Over two years ago I wrote a short article for the Summer 1994 issue of Mock Family Historian on the George and Esther Mock/Mack Family of Montgomery County, PA. In that article I concluded with the following, which comes from a Pennsylvania German Society article entitled "Mills On the Macoby and Swamp Creeks":
"In Douglass township the natural drainage is good, and perpetual springs rise in many places, forming the headwaters of three streams, among them Swamp creek, and along its banks are old mills still doing business. John Penn, brother of William Penn, conveyed to Samuel McCall in 1735 a tract on which is the well known Himmelwright mill........McCall sold the property to John MOCK, progenitor of the MOCK families, who are among the foremost among the Mennonites of Pennsylvania. As early as 1758 there was a mill in operation on this site. The MOCK families conducted the mill for several generations, when it was sold to Ezra Schultz, a well known Schwenkfelder."
This information creates more mystery than it solves, for this is
the only indication that the Montgomery County MOCK/MACKs were Mennonite.
Surely a thorough study of early
land records is called for, in order to better understand the above
families, their relationships, and their contributions to the development
of early Pennsylvania."
[End of first Article]
[CLICK
HERE to read original "George and Esther MACK" article.]
Last month [September 1996] I found an obscure article on microfiche
at the Sutro Library
in San Francisco called " The History of Hereford Mennonite Congregation
at Bally, PA."
From this article, in conjunction with two published genealogies
of related families,
I was able to learn a great deal about the Mennonite MACKS of Pennsylvania.
Firstly, the Hereford Mennonite Church is located in Berks County,
very near the border
with Montgomery County, in a little village now called Bally, but
once called Churchville -
and before that, called Goshenhoppen. The original church
building was established prior to 1732, rebuilt in 1755, and torn down
in 1899, when the new and present building was constructed. At that
time, 1899, the officiating minister and Bishop was Andrew S. MACK.
Secondly, while on my way to the Mock Conference in the Shenandoah
Valley, I took a
day to do research at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg,
VA (Oct.9, 1996).
There I found the book "Noah H. Mack - His Life and Times 1861-1948"
by J. Paul Graybill,
Ira D. Landis, and J. Paul Sauder. Noah Mack was a son of
the above Andrew S. Mack,
and also became a Bishop of the Mennonite Church. Regarding
the ancestory of this
Mack family, the authors write, "Present research would point to
the line from the John
[Mack] of New Goshenhoppen through William via George to Peter,
who we are certain
was born March 5, 1784, and died February 14, 1815. He lived
in the Hereford community
of Berks County [PA]."
I don't know what records prove the birth date of the above Peter
Mack, but I am willing
to accept the authors' statements in this regard. For indeed
we do find a Peter MACK in
the old records of "Great Swamp Church (Evangelical Reformed)" in
Lower Milford Township, Lehigh Co. PA:
"Peter MACK, born March 5, 1784, to George MACK and wife [not named];
Sponsors were Peter Eberhard and
wife."
Also recorded in the Great Swamp records, from 1771 to 1786, are
the births of five
daughters to a George MACK. One record names the wife of George
as Barbara.
However, we have no guarantee all of these births were by the same
wife, or
for that matter, the same George MACK. Further research may
better identify this
George MACK, but for now it appears that he is definitely the progenitor
of the
Mennonite MACKS in early Pennsylvania.
One side note - while at Eastern Mennonite University, I met briefly
with the President,
Joseph E. Lapp (not directly connected to my Lapp ancestors), and
discovered that his
wife is the former Hannah Mack, a descendant from the above Pennsylvania
MACKS.
I have prepared a brief chart, beginning with Peter MACK, showing
just some of the
descendants of this noteworthy Family:
1.PETER MACK, born March 5, 1784 to GEORGE MACK, and baptized at
Great Swamp Church in Lehigh Co, PA,
married Elizabeth MOYER/MEYER born 1779.
11.Lydia MACK married SCHWENK
12.William MACK born @ 1810, married Anna FUNK in 1833, dau.
of Rev.Henry Funk and Mary Hoch.
Family appears in 1850 Census for
Douglas Township, Montgomery Co. PA.
