FACT:
Philip Flick, arrived in America on 10/29/1785.
So my family has been in America for
238 years 10 months 1 days
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The Philip Flick line...
I have been able to trace my tree with relative certainty, back to the point where we landed in
America. My ancestor, Philip H. Flick, arrived at the port of Philadelphia on 29 Oct 1785. He arrived
on the Brig. Lydia which was under the command of Capt. Gardner Hammond. The ship sailed from a port
in Amsterdam. The passenger list shows that Philip, his sons John, Anthony and Lewis, as well as his
daughter, Anna Maria made the trip to America. There was no mention of his wife or where they were
originally from. Further research revealed that Anna Maria, was in fact his wife, not his daughter.
The line drawn on the passenger list that grouped his children together, inadvertently included his wife.
You can see what I mean by looking at the copy of the passenger list below:
View Passenger List
It is true that Philip had a daughter named Anna Maria, but according to baptism records, she was not born until
April of 1797, some 12 years after the trip to America. This is supported by her mention in Philip's will.
Philip and Anna had three additional children once they where in America. On 06/10/1787 they had a daughter
named Catarina1, on 04/19/1789 they had a son named Daniel1 and on 04/15/1797 they had
a daughter named Anna Maria1.
Both Daniel and Anna Maria are mentioned in Philip's will, which he drafted in October of 1809, but there is
no mention of Catarina. This means that Catarina did not survive childhood, but I have yet to find mention of
her date of death.
Philip's will was hand written without any punctuation, and riddled with misspellings typical of the time period.
Below, I have transcribed the copy I have of "LDS #0955505, Wills, Columbia Co. PA". The first link is the
transcription unedited and exactly as shown on the microfilm. The second link has some punctuation added
by me to help make it easier to read and understand.
Exact Transcript of Philip's Will
Punctuated Version of Philip's Will
I had long held the belief that my Philip was related to Gerlach Paul Flick. I came to that conclusion
because of several pieces of circumstantial evidence. First there is this quote from Alexander C. Flick's
1929 book about Gerlach Paul Flick:
Reprinted from "The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography."
Vol. LIII
1929
Pages 232 - 233
"Thousands had already gone from Germany, Switzerland and other continental European
countries to the English colonies over seas and had sent back glowing accounts of
the new El Dorado - how an abundance of fertile land, with plenty of wood and good
water, in a fine climate, could be had for the asking by those who were wise enough
to make the venture. The emigration officers of that day were also very busy in
eliciting business.6
Young Gerlach Paul Flick had his imagination fired by these alluring reports and
with some of his brothers and kinsmen resolved to make the experiment. The journey
to Holland and transportation across the Atlantic were comparatively expensive. The
fares had to be paid in cash, clothing and food provided for the long journey, and
some money taken along to get one started in the new home. Just how the necessary
funds were obtained, whether by gifts from his parents or on loan, is not clear.
Somehow, the problem was solved and the start was made."
Secondly, at one point Philip lived in the same area as Gerlach Paul, even attending the same church, Zion
Stone Church, where Gerlach Paul is buried.
View Gerlach Paul's Tombstone
Gerlach Paul, who just went by Paul once he relocated to America, also had a brother named
Philip Heinrich as well as a son named Philip. And this account claims that Paul along "with some
of his brothers and kinsmen" decided to emigrate to the new world. At first I thought that
my Philip was probably either Paul's brother Philip Heinrich or perhaps his son. However, Paul's
son Philip did not seem to have been married to the same woman as my Philip, and his brother
would have been too old to be my Philip.
I tried for years to find a connection from the Philip Heinrich line to the Gerlach Paul line. I felt sure
that the 2 lines connected somewhere, probably back in Germany, but I was unable to prove it.
Then, in 2008, I found information on RootsWeb indicating that I was correct in my assumptions all along.
It turned out that the brother of Gerlach Paul, Johann Peter, was the father of my Philip Heinrich.
View Cathy Mellor's RootsWeb Information (will open in a new window)
Cathy's info turned out to be incomplete and ultimately wrong as you will soon see, but it explained much at the time.
Two years later, the story took an unexpected turn and I found the reason for all the confusion.
In 2010, I received an email from Peter Jung, a distant Flick cousin and researcher living in Germany. He had uncovered
information that expanded on and corrected the information posted by Cathy Mellor on RootsWeb.
Peter had found church documents that finally solved the Philip/Gerlach problem I'd been working on all those years.
Cathy had stated that Johann Peter was Philip Heinrich's father.
That meant that Gerlach Paul was "theoretically" Philip's Uncle. I say theoretically because the story gets much more
interesting. Here's how this revelation connects the two lines:
Gerlach Paul's older brother Johann Peter joined the military in 1750. Young (Johann) Peter left Emmerichenhain to serve
as a Soldier in the Netherlands. While he was away, his wife, Anna Gertruda Goebel had a dalliance with Peter's brother, the
young Gerlach Paul, and became pregnant. When the baby was taken to be baptized, Anna admitted that the baby, Philippus
Heinrich, was the son of Gerlach Paul.
Philippus Heinrich baptismal record
The record translates as:
the 4th of February (1751) Johannes Peter Flick`s wife from here named Anna
Gertruda brought during he is absent serving in Dutch services
an illegal son to baptism and to be the father of that child
she declared her husband`s brother GERLACH PAUL FLICK, Schöffe (Alderman?)
Jonas (i.e. short form of Johann Christianus) Flick`s son from here. Godfathers...
The child's baptized name was Philippus Henrich
Not long after the birth and baptism of young Philippus (Feb 1751), Gerlach seems to have decided to migrate to
the new world (Sept 1751). This could very well have had something to do with his older brother returning from
the Netherlands. Gerlach was now considered something of a black sheep, since it was well known that Philippus
was his son. So well known in fact, that when Philippus married Anna Marie Jung, the church records list him as
the foster son of Johann Peter Flick! To avoid the embarrassment, it seems Gerlach decided to try his luck in
America.
Johann Peter returned and fathered 7 more children with Anna Gertruda, and although he cared for and raised
Philippus, the knowledge that he was illegitimate would have precluded his ever being able to own land or
even be accepted in 18th Century european culture.
Gerlach seems to have wanted to "do right" by his son, and helped him migrate to America as well. The 50 pounds
mentioned in Gerlach Paul's will was most likely the money to help Philip relocate his family to America.
Philip would have met his father for the first time upon arriving in Philadelphia in 1785. Philip settled in
Pennsylvania very near Gerlach Paul, even attending the same church as his father (Zion Stone Church).
It's doubtful the two ever told anyone about their relationship, as evidenced by the will of Gerlach Paul, where
he clandestinely mentions "a certain Philip Flick", never mentioning their father/son relationship.
Gerlach's last will and testament
So although Johann Peter raised Philip as though he was a son, he was not Philip's biological father.
So Philip is still undeniably a "Flick", but I was torn between to whom to link him in my database, Johann Peter
or Gerlach Paul. I eventually decided it had to be his biological father.
Transcription of Peter Jung's Information
1Records of the Stone Church near Kreidersville, Allen Township
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