While surfing, I found the site you have with the listing of the
people in the Indianland Cemetery in Lehigh Pa. My
immigrant ancestor is Maria Altman, b. 1701 d. 1775 that is
buried there. We have no idea where her husband is buried,
but I thought you might want to put the name and dates for her
on the web page. I also have the inscription, which was taken
many years ago, from her tombstone and the translation. As I
understand, the stone is getting hard to read. I have Maria's
husband, Jacob's family back a few more generations and I
also have Maria's family at least a couple of generations. Her
maiden name was Eisenmann. Most of the family went to
Westmoreland county, some to Indiana County and at least
one branch went to Clarion County and one branch went to
Ohio. Here is what I have for the family and the tombstone:
The Altman's are evidently a German family in origin, although
it is possible there was some admixture of French blood
before the immigration to America, since they seem to have
been so closely associated with many Hugunot families.
The first Altman's to come to America would seem to be
those whose names appear on the list of arrivals at the port of
Philadelphia on September 15, 1749. They were part of a
large company of people from Zweibrucken, Nassau,
Wurtemburg and the Palitinate who came over in the ship
"Phoeniz" with John Mason as captain from Rotterdam, but
last from Cowes, England. There were 256 men over 16 years
of age who signed the original arrival list signifying that they
had taken the oath of allegiance to the King and the
providence's. The total number of passengers I given as 550.
This was one of the largest shiploads brought over in the great
German immigrations of the 18th century.
Among those in the company were JohannesJacob
Altman, Johann Anton [Anthony] Altman, Johann Georg
[George] Altman, and Johann Wilhelm [William] Altman.
Johannes Jacob was the father of Johann Wilhelm and Johann
Georg was the father of Johann Anton. Johannes Jacob and
Johann Georg were brothers. There were undoubtedly women
accompanying these Altman men. There were three or four
who appear later on other records; one of these is Anna Maria,
who was evidently the mother. Her maiden name is
Eisenmann.
Not much is known about Johannes Jacob and Anna
Maria Altman. His name is found on a petition to the
provincial authorities, dated May 26, 1757 requesting
protection form the Indians in Northampton County. No action
was taken on this petition. A second petition, dated October
5, 1757 was also signed by Jacob Altman and sent to the
provincial authorities for protection. This time action was
taken, several blockhouses were built and troops were
garrisoned there until the end of hostilities in 1758.
Johannes Jacob and Anna Maria continued to live in
Lehigh Township until the 1770's. On the Northampton
County Tax Lists, Lehigh Township, for 1772, Johannes Jacob
is listed as a farmer with 5 acres cultivated and 65 acres
uncultivated land. He was also taxed on another piece of
property - 20 acres cultivated and 30 acres uncultivated.
Johannes Jacob and Anna Maria had the following
children: Johann Wilhelm, Anna Margaretha, Catharina
Elisabetha, Sophia Elizabetha, Johann Peter, Anna Maria
Catherine, Johann Casper, Johann Jacob, catherine
Margaretha, and Christina.
Not much else is known about Johannes Jacob Altman.
Anna Maria died in 1775 and her tombstone is still standing in
the old "Indianland" graveyard of St. Paul's Union Church at
Poplar Grove, near Cherryville, in Lehigh Township about 17
miles north of Easton, Pa. The inscription, in German, is as
follows:
I die cheerfully because I will someday rise again
Out of this dark and gloomy earth, my grave,
I will go forth glorified in great splendor and light.
With great joy shall I look upon God's
countenanceTimes New Roman.
ArialYou may use me as a
reference if anyone should ask about
this information. I have quite a bit about the Altmans, my line
is the one that went to Clarion county, Pa, but I have contacts
with quite a few other researchers on other lines.
Sue Llewellyn
clady@bedford.net
