Wells Family - Person Sheet
Wells Family - Person Sheet
NameAnna Catharine 
DeathOct 1807, Fayette Co, KY
Spouses
Birth5 Jul 1716, Schwaigern, Neckar, Wurtemburg, Germany
DeathOct 1788, Monacacy Manor, Frederick Co, MD
OccupationFarmer
Misc. Notes
NAME: It appears that the pre-1500 German spelling of the name was HOFWART and that the more complete family name may have been Hofwart von Kircheim. Christian's last name is seen spelled many ways: Hoffart, Hoffarth, Hoffard, Hoffert, Hofford, Huffard, Hufferd, Huffert, Hufford, Huffort, and perhaps other variations.
He came from Germany "to the United States in the company of other families who fled for liberty of conscience, being under religious persecution. He located in Germantown, PA in 1729. No further account of them until 1762, the (birth) date proper of Caspar Hoffart, from whom this work gives almost complete family genealogy."
Christian arrived at the Port of Philadelphia on September 15, 1729, when he was 13 years old, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the Ship Allen with his parents, Hans Jorick HOFFART (b. 1674) and Anna Margaretha MOST (b. 1675). Also traveling with Christian was his sister Anna Margaretha Hoffart (born about 1720 and who likely later married Hans Adam MULLER). Christian's paternal grandfather was Judge Johann Christoph HOFFART.
Christian had another sister who arrived in America soon after: Anna Christina Hoffart (b. 1706), the wife of Johann Kasper CREAGER. Anna Christina's departure from Germany was delayed because she was pregnant with her first child. Anna Christina's son Adam Creager (b. 1737) married Christian's daughter Christina (b. 1749), in a first-cousin marriage. The burial sites of five children of those married first-cousins are known: Solomon, Christian, Peter, Anna Catherine, and John William (grandchildren of Christian through daughter Christina).
In Germany, his family's ties were to the Lutheran Church in Schwaigern. His family became associated with the Brethren, an Anabaptist group. The Anabaptists were "encouraged" to leave Germany, and Christian and his family traveled across the ocean on the ship that carried Alexander MACK, the man who had founded the Church of the Brethren in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708.
Christian first married before 1746, in Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth KEIM. Elizabeth was the daughter of Johannes KEIM and Katarina Bertha DeTURK. Christian and Elizabeth had seven children before Elizabeth died in about 1764. Their children were Christian, Christina (m. CREAGER), Philip, Anna Margareth (m. BEARD), Daniel, John, and Casper.
On March 25, 1748, while living in Philadelphia County, Christian was granted a "warrant for a survey" for 25 acres of land in a place called "Macungie" in what then was part of Philadelphia County. The warrant for survey was, in effect, good title to the land. The acreage was near land owned by Jacob COLLAR.
In April 1749, Christian's land was described as being in Macungie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Nicholas KYSER bought land adjacent to Christian's land in Macungie. Macungie was close to the border of Berks County, which in 1749 was Philadelphia County.
Before the death of his wife Elizabeth, Christian had moved the family to Frederick County, Maryland.
Soon after Elizabeth's death, Christian married Anna Catharine. Christian and his second wife had ten children: Anna Catharina (m. FAUTH), George/Jorick, Elizabeth (m. HARTER), Adam, Hannah, Jacob, Susanna, Johanna Magdalena, Rebecca (m. BURRIER), and Barbara (m. BOSTIAN).
Christian's second wife survived him, dying in about October 1807 in Fayette County, Kentucky.
All seventeen of Christian's children lived to maturity -- eight sons and nine daughters.
Christian was a farmer, farming land in an area of Frederick County, Maryland, that was then known as "Monocacy Manor."
Monocacy Manor was 10,000 acres of land that had been held beginning in 1724 for Lord Calvert, the "Proprietor" of Maryland. The land was rented out, with profits going to the Lord. Monocacy Manor was located east of the Monocacy River beginning at the mouth of Glade Creek, and it extended to about a mile past present-day Woodsboro, Maryland.
