John Justus Henckel (Johann)

• General Notes
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    John "Jost" and Maria moved to Macungie Creek Settlement and joined the Goshenhoppen congregation which after 1812 was located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. In 1750 he sold his holdings and moved to Rowan (now Davidson) County, North Carolina, settling on Dutchman's Creek about thirteen miles from Salisbury near the "Forks of the Yadkin". In 1760, because Indian depredations, they moved to Augusta County, Virginia, settling in the beautiful section known as "Germany Valley" which was located in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1778, later a part of Pendleton County (organized in 1788 from Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham Counties). In 1863 West Virginia was formed and Germany Valley became a part of Pendleton County, West Virginia.
    
    John Justus (Jost) Henckel served as commander of Hinkle's Fort and in furnished supplies to the Colonial forces in the Revolutionary War.
    
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    In his will Anthony Jacob Henckel left to his two youngest sons, John Justus and Anthony Jacob, the 250-acre home farm in New Hanover Township, then in Philadelphia Co, now Montgomery Co, PA. John Justus' share was 150 acres. (Volume XXII, Philadelphia County Administration Book "C", 11 April 1720-13 June 1737, page 250)
    He settled on a farm near Macungie Creek, now Lehigh Co, PN, paying taxes as late as 1748 in PN.
    By 1750 he sold his property in PN and made the long journey down the mountain valleys from PN into NC what is now Davidson Co NC.
    In 1751 he was living on Dutchman's Creek in the Fork of the Yadkin, approximately 13 miles from Salisbury, Rowan Co, now Davidson Co, NC. Their new land in West Augusta was near the Shawnee Indian Trail, so there the family built a log fort for protection in 1761-62, the site of which can still be seen today. The fort was built as a protection against the Indians not only for the Hinkle family but for other settlers in the area. The settlement became know as Germany Valley because the families, all of German descent, conversed in their native German. Unlike Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract, Hinkle's Fort was spared destruction.
    
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    In his will Anthony Jacob Henckel left to his two youngest sons, John Justus and Anthony Jacob, the 250-acre home farm in New Hanover Township, then in Philadelphia Co, now Montgomery Co, PA. John Justus' share was 150 acres. (Volume XXII, Philadelphia County Administration Book "C", 11 April 1720-13 June 1737, page 250)
    He settled on a farm near Macungie Creek, now Lehigh Co, PN, paying taxes as late as 1748 in PN.
    By 1750 he sold his property in PN and made the long journey down the mountain valleys from PN into NC what is now Davidson Co NC.
    In 1751 he was living on Dutchman's Creek in the Fork of the Yadkin, approximately 13 miles from Salisbury, Rowan Co, now Davidson Co, NC. Their new land in West Augusta was near the Shawnee Indian Trail, so there the family built a log fort for protection in 1761-62, the site of which can still be seen today. The fort was built as a protection against the Indians not only for the Hinkle family but for other settlers in the area. The settlement became know as Germany Valley because the families, all of German descent, conversed in their native German. Unlike Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract, Hinkle's Fort was spared destruction.
    
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    Germany Valley is named for the German families that were its earliest settlers. The first to arrive was the Hinkle (originally Henckel) family, which migrated from North Carolina in 1761. John Justus Hinkle, Sr (1705/6 - 1778) and his wife Maria Magdelena Hinkle (1710 - 1798), with their twelve children and their own families, came for the inexpensive farm land and relative freedom from Indian attacks. They were also attracted by the fertile limestone soils and gently rolling bottomland. They were soon joined by the Teters and by Pennsylvania Dutch families, some having migrated southwest following the ridges and through the “Valley of Virginia” from Pennsylvania's Lebanon and Lancaster counties. A few German families also moved west from Spotsylvania County, Virginia. These settlers brought the familiar custom of placing hex signs on their barns (perhaps the only section of West Virginia where these signs were once found.)
    
