JOHAN MELCHIOR STOCK, second son of Johann Melchior and Anna Catharina (Blindry) Stock, was born 2 December 1725 in Neuffen, Wuerttemberg, Germany. He was baptized there the following day.⁽³⁾ While family tradition⁽⁴⁾ tells that his father was "one of three brothers, Lutheran ministers, who came to this country from Switzerland or southern Germany about 1725," that story has not been substantiated.⁽⁵⁾ Moreover, the record of Melchior's 1765 naturalization as a "foreign protestant" provides convincing evidence that he was, himself, the immigrant.⁽⁶⁾

Shortly before his 22nd birthday, he and ANNA LAUBERTER(-IN), a serving maid from Reutlingen, eloped to Switzerland where he enlisted for military service in Gorinchem, Holland. Upon returning to Neuffen alone, he explained that they had been married in Gorinchem⁽⁷⁾ but Anna had subsequently died, so he deserted and came back home.⁽⁸⁾

Melchior had hoped to re-marry after returning to Neuffen from Holland, but Anna's relatives, not believing his explanation, convinced the authorities not to permit it. Consequently, he moved in February, 1749, to Stammheim, near Stuttgart, where he unsuccessfully sought citizenship, marriage, and permission to pursue his trade as journeyman mason.

In Stammheim, Melchior approached URSULA⁽⁹⁾ KOEMPF STEINLIN, born 8 March 1728, daughter of the late Mayor Koempf and widow of the mason Steinler, and soon made her an offer of marriage. They were engaged 23 April 1749. They were not permitted to marry, however, because Stammheim authorities were also unable to confirm Melchior's explanation of the disappearance of his previous wife. The birth on 8 January 1750 of his and Ursula's daughter, Anna Catharina, further complicated matters. Although their pastor tried to help Melchior to receive citizenship and get permission to marry Ursula, his church superiors would not permit it. Before the end of the year a second child was on the way. This was too much for the authorities to tolerate. Church records of 30 April 1751 stated, "to Pennsylvania."⁽¹⁰⁾ This was their last appearance in German sources. Their second child, a son, Johan Matthias, appears to have been born about that time.

In America, Ursula's given name appears in the birth records of two of their five known sons. Nothing has been found to suggest it is other than she who died in the Indian attack on the family home in August of 1780. Local historians believe she and the other family members who died in the attack were buried near the spring over which their cabin was built. Informal grave markers were said to have been visible until they disappeared some time in the early 1900's.

Melchior married for the last time in 1782, to ANNA MARY ARNOLD.⁽¹¹⁾ Nothing has yet been found to document her family or their life during the following 15 years of their marriage except that she is mentioned by name in Melchior's 1797 will. Local historians say the two of them were buried at nearby Salem (Row's) Lutheran Church, but their gravestones have not survived. Burial records from the period do not appear to be extant.

After their apparently unwilling departure from Germany, we believe Melchior and Ursula came first to Heidelberg, Pennsylvania to begin life anew. Heidelberg, one of five communities by that name in Pennsylvania at the time, is today known as Schaefferstown. It is located in the Tulpehocken District of what was then Lancaster, now Lebanon, County. They first attended church six miles to the northeast, just across the Berks County line, at Christ Lutheran Church (Tulpehocken).

The earliest reference to Melchior in New World records occurs in a 1765 affidavit sworn to by two of his neighbors. They affirmed to Berks County Justice Peter Spycker that as early as 1753 he "did erect and made a certain Buildings and other Improvements and did Dwelt or live in said Buildings ... on Middle Creek ..." That location is some fifty miles northwest of Heidelberg on a western tributary of the Susquehanna River. It lies in today's Snyder, then Cumberland, County. The affidavit goes on to state that he had a "House & some clear Land & Inhabited till drove off by Indian War in 1755."⁽¹²⁾

He appeared almost as early in two Lancaster County records. The first was his assessment c.1760 in Heidelberg Township at the rate for a renter.⁽¹³⁾ The second was his mention in a 1762 Heidelberg town lot deed as an adjoiner.⁽¹⁴⁾ A 1756 tax list for Heidelberg Township, Lancaster County, mentions a John Stock paying 2s. 4p., an amount levied on renters, but we can not be certain this is the same man.⁽¹⁵⁾

Their earliest appearance in contemporary church records is the presentation for baptism of his and Ursula's son, Joh: Michael, born 26 September 1754. Parish books of the Tulpehocken church happily mention Ursula by name.⁽¹⁶⁾ Records of their activities continue to be found there until the time the more convenient St. Luke's Church in Heidelberg was established.

