Reckart Famliy Preston County, WV Biography Ernest Reckart By Gary P. Reckart, Sr. Copyright 1995 All Rights Reserved Permission granted for posting on the internet to Elizabeth Burns. __________________________________ The Duchy of Minden had long been a garrison for soldiers who had come here to protect the villagers and the northwestern front of Prussia. Conflict had raged across these rolling hills for a number of centuries. Peace allowed the farming families to settle into a familiar pattern of living. There had been no war or threats of war now for several years and the population began to explode in growth. In the twenty square mile area around Minden there were now over 70,000 people. This tranquil life however was not to last long. Many of the middle aged men of this region had once served in the Prussian army under Frederick the Great. Some of the officers had retired here and were now taking time for married life and raising children. These families were rich in heritage and pride. Family names were considered a mark of distinction of the past valor of ancestors. Some could boast of their relationship to German and English royalty. Others could lay claim that their ancestors had protected the City of Jerusalem and the holy sepulcher. Descendants of the Knights Templars still had lodges in the City where men resorted to drink their black malt beer, gamble, and recount events, politics, and family histories. The city of Minden was like many other small German villages. But things were to change. The greatest migration ever to take place on the earth was about to begin and nothing that these humble villagers could do would change that. Within the next hundred years, from 1750 to 1850, there would be hundreds of thousands, who would flee this region and other parts of Germany for America. The stage was set when rumors of war between Prussia and the anglo forces, began circulating around the village. Many felt there had been enough war, enough killing over family squabbles between the royal houses, enough loss of life, property, and what little wealth they could accumulate. Fear was again griping the hearts of young and old women, that they might be bereaved of their husbands, that their homes would be broken up, and there would be no one to provide for the children. The lofty Gothic spire of the St. Martini Lutheran Church, seemed to beckon the families to pray at such times as these. Threats were coming from France that Frederick the Great would be destroyed. Then a rumor circulated that Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony had allied and were preparing for the coming battle. Comfort was felt when word came that England would join forces with Frederick the Great. Young men of Minden and other surrounding villages were solicited to join the Prussian army and be prepared to fight to save their families. Old soldiers who were in retirement were put on notice that they might be needed in leadership roles if conflict broke out. Everyone began to collect the necessary things of life, in the event an attack would come suddenly. The high wall that had been built around the city two hundred years previous needed repairs, and skilled masons went to work. The question of most was, how many lives would be lost? The seven years war that started in 1756 and ended in 1763, changed the course of history for a number of families. Had this war never taken place, there might not be Reckarts in America today in any of the four different family lines. The Reckert family in Germany was not large, but it did enjoy happiness and prosperity equal that of other families. The clan had lived in the area between Minden and Hanover for nearly two hundred years. The original Reckart or Reckert to the Minden region, like most others who settled here, had been either a Knights Templar or a Teutonic Knight, and a devoted Catholic. Returning from Jerusalem after the Crusades, these settled where the Recard or Riechardt family still maintained a presence as ordinary citizens near the border of Italy. In short time, the Knight Templars and the Teutonic Knights had became so powerful in their secret lodges, taking control of governments and practicing blasphemous religious rituals behind closed doors, that the Church at Rome and the Pope felt the need to cleanse the Church. Acting upon the advice of his counselors, Pope Clement, on March 22, 1312 abolished these secret orders, transferring all their goods and wealth to the Knights of St. John. Men of the abolished orders began to fear for their lives when it was reported Jacques de Molay and some of his followers had been arrested in France and burned at the stake by the prodding of Church leaders. Most of France consented to these deaths. It was their way of repudiating the occult conquest of Catholicism. Additionally, they were tormented that many men they held in high esteem, had confessed to taking blood-oath vows, of denying Christ by adopting occult arts and mysticism (the ritual of Baphomet, riding the goat), and spitting upon a crucifix at secret meetings of the fraternity. Many leading members of the orders who did these ignorantly, believing Rome did not object, having seen other high Church officials at these ceremonies, took their families and a few belongings and fled. One or more of our ancestors must have been among them, and that may be why they are found in Minden with others who fled there. The word circulated that in Minden there was safe refuge. Here, they