    Indians were by no means absent from the region, however, as the famous Seneca Trail (or Great Indian Warpath) passed near the Valley and the nearby British positions at Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract had been destroyed (1758) in Indian uprisings led by Killbuck, a Delaware chieftain. Four years later, a stockade (Hinkle's Fort) was built by the men of the Hinkle family to protect these border settlements from additional Indian raids. At the time of the Revolution, the fort became headquarters and training ground for the North Fork Military Company which was organized by the sons and son-in-laws of John Justus Hinkle, Sr. The fort is long since gone, but a large arrowhead-shaped stone monument enclosed by an iron fence marks its former site. (This is along the valley road leading east from Riverton).
    
    These traditional farming families long retained their language and “old country” customs and so the Valley became known as “German Settlement” or “Germany Valley”. At about the same time, many Scotch-Irish families also migrated from the north and bought land in Pendleton County, including Germany Valley. Although the community prospered, it long remained isolated and its agricultural economy continued to be based predominantly on forage crops, cattle, horses, milk cows, and sheep. The farms remained largely self-sufficient because the poor roads and absence of turnpikes made it difficult to reach larger markets in adjacent areas.
    
    At the time of the American Civil War, the communities of the upper North Fork, including Germany Valley, and Franklin, were strongly Confederate in their sympathies, although nearby Seneca Rocks and the lower South Branch Valley were generally northern in persuasion. Pendleton County was a border area like many unprotected by either Federal troops or the Confederates. Such divided counties, then the rule in central West Virginia, were torn by internal strife and uncertainty and border county wars among various partisan groups were continuous. County governments often ceased to operate altogether. Many of the Valleyâ€(tm)s men joined local partisan units such as the Pendleton Scouts, Pendleton Rifles, and Dixie Boys and fought for the Confederacy. In northern Pendleton County, the Swamp Dragons, or “Swamps”, were equally strong defenders of the Union. Clashes between these units were frequent and bitter, with members of the same families often contending against one another. Raids by Union army units and Union partisans such as the Swamps occurred several times in the Valley during the war years.
    
    Originally, the coves and moist slopes of the Valley were covered with fine timber stands, notably including black walnut. Much of the virgin forest was cut to supply local needs, and often good, commercial-grade logs were simply burned in land-clearing operations. Later in the 19th Century, professional lumbermen became interested and the remaining forests were harvested, sawn, and taken by horse and wagon to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Keyser, some 30 miles away. In the northwestern part of the county, much of the timber was hauled by logging railroad to the Parsons Pulp and Lumber Company mill at Horton in Randolph County. Due to the prevailing isolation and poor transportation system, large saw mills were not found in the area during the last part of the 19th Century. Small sash and circular saw mills, however, were present.
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    HINKLE'S FORT
    (Germany Valley, Pendleton County, VA/WV)
    
    Hinkle's Fort, built 1761-62, was located in Germany Valley, near Riverton. It was built by John Justus Henckel, Sr. (1706-1778), who came in 1760 from North Carolina with most of his twelve children, some with families, in search of a new home where Indians were less hostile and the soil more fertile. After a journey of weeks, they caught sight of their "promised land" when they reached the top of North Fork Mountain. Three sons, Abraham, Sr., John Justus, Jr., and Isaac, and three Teter son-in-laws were with him. John Justus, Sr. son of Rev. Anthony Jacob Henckel, had immigrated to America in 1717 with his parents who settled near Philadelphia, PA. He later moved to North Carolina.
    
    The fort was built as a protection against the Indians not only for the Hinkle family but for other settlers in the area. The settlement became know as Germany Valley because the families, all of German descent, conversed in their native German. Unlike Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract, Hinkle's Fort was spared destruction.
    
    During the Revolutionary War, Hinkle's Fort became the only outpost in Pendleton County for the patriot forces. John Justus Henckel, Sr. had been officially recognized for his services as commander of the fort and in furnishing supplies to the troops (detachments of the Virginia Militia) quartered there. The fort was headquaters and training grounds for the North Fork Military Company which had been organized by settlers early in the Revolutionary War and whose first captains were son-in-laws and sons of John Justus Henckel, Sr. After the Revolutionary War and when danger of Indian raids was past, the fort was torn down and some of the timbers used to build a large house on the site.
    