121.Mary MACK b.1834
married Ezra Moll
1211.Harry Moll
122. Enos MACK b.1836,
lived in Douglas Twp.
1221.Amanda MACK
123.Samuel F. MACK b.15 Mar
1838 in Berks Co.PA married Sarah Barr on 3 Nov 1864.
In 1899 he was a retail grocer and resided at 2301 6th and Dauphin St.,
Philadelphia, PA.
1231.Harry T. MACK b.3 Nov 1865, died 10 Dec 1895.
1232.William T.MACK b. 13 Jult 1867, d.30 Aug 1867.
1233.Irwin H. MACK b.4 Nov 1870, married Annie Miller. He
was a Music
Publisher, and @1899 lived at 3243 N.13th St., Philadelphia, PA.
12331.Irene Mack
1234.Charles A. MACK b.3 Aug 1876, married Florence E. Price,
@1899 resided
at 2301 N.6th St., Philadelphia - was a Bookeeper.
124.Elizabeth MACK b.
8 Mar 1841, married Rev. William B. Fox on 5 June 1863.
They were Evangelical Lutheran, and @1899 resided
in Sumneytown, PA.
125.Sarah MACK b.31 Oct
1842, married Cornelius Rickert, Coal Miner.
@1899 they resided in Williamstown PA.
126.John MACK b.12 Sep
1846, married Lydia Greismer on 17 May 1880.
@1899 resided at 2203 Franklin St., Philadelphia.
Salesman.
1261.Anna Syvilla MACK b.20 May 1881
1262.Mary Estella MACK b.7 Jan 1885
127.Leanna MACK b.28
Sep 1848, married Rev. A.A.DeLong on 19 Nov 1872.
128.Caroline MACK b.1851.
13.Jesse MACK born about 1812, married Susan STAUFFER in 1835,
Montgomery Co. PA
131.[Bishop] Andrew S.
MACK b.16 Oct 1836, married Elizabeth Bechtel HALTEMAN on 4 Dec 1859.
She was b. 24 Mar 1842, died 2 Jan 1924. Her parents were Noah F.
HALTEMAN and
Susan Bechtel, and her grandparents were Benjamin Halteman
and Fannie FUNK.
Fannie FUNK was born Lehigh Co. PA on 28 Dec 1792 and was
a sister of Andrew's
grandfather Rev. Henry FUNK.
@1899 Andrew and family lived at Bally, PA, where he was
minister at Hereford Mennonite
Church. Andrew was ordained in 1863.
1311.[Bishop] Noah H. MACK b. 1 Feb 1861, married Lizzie Sensenig 23 Dec
1882.
@1899 they resided at Farmersville, PA where he taught school.
In 1900 he was ordained as a Mennonite Minister at Groffdale, Lancaster
Co.PA.
For 8 years he was an instructor for special Bible terms at Eastern Mennonite
School
in Harrisonburg, VA, which work he resigned in 1933. He died 31 Oct
1948.
1312.Emma H. MACK b. 13 Sep 1863, married
Isaiah Rickert.
1313.Susanna MACK b. 13 Sep 1863, died
28 Nov 1868.
1314.Jesse H. MACK b. 25 Sep 1865, married
Mary Mensch.
1315.Eli H.
MACK b. 13 Dec 1867, married Elmira Schultz.
1316.Lizzie H. MACK b. 27 Apr 1873.
132.John MACK
133.Henry MACK
----------------------------------------------------
In 1786, Henry Funk, [probably the son of Mennonite Bishop
Henry Funck, who supervised the
translation of the "Martyrs Mirror" at Ephrata Cloisters in 1748],
with all his family, except his eldest son JACOB, moved to Virginia, where
he lived, prospered and died. They all settled in Rockingham County,
about eight miles north of the city of Harrisonburg. This Henry Funk
had 13 children. JACOB is the father of the Rev. Henry Funk whose
daughter Anna married William MACK, delineated above.
-----------------------------------------------------
SOURCES: History of Hereford Mennonite Congregation at Bally,
PA [Microfiche at Sutro Library]
A Genealogical Record of Christian and
Hans Meyer, by Rev. A.J.Fretz, 1896.
Funk Family History, by John F. Funk, 1899.
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