Ida Pines Stenberg
 
Mae, Ida, and Dora Pines
Mae, Ida, and Dora Pines

Ida Gaybrella PINES (1877-1971)

Thanks to Michael Vierling who sent me this information about Ida Pines's ancestors and the photo of Ida and her two sisters. Micahel writes;
"I've just recently started to research my own history, and find it a fascinating topic. My great-great grandparents are John Wesley Pines and Amanda Haynes. They had several children including Dora and Ida. Ida and Henry L. Stenberg married and had a daughter Dorothy, which led to many of the descendants you list on your site. In any case, my mother has many fond memories of visiting the Stenberg cousins in Colorado.

I would really enjoy sharing any photos or stories you might have about the Pines. Dora Pines is my great grandmother.

I am directly descended from both Swiss and German Mennonites.  Back in December 2009 I was contacted by some Pennsylvania Amish/Mennonite cousins, via 23andMe.  That was a surprise!  These are my genetic (4th and 5th) cousins, yet I had no idea how I was related.  It was a mystery until this weekend and I now understand a bit more about My family history.

My great-great-great grandmother Barbara Ann Grubb, mother of John Wesley Pines, can trace some of her maternal lineage to the Swiss and German Mennonites, who arrived to settle in Pennsylvania, during the period 1727 to 1776, just before the American Revolution.  Every immigrant during this period, was required to register an oath of allegiance to England.  The written oaths still exist.  Census, oath, land, will and ship records trace My ancestry.  In particular, My ancestor, Barbara Ann Grubb was a direct Swiss Mennonite.

Barbara A. Grubb is directly descend from Heinrich Grubb (or Grobb as spelled in Switzerland).  Heinrich Grobb was born in Switzerland circa 1680.  During this period a Reformation movement swept through Europe, rebelling against the domination of the Catholic Church of Rome.  The Zurich City Council reacted against an offshoot of the Reformists, the Anabaptists (eventually becoming Mennonites) with a program of intense persecution.

The Anabaptists were even more radical than the Reformists.  Their goal was not reformation, but "restoration".  Very briefly, Anabaptists believed more intently in the New Testament and the idea of a conscious, voluntary decision to faith, regardless of the consequences.

In any case, Heinrich Grubb, took his wife Catharine Addis and their large family, and departed Switzerland for America.  And I am direct descendants of Heinrich and Catherine Grubb.  The family took a long ship voyage and arrived sometime around 1717, and then purchased 150 acres of land.  It is significant that Heinrich bought the land, and did not receive a free grant.  The Swiss Grobb's family had plenty of money!  The Grubb's left Switzerland for religious freedom, not a better economic life.  The 150 acres, were near an area known as Falkner's Swamp.  The name Falkner was an insulting jab aimed at David Falkner, a land agent employed by the Frankfort Land Company, which owned twenty two thousand acres of land.  Catharine's father Thomas Addis also bought an adjacent 150 acres.

A second Heinrich Grubb, arrived in 1743 and settled in Chesterfield, Pennsylvania about 20 miles away.  This Heinrich was probably a nephew, of his uncle Heinrich Grubb.

Many of the third generation Grubb descendants served in the Militia during the American Revolution.  Son Conrad Grubb served in Captain Brownback's company in September 1781.  Son David Grubb served in Brownback's company, August 1780.

What is amazing to me is that we can read the actual wills of My ancestors, look at the maps and even visit or walk the land they first settled.  The maps and records are very clear about where the property is located.  So perhaps I'll visit Pennsylvania after all :-)

The Grubb's were friendly with the local Indian tribe, the Lenni-Lenape Indians.  The follow account is intriguing:

       The Lenni-Lenape Indians, who were part of the Delaware Tribe, were still living in the Coventry area when CATHARINE ADDIS GRUBB married JACOB FRICK and moved to Coventry with 3 of her sons and one daughter. These Indians were very friendly to the new settlers. One group of about 300 had a village beside the land settled by GERHARD BRUMBACH (later changed to Brownback). This was less than half a mile from where ABRAHAM GRUBB and his brothers took up their land. GERHARD was impressed with the physical abilities of the Indians and would engage them in wrestling bouts and other contests. The peninsula formed by a loop in the Schuylkill River was a favourite hunting area for the Indians. It still retains the name of Turkey Point to this day.  

       Most of the Coventry area had been sold to land speculators who had acquired plots of 1000 to 3000 acres. Most of them did not live on their land but gradually sold it off in smaller plots of 90 to 200 acres. The very earliest white inhabitants in the area, were two fur traders who in 1690 had a trading post on the Schuylkill River at what is now Pottstown. They were Pierre Bizaillion and Jacques Letort, both of them French Canadian and born in Quebec, Canada.  

       By 1703 lumbering companies from Philadelphia were active cutting trees along both sides of the Schuylkill River. They floated the logs down to the Philadelphia saw mills. At that time there were no roads from the Coventry area to the southern end of Chester County. Only the Indian Paths were available for travelling south on the west side of the river. The name Schuylkill was given to the river by the Dutch traders who travelled from New Amsterdam (New York) to Philadelphia. The river was hard to locate where it emptied into the Delaware River so they named it Schuyl, meaning "hidden" in the Dutch language and Kill which is their word for "River". So it was the Hidden River. The area around Coventry was known as the Skool Kill District until 1720 when the original Coventry Township was recognized.

My Mennonite lineage is traced below.  Past Switzerland, all Grubb's were born in Pennsylvania.

Heinrich Grubb 1680-1726 married to Catherine Addis
Heinrich Grubb 1716-1791 married to Anna Maria
Henry Grubb 1755-1824 married to Barbara Benner
John Grubb 1788-1852 married to Catherine Burd
Barbara Ann Grubb 1818-1859 married to William Pines
John Wesley Pines
Dora (McKibben) and Ida (Stenberg) Pines

Links and references -- My research relied on these sources.

A very detailed history of the Grubb/Grobb genealogy can be found below.  It includes stories and more detailed description of the Mennonite history, family trades and transcribes many of the wills and land deeds.  It is quite interesting!  I would recommend browsing this web site first.

Generation One is probably the most salient and interesting

A detail historical account of the Switzerland Mennonite history is contained in Chapter One of the book, "Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies"

Falkner Swamp Reformed Church.  Many Grubb descendants were baptized or married at this church.

A book about life in the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church."

Source: Michael Vierling mvierling a t gmail d ot com


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