Immigrated to America in 1715, considered to be the first of the Kagy name in America.
The following is an excerpt from “A History of the Kagy Relationship in America from 1715 to 1900”, by Franklin Keagy of Chambersburg, Pa. Harrisburg, Pa. Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1899. It is transcribed from the original book handed down through the John Kagay family (Bremen, Ohio, 1835-1904) to his son’s family, Raymond Frederick Kagay, (Bremen, Ohio to San Antonio, Texas, 1883 -1974), and now in the family of Raymond’s grandson, Jeffrey Clarke Cotham of Austin, Texas. It includes introductory information from the Second Preface of the book that details the history of the Kagy name in Switzerland, the Kagy immigration from Switzerland to Pennsylvania in the early 1700’s, and up through the death of Hanse Kagy (John Rudolph Kagy) in 1748 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His Will, shown at the end of this excerpt, serves as the basis for the information on his children and the beginning of the rest of the Kagy genealogy in America, contained in the bulk of the remainder of the before said book.
JCC 11-15-2004P.15
SECOND PREFACESOME twenty-three years ago the writer of this biography started out to learn; if possible, something of his earthly origin and here I wish to say that little did I think I had undertaken so vast a task as this has proven to be.
In place of finding a few relatives I have discovered a vast relationship, widely scattered over all the States and Territories of this great country and have traced them back through seven generations into that historic country, where the first and oldest Republic exists today -“Switzerland”. Not only the descendants of one emigration, but the descendants of five* emigrations have been tracked and followed, the trail of which has sometimes been lost for years to be found again and followed into the dim and mouldy past, only to repeat again and again a like experience, and final success. I most sincerely wish my self-imposed task had fallen to the lot of some one who possessed the ability to prepare this biography in such shape as the large and highly respectable relationship, which it attempts to record, so richly merits. A work of this kind requires far more time than its author could possibly give it, though ever so willing, and after years of weary research and correspondence that taxed the author's time to the uttermost and all has been learned that possibly ever can be, yet there is doubtless much that would be interesting that is forever lost. It was the author's desire to present a record of the date of birth and marriage and death, occupation or calling of every one who bore the name. This it has been impossible to do in every instance. For these and all other omissions and imperfections I must beg the kind indulgence of a host of friends and kinsfolk, who are impatiently asking "When will this history be published?"
Before giving the story of the origin of the Kagi name the* The 6th emigration occurred about 1898, when Henry Kagy came from Switzerland and located in Colorado.
16
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
next question of interest is, whereabouts in that historic land do we first find the progenitors of the Kagi name. From several letters written by Jacob Kagi Kagi, Ur. Kagi and Thos. Kagi Kagi, of Ruppen near Wyla Canton Zurich, we learn that in that place and vicinity within a radius of three miles there are thirty-five or more families of the Kagi name and it is an accepted fact among the Kagis there, that the name had its origin in Canton Zurich, where they are most numerous today, although they are to be found in every Canton (county) in Switzerland. Some are engaged in farming and in the various industrial trades; quite a number are engaged in knitting various articles of wearing apparel, .using American-made knitting machines, most of the products of which are sent to America. All the honored professions or callings are represented, such as merchants, school teachers, ministers, etc., and are almost universally well informed and of decided literary tastes and decision of character and also of a humorous and lively disposition, fond of society and desire to entertain their friends. In general they are above medium stature, strong of limb and constitution, some of them have attained to nearly the century mark in age. In religious faith the greater portion belong to the Reformed Church, but in Switzerland as in America every Protestant society has the name in its list of members. Led by interest or impelled by necessity they have gone out from the ancestral home into every civilized land and country of the globe. The writer of this history has been informed that in feudal times a Kagi built a castle in Scotland, which if true, would indicate a greater antiquity for the name than has been supposed.
On the following page we present a picture of Zurich, the metropolis of Switzerland, taken from the Lake Zurich, a photo of which has been obtained after much effort and expense. Zurich is a beautiful city of 150,000 population and lies on the lake of the same name and at the point where the River Limmat starts its course. The city extends from the heights of Zurichberg to the base of the steep ridge called the Uto. Its importance is partly owing to its situation at the foot of the Alps and 1,345 feet above sea level. It is also on19
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.the ancient commercial highway leading from the heart of Lombardy across the mountains of Rhaetia and along the various lakes and rivers into Germany. The walks and drives through the suburbs are fine, the woods and paths are well kept and the variety of scenery beautiful. One of the principal hotels, Baur-au-lac, or "Bower by the Lake," is located facing the lake with a magnificent garden of walks, trees and shrubbery in front extending to the lake. At night, when the houses and gardens shine with hundreds of lights and the city part of the lakefront glows with the same, the scene is like that of fairyland. There are many interesting points along the lake, including Au and Ufenau, which Conrad Meyer has so poetically woven in his beautiful song of "Hutton's Last Days." The attractions of Zurich are noble churches with ancient history attached. The town library of 130,000 volumes, the Antiquarian Museum, the town hall, the Swiss National Museum schools, universities and other public buildings. The history* of Switzerland as a nation properly begins in 1231, but not until 1291 was the "League of Perpetual Allegiance" formed and that grand confederation, the Swiss Republic, which has existed for over 600 years the wonder of an admiring world; now, as then, the model for future republics, it would be absurd to suppose that the new Republic of 1201, represented as truly a democratic form of government as it does to-day; a long period of time elapsed during which a high-spirited people were engaged in perfecting and maintaining it against powerful enemies, often by force of arms, as at the battle of Morgauten, in 1315; Laupen in 1330; Sempach in 1386, where 1,500 Swiss defeated 6,000 Austrians, and at Naefels, where 600 Swiss defeated 6,000 Austrians, the latter losing 1,700 men, and the former 54. A seven years' peace followed in 1389. This peace was prolonged for twenty years, and afterward, in 1412, for fifty years. Thus they became a nation long before this country was known to exist. For many reasons the history of Switzerland is peculiarly interest-
*Part of an essay read at a family reunion at Dayton, Va., 1894, and at Tiffin, Ohio, in 1895, by the compiler.
20
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.ing to English-speaking people. This "playground of Europe" is every year visited by large numbers of British and Americans. Then to the Anglo-Saxon race, the grand spectacle of a handful of freemen nobly struggling for and maintaining their freedom; often amidst enormous difficulties, and against appalling odds, cannot but be heart-stirring. To the citizen of the great American Republic a study of the constitution of the little European Republic should bring both interest and profit a constitution resembling in many points that of his own country. And few readers, of whatever nationality, can, we think, peruse their history without a feeling of admiration for a gallant people who have fought against oppression as the Swiss have? fought, who have loved freedom as they have loved ist, and who have performed the well-nigh incredible feats of arms the Switzers hare performed. A study of the Constitutional History of the Swiss Confederation can hardly be overstated.