Christian Hufford leased Lot #55 in Monocacy Manor from Philip Howard. The lease was for over 150 acres and was written for the life of Philip Howard Sr. (abt 66 in 1757), Philip Howard Jr. (abt 41 in 1757), and John Howard (abt 37 in 1757).
After the Revolutionary War, the Maryland General Assembly took possession of the land that Christian had long-term leased because the land had been owned by the British Lord, who (obviously) had sided with the British in the war. The long-term leases were voided, and the land was divided and sold.
On 10-Oct-1781, the long-term lease that Christian had held was sold to one Maj. Davidson for 1,300 pounds. The major paid with Army pay certificates that he had been granted as a soldier of the "Maryland line."
From Poverty in a Land of Plenty, Tenancy in Eighteenth Century Maryland, by Gregory A. Stiverson, pub. by Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1977, at page 132:
The auction of the Manor was held at Grost's Tavern in Frederick Town on September 10, 1782, and the tenants who assembled for the sale, many of whom were first generation German immigrants who had worked hard improving their leaseholds, must have been appalled at the number of high-ranking army officers and affluent storekeepers who had come to bid against them for their land. Monocacy tenants were among the most prosperous of any on the proprietary manors, and yet few could hope to compete with men who could pay for land with certificates that had been acquired for only a fraction of face value.
Among Christian's neighbors in Monocacy Manor was Peter HERZOG (b. 1700 in Neuwied, Germany). Peter leased lot #65 in Monocacy Manor; Christian leased lot #64, a 12-acre lot which Christian leased in addition to the 160 acres in lot #55. Decades passed, and Peter's grandson (Peter Hartsock) married Christian's granddaughter Anna Catherine Hufford (daughter of Christian's son Philip).
Christian had 99 known grandchildren. Almost certainly there were more than 99 because family genealogists have no information for four of his daughters (Anna Catharine, Hannah, Susannah, and Johanna Magdalena) and because information likely is not complete for son Adam.
Thus far (2016), there is autosomal DNA proof for eight of Christian's 17 children: Christian, Christina, Philip, Daniel, John, Casper, George/Jorick, and Jacob.
His will was found by a determined genealogist who had been granted permission to rummage around in the attic of the Frederick Co, MD courthouse. It was found in Will Book GM #2, pp. 289-290.
IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I Christian Huffert of Frederick County and State of Maryland, Farmer, being weak in Body but of sound disposing -- Mind and Memory Thanks be Given unto God, calling unto mind the Moratality of my Body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form Following: that is to say, principally and first of all, I give and Recommend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God that gave it, and my Body I Recommend to the Earth, to be buried in decent Christian Burial at the Discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection, I shall receive the same again by the mighty Power of God. And as touching such Worldly Estate wherewith it has pleased God to Bless me in this life; I Give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form. First, I desire that all my Just debts be contented and paid within Convenient Time after my decease. Item: I Give and Bequeath to my Well Beloved Wife Ann Huffert besides her thirds my bed with its furniture whereon we now lie also a Cow and Calf and her Spinning Wheel. The rest of my Estate both Real and Personal I leave to be Sold at publick Sale and the Moneys arising therefrom to be (after my Wife's part is deducted) divided among my Children in the following manner: Item. I Give and Bequeath to my daughter Rebecca Huffert, the Sum of ten pounds Current Money. Item: I Give and Bequeath to my Daughter Barbara Huffert the Sum of ten pounds Current Money, the above Legacys I leave to be paid to my two Children above named, as soon as the Estate is Settled and the Children Shall come to age, by my Executors. The Rest of my Estate, after my just debts and Legacies are paid and my Wife's Third is deducted; I leave to be equally divided among my Seventeen Children. Namely: Christian, Christiana, Philip, Margaret, Daniel, John, Casper, Catharina, George [hard to read after sealing of will], Elizabeth, Adam, Hannah, Jacob, Susanna, Magdalene, Rebecca, and Barbara Hufferts. And I Nominate and Appoint my Trusty and Well Beloved Son in Law Adam Creigher my Executor of this my Last Will and Testament hereby Revolking all other Wills by me heretofore made, ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament in Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal.
