, 1624 had arrived – Philippe had been widowed and left with three small children and had remarried and started a new family.  During this same time, the West India Company had developed  a good fur trade and wanted to settle the land.  Philippe and many other Walloon families left the Netherlands in April 1624 on the “New Netherland” and arrived in New York about 6 weeks later.   Philippe ended up settling in what is present day Manhattan and owned several different pieces of land.  Philippe ended up dying in New Amsterdam, present day New York City with his eldest son, Philippe, Jr. in what I presume was an Indian attack.

Philippe’s son, Isaac married Maria Williamse Brouwver and soon after his marriage, they moved to Schenectady, Schenectady Co., NY where their son, Jacob Truax was born.  By this time the name Du Trieux had changed – perhaps so people could spell it phonetically or perhaps it was a Dutch spelling – I’m not really sure.  Jacob married Lysbeth De La Grange and their son Willem married Anna Elizabeth Zeybel…and now I am back to Annatje.  I found it very interesting to find out that my great grandfather’s family was in the same area in New York not the 100 years I suspected but actually well over 200 years before his birth. 

The rest of the line goes like this:

• Annatje Truax m. Peter Jost Zeh
• Elizabeth Zeh m. John Allen
• Phoebe Ann Allen m. Gilbert Gage
• Orlando Gage m. Edith Gallup
• Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Christine Shawver
• Helen Marian Gage m. Frank Stewart Johnson

Marian and Frank were my grandparents.  I suspect that the Truax family is one that I will revisit often as they seem to have something interesting being uncovered.  Walloons from Belgium seem pretty exotic to someone who thought they were almost all English, Irish and German!