Very few histories in the English language go back beyond the year 1291 A. D., the date of the "Swiss League," and of course of Switzerland as a nation cannot boast of an earlier origin. But some account of the previous history of the men who founded the "League," cannot fail to be interesting. For a country which has been occupied at different periods by Lakemen, Helvetians and ~Romans, where Al amanni, Burgundians, and Franks hare played their parts, where Charlemagne lived and ruled, and Charles the Bold fought; where the great families of the Zaerings, the Kyburgs, and Savoy struggled; and whence the mighty house of Habsburg sprang (and domineered)-all this before 1291. A country with such a story to tell of its earlier times, can not fail to interest some of us at least. The historian has endeavored to show men differing in race, in language, in creed, and in mode of life, combined to resist the common enemy and to build up the compact little State we now see playing its part on the European stage. Says the historian in his history of the "Swiss Confederation:" Swiss history teaches us, all the way through, that "Swiss liberty was won by a close union of many small States, and will be best preserved by the same means, and not by obliter21
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.all local peculiarities, nowhere so striking, nowhere so historically important as in Switzerland. Our wonder and admiration increases at the vast influence of the Little Republic, when we remember that the total area of its twenty-two Cantons is less than 16,000 square miles and a population of only 3,000,000. No other nation in the world of equal area and population has ever wielded. so much influence for good as has this little Republic. Of men of intellect, of talent, of artistic, scientific or literary skill Switzerland has produced many, and sheltered many more. The numerous academical, literary, scientific and musical institutions, tell the story of her advancement. Amongst the numberless names of her men of science, now or lately living, may be mentioned Aggassiz, Desor, De-la Rive, Heer, Studer and Dr. Ferdinand Keller, the discoverer of the Lake dwellings. In literature a host of names present themselves, among them Monnier, Meyer and Gottfried Keller, who has been called the German Shakespeare. Amongst the painters are Calaine, Diday, Girardet, Vantier and Bocklin, and of sculptors Vela and Lautz. Gustave Weber, Joachim Raff and Baumgartner are world-wide known musical composers.
In recent years archeologists all over the world have been greatly interested in the discovery of the Swiss lake settlements. Every schoolboy has heard of the wonderful discoveries made on the shores of the beautiful Swiss lakes during the last few years. A brief account of what was found and how it was found on the lake shores will not be out of place here.
In the winter of 1853, the waters of Lake Zurich sank so low that a wide stretch of mud was laid bare along the shores. The people of Meilen, a large village some twelve miles from Zurich, took advantage of this unusual state of things, to effect certain improvements, and during the operations the workmen's tools struck against some obstacles which proved to be great wooded props or piles. These piles, the tops of which were but a few inches below the surface of the mud, were found to be planted in rows and squares, and the number of them seemed to be enormous. Further investigation discovered22
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
large numbers of bones, antlers, weapons, implements of various kinds and what not. Dr. Ferdinand Keller, the antiquarian, was sent from Zurich to examine the spot, and he pronounced it to be a lake settlement, probably of some ancient Celtic tribe. Many marks of a prehistoric occupation had previously been found, but hitherto no traces of dwellings. Dr. Keller called these early settlers "Pile-builders," from their peculiar mode of building their houses. During the course of the last thirty years, over two hundred of these aquatic villages have been discovered on the shores of the lakes of Constance, Geneva, Zurich, Neuchatel, Bienne, Morat and other smaller lakes, and on certain rivers and swampy spots which had once been lakes or quasi-lakes.
These lake dwellings are mostly placed on piles driven some ten feet into the bed of the lake, and as many as thirty or forty thousand of these piles have been found in a single settlement. The houses themselves were made of hurdle work, and thatched with straw or rushes. Layers of wattles and hay alternating formed the floors, and the walls seem to have been rendered more weather-proof by a covering of clay or else of bullrushes or straw. A railing of wickerwork ran round each hut, partly, no doubt, to keep the wash of the lake and partly as a protection to the children. Light bridges or gangways, easily moved connected the huts with each other and with the shore. Each house contained two rooms, at least, and some of the dwellings measured as much as twenty-seven feet by twenty-two feet. Hearthstones blackened by fire often remain to show where the kitchens had been. Mats of bast, straw and reeds abound in the settlements, and show that the Lakemen had their notions of cosiness and comfort. Large crescent-shaped talismans, carved on one side, were hung over the entrances to the huts (just as we to-dav find over the doors in many houses a real or paper-made horseshoe), showing pretty clearly that then as now the Moon goddess was worshipped.
The prehistoric collections in the public museums at Zurich, Berne, Bienne, Neuchatel and Geneva, not to speak of private collections, are very extensive and very fine, containing tools, handsome weapons, knives of most exquisite
23
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
shape and carving, woman's ornaments, some of them of the most elegant kind. A "Lady of the Lake" in full dress would seem to have made an imposing show. An undergarment of fine linen was girded at the waist by a broad belt of inlaid or embossed bronze work. Over the shoulders was thrown a woolen cloak fastened with bronze clasps or pins, whilst neck, arms and ankles were decked with a great many trinkets-necklaces, anklets, bracelets rings, spangles, and so forth.
The whole was set off by a diadem of long pins with large heads beautifully chiseled and inlaid with beads of metal or glass, these pins being stuck through a sort of leathern fillet which bound up the hair. So beautiful are some of these trinkets, that imitations of them in gold are in request by the ladies of to-day.
One of the most extensive lake colonies in Switzerland is situated in and spread over the vast marshes of Robenhausen (Zurich), which once formed part of Lake Pfafficon. The visitor who is not deterred by the inconvenience of a descent into the damp and muddy pit, where excavations are still being carried on, finds himself facing three successive settlements, one above another, and all belonging to the remote Stone Age. Between the successive settlements are layers of turf, some three feet .thick, the growth of many centuries. The turf itself is covered by a stratum of sticky matter four inches thick. In this are numbers of relics embedded, both destructible and in-destructible objects. being perfectly well preserved, the former kept from decay through having been charred by fire. There has been discovered and analyzed remains of more than a hundred different kinds of plants. Grains, and even whole ears of wheat and barley, seeds of strawberries and raspberries, dried apples'. textile fahrics, implements, hatchets of nephrite - this mineral and the oriental cereals show clearly enough that the Lakemen traded with the East, though no doubt through the the Mediterranean peoples. The scholar's mind is at once carried back to the account given by Herodotus of Thrakian Lake dwellers. The people of this tribe, he tells us, built their houses over the water, so as to gain facilities for fishing. They used to let down baskets through trap doors in the floors of
24
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
their huts and these baskets rapidly filled with all kinds of fish that had gathered around, tempted by the dropping of food from the rooms overhead.
