Christian Burchard Kniep - A Life Sketch

Christian Burchard Kniep - A Life Sketch

In the district of Lower Saxony in Germany, about twenty miles south of the city of Brunswick, there lies the small town of Schoningen which today is on the border between East and West Germany. An entry in the Christening Register of St. Vincent Church states:

“Master Johann Andreas Kniep, citizen, resident and shoemaker here, had a son christened 15 January 1756 who was born 9 January and named Christian Burchard. The god-parents were:

1.Mr. Johann Burchard Zimmerman, citizen, resident and city musician here,

2.Mr Hohann Christian Mueller, citizen and journeyman-musician,

3.Sabena Magdalena Deike, wife of Christian Frikes, Quarter-master in Captain Von Hoym’s Company.”

His mother was Catharina – Dorthea Ebers. His Grandfather, Johann Conrad Kniep, had been a citizen Sargent of Schonigen and had previously lived in Brunswick. The child’s father was the lessee of the restaurant in the Furtturm of Customs House, owned by the city, on the border between Braunschweig and Prussia. His duties included keeping the peace and acting as customs inspector. He was also Sargent in the Land-Militia. Christian’s uncle was a surgeon and barber.

Many stories are told of the cruel way in which the German Mercenaries were obtained to serve their German Princes by fighting in foreign lands. They were caught; it was said, while congregating in their churches and elsewhere and forced to serve. With a history of the military service in the Kniep family, Christian (or Christopher as he was sometime called), probably went voluntarily at about the age of 20. The Germans were used to being sent outside their own country to serve, while money went to their sovereigns.

Early in the year 1776 chain of events began which would bring Christian Kniep to America. England found a need for allies to fight the Revolution in America and naturally turned to her old comrades of the Seven War, who were Hesse Cassel and Brunswick. George III wrote the princes, both of whom had married English Princesses, and offered not only a subsidy for their troops but treaties of alliance and protection; for it was easy to anticipated that France would side with the American Rebels and threaten Germany. Colonel William Faucit, of the English Guards, negotiated the treaty with Brunswick which was signed 9 January 1776.

No diary of Christian Kniep has been found so we will here follow the movements of the troops he is known to have served with, as they are recorded in historical records. Brunswick promised a corps of 4,000 men. For each man England agreed to pay thirty marks; for every man killed or wounded a like sum was to be paid, but for deserters the compensation was nothing. They were to take an oath of service to the King of England, thus putting them under double allegiance, to their own sovereign and to that of Great Britain.

The first division left on the morning of 22 February 1776, Colonel Frederick Adolph Von Riedesel, Freiherr of Eisenbach, a good experienced soldier who had fought for the Duke of Brunswick in the Seven Year War, was appointed Major-General. On that day, as they marched out through the city of Brunswick with great display, they were reviewed by the reigning Duke and his brother.

Generals Burgoyne and Phillips with part of the English artillery had joined the large convoy. The uniforms of the Riedesel division were so bad that the English government had to spend 5,000 pounds to get outfits for the men. The English contractors were cheated because when they opened the chest of shoes at sea they found it was filled with lady’s slippers.

General Riedesel wrote to his wife after they landed in Canada, on 8 June, “This country will delight you; it is as beautiful as can be. It is only a pity that the colonies are still in their childhood, so that the vegetables, fruit and other such things as belong to a good table are very hard to find; but we have meat, poultry and milk in profusion.”

The Germans marched and trained during their first winter. It was long spoken of as the “German Winter;” not a shot was fired and the men fished and hunted for amusement. They had target practice as Colonel Riedesel noticed the Americans were better shots then the Germans.

They had some conflict with the Rebels on Lake Champlain in August; they met their enemy at Bennington, Vermont. By this time many Indians who were fighting with the British, began to desert. On one list entitled, “Landeschauptarchiv Wolfenduttel, Riedesel II, 55” on page 84 on the list of “Leib Espuadron” (Soldiers who were killed wounded and who deserted at the Battle of Bennington), No. 17 on the list of those who deserted in the name of Christian Kniep.)