He came from Germany "to the United States in the company of other families who fled for liberty of conscience, being under religious persecution. He located in Germantown, PA in 1729. No further account of them until 1762, the (birth) date proper of Caspar Hoffart, from whom this work gives almost complete family genealogy."
Christian arrived at the Port of Philadelphia on September 15, 1729, when he was 13 years old, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the Ship Allen with his parents, Hans Jorick HOFFART (b. 1674) and Anna Margaretha MOST (b. 1675). Also traveling with Christian was his sister Anna Margaretha Hoffart (born about 1720 and who likely later married Hans Adam MULLER). Christian's paternal grandfather was Judge Johann Christoph HOFFART.
Christian had another sister who arrived in America soon after: Anna Christina Hoffart (b. 1706), the wife of Johann Kasper CREAGER. Anna Christina's departure from Germany was delayed because she was pregnant with her first child. Anna Christina's son Adam Creager (b. 1737) married Christian's daughter Christina (b. 1749), in a first-cousin marriage. The burial sites of five children of those married first-cousins are known: Solomon, Christian, Peter, Anna Catherine, and John William (grandchildren of Christian through daughter Christina).
In Germany, his family's ties were to the Lutheran Church in Schwaigern. His family became associated with the Brethren, an Anabaptist group. The Anabaptists were "encouraged" to leave Germany, and Christian and his family traveled across the ocean on the ship that carried Alexander MACK, the man who had founded the Church of the Brethren in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708.
Christian first married before 1746, in Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth KEIM. Elizabeth was the daughter of Johannes KEIM and Katarina Bertha DeTURK. Christian and Elizabeth had seven children before Elizabeth died in about 1764. Their children were Christian, Christina (m. CREAGER), Philip, Anna Margareth (m. BEARD), Daniel, John, and Casper.
On March 25, 1748, while living in Philadelphia County, Christian was granted a "warrant for a survey" for 25 acres of land in a place called "Macungie" in what then was part of Philadelphia County. The warrant for survey was, in effect, good title to the land. The acreage was near land owned by Jacob COLLAR.
In April 1749, Christian's land was described as being in Macungie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Nicholas KYSER bought land adjacent to Christian's land in Macungie. Macungie was close to the border of Berks County, which in 1749 was Philadelphia County.
Before the death of his wife Elizabeth, Christian had moved the family to Frederick County, Maryland.
Soon after Elizabeth's death, Christian married Anna Catharine. Christian and his second wife had ten children: Anna Catharina (m. FAUTH), George/Jorick, Elizabeth (m. HARTER), Adam, Hannah, Jacob, Susanna, Johanna Magdalena, Rebecca (m. BURRIER), and Barbara (m. BOSTIAN).
Christian's second wife survived him, dying in about October 1807 in Fayette County, Kentucky.
All seventeen of Christian's children lived to maturity -- eight sons and nine daughters.
Christian was a farmer, farming land in an area of Frederick County, Maryland, that was then known as "Monocacy Manor."
Monocacy Manor was 10,000 acres of land that had been held beginning in 1724 for Lord Calvert, the "Proprietor" of Maryland. The land was rented out, with profits going to the Lord. Monocacy Manor was located east of the Monocacy River beginning at the mouth of Glade Creek, and it extended to about a mile past present-day Woodsboro, Maryland.
Christian Hufford leased Lot #55 in Monocacy Manor from Philip Howard. The lease was for over 150 acres and was written for the life of Philip Howard Sr. (abt 66 in 1757), Philip Howard Jr. (abt 41 in 1757), and John Howard (abt 37 in 1757).
