By Edward Spannaus
Thirty-three Revolutionary War Patriots will be honored at a special ceremony at New Jerusalem Lutheran Cemetery in Lovettsville on November 2, during which a monument listing the names of all 33 Patriots will be dedicated.
The Revolutionary War Patriot Burials monument program is authorized under the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Revolutionary War Graves Preservation Program, and administered by the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
It has been reported that the New Jerusalem monument is the largest such monument ever authorized under the Virginia program.
Sunday, November 2, is designated on the church calendar as “All Saints Sunday,” which makes the installation of the monument honoring Patriots buried in the New Jerusalem Cemetery especially significant for the church congregation. New Jerusalem was established in 1765, and the earliest known burial was 1770.
What is a “Patriot”?
The designation of a “Revolutionary War Patriot” has a very specific meaning for the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) and its sister organization, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). A Patriot is defined as an individual who provided military, civil, or patriotic service to the cause of American independence between April 19, 1775 and November 26, 1783. “Patriotic Service” includes material support to the revolutionary cause, which, in the case of the New Jerusalem Patriots, includes rendering material aid such as provisions for the Army, or paying the Supply Tax designated for support of the armed forces.
According to NSSAR national policy, in Virginia the Personal Property Tax for the years 1782 and 1783 included the Supply Tax, and evidence of payment of the tax for those two years constitutes Patriotic Service.
Not everyone paid the Personal Property Tax/Supply Tax in those years. Some, such as Quakers, objected to the tax on religious grounds; many others simply avoided paying the tax – which was not so difficult, since tax officials did not go house-to-house to collect Real or Personal Property taxes until after 1786. Prior to this, residents had to take their personal property lists to the tax commissioner. (It was for this reason that the 1787 tax lists are often referred to as the “1787 Census of Virginia.”) Few of the inhabitants of the German Settlement were property owners, and many did not even have leases, Therefore, there were no central records kept by the County government that would identify all those living in this area. The closest was the list of tithables, which in 1785 listed about 67 Germanic-sounding names in this section of Loudoun County.
In other words, payment of taxes during the Revolutionary War was by no means the automatic process that it is today. A resident had to go out of their way to pay these taxes – which many declined to do, for religious, political, or other reasons.
An incomplete list
The monument’s listing only shows those Revolutionary War soldiers and Patriots who remained in the German Settlement (Lovettsville) after the War, and who died and were buried here. It is probable that well over half of the soldiers from here, moved out of the area after the war. We showed in a recent article that 13 known Revolutionary War soldiers from the German Settlement in Loudoun County moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania after the War, and are buried there. Among these soldiers were then-well known Loudoun Germans such as Biegel, Border (Baader), Diehl, Filler (Philler), May, Shoemaker, and Smouse.
Other soldiers from this area moved to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, or to Ohio.
A further difficulty in finding Revolutionary War soldiers (especially those of German origin), is the loss and/or destruction of many war records, and the wide range of mis-spellings that occurred when an English-speaker was trying to write down a German name.
So, this is not a complete list by any means. But it is a start, in honoring those who fought in the Revolutionary War, or others who provided material support to those who were actually fighting the War.
Who were they?
Not surprisingly for a Lutheran church, all of the 33 were either first or second generation German-Americans. Nineteen are documented as having been born in Germany (actually, the German territories, since there was no German nation-state at the time), making them “first-generation Americans” in common usage. The others had parents born in Germany; these were the children of immigrants, making them “second-generation Americans.”
The German federal state which from which the largest number of our New Jerusalem Patriots originated is modern-day Baden-Württemberg, and specifically the old Duchy of Baden and the Kingdom of Württemberg. At the time these were part of the Palatinate (Pfalz), the territory under the jurisdiction of the Elector Palatine. Hence the Germans who thronged to Pennsylvania, New York, and other North American colonies, were known as “Palatines.” Other areas of the Palatinate from which our New Jerusalem Patriots came were the Rheinland-Pfalz, Alsace (now in France), and Bavaria.
