“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Northampton County, Pennsylvania is on the eastern border of the state in the Lehigh Valley. It was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Easton is the county seat.
Zion Stone Church is a Lutheran church near Kreidersville, Pennsylvania. It was dedicated on June 18, 1772.
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania was first settled about 1730 and officially constituted in 1812 with the division of Northampton County.
Johann Adam Dreisbach was born in Oberndorf, Germany and his christening was recorded at the Evangelical Lutheran church in Feudingen on November 7, 1722. His parents were Johan Simon Dreisbach and Maria Cathrin Keller. He was a saddler.
He came to America with his family on the ship Lydia which departed Rotterdam and arrived in Philadelphia on September 20, 1743.
In 1748 Adam filed for a survey of 25 acres along Indian Creek. In 1755 more land patents were filed by Simon Sr. and his sons Adam, Jost and George, for land in Minisink Indian territory, south of the Blue Mountain, in newly established Northampton County.
Whne he was 27 years old, Adam married Susanna Koerber (Corber, Coerber, Kirber) on July 16, 1749. The marriage was recorded at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Susanna was born on April 7, 1724 in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Her father was Andreas Koerber.
Susannah and Adam's children included:
Adam Dreisbach (1742, died age 6),
Salome Dreisbach (1748, married Nicholas Oblinger),
Magdalina Dreisbach (1751),
Yost Dreisbach (1754),
Susanna Dreisbach Hagenbuch (1756, married Christian Hagenbuch),
Anna Maria Dreisbach Berthold (1759, married Frederick Berthold),
Elizabeth Dreisbach (1763),
Gertrude Dreisbach (1765, died at 6 months), and
George Peter Dreisbach (1767).
The first tax list of the inhabitants of Alsace Township, Berks County, was drawn up in 1752. It included "Simon Drisebogh" and "Adam Swasbogh."
In 1771 he and his younger brother Simon Jr. were among the founding members of Zion Stone Church.
In 1772 Adam was listed as being a farmer in Lehigh township, Northampton County.
Adam died on January 10, 1803 in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania when he was 80 years old..
A land patent is an exclusive land grant made by the government. The certificate that grants the land rights is also called first-title deed and final certificate. In the United States, all land can be traced back to the original land patent.
Feudingen is a village in the city of Bad Laasphe and its 13th century church ministered to the entire surrounding area. The church has been Protestant since 1555.
17th and 18th century Germans often gave children two names at baptism. The first was a saint's name. The second a secular name which is what the child was called. The saint's name was usually given to all the children of that family of the same gender. Johannes was rarely a saint's name, but Johann was.
Oberndorf is a village in northwest Germany and part of the city of Bad Laasphe. It was in the feudal country of Wittgenstein in the 18th century.
Dreisbach is also spelled Dresbach, Dresback, Driesbach, Driesbaugh, Dreisback, and Treisbach.
The Palatinate is a region in south-western Germany. Many thousands of Palatine immigrants were driven out of Germany by war, famine, despotic rule and disease. They were attracted to Pennsylvania by the first settlers who sent back favorable reports.
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Adam Dreisbach, second son of Simon, Sr., was born in Obendorf, Witgenstein, Nov. 13, 1722, and died near Easton, Jan. 10, 1803. He was confirmed in the Reformed Church and married in 1749, Susana Koerber. They had three sons and five daughters.
