We Spell It: Ulrich
Jacob and Susan Ulrich immigrated from Zurich, Switzerland to America,
landing in the port of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1817. Due to the long journey
which is believed to have taken some 40 weeks, Jacob was forced to "sell" his
oldest daughter, Elizabeth, to help pay for the trip. This type of "indentured
servant" was common at this time. But, because the purchaser became so attached
to her, they refused to part with her and she was never returned to her family.
Elizabeth was about four years old at the time of her parting.
Jacob and Susan settled in the northern part of Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania in Elizabeth Township. They raised a fair sized family of eight
children besides Elizabeth. They bought a farm about 2 miles north of
Brickerville, and within walking distance of the Elizabeth Furnace. It seems a
beautiful coincidence that brought Jacob and Susan to a place where they would
have reminders of their daughter: Elizabeth.
Jacob and Susan Ulrich are buried in the old Zion Reformed Church cemetery in Brickerville, PA. Also buried there is their son, William, and also their oldest son, Jacob and his wife, Annie (Zimmerman) Ulrich. They are buried in the Moravian section of the cemetery.
I am 7th generation of this family in America through my maternal grandmother, Eva (Stoner) Koehler.
She continued to be a very strong lady, living at the Brethern Village, not far from the house she where she lived in Lititz for almost 50 years.
Grandma Koehler passed peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, November 22, 1998. We know she is happy to be with Grandpa once again. She was almost 97 (dob 12/02/01). Grandpa was 93 when he passed away from congestive heart failure.
They had been married 74 wonderful years. Grandma always commented on how fast the years were passing. They had many years together and enjoyed their lives, their family, and all their friends. They didn't always have a lot of money, but if you asked them, a millionaire couldn't have been any happier. They were quite a pair, and lived their lives to the fullest. Though gone, we still have so many wonderful memories for all the time we were blessed to have them with us.
We Spell It: Ulrich
According to the book, "Thirty Thousand Names of Immigrants" (Daniel L. Rupp, 1965): Our family name is as follows:
Ulrich: Ulric, Ulique (French): one who is richly endowed, of strong and vigorous intellect, endowed with reason.
May be derived from the Gothic, olos, ull; Greek, olas; Latin, ullus; Anglo-Saxon, ael or all (wholly, completely) and ricca, ric, rich (possessing a large portion). It occurs in Uldrich, Ullerich, or Ulrich.
Another possible source of the name Ulrich comes from the two German words "huld" and "reich" meaning, "full of grace". The name Ulrich was common in parts of Switzerland and the language spoken by them was German.
There is a note from the Ulrich Reunion Committee (August 9, 1931) that the name on a certain (missing) passport was spelled
"Urich", but for some reason they chose the spelling with the "L": "Ulrich". The passport was supposedly in the possession
of Samuel Ulrich (who died in 1926 in Ephrata, PA). The 1981 committee was unable to track it down.
The information presented here is from the booklet, "The Descendants of Jacob and Susan Ulrich (1817-1981) compiled by Lloyd G. Ulrich. (JKH)
Köhler/Koehler descendants
© 1997-2001 JKH
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