John Jacob Hummel is far from a unique name. So, to be clear, the one I am sure I descend from and the one whose ancestry it would be nice to know something more about, is the one who worshiped at Moselem Lutheran Church in Berks County, PA, baptized a number of children there starting with Jacob in 1754 (followed by another Jacob in 1756, the first having apparently died) always with wife Eva Maria Turk (or Tuerk). Jacob’s will, written 12 Sep 1773 and proved 22 Oct 1773, named eldest son Jacob and other children whose names match later baptisms and with Letters of Administration issued to Eve Maria, widow.

But the key questions not so easily answered are: when and where was he born and who was his father (and mother, of course)?

Joseph Meiser says the John Jacob Hummel who died in Berks County in 1773 was a named passenger on the ship Rosanna that arrived Philadelphia 26 Feb 1743 and was the son of Johannes who died at sea during that crossing. Indeed, a Hannes Jacob Hummel and a Georg Philip Hummel (brother of Jacob, per Meiser) were listed as passengers on the ship Rosanna. The fact of their being listed means they were both over the age of 16.

Now, just like the idea that you can't assume some random baptism record of a person is the same guy as someone with the same name, you also can't just assume that a person named on a passenger list is the same guy as one of the same name later identified in American church or other records. There needs to be some additional detail -- I call such things carry-overs -- to make such an association.

In this case, there is an apparent carry-over. It is the fact that a man named Philip Hummel also was named in the records of the Moselem Church. Philip married in 1749 and when he died in 1758, Jacob Hummel was one of the administrators of his estate. This all gives some credence to the supposition that the Jacob Hummel and the Georg Philip Hummel of the ship Rosanna did later worship at the Moselem Church. In fact, Meiser’s suggestion they were brothers also seems a reasonable assumption.

But they weren’t brothers, Jacob on the ship Rosanna was the father of Georg Philip. The idea that Jacob and Philip were sons of Johannes who died at sea is just myth. I had always suspected it may have been myth but I began to piece together what I now believe is the truth of the matter when I learned of this record from the Ebingen, Germany Lutheran Church: “Jacob Humel, the son of Hanss Jacob and A Maria Humel, was baptized 17 Aug 1729”.

Now that initial find was far from definitive. There were no doubt dozens of boys given the name Jacob Hummel born in Germany in the time period that would have been reasonable for a man who died as an adult in Berks County in 1773, how could it ever be clear it was the right Jacob? Again, the challenge was could I find carry-overs? And I did.

It turns out that the almost exact same set of names of the male children baptized in Ebingen, Germany by Jacob and Anna Maria (Streich) Hummel later appear at the Moselem Church and from their age and their association at Moselem, one might guess they were brothers. This includes not only Jacob and Philip but also Andreas, Martin and Johannes.

And there's one more interesting fact. When Philip married Barbara Lebin (or Sebin, Seb or Loeb) in 1749 at Moselem, his marriage record said he was the son of Jacob.

So, I believe Jacob and his wife Anna Maria Streich and all of their children came to America on the ship Rosanna in 1743. I believe it was the father, Jacob, who was listed as a passenger as was his son Philip, his only son who was over the age of 16 per their respective baptism records.

Jacob, the father, may well have died before record keeping began at Moselem, in any event there is no record I can point to and think it may be him. The Jacob who was named in those records many times was the son. But Anna Maria may have been mentioned.

The Hummels settled in Windsor and Richmond Townships, Berks County and their presence there is documented by church and tax records.

He died before there ever was a Census.

Naturalized. Jacob Hummel, Windsor Twp, Berks Co, 20 Sep 1765. LDS Film 908978.

Meiser says: The elder John Jacob was born Abt 1725 in Wurttemberg, Germany and came to America in 1743 and died in 1773 in Windsor Twp, Berks. He and Eva, a descendant of a prominent French Hugenot family, were married in 1751 by Rev. Wagner.

Jacob’s will was written 12 Sep 1773 and proved 22 Oct 1773. To eldest son Jacob, the plantation. He to maintain the mother and make annual payments of £18 to his brothers John and Frederick and sister Catharina and £12 annually to his other 5 brothers and sisters. Witnessed by Andreas Frey and John Martin Hummel. Letters to Eve Maria, the widow.