At this point we must consider whether the man who applied for Cumberland County land and the man who lived in Lancaster County are the same person, or are different persons with similar names. The rationale for believing they are the same person is based on both the location and the timing of the events:

I believe the location and timing of these events are significant. Stock's application in Berks County, Stok's naturalization within days, the issuance of the warrant for Middle Creek land shortly afterward -- these do not prove, but strongly suggest to me, that the same person is involved.

Although Melchior was said to have occupied his Middle Creek land as early as 1753, it is clear that he returned often to the Tulpehocken District during the years 1754-1766. For example, "Mason Stock" was paid £3 16s.11p. for stone work at Tulpehocken Church in 1755. In November 1761, he and Ursula presented another son, his namesake, John Melchior, Jr., for baptism there. In 1764, "Mason Melchior Stock" was paid £7 15s. for repairs to the parsonage and garden there. And in 1765 and 1766, sons Matthias and Peter were confirmed there.⁽²⁰⁾

The likelihood, then, is that Melchior Stock came to the Tulpehocken District in early 1751. By 1 March 1753 he had searched for and taken possession of frontier land approximately 50 miles to the northwest. As weather permitted, he began to clear and improve the land so his family could join him. He also had to accumulate enough savings to make the land his. It is likely he returned from time to time to his family and worked at his trade⁽²¹⁾ to provide for their needs.

His right to settle on the western side of the Susquehanna River could have been questioned. On 22 August 1749, Provincial Authorities purchased land on the eastern side from the Six Nations. There was disagreement, however, as to whether the agreed-on purchase price had ever been fully paid. Despite that, settlers continued to move into the eastern lands, and soon began to encroach on Indian lands west of the river. To keep the peace, negotiations were undertaken to purchase some of the lands to the west. On 6 July 1754 a deed between the Provincial Authorities and the Six Nations was signed. That briefly eased the way for the frontier settlers. The following year, however, things took a turn for the worse.

The outbreak of the Seven Years' War in Europe had led to conflict between the British and French in the New World. In 1755, British and colonial governments sent General Edward Braddock into western Pennsylvania to dislodge the French and their Indian allies. The English officer was ignorant of the methods of Indian warfare, however, and his army was almost totally annihilated on 9 July 1755. Now with encouragement and participation of the French, Indians began attacking the settlements along the Susquehanna.

The resulting conflict, known in this country as the French and Indian War, had a severe impact on those trying to take up new land. On 16 October 1755 a party of Indians attacked and killed settlers on Penn's Creek, just a few miles north of Melchior's land. Frequent Indian raids in the following years drove settlers away to places of safety.

Melchior's status was improved somewhat by the October 1758 Treaty at Easton where chiefs of the Six Nations executed releases for an area which included his land along Middle Creek. Things quieted a bit further upon signing of the Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1763 in which the French gave up most of their claims to American territories. The issue was only finally settled, however, when the Treaty of 1768 retired all Indian claims to the lands in northern Pennsylvania. On 3 April 1769, the Philadelphia Land Office was opened to permit new settlers to take up land in the New Purchase.⁽²²⁾

The difficulties of improving and defending his new land for more than a decade must have made those years seem especially discouraging to Melchior and his family. But we know he did not stay away from his new land for long. When established settlers were authorized to make the land officially theirs, he began the process. The first step was to apply for a warrant; this he did in 1765.