Notably, all of our Patriots for whom documentation can be found, came here from Pennsylvania, sometimes after a sojourn in western Maryland, most often Frederick County. Many were second-generation German-Americans, with their parents having been born in Germany.
Biographical Sketches:
PVT John Axline (Johannes Oeschlein) (1739-1833) — John Axline’s birthplace is sometimes given as Loudoun County, but it was most likely PA since the family is documented there, and emigrated from Alsace. He married Christina Mertz in 1771. John served in Posey’s Company of the 3rd VA Regiment, and is also reported to have made gunpowder for the Continental Army; this could possibly have been at the Continental Powder Mill in Chester County PA, a short distance from his father’s house. His wife’s diary states at one point that “Everything is in confusion around me. Since John made the last gunpowder, the British have confiscated everything we have.”
Adam Potterfield (Hans Adam Battenfeld) (1725-1804) –Adam was born in 1725 in Michelbach, Kreis Mosbach, Baden; arrived in Philadelphia in 1750; settled in York Co., PA; married Maria Elisabeth Pauster (Bowser) in 1754 at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Hanover PA. He came to Loudoun in 1770-71 with his father. The family settled “at the foot of the mountain” (the Short Hill, along present-day Long Lane). Adam supplied goods and services to the Army and the militia, and he also paid the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783.
Frederick Beltz (Belse) (@1745-1831) – Indications are that Frederick Beltz was born in Germany, and came to the German Settlement in Loudoun County from Pennsylvania. He first appears in county records as paying the Personal Property Tax/Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783. He executed two property leases in 1785 in the Dutchman’s Creek area.
Frederick Boger (1752-1791) — Frederick’s father and grandfather were born in Lomersheim, Enzkreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, and emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1732. The family was living in Loudoun County by 1777, when Frederick was married to Regina/Rachel Mull by the Lutheran pastor from Frederick. He paid the Supply Tax in 1783. The Boger farm was just east of the present-day town of Lovettsville along Milltown Road; during the Civil War it was called “Boger Woods.”
Michael Boger (Michael Johannes Boger) (1762-1822) – Michael, a younger brother of Frederick Boger, was born on Lancaster County PA. He paid the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783. He married Maria Elisabeth Brenner in 1785 at New Jerusalem Church.
John Compher Sr. (1740-1815) — John was born in Pennsylvania in 1740; his wife Maria Catarina (Cathren) Wielandt was born in Atolhoe, Berks County PA in 1755. The family name was originally Kaempfer. John and his wife were in Loudoun County by at least 1773 when the baptism of their daughter Magdalena was recorded. John provided patriotic service by paying the Supply Tax 1783. As with many of the German settlers, he was leasing land from the Earl of Tankerville until he was able to purchase the land in 1796.
Michael Cooper Sr (1742-1815) – Michael Cooper supported the American cause by paying the Supply Tax in 1782.
LT Henry Tarflinger (Heinrich Dörflinger) (1740-1804) — Heinrich Dörflinger was born in 1740 in Blankenloch, Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. In 1761, he married Eva Margaretha Hammann at Tohicken Reformed Church in Bucks County PA. They may have been in Loudoun County as early as 1762. During the Revolutionary War, Heinrich (whose name was recorded in English as “Henry Tartlinger”) served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Loudoun County Militia. His commission was delivered in February 1778. He also paid the Supply Tax in 1783. His death in 1804 is listed in the New Jerusalem burial register as “Henrich Dörflinger, 64 years.”
John Fawley (1719-1803) -– John’s family was probably German (spelled Pfale, Fahle and other similar ways), although some researchers believe he was English. In 1759 he married Anna Marie Ault, who parents were from Hessen, Germany.Baptism of some their children were recorded in the Lutheran church records in Frederick as early as 1771. He paid the Supply Tax in Loudoun County in 1782 and 1783.