    The family of John Justus Henckel, Sr. became a leading one in the early settlement and history of Pendleton County. Most of his sons and grandsons served in county offices. Isaac Hinkle and his nephew, Moses Hinkle,were two of eleven justices commissioned by the governor of Virginia to organize the new county of Pendleton, 1788. Eleven years earlier, Isaac Hinkle had been similarly commissioned to assit in the formation of Rockingham County, VA.
    
    Markers at the site of the fort and at the graves of John Justus Henckel, Sr. and wife were dedicated on September 19, 1936 at a Henckel family reunion with several hundred descendants from throughout the United States in attendance who came to pay a lasting tribute to the memory of one of their patriarchs.
    
    Written and submitted by Sarah Hinkle Warner
    From Pendleton County, WV Past and Present, page 61
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    1. In 1750 John Justus Henchel sold his holdings in Pennsylvania and moved to Rowan, North Carolina. In 1760 because of Indian depredations he moved with his family to Augusta County, Virginia and settled in a beautiful section known as Germany Valley. This was included in Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1778 and became part of Pendleton County in 1788. In 1863 the State of West Virginia was formed, and it included Germany Valley in the Union District of Pendleton County, West Virginia. The first improvement in Germany Valley by John Justus
    Henckel was the construction of a stockade with an enclosed area sufficient to house the families of his sons and sons-in-law as well as the other settlers in the immediate vicinity. This structure was known as Hinkle's Fort and was used as an outpost prior to and during the Revolutionary War. The attacks of the Indians during this period caused all settlers in this area to seek shelter and safety in this fortress. John Justus Henckel, Sr, was the recognized commander of the fort at which Colonial troops were occasionally quartered. At his death in 1778 he was succeeded by his son, Abraham Hinkle.
    
    
    2. They first lived in Macumbie Creek, 10 miles from Allentown. In 1750 John sold his land and moved to Cutchmans Creek in Rowan County (nowDavidson), North Carolina. Due to Indian threats they moved to German Valley Settlement, Pendelton County, Virginia.
    
    The first improvement in Germany Valley by "Yost" Henkle was the construction of a stockade wiith an enclosed area, sufficiient tohouse his family, the families of his sons and sons-in-law as well asthe other settlers in the immediate vicinity. Known as "Hinkle's Fort" this structure was an outpost prior to and during the RevolutionaryWar. Attacks by Indians during this period caused all settlers in thevicinity to seek shelter in the safety of the fort. Colonial Troopswere occasionally quartered here.
    
    The site of the fort near Riverton, Pendleton County, West Virginia was located in 1925-27. In 1930 the Henckel Family Association erected a marker on the site of the old fort.
    
    The services of John Justus Henckel as commander of Hinkle's Fort and in furnishing supplies to the Colonial forces has been recognized
    officially by the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and other patriotic orders as a qualification for membership
    
    
    3. The Hinkle Family, by Linda Adams
    
    In his will Anthony Jacob Henckel left to his two youngest sons, John Justus and Anthony Jacob, the 250-acre home farm in New Hanover Township, then in Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. John Justus' share was 150 acres. In about 1730, John Justus married Maria Magdalena Eschmann, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Eschmann of German-Swiss origin, and settled on a farm near Macungie Creek, now Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, paying taxes as late as 1748 in Pennsylvania.
    
    By 1750 he sold his property in Pennsylvania and made the long journey down the mountain valleys from Pennsylvania into North Carolina. In 1751 he was living on Dutchman's Creek in the Fork of the Yadkin, approzimately 13 miles from Salisbury, Rowan County, now Davidson County, North Carolina. He and his family lived there until danger from Indians prompted him to move his wife and twelve children to what is now Germany Valley, Pendleton County, West Virginia. Their new land was near the Shawnee Indian Trail, so there the family built a log fort for protection in 1761-62, the site of which can still be seen today. John Justus, his sons, and his sons-in-law participated actively in the defense of the frontier during the Revolutionary War and furnished supplies for the Continental forces. The Hinkle Fort farm became the headquarters and training grounds of the North Fork Battalion.
    
    After John Justus' death in 1778, his son Abraham owned the property and carried on through the remainder of the war and until danger from Indians passed. A granite marker was unveiled by the Henckel Family Association at the site of the Hinkle Fort on September 29, 1936. A monument was also erected to the memory of John Justus and his wife in the graveyard of the Henckel homestead at a spot near the grave of Abraham Henckel.
    
