Johannes ZENTMEYER

Notes:

Johannes Zentmeyer, grandson of Johann Bernhard Zentmeyer, emigrant ancestor of the Zentmeyers in the US. The surname was also recorded as 'Centmeyer,' 'Sentmeier,' 'C. Meyer,' 'C. Mayer,' 'St. Moyer,' and 'St. Mire.' Johannes married Barbary Windle about 1790. He was an early member of the Little River church, later renamed Zion Lutheran Church, which still stands in Floyd, Virginia. Rev. Robert J. Miller, a circuit preacher, wrote in 1813, "In the evening we went home with Mr. Zentmeyer, who appears to have a sense of divine things, and has a serious and promising family of children."

Time Line:
1763 baptized in Lancaster County
1783 was granted Treasury Land Warrant for 135 acres in Montgomery County near present-day Floyd, on Oldfield Creek near Franklin Pike
1789 married Barbary Windle in the Shenandoah Valley
1792 daughter Elizabeth born
1797 bought 40 acres from Jacob Miller in Montgomery County, Virginia, on Mudlick Creek near the present corner of McVitty Rd. and Old Cave Spring Rd., Cave Spring, Virginia.
1799 son Daniel born
1800 moved from Cave Spring to Montgomery County near present-day Floyd
1801 daughter Catherine born
1802 son David born
1805 daughter Rebecca born
1806 listed a Sponsor for baptism of Jacob Marchel and Sarah Krank
1808 listed as Sponsor for baptism of Lydia Marchel
1808 purchased 153 acres on south fork of Little River
1809 listed as an Officer of Little River Church, predecessor to Zion Lutheran
1809 unnamed daughter born who succumbed after one year
1810 US Census in Christiansburg, Montgomery County as John Zentmeyer
1812 135 acre Land Warrant property surveyed
1815 purchased 18 acres on Oldfield Creek from David Howell
1816 listed as Sponsor in baptism of Benjamin Herman
1817 listed as Sponsor in baptism of John Williams
1818 Cave Spring land was sold to John Hartman
1820 US Census in Christiansburg, Montgomery County as John Zentmin
1830 US Census in (La) Fayette, Montgomery County as John Zentmine
1840 US Census in Floyd County as John Zeatriger (Floyd County was formed from Montgomery County in 1831)


It is not clear why Johannes is listed in the 1810 and 1820 Census in Christiansburg, and in the 1830 Census in (La) Fayette. But there can be no doubt as to the identity of these three families, as the number and ages of the wife and children in the Censuses exactly match Johannes' family.

Johannes married Barbary WINDLE Abt 1789, Shenandoah, Virginia. Barbary was born 29 Mar 1771, Dunmore Co., Virginia; died 2 Oct 1839, Floyd Co., Virginia; was buried Oct 1839, Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery, Floyd Co., Virginia. [Group Sheet]

1. Elizabeth ZENTMEYER was born 1792, Botetourt Co., Virginia; died Aft 1860, Floyd Co., Virginia.
2. Daniel E ZENTMEYER was born 1799, Botetourt Co., Virginia; died 22 Jun 1865, Floyd Co., Virginia; was buried Jun 1865, Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery, Floyd Co., Virginia.
3. Catherine ZENTMEYER was born 1801, Botetourt or Montgomery, Virginia.
4. David Wendel ZENTMEYER was born 20 Feb 1802, Botetourt or Montgomery; died 29 Nov 1884, Warren Co., Ohio; was buried Dec 1884, Fort Ancient Cemetery aka Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery, Turtlecreek Twp., Warren Co., Ohio.
5. Rebecca ZENTMEYER was born 1805, Montgomery Co., Virginia; died 1853.
6. Unnamed ZENTMEYER was born 4 Jun 1809, Montgomery Co., Virginia; died Jul 1809, Montgomery Co., Virginia.
7. Mary R ZENTMEYER was born 1810, Montgomery Co., Virginia; died Abt 1860.
8. John Newton ZENTMEYER was born 13 Jul 1812, Montgomery Co., Virginia; died 9 Mar 1892, Patrick Co., Virginia; was buried Abram Penn Farm Cemetery, Critz, Patrick, Virginia.

Notes:

There is much additional material about Bernhard on the York Co. page.



There is a Bernhard Nicholas Santmyer b.1735 listed in FamilySearch IGI and elsewhere as the father of Jacob and George Zentmeyer, which we believe to be an unfortunate fabrication by a misguided LDS compiler, combining our ancestor Bernhard Zentmeyer b.1740 with another actual immigrant, Nicholas Sandmeier, who arrived on 9 Oct 1775 on the good ship King of Prussia. I have convinced FamilySearch to quarantine this record, although no one can remove it entirely except for its contributor, who will not respond to us. This bogus record also lists the surname of Bernhard's first wife as 'Luther,' for which we have found no evidence, see Catharina LNU, but unfortunately this fabricated 'Luther' record has generated entries on 60+ trees on Ancestry.com.