Jacob Frye (Freu) (1711-1785) — Jacob Frye was born in Germany in 1711 or 1712; some sources that he was born in Bas-Rhin, Alsace, which adjoins Baden-Württemberg. It is likely that he emigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1748-1750 time period. He may have married Magdalena Nash (1715-1738) in Grenzach, Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in 1732; he married a second time, to Eva Margaret Graeber, around in 1738. Jacob Frey and wife Eva Margareta are listed as sponsors for a baptism in 1771 at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick MD. Their son Johann Nicholas was born in 1755, and during the Revolutionary War, Nicholas served in the “German Regiment” of the Maryland Continental Line. Another son, John Phillip, was the great-grandfather of Orville and Wilbur Wright. Jacob Frye is listed as having paid the Supply Tax) for 1782 and 1783. After New Jerusalem Lutheran Church began keeping a separate register from its mother church in Frederick, the first entry in the Burial Register (as translated and transcribed) is for “Jacob Freu,” buried on 9 October 1785.
PVT Adam Householder (Housholter) (1746-1804) — Adam Householder was born in 1746 in Lancaster County PA. His father Johann Haushalter had emigrated from Germany in 1739.The family later moved to Berks County PA where Adam had 100 acres of land. He married Catharine Bechtel around 1770. In 1777, Adam sold his land in Berks County, and soon after, he moved his wife and family to Washington County MD where he took the Oath of Fidelity and Support. He enlisted in Captain Peter Swingle’s Company of the Washington County Militia. In the early 1780’s Adam and Catharine moved to the German Settlement in Loudoun County. Adam was one of five Trustees for the German Lutheran Church at the Short Hill (now New Jerusalem) when George William Fairfax’s nephew, Ferdinando Fairfax, officially deeded to the church, the land on which the church had stood since 1765.
Anthony Lambach (Johann Andonius Lambach) (1724-1794) –Our Anthony Lambach may be the same person of that name who emigrated from Germany and arrived in Philadelphia in 1754 from the port of Hamburg. In 1774, the Lutheran pastor from Frederick performed the marriage of Lambach’s daughter Catharina to Christian Ruse (see below) in Loudoun County. Lambach paid the Supply Tax in Loudoun County in both 1782 and 1783, listed as “Anthony Lambag.”
George Mann (Johan Georg Mann) (1724-1810) – Johan George Mann was born in Hüffenhardt, Mosbach, Baden, in Germany. He emigrated and arrived in Philadelphia in 1753, and took the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Abjuration. In 1764, he married Maria Catharina Kiefer in Lancaster PA. By 1771, George was living in Loudoun County. He appears on the Loudoun County Tithables lists for the years 1771-1777, 1779, 1781-1782, and 1784-1785. During the Revolutionary War, he paid the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783. In 1786, shortly after Virginia’s Religious Freedom law was adopted, New Jerusalem Church adopted its first constitution, of which George Mann was a signer. He was also one of five church Trustees when the Fairfax family deeded the land to the church. Mann was one of a number of tenant farmers who obtained a judgment against the Earl of Tankerville in 1789 which entitled him to a lease for the land on Dutchman’s Creek which he had been farming for many years, and in 1796, he was finally able to purchase the land. Mann died in 1810, with the church burial register listing him as: “Old Georg Männ, 85 years, 8 months, 3 weeks, 2 days.”
Francis May (Frantz Peter Mäy/Mëy) (1752-1815) — Francis May was born in Donegal Township, Lancaster County PA, on 13 May 1752, the son of Leonardt Meÿ. The family had emigrated in 1748 from Niederhausen, Meisenheim, which is currently in the Bad Kreuznach District of the Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) in Germany. Leonard May and his family, including son Francis, moved to Loudoun County, Virginia, in the 1760s, and they first appeared on the Loudoun County tax rolls (tithables) in 1769; Leonard and Francis subsequently appeared in 1771, 1772, 1775, 1776, and 1781. His brother Johann George served in the 3rd Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War, and is recognized as a Patriot by the DAR. No record of military service by Francis May has been found, but he did pay the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783 for support of the revolutionary military forces. In 1791, when he was about 39 years old, Francis married Catherine (Catharina) Gross. They were affiliated with both the German Reformed and the Lutheran churches in the German Settlement.
