History: Family: The HERTERRANFT (Hartranft) Family: Montgomery County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Thera. tsh@harborside.com USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ ____________________________________________________ The following is from "Genealogical Record of the Schwenkfelder Families: Seekers of Religious Liberty who Fled from Silesia to Saxony and Thence to Pennsylvania in the Years 1731 to 1737." Edited by Samuel Kriebel Brecht, A.M. Printed for The Board of Publication of the Schwenkfelder Church, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. Rand McNally & Company. 1923. [NOTE: The Silesia referenced below was an area of Europe which is now in southwestern Poland. Germany ceded this province to Poland after WW II. The area borders present day Germany and the Czech Republic. The founder of the Schwenkfelder Church, Caspar Schwenckfeld, was born in Ossing, Silesia, which was changed to Ossig (Osiek in Polish), and is still a small town outside of Lubin, Poland, which is outside of Legnica (Liegnitz in German), Poland. For more information, see the website of the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center at: http://www.rpc.ox.ac.uk/rpc/sfld/s_guide.htm The SLHC is located in Pennsburg, PA.] THE HERTERRANFT (HARTRANFT) FAMILY TOBIAS HERTERRANFT (HARTRANFT) of Lauterseiffen, Silesia, b. about 1684, on Nov. 17, 1717 m. BARBARA YEAKEL of Ober Harpersdorf, sister of Matthias Yeakel. Tobias and Barbara came to Pa. in 1734 with their children. They settled in Salford Twp., Montg. Co., Pa., later Marlborough. Tobias died Oct. 4, 1758, and is probably buried in the cemetery of St. Paul's Lutheran Church near Red Hill, Pa., although his grave has not been located. Barbara, his wife, died Feb. 15, 1764, and is buried in the Washington Schw. Cem. The late Gov. John F. Hartranft was the sixth in descent from Tobias Herterranft. He stated that the name Hartranft was formed from two names--"Hart" and "Ragenfrid". The first was the given name and the latter the family name, and becoming too cumbersome when set together, the name was abbreviated to Ranft, Ranf, Ranfd, Ranph and Ranft. Children of TOBIAS HERTERRANFT (HARTRANFT) and BARBARA YEAKEL were: 1. Maria HARTRANFT, b. Sept. 5, 1718, in O. Hdrf., d. Dec. 9, 1799, on Apr. 29, 1746 she m. Melchior SCHULTZ, b. June 27, 1714, d. Sept. 1, 1787, son of Melchior SCHOLTZE (SCHULTZ) and Susanna KRIEBEL. Melchior Schultz had previously been married to Anna Maria Meschter. He purchased land in Upper Hanover Twp., Montg. Co., and in Hereford Twp., Berks Co. He is buried in Washington Schw. Cem. It is believed that Melchior and Maria had several children, but no record of them could be found. 2. Anna HARTRANFT, b. Oct. 6, 1719, d. Nov. 3. 1719. 3. Rosina HARTRANFT, b. Oct. 6, 1719 (twin of Anna,) d. ?, m. ______ Frosch. 4. George HARTRANFT, b. June 3, 1721, d. Nov. 11, 1759, m. Maria Elizabeth SCHMIEDT, b. 1727 in Nassau Siegen, d. Oct. 8, 1797, dau. of Johannes and Anna Catherine Schmiedt. George is buried in Washington Schw. Cem. Children: i. Rosina, b. June 23, 1758, d. Sept. 5, 1816, m. Abraham Kriebel. ii. Maria, b. June 23, 1758, d. ?. Maria Elizabeth married Peter Mueller after George Hartranft's death. 5. Melchior HARTRANFT, b. 1726, d. Nov. 3, 1760, on Jan. 3, 1753, he married Anna ____. Melchior was naturalized June 1, 1749, and on Feb. 26, 1754, his father, Tobias, conveyed to him his farm in Marlborough Twp., Montg. Co., Pa., but which he in turn sold five years later. It is believed that Melchior bought property in Gwynned Twp. Anna died about Jan. 1759. Place of burial is unknown. Children: i. Catharine, b. Dec. 2, 1753, d. Aug. 27, 1804, m. David Schultz. ii. Maria, b. Apr. 6, 1755, d. Jan. 5, 1759. iii. Maria, b. Aug. 12, 1759, d. ?, m. Johann Meyers 6. Abraham HARTRANFT, b. ?, d. Dec. 12, 1766, on Nov. 3, 1747, he married Susanna Schubert, b. ?, d. Dec. 29, 1779, dau. of Christopher and Barbara Schubert. Abraham was naturalized on Sept. 24, 1745, but place of residence an burial have not been determined. Susanna, after Abraham's death, married Michael Seidel, "widower", Apr. 15, 1776. Children of Abraham and Susanna: i. Christopher, b. Oct. 5, 1748, d. Oct. 21, 1808, m. 1) Catherine Kuntz, 2) Margaret Stump, 3) Elizabeth Robley. ii. Abraham, b. Apr. 2, 1750, d. 1833, m. Catherine Hirsch. iii. Barbara, b. Dec. 20, 1751, d. ?, m. Godfrey Hamled. iv. John, b. Apr. 21, 1753, d. ?, m. Catharine _____. v. William, b. Nov. 23, 1754, d. in infancy. vi. Leonard, b. Apr. 17, 1757, d. Aug. 25, 1758. vii. Leonard, b. Nov. 6, 1759, d. July 24, 1841, m. Christina Moyer. viii. Maria, b. Dec. 23, 1761, d. ?, m. Conrad Moyer. xix. William, b. 1764, d. ?, m. Barbara Moyer.