After the Revolutionary War, the Maryland General Assembly took possession of the land that Christian had long-term leased because the land had been owned by the British Lord, who (obviously) had sided with the British in the war. The long-term leases were voided, and the land was divided and sold.
On 10-Oct-1781, the long-term lease that Christian had held was sold to one Maj. Davidson for 1,300 pounds. The major paid with Army pay certificates that he had been granted as a soldier of the "Maryland line."
From Poverty in a Land of Plenty, Tenancy in Eighteenth Century Maryland, by Gregory A. Stiverson, pub. by Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1977, at page 132:
The auction of the Manor was held at Grost's Tavern in Frederick Town on September 10, 1782, and the tenants who assembled for the sale, many of whom were first generation German immigrants who had worked hard improving their leaseholds, must have been appalled at the number of high-ranking army officers and affluent storekeepers who had come to bid against them for their land. Monocacy tenants were among the most prosperous of any on the proprietary manors, and yet few could hope to compete with men who could pay for land with certificates that had been acquired for only a fraction of face value.
Among Christian's neighbors in Monocacy Manor was Peter HERZOG (b. 1700 in Neuwied, Germany). Peter leased lot #65 in Monocacy Manor; Christian leased lot #64, a 12-acre lot which Christian leased in addition to the 160 acres in lot #55. Decades passed, and Peter's grandson (Peter Hartsock) married Christian's granddaughter Anna Catherine Hufford (daughter of Christian's son Philip).
Christian had 99 known grandchildren. Almost certainly there were more than 99 because family genealogists have no information for four of his daughters (Anna Catharine, Hannah, Susannah, and Johanna Magdalena) and because information likely is not complete for son Adam.
Thus far (2016), there is autosomal DNA proof for eight of Christian's 17 children: Christian, Christina, Philip, Daniel, John, Casper, George/Jorick, and Jacob.
His will was found by a determined genealogist who had been granted permission to rummage around in the attic of the Frederick Co, MD courthouse. It was found in Will Book GM #2, pp. 289-290.
IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I Christian Huffert of Frederick County and State of Maryland, Farmer, being weak in Body but of sound disposing -- Mind and Memory Thanks be Given unto God, calling unto mind the Moratality of my Body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form Following: that is to say, principally and first of all, I give and Recommend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God that gave it, and my Body I Recommend to the Earth, to be buried in decent Christian Burial at the Discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection, I shall receive the same again by the mighty Power of God. And as touching such Worldly Estate wherewith it has pleased God to Bless me in this life; I Give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form. First, I desire that all my Just debts be contented and paid within Convenient Time after my decease. Item: I Give and Bequeath to my Well Beloved Wife Ann Huffert besides her thirds my bed with its furniture whereon we now lie also a Cow and Calf and her Spinning Wheel. The rest of my Estate both Real and Personal I leave to be Sold at publick Sale and the Moneys arising therefrom to be (after my Wife's part is deducted) divided among my Children in the following manner: Item. I Give and Bequeath to my daughter Rebecca Huffert, the Sum of ten pounds Current Money. Item: I Give and Bequeath to my Daughter Barbara Huffert the Sum of ten pounds Current Money, the above Legacys I leave to be paid to my two Children above named, as soon as the Estate is Settled and the Children Shall come to age, by my Executors. The Rest of my Estate, after my just debts and Legacies are paid and my Wife's Third is deducted; I leave to be equally divided among my Seventeen Children. Namely: Christian, Christiana, Philip, Margaret, Daniel, John, Casper, Catharina, George [hard to read after sealing of will], Elizabeth, Adam, Hannah, Jacob, Susanna, Magdalene, Rebecca, and Barbara Hufferts. And I Nominate and Appoint my Trusty and Well Beloved Son in Law Adam Creigher my Executor of this my Last Will and Testament hereby Revolking all other Wills by me heretofore made, ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament in Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal.