Ulmer Ancestry

George Werner Ulmer & John Frederick Ulmer Connection

  Between the 1730s, through the 1760s, many of those related to this Ulmer family left Germany and immigrated to the American Colonies. A great deal of these immigrants came from the Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Ulm areas of Germany. In order to understand which of those German family members are related to us, I have recently attempted to find records that document these relationships. The records are hard found, and when they are found, many times they are only records that give us circumstantial evidence.

  In order to know where our ancestors came from, one must understand Germany, and it's surrounding area at the time the immigrants left there. Many researchers have simply assumed that their German-ancestors came from Switzerland. This may be because many of the ancestors are indicated as being Swiss-German.

  I have often seen Neuffen, a town located about 25 or so miles southeast of Stuttgart, Germany, as being in the country of Switzerland. Neuffen is not in Switzerland. Neuffen is in Germany, in an area that once was part of the German empire at the time Germany ruled Switzerland. And at that time there was no border separating the two countries. It was only in the 1648 peace treaty between all European powers, that the Swiss delegation claimed and reached formal independence for Switzerland. This being said, I need to point out that the lower areas of Germany, where Heidelberg, Dettingen, Neuffen, Ulm,  and other areas of interest to our Ulmer research are located, are in an area that is still known today as "Swiss German". These towns are located in the areas of the Baden-Baden, and Wuerttemberg states of Germany. This is also an area that is referred to as part of Bavaria, which is an adjoining state to the Wuettemberg area. All these regions of southern Germany seem to claim a connection to Swiss heritage, and rightfully so. It is kind of like referring to people from the Ozarks as all being from Arkansas, and not any from Missouri. The Ozarks area does involve both states, and is also a way of life that has long been labeled as "Hillbillies". But, I and my fellow hillbillies, are not all from Arkansas.

  To understand or explain the history, and customs, of southern Germany, would require a few years of extensive education and study involving one's time. There is so much history to the region that it can not be explained in a simple article. It is only my wish to point out that there is confusion as to where the German immigrants, of interest to the Ulmers of my ancestry lineage, came from. Many of those Ulmers immigrated to Orangeburg, SC.. And they immigrated to the American Colonies from southern Germany, not Switzerland. But yes, they were Swiss-Germans.

How do we connect to the Ulmers of South Carolina?

  To be more specific, I should say, how do we relate to John Frederick Ulmer, and the Shuler lineage of South Carolina, of which we are able to find a great deal of information about?

  As I mentioned before, many of the documents and statements I have found, and other documents that researchers have shared with me, are only good circumstantial evidence. So, much of what I say in this article should only be used in such a way as to help understand some of the confusion between my Ulmer lineage and the John Frederick Ulmer lineage. It can, and only should be used as a guide for more research, and not as documented fact for proof of your ancestral lineage. The area of research is so far back that we often can only find bits and pieces of information, and no real hard evidence to prove much of what we find as being correct. Nor do the bits and pieces of information found, even if they are documented as being correct, provide enough information to say for sure, or claim, that this is documented proof enough to use in our genealogy area of work. But those items of interest do indicate a strong connection between George Werner Ulmer, of my lineage, to John Frederick Ulmer's lineage. (See the update below)

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UDATE - November, 2009
We now know that John Frederick Ulmer and George Werner Ulmer were a father and son. John Frederick Ulmer (born Mar. 3, 1730) was the son of George Werner and his first wife, Anna Barbara Waltz. John married Maria Barbara Shuler on Sept. 26, 1752. in Orangeburgh, S.C. John Frederick and George Ludwig (aka. Lewis) were half-brothers; both having the same father, George Werner Ulmer, but different mothers.

NOTE; The text below has been changed (Nov. 23, 2009) to read correctly based on this new information.

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 This article is also written to explain why so much confusion , and why we find seem to find conflicting information about our George Werner Ulmer lineage, and much of it leading back to the South Carolina Ulmers of Orangeburgh.  Here is a summary of what I have found.

 George Werner Ulmer was the father of  Johann Friedrich Ulmer (John Frederick Ulmer). John Frederick Ulmer was born 3 Mar 1730 in Neuffen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He married Mary Barbara Shuler in Orangeburgh, SC., in 1752. George Werner Ulmer and his family members arrived in the colonies in 1749. They settled in Orangeburgh, SC.. It would appear that George Werner Ulmer's wife, Ursula Pretzel, was the mother of our ancestor, George Ludwig Ulmer. Ursula Pretzel was George's 3rd wife. Ursula died in Germany on Aug. 31, 1744; five years before our Ulmer family members emigrated to America. George Werner (widowed) married on May 11, 1745 in Neuffen, Anna Maria Aichele (aka. Anne Mary). She was George's 4th wife. Anna was the daughter of Johan Friederich Aichele and Maria Magdalina. Werner Ulmer and Anne Mary had three daughters before he died. He died prior to January of 1755. Anne Mary, widow of Werner Ulmer, later married Bernard Hartzog. John Chevilette was a witness to Anne Mary's marriage to Bernard Hartzog.