Melchior's first assessment in his new home, in the area then known as Penn Township, Northumberland County, was probably in 1772.⁽²³⁾ In that same year, he was issued three more warrants for a total of 255 acres of land along the north banks of Middle Creek.⁽²⁴⁾

By this time, Melchior and several other residents of the area had joined themselves together to form what is known today as Salem (Row's) Lutheran and Reformed Church. Melchior was one of the trustees appointed to patent land for the new church⁽²⁵⁾ and was one of its earliest deacons.⁽²⁶⁾ His name heads the first list of communicants in 1789.⁽²⁷⁾

The first baptisms are recorded in 1774, and "Melcher" Stock and his wife "Orphla"⁽²⁸⁾ were godparents to a baptism in the first month. Their names, and the names of their sons' families, appear with regularity in the church records of the following years.

Melchior must also have begun to attain prominence as one of the larger landholders in the Middle Creek area. He appears to have been a Constable in Penn Township in 1777⁽²⁹⁾ and was taxed with a valuation of £425 in 1778-80.⁽³⁰⁾ He sent three, possibly four, sons to military service in the Revolutionary War. They served brief enlistments both as Privates in the Continental Line, and as "Rangers on the Frontier" during the frequent Indian raids during the years 1778-83.⁽³¹⁾

On 3 July 1778, the infamous Wyoming Massacre in the eastern portion of Northumberland County threw the whole county into a panic, resulting in "The Great Runaway." Hundreds of settlers took all they could carry and streamed down the Tulpehocken Path and the Susquehanna River to what they hoped would be a safer place. In the years 1778, 1779 and 1780, scarcely a month passed without bringing news of attack on another settler's family.

By August 1780, the increasing frequency of renewed Indian raids only a few miles to the north had thoroughly alarmed the 400 families in the area protected by soldiers from Fort Augusta.⁽³²⁾ Although obviously aware of the danger of attack, Melchior's family did not go to the relative safety of the Tulpehocken District as many of their neighbors had done by this time.

Few details of the Indian attack on Melchior's family in August 1780 have been found in contemporary records but memory of the event seems to have persisted in the oral tradition. A detailed account occurred in the 1857 edition of Otzinachson, or a History of the West Branch (of the Susquehanna River).⁽³³⁾ Family tradition concerning what came to be known as the Stock Family Massacre is recounted in Appendix B. What can be documented is that Mrs. Melchior Stock, a son, and a pregnant daughter-in-law, were killed by Indians.⁽³⁴⁾

Tradition identifies the son as Conrad, the daughter-in-law as Michael's first wife, and adds to the number of casualties two unmarried daughters of Melchior and an infant grandchild.

Family sources have questioned whether the Stock Family might have been singled out for the attack and, if so, why that might have been. Stories persist. One suggests that their cabin was at the intersection of two important Indian trading paths. Another says that Melchior had been abusive to Indians in the past and this was their way of taking revenge. No traces of either explanation appear in the sources. Since preserved reports from nearby Fort Augusta speak of continuing Indian depredations throughout the area during the period, it seems likely that the only reason the Stocks were attacked was that they had remained when most of their neighbors had fled to safety.

Melchior did not stay away from his Middle Creek home for long after the event. His tax assessments for the following decade have been preserved⁽³⁵⁾ and give a dramatic picture of his improving situation. We know that he remarried during this time. There is a record that he "and wife" were godparents to the baptism of his grandson, Melchor III, in October 1785.⁽³⁶⁾

Melchior appears in the 1790 Federal Census for Northumberland County with a household of four persons. On 25 November 1796, he finally patented the land he had held for over 40 years. The name given to the property was "Pembroke."⁽³⁷⁾ The significance, if any, of choosing that name has not been determined.

On 25 December 1797, Melchior Stock executed his Last Will & Testament.⁽³⁸⁾ The signature is that of an aged and infirm testator. The will was probated the following May. Among his effects listed in the inventory were "some carpenter and mason tools."⁽³⁹⁾

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The documented children of Melchior and Ursula (Koempf) Stock were:

i. Anna Catharina Stock, b. 08 Jan 1749/1750; d. ?

ii. Joh: Matthius Stock, b. 02 Apr or 25 Jul 1751; d. 25 Sep 1824

iii. Joh: Peter Stock, b. Dec 1752; d. 23 May 1797

iv. Joh: Michael Stock, b. 26 Sep 1754; d. 25 Mar 1832

v. Joh: George Stock, b. after 1755; d. 2 May 1837

vi. Joh: Melchior Stock, Jr., b. 14 Oct 1761; d. 22 Sep 1832

Family tradition adds these three:

vii. Conrad

viii. Elizabeth

ix. Dorothea

If numbers vii, viii and ix are correct, Conrad could be the son sources say died in the August 1780 Indian massacre, and Elizabeth and Dorothea could be the unnamed daughters tradition says died in the same incident.

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The first of our forefathers were three brothers, all Lutheran Ministers, that came to this country from Switzerland or Southern Germany, some time between 1725 and 1735. One our fore-father, settled in Lancaster Co. Pa. One settled in one of the southeren states. One was lost and never heard from any more. It is supposed he was killed by the Indians.

Melchor Stuck was born in Lancaster Co. Pa. some time between 1730 & 1735. His oldest son Michal was born Sept. 26 1754. The dates of the births of the following children are not known. Conradt, Melchor, Jr. Elizabeth & Dorothea. He had more children but their names cannot be found. Melchor Stuck, Sr., came to Middlecreek, Snyder Co. Pa. in 1763.

In the year 1781, one day, as Melchor Stuck and three sons were at work in a field, at a distance from the house, clearing out the timber, a party of thirty Indians approached, but seeing that they were all stout men, well armed, and on their guard, left them undisturbed, and passed on toward the house. Near the house, they saw another son, plowing in the field, whom they instantly shot. Then hurrying toward the house, with their fiendish yells, they siezed the terrified and helpless women, Mrs. Melchor Stuck and her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Michal Stuck and a little child of Mr. and Mrs. Michal Stuck, of about two years of age. The old mother bravely defended herself with a canoe pole, as she endeavored to reach her husband and sons, in the clearing, but the fatal stroke of the tomehawk ended her life, and she was immediately scalped. They then plundered the premises, and dragged the daughter-in-law, Mrs. Michal Stuck (who was soon to become a mother) with them, as their captive, but being overcome with terror, she fainted away, and they were compelled to drag her into the woods, and killed and scalped her too. The alarm was at once given, and the Indians were pursued by three experienced Indian hunters, namely, Grove, Pence, and Stroh, who led in rapid pursuit, and overtook the fugitives, before they reached New York State, and while they were sleeping around their camp-fire at night, they were suddenly attacked by the pursuers, and many of the Indians were killed, and the rest put to precipitous flight. They returned bringing the scalps of the Indians with them, as the evidence, that the dreadful massacre had been avenged with the blood and lives of the murderers. This happened at Middlecreek where the old log house still stands and is being preserved by the government.

My father John Stuck says from there on his grandfather was the death on Indians, and killed every one he caught sight of.

1. In contemporary documents the given name appeared variously as Melker, Melchor, Melchoir, or even Melliher. The surname appeared variously as Stock, Stok or Stoke. In two known family lines, the surname change to Stuck occurred between 1820 and 1830.

2. Melchior's land was part of Cumberland County from its erection in 1750 until Northumberland County came into being in 1772. It was in Northumberland County for the remainder of Melchior's lifetime. In 1813, Union County was erected and had jurisdiction. Snyder County came into being in 1855. It has held jurisdiction over that part of Pennsylvania until the present day. The township in which his land was located variously been called Penn's Manor, Pennsborough, Penn, Penn's and Middlecreek.

3. Baptismal Record for Johan Melchior Stock, born 2 December 1725, baptized 3 December 1725, Die Martinskirche, Neuffen, Germany, Taufbuch Nr. 1. Photocopy of original in possession of writer.

4. As first recorded in the 1904-06 correspondence between Amanda Stuck Shellenberger of Richfield, Pennsylvania, and Flora Stuck of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Hereinafter, Shellenberger, Letters. See Appendix B for extract. Mrs. Shellenberger's letters are now in possession of the writer.

5. Neither Lutheran nor Reformed archivists were able to identify for me any such minister or group of ministers in the appropriate time period. Note, also, that Pastor Muhlenberg (note 34, infra) refers to Melchior as "Deacon of his congregation."

