Theodorus Eby

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Husband Theodorus Eby ^{1 2}

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           Died: 1730 ?
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Wife

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Children

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1 M John Eby ³

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2 M Peter Eby ³

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3 M George Eby ³

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4 M Christian Eby ^{3 4}

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           Died: 1756 3 4
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         Spouse: Magdalena Mayer (      -1787) 3

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General Notes: Husband - Theodorus Eby

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The first ancestor of this family who came to America, and from whom the greater part of the family has sprung, was named Theodorus.
This man, a Swiss by birth, and a Mennonite in faith, left his native country on account of religious persecution, and resided for awhile in the "Palatinate" or "Pfaltz," an old division in Germany, whose chief towns were Manheim, Heidelberg, Simmern and Zwei Brucken.
When William Penn, by his agents, offered free homes to persons of all religious denominations, Theodorus emigrated to America and settled on Mill Creek, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at a place later known as Roland's mill, situated south of New Holland, and near the line of Earl and Leacock townships.
It is said he had five or six sons in his family, skilled in the various mechanical arts, so that with their assistance he built a mill, and erected such other buildings as were needed, without employing persons outside of his family, except for the purpose of burning charcoal to supply the smith forge, which they did not themselves sufficiently understand.
The place of Theodorus' birth cannot now be definitely ascertained, there being no record in existence showing the fact. Family tradition has it, that he came from Canton "Schweitz," and must therefore have been of a race of hardy mountaineers.
The date of his arrival in Pennsylvania, is fixed by the Colonial Records, in 1715. And in the same year appears the names of Jacob Hochstetter, Jacob Kreider, Johannes Shenk and others. Five years later, in 1720, the family received an addition by emigration, in the person of Peter Eby, said to have been a relative of Theodorus; and still another much later, whose kinship, however, was never recognized.
In 1728, it appears that two persons were naturalized under the name of "Abye." These may have been sons of either Theodorus or Peter, and their names erroneously spelled by the government agent. It is to be observed that the descendants of Theodorus have always scrupulously adhered to the literal translation of the name, while some of the others have adopted the pronunciation of the German into the English, and wrote themselves "Eaby." So far as can be judged from the oldest known members, they must originally have been an active, quick-tempered, brown-eyed, dark-haired family. [BHLC, 176]

The head of the family in America, he was a Swiss Mennonite, and came with the Brubakers, Lemons, et al. On the 10th day of May, 1718, he took out a warrant for three hundred acres of land among the new surveys at Conestoga, at the rate of one shilling quit-rent per hundred acres per annum. The survey was made on the 13th day of May, 1718, on the west side of the Conestoga Creek, adjoining the lands of Henry Funk and Michael Shank. Theodorus Eby remained upon this land five years, when he purchased another tract of land upon Mill Creek, near the old Peter's road, and a short distance south of Earl township line, which was later known as Roland's mill. Theodorus Eby died intestate and before he paid any of the consideration money for the land at Conestoga. He probably died in 1730. This land he seems to have sold to Hans Musser, but never conveyed a title to him. His children (all of whom had attained their majority), for the sum of seventy pounds, made a quit-claim deed to Hans Musser on Feb. 20, 1734.

1 Alex. Harris, A Biographical History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1872), Pg 176.

2 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 907.

3 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 908.

4 Alex. Harris, A Biographical History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1872), Pg 177.