George Myers (Mäyer/Meyers) (1727-1793) – George Myers was born around 1727 in Alsace, then part of the German Palatinate but now in France. He first appeared on the Loudoun County Virginia Tithables list in 1781. It is not known where he lived before coming to Virginia. George paid the Supply Tax in 1782, recorded as “George Myers,” and in 1783, recorded as “George Mayer.” The New Jerusalem Lutheran Church burial register lists “Georg Maÿer, buried 7 March 1793, aged 66 years.”
Isaac Miller (1753-1806) – Isaac Miller was born in about 1753, location unknown. While there were other “Isaac Millers” on the Loudoun County Tithables list, the first one in a German neighborhood was in 1772; he was also listed in the 1787 “census.” This Isaac Miller paid the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783. His wife was Anna Catharina. He had apparently been living on, and farming, a land tract owned by the Tankervilles, until he was able to purchase the land in 1794.
Christian Mueller (Miller) (1723-1797– Christian Mueller was born in 1723 at Neipperg, Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, in Germany. He may have emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1751, where he was naturalized. He first appears among the Loudoun County Tithables in the 1773-1777 time period. He paid the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783, and remained on the tax rolls until 1796. He was married to Anna Maria Russell.
Michael Palmer (Balmer) (1721-1808) – Michael Balmer was born in Germany around 1721. When he came to the American colonies is not known. He paid the Supply Tax in Loudoun County in 1783, which is the first record of him being here. He and his wife Barbara appear on the New Jerusalem Communicant list in 1784 – the year that the church began keeping separate records – but he might have been here for many years before that. He was also a signer of the New Jerusalem church constitution in 1786. In 1793 Palmer was able to purchase the land on which he had been living for many years, from the Earl of Tankerville. In 1801 he sold the land to Lawrence Mink, likely a relative.
John Andrew Roller (Johannes Andreas Roller) (1730-1802)– Johannes Andreas Roller was born in 1730 in Geisingen, Villingen, Baden-Württemberg. His wife was Rosina. He was living in Berks County PA in the 1750s. By 1765 he was living in Frederick County MD where he was naturalized.He first appeared on the Loudoun County Tithables list in 1767. Two of his sons, John and Conrad, served in the 3rd Virginia Regiment in the Southern Theatre in 1782 and 1783; in those years, their father John Andrew paid the Supply Tax in Loudoun County.
PVT Conrad Roller (1752-1824) — Conrad Roller was born in 1752 in Bucks County PA, a son of John Andrew and Rosina Roller. He married Elizabeth Slates of Pine Run Hundred, Frederick County MD, in 1779. Conrad’s served two tours in the Army. He served as a private for four to six months in Pennsylvania. Later, Conrad and his brother John were drafted in Virginia in 1781 for 18 months. They were inducted into the Virginia Continental Line at the Old Albemarle Court House. In April 1782, both he and John were listed in the First Company of the Third Virginia Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Posey. The Regiment had recently returned to Camp Ebenezer from service at Georgia under the command of General Anthony Wayne. Both Conrad and John were notmustered out until December 1783, a period longer than their term of enlistment. This record confirms statements found in Elizabeth’s Widow’s Pension that Conrad did not return for a long time after serving his 18 months, and that he helped guard prisoners at the Frederick (Hessian) Barracks in Maryland.