    Children of John Justus and Mary Henckel were: Anna Maria Elizabeth, b. 1731, m. Moses Ellsworth; Jacob Henckel, b. ca. 1733, d. 1779, m. Mary Barbara Teter; Rebecca, m. Paul Teter; Catherine, m. Adam Biffel; Mary Magdalena b. 1739, d. October 18, 1829, m. John Skidmore; Abraham b. ca. 1749, d. 1815, m. Mary Catherine Teter; Susannah Henkel, married Philip Teter; John Justus, Jr., b. January 14, 1752, d. 1794, married Christiana Negely; Hannah, m. Andrew Johnson in 1791; Elizabeth, m. Christian W. Ruhlman, d. 1754; Isaac, b. ca. 1756, d. October, 1824.
    
    Solomon and Ambrose Henkel, great grandsons of John Justus Henckel through his son, Jacob Henkel, established the Henkel Press in 1806 at New Market, Virginia. They published, among other items, church minutes and pamphlets, small graded school books, and hymnals. In 1807, Ambrose Henkel began the publication of the first German newspaper in the South, "Virginia and New Market Popular Instructor and Weekly News." Nearly all the publications were in German; some pamphlets were in English. They were noted, however, for their publication of the works of Luther in the English language, sanctioned by the Tennessee Synod. Henkel family papers, correspondence, and items printed by their press have been preserved in the rare books and manuscripts collections at the College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia, and Duke University.
    
    
    4. Hinkle's Fort, Germanna Valley, Pendleton County, West Virginia
    
    Hinkle's Fort, built 1761-62, was located in Germany Valley, near Riverton. It was built by John Justus Henckel, Sr. (1706-1778), who came in 1760 from North Carolina with most of his twelve children, some with families, in search of a new home where Indians were less hostile and the soil more fertile. After a journey of weeks, they caught sight of their "promised land" when they reached the top of North Fork Mountain. Three sons, Abraham, Sr., John Justus, Jr., and Isaac, and three Teter son-in-laws were with him. John Justus, Sr. son of Rev. Anthony Jacob Henckel, had immigrated to America in 1717 with his parents who settled near Philadelphia, PA. He later moved to North Carolina.
    
    The fort was built as a protection against the Indians not only for the Hinkle family but for other settlers in the area. The settlement became know as Germany Valley because the families, all of German descent, conversed in their native German. Unlike Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract, Hinkle's Fort was spared destruction.
    
    During the Revolutionary War, Hinkle's Fort became the only outpost in Pendleton County for the patriot forces. John Justus Henckel, Sr. had been officially recognized for his services as commander of the fort and in furnishing supplies to the troops (detachments of the Virginia Militia) quartered there. The fort was headquaters and training grounds for the North Fork Military Company which had been organized by settlers early in the Revolutionary War and whose first captains were son-in-laws and sons of John Justus Henckel, Sr. After the Revolutionary War and when danger of Indian raids was past, the fort was torn down and some of the timbers used to build a large house on the site.
    
    The family of John Justus Henckel, Sr. became a leading one in the early settlement and history of Pendleton County. Most of his sons and grandsons served in county offices. Isaac Hinkle and his nephew, Moses Hinkle,were two of eleven justices commissioned by the governor of Virginia to organize the new county of Pendleton, 1788. Eleven years earlier, Isaac Hinkle had been similarly commissioned to assit in the formation of Rockingham County, VA.
    
    Markers at the site of the fort and at the graves of John Justus Henckel, Sr. and wife were dedicated on September 19, 1936 at a Henckel family reunion with several hundred descendants from throughout the United States in attendance who came to pay a lasting tribute to the memory of one of their patriarchs.
    
    Written and submitted by Sarah Hinkle Warner
    From Pendleton County, WV Past and Present, page 61
    
    John Justus "Jost" Henkel, son of Rev. Anthony Jacob Henckel, was born in Daudenzell, Germany, 10 February 1706 and died August 1778 in Germany Valley, Pendleton Co., WV. He was eleven years of age when he reached Pennsylvania where he grew to manhood on his father's farm in New Hanover Township.
    
