Our 6th great grandfather, Johann Valentin Bernthausel, had a number of nicknames such as Val, Veld, or Velten but he seemed to prefer to be called Felty, especially in his later years. He was born in a place called Bad Kreuznach, Germany, shown in the picture above, in 1699 and was baptized at the Lutheran Church on the 25th of June that year. Years later, he is listed as a shoemaker in the local records. He picked Susanna Bohlen to be his bride and they were married on the 12th of November in 1720. Their first four children were born in Klein-Neidesheim.
Felty and his family arrived in the port of Philadelphia on the ship "Samuel" in 1728. The next record we have tells of Felty's purchases that he made at the estate sale of Laurence Bingam in Philadelphia County, PA in April 1733. In that same year, a new daughter is being baptized in Schifenthill in Philadelphia County. In 1734, great grandpa has signed his Declaration of Intent and on 11 April 1741 he received his Naturalization papers. Now, he's able to buy land in Buck County. He bought 100 acres in 1745 and 50 more acres in 1750 and this land seems to be located in what was later called Lynn Twp. in Lehigh County, where "Valentine Barontheisel" is listed as an early settler.
Are you noticing how much our ancestors moved around? In 1752 a "Felty Bensel" shows up on a tax list in Tulpehocken Twp. in Berks County and in 1760 in Albany Twp., Berks County.
Felty died in Windsor Twp., Berks County, PA in 1764.
Today's entry is about our final couple who fit into our fifth great grandparents list, which means that we'll begin discussing our 6th great grandparents next weekend!
I am not yet confident about this Mackey couple because I haven't found any records to prove that they are indeed our ancestors. I found some information about this William Mackey in a book about Horsefall Valley Mackey families, residents in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The author of the book seemed to believe that our Mackeys of Welsh Run, also in Franklin County, are descended from this William Mackey who emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland. It is exciting for me to contemplate and search for evidence, that William may be our Scottish emigrant to America, and I will do my best to find the proof that we need to make this a fact.
Here is what the aforementioned author had to say about William and Jean:
William Mackey was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1712. He came with his parents and some siblings to Pennsylvania about 1729. William married Jean Montgomery who was born in Fannetsburg, PA in 1714. One of their sons was Robert Mackey, born in 1750 (possibly our ancestor who owned real estate in Welsh Run, Franklin County, PA and lived there for a number of years).
The small amount of information that I have gathered for Bartholomaeus Bensinger, aka Barthleme Bensinger, prompts me to enter his family into one short story.
Barthleme was probably born about 1733 in York County, PA. His spouse, Catharina, probably was born in York County about 1737. I know of three of their children as follows:
Christina Margreth Birthdate unknown
Anna Barbara 2 Jan 1753
(Anna was baptized 25 Jan 1753 at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Hanover, York, PA)
Johann Heinrich 9 Nov 1759, our ancestor
Oftentimes, family historians need to at least present estimates and probable information into their recording of some of their ancestors, rather than to leave blank spaces. We are trained to analyze what records we are able to gather and attempt to present our ancestors as best we can, in the absence of available records, hoping to gain more information in the future. In the case of the Bensingers, I have Anna's baptismal record on microfilm from FamilySearch.org and much more information about Johann which was shared on my blog at an earlier time.
Our 6th great grandfather, Johann Valentin Bernthausel, had a number of nicknames such as Val, Veld, or Velten but he seemed to prefer to be called Felty, especially in his later years. He was born in a place called Bad Kreuznach, Germany, shown in the picture above, in 1699 and was baptized at the Lutheran Church on the 25th of June that year. Years later, he is listed as a shoemaker in the local records. He picked Susanna Bohlen to be his bride and they were married on the 12th of November in 1720. Their first four children were born in Klein-Neidesheim. 