I thought the members of this list might also like to see this post from the Germanna list--Barb ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Blankenbaker" <johblank@pipeline.com> To: <GERMANNA_COLONIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 5:42 AM Subject: [GERMANNA] (1106)Germanna Colonies, History of John Amberger was a name on the list of Rev. War participants. He was the grandson of the 1717 immigrant, Hanns Conrad Amberger. Conrad came from Bönnigheim in Württemberg where he had been born to Johann Conrad Amberger and Anna Magdalena Lederer. Conrad (Jr.) is described as a vine dresser or a worker in a vineyard. In 1714 Conrad, Jr. married the widow of Hans Georg Rohleder (nee Anna Catharina Schuhnig). She was, at this time, the mother of a six year old daughter, Maria Magdalena. Two children born to Conrad, Jr. and Anna Catharina died at an early age. There is no record in Virginia for Anna Catharina or her daughter. Conrad was settled by Lt. Gov. Spotswood at New German Town where, among other activities, the colonists were encouraged to make wine. Conrad’s skills would have been very useful in this endeavor. Even though Spotswood sued Conrad for thirty pounds of money, he was awarded less than ten percent of that amount. Conrad did not move to the Robinson River Valley but lived southeast of Mt. Pony for a while where Christopher Zimmerman and Frederick Kabler also lived. Apparently a son, John, was born about the time of the move to the Mt. Pony land in 1725 or 1726. At this time, it seems that Conrad’s wife was Barbara. She was perhaps of English origin. About ten years later, Conrad moved to land in the Robinson River community though it was on the northeast periphery. In 1742, the widow Barbara was appointed the administrix of Conrad’s estate with Christopher Zimmerman as security. About this same time, Barbara was appointed by the Orange County Court to teach Anne Stuart the fine arts of reading, writing, and spinning. The only known male descendant of Conrad was John who first appears in the records as a witness of the will of James Gillison in 1759. He frequently appears in the land records after that date. He married Anne ___ in 1750. Their children include Anne, William (perhaps), and John, Jr. who was born in 1758 (from his Rev. War Pension Application). After the mother Anne died, John, Sr. was married to Margaret in 1769 when they owned land previously owned by Francis Lucas. About 1775, the family moved to North Carolina, to land now in Wilkes County. John, Jr., the grandson of the immigrant, filed for a pension (R174) for Revolutionary War service but he was denied the pension. He said that he had searched for Indians and Tories and was at the Battle of King’s Mountain. A more popular spelling of the name today is Amburgey. Much of the information here came from Dorothy Amburgey Griffith who is the premier historian of the family. P.S. Last May, during a visit to Bönnigheim, Eleanor and I dropped in to the church which was open for the organist to practice and the cleaning people. One other man was present and he wanted me to follow him. Communication was limited as he spoke no English and I little German. But we climbed the stairs in the tower to about the third floor and he proudly showed me his responsibility. It was the bell ringing mechanism which is an elaborate clock mechanism but separate from the clock. My guide took care of this rather elaborate mechanism and he oiled and adjusted it as needed (with Teutonic efficiency?). John Blankenbaker http://www.germanna.com/ http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhis1.html http://www.inficad.com/~genelea/gerhist/gerindex.html ______________________________