With regard to the date when the immigration of the Lake-men began the Savants are hopelessly at variance. Nor do they agree any better as to the dates of the Stone and Bronze epochs, into which the history of the lake settlements divides itself. But as in some of the marshy stations, these two epochs reach on to the age of iron, it is assumed by many authorities that the Lake dwellers lived on to historical times. This is particularly shown in the alluvial soil and marshes between the lakes of Neuchatel and Bienne, where settlements belonging to the Stone, Bronze and Iron ages are found ranged one above another in chronological order. In the topmost stratum or colony the Lakemen's wares are found mingling with iron and bronze objects of Helvetian and Roman make, a fact sufficient to show that the Lake dwellers associated with historical peoples. It would be useless as well as tedious, to set forth at length all the theories prevailing as to the origin and age of the Lake dwellings. Some authorities place the commencement of the Stone period at six thousand, and others at three thousand years before the Christian Era. As to the age of Bronze, the year 1100-1000 B. C. is about as near as can be arrived at. Eminent antiquarians say that the time of Homer, the Greek Age of Bronze, was contemporary with the Bronze epoch of the Lakemen. The Lake period would seem to have drawn to a close about 600-700 B. C., when the Age of Bronze was superseded by that of Iron.
The most reliable authorities on the subject inform us that about the time last above named the Lakemen left their watery settlements, and began to fix their habitations on terra firma. Various tombs found on land would bear witness to this change. When these people had once come on shore to live they would be gradually absorbed into neighboring and succeeding races and most likely into the Helvetian peoples. Thus they have their part, however small it may be, in the history of the Swiss people, and nation. The Pile builders, or Lakemen, are not now thought to be of Celtic origin, but to25
KAGY RELATI0NSHIP.
some previous race whose history is as completely lost to us as is that of the mound builders of the Mississippi Valley in our own country, many of which are to be found in Ohio.
The history of the country often includes the history of many peoples, for history is but the record of a stage on which nations and peoples figure, playing their parts and making their exits, others stepping into their places. And so the Swiss soil has been trodden by many possessors- Celts, Rhatians, Alamanni, Burgundians, Franks.
These have all made their mark upon, and contributed to the history of the Swiss Nation. Dim are the glimpses we catch of the early condition of the Helvetians, but the mist that enshrouds this ancient people clears, though slowly, at the end of the second century before Christ, when they came into close contact with the Romans, who conquered them and who chronicled their deeds. The Helvetians themselves, though not ignorant of the art of writing, were far too much occupied in warfare to be annalists. The form of religion at this time most common to all the tribes was Druidical worship. Invested with powers, civil and spiritual, the priesthood held absolute sway over the superstitious tribe, and professing all the sciences of the age-medicine, astrology, soothsaying, necromancy - they had taken into their hands the education of the young. The common people were mere blind devotees, and rendered unquestioning obedience to the decrees of the Druids. Human sacrifice was one of the most cruel and revolting pictures of the Druidical religion.
It would be impossible in this paper to set forth a tithe of what changes took place in tile condition of these people from the time of their conquest by Caesar up to the time of the Reformation. Wars, with all their desolating consequences, feuds within and foes without, make up the greater part of her history.
The accounts of the introduction of Christianity into Switzerland are mostly legendary, yet it is generally believed that it was not the work of missionaries. It is more likely that the new faith came to the land as part and parcel of the Roman culture, brought by the Roman soldiers quartered26
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
among them. At first the Roman authorities looked upon Christians as State rebels and fierce persecutions followed. The oldest Christian legend of this country tells of such a conflict between the State officials and the Christians, and no doubt contains some admixture of truth, as many of these stories do. A legion levied at Thebes, in Egypt, was sent to Cologne to take to take the place of troops required to quell a rising in Britain. Coming to the Valais, they were required by the Emperor, Maximian to sacrifice to the heathen gods (A.D. 290), but being mostly Christians they refused, and were massacred with their chief, Mauritius. Tradition says that Charlemagne, in later days, erected a minster on their burial spot. Thus, as ever, the blood of martyrs became the seed of the church.
The fifth century was remarkable for what may be called the dislocation of the peoples of Europe, the immigrations of the Germans into the Roman Empire, and mightiest movement of all, the irruption of the Huns under their terrible King Attila, the "Scourge of God." These masses of barbarians burst into Europe; stayed for a while in Hungary, but soon rolled towards the West, dislodging all the peoples with whom they came in contact. Marching to the Rhine, they drove the Burgundians from their settlements, and entered Gaul to found a new kingdom. But the doom of the Huns was at hand. Actius, the Roman general and the last defender of the' Empire, defeated them, A. D. 451, in a gigantic battle in the Champagne country. It is said the river ran red with the blood of 300,000 men slain. But the Roman Empire was tottering, the time had come for her to leave the stage of history. The great German Nation was forming, the petty tribes and clans gradually formed alliances with each other for greater security, and, dropping their ancient names, took collective ones more familiar to our ears-Saxons, Franks, Burgundians, Bavarians and Alamanni. Of these, the Alamanni and Burgundians, are those from whom the Swiss are descended, and thus Switzer1and, like England, has to look back to Germany as its ancestral home.
The name Alamanni is said to be derived from Alah, a tem-27 KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
ple grove, and implies a combination of vanous tribes. "The People of the divine grove." Not even so vast a horde of Asiatics as overrun their land could obliterate the Alamanni, who grafted as a true German people, retained their old language, institutions and mode of living.
The Alamanni did not at once develop into a civilized and cultivated people, but retained their fondness for war and hunting, and characteristics of their ancient life.
Their grand and majestic woods had stamped themselves on the intrepid, dauntless spirits; for the mighty aspects of nature - forest, mountain, sea - play their part in moulding the character of a nation.
It would be interesting to follow up the history of this peopIe to the close of the life of Charlemagne. His court was a great intellectual center whence enlightenment spread to every part of his domains.
Charlemagne was great as a general, as a statesman, as a politician. His humanity and other virtues secured for him the noble title of "Father of Europe." A brilliant figure in a benighted age, which shed its light on after times. Time and space forbid us enumerating the changes which took place after the great Emperor died. Bloody conflicts followed that split the empire in three pieces. After a time the people began again the struggle for national indepedence and separate rule, and thence came the restoration of the kingdom of Burgundy and the duchy of Alamanni, or Swabia, under the rule of a renowned nobleman, Rudolf, at whose death in 912 his crown passed to his son, Rudolf the Second. The memory of this good king is almost eclipsed by the glory of his wife, the famous "Spinning Queen," and her wisdom and ministry among the poor. After the death of Rudolph the Second the dynasty split into two branches; the heads being, respectively, Albrecht the Wise and Rudolph the Silent. Albrecht, it is said, died whilst engaged in one of the crusades in the attempt to wrest the Holy Land from the infidels. His estates passed to his only surviving son, Rudolph of Habsburg. This man within the space of thirty years made his family one of the mightiest in the empire, and brings us up to the time of the
28
Kagy Relationship.
formation of the confederation of the three cantons, Unterwalden, Schwyz and Uri, which eventually grew to eight, then thirteen, and to-day numbers twenty-two cantons - known in history as the Swiss Republic.
