Pastor John Emmert was born in 1778 in Bethel Twp., Berks Co., PA. He married
Nancy Avey about 1801. He died in May 1820 in Tilghmanton, Washington Co., MD,
Biography -- (via Findagrave.com):
John Emmert was born on about July 15, 1778 in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the very young (and not certain to endure) United States of America. John’s parents were John Leonard Emmert and Catherine Marie (Gunkel) Emmert.
NOTE: There were several lines of Emmerts in American colonial history, with several spellings of the family name. The Emmerick, Emerts, and Emmerts came from a distinguished ancestry dating back to the Crusades in medieval history when one Emerick, a German knight, became a distinguished Crusader to the Holy Land. We are, however, only concerned here with the Emmerts who descended from Johan Michael “John” Emmert and Maria Barbara (Heyder) Emmert, through John Leonard Emmert (the “old Dunker pathfinder” of Maryland history), to Pastor John Emmert.
John Leonard Emmert was born in Lancaster (later Berks) County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America in 1745. His parents were immigrants from Bavaria (part of modern-day Germany) who became naturalized British subject on September 15, 1751. Both John Leonard and his father, George (John Jorig Frederich) Emmert, fought against the British in the American Revolution.
Catherine Marie Gunkel was born in Lancaster (later Berks) County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America in 1749. Her parents were immigrants from Saxony, part of modern-day Germany.
There was apparently an Emmert family schism in the late 1780s when John Leonard turned his back on the family’s Lutheran faith, and embraced the newer Brethren faith. This may explain John Leonard’s being disfavored in his father’s will – he was bequeathed £50 and other minor gifts, possibly just enough to guard against a challenge to the will – while younger brother Martin received the family plantation. It may also explain the move in about 1798 to Washington County, Maryland where John Leonard and his family settled among a very devout and enthusiastic group of Brethren pioneers who had been holding services in their houses and barns since about 1790.
In Maryland, John Leonard purchased a 410-acre farm in 1798 situated on the banks of Antietam Creek where Beaver Creek flows into it at a point called the “Devil's Backbone.”
A log-bodied church was built in that place in about 1799 with John Leonard having charge under the direction of Pastor David Long, Sr. As a result, many more Brethren began purchasing land and settling in the vicinity.
John Emmert grew to adulthood and married Nancy Avey in about 1800. John was 22 years old; Nancy was just 16 years old in 1800.
Nancy Avey was probably born about April 27, 1784 in the vicinity of the Jerusalem and Upper Antietam Hundreds near Mount Zion, Maryland. Her parents were Henry Avey (1753–1828) and Mary Elizabeth Metzger Avey (1760–1839). Henry and Mary Elizabeth were both first-generation native-born Americans, the children of Swiss immigrants. Nancy’s grandfather, Dr. Johann “John” Valentin Metzger, probably served as a physician and surgeon on General George Washington's medical staff, and was reportedly with the Continental Army during the winter encampment at Valley Forge.
John Leonard Emmert died before September 9, 1804, that being the date his will was presented to the county register. All his children were well-provided for. John received the 100-acres where his family then lived, a £600 cash bequest (reduced by the £110.9.3 he had already received), the fruit from a row of apple trees for seven years, and one of his father's bibles.
John Emmert continued in the “Old Pathfinder’s” footsteps, being elected to the ministry in his youth. At the time, Daniel Reichard and David Long were active in the ministry and reportedly needed help to care for the scattered settlers around Washington County.
In addition to young John, John Leonard’s sons Leonard and Joseph were also called to the ministry, and would devote their lives to the service of the Brethren church.
In addition to his pastoral duties, John Emmert had at least nine children with Nancy: daughters Lida in 1801, Sarah in 1802, Elizabeth in 1805, Nancy in 1815, and Barbara in 1820; and sons Joseph in 1803, David in 1804, and George in 1809. Barbara, who was born just month's before her father's death, is the author’s maternal 2nd great-grandmother.
John continued to farm and improve his inherited land, and in about 1811 built a fine stone house and barn near his father's house and within a short walk of his beloved church. These buildings all stood against the elements for 208 years ... until 2019 when a man named Robert Householder of Smithsburg bought the land, then demolished the structures because he said they would interfere with the view from the house he plans to build on higher ground. Perhaps to ensure that he is never forced to reconstruct the historic dwelling, Mr. Household paid to have the home's stones mechanically ground to dust, presumably including the archstone above the hearth inscribed "1811." Sadly, Mr. Householder's wife claims to be an Emmert descendant.
On April 24, 1820, John made his will. Using many of the same words his father had used in making his own will, John stated that he was “weak in body but of sound understanding thanks be to God and knowing that it is appointed for all flesh to yield to death ….” John recommended his soul to “almighty God who gave it hoping through the merits of Jesus Christ to inherit the kingdom of Heaven prepared for his elect and chosen as it hath pleased God to bless me with,” then went on to settle his worldly affairs while giving Nancy significant authority in matters of property.
