Peter Hitt and Elizabeth Otterbach
Husband Peter Hitt
Born: 1680-1683 - (Siegen, Germany) Christened: Died: 1772 (July) - Fauquier Co., Virginia Buried:
Father: Johann Jacob Heite (1660- ) Mother:
Marriage:
Other Spouse: Maria Else Freudenberg (1674-Abt 1714) - Epiphany Sunday 1707 - Siegen, Germany
Wife Elizabeth Otterbach 1
Born: Christened: 1689 - Siegen, Germany Died: Abt 1773 - (Fauquier Co., Virginia) Buried:
Father: Johann Hermann Otterbach (Abt 1664- ) 1 Mother: Elisabeth Heimbach (1662- )
Children
1 M John Hitt
Born: Abt 1715 - (Germanna, Essex Co., Va) Christened: Died: 1782 (Oct) - Fauquier Co., Virginia Buried:Spouse: Mary (Abt 1736-After 1802)
2 M Joseph Hitt
Born: Abt 1717 - (Germanna, Essex Co., Va) Christened: Died: After 1790 - (Laurens Co., South Carolina) Buried:Spouse: Mary Cuntze ( -After 1771)
3 M Henry Hitt
Born: Abt 1719 - (Germantown, Stafford Co., Va) Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Alice Katherine Holtzclaw ( - )
4 M Harman Hitt
Born: Abt 1721 - (Germanna, Essex Co., Va) Christened: Died: After 1797 - (Fauquier Co., Virginia) Buried:Spouse: Mary Weaver ( - )
5 F Mary Hitt
Born: Abt 1723 - (Germantown, Stafford Co., Va) Christened: Died: Abt 1813 - Grayson Co., Virginia Buried: - Grayson Co., VirginiaSpouse: Jacob Rector ( -Abt 1811) 2
6 M Peter Hitt
Born: Abt 1726 - (Germantown, Stafford Co., Va) Christened: Died: 1810 (May) - Fauquier Co., Virginia Buried:Spouse: Sarah James ( - ) 2 Marr: 27 Apr 1759 - Germantown, Fauquier Co., Virginia 2
General Notes: Husband - Peter Hitt
GERMANNA:
Peter Hitt was one of 12 heads of household within a group of about 42 people from the Nassau-Siegen region of Germany who came to Virginia in 1714 and settled on a peninsula on the south side of the Rapidan river about 9 miles above its confluence with the Rappahannock. Their settlement was called Germanna.
On page 185 of GERMANNA RECORD NO. 5; Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714--1750 the author, B. C. Holtzclaw, says,
"As we shall see at the end of this section, the ancestry of Peter Hitt, the 1714 colonist, is more uncertain than that of most of the other Nassau-Siegen immigrants to Virginia. However, it still appears that he was connected with the Heites of Rehbach near Kaan, just east of Siegen in the Catholic part of the country.
"Rehbach was an estate near Kaan which is first mentioned in 1555 in the records and the last time in 1707, at the marriage of Peter Heite and Elisabeth Freudenberg, probably the 1714 immigrants."
Because both the ancestry of Peter Hitt and the identity of his wives is controversial, I will copy verbatim the following from pages 185-88 of Dr. Holtzclaw's book:
Jacob Heite of Rehbach was probably born about 1625, the youngest son of Balthasar Heite. He and his wife Cathrin brought the following children for christening at Siegen (from Dr. William J. Hinke's article on "The 1714 Colony of Germanna, Virginia," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 41, pp. 41-59).
1. Johann, chr. the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, 1652; godfather, Johann Bosch of Caan, "late schoolmaster here" (Johann Bosch may have been Cathrin's father, as he was godfather of the first child).
2. Anna Cathrin, chr. the 9th Sunday after Trinity, 1653; godmother, Anna Cathrina, daughter of Mannes Zoller of Marienborn.
3. Chuen (Conrad), chr. Exaudi Sunday, 1655; godfather, Chuen Jost.
4. Antonius, chr. the 21st Sunday after Trinity, 1656; godfather, Tonjes Dietrich.
5. Elisabeth, chr. Estomihi Sunday, 1658; godmother, Elisabeth, daughter of Johann Heite (Johann was probably Jacob's brother, mentioned above in 1631).
6. Johann Jacob, chr. Trinity Sunday, 1660; godfather, Johann Haas of Obernau.
7. Cathrina, chr. the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, 1663; godmother, Cathrina wife of Daniel Kohl, shepherd on Coeller Street (Siegen).