It is not necessary to recite here the part that Switzerland took in the Reformation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Foremost in learning and wisdom among the many great names that adorn the pages of history stands that of Ulrich Swingli; an enthusiastic scholar, a gifted preacher, a zealous patriot and a remarkably able politician, he devoted his life to the work of rescuing his people and country from their moral decline. He fell gloriously at the battle of Kappel, and sealed with his life his devotion to the cause of truth. But Zwingli is not the only name that stands out in bold relief as champions in the cause of truth and right in that eventful period. A host of names loom up before me. We see in Switzerland a nation which once played a conspicuous part in European military affairs, but which has now become a land of peace, whose neutrality the Powers vouchsafed at the Vienna congress. In the exceptional position she holds she deems it part of her mission of peace to promote the general welfare of the world so far as lies in her power. Most important international institutions owe their origin, or at least their successful establishment to Switzerland. She started the Geneva Convention, which has for its object the mitigation of the horrors of war; and every European nation was represented in it. The right to offer an asylum in time of war she considers one of her most precious privileges. The Revolution of 1848 brought to Swiss territory fugitives from all parts of Europe; as many as ten thousand fled from the grand duchy of Baden into Switzerland. Many distinguished men who would have met death, or lingered in prisons, found there a safe retreat.
From the earliest times its peoples have been particularly interesting - from its pre-historic lakemen with their unique series of settlements, down through successive nationalities of Helvetians and Romans, Alamanni and Burgundians, to the modern French, Germans and Italians. Switzerland has bred
29
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.or has been closely connected with some of the proudest ruling families in European history - Habsburgs, and Zearings, Carlovingians and Burgundians, Hohenstaufens and Savoys.
Some of the most glorious victories recorded in history have been gained by the little Swiss Nation in defense of their beloved fatherland; the fame of Morgarten, Sempach, Grandson and Morat is not likely to die out while European civilization lasts. Constitutionally the history of Switzerland is of surpassing interest. Step by step we have seen a handful of gallant people free themselves from oppression by emperor or duke, by prince or lord, by prelate or cloister. Inch by inch the people at large have gained their political rights from foreign overlords or from native aristocracies.
We have seen how a tiny confederation of three petty States has grown into a league of eight, and then of thirteen independent districts, and how this has developed into the federal State of twenty-two cantons of our own day. Lastly, some of the institutions of the country, notably the Initiative and the Referendum, are well nigh unique of their kind, and certainly are of the greatest interest to the student of political history and development; whilst Switzerland's noble efforts for the amelioration and benefit of mankind at large cannot but command our admiration. I am proud that I am descended from the Swiss people, on both the paternal and maternal side, and if this crude and imperfect sketch of the Swiss people will incite in you a similar pride the object of its author will have been attained.It may not be a great virtue, and certainly is not a fault, in any possessing a desire to know something of their earthly origin. We are among those who believe that any who care not about their origin, care little as to anything higher.
Names of persons have their origin in many ways, and the name of Kagy is no exception.
It is not known how long ago in the dim vista of the past since the name originated, but certain it is that it is of Swiss
30
Kagy Relationship.
origin, and its original orthography is Kagi. It has recently been learned from one Jacob Kagi, of Ruppen, in Canton Zurich, Switzerland, that the name originated in this wise:
"Many, many years ago a Mr. Kaller fell in love with and married a Miss Gibler Their union was blessed with a son. From some cause or other, after a time they disagreed and finally separated, and the lady became so bitter toward her husband that she would not allow her child to bear his father's name. The matter was finally decided in the courts, and the decision was, that the child should bear a name composed of two letters from the father's name, Ka(ller), and the two first letters from the mother's, Gi(bler); so the name Kagi, as it is yet written in Switzerland, was started." One thing is certain, whether the above legend be true or not, the name has been in existence for three hundred years, and has met with many changes in its orthography, to wit: Kaga, Kagy, Kagay, Kagey, Keagy, Keagey, Kagie, and sometimes Cagey. It is but natural to ask, Why did the ancestor of the Kagi's leave the land of his birth, the graves of his sires, "Their hearths and homes, where soft affection dwells?" Was it the love of fame, the desire of conquest, or greed for gain? that induced them to leave their homes and all that the heart holds most dear, and brave the perils of an ocean voyage; at that distant day no sinecure, you may be assured. No! A higher and nobler object was his aim.
The unsettled state of affairs in Europe during the last decade of the seventeenth century was an eventful period. The religious complexion of the country was frequently determined or influenced by the character of the rulers - as they changed it was changed. To these changes it was impossible for the Swiss and Germans to conform. Frederick II., elector Palatine, embraced the Lutheran faith; Frederick III. became a Catholic; Lodovic V. restored the Lutheran Church; his son and successor was a Calvinist. These in their turn protected some, others they did not. The last Prince, son of Lodovic, was succeeded by a Catholic family, during whose reign it was the lot of the Protestants to be unkindly oppressed. Besides these unpropitious changes and being sub-
31
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
-jects of alarm and persecution, the Germans occupied the unenviable position of living between two powerful belligerent rivals. War seemed to be the pasttime of these then ruling Princes of those countries. In the year 1622 Count Tilly, the Imperial General, took Heidelburg and put five hundred of the inhabitants to the sword. In 1634, Louis XIV. entered the same city and destroyed many of the inhabitants.
In 1688 Heidelburg was taken the second time by the French, who laid the inhabitants under oppressive contributions; after which, at the approach of the imperial army, they blew up the citadel and reduced the town to ashes. It soon rose again upon its cinders, and again it was taken by a French army, who laid it a second time into ashes in 1693. The inhabitants, men, women and children, about 1,500, stripped of all, were forced to flee in consternation to the fields by night. Once more on the retreat of the French army were the inhabitants prevailed upon to rebuild the city, unconscious, however, of the treachery of a perfidious elector, who had sacredly promised them liberty of conscience, "Heaven's choicest boon," and exemption from taxes for thirty years. After some time the elector, whose creed it appears embraced the essential ingredients, "Promises made to heretics should not be redeemed," harassed his duped subjects, with relentless persecution. The French army having crossed the Rhine the distressed Palatines, persecuted by their heartless Prince, plundered by a foreign enemy, fled to escape from death, and about six thousand of them for protection to England in consequence of encouragement received by proclamation from Queen Anne.
Prior to the issuing of Queen Anne's proclamation and consequent upon the Revocation of the celebrated Edict of Nantes issued by Henry the Fourth in 1598, and which secured liberty of conscience to Protestants, and was revoked_October 23, 1685 by Louis XIV., a man whose name was execrated over a large part of Europe, there arose one of the most terrible persecutions ever seen in France. History records the fact that upwards of five hundred thousand. Huguenots made their escape into Switzerland, Germany, Holland, England and America.
32
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
The hydra-headed monster, religious bigotry, is never satisfied, and religious intolerance has not been confined to any particular country or time.
