We will begin this trip in Strasbourg, the cultural and political center of a region that was either the starting point or the passage way for most of the Bell ancestors for their migration to the British colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland in the early to mid 1700's. Among the founding generation, and/or the immediately following generation, were several who saw service in the Revolutionary War, either as state militia or as part of the German Regiment under the command of Muhlenberg:
1. Captain Peter Bell (1736-1778) also on the Committee of Observation for the region around Hargerstown, MD;
2. Jacob [Hoover] Huber (1730-1891) from Lancaster and later Woodberry Township in Bedford County, PA, who also probably served as a wagoner under the Command of General Braddock in the French and Indian War;
3. Johann Rinehart Replogle, Sr. (1720-1796) from Woodberry Township, Bedford County. PA, born in Soultz Sous Forets, Alsace.
4. Johann Rinehart Replogle, Jr. (1759-1813) born in Lancaster, PA and died in Woodbury Township, Bedford County, PA.
5. Ludwig Emerick (1754-1822) born in Chester, PA and died in Greencastle, PA, a few miles across the Mason-Dixon line from the from the Bell brothers homestead.
THE REPLOGLE FAMILY CASE FILE
Let's start with the Replogle family case file. As the account appearing at the end of this piece from a Bedford County newspaper shows, the Replogle family settled in an area that had its risks well before the Revolution. The suggestion that one of the Replogles was a paroled Hessian soldier would be consistent with General Washington's policy of releasing captured mercenaries who swore allegiance to the new republic, then served in some capacity in the Continental forces following which they were paid in "bounty land."
However, we have an early Marriage Record from St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, Hanover, York County, PA dated 8 October 1753. The German language register attests to the marriage of Reinhard Reblagek to Barbara Konig. From this and over evidence, we conclude that he was not a Hessian mercenary.
In 1944, the genealogist George H. Liebegott provided some additional information in support of a DAR application after which the lineage was certified by the DAR and Patriot Ancestor numbers were assigned to both senior and junior J.R. Replogles, A095504 and A095505, respectively. Junior was born in 1759 in Lancaster County, PA. Therefore, both Senior and Junior were in Pennsylvania well before the Revolution making it impossible for either of them to be Hessian mercenaries arriving with the British nearly two decades later. Lesson learned: beware of family legends.
We also know from the Archives of Pennsylvania Volume 4, Fifth series Pages 248 and 612 that "Rephogal, Reynard" received "depreciation pay." Another entry occurs in Volume 23, Third series Page 233.
What, you ask, is depreciation pay? Good question. Here is a helpful answer from the Pennsylvania digital archives website:
Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File - {series #13.50}
Arranged alphabetically by surname of soldier. The abstract card file contains transcriptions of data extracted from original records in the custody of the State Archives concerning Revolutionary War service in the Pennsylvania Militia, Pennsylvania Line, and the Navy. Note that duty after November 1783 is not considered Revolutionary War service. Information provided is name and rank of soldier, whether active or inactive duty, county of residence, battalion in which served, and record from which information was extracted. Also noted are whether soldier was delinquent and fined or whether militia fines were abated.
The entry "Active Duty" indicates that the soldier saw active duty in either the Pennsylvania Militia or the Pennsylvania Line while "Inactive Duty" indicates that the soldier did not necessarily see active duty. Associators were volunteers who comprised the Military Association, a civilian reserve designed to repel any invasion of Pennsylvania until the collapse of the Association in the winter of 1776-1777. The Pennsylvania Militia was organized under an Act of the Assembly of March 17, 1777 that required compulsory enrollment by constables of all able-bodied white males between the ages of 18 and 53 to repel invaders. The "Flying Camps" were special battalions of Pennsylvania Line troops recruited from the Pennsylvania Associators. Rangers were soldiers who served long periods of enlistment to protect the frontier against Indian incursions. Entries for Depreciation Pay Certificates apply to soldiers who served 1777-1780 when the currency was depreciating and were paid in Continental Bills of Credit that quickly lost value. To compensate for such depreciation, each soldier of the Pennsylvania Line who remained in service in 1781 was awarded a substantial sum in Depreciation Pay Certificates which were both interest bearing and negotiable. In addition, at the end of the war arrears and allowances due were met by issuing to each soldier still in service a number of interest-bearing final settlements called Pierce's Certificates (named after the paymaster who dispensed them).
