Kistler Kin
The Kistler Confusion
How the Kistler Confusion Began
Samuel J. Kistler of Saegersville, PA was the first to systematically gather the history of the Kistler family in America. His 1884 sketch of the Kistler family, published in the History of Lehigh County and the History of Berks County, provided the foundation on which many of today’s Kistler family trees are based. However, his narrative about the first Kistler generation in Pennsylvania was based on some mistaken assumptions that continue to plague us to this day. Samuel proclaimed that the Kistlers of America descend from one Hanjörg Kistler who arrived in Philadelphia in 1737 and who first settled in New Hanover or Goshenhoppen in what is now Montgomery County before moving to Albany Township, Berks County. Samuel wrote that he “was legally known as Johannes, but was called Joerg or George by Pastor Schumacher in his records, and Hanjoerg or John George by his neighbors.” This statement is a smoking gun showing that he conflated three separate individuals. Afterwards, other family historians repeated pretty much the story, including Rev. Charles L. Kistler whose articles appeared in The Pennsylvania German and elsewhere. Later, a group of Kistler descendants commissioned a large monument that was placed on John George Kistler’s grave at Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Stony Run, PA. The inscription on the marker puts Samuel J. Kistler’s faulty narrative in a nutshell:
Here rest the remains of John George Kistler and his wife Anna Dorothea who were born in the Palatinate Germany, came in the ship Townshead from Amsterdam to Philadelphia Oct. 5, 1737. Lived for 10 years at Falkner Swamp or Goshenhoppen Montgomery Co. PA. Received a warrant for land in Albany Tp. Berks Co. whither they moved in 1747. John George Kistler died in 1767, and his wife Anna Dorothea died about 1779. They left 6 sons and 3 dau. from whom descended the large Kistler relationship of America.
What Did They Get Wrong?
John George and Anna Dorothea raised a large family in Allemaengel (the historic settlement region including Albany Township, Berks County and Lynn Township, Lehigh County), but based on what we now know:
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John George Kistler was probably not the Immigrant Johannes Kistler who signed the ship's register in 1737 but was more likely his son.
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John George was not the sole progenitor of the Kistler relationship of America.
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Although there were German settlements that predated Allemaengel at Falkner Swamp and Goschenhoppen, there is no evidence that John George lived at either of those places. The statement is at best an educated guess.
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John George’s 1747 land warrant was not for property in Albany Township, but rather for a tract near present-day New Jerusalem in Rockland Township.
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When John George moved from Rockland Township to Allemaengel, he lived in Lynn Township, Lehigh (then Northampton) County, not Albany Township, Berks County.
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John George was still living in 1778.
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The statement that John George and Anna Dorothea were born in the Palatinate is only an educated guess since no one has ever found a birth record for either of them.
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A New Generation of Researchers Makes Key Finds
In the 1970s, Raymond Hollenbach discovered a 1745 petition to the Court at Philadelphia for the erection of a public road “from Abraham Levan’s mill” near present day Kutztown, Berks County “to Upper Hanover” near present day Pennsburg, Montgomery County. The petition was signed by Johannes Kistler and Jurg (George/John George) Kistler. Hollenbach realized that these signatures were evidence of two adult Kistler men who were likely the heads of two separate households. Reexamining the existing civic and church records and paying close attention to German naming practices, Hollenbach concluded that this Johannes (Hannes) Kistler was later raising a family in Allemaengel about the same time as John George Kistler. It was clear that this Johannes (Hannes) had been overlooked. He was not John George Kistler and not the son of John George Kistler, but rather the head of a completely different family. Elaine D. Schwar came to the same conclusion when she published The Kistler Confusion in the Journal of the Berks County Genealogical Society in 1990. Schwar, however, speculated that the Johannes Kistler who signed the road petition was the Immigrant Johannes and that the George Kistler who signed the petition might have come from Tulpehocken in western Berks County, neither of which appear to be correct.
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By comparing signatures, Bruce Kistler confirmed that the Johannes Kistler who signed the road petition was the same Johannes (Hannes) Kistler who later settled in Albany Township.
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Signatures of Jurg (George) Kistler and Johannes Kistler on 1745 "Road to Levan's" petition. Note that the first signed his name George, not John George.
Signature of Hannes (Johannes) Kistler of Albany Township on his 1772 will. Although written almost thirty years later, it is clearly the same signature.