8. Peter, chr. the 14th Sunday after Trinity, 1665; godfather, Peter Bell of Fickenhuetten (the same man mentioned above in 1652).
The next record of his Heite family is on Epiphany Sunday, 1707, when "Peter Heite, son of Jacob Heite of Rehbach" married Maria Liessbeth, daughter of Johann Henrich Freudenberg of Ferndorf. Dr. Hinke, in the article cited above, identified the Peter Heite of this marriage with Peter Heite, born in 1665, as well as with the Virginia immigrant, Peter Hitt. This is clearly impossible, as Peter Hitt of Virginia did not die until 1772, which would have made him 107 years of age at his death. I suggested in my article on the Hitt family in GERMANNA RECORD NO. 1 that Peter Heite of the 1707 marriage was born about 1680-83 (the traditional date of Peter Hitt's birth, though there is no documentary proof), and that he was a son of Johann Jacob Heite, b. 1660, son of the Jacob Heite who brought children for baptism 1652-65. I thought at the time that further research in the church books would verify this supposition, but no other Peter Heite at all has been discovered after diligent search both at Siegen and at Roedgen (which was not far from Rehbach and Kaan). I still think that this is the only answer to the problem that is at all feasible. We must remember that Rehbach was in the Catholic part of Nassau-Siegen, and it is quite possible that Jacob Heite (b. 1660) married a Catholic and that his children were christened in the Catholic church; at least, the Protestant records show no trace of any other Heites of Rehbach between 1665 and 1707.
The identification of Maria Elisabeth Freudenberg, the bride of 1707, with Elizabeth wife of Peter Hitt, the Virginia immigrant, is also difficult. The Ferndorf church-books show that Maria Else (Elisabeth), daughter of Johann Henrich Freudenberg and his wife Maria, was born in 1674, and christened the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, 1674, her godmother being Maria Else, daughter of Jost Hadamar of Krombach; and this is the only Maria Elisabeth Freudenberg, daughter of Johann Henrich Freudenberg, who appears in the church books. The Ferndorf records show that the father, Johann Henrich Freudenberg, was born before 1636 (probably about 1635), married May 9, 1667 Maria, daughter of Johann Muenker of Berg, and that they had 5 children: Johannes, b. 1668, Johann Ebert, b. 1669, Johann Ebert b. 1671, Johann b. 1672, and Maria Else b. 1674; and that Johann Henrich Freudenberg d. in 1676, being buried Dec. 19. Johann Henrich Freudenberg's father was Simon Freudenberg, b. ca. 1600, m. June 30, 1627 Agnes Hadamar of Krombach, and also d. at Ferndorf in 1676, being buried Dec. 6. Simon and Agnes Freudenberg's children were: Johann Henrich, b. before 1636 (there is a gap in the baptismal register 1620-36), Tillmann b. 1637, Barbara, b. 1640, and Arnold, b. 1643.
The above records show conclusively that the bride of 1707 was 33 years of age when she married and there is no record of any children of her and Peter Heite 1707-1714 either at Siegen or at Ferndorf. She would have been 40 years of age when she and Peter Hitt came to Virginia in 1714, yet we know that Peter Hitt and Elizabeth his wife had at least 6 children, b. 1715-26, in Virginia, when Mary Elizabeth Freudenberg would have been 41-52 years of age and had never had any previous children. While this is possible, it seems so implausible that we must almost certainly reject this solution. Besides, Peter Hitt's wife, Elizabeth, was still living in 1772, when he made his will in Fauquier Co., and Mary Elizabeth Freudenberg would have been 98 years of age at the time.
In view of the scanty records that we have and the fact that the only Peter Heite or Hitt found in Nassau-Siegen after diligent search was the bridegroom of 1707, the folloiwng seems a reasonable conclusion:
Peter Hitt, b. ca. 1680-83, son of Johann Jacob Heite (b. 1660) of Rehbach and grandson of Jacob Heite whose children were born 1652-65, married in 1707 Maria Elizabeth Freudenberg, b. 1674, a woman several years older than he, and they came to Virginia without children in 1714. Maria Elizabeth probably died soon after arrival in Virginia, and Peter Hitt married (2) another wife named Elizabeth (who also came over in 1714, according to the 1724 certificates of importation of the Germantown group); and this second wife, Elizabeth, was the mother of his children, b. in Virginia 1715-26. If this is the case (and it seems to be the only possible solution of the Hitt problem at the present time), it is not too difficult to discover an Elizabeth who came over in 1714 -- she was Elizabeth Otterbach, b. 1689, duaghter of Hermann Otterbach, sister of Mrs. Holtzclaw and Mrs. Kemper, and probably also sister of Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Harman Fishback of the 1714 group (see the section on the Utterback family. Harman Utterback seems to have been the father-in-law of at least five of the 1714 colonists.