6. Naturalization of Melchior Stok, Tulpehoccon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, Sacrament taken 17 September 1765. Montague S. Giuseppi. Naturalizations of Foreign Protestants in the American and West Indian Colonies (Pursuant to Statute 13 George II, c. 7). (Publications of the Huguenot Society of London, vol. 24, 1921. Reprint Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964), p. 103. Hereinafter, Giuseppi, Naturalizations.

7. Marriage Record for Johan Melcher Stok, soldier in Schafhausen's battalion, and Anna Lauberterin, j.d. [serving maid] from Reuthtingin, performed on 25 November 1747. Bride departed. Copies of the original records of military marriages in Gorinchem, Holland could not be obtained. Photocopy of microfilmed typescript of Gorinchem Trouwen Militairen 1648-1811, FHC microfilm 0999522, in possession of writer.

8. Adolf Gerber. Neue Beiträge zur Auswanderung nach Amerika im 18. Jahrhundert aus Altwürttembergischen Kirchenbüchern unter Hinzuziehung anderer Quellen (Flensburg: Weihnachtsfest 1928), pp. 36-37. Hereinafter, Gerber, Lists.

9. Shown erroneously as "Orphla" in some sources, probably due to a lack of familiarity with 18th century German script.

10. Don Yoder, ed. Pennsylvania German Immigrants, 1709-1786. (Excerpted from Yearbooks of the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, vols. 1, 10, 12 and 16, 1936, 1947, 1948 and 1953. Reprinted: Baltimore: GPC, 1980), pp. 122-123. Hereinafter, Yoder, Immigrants. Prof. Yoder's translation of the Gerber, Lists information is the basis for the statements in this section.

11. Charles A. Fisher, Central Pennsylvania Marriages 1700-1896, (Reprinted: Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974), p. 87. Dr. Fisher does not cite the source. The May 1988 International Genealogical Index cites a Reading, (Berks) PA record, not further identified, giving the bride's last name and the date as 17 Sep 1782. Primary evidence has not yet been found for this marriage.

12. Application for Cumberland County Land Warrant to Melchior Stok, 7 September 1765. Bureau of Land Records, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A notation on the affidavit states that his ownership of the land was held to have commenced on 1 March 1753. Photocopy of original in possession of writer. Warrant #219 (S) was subsequently issued.

13. 1760(?) Tax List, Heidelberg Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This reference was found for me in February 1977 by Martin H. Brackbill, CGRS, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the Pennsylvania State Library and Archives. He told me the record was undated but appeared from internal evidence to be from about 1760. I have not yet been able to repeat the search to obtain the rest of the identifying information.

14. Mortgage from Barnard Jacobs, shopkeeper, to John George Schneider, of Philadelphia, apothecary, 27 March 1762. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book G, p. 384. Jacobs had purchased two lots in the town of Heidelberg from Alexander Schaeffer, the developer for whom the town was ultimately re-named. The second one bordered on " ... the lot of Melchior Stock ..."

15. This could be the John Stock who was listed in Strassburger and Hinke's Pennsylvania German Pioneers as arriving on the Mortonhouse out of Rotterdam 24 August 1728, or the John Stock for whom Nicholas Scull surveyed 100 acres in today's Montgomery County on 06 May 1736. Photocopy of Historical Society of Pennsylvania's original in possession of writer. Civil records in Lancaster, Berks, Lebanon, Cumberland and Northumberland Counties, however, do not disclose any other records of this John Stock. The possibility thus remains that this was a reference to our immigrant ancestor, using his baptismal name.

16. Baptismal Record for Joh: Michael Stock, born 20 September 1754, baptized 15[?] October 1754, parents Joh: Melchior Stock ux Ursula. Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania: Records of Christ Church Tulpehocken, Berks County, 1743-1850. Hereinafter, GSP, Christ Church. Photocopy of original in posession of writer.

17. Charles A. Fisher. The Snyder County Pioneers (Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 1938). Hereinafter, Fisher, Pioneers, passim. Much of the material in this volume is anecdotal and there are errors of fact, but Dr. Fisher lists a wide variety of records he consulted, among them a substantial number of original sources. The sheer number of other Tulpehocken references seems to lend some support to the inference of a Tulpehocken connection.