could live and not be afraid, being welcomed under the protection of another secret order, called the Black Knights. These families were to far north and isolated, to be a threat of Rome and her holy alliances, and so here the fearful men settled down and started new lives. With intermarriage between families, nearly everyone who lived in or near Minden could trace their family lines back to northern Italy, France or southern Germany. Still being Catholics in heart they built a Church. When Lutheranism came into the village as a protest against the selling of indulgences and other Catholic teachings, many joined because they did not believe Rome had the right to change original Christianity and add to it with man's traditions. Others joined Lutheranism because it offered them a refuge within which, they could still hold membership in secret societies without condemnation and loss of life. Was not Luther himself received and aided by fellow members of the secret societies to which he belonged? Was this not kept secret? And so the St. Martini Lutheran Church had two types of ready members, as long as the trinity was not denied and a Catholic priesthood was intact. For them, this was the whole of the Catholic faith according to the Apostle's Creed, so who needed the approval of Rome? We pick up on the story of the Reckert family six generations and two hundred years after their settlement in Minden. Eventually many became Lutherans. Some remained Catholic. This is not the complete story, because other Reckerts known then by several different variations such as: Recared, Reichardt, Reichart, Reickardt, Reickart, Reckart, Reckert, Reckard, Rekart, Recard, Reckirt, Rekert, Rickart, Rickert, Rickert, Rickard, Rickhart, Righart, Reck, and even Richard (Ric-hard), have yet to be researched. From the time of the Papal Bull against certain secret orders until now, no one knows how our name became spelled so differently from region to region and nation to nation. Perhaps it was for safety and a new identity? Perhaps it was because of changing language patterns and intermarriage into different countries. Certainly, the effect of the changing Anglo-Saxon manner of articulation played its role. Dialectical shift between high and low German also made a difference. And remember also, that there was no great emphasis on holding to a strict family surname spelling. A person could change their surname spelling several times in life at will. There were no courts that cared to say anything about it. Descendants of these ancestors become judges, advocates (lawyers), constables (justice of the peace), soldiers, doctors, priests, theologians, merchants, sailors, masons, builders, and farmers. Some married women and men in Italy, France, Spain, England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, and Finland, and moved there. Because of this migration, the Reckart name as we know it in America is spelled many different ways in Europe. Our American use of the Reckart spelling by the Preston County clan, proudly reflects on the life of the one man of all that history who gave us our heritage and our existence. What is now lost in the rupture of this family name by changing it, is the family heritage and pride of claiming our name-ties to the single most important ancestor of our past. As the ruptured clans spin off, spelling their names as Reckard, Reckhart, et al, they soon lose association with the family tree, and after only one generation has passed, the next generation usually knows nothing of where the family came from or where their name originated. There are proofs of Reckarts in Germany long before we take up our story. But because we are uncertain of connecting links between individuals we have found, we cannot speak of them in particular. Our part in the history of the world begins in Minden, Germany, in the spring time of 1748 and so we shall commence the story of our family as we know and currently believe it. From the time they were children playing among the narrow cobblestone streets, the two were destined to be married. Both were children of advocates (lawyers). Now they were grown, and the time of love and marriage enticed them into a bond of blessed friendship. Marriage for them was not just a union of two people, it was the beginning of a new race, the American race of the Reckart family in Preston County, West Virginia. Our race began in the warmth of love, sealed by marriage. These two tender and youthful hearts were the cradle of our real beginning. We do not know their age but we may assume Johann Carl Reckert was in his mid to late twenties and Sophia was just a few years younger. It was customary for a man before marriage, to learn a trade, begin to share responsibilities in the family business, or take up his share in the family farming work. Those who could afford it, sent their sons to private schools for education in the sciences, arts, religion, law, medicine, or military service to serve as officers. Johann was not only a good son, his love for education and law, allowed him to serve Minden in the capacity of a constable or justice of the peace. These officers of the law, could hold court and hear issues and matters not necessary to be heard by the higher courts. His mother and father helped the newly weds make a home. Soon after the marriage, Sophia announced she was with child. On January 31, 1749, Sophia Charlotte Reckert was born. It was not uncommon for mothers to name their first