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For scepticism concerning Peter Hitt's ancestry and marriages see
http://www.oocities.org/heartland/prairie/3596/hittcontrov.html
*******
The following website (notes 1-21) contains a careful and interesting analysis by John Blankenbaker of how and why the 12 Germanna families wound up in Germanna. The process was more complicated than most accounts indicate.
homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhist.html
GERMANTOWN:
By 1718 the 12 families that had arrived in Germanna in 1714 had become dissatified with their status and they decided to move to another location. They had been at Germanna more than 4 years and had satisfied the conditions of their agreement with Lt. Gov. Spottswood. They ended their work for him in December 1718 and probably in the spring of 1719 all of them moved to a tract of at least 1800 acres north of the Rappahanock River that was then in Prince William County and is now in Fauquier County. It was called Germantown and was one of the first European settlements in that area and maybe the first. Even though the settlers took possession of the tract in 1719 the patent was delayed. It was patented to John Fishback, John Huffman and Jacob Holtzclaw, the 3 heads of household who had become naturalized citizens, in 1724. According to the patent it was a rectangle 378 poles by 762 poles whose long axis was S40E or N40W. A stream called Licking Run ran through the middle from NW to SE. The tract was divided into 20 narrow strips or lots 378 poles by about 40 poles (94 acres) and each family received one whole lot and one half lot. In general the half lots were not contiguous with the whole lots. After the distribution John Fishback possessed an extra whole lot and one lot called the Glebe was for the church. (1.5 x 12) + 1 + 1 = 20. The number of acres in these lots as described in subsequent deeds varies considerably, and it is probable that Germantown was significantly larger in both dimensions than was indicated in the patent and that the lots contained at least 100 and perhaps as much as 115 acres. In 1729 the three patentees issued deeds to the individual members of the community. Five of them received only one lot in the area of full lots, and 5 received one full lot there and additionally another full lot in the area of half lots. Probably between 1719 and 1729, 5 of the settlers had sold their discontiguous half lots to other members of the community.
In 1729 Peter Hitt received lot # 8. Presumably he had previously sold his half lot. In 1770 Peter Hitt paid taxes on 200 acres, presumably on his own lot and also on lot # 5, then owned by his son-in-law Jacob Rector, who had probably leased it his father-in-law. When Peter Hitt died in 1772, he left to his daughter Mary Rector the 100 acres "on which I now live". Jacob and Mary Rector sold it the following year. By 1790 only a small part of Germantown was owned by descendants of the original German settlers.
A careful analysis of how Germantown was divided into lots, who owned which lot, how ownership of those lots evolved and how the community functioned can be found in Germantown Revisited by W. C. Hackley and B. C. Holtzclaw (GERMANNA RECORD NO. 2, originally published in 1962 by the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia; 3rd printing 2005).
On April 22, 1771 Peter Hitt and 3 others sold the glebe lot in Germantown to Tilman Martin for £24. Signed Peter (his X mark) Hitt. (Fauquier Co. Deed Records 4/178)
CHILDREN:
GERMANNA RECORD NO. 1; Peter Hitt, John Joseph Martin and Tillman Weaver of the 1714 Colony and their Descendents" has on page 9 the following list of the children of Peter Hitt the immigrant:
John Hitt, b. 1715, m. Sarah Pace
Joseph Hitt, b. 1717, m. Mary Coons
Henry Hitt, b. 1719, m. Alice Holtzclaw
Harman Hitt, b. 1721, m. Mary Weaver
Mary Hitt, b. 1723, m. Joel Martin
Peter Hitt, b. 1726, m. Sarah James, April 27, 1759
The author, Charles Huffman, cites as the source of this information the "Journal of the Society of Germanna Colonies", Vol. 1, No. 3, page 79. Dr. Huffman points out that the husband of Mary Hitt is wrong and that the husband of John Hitt is doubtful, and as to the dates he says that they seem about right. On page 188 of Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750 (GERMANNA RECORD NO. 5; The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies, 1964) the author, B. C. Holtsclaw, states that Peter Hitt's children were born between 1715 and 1726.