The next we hear of Christian Kniep we find him in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts. It is said that he was sent here under the old “Blue Laws” of the Colonies which required a German prisoner to take an Oath of Allegiance to the state and pay the sum of eighty dollars in order to live freely. Congress also stated “To enjoy the inestimable privileges of becoming a free citizen for one who could not pay the eighty dollars for his discharge, he would be at liberty to enter into any contract or agreement which would be advantageous to himself with any citizen of the state who could advance that sum of money. The contract discharge and oath were to be filled in the state office.”

It is believed that Christian entered into such an agreement with John Miller of Northampton. John was a great grandson of Thomas Miller, an early settler of Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Jacob Miller, moved to New Jersey and died there. After his death, John and his brother, Ebenezer, returned to Springfield and chose two of their uncles as their guardians. John Miller, upon reaching maturity, married Hannah Bush of Westfield and reared five children at Northampton, a few miles north of Springfield. John Miller, being of German descent himself, probably took a liking to Christian, this 22-year old German and might even have thought of him as a marriage prospect for his eldest daughter, Meribah, then seventeen years of age. Imagine the parent’s embarrassment a year later when Meribah made a public confession in the First Church of Christ, of which she had been a member for only a short time, to the sin of fornication. We can only judge how widespread this sin was by the numerous like entries which survived and the marks of those which have been rubbed out of the record. In any event the marriage of Christian and Meribah Miller Kniep, took place on 17 November 1778, at the First Church of Christ in Northampton with Reverend John Hooker presiding. Their children came rapidly and the first three were baptized at home. After five years Christian and Meribah decided to have them christened in the church so Charles, John and Elijah were entered in the church records on 30 April, 1783. Later Meribah or Mary, Thaddeus, Hannah, Lucy another Elijah (the first child died), Louis Andrew and Soloman the last one were all christened at Northampton. In the year 1793, they bought 25 acres next to John Miller and in the spring of 1798 an additional seven acres was purchased which he sold in December. In that same year their 18 year old son drowned in the Connecticut River.

In 1798 the first road was built into the Western Reserve. It ran from Pennsylvania to a location which is now Cleveland, Ohio. There was quite a migration there and in 1802 the neighbors and friends of Christian and Meribah who were Amosha Clapp’s sons Paul and Elah Clapp and Jonathan Russell went to open up their purchases in Ohio. Shadrack Ruark, James Rawlins and Spencer Phelps took their families and moved there. Charles Kneip and his friends David and John French moved also. The following year Christian Kniep with his family joined by Spencer and Mary Phelps and their infant son, Morris Charles Phelps, moved to Plainsville township, Geauga County, Ohio.

Shadrack Ruark was the first Justice of Peace here and recorded many of the early marriages of the family. Charles married Louisa Clark, Lucy married David French, Hannah to Thomas Collison, Solomon to Nancy Ruark and Andrew to Isabella whose last name in unknown. The first birth recorded here was a daughter of Spencer and Mary Phelps in 1809. As the couples married and started families the first school was built, which was completed in 1814. There were twenty five scholars and the teacher was paid seventy-five cents a week plus room and board. The second year Elijah Kniep taught and received ten dollars as a monthly salary.

All the men of Hampden were subject to military duty and went to Plainsville, Ohio for training. These men were called out on the alarm when General Hull surrendered his army during the War of 1812. Charles Kniep and Spencer Phelps, son and son-in-law of Christian Kniep were among this group of men. At another time when Perry won his victory at Lake Erie the cannons were distinctly heard in these townships. The men were called up at this time but later notified that they need not go.