    After he married Maria Eschmann, a German-Swiss, about 1730, they removed to Upper Milford Township in Bucks (now Lehigh) County,. near Dillingerville, Pennsylvania where they joined the Gossenhoppen Congregation. Until 1748 he paid taxes there, but in 1750 he sold his land, and by 1751 he and his family, which then included ten children, were living on Dutchman's Creek in the Forks of the Yadkin in Rowan (now Davidson) County, North Carolina. Two more children were born in Rowan County, North Carolina.
    
    After only ten years in Rowan County, NC, John Justus Henkel in 1760 removed to Germany Valley on the north fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River in Augusta, later Rockingham County, VA, and now Pendleton County, WV. All of his children including three of his married children and their families were said to have accompanied him to Germany Valley, but there is doubt that his daughter Catherine who married John Adam Biffle made the move. The successful arrangements for the migration of so many individuals required the mind and leadership of a remarkable individual. The records of his family clearly indicate that John Justus Henkel was indeed an exceptional man.
    
    A careful study of Henkel and Biffle records raises serious doubt if Catherine Henkel and her husband Adam Biffle accompanied her father to Germany Valley. A daughter Mary was born ca. 1758 in Rowan Co., NC; son John, their eldest son, was born there in 1760, the same year of the removal, and their youngest son, Jacob, was born there in 1763. If the couple did remove to Germany Valley, they must have soon returned because other Rowan County records place Adam in that county as late as 1779. By 1779 he removed from Rowan County and entered land on the south bank of the Holston River Valley in what is now Sullivan County, Tennessee. In this move, as already mentioned, he was accompanied by his son-in-law, John Jacob Eller, Jr.
    
    Among the married children who removed to Germany Valley with John Justus Henkel were his oldest daughter, Anna Maria Henkel and her husband Moses Elsworth, his oldest son, Jacob Henkel, and his wife Barbara Teter, and daughter Rebecca Henkel and her husband Paul Teter. Among the three couples were several grandchildren, including young Paul Biffle, son of Jacob and Barbara Teter Henkel, who was destined to become a most distinguished Lutheran minister, printer and publisher of the southeastern frontier.
    
    All of his sons-in-law, his sons and some grandsons were active in the Revolutionary War. His family fort became a military fort and was used to quarter and drill the militia. The Henkel Family Association in 1938 placed a handsome granite arrow-head monument honoring John Justus Henkel near the site of his fort. Also a West Virginia Historical marker which mentions the Hinkle Fort is placed adjacent to highway # 33 overlooking Germany Valley. (Note: My wife and I visited these sites soon after Conf III but were advised not to attempt to reach the Henkel cemetery without making prior arrangements.)
    
    One reason often mentioned for the move of the Henkels from Rowan County was to escape Indian problems associated with the uprising among the Cherokees in 1760. This explanation seems implausible since the land on which they settled in Germany Valley was adjacent to the Seneca and Shawnee Indians trail along which much Indian traffic still passed between the northern and southern tribes. The first task facing the family upon their arrival was the erection of a fort large enough to protect the large extended Henkel family from Indian attack. It seems unlikely that John Justus Henkel would not have known that Indian problems existed in Germany Valley prior to his arrival there.
    
    A more logical explanation suggested by some for his move to Germany Valley, was his concern about the legacy he would leave his large family of children and grandchildren. He was past fifty years of age when he decided apparently that sufficient fertile land could not be acquired in Rowan County to insure the future security for his children and grandchildren. He was attracted to the more fertile limestone soil in Germany Valley where cheap land was abundant. His decision then sprang apparently from that same impulse, common to all early settlers of that period - the desire for more and better land that would provide economic security for his immediate family and future descendants.
    
    John Justus Henkel and members of his family are buried in a grave on the hillside overlooking the site of the fort. The dimensions of the character, intelligence, and accomplishments of John Justus Henkel are revealed in part by his great courage and skill in safely removing such a large number of family members from Rowan County to Germany Valley and building a historic fort. Equally revealing was his concern for his families future, and his acquisition of much land to insure that future. Perhaps the major revelation about this remarkable man was the transmission of the essence of his own character and moral values to his children and grandchildren.