Several issues of the "Journal" were published prior to the last meeting of the Society of Germanna Colonies in 1954 and prior to the formation of the Memorial Foundation of Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc. in 1956. No evidence was presented in the "Journal" for the specific birth years or the order of the children, and no one has subsequently been able to produce any evidence. The birth years are purely conjectural. There is a list of the children in the father's will, and it may be that they are in descending age order in the will. All we can say with assurance is that Peter Hitt had these six children in roughly speaking the period between 1715 and 1726.
For an opinion as to the usefulness of the "Journal" see notes 576 and 577 at
homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhs24.html.
For convenience I have used the same date range (1715--1726), and I have listed the sons in the order in which they appear in Peter Hitt's will. I am not aware of any evidence that supports the specific dates. Where the children were born (Germanna or Germantown) depends on when they were born. Germanna was in Essex Co. until Spotsylvania Co. was formed in 1721. It is today in Orange Co., which was formed in 1734. Germantown is today in Fauquier Co., which was formed in 1759 from Prince William Co., which in turn was formed in 1731 from the western part of Stafford Co.
WILL and PROBATE:
Fauquier Co., Virginia Will Book 1, pg 200:
In the name of God amen the 23d day of March in the [year] of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Seventy two I Peter Hitt of the County of Fauquier being Weak of Body but of perfect mind & memory thanks be to God for it do make and ordain this my last will & Testament that is to say I give & devise in the following Manner & form
Imprimis I give & bequeath to Elizabeth my beloved wife all my Estate during her natural Life Item I give to my son John Hitt my Negroe Woman Judy & my Negroe boy George. Item I give & bequeath to my son Joseph Hitt my Negroe man called Young Tom. Item I give & bequeath to my son Harman Hitt my negroe girl Hannah & my Negroe man called Old tom. Item I give & bequeath to my son Peter Hitt my Negroe boy Called by the name of Ben Item I give & bequeath to my daughter Mary Rector one hundred acres of Land being the plantition [sic] Whereon I now live & my Negroe boy named Moses. Item I give to my son Henry Hitt one hundred Pounds Cash which is all he is to have of my Estate Item my will & desire is that after the decease of my wife all my Estate is is [sic] not herein mentioned be sold to the highest bider [sic] & the Money arising therefrom be Equally divided amongst all my Children hereafter named that is to say John, Joseph, Harman, Peter, & Mary. And Lastly I do nominate & appoint my two sons Harman Hitt & Joseph Hitt Exec'rs of this my Last Will & Testament In Witness whereof I have thereunto set my hand & seal the day & Year first above Written. In the presence of
Harman (his R mark) Rector Joseph Taylor
John Morgan Harman Rector
Peter (his P mark) Hitt (LS)
At a Court held for Fauquier County the 27th day of July 1772 This will was proved by the oaths of Harman Rector & Joseph Taylor Witnesses thereto & ordered to be Recorded & on the motion of Harman Hitt & Joseph Hitt Exec'rs therein Named who made oath & Executed & acknowledges [sic] bond as the Law directs Certificate is granted them for attaining a probat thereof in due form
Teste J. Brooks CC
On page 204 there is an inventory of the estate of Peter Hitt dated September 24, 1772. Included are
<pre>
One Negroe Youngtom £50
Old Tom £30
Negroe Jude & child Charles £90
Negroe Moses £40
Negroe Ben £30
Negroe Hannah £50
4 feather beds & furniture £20 10s
Cash on hand £59 1s
31 head of cattle £37
27 head of hogs £9 9s
3 old horses £7
</pre>
There are 40 other items. Most are worth less than £1 and all are worth less than £2. The total value is £443 11s.
General Notes: Wife - Elizabeth Otterbach
Ellsbeth Otterbach was christened the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 1689; godmother, Ellsbeth, wife of Johann Becker.
DEATH DATE:
The first item in Peter Hitt's will written in May 1772 is the following: "I give and bequest to Elizabeth, my beloved wife, all of my estate to use during her natural life." He then alots certain slaves to 3 of his sons and £100 to his son Henry, and then he bequeaths to his daughter Mary Rector "one hundred acres of land, being the plantation where I now live, and my Negro boy named Moses". He then states that after the death of his wife, the remainder of his estate is to be sold and the proceeds distributed equally among his children with the exception of Henry.
I interpret this to mean that the widow retains everything including slaves and land during her lifetime. Since Mary and her husband Jacob Rector sold their inherited land in 1773, I assume that her mother died in 1772 or 1773.
1 B. C. Holtzclaw, Ancestors and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750, 1964; Germanna Record No. 5; The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, pg 482.
2
Earl J. Hitt, "http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com db: hitthaynie."
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