For a long time, even though I was quite skeptical of the story that our Hummel line descended from Johannes Hummel who supposedly died at sea while bringing his family to America in 1743 — the story told in the Joseph A Meiser book on this family — I had no better idea who the American immigrant may have been.

But then I was working on the Wikitree profiles of some of the Hummels of Berks County and I found a link to a database called "Strausstown Roots" (I have several ancestors covered in this database — it cites few real sources but has sometimes proven correct) and that database shows my ancestor Jacob Hummel who died in Berks County in 1773 as the son of Jacob Hummel born 1697 and his wife Anna Maria Streich. They lived in Ebingen, Germany. It looked like the un-cited source may have been a baptism record and said my Jacob was born 17 Aug 1729.

I had never searched for such a baptism record because even had I found the birth/baptism of a Jacob Hummel, how would I know I had found the right Jacob Hummel — the exact one who died in Berks County in 1773? I assume it was quite a common name in Germany at that time.

But what caught my eye is that Strausstown Roots also listed other children of this couple with names matching names I recognized as my Jacob’s siblings. Now for all I know I might have been the source of those names (because again no source was cited) except they had a few specific birth dates that I did not have).

That led me to actually do a search for actual German church records that might confirm that this couple with those children really existed. And I found it in an LDS database called (in English) German Births and Baptisms 1558-1898 which shows this couple: Jacob (or Hannes Jacob) Hummel (or Humel in one case) and wife A Maria, Anna Maria or Anna Maria Streich of Ebingen, Germany and shows baptisms of their children named Jerg Philip, Barbara, Jacob, Andreas, Johannes, Johann Friderich, Elisabetha Barbara, Martin and Anna Maria from 1724 to 1741.

And so there is this amazing coincidence that also in the records of the Moselem Lutheran Church, besides my ancestor Jacob who baptized children there in the 1750's-1770's, we also find the names Philip, Andreas, Johannes and Martin who were baptizing children in the same time period as Jacob and who, from time to time, stood as a sponsor when one of the others baptized a child. There is also record of an administration opened on the estate of Frederick Hummel of Greenwich Township 25 April 1774 whose wife was Elizabeth. Because he lived in Greenwich Township and because he died, married, in 1774, it is a reasonable assumption that he is yet another sibling of the Moselem Hummel family. So, as to the names of the boys baptized in Ebingen, it is a perfect match to the supposed Hummel brothers of Moselem. Six for six!

IMMIGRANT. Ralph Strassburger, the authoritative source on Philadelphia ship's passenger lists shows Hannes Jacob Hummel and Gorg Philipp Hummel on the ship Rosanna 26 Sep 1743 from Rotterdam/Cowes.

JOHANNES HUMMEL
Joseph A Meiser, in “Northumberland County Pioneers”, in collaboration with Hummel descendants including Dorothy Schuck Amerman (wife of George Amerman), covers the Hummel family of Moselem Lutheran Church in Berks County, PA, some of whom made their way to Northumberland County before 1800.

Their version of events is that the progenitor of the family was Johannes Hummel born in Wurttemberg, Germany about 1703. In the spring of 1743, he, his wife, 2 sons over the age of 16, 1 daughter and 4 younger sons left Heilbron, came down the Rhine to Rotterdam, there boarded the Ship Rosanna and were off to America. Johannes died en route and was buried at sea. The rest of his family arrived Philadelphia 26 Sep 1743. No name was given for his wife, not even a first name.

Meiser believes that, since only males over 16 years of age were listed aboard this ship, that it was Johannes’ son Jacob and his brother Philip who were listed on the Rosanna but that the rest of the family — known from their names at Moselem — were also aboard.

If this is a true story, then the Hummels most surely were a relatively wealthy family back in Germany. One reason single men emigrated more often than families was that it was an expensive trip. In addition to the time shipboard, there were substantial delays en-route -- awaiting a ship at Rotterdam perhaps or waiting for favorable weather for the crossing in England. And there were dozens of customs houses to be cleared on the trip down the Rhine, no doubt with some sort of toll system along the way. For Johannes, accompanied by his wife and seven children, this clearly would have been an expensive journey.