Christian Ruse (Roose, Rus) (1746-1821) – Christian Ruse was born in Germany, location unknown, in 1746. In 1765, he was naturalized in Frederick MD. He first appears in the Loudoun County Tithable lists in 1769. In 1774, he was married to his second wife, Catharina Lembach, by the Lutheran minister who served both Frederick and the German Settlement in Loudoun County. Christian “Roose” paid the Supply Tax in Loudoun County in 1782 and 1783. After farming the land for many years, he was finally able to purchase it in 1803; this land stayed in the Ruse family through the 19th century, up until 1905. It is now the site of the Lovettsville Community Park. The Lutheran Church burial register lists: “Old Christian Russ” among burials from the 1821-22 period.
George Schaffer (Johann Georg Wilhelm Schaeffer) (1724-1810) — Johann Georg Schaeffer was reportedly born in 1724 in Ilsfeld, Württemberg, Germany, and married his wife Maria Magdalena (?) around 1748. The family may have lived in Berks County after they emigrated to Pennsylvania. There are indications that they were in Loudoun County by 1765 where a son was born. The DAR record for George Shaffer lists his Patriotic Service as “furnished beef 280 lbs at 4 shellings.”3Payment for goods and services is also recorded in the official records of Loudoun County, which cite in an entry for 9 April 1782: “George Shaffer for 280 (ditto: Beef at 4 [illegible]).” He also paid the Supply Tax in 1783. The church burial register for 1810 lists him as “Old Georg Schäffer,” age almost 86 years.
John Smith (Johannes Schmidt) (1756-1793) — Johannes Schmidt was born approximately 20 December 1756, whether in Germany or Pennsylvania is not known. There was a marriage in Germantown, Philadelphia PA of a Johannes Schmidt and Susanna Altemus, which may refer ti the Johannes and Susanna Schmidt who came to Loudoun County. Loudoun County tax records show a John Smith living in the German Settlement, paying the Supply Tax in 1782 and 1783. A crudely-carved headstone was found among loose markers in the rear of the New Jerusalem cemetery, which reads: “H.L. [Hier Liegt/Here Lies], John Schmit, October 21 1793.”
Jacob Schmidt (Smith) (1743-1805) — Jacob Schmidt was born in 1743 in Alsace. He first appears in Loudoun County records in 1783 and 1784. It is unknown where he lived before that time, although it is likely to have been Pennsylvania or western Maryland. He paid the Supply Tax in 1783, and is listed on a 1784 Communicant list at the Lutheran Church.
John Michael Swank (Johannes Schwenk) (1729?-1804) –Johannes Schwenck’s birthdate is estimated at 1729 to 1732; his place of birth was Miesbach, Bavaria, in Germany. In 1758, John married Eva Catharina “Anna” Huber (or Hubner) at New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church, Upper Hanover, Montgomery County PA. “John” Schwenck first appeared on the Loudoun County Tithables list in 1760, and is also found in 1761, 1765, 1768, 1769, and through the 1770s. He apparently occupied property by the mid-1760s, probably on an informal lease from George William Fairfax. In 1803, Ferdinando Fairfax, a nephew to George William Fairfax, executed a quit-claim deed, transferring the title to 121 acres of land to John Swank, most likely the land he had been farming for 40 or so years. John paid the supply tax in Loudoun County in 1782 and 1783, listed as “John Swink.”
Jacob Slater (Johannes Jacob Schloetzer) (1729-1815) — Johannes Jacob Schloetzer was born in Germany, specific location unknown, in 1729. He and his father, Johannes Jacob Schloetzer Sr., arrived at Philadelphia in 1754, on the ship John and Elizabeth, with passengers from Hesse-Hanau, Württemberg, and the Palatinate. Upon arrival, both father and son took the Oath of Allegiance. Jacob Jr. married Susanna Habicht Spring in 1756, at the Augustus Lutheran Church of Trappe, Montgomery County PA. She was the widow of Casper Spring, who was killed by Indians in 1755 at Bethel, Berks County PA during the French-Indian War. She had four children from her first marriage, two of whom came with them in 1763-66 to Loudoun County: these were Andreas Spring and Frederick Spring. During the Revolutionary War, Jacob Slater provided beef to the Army. Slater obtained a “lease for lives” in 1789 from Henry A. Bennet of Great Britain, an agent for the Earl of Tankerville. The lease was for 111 acres, in the area between Lovettsville and Taylorstown, along Slater Lane. The lease indicated that Jacob Slater already occupied the land. He was later able to purchase the land, which remained in the family until 1949.