About this time the Mennonites were heartlessly persecuted by the Calvinists in Switzerland, and were driven into various countries; some to Strasbourg; others to Holland, and some to America, where they were safe from their priestly persecutors. Those who emigrated to Pennsylvania had fled from the cantons of Zurich, Bern, Shaffhausen, Switzerland, to Alsace, above Strasbourg, where they remained some time, thence they came to the then Province of Pennsylvania.
The offense of which they were guilty and which brought down upon them so much suffering and persecution was their non~conformity to the prevailing religion. They also did, as they now do, openly discard the doctrine of self-defense and violent resistance. They have been and are still opposed to war; they believe it comports illy with the Christian profession to fight with carnal weapons.
They have always been peaceable and domestic in their habits. The descendants of the Puritans boast that their ancestors fled from the face of their persecutors, willing to en-counter "perils in the wilderness and perils by the heathen" rather than be deprived by the ruthless persecutor of the free exercise of their religion.
The descendants of the Swiss Mennonites who, amid hard-ships and trials, made the first settlements among the tawny sons of the forest in the southeastern part of Lancaster county, can lay claim to more. Their ancestors did not seek for themselves and theirs only, the unmolested exercise of faith and the practice of worship; but they in turn did not persecute others who differed from them in religious opinion. They plead for universal toleration, and their practice confirmed it."They left unstained what there they found Freedom to worship God!"
It was about the year 1706 or 7, when a number of the persecuted Swiss Mennonites went to England, and made a particular agreement with the Honorable Proprietor, William
33
KAGY RELATIONSHIP
Penn, at London, for lands to be taken up in his new colony. A Swiss company was organized to emigrate to America and settle in the wilderness, but who the projector of it was we have not been able to learn. The pioneers were Hans Meylin, his sons Martin and John, Hans Herr, John Rudolph Bundely, Martin Kendig, Jacob Mil1er, Martin Oberholtz, Hans Fnnk, Michael Oberholtz, Wendel Bowman, and others, who came to Conestoga in 1709; selected a tract of ten thousand acres of land on the north side of Pequa creek, and shortly afterward procured a warrant for the same. It is dated October 10, 1710; the land was surveyed and the warrant recorded on the 23rd of the same month. This came to be known as the "Swiss Settlement." The price to be paid for the above 10,000 acres was five hundred pounds sterling money. Having erected temporary shelters to answer their wants, some set about it and put up dwellings of more durability. Martin Kendig built one of hewed walnut logs on his tract, which withstood the storms and rain, the knawing tooth of time, for one hundred and ten years, and would have stood generations longer, but was removed and a more elegant one took its place. Martin Kendig appears to have been one of the most active and energetic men in the Swiss colony. After they had become fairly seated they thought of their old homes, their country and friends. "They remembered them that were in bonds as bound with them and which suffered adversity," and ere the earth began to yield a return in "kindly fruits" to their labors, consultations were held and measures devised to send some one back to the "Vaterland," to bring the residue of some of their families; also their kindred and brothers in a land of trouble and oppression to their new home; into a land where peace reigned and the comforts of life could not fail. A council of the whole society was called, at which their venerable pastor, Hans Herr, presided, and after fraternal interchange of sentiment, much reflection and consultation, lots were cast in conformity to the customs of the Mennonites, to decide who should return to Europe for the families left behind and others. The lot fell upon Hans Herr, who had left five sons in the old country. This decision was agreeable to his own mind, but
34
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
to his friends and charge it was unacceptable; to be separated, “Von ihrem prediger," from their preacher, could be borne with reluctance and heaviness of heart only. They were all too ardently attached to him to cheerfully acquiesce in this determination; reluctantly they consented to his departure, after much anxiety manifested on account of this unexpected call of their pastor from them. Their sorrows were alleviated by a proposal made on the part of Martin Kendig, that if approved he would take Hans Herr's place. This was cordially assented to by all. Without unnecessary delay, Martin, the devoted friend of the colony, made ready, went to Philadelphia, and there embarked for Europe: after a prosperous voyage of five or six weeks he reached the home of his friends, where he was received with apostolic greetings and salutations of joy.
Having spent some time in preliminary arrangements, he and a company of Swiss and some Germans, bade a lasting adieu to their old homes and dissolved the tender ties of friendship with those whom they left. With his company, consisting of the residue of some of those in America and others, he returned to the new home, where they were all cordially embraced by their fathers and friends.
With this accession, the settlement was considerably augmented, and numbered about thirty families. Though they lived in the midst of the Mingo or Conestoga, Pequa and Shawanese Indians, they were nevertheless safely seated and had nothing to fear from the Indians, with whom they mingled in fishing and hunting, and who were exceedingly hospitable and civil to the whites; the latter often shared with the Indians the shelter of their cabins in inclement weather. For seventy-five years these humble Christians and their children lived in unbroken friendship with these sons of the forest; proving conclusively that in the bosom of these children of nature there exists the same principles of humanity, love and kindness, that is found in the more enlightened races of men; and had after generations pursued the same kind policv toward the Indians as did these pious followers of that noble Christian reformer, Menno Simon, the bloody chapters that blacken the history of our country would never need to have been written.
35
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.Settlements having now been fairly made amidst the Indians, the hardships that first presented themselves in the beginning of the settlement began to vanish, or were surmounted. Their success, the glowing accounts given by them of the scenery of the country about them, the fertility of the soil, the abundance of the game in the forest around them, the quantity and delicacy of the fish which the creeks and rivers yielded, but above all the kind and amicable relationship they cultivated and maintained with their Indian neighbors, all conspired to make them the objects of attention and one of the points whither emigration tended in an increasing stream.
In the year 1715, the settlement was increased by the arrival of the following persons from the old country who had heard Martin Kendig's glowing description of the new home. Among these were Hans Mayer, Hans Kagy, Christian Hershey, Hans Pupather, Michael Shank, Peter Leman, Melchoir Brenneman, Henry Funk, Ulrich Howry, Michael Miller, Jacob Boehm, Theodorus Eby and others.* The descendants of the above named persons are scattered all over the States, and are among the most respectable and wealthy citizens of Lancaster and adjoining counties in Pennsylvania. In after years some of the above named persons and their descendants became allied to the Kagy's by blood and marriage, as will be shown later on.
In tracing back to discover who our fathers were, the author deems it of no less moment to know who our mothers were, because to our mothers is largely due all the virtues that adorn human character. It is confidently believed that Hans Kagy, whose full name was John Rudolph Kagy, was the first one of the name in America, and also that he was unmarried at the time of his arrival here; and that in a year or two after his arrival he married a daughter (Rebecca) of James Patterson.
In order to make this record plain it will be necessary to say something of the fellow passenger over the sea with Hans Kagy, viz: Jacob Boehm. My authority for the following statement is to be found in the "Reminiscences of Rev. Henry* See Rupp's History of Lancaster Co., Pa.
36
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
Boehm," a grandson of Jacob Boehm, above named. He says:
"My forefathers were from Switzerland. There is romance in their history as well as the land of their birth. Jacob Boehm, my great-great-grandfather, was a Presbyterian. His son Jacob learned a trade. It was a custom in Switzerland for all who completed their apprenticeship to travel three years through the country as itinerant journeymen. The design was to make them finished workmen, and no man could enter into business for himself, no matter how well qualified, until he pursued this course.