Most of this in the above paragraph is indicated in the church records of Orangeburgh, S.C.

  Before I explain this further, I should point out that George Werner Ulmer might have had at least two other brothers; Hans "Henry" Ulmer, and Michael Ulmer. However, that has never been documented or proven. George Werner Ulmer was a son of Johan Georg Ulmer. The family was from the Dettingen, and Neuffin, areas mentioned above. This was before they immigrated to America. It is not known, at this time by myself, if Hans and Michael came to America or not. Most likely they did, as it appears as if the family was trying to escape Germany, for whatever reasons, as many Germans did during the Palatine immigration eras. This was during the Catholic and Protestant religious-conflict-period of the early 1700s in Germany. Perhaps religious faith entered into the reason this Ulmer family left Germany.

(An update; A Hans and a Michael Ulmer emigrated to the same area in South Carolina, near Werner, in about 1752. This is documented by records of land deeds and church records of that time period.)

UPDATE

Another UPDATE: (As of June 13, 07) Now, some months after I wrote this article, I need to clarify that Henry, or "Hans" may not have came to America; at least not in 1752.

For some time now, I have been working with an entire completely different "Ulmer" lineage, and as a result of that research, I have found that the other Ulmer's lineage also has a  "Henry Ulmer". He arrived in South Carolina on Dec. 4, of 1752. This Henry is also known as "The Baron Henry Philip Von Ulm" or  "Von Ulmer". His lineage is found within Ulmer Ancestry, as a separate sub-website. Links to that information are found on the "Home" page and the "Sitemap" page of Ulmer Ancestry.

END OF UPDATE

  We are beginning to find more  about George Werner Ulmer. He and his son George Ludwig Ulmer were preparing to make the voyage to America in 1749. We know this from another church record; a church recorded a confirmation of communion for George Ludwig Ulmer and a friend, Elizabeth Majer, in April of 1749. This record indicates that the "hurried" communion was done because they were leaving for America. It also lists the witnesses to the communion as being, George Werner Ulmer and his wife Ursula. (Problem: Ursula was reported as died in 1744. I now take it that the mention of mention of Ursula was in stating who George Ludwig Ulmer was the son of; not that Ursula was present at the communion.)

 In the records of ship voyages to America in 1749, we find that George Ludwig Ulmer is listed as being one of the Palatine immigrants of 1749. We don't find him and his father, as listed together, on a ship's passenger list. But we do find that "Verner" Ulmer is a passenger on the ship named the Griffin, in it's voyage of 1749 to Charleston (Charles Towne, SC.). We also find record of Elizabeth Majer, arriving on the ship, Griffin, in Charleston, in 1749.

  Verner in German is Werner in English. Ludwig in German is Lewis, or Louis in English. The Orangeburgh, S.C. church records have listings of both these individuals written and recorded at the correct time periods of concern. The fact that George Werner is listed without his first name, "George", and that George Ludwig Ulmer is listed as "George Lewis Ulmer", does not brother me; nor should it be a problem with others, if they understand the way German names are given; and were used by most Germans after they started a new life in America. Many dropped the first name and used their middle name, as was the custom not only in America by them, but was also the custom by those that never came to America. It goes back to understanding German ways of names being given, and how their names were chosen for them. It can all be as misunderstood as the above talked about misunderstanding of the difference of Swiss-Germans, and whether they were from Germany or Switzerland. You can understand why researching our ancestors back into the time periods of old-Europe, starts to create all kinds of questions, as to what we find as being enough proof. These misunderstandings also tend to cause us to overlook information that can be of great importance to help document, as well as provide more clues for our minds to ponder on.

  Lewis Ulmer is not only found in the "Communion" church records, of Orangeburgh, SC.. He can also be found in the list of those that served in the South Carolina Militia. This list is dated for July, 1760. John Frederick Ulmer, Lewis's half-brother, is also on the list, Although they served under different captains, they both were in Col. John Chevilette's Battalion.

  Other researchers' records indicate the sibling connection of the four Ulmer brothers mentioned above, Werner, John Frederick, Hans, and Michael. And a few other records we know about give us the so called "circumstantial evidence" that I mention.