Tim and Patricia Ostwald discovered the most important document to date regarding the origin of Johannes Kistler. In the Baden Stadtarchiv at Karlsruhe, Germany they came across a manumission certificate dated April 23, 1737. The translation reads, “Johannes Kistler of Auerbach, who wants to emigrate with his three minor sons, requests release from bondage. The (Registry) office and the administration report herewith that the applicant is apparently a day laborer, and would retain as residual worth assets of hardly 100 taler.” This document was later examined and confirmed by professional genealogist Freidrich Wollmershäuser. This Johannes Kistler is certainly the same man who gave his name as Johannes Kistler when he made his mark on the Townshend’s register upon arriving in Philadelphia six months later. Werner Hacker, the eminent authority on early German emigration, also concluded that this was the same Johannes Kistler. No birth record for the sons has been found, which is another reason to believe this is the correct family since the church records at Auerbach Baden-Würtemberg were destroyed in a fire in 1769. If the sons had been born in another parish, their birth and/or christening records would likely have been found.
Tim and Patricia Ostwald researched the history of Pat’s ancestor, Johannes Niclaus Kistler of Tulpehocken, Berks County, and confirmed that he was the head of a third Kistler family in eastern Pennsylvania about the same time as those of Johannes (Hannes) and John George. The Ostwalds also studied the geographical connections among other families associated with the Kistlers, both in Europe and in America.
Bruce Kistler had the DNA of descendants of John George Kistler, Johannes (Hannes) Kistler and Johannes Niclaus Kistler analyzed and found an exact match. Thus, it’s possible that they were brothers, but they might also have been cousins or more distantly related.
John Robertson and Bruce Kistler confirmed the location of Johannes (Hannes) Kistler’s land in Albany Township as the former Mathias Teck (Deck) tract, later owned by Jacob Donat. Warrant maps show that John George Kistler’s land was located nearby across the county line in Lynn Township, Lehigh County. When Henry Muhlenberg transferred ownership of land to the leaders of Jerusalem Church, among them was “George Kistler of Lynn Township.”
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Carolyn Buttolph discovered that John George Kistler’s 1747 land warrant was actually issued for a tract near present New Jerusalem in Rockland Township, close to the petitioned road, and not for land in Albany Township as his grave marker declares.
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Survey of George Kistler's 1747 warrant for 85 acres, 77 perches "Situate in Rockland township, among the Oley Hills"
Four Kistler Men, One Arrival Record: The "Three Sons" Theory
Given this information, a scenario strongly presents itself that accounts for four Kistler men in eastern colonial Pennsylvania with only one arrival record. It now appears that John George Kistler, Johannes (Hannes) Kistler and possibly Johannes Niclaus Kistler—the heads of what I call the “Original Kistler Families”—were the three sons of the Immigrant Johannes Kistler mentioned in the manumission certificate. As minors, they would not have signed the ship’s register, and if they were in their mid-teens when they arrived, they would have been of age to be raising families in the 1750s, precisely when the first Kistler birth and christening records begin to appear in Pennsylvania. Furthermore, since the manumission certificate indicates that the family was poor and/or if the Immigrant Johannes died soon after arrival, it is likely that the sons became indentured servants and thus did not leave any paper record until they had completed their terms of service, which typically was age 21. This could account for the eight-year gap between the arrival of the Townshend and the next available record, which is the road petition. It is unlikely that the Immigrant Johannes was the Johannes who settled in Albany Township. If the immigrant was old enough to have three teenage boys when he arrived, that means he was actively fathering additional children well into his 60s. That’s certainly possible, but the family group appears far more likely to be the product of a younger man who was establishing his farmstead on the frontier. Furthermore, the Immigrant Johannes made his mark on the ship’s register, indicating that he could not write, whereas the Johannes (Hannes) of Albany Township could sign his name. There is also no record of the Immigrant Johannes having a wife when he came to America, whereas Johannes (Hannes) Kistler of Albany Township appears to have married Barbara Luckenbill in Allemaengel and they are documented as being the parents of the Albany Township Kistler family. John George Kistler was not the Immigrant Johannes because he would never have omitted the “George” when registering upon arrival. That his primary name was George is reinforced by the fact that he signed his name Jurg (George) on the road petition and that his land warrant and Pastor Muhlenberg refer to him simply as George. The same holds true for Johannes Niclaus Kistler who would not have omitted the primary name “Niclaus” when registering upon arrival.
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(For more on Pennsylvania German naming practices, see http://www.kerchner.com/germname.htm)
If the “three sons” theory is correct, the tree looks like this:
-JOHANNES KISTLER, immigrant of 1737
-JOHANNES (HANNES) KISTLER of Albany Township
-JOHN GEORGE KISTLER of Lynn Township
-JOHANNES NICLAUS KISTLER of Tulpehocken