In his wanderings Jacob fell in with a people called Pietists. In many respects they resembled the Puritans. He was converted among them. The change in him was so great when he returned home, his language so strange, that his friends could not understand him. His exposure of formal religion, his boldness in reproving sin, raised a storm of persecution. The ministry withstood him and denounced him as a heretic. His answers were so pertinent that his father gave him a severe reprimand, inquiring: 'Boy, do you answer a minister that way?'
The Church exercised civil as well as ecclesiastical authority, and young Boehm was convicted of heresy and sent to prison. An elder brother was appointed to conduct him to prison. He did not watch his brother very closely and as they were near the line that separated Switzerland from France, the prisoner crossed over and was forever free from his domestic and priestly persecutors. He journeyed along the banks of the Rhine till he entered the dukedom of Pfaltz. This was the Palatinate bordering on Belgium. There young Jacob became acquainted with a people called Mennonites. They took their name from Menno Simon, who was contemporary with Luther. They were a simple-hearted people, and he united with them and became a lay elder.
He had several children, of whom Jacob, the third, was my grandfather. He was born in 1693 and emigrated to this country in 1715. Many of the Mennonites emigrated from Switzerland and Germany.
My grandfather was induced to come to America from the37
KAGY RELATI0NSHIP.
glowing description given of this country by Martin Kendig, one of the seven families that first settled in what is now Lancaster Co., Pa. Jacob Boehm, landed in Philadelphia, from thence went to Germantown, then to Lancaster, and finally settled in Pequea, Conestoga township. Soon afterward he married a Miss Kendig. My grandfather was a lay elder in the Mennonite Society.
Soon after his arrival he bought a farm and built him a house. He was also a blacksmith, the first one in all that region. His wife was very industrious, and when necessary she would leave her work and blow and strike for him. He died in 1780, aged eighty-seven. My grandmother was an excellent woman, particularly fond of me because I was the youngest grandchild. They had a number of sons and daughters. My father, Martin Boehm, was the youngest. He was born November 30, 1725, and was married in 1753 to Eve Steiner,* who was born on Christmas day, 1734. Her ancestors were from Switzerland and settled near my grandfathers. My father inherited my grandfather's beautiful farm, and in 1750 built a house, in which his children were all born and where he died. He was a short, stout man, with a vigorous constitution, an intellectual countenance and a fine flowing beard, which gave him a patriarchal appearance. He had strong common sense and understood well the science of family government.
The order and discipline of the family attracted the attention of the Apostolic Asbury, and he made mention of it in preaching my father's funeral sermon on April 5, 1812.
Martin Boehm was first a Mennonite preacher, for he embraced the religion of his fathers. He was made so by lot in 1756, for such was the custom of this singular people. For some time he preached without a knowledge of sins forgiven, but in 1761 he found redemption in the blood of the Lamb,*Steiner is now spelled Stoner. One of Hanse Kagy's sons (Henry) married Barbara Steiner, and it is believed a sister of Eve, Martin Boehm's wife, as there was no other family of that name in the neighborhood at that time. Henry Kagy emigrated to Virginia in 1768, in what is now Page Co., and the following year to Shenandoah Co.
38
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
and then he became a flame of fire and preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. His success was wonderful and the seals to his ministry were numerous. Then the Mennonites expelled him for being too evangelical. He then joined the United Brethren, and afterward became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. My mother was a noble woman, and to my parents I am, under God, indebted for what I am on earth and all I hope to be in heaven." (Reminiscences of Rev. Henry Boehm.)
I wish now to call particular attention to the following questions and answers, as in them I claim to have proof, and the only proof; that the wife of Johannes Kagie, called Manor John, was Nancy Kendig, a sister of Martin Boehm's mother, and the daughter of Martin Kendig, the head of one of the seven families who first settled in Lancaster Co., Pa.
"When.Martin Boehm had reached beyond the Patriarchal age, and was nearing the close of a long and glorious life, his son, Henry, who was then traveling companion of the pioneer Bishop of Methodism, the great and good Asbury, asked his father the following questions:
Question. 'Father, when were you put into the ministry?'
Ans. 'My ministerial labors began about the year 1756. Three years afterward, by nomination to the lot, I received full pastoral orders.'
Question: 'What was your religious experience during that time?'
Ans. 'I was sincere and strict in the religious duties of prayer in my family, in the congregation and in the closet. I lived and preached according to the light I had. I was a servant and not a son. Nor did I know any one, at that time, who would claim the birthright by adoption but Nancy Keagy, my mother's sister. She was a woman of great piety and singular devotion to God."'
We do not think we hazard anything in stating and we feel confident that Nancy Keagy here named is no other than the wife of Johannes Kagie, the second of the name in Pennsylvania, if not in America.
39
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
In 1783 Abraham, the grandson of 'Hanse" Kagy,* married the granddaughter of Jocob Boehm, and the daughter (Barbara) of Martin Boehm.
It appears somewhat singular that so important a fact should be discovered in the manner here stated. The reader is referred to "Reminiscences of Rev. Henry Boehm," page 378, by the Rev. J. B. Wakely, D. D.
In the succeeding pages it has been stated that there has been five emigrations of Kagys to this country, all of whom have been traced back unmistakably to Switzerland, thus proving conclusively that that is the country whence the name originated. It may be proper here to state the time when these several emigrations occurred. It appears from reliable records that Hanse Kagy at an early day became the possessor of large tracts of land, part of which was in Conestoga township, Lancaster Co., Pa. A tract of 400 acres and a similar tract of 400 acres in the vicinity of the now city of York, York Co., Pa., at that time part of Lancaster Co. The firstnamed tract of land lay in the very garden spot of Lancaster Co., of world-wi de fame for fertility and productiveness.
It was the writer's good fortune a few years ago to visit the neighborhood where my ancestor, Hanse Kagy first settled and built his humble cabin on the banks of the famed Conestoga creek. Words fail to describe the beauty of the scenery that lay before me or the thoughts that filled my mind and heart. Before me, in matchless beauty, lay the Pequea Valley with its highly cultivated fields of corn, wheat, etc., a perfect garden of the Lord; the air was balmy and made fragrant with the odor of roses and sweet smelling clover; the hum of the bees, the joyous songs of birds, all con-*In I. D. Rupp's history of Lancaster Co., Pa. page 117, it is recorded that "Hans Kagy," Jacob Boehm and others came over from the old country and settled in Lan. Co., Pa. In the "Reminiscences of Rev. Henry Boehm, he says on page 10, "My grand father, Jacob Boehm, was horn in 1698. and emigrated to this country in 1715;" now as Rupp says in his history that Hans Kagy, Jacob Boehm and others came at one and the same time, we feel warranted in saying that the first Kagy (of whom we have any account) came to America in 1715.
