6. | Issac* Jacob Van Bibber was born in 1663 in Duchy of Cleves, Netherlands (son of Jacob* Isaacs Van Bibber and Christiana* Hermania); died on 14 Sep 1723 in Cecil Co, Maryland. Other Events and Attributes:
- Emigration: Crefeldt on the Rhine, Netherlands
- Immigration: 1684, Germantown, Pennsylvania
Notes:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blogan/newsl.html
Van Bibber Pioneers Electronic Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 1 · November 1996
AN EARLY VAN BIBBER FAMILY
By Bruce E. Logan Jr. blogan@zoomnet.net
The Van Bibber family that was the first to settle in the New World was the family of Isaacs Jacob Van Bibber who came to Philadelphia in 1687. He came to America to prepare the way for his parents and the rest of the family that would soon follow. The Van Bibbers were residents of Krefeld (now Germany) and had been persecuted in Europe because they were followers of Menno Simons. Other Mennonites from Krefeld had come to Philadelphia in 1684 at the invitation of William Penn including Herman op den Graff, who was the husband of two of the sisters of Isaacs Jacob. Isaacs Jacob Van Bibber moved to Germantown (now a suburb of Philadelphia) and was engaged in commerce.
It was not long before the rest of the family immigrated to Germantown and resided there and in Philadelphia until moving to Cecil County Maryland. While in Germantown the family got involved in a religious dispute and perhaps that is what caused the migration to Maryland.
Jacob Isaac Van Bibber, b. ca. 1640, d. Sept. 1705, Cecil Co., MD
m. Christina Unknown, b. ca. 1640, d. 4 Sept. 1711, Cecil Co., MD
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Van Bibber Pioneers Electronic Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 2 · December 1996
The VAN BEBBERs were originally Mennonites, and came to this Province as such at an early date. The first to arrive was Isaac Jacob VAN BEBBER in 1684. He was a native of Crefeldt on the Rhine. In 1687 he was joined by his father, Jacob Isaac VAN BEBBER, and his brother Matthias, and later by other members of the family.
They first settled in Germantown, but did not all remain there. The elder removed to Philadelphia in 1698 and engaged in mercantile pursuits. Matthias settled on the Schippach in 1702, and in 1704, together with his elder brother Isaac Jacob, and a number of others from Germantown, removed to the Bohemia Manor.
From the fact that these men are frequently referred to as Isaac Jacobs, Jacob Isaacs and Matthias Jacobs, some writers have assumed that they were German Jews. Such, however, is not the case. They were Mennonites, but, like many others of the early settlers, after their sojourn in the Province, they became somewhat unsettled as to their faith. This is shown by the report sent
by Johnan Gottfried SEELIG, one of the original Pietists, who arrived in 1694, to SPENER, wherein, writing of Jacob Isaac VAN BEBBER, he states: "He was formerly a Mennonite, but he desirtes to depart with his whole house, to acknowledge and abandon the follies, scandals, shortcomings and stains of his former religion."
It was this spiritual unrest which evidently induced the VAN BEBBERs to remove to the Bohemia Manor, where at that time the Labidist Community was at the height of its development.
Upon the arrival of the party at the Bohemia Manor they at once stated to erect several buildings, the chief one being known as the "Great House." Several families soon arrived from Wiewerd followed by SLUYTER's wife, who, as abbess, presided over the women. Some converts also came from New York. Thus was founded in North America a branch of the Labadist Community of Waltahouse, of which SLUYTER proclaimed himself bishop, under YVON, Archbishop of Wiewerd.
The settlement at Bohemia never numbered over one hundred, men , women and children all told, mostly novices of probationers, whose faith was to be tried by a very sever system of discipline and mortification. Fire, for example, was not permitted in their cells in the coldest weather, though there was so much wood about them that they were forced to burn it in order to be rid of it.
They were to live hidden in Christ. All desires of the flesh were to be subdued. A former minister herded cattle; a young man of good family carted stone or bent over a washtub. Food to which they had repugnance must be eaten, and sins confessed in open assembly. There were different grades to be attained in conformity to the principles and discipline of the society.
Punishments were the deprivation of clothes, taking a lower seat at the table and expulsion. The highest rank, that of brother, was gained by total separation from the world. They took their meals in silence, so that men ate together for months at the same table without knowing each other's names. The men and women ate at different tables. They slept in different rooms which the head or his substitute might visit at all times for examination or instruction.
They labored on the land, and at different trades or employments assigned by the head. Their dress was plain, all worldly fashions being prohibited as well as luxuries of all kinds. They worked for the Lord and not for themselvesnot to gratify their desires, but merely to sustain life. All property was held as common stock, into which all joining the community put what they owned and left it when they withdrew.
The geographical position f the Labidist settlement was originally in Baltimore county, now Cecil county, on the north bank of the Bohemia river, embracing several thousands of fertile acres. The Bohemia river empties into the Elk, which flows into Chesapeake bay. The house or mansion of Herrman was destroyed by fire, but the foundations are visible within a few hundred feet of the river. The remains of his deer park can also be seen. His body was removed to the Bayard vault, a short distance from the old mansion, and when this was abandoned for another vault in Wilmington. No mark was left of his burial place. An oolite slab in the yard of another house, built after the burning of the first, records the memorial of "Augustine HERRMAN, Founder and Seater of Bohemia Manor."
It has been stated, upon different occasions, that here was some similarity in doctrine between the Labadists and the Quakers; also that LABADIE and William PENN were at Oley and Frederick as a recluse. Becoming acquainted with the Moravians, he removed to Bethlehem in 1746. Two years later, Oct 15, 1748, he died, and was buried among the single men on the hill.
In the meantime VAN BEBBER's health became impaired by the rigorous life pursued by BEISSEL and his companions, so he, too, felt constrained to leave the cabin on the Muhlbach. BEISSEL was loth to lose him, and the parting was a painful one, as noted in the "Chronicon":
"He took leave of the Superintendent (BEISSEL) with much love, and protested that it was not possible for him live in that way. The former gave him the following counsel to take with him: 'Know that when you are successful in the world, God has forsaken you; but when all misfortune comes upon you here, then know that God still loves you.' After many years he froze both hands and feet in s shipwreck and was put under the care of Christopher WITT in
Germantown. There he remembered this farewell, and sent his last greeting to his old friend."
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Members of the Van Bebber family arrived at Philadelphia shortly after William Penn, having been recruited by him in Europe. Isaac Jacobbs Van Bebber was one of the original immigrants from Krefeld, Germany (a few miles from the Holland border), who arrived in Germantown, then a separate settlement from Philadelphia, on November 8, 1684.
--Mennonite Family History, The Van Bebber/Van Bibber Family, by David V. Stivison, Esq., Volume 4, No. 3, January 2001, Van Bibber Pioneers E-Newsletter.
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Isaac Jacob von Bebber and his wife, Frances Shoemaker, moved with Reynier Herman von Burkelow to Bohemia Manor in Maryland. This family remained in Maryland and had many notable descendants
Issac* married Veronica* (Fronica) Schumacher on 25 May 1690. Veronica* (daughter of Peter* Schumacher (Shoemaker) and Sarah* Hendricks) was born about 1670 in St Stephen's Par, Earslville, Cecil Co, Maryland; died after 1692. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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