daughters after themselves or give the child the two first names of the paternal and maternal grandmothers. After this, they gave their children names of their own choices, usually that of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, or a famous relative. The joy of a child in the home was short lived, when on March 16, 1752 little Sophia died in the arms of her mother. The family grieved and the loss was nearly unbearable. Sophia prayed and tried for another child. Three years later she was blessed. She announced she was in a motherly way. The grandparents were glad for her and were beaming with excitement again. The father of Sophia was an Advocate (similar to a modern lawyer), and he announced he would be the sponsor of the child at baptism. The first son and grandson of the family was born on October 19, 1755. Church records at Minden show he was baptized on October 22. He was named Ernest August Reckert according to the baptismal record book. The Church book shows his father to be Johann Carl Reckert and the last name of the grandfather on the maternal side to be Belilz. This gives us the indication that the maiden name of the mother was perhaps Sophia or Charlotte Belilz. Having looked at these Church records from 1744 to 1766 very closely, I found no other baptism among the hundreds, of an Advocate Belilz being a sponsor for any other children. This was a one-time event and a special one for the Reckert family of Preston County, West Virginia. While these exciting things were happening in the Reckert family, the rumblings of war continued to make them aware, that life could become a nightmare suddenly. Families huddled closer together and talk of Johann Carl being called to military duty, brought realization to the family that they should love one another, for tomorrow they may be separated until eternity. Some men were needed in the village. Usually the older and those with large families were exempt from military service. Perhaps if he had more children before war broke out, he would be excused from duty. And so the next year around November of 1756, a third child was born. Her name was Henriette Elizabeth Reckert. War was imminent. Word was out that Frederick the Great was sending General William Frederick Von Steuben to Minden, to amass troops and prepare for the war. The coming of Von Steuben played another role of unreversible influences that would bring the only son of Johann Carl Reckert to America. How Von Steuben and Johann Carl became acquainted is lost in history. They may have been members of the same secret order, or Steuben may have served together somewhere with Johann's father. The connection between the Reckert family of Minden and Von Steuben, who never married, is a remarkable secret that has yet to be unlocked. The war broke out. For seven years the opposing forces would fight. Wives waited daily for news about their husbands. It is believed that Johann Carl Reckart died in the war serving, as an officer under the leadership of Von Steuben. His death is not recorded in the records of the Church. He disappears before the birth of his last daughter who was born just after the seven years war began. There is a great possibility, that he never saw his third child, having been killed in battle. This left a young widow with two small children, the boy Ernst August, just a year old, and a new infant daughter. The ravages of war and the scant existence of food, clothing, and poor shelter, gave disease an advantage during these times. Who would suffer the most, but the innocent children. These would bear the brunt of the stupidity and the arrogance of men, who chose nothing better to do with their lives, than to kill one another over political difference, some family feud between royal houses over sexual immorality, or squabbles over land inheritance. Days turned into months with no word about Johann Carl. Then on October 1, 1758 the death angel visited the Reckert home again and little Henriette died. The family was now reduced to a young mother and a three year old son. All she had left was Ernest August Reckart, the forefather of the American Reckart tribe of Preston County, West Virginia. We are not certain what took place over the next few years. Evidence indicates that Sophia remained a widow. We do not know anything of the next sixteen years of Ernest August. One thing appeared definite, the young man loved the memory of his father who died as a soldier in the Prussian army in the seven years war. The crushing blow came in the life of young Ernst August, when in 1766 at the age of eleven, his mother died. Her death is recorded in the Church records. Her name was not written, only that the wife of Johann Carl Reckert had died. The last living member of the family was now in God's hands. He was an orphan, alone in the world, with no family remaining. What role Von Steuben played in this young man's future we may only speculate. It is believed that Steuben payed one of the ultimate pledges to his secret order vows, that is, to provide for the widows and orphans of deceased lodge members, to the extent of not injuring themselves or their own families. Around the age of fourteen, for that was the age young men who joined the military began their training to be professional officers, Ernest August began his formal education and learned not only how to read and write, he was educated in the sciences and the arts. He became a model soldier. We believe that since Von Steuben was