Jacob’s will raises a mystery about the number and gender of his children. Son Jacob was to pay a certain amount to siblings John, Frederick and Catharina and a lesser amount to his “five other brothers and sisters”. But so far as I know, he had no other brothers and only four other sisters. My best guess is that there was another son, but he did not survive to adulthood and no mention of him was made in early Berks County records.

In addition to relying on Meiser for information on all the children of John Jacob and Eva Marie, I have I have learned some additional information on their daughters from an article on The Hummel Family in the “Snyder County Historical Bulletin” (published in 1922) written by Ella Gross Rossiter. [Curiously, Ella says that John Jacob's wife was Eva Dersham, not Eva DeTurk and cites the same Rev Wagner marriage list as her source.

I list Eva Maria in my database as the daughter of Isaac de Turk. I doubt she was but she may have had some relationship to Isaac and his is such an interesting ancestry that I wanted to have him in my database just in case I ever figure out what the relationship was.

John Jacob Hummel, after his arrival in America, married Eva Marie Turk (or Tuerk). Eva’s maiden name is stated in Moselem church records for the baptism of several of their children. Joseph A Meiser claims their marriage was performed in 1751 by Rev. Wagner. Presumably the record of this marriage exists somewhere but I have not found it — and I have looked.

Eva is described by Meiser as coming from a prominent French Huguenot family which seems to suggest the family of Isaac DeTurk who settled in Oley Township (near where the Hummels first settled) around 1710. Isaac's wife was Anna Maria de Harcourt who was previously married to Mr. Weimar.

The main issue with Eva Marie is: if she was associated with Isaac, was she a daughter, a granddaughter or a niece? The problem with believing she was his daughter, as many people do, is that she was not mentioned in his will.

Isaac wrote his will on 22 Jan 1717. He mentioned his wife Mary and her daughter Catherine Weimar and his two children, Esther and John. But Isaac didn’t die until 1727. Eva’s husband Jacob Hummel was born in 1729 so there is the possibility that Eva Maria was born not long before Isaac died or just after.

But there’s the additional problem that after Isaac died, John’s sisters -- Catharine Levan and Ester Bartolet signed a release that their brother John had paid them their fair settlement for the land as specified in the will. You would think, were Eve Marie another sister that some accommodation might have been made to her too even though not named in the will. Typically there would have been a petition filed against the estate on her behalf. But no such petition exists nor did she sign a release.

Another possibility is that she was Isaac’s niece. Eugene Peter DeTurk wrote “History and Genealogy of the DeTurk Family” and says the original immigrant was Isaac who came to America in 1708 and settled in Oley Township not long after 1710. Eva Marie is not mentioned in this book at all but a footnote in the De Turk book says that John Pieter DeTurk, an unmarried brother of Isaac, was to follow to America as soon as Isaac had established a home, in due time did embark for Philadelphia, but sickness set in at sea and he died before he reached this country. Might he have married and brought his daughter Eva along and she came to live with Isaac? Maybe, but that is nothing but total speculation.

I have also considered the possibility that Eva was Isaac’s granddaughter. But that would make her a daughter of John and all of John’s children are presumed known from his family bible and all were born in the years 1741 to 1753 including a daughter Maria in 1748. Eva Marie, who married in 1751, just could not have been John’s daughter.

But then there’s this. At Moselem Lutheran on 17 May 1752, Johan Jacob son of Simon Turk and wife Catharina Margaretha Stebelton was baptized and another son Simon was baptized 13 Mar 1756. The question is: who was the older Simon and is he the key to figuring out who Eva was? Simon was not Isaac’s son nor his grandson (son of John) and yet he was real and lived in that area at that time. Maybe Simon and Eva were brother and sister.

Johannes de Turk is listed as a payer of quit-rent on 300 acres in Oley Township prior to 1734, this could be Johannes, the son of Isaac, or it might be a clue to the presence of yet another early family member.

All that I have been able to prove about this woman is her name (including her maiden name) which is known from church records. Her marriage date of 1751 seems about right but I think the other dates associated with her are just speculative. I assume she was born about 1730 or so and she did outlive her husband who died in 1773.

Abraham DeTurk married Ester LeVan 17 Jul 1808 Oley per Boos marriages on LDS film 20346

Daniel DTurk buried by Boos 18 Sep 1742 29 Jun 1791 48-9-9