The problem is no source is given for how anyone knows the name of Johannes Hummel or his age or especially the fact that he died at sea. It could well be simply "family tradition" and that often proves to be more myth than fact as the story was told and re-told over many generations. I’ve found nothing to prove or even hint at the assertion that the father died at sea, so I was never sure whether to believe it or not. There were ships that arrived and the captain would make note of someone having died aboard, that was not the case here. It is the kind of statement that is not uncommon when reading different people’s family histories -- the father (or mother) died crossing the ocean, the surviving spouse and several children survived the trip. I doubt it happened as often as is claimed. I am always quite skeptical about any “died at sea” legend I encounter.

All I can really document of this story is that two males named Hummel did in fact arrive on the ship Rosanna on 28 Sep 1743. The names of the arriving passengers on that ship were only recorded for males over the age of 16, so other family members may well have been aboard too, but there is no way of knowing. But Hannes Jacob Hummel and George Philip Hummel most certainly did arrive.

The six sons and one daughter that Meiser lists for Johannes, though, can all be identified in the early records of the Moselem Lutheran Church. From their activities, their approximate age can be surmised and their sibling relationships is certainly suggested. Their birth years as estimated by Meiser correspond to the theory that they all arrived on the same ship and only the two older males (over 16, thus born before 1727) were named so the others were younger than 16 and thus born after 1727. The only female Hummel known from the Moselem records is Anna Maria, who would not have been named as a ship’s passenger regardless of her age.

Here is a general history of this family as given by Meiser once in America. Some of it I can’t prove, but I also know nothing that contradicts any of it.

The would-be immigrant who died at sea bringing his family to America was named Johannes. His six sons and one daughter (there were probably others) settled in Berks County and worshipped at the Moselem Lutheran Church. As far as is known, they all were still living in that area at the time of their respective deaths.

Two of Johannes’ sons -- Johannes and John Jacob -- had children who made their way in the 1790’s to (then) Northumberland County. Several children of Johannes (son of Johannes the immigrant) came to Shamokin Township (east of the Susquehanna) and the family grew and prospered there. And three sons of our ancestor John Jacob came, with their growing families, to the area west of the Susquehanna, one settling near New Berlin and the other two in what is now the Selinsgrove-Rolling Green-Hummels Wharf area.

BUT IT WAS JACOB NOT JOHANNES
I have come to believe, though. a slightly different version of events than the story told by Meiser. I believe the father was named Jacob, not Johannes. I do not believe Jacob died at sea, I believe he was the Hannes Jacob over the age of 16 (in fact a married adult with grown children) listed as an arriving passenger. His son Jacob, if my version of events is correct, was born in 1729, thus not yet 16, thus would not have been a a named passenger. Of the boys baptized by Jacob and Anna Maria at Ebingen, only Philip would have been over 16, and he was the only other listed Hummel passenger.

In addition to the children specifically listed as such for this couple, there were also Ebingen baptisms for:

Barbara d/o Hanns Jacob and A Maria Hummel baptized 24 Jan 1728.

Elisabetha Barbara d/o Johann Jacob and Anna Maria (Streich) Hummel baptized 5 Dec 1737

The wife of Jacob of Ebingen was named Anna Maria Streich. She and Jacob baptized children at Ebingen with names corresponding to names found later in the records of the Moselem Lutheran Church in Berks County. One of their children was a daughter named Anna Maria and there was an Anna Maria named at Moselem.

In 1754, Anna Maria Hummel stood as sponsor for a child of Paul Keplinger and his wife (maiden name Kuhn). But Jacob and Anna Maria’s daughter named Anna Maria was baptized in 1741 so would only have been age 13 at the time of that baptism. I think it was the mother who was the sponsor. I actually think that mention of the mother is one more piece of evidence tying this whole theory together.

There are Internet Family Trees which claims that Mrs. Johannes Hummel (thinking that was the name of the progenitor of this family) was Emeline Hartman and gives birth and death dates for her. I generally distrust such trees -- especially, as in this case -- when no documents are cited in support of the stated information. Moreover, an Emeline Hartman did marry into the Hummel family in the mid-1800's. I think someone got their facts very confused.