Some cards show a certificate number that relates to the Militia Loan of 1784-1785. This loan was established to pay individuals for services and goods provided during the Revolutionary War that had not been reimbursed at that time. Note that not all certificate numbers give additional information.
http://www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp.
Another piece of hard genealogical evidence from the DAR case file helps to further explain one of the Replogle land grants:
Rapeloagle, Reinhart 200 acres Huly 9, 1798 County of Bedford. This 200 acres was in the form of a bonus as per genealogist at Harrisburg. Rinehart Replogle served as a private in Captain Patrick Haineys Company Bedford Co. Penna. Militia as per record in "Soldiers of Blain County" publihed in 1940 by Floyd G. Hoenstie, Holidaysburg, Penna. (Prior to 1846 Blair County was a part of Bedford Co.)
In addition, another reliable and distantly related genealogist, Gauis Brumbaugh, unearthed from Page 51 Assessments of Woodberry Township, Bedofrd Co. Penna. 1789, two entries:
Repelogel, Rinehard A H C S D S D
476 1 2 16 1 8 0
Repelogel, Rinehard Jr. 100 2 2 9 1 4 7
A=acres; H=horses; C=cows; S=schillings; D=pence
No doubt you have noticed multiple variations in the spellings of the given and the family name. You ask, how do we know these are all the same people? Once again, good question. Basically, we know because we tie the various spellings together by date and place and family relationship. This is a recurring problem in all family lines during this period due to the absence of an accepted orthography and the challenges faced by mostly English language clerks attempting various phonetic translations from German speakers.
So we see in Pennsylvania archives in Series 3, Volume II at page 269 for the County of Bedford, Frankstown Township 1783 a tax assessment to support the troops:
Rienhart Rippliogle.....250 acres...6.6.6 [pounds, shillings, pence]
On the same page, we also see entries for related family lines in the names of George Brumbough, John Midsker [Metzger] and Phillip Knee [Knie].
Also in the Pennsylvania Archives, Series __, Vol.__ at Page 112, we find A CLASS ROLL OF CAPTAIN PATRICK HAINEY'S COMPANY. In 2nd Class we find "Rinehart Reppleogle, Junr." At this point, we come across an Affidavit of the Alderman of Westmoreland County, PA, dated 5 September 1959, in the DAR case file for Rinehart Replogle, Sr. that the applicant:
...received the following records from Mr. George H. Leibegott of Altona, Pa., also from the Historian of the Replogle Family, Attorney Arnold M. Replogle of 3233 Arapahee Road, Pittsburg, Pa.: Dates of birth and death for Rinehart Replogle, Sr. which was taken from (one source) a book by J.M. Ware. They have no record of his entry into this country, but say that he lived for a time in Lancaster Co., Pa. Record show that he lived in Friends Cove, Colerain Twp. Bedford Co. Pa, 1777-78, and in Frankstown Twp., which took in Morriso's Cove, and Woodbury Twp., now Bloomfield Twp., Bedford Co. Pa., wince 1776. They state he is assumed to be buried on the same plot as his son Rinehart Jr., on the then Replogle farm, now the Lee Snyder Farm. There are other graves on the plot, but no markers. The names and dates for his children were compiled from many and various sources which were most authentic. Their children were 14 in number accourding to the History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pa. Pub. 1884, page 341. Wife's name is unknown to either of these men. They state he was born in German, or France.
All of this ends with the understatement: "His name is spelled variously."
The case file now takes us to another generation in another location, as the family moves west to Indiana where great-grandparents Lucinda Metzger and Albert Bell were born and raised. The item of interest is a document dated and notarized 25th April 1910, which states in part:
John Replogle had two brothers that married Metzgers, Viz, Daniel and Adam. John married Margaret Metzger and Daniel married Susanna Metzger. Adam married Louanna Metzger.
We also know from census records that Metzger men married Replogle women and that the families settled on farms in close proximity. Phillip Christian Metzger (1824-1904) was born in Morrison's Cove, Blair County, PA and married Catharine Replogle (1824-1852) in 1846 in Henry County, IN. She died soon after the birth of great grandmother Lucinda Metzger. Catharine was the daughter of Samuel Brown Replogle (1805-1869) and grand daughter of Rinehart Replogle, Jr.
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