  There is also much confusion about the next generation below George Ludwig Ulmer. George Ludwig Ulmer, a son of George Werner Ulmer, was only four years younger than his brother, John Frederick Ulmer. And it so happens that both of these brothers had sons that they named similar. John Frederick Ulmer's son was named John Jacob Ulmer. George Ludwig Ulmer's son was named Jacob Ulmer. "Jacob" may also have been only a middle name of this Jacob, as well; remember, what I said about the custom of earlier Germans dropping their first names, and going by or being known by their middle names. German naming customs has to be kept in mind when you are trying to figure out their ancestral lineages. There is another twist to this particular generation or area of our Ulmers; both John Jacob Ulmer, and Jacob Ulmer were born in July of 1758. However, John Jacob Ulmer was born in Orangeburgh, SC., and Jacob Ulmer was born in Winchester, Virginia.

  Jacob Ulmer's father, George Ludwig Ulmer had moved to the Winchester, Virginia area by the time of Jacob's birth, in 1758. We have not found any record of George Ludwig Ulmer being there, except the facts stated by Jacob Ulmer himself, in his sworn statements that he made when he requested a Revolutionary War Pension. This would be our documentation that the father, George Ludwig Ulmer, was living there at the time of the son, Jacob Ulmer, was born. George Ludwig may have only been there for a couple years, around the time of Jacob's birth. Because he is found as "Lewis Ulmer", and listed as being in the South Carolina Militia in July of 1760; this would indicate he returned to the Orangeburgh, South Carolina for a period of time. Then he may have returned to the Virginia area after the Cherokee Indian Wars of 1759-1760. There is also the fact that his family and he may have been safer back in South Carolina, till after the war with the Cherokee Indians was over. It appears he moved back to South Carolina because this other record, more circumstantial evidence, showing him back in South Carolina by the year 1760.

  At the time Jacob Ulmer, Ludwig's son, served in the America Revolutionary War he was living in Virginia. He stated this was so in his pension request. Jacob's pension request was made many years later, in 1835. By then Jacob was living in Fulton Co., Illinois and was 77 years old. He died a year later, in 1836, and is buried in Wolf Cemetery, Fulton Co., Illinois. The other Jacob (John Jacob Ulmer, son of John Frederick Ulmer) is listed as having died in 1782. I have no proof of the death in 1782. Anyway, Jacob stated in is pension request, that he was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1758, and that he lived in Virginia during his service in the Revolutionary War.

  John Jacob Ulmer, is said to have married a Barbara Weaver. In the past, I have also found listings that indicate John Jacob Ulmer was first married to a Mathilda (or Matilda) Baumgartner. Here comes another twist in this lineage; Matilda Baumgartner is also listed as being the other Jacob Ulmer's wife also. The story goes that Matilda later married the other Jacob, after the death of the first John Jacob. This information was passed down from one researcher's great grandmother's knowledge, but has yet to be documented or proved. This may be correct, but if it is, there would not have been a second marriage of John Jacob Ulmer to Barbara Weaver. If there was a Barbara Weaver (and I believe there was), then she may be the one that married both Jacobs. But it seems more likely to me that there was a Barbara Weaver, who married John Jacob Ulmer, and a Matilda Baumgartner, who married Jacob Ulmer. The two (Jacob) Ulmer spouses have (possibly) simply been confused with each other by people finding records on the Internet.

  There are other records reported to me which list Jacob Ulmer's wife, Matilda, as dying in July of 1809. This comes from a Bible that is believed to have been Jacob Ulmer's Bible (Jacob Ulmer, son of George Ludwig Ulmer). This is more evidence that Jacob Ulmer did marry a women named Matilda. But it does not indicate that she was ever married to John Jacob Ulmer, before he died in 1782.

  There is also a son of Jacob Ulmer, William Ulmer. William was born in 1787. Some listings on the Internet list him as being the son of John Jacob Ulmer. Come on, even I know that a man can not die in 1782, and have a son born in 1787. Either John did not die in 1782, and then William could be his son, or William is the son of the other Jacob. (DAR list John Jacob Ulmer's death date as about 1830; record #A117827.)

  The next generation down from Jacob Ulmer of 1758 includes my gggg grandfather, George Ulmer. George Ulmer was born in 1789, and from his generation on down there seems to be no problem in documenting the lineage. It is only in the generations, back in time before George of 1789 was born, of our family's ancestral past that the "circumstantial evidence". becomes so important, yet equally so confused by many researchers.

  I would like to think the things I have pointed out above have somehow started to explain the mix-ups, and will help in unraveling the mystery of the connection between John Frederick Ulmer's lineage, and George Werner Ulmer's descendants. John Frederick Ulmer, son of Geroge Werner Ulmer, was born in 1730. There is also a John Frederick Ulmer, who was born in 1740. But, for now lets not get into that confusing information.

  By the way, the next generation down from my George has another Jacob Ulmer, one of his sons. And then the next generation has another Jacob as well. You have got to love a good challenge in order to be able to keep score on these German ancestors.

Ron Ulmer