JOHAN JAKOB AND ELIZABETH SCHWENK
Johan Jakob Schwenk was born about 1783 in Pennsylvania. (1)
Married Elizabeth Geissel before 1807, possibly in Montgomery County, Pa. (2)
Children: (3)
Jacob, born Jan. 10, 1807.
Johann, born Feb. 10, 1809.
Hannah, born Sept. 27, 1810. Married George Erb.
Wilhelm, born Aug. 10, 1812.
Nancy, born Sept. 22, 1821.
Hieronymous, born Jan. 27, 1826.
The Schwenks probably had other children between 1812 and 1821 but these do not appear in the records of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Zelienople, which records the confirmations and baptisms of the children listed above.
The Schwenks lived in southeastern Pennsylvania until about 1826, when they moved to Zelienople in Butler County, which is in the western part of the state. Baptismal records in Butler County indicate that Nancy was born in Frederick Township, Montgomery County, in 1821 and Hieronymous was born in Roxbury Township, Philadelphia County, in January 1826. Their father, Jakob, died in Zelienople on June 21, 1827.
After Jakob’s death, Elizabeth may have remarried. On Sept. 30, 1832, an Elizabeth Schwenk married Martin Bast of Zelienople. (4) However, since Elizabeth and Jakob may have had children other than those listed above, the woman who married Martin Bast may have been a child of the Schwenks.
(1) Date from death record in "St. Paul’s German Lutheran and Reformed Church, Zelienople, Butler County, Pennsylvania," transcribed by Gertrude M. Zieger, page 148. Place is indicated in the 1880 Census of Franklin Township, Beaver County, Pa., which says the parents of Hannah Erb were both born in Pennsylvania. (2) St. Paul’s records, page 26. (3) St. Paul’s records: Jacob and Johann, page 3; Hannah, page 5; Wilhelm, page 6; and Nancy and Hieronymous, page 26. (4) St. Paul’s records, page 106.