Johann married Catharina LNU Bef 1760. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

We do not have a surname for Bernhard's wife. She was identified as 'Catharina' both in the birth record for her son Johannes in 1763, and as a baptismal sponsor with Bernhard for Anna Margaretha Geister on 7 Aug 1760. This dates their wedding to around 1760 when Bernhard would have been twenty years old.

The surname 'Luther' has been put forth on the internet for her, with some claiming she was Maria Catharina Luther, born 1734 in Herbitzheim, Bas-Rhin, Alsace. This Maria Catharina Luther did in fact emigrate to Philadelphia, arriving with her parents on 15 Sep 1749 aboard a different Phoenix voyage, according to Strassburger-Hinke's Pennsylvania German Pioneers. But according to Annette Burgert's Eighteenth Century Emigrants, this Maria Catharina married Josiah Harper on 10 Sep 1763, only weeks after Johannes Zentmeyer was born, so she was not Bernhard's wife.

Others identify her as Catharina Elisabetha Luther baptized 8 Jan 1744 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. But the Kichenbücher (church records) reveal that this Catharina was married in 1765 in Frankfurt and died there in 1782.

The only place we have found the surname 'Luther' connected to Bernhard other than in Ancestry.com member trees is in the IGI on FamilySearch, where Bernhard is wrongly identified in a completely fictitious member-submitted tree as 'Bernhard Nicholas Santmyer, b. 1735' with a wife whose surname is 'Luther.' We believe this is the source of the 60+ Ancestry.com member trees which identify her as 'Luther.'

It is our suspicion that some Ancestry.com tree-makers took 'Catharina' from our website and combined it with 'Luther' in the IGI record. When you then search 'Catharina Luther,' online, the two individuals above can be found.

Anyone having any original source information for the Catharina's surname - family bibles, hand-written genealogies, anything - please contact me.

Gary Zentmyer

Notes:

The 1760 marriage date is from a birth record for Anna Margaretha Geister, which lists Bernhardt Zentmoyer and Catharina as sponsors.

Notes:

Bernhard was the Patriarch of the Zentmeyer/ Zentmyer/ Zentmire/ Santmyer/ Santmyers families in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and later into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska.

There is a Bernhard Nicholas Santmyer listed in FamilySearch records and elsewhere as a member of this family, but he never actually existed, he is an unfortunate synthesis of several records by an unidentified compiler. I am working diligently with FamilySearch to remove this fabrication from the record.

Bernhard is also not related to Henricus Zentmaÿr of Brilon, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany, an actual person, who had been incorrectly linked to this family in good faith by Dorothy Zentmyer Jones

Penn Township was formed out of Warwick Township in 1846.

Johann married Maria Salome ROTH 16 Feb 1739, Bischwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. Maria (daughter of Jacob ROTH and Catharina WALTHER) was born 16 Mar 1712, Bischwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France; died 1774, Warwick Twp., (now Penn) Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; was buried Union (White Oak) Cemetery, Penryn, Penn Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Headstone Inscription:
(East Face) Here lies with God Salome Zentmeyer was buried in the year 1774
(West Face) Was 61 Years Old
Salome was born 16 Mar 1712 per church records (Kirchenbücher) in Bischwiller, so she must have died before March 1774.

Other Events:

• Possessions: 1703, Roigheim, D-74255; farmland
• Possessions: Bef 1716, Roigheim, D-74255; farm called Peterslehen
• Status: 1726, Roigheim, D-74255; citizen (Bürger)

Notes:

The Surname was also frequently seen as Centmeyer. In German, words beginning with Z and C both begin with an identical "TS" sound, so the name was recorded as the scribe chose to write it.



According to the note from Marlies Kibler in 2017, Jacob had been a soldier at some point.

Possessions:
Lagerbuch der Stiftungspflege Möckmühl, S. 238 (StadtA Möckmühl).

Possessions:
Sells the Peterslehen to Michael Vierling for 18 fl. in 1716, pays 54 x. purchase tax (HStA Stuttgart, Best. A 302, Bd. 8494, S. 62).

Johann married Ursula WALTER 1699, Roigheim, Württemberg, Germany. Ursula was born Bef 1681; died 2 Jul 1720, Roigheim, D-74255. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Died:
Inventory no. 130, 1720 Aug 19.

Notes:

27 Aug 2017

Heimatkundlicher Arbeitskreis Möckmühl

"Hi Gary,
It is a long time since I heard from you. Wednesday is the day when we meet at the Archive. Ilse Saur is just re-sorting old documents and came across a paper concerning Roigheim. Joseph Walter had died about 10 years ago (inventory dated February 19, 1695, unfortunately this does not exist anymore) and he owed money to the church which he had borrowed. His possessions were very unimportant, some property in a bad condition or place that nobody wanted to buy, until finally one daughter (he had 9 children) got married to Jacob Centmayer, now bürgher (citizen -Ed) of this place, a former soldier. Unfortunately, it does not say where from. So, it was Ursula née Walter who Jacob Centmayer married in 1699.
It is not much information but I wanted to pass it on to you.
With best regards,

Marlies Kibler"

(This is the source for the surname of Jacob's wife Ursula)

Jacob — Catharina WALTHER. [Group Sheet]