Andreas Spring (1750-1825) — Johann Andreas Spring was the son of Johann Casper (1724–1755) and Anna Susanna (Habicht) Spring (1729-1764), who had been married at Schwabisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in 1751. Shortly after being married, they emigrated to America, arriving in Philadelphia the same year. Their son Andreas was born in 1752. As mentioned above, Casper was killed during the French-Indian War. Andreas’s mother remarried, to Jacob Slater, and they moved to Loudoun County in the early 1760s. In Loudoun, Andreas married Anna Maria Steinbrenner. He paid the Supply Tax in 1783 in Loudoun County. After the War, Andreas Spring was one of 25 signers of the 1786 constitution for the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church. He is also listed on the communicant rolls in 1784 (the first year in which records were kept).
John Statler (1759-1856) — Johann Statler was born on or about 14 November 1759 in Pennsylvania, the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Statler. He married Priscilla Vincel. He came to Loudoun County at some point, and paid the Supply Tax in 1782. The 1850 Federal Census lists him as “Jno. Stratler,” 91, a farmer born in Pennsylvania. An obituary published on 7 July 1856 in the Alexandria (Virginia) Gazette reported: “Another Revolutionary Soldier Gone.–Died at his late residence in Loudoun county, Va., on the 30th of June, John Statler, in the ninety-seventh year of his age. Mr. Statler served three tours of duty during the Revolutionary war, and was, perhaps, at the time of his decease, the only survivor in this county of the noble band who served their country in ‘the time that tried men’s souls.’”(We have been unable so far to locate a military record for Statler, which could be in Pennsylvania or Maryland.)
Jacob Steinbrenner (Stoneburner) (730-1797) — Johann Jacob Steinbrenner was born in 1730 in Lachweiler, Jagstkreis, Wurtemberg, Germany. He was a son of Johann Jacob and Maria Magdalena (Sommer) Steinbrenner. He arrived in Philadelphia on the ship St. Andrew in 1752 and took the Oath of Allegiance in Pennsylvania. Johann Jacob was married to Anna Eva Beck around 1757 in Pike Township, Berks County PA. Jacob and Anna Eva came to the German Settlement in Loudoun County around 1770. Johann Jacob first appeared on the Loudoun County Tithable list in 1771. During the Revolutionary War, he paid the supply tax in 1782 and 1783, being listed as “Jacob Stoneburner Sr.” Jacob obtained a “lease for lives” from the Earl of Tankerville in 1789. He likely had lived on and farmed the property for many years before the lease was formally executed. In 1794 he was able to purchase the land.
DRM MAJ John Stautzenberger (1762-1837) — Johannes Conrad Stautzenberger was born at York County PA in 1762, a son of Conrad Stautzenberger and Catherine Firestone. In 1777, at the age of 15 years, Stautzenberger enlisted for a period of three years as a drummer in Captain Nathaniel Irish’s Artillery Artificers Company, a part of Colonel Procter’s Regiment, and subordinate to Commissary General of Military Stores, Benjamin Fowler, who held the rank of Colonel of Artillery Artificers. In 1777, General Washington directed the Commissary General of Military Stores to establish operations at York, although this was eventually transferred to the vicinity of Carlisle PA. Stautzenberger rose to the rank of Drum Major – a highly-responsible position charged with relaying commands to the troops. In the summer 1780, the Department of the Commissary General of Military Stores directed Captain Nathaniel Irish and “his hands” (who were serving in the Regiment of Artillery Artificers at Carlisle) to establish a workshop at Wesham, near Richmond VA. The company “…began furnishing fixed ammunition, portfires, and tubes to two companies of Artillery.” This may be the reason that in Stautzenberger’s service record, “Penna” is crossed out and he appears with service in the Virginia Line. After the war, Stautzenberger lived in the German Settlement in Loudoun County, and he married Maria Margareta Ritschi (mis-transcribed as “Kitchen”) in 1784. He first purchased land here in 1789, and eventually owned a number of properties in the Taylorstown-Hoysville area.