By this time Christian Kniep was well past fifty years old and surrounded by his grown family and their children. Their hearts were saddened by the unexpected death of their son, Charles, age 38, who left a wife and four sons and a daughter. In February 1817, the court of Common Pleas appointed Spencer Phelps and Elijah Kniep administrators of Charles’ estate, which was appraised and an account of the property was sold at a public sale in April. This was a hardship on Charles’ young children, so the court, in November, appointed the children’s grandfather, Christian Kniep, guardian of the minor heirs and the court accepted a Security Bond for $300.00 on behalf of the guardian. This was more than Silas, the second son, could accept, so he ventured west with his two uncles, Solomon and Andrew Kniep. They arrived in Edwards County, Illinois in December 1817.

By this time the widow Louisa had met and married Elisha Green, in November 1817. Twenty-six and a half acres were set off for a dowry for the widow. It was becoming a heavy burden for the aging grandparents to make a home for the four grandchildren and things became unhappy for all concerned. At the time when the 1820 census was taken Meribah, Christian’s faithful wife, had died. Her resting place is most likely in Plainsville because this is place where the family was living at this time.

Christian, being guardian of Charles’ minor children, was left with a big responsibility after the death of Meribah. As the estate of Charles became settled much of the land was sold. Christian was living near Plainsville when the census enumerator called in 1820. This is the count of the Christian Kniep household: 2 males under 10 years, 2 males 26-45, 1 female under 10 years, 3 females 10 -16, and one female 16 – 26. Three of the household were employed in agriculture. Elijah Kniep and his wife Elizabeth lived in the next household with this count: 1 male 16 – 45, 1 female 16 – 26 and employed in agriculture. It would be interesting to know the names of all the occupants, but at this date this information was not required. Mary and Spencer Phelps lived in nearby township of Kirtland, Ohio. It is quite possible some of their children were visiting their grandfather at the time the census was taken.

By 1822, Christian was living in Kirtland where he purchased land next to Isaac Morley. This was once again a new home for Christian. Many of his children lived in this general location.

Typical of the pioneer spirit in the west at that time; Christian wanted to go to Illinois to see his sons, Andrew and Solomon and his grandson Silas who left when he was so young. Silas was now thirteen and was working in a blacksmith’s shop. Andrew and his family were living in Lurkin Township in a settlement called Ruark. These towns were in Wabash and Lawrence Counties along the Wabash River. The town of Ruark was named after the Ruark family of which Solomon’s wife was a member.

Christian decided to stay in Illinois and purchased lands not far from Solomon’s property in1824. Many of the people living in Ruark at this time were friends of the Kniep family and had lived near them in Ohio. In the winter of 1824, Morris Charles Phelps, came to Lawrence County to visit his grandfather and renew acquaintance with friends he knew in Ohio. While there began courting a young lady named Laura Clark, They married in April 1825 in Lawrenceville and then returned to Ohio to make their home.

By this time Christian’s health was failing and he was anxious to get his affairs settled. His son Solomon, took him to Lawrenceville, the county seat, to write his will and there he appointed his son Solomon as his executor.

As the summer was coming and he was unable to perform his daily routine, time was on his hands and he knew he had little time left to live. He started a work of art that many people would not think of doing. He chiseled out his own tombstone with the inscription “Christian Keneipp age 67.” This stone was taken by horse and wagon approximately one and a half miles to a cemetery known as the Ruark Cemetery, as the ground had been donated by that family to be a burial ground forever. There he selected his resting place and set the stone.

He had lived a full life, been a good husband and father and was now prepared to meet his Maker. The exact day and month of his death is not known but he was deceased by 31 September 1825, when John Brown filed a complaint in the Lawrence County Circuit Court against his estate and Solomon Kniep, the executor, because the land patent had not been delivered to him, for the farm he had bought.

In the early fall, Solomon made a trip to Geauga County, Ohio, to settle his father’s estate there and visit relatives. His farm there was located in Kirtland Township and was sold to Timothy Martindale for two thousand dollars on 29 October 1825. The personal possessions of Christian Kniep were dived among his surviving children as specified in his will.