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Note: Alias:<ALIA> Johannes /Theobald/ THE DEWALT FAMILY EARLY ARRIVALS IN AMERICA The immigrant ancestor of the Dewalt family of Northampton and Lehigh Counties in Pennsylvania was Johannes (John) Dewalt of Bethlehem Township, Northampton County. His name also appears in early church records and on his will as Johannes "Theobald" or "Teobald". The date of arrival of Johannes Dewalt in America is uncertain as of this writing. When the number of immigrants entering the country in the 1700s began to significantly increase, the colonial government passed a requirement that ship captains record the names of all of their passengers and their ages. However, most captains ignored this requirement and only recorded the names of male passengers over the age of sixteen. Also, only males over the age of sixteen were required to sign the necessary oaths to King George and to the colonial government of Pennsylvania. Therefore, if Johannes Dewalt was still a minor at the time of his arrival, his name would not appear on any immigrant lists. Also, many lists of arrivals were lost over time. It has been estimated that about 65,000 German-speaking settlers arrived in Pennsylvania in 1727-1775 but less than half of that number are known. The book "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Strassburger and Hinke, which includes all of the surviving lists of immigrants arriving at the port of Philadelphia in the 1700s, shows four possible dates of Johannes Dewalt's arrival. These were: 1. Ship "Carterel", arrived at Philadelphia on 11 December 1744, Captain Stevenson, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes, England: a "Joha,nnes Dewalt" signed the Oath of Abjuration (List 108C, vol. 1, p.35-8) 2. Ship "Neptune", arrived at Philadelphia on 25 Oct 1746, Thomas Wilkinson - Master, from Rotterdam, last from England: the signers of the Oath of Abjuration included a "Caspar Dewalt" who verified the clerk's entry of his name with two plus signs, and a "Johannes Wald" who verified the entry of his name with the capital letter "J" (List 111C, vol. 1, p. 363). This "Johannes Wald" could have been Johannes Dewalt or Johannes Dewalt was under the age of 16 and not required to sign the oath. His possible relationship to Caspar Dewalt is discussed further below. 3. Ship "Dragon", arrived at Philadelphia on 26 September 1749, George Spencer - Master, from Rotterdam, last from Deal, England: a "John Diwall" signed the Oath of Abjuration (List 137C, vol. 1, p. 414) 4. Ship "Snow Ketty", arrived at Philadelphia on 16 October 1752, Commander Theophilus Barnes, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes, England: a "John Dewald" verified his name on the Oath of Abjuration with an "X" (List 189C, vol. 1, p. 496). In 1758 this John Dewald was living near Ephrata in Lancaster Co., PA. It should also be mentioned that a "P. Ludwig Dewalt" arrived on 14 September 1751 on the ship "St. Andrew", Captain James Abercrombie, from Rotterdam, but last from Cowes in England. He verified his signature on the oath of abjuration with an "X". The Johannes Dewalt listed above on the ship "Carterel" is probably the "John Dewald" whose name appears in the records of the First Reformed Church in Philadelphia in 1749. The record shows that John Dewald and his wife, Anna Maria, daughter of John George Jans, had a daughter, Johanna, born 23 August 1748 and baptized 10 September 1749. The sponsors were John Gamper and his wife. On 30 September 1758, a note, written by the John Dewald listed above who arrived on the ship "Snow Ketty", appeared in a German newspaper (Publications of the "Penna. German Folklore Society", Vol. III, p. 19). This brief article gives some important insights about the relationship of several members of one of the early Dewalt families. The essence of this note was: "Johannes Theobald, born in Hahspeyer in Lautern, arrived in 1752. In the same year his sister Catherine came and was married on
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