40
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
-spired to fill the mind and heart with emotions inexpressible, that still linger after the lapse of years like some sweet benediction-some holy prayer. I could not help but contrast the scene before me with what it was when Hanse Kagy first settled there in the midst of a virgin forest and among the untutored sons of the woods, with whom he and his sons lived in unbroken friendship, often sharing with them the rude shelter of his cabin, and receiving from them a generous share of the hunt or chase in return.. In fancy I could see the stout-hearted Sweitzer wielding the axe and felling the giant oak and hickory, burning away the brush and thistle or planting the golden corn, and at the close of day, when the evening shades had gathered around his humble hut, then like Burn's Cotterer, the husband and father led his household in songs of praise and prayer, with gratitude to God for the peace and joy that now is his, and thus daily he brought up his little flock of sons and daughters in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Our ancestor seems to have been singularly fortunate in the selection of a help-mate. She was no doubt a woman of great force of character. His wife, Rebecca Patters6n Kagy, was the 3d daughter of James and Susannah Patterson, both noteworthy persons in the early history of Pennsylvania. James Patterson was extensively engaged in the Indian trade on the Potomac and had what is now called a ranch at the entrance to Conojohela Valley on the Susquehanna, in York Co. now; then it was in the bounds of Chester Co., and was in the disputed territory which was claimed by the authorities of both Pennsylvania and Maryland. The dispute waxed hot and led to bloodshed and is known in the history of the States as "Cresap's War." James Patterson, the father of Rebecca (Keagy), was an energetic partisan of the claims of the Penns, John, Thomas and Richard, in this boundary dispute, as was Captain Thomas Cresap of the claims of Lord Baltimore. Patterson's ranch was in the disputed territory and when Cresap came in 1730 to reclaim the land for Maryland it was Patterson's ranch he claimed for his own, building a blockhouse there, and his partisans dispersing Patterson's horses, killing some of them. This was the beginning of "Cresap's
41
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
War”. Cresap claimed Patterson's plantation under a Maryland grant and demanded that Patterson show a warrant or patent for the land, threatening an appeal to the King in his own behalf and that of Maryland. Patterson's defiant answer was "Penn is our king." The contest lasted from 1732 to 1736, when Cresap was seized and the Maryland intruders were overcome. The established boundary line between the States was made July 4, 1760,~by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon,* and is known as Mason and Dixon's line, which gave not only the disputed territory above mentioned, but more to Pennsylvania. James Patterson died in 1735 and his widow, Susannah, the next year, married Thomas Ewing, and became the mother of General James and Captain John Ewing, of Revolutionary memory. Thomas Ewing died in 1743 and his widow, Susannah Patterson Ewing, married John Connelly, an Irish surgeon in the British service. The issue of this last marriage was Lieutenant Colonel John Connelly, who was commandant at Fort Pitt, now Pittsburg, Pa., at the beginning of the revolution and who proved to be one of the most virulent loyalists in the colonies during that eventful period. No doubt each one of Susannah Patterson Ewing Connelly's sons followed their ideas of duty as it appeared to them, while we approve or condemn as interest or fancy dictate. James Patterson, conjointly with his wife, Susannah, acquired a plantation a short distance from what is now Washington Borough, in Lancaster Co., Pa., as early as 1718; On February 15, 1748, Johannes Keagy bought 300 acres of land from Susannah (Patterson Ewing) Connelly. This land was part of the estate of Thomas Ewing, devised to his son, General James Ewing - the other half of this tract Johannes Keagy had previously purchased. In the same year, Johannes Keagy purchased from Mrs. Connelly and her three daughters, by her first husband, James Patterson, the land that belonged to him. "The tract of 500 acres owned by Thomas Ewing was bought of John; Thomas and Richard Penn, Esqs.,* Two English astronomers, who were appointed to run the lines by the Penns and Lord Baltimore.
42
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
sons of ~William Penn, Proprietors and Governors-in-Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania. The deed, bearing date March 21, 1739, in the 22d year of the reign of Lord George, the 2d by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland King."
James Patterson and Susannah, his wife, had two sons, James and Thomas, and three daughters, Susannah, Sarah and Rebecca ~ who married John Rudolph Keagy about 1716-17, and who came to America in 1715, as before stated, and who was called "Hanse" to distiugnish him from Johannes Keagy, who came into the same vicinity in 1730.
1. James Patterson, Jr., m. and had a son William, both of whom took an active part in the French and Indian War, the latter conducted by the justly celebrated Indian chief, Pontiac. James was interested in the Conococheague settlement with Benjamin Chambers, but he soon relinquished his plantation here, and removed to Standing Stone, in Huntingdon Co., Pa.
2. Thomas Patterson, d. young.
3. Susannah Patterson, the eldest daughter, m. James Lowry ~ one of the celebrated Lowry family of pioneer history of Penna. See Harris's Biographical history of Lancaster Co., Pa.; also I. D. Rupp's history of the same county.
4. Sarah Patterson, the second daughter, m. Col. Benjamin Chambers, the founder of Chambersburg in 1764, and the first white man to make a settlement in Franklin Co., Pa. He was a native of the County Antrim, Ireland, and of Scotch descent, and with his brothers, James, Robert and Joseph, between the years 1726 and 1730, emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania, and first settled at the mouth of Fishing Creek on the Susquehanna, where they built a mill. In 1730 Benjamin and Joseph, fascinated by the story of a hunter as to the beauty of the 'Kittochtinny" valley, they boldly pushed out into tbe wilderness until they reached the "Falling Spring." Benjamin remained and built himself a log house which he covered with cedar shingles held fast by nails; afterward he erected a sawmill and later a flouring mill, so that Chamber's
43
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
Fort* became a place of note and its builder a distinguished man of his times. George Chambers, Esq., a great-great-grandson of Benjamin, the first settler, is the nearest neighbor of the Editor of this History. James Chambers was an only son of Sarah Patterson Chambers, and became a distinguished general in the War of the Revolution.
5. Rebecca Patterson, m. John. Rudolph Keagy, who settled in Conestoga township, Lancaster Co., Pa., in 1715, as. heretofore stated.
The Second Emigration occurred in 1739, Dec. .11th, when. the ship "Lydia," James Allen commander, from London, with 75 passengers, Palatines; among these was Johannes Kagie.
The Third Emigration occurred Oct.27, 1764, when the ship "Hero," Ralph Forster, Captain, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes, with 500 passengers, among whom was one Rudolph Kagy. My authority for the above records is to be found in I. D. Rupp's 30,000 names of immigrants to Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776.
The Fourth Emigration occurred in about the year 1818-or perhaps a little earlier~when one Simon Kegey and a brother, and a son of Simon’s named John B., left Switzerland for America; the father and mother both died at sea, and the boy, John B., was taken by the captain of the vessel to his home in Pennsylvania; the uncle remained in New York.
