I have found the marriage record of Johann Michael Gerberich and the widow Gertrude Geiger on 30 Jun 1752. It seems a good bet that she was the widow of one or the other of the men named Geiger who arrived America in 1751 on the same ship as Michael and Peter Gerberich. Those two were Jeremias Heriger (otherwise Geiger) and Jacob Geiger. Since I have also found a record of Jacob when he baptized a child after the date of Gertrude’s marriage, my conclusion is that Gertrude was the widow of Jeremias.

Theirs was not the only marriage of persons associated with the Duke of Bedford -- a ship carrying a list of immigrants that included Michael and Petter Gerbrich, Adam Koller (whose son John later married Peter Gerberich’s daughter Maria Elizabeth) and Jeremias Geiger. In addition, though I haven’t totally researched the Klinefelter family, I also consider it highly likely that Eve and Elizabeth Klinefelter, second and third wives, respectively, of Peter Koller were descendants of one or the other of the Klinefelters on board the same ship. And there were several additional marriages between Klinefelters and Gerberichs of York County that I found when briefly researching the Klinefelter family.

Whether all these people knew each other back in Germany or met up on the ship, some or all then settled in Tulpehocken Township in Berks County and later York County.

IMMIGRANT. Michael “Gerbrich” and his nephew Peter arrived America on the Duke of Bedford 14 Sep 1751. The Gerberich book says that he appeared with wife Gerdraut as a baptismal sponsor in 1757 at Nordkill in Tulpehocken. His and several other Gerberich names appeared on a petition in 1764 for a highway to be laid out from Reading to Fort Augusta (Sunbury). In 1768, he signed a petition seeking protection from the Indians.

By 1782, he had moved to York County and acquired 92 acres in Shrewsbury Township. He and Gertrude are believed to have been the parents of Michael born 1755 and John born 1760, and possibly others.

I have the signatures of immigrants on the ship, Duke of Bedford, 14 September 1751. Upon arrival in Philadelphia, all passengers had to sign an Oath of Loyalty to the British Crown. Those who could not write their name made their mark and a clerk of the courts signed for them. Many marks are visible on this list. I have examined the signatures of Michael and Petter Gerberich. I do not see anything that looks like their mark for the Gerberichs, however, the writing for both looks too similar — so I am not sure if these are their real signatures or as done by the clerk. In any event, it is a true record of their arrival.

It is possible, but I don’t believe it as much as I once did, that Michael Gerberich was our ancestor and not his nephew Peter, as explained in my discussion of the parentage of Maria Elizabeth.

The main argument for Michael being Maria Elizabeth’s father is that he married in 1752 so her 1754 birth would fit better with this marriage than with Peter’s 1755 marriage. And other than Peter, Michael was the other Gerberich who moved to York County where Maria Elizabeth married and lived her adult life. The argument against Michael is that there is nothing that directly links Michael to Maria Elizabeth and her family.