18. Giuseppi, Naturalization, p. xvi.

19. See note 6, supra.

20. GSP, Christ Church. Stock's name does not, however, appear in the numerous lists of contributors to special offerings.

21. Following the GSP, Christ Church sacramental records (note 16) are some miscellaneous parish accounts. The records, unfortunately unindexed and unpaginated, contain a wealth of genealogical information. Melchior Stock is twice mentioned as performing masonry work for the church.

22. Herbert C. Bell. History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania . . . (Chicago: Brown, Runk & Co., 1891), pp. 45-46.

23. Fisher, Pioneers, p. 89.

24. Northumberland County Land Warrants no. 7 for 25 acres, 29 May 1772, no. 20 for 60 acres, 30 September 1772, and no. 132 for 50 acres, all to Melchior Stock. Bureau of Land Records, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photocopies of originals in possession of writer.

25. Northumberland County Land Warrant no. 278 for 60 acres, 4 April 1776, to Melchoir Stock, Michael Weaver, John Schoch and George Ulrich. Bureau of Land Records, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photocopy of original in possession of writer.

26. Muhlenberg, Journals, III, p. 350.

27. I have been unable to consult the original records, said to be in the hands of the current Pastor, but a translation by Paul H. Noll of Sunbury, PA, is available at both Snyder and Northumberland County Historical Society Libraries. It was done in a 1937 WPA project under the direction of Heber G. Gearhart. Hereinafter, Salem, Records.

28. See note 9, supra.

29. Fisher, Pioneers, p. 89.

30. Pennsylvania Archives (3rd Series), XIX, p. 415. Hereinafter, PA.

31. PA (5th Series), IV, pp. 381, 695.

32. Charles A. Fisher. Abstracts of Snyder Co. Probate and Orphans Court Records 1772-1855 (Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 1940), foreword. Dr. Fisher notes that "Officially, most of the county was now thrown open to settlers until 1769, and between that date and the beginning of the Revolution some four hundred families had moved to the frontier from the eastern and southern counties."

33. J. F. Meginness. (1st Ed.; Philadelphia: Ashmead, 1857), pp. 281ff. Except for the contemporary references previously cited, this is the earliest published account of the incident I have found. Most subsequent versions, including that found in Shellenberger, Letters seem to be derivative. It contains inaccuracies (the date is given as "about 1781" for example), but that doesn't seem unusual for a 77 year old oral tradition.

34. The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (Philadelphia: The Muhlenberg Press, 1958), III, pp. 349f. Hereinafter, Muhlenberg, Journals. The Saturday, 16 September 1780, entry mentions a letter from Pastor Schultze [Rev. Chris. E. Schulze was pastor at Christ Church Tulpehocken from 1770-1809.] dated 2 September which had just been received and reported, " ...That the Indians had recently murdered and scalped the wife of a Melchior Stock, a former deacon of his congregation, who had moved to Shamoken, her son, and her son's wife... "

Another possible reference occurs in PA (1st Series), VIII, p. 513. In a letter dated 18 August 1780 from Colonel Matthew Smith in Sunbury (Ft. Augusta?) to His Excellency Joseph Reed, Esq., president of the Supreme Council in Philadelphia, Col. Smith states that " ... the Indians, making a stroke on Tuesday last, at two different places, the last of which being far within the frontier, as low as Middle Creek and within 8 miles of this place ... " The location would fit the Stock property well and the date coincides with the Muhlenberg reference.

Herbert C. Bell's History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: Brown, Runk & Co., 1891) notes that "Two inroads were made on the 15th of August [1780], in one of which the Middle creek settlement, eight miles from Sunbury, was attacked." (p.135)

35. PA (3rd Series), XIX, pp. 503, 572, 604, 665, and 740.

36. Salem, Records. See note 27, supra.

37. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Patent to Melchior Stock, 25 November 1796, Bureau of Land Records, Patent Book P, Volume 31, p. 129. Photocopy of original in possession of writer.

38. Will of Melchoir Stock, 25 December 1797, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 1, pp. 197-197. Photocopy of original in possession of writer.

39. Inventory of the Estate of Melchoir Stock, Decd., 7 May 1798, No. 54. Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. Photocopy of original in possession of writer.

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