The Fifth Emigration was in 1854~59, when Anna C. Kagi, of Ruppen, Switzerland, now Mrs. Henry Fluegge, living at Effingham, Ill., and her parents, Hans Jacob and Anna Maria Kagi and their son, Albert, came.
In writing this genealogical record it has been the aim of its author to give the descendants in both male and female line. It has, however, been impossible to do this in the female line beyond a generation or two, and oftimes not that far; this is indeed a matter to be regretted.
Having given in a previous chapter the time and circum-*Col. Chambers also built a fort and he mounted it with a cannon~ the only one in the valley at that time.
44
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
-stances that induced the first one who bore the name Kagi to come to these western shores, and who, in the following pages, will be called "Hanse Kagy" (to distinguish him from the Johannes Kagie, who came to this country in 1739, and who resided and owned lands in the same township - Conestogoe.) Thus far, no accurate record of the date of his birth or death has been found; but in Book A, page 156, in the Recorder of Wills office, at Lancaster, Pa., will be found on file a copy of his will, of which the following is an exact copy, both in orthography and form of letters, as near as it was possible to reproduce them, to wit:WILL of JOHN R.. KEAGY - 1748.
(We know as John Rudolph "Hanse" Kagy)JOHN KEGAY. I John Kegay in the County of Lancaster and province of Pena, Township of Conestogoe being very sick & weak in body but of Perfect mind and memory Thanks be unto God for it, do make this my Last Will and testament & desires it May be Recevd by all as such. Imprimis it is my Will and I do order that in Ye first Place All my Just Debts and funeral charges be paid and Satisfied. Item. I give and bequeath unto my well beloved Son Abraham Kagey, my Plantation whereon I now Lives upon to Possesst by him & his heirs and assigns for Ever, Containing two hundred acres, Ye land & Plantation is to valued by two or three men chosen by Ye Elders of our Church or Meeting & whatsoever they shall value it at above a hundred Pounds he shall pay unto my Exrs hereafter mentioned within four years after my Death. his Mother shall live with him during and he shall Provide firewood for her & he shall give fifteen Bushells of wheat every year & six bushels of malt. Three Barrells of Syder, half a Barrell of stilld Liqure, one hundred weight of meat, Either Beef or Pork at her Choice to be paid to her yearly & every year dureing her pleasure to live with him, He shall Keep a Cow for her and give her her choise of Ye Cowes; Every he Shall Keep a mare for her dureing Ye Term & shall give her four Apple trees Every year bearing fruite at her own Choice & give her half an acre of ground for flax and half Ye
45
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
Garden.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my Son Henry Kegay Two hundred Acres of Land to him his heirs and assigns for Ever joining Ye Above sd Lands to be valued by our Elders as aforesd & he to pay accordingly within four years after he shall Settle upon or ocquepie Ye Same.
Item. I give & bequeath unto my Eldest Son Jacob & my Son Rudolph, my tract of Land Situate on Ye West side of Susquehanah River joyning Yorktown to be equall Divided between them to be valued by the Elders or Such men as they choose asafsd & they to pay Each of them as above sd to.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my daughter Susannah Ye Sum of one hundred pounds Lawful money to be paid within five years after my decease. Item. I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Anne the Sum of one hundred pounds Lawful money to be paid when she comes of Eage. Item. I give imto my Daughter Barbara Ye Sum of one hundred pounds Lawful money, and I do appoint Jacob Myers & Jacob Beam my whole and Sole Executors of this my Last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this 8th day of May 1748
his
JHO. J. R. X KEGAY, [L. S.]
markSigned Sealed & Delivered in the Presence of us ye Subscribers Adam Prenneman, John Jones.
Personally appeared before me Adam Prenneman & John Jones, the Witnesses to ye above Will, & the Said Adam Prenneman on his Solemn affirmation and the sd John Jones on his oath declared they were present & Saw and heard John Keagy the Testator Sign. Seal. publish and declare the Same as his last Will & Testament and that at the doing he was of Sound and disposing mind and memory according to Ye best of their Knowledge. 31 October 1748.
Before THO: COOKSON
Dep Regx.
From the above wlll we learn that Hans Kagy had four sons and three daughters, of whom Jacob was the eldest son and was b. Sept. 13, 1719; Henry, Nov. 11, 1728; the
46
KAGY RELATIONSHIP.
dates of birth of the others it not known; Abraham b. about 1723 and Rudolph, b. about 1725; Susannah, Barbara and Anna.
Jacob Keagy was m. to Feronica Stehinan about 1770 and
had three sons and one daughter. The old family Bible thus
records his death: 'Fell asleep in Jesus on the 28th of December, in the year of Lord Jesus Christ 1788, aged 69 yrs., 3 in. and 15 d." His children were John, Jacob, b. April 21, 1760; Abraham, b. , and Anna.
John Keagy, the eldest son of Jacob, was b. 1746, or thereabout. He was m. to Sarah Sneider, who was b. in Canada. To them were born six children, one son, Jacob, and five daughters, Mariah, Sarah, Ann, Elizabeth, b. Aug. 2, 1781, in York Co., Pa., and Eve. In the spring of 1783 John Keagy moved from York Co., Pa., to Bedford Co., Pa., near where Myersdale City, now in Somerset Co. John Keagy was a Dunkard preacher and held the first Liebensmohl communion meeting west of the Allegheny niountains. This was in the year 1788. At this time there was only eight to ten families living in that region.
John Keagy sought out these families and appointed a day and place of meeting, and a church was organized; the society prospered and multiplied, and the settlement took the name of "Bruderthal," that is "Brother's Valley." Years afterward, when this section was laid out in townships, one of them was named Brothers Valley township. The society thus began in 1783, has increased and divided, and subdivided, and to-day numbers nearly thirty distinct organizations of brethren or Dunkards.
In 1810 John Keagy moved from Somerset Co., Pa., to Montgomery Co., Ohio, with his son-in-law, John Olinger, where he soon afterward died, beloved and respected by all who knew him for his kindness and exalted Christian character. His wife d. about 1835, in Montgomery Co., Ohio.
Jacob Keagy, the only son of John, was b. about the year 1770. He m. Susan Markley and they had a son whom they called John, who was b. about 1795. Jacob Keagy is said to have been a genius, a natural-born mechanic and could mould and fashion anything that he undertook to make either in wood, stone, iron or steel. He d. quite young, at about 30 yrs. of age.
………..
(The book goes on to finish the lineage of each branch of the Hanse Kagy family in the order of his children’s births. 675 pages.)
His records of living after leaving Lancaster Co. were thought to be lost until the author of The Kagy Family in 1899, did some research and found that a branch of the family spelling their name Cagey, near Point Marion, had an ansestor who died building a log cabin and left two pre-school age boys without knowledge of how to spell their last name~ ergo the other spelling. Other family tidbits of information seem to fit the puzzle, placing this man who died building the cabin as in fact being Rudolph. His son's names were Abraham and Michael, and it is believed that a daughter's name was Catherine Bowman b. 1743, d. 10/15/1834.