John’s will was, for its day, a model of equity and empowerment of his wife, Nancy. Maddeningly, however — at least for genealogical purposes — John neither recited the names of his children then living, nor did he even state how many children he and Nancy had had together.
Although he was still a young man, John Emmert went to his eternal reward within a month of making his will. Church historians teach that John died while he was “resting from his labors on the hilltop above his ancestral home, known in history as ‘Delemere’.” This was probably just a few days before May 22, 1820 when his will was submitted to the Washington County Register.
John was reportedly buried beside his father and mother in the family burying ground on the hill overlooking the Emmert homestead. John was probably the only son of John Leonard who was buried there, and a small white marble slab is said to have marked his grave.
EPILOGUE
John’s legacy included his remarkable son, David (1804-1857), who married Susan Price, the daughter of one of the Brethren church’s founders in America. David served in the Pennsylvania legislature in the 1830s, then emigrated with his family to northwest Illinois in 1840.
The David Emmert clan arrived on the prairie with no grubstake, and with only their initiative, intelligence, and willingness to work hard. But the family’s central role in the erection and operation of the first gristmill in the region, their successful efforts to relocate the county seat to Mount Carroll and build a courthouse, and donating the land for the city’s first cemetery, make David and Susan Emmert the true founders of the modern-day City of Mount Carroll.
With his political experience as a Whig in the Pennsylvania legislature, David Emmert was instrumental in helping to secure from the federal government the fair sale of Public Lands to settlers already living in northwestern Illinois in the 1840s. David and Susan were also early supporters of the Mount Carroll Seminary, and David served as one its incorporators 1852. David served as one of the county’s first judges, and sat on the first board of directors of the Savanna Branch Railroad in 1849. And in 1852 David helped his son, Jacob P. Emmert, start the Carroll County Republican, the area’s first newspaper.
As remarkable as David’s business achievements were, after he retired from commerce in about 1853, David Emmert helped found the first Brethren church at Arnold’s Grove, and was chosen to the church’s ministry. In those days the church called only men who had demonstrated their business ability and leadership, and who had proven the stability of their character. However, his early and unexpected death on September 30, 1857 near his Mount Carroll home cut short his religious mission.
Inspired by David Emmert’s great success, many other Emmerts emigrated to Illinois, including David’s brothers Joseph, David, George and Jonathan; and David’s sisters Nancy, who emigrated as a widow and remarried, and the author’s 2nd great-grandmother, Barbara, who married David E. Kingery from Sharpsburg, Maryland.
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Researched and written by P. A. White, JD
2019 for @NewWorldAncestry at Shorewood, Wisconsin – All Rights Reserved
Subject’s relation to author: 3rd great-grandfather
Sources: Jerry Maurice Henry, HISTORY OF THE BRETHREN IN MARYLAND (Brethren Publishing House, 1936). Others upon request, based on need.
He was buried in 1820 in Emmert Graveyard, Tilghmanton, Washington Co., MD,
Findagrave #81826953
THE EMMERT GRAVEYARD
The Emmert Graveyard is located on private land about 350 meters southwest of the Manor Church of the Brethren in Tilghmanton. The earliest recorded burial here was of family patriarch, the “Old Pathfinder” John Leonard Emmert, in September of 1804.
Most grave markers here are of simple fieldstone in keeping with the great modesty of Brethren faithful in those days. Only a few stones have any kind of identifying marks, and those few are mostly illegible.
For more than a century, the Emmert Graveyard lay in an open pasture and was lovingly maintained by the Emmert family. However, sale of the surrounding properties to outsiders inspired Miss Helen Emmert in 1932 to arrange for the purchase of the 32’x34’ graveyard plot in fee, and to fund the erection of a sturdy limestone wall and inscribed stone plaque commemorating John Leonard Emmert and his kin. The deeded conveyance (May 26, 1934, Liber No. 196, Folio No. 122, Washington County Land Records) also included a permanent right of ingress and egress benefiting only the heirs and descendants of John Leonard Emmert.
As of 2019, access to the Emmert Graveyard can be arranged through Mr. Russell Wolfinger, the current owner/occupant of the surrounding land and stone house that John Leonard Emmert started building in 1798. Please be courteous and respectful when contacting Mr. Wolfinger, and be prepared to explain your genealogical connection to the Emmert family.
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Researched and written by P. A. White, JD
2019 for @NewWorldAncestry at Shorewood, Wisconsin – All Rights Reserved
Subject’s relation to author: 3rd great-grandfather
Sources: Jerry Maurice Henry, HISTORY OF THE BRETHREN IN MARYLAND (Brethren Publishing House, 1936). Others upon request, based on need.