Andreas Bentz Line



Background Information:

Andreas Bentz arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Robert & Alice, master Walter Goodman, which arrived on December 3, 1740.

He married Otillia Catharina Lang on June 16, 1745 in New Holland, Lancaster, PA. It may not have been unusual for people to travel to Lancaster to be married; also, we know nothing of Otillia's family - they may have been from that area.

Andreas apparently lived in Hanover, PA, and was a member of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church there. The records of this church are now in the Hanover Public Library.

What happened to him then is unknown. He may have gone north to the Dillsburg area where one of his sons lived. No marked grave for Andreas or Otillia has been found. (The St. Matthew's graveyard no longer exists: buildings are on the site now).

Andreas & Otillia's children are shown below. Names in bold are those who have descendants we know about. Further information about these children, as well as source notes, is in the material on this and other pages.

Name

Birthdate

Spouse

Notes

Elizabeth BentzMarch 21, 1749/50  
Anna Christina BentzJuly 11, 1753  
Andreas Bentz, Jr.October 11, 1755Elizabeth ?This is the recently found family branch.
Johan Nicholas BentzMarch 5, 1758Eve Marie SwopeThis is the (Dillsburg) branch most of us are on.
Maria Magdalena BentzMay 5, 1761  

Until recently, we were aware only of descendants of Johan Nicholas Bentz (usually referred to as just "Nicholas Bentz"). Recently, descendants of Andreas Jr. have been located, and information on that line is now included in these web pages.


The First Few Generations

Detailed information on the Andreas's children and grandchildren, with source material, is available here. This is a good overview of the main branches of the family. It may seem complex at first glance, but it only covers three generations. It will give you a sense of what we know about the early family, and where the main known lines come from.


Genealogy Files

A set of files containing information on the known descendants of Andreas is available for download. These include Family Tree Maker (version 7.5) files, GEDCOM files, and .rtf reports. To see what's available, visit:

Downloading genealogy files

Family Sites in the Dillsburg, PA Area

Stories About Family Members


This page maintained by Bryan Bentz
Last updated June 26, 2000