CPT Adam Vincell (Wentsel, Wentzel, Vencil, Vintsel) (c.1751-1793) — Adam Vincell Jr., was likely born in Pennsylvania sometime before 1751. His father, Johann Adam Vincell (Sr.) appears on the Loudoun County Tithable list as early as 1759. In1761, Johann Adam Vincell, Sr. (Vinsall) executed a lease agreement for 100 acres of land near the present-day Town of Lovettsville with George William Fairfax. The lease was granted during the natural lives of Adam Sr., his wife Elizabeth, and his son Adam. (The land was adjacent to New Jerusalem church, and a portion of that land is occupied today by Lovettsville Union Cemetery.) In 1777, Adam Vincell was commissioned as a Captain in the Loudoun County Virginia militia. Captain Adam Vincel is mentioned in several Revolutionary War pension applications and files as a Loudoun County officer during 1780-1781. In 1782, the Loudoun County Court allowed a claim for 300 pounds of beef provided to the armed forces by Captain Adam Vintzel. And in 1783, “Captain Adam Vincell” paid the Supply Tax for support of the armed forces.
Conrad Wertz (Virts, Wirtz) (1741-1821) — Conrad Wertz was born in 1741 in Baden, Germany, the son of Wilhelm and Anna Catharinia Wurtz. Conrad emigrated from Germany with his parents in 1753, arriving on the ship Neptune at the port of Philadelphia the same year. He married Maria Barbara Binns, probably in Pennsylvania, since their oldest son Peter was born in 1766 in Pennsylvania. Conrad first appeared on the Loudoun County tax lists in 1767, and his other children, from 1767 on, were born in Loudoun County. In 1782, Conrad presented a claim for having provided 300 pounds of beef supplied to the Army and militia, and was allowed £5 payment. In 1782 and 1783, Conrad paid the Supply Tax. In 1787, Conrad entered into a lease for 105 acres with George William Fairfax. Later, in 1799, 1802, and again in 1821, Conrad purchased land in Loudoun County. In 1802, Conrad paid £4 and 10 shillings to John Stoutsenberger toward the construction of the new stone church building for New Jerusalem Lutheran Church. The New Jerusalem burial register lists the burial of “Old Conrad Wertz” on 1 January 1822, at 71 years of age.
Peter Phillip Wertz (Virtzs/Wurtz) (1738-1798) — Peter Phillip Wurtz was born in 1738 at Tauberbischhofsheim, Baden, Germany; he was a son of Wilhelm and Anna Catharina Wurtz, and apparently an older brother to Conrad (see above). The family left their home and sailed for the American Colonies when Phillip Peter was about 15 years old, also aboard the ship Neptune, arriving at the port of Philadelphia in 1753. Many of their fellow townsmen on board the Neptune settled at Lehigh PA. Peter was reportedly naturalized in New Jersey in 1755. He married Christina Eberhart at Frederick MD in 1758. In 1782, apparently still in Frederick County MD, he provided ten bushels of wheat for the Continental Army. Peter Wertz first appeared in Loudoun County in the Virginia “census” of 1787, where he resided on a 136 acre tract of land near present-day Lovettsville. Although Peter’s grave has a U.S. military marker saying that he served in the Continental Line, family researchers have found no documentation of military service.