They Cherished the Freedom That Cost Them So Much

Ancestors Who Craved and Sought Freedom

My paternal grandfather, Edmund Gates, Sr., descended from several ancestors who immigrated to the colonies originally from Germany in the eighteenth century. Peter and Anna Margareta Aschauer Stutenbecker, (5 greats removed from me) ventured to the new world on the Harle in 1736, forty years prior to the American Revolution. Peter, aged 41, and Anna, aged 34, had in tow, their two-year-old daughter, Margaret Mary, and a four-year-old daughter, Anna Catharina. All four had been born in Solingen, Germany. Documentation revealed they chose to leave their homeland to avoid persecution because of their staunchly-held belief that baptism should only take place after a genuine commitment to follow Christ, a foundational tenet of the Church of the Brethren that had its beginning in the early 1700s. As respected members of the cutlers guild in Solingen, many fellow blade makers did not want Peter and his family to leave Germany with their trade secrets. From the www.studebakerfamily.org site the family explanation of their escape follows:

An unconfirmed family tradition says that the highly skilled Staudenbeckers built false sides and bottoms in their luggage and shipping crates, where they hid the bulk of their money. Once they reached the sea, they booked passage on the Harle, arriving in Philadelphia. When they arrived, the immigration clerks, unfamiliar with German pronunciations, recorded their names as "Studenbecker." Other records recorded their names as Studebaker, Studibaker, Studabaker and other variations."

Bakers Lookout in Hagerstown, Maryland, the plantation home of Peter

          Studebaker. It was built in 1740. Even though the home is described as a
"plantation" home, Peter strongly opposed slavery even in the 1700s.
photo below from  www.bakerslookout.com

                                        

               Jacob Christian and Anna Margaretha Seffer Schneider, aged 43 and 35 years, respectively, in the year of their passage to their new home on the Fane in 1749, were born in Bayarn, Germany (This couple is 6-greats from me.) My great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Jacob Ludwig Snider (spelling on his tombstone) at aged 17, immigrated with his parents. It would be twenty-seven years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The Schneiders, identified as German Baptists, faced persecution from German protestants as well as the Catholic church in their country of birth. Even though the Studenbeckers (changed surname spelling to Studebaker upon arrival in the colonies) lived 250 miles, in Germany, from the Schneiders (changed spelling of their surname to Snyder and finally, Snider), they shared a belief so strongly that both were willing to risk their families’ safety to practice their religious beliefs freely without interference from the government.  The belief refuting infant baptism, coupled with the insistence that the ritual of immersion only illustrated what had taken place in the person’s heart was held by few. 

Recently Placed Military Plaque to Honor Lt. Jacob Snider. In 1780,
he provided provisions for the Army of Virginia. He was appointed
a lieutenant in the militia on September 18, 1781, at the age of 49.
He died at the age of 58 in 1790, the same year the final state ratified
the Constitution of the United States. Source: www.findagrave.com

As we celebrate the 241st birthday of our nation, may we recall the physical, mental, and spiritual strength of our ancestors who endured the perils of transatlantic travel in the 1700s. Their tenacity and courage bolstered them past the hurts, losses, persecutions, looking to the land of freedom and opportunity. Their success was limited only by their own willingness to diligently work. Their integrity was founded in their devout commitment to God, embracing Him, obeying His Word, and giving their all to make their newly adopted country the best place in the world to live. May we pray to conduct our lives so these early Americans, from whom we descend, would be well pleased that their blood flows through the veins of descendants whose daily behavior honors their strength, determination, and faith.