not married and had no children, that he took young Ernest August as an unofficial adopted charge, and nurtured him into manhood. After the seven years war was over in 1763, Von Steuben became the Court Chamberlain for the Prince of Hohenzollern. He then applied around 1773 for a similar position at the court of margrave in Baden. During all these years, Steuben continued rising through the chairs of the secret orders. Among this fraternity, Von Steuben became personal friends with Count St. Germain, himself a special mysterious gad-about, who seemed to have uncanny connections in about every nation and with the highest ranking authorities. It has been suggested that these open doors were a result of his high position among the French Freemasons and perhaps the Sons of Jacob. This brotherhood link to the occult, served to be another factor that contributed to the future existence of the Reckart family in Preston County, West Virginia. We pick up the story again in the spring of 1777 when Ernst August is twenty two years old, and a well trained young professional Prussian officer. The soldiers who did not make a career of military service usually served as Privates. Those like Ernst August went to officers training. We are sure he was a young officer but of what rank we are unable to say. During the four years from 1773 to 1777, Steuben strengthened his ties to rising political leaders. He looked for opportunity to market his own skills as a professional soldier. In the middle of 1777, Benjamin Franklin, who also was a British house A. M. Freemason, was in France seeking military aid and support in the war between the Colonies and England. His success was virtually guaranteed, by the fact that the French government was then covertly in the hands of the French house of Freemasonry, the successors of the Papal defunct French Knight Templars. Franklin brought a similar report concerning the political control of the Colonies. In fact, it is claimed with pride by American Freemasons, that the Continental Revolution was designed, guided, and controlled from secret American masonic lodges. With this affinity, Franklin was assured of French cooperation. During the negotiations and conversations with Count St. Germain, the latter remembered that his good friend Von Steuben was looking for employment. He suggested to Franklin that Steuben could be hired. His presence in America might influence the large number of Germans already settled there and also the immigrants that were then flooding the harbors of New York and Philadelphia, to fight for the United States and their new hopes and dreams. The idea was a masterful strategy and would insure an additional fighting force of over 20,000 new troops. A dispatch was sent to invite Von Steuben to come to Paris for a meeting with Germain and Franklin. Von Steuben arrived, cordialities were made, and an agreement was reached. Franklin would send letters to General Washington and also the United States Congress explaining the deal. Von Steuben's agreement to come to America included bringing a small contingent of his own hand-picked officers and aids. Records indicate that he selected sixteen men. Since the idea of his coming, also included organizing and training the American Germans, we believe all those in his company were officers who could assist in carrying out those designs. All of the soldiers were personally known by Steuben. When they were summoned to join him for this task, the men all consented, not just because of the trip to America, but because they were under the leadership of one of Germany's most respected military Generals, and proud to serve under his most intelligent and dignified command. The party headed to France by carriage in the summer of 1777. It was there in Paris that Ernest August Reckert met Benjamin Franklin and Count St. Germain. The meeting left an impression on young Reckert, as he had never before met an American dressed like a Quaker in Yankee-Doodle costume, complete with a feather in his hat. He had heard like all the rest of Germany, of the new country and free land to settlers. He had seen many families pack up and sell everything to go there. He had seen the ox carts pulling wagons with families and their belongings toward the northern ports of Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, and Amsterdam. There they would take ships across the Atlantic to begin new lives. Ernst August was twenty two years old. He would turn twenty three on the ship out at sea. He was himself now headed toward that same new world, but under different circumstances and for different reasons. With faith in God, hope for the future, and a personal desire to excel as a good soldier, he turned his face toward the western horizon that beckoned him to a new world of opportunity. The days passed by swiftly, as plans were finalized to take the German mercenaries and the cargo of military supplies to the Colonies. A crew would be needed for the ship, so advertisement for deck hands was spread along the waterfront at the Port of Le'Havre. "Ship for the Canary Islands" barked the Captain, as sailors walked the wharf trying to determine who offered the most pay and were their next trip to see the world would lead. Each trip was a new venture. One by one two hundred sailors hired on and went straight to work, filling the holds with the heavy cargo boxes, that contained secret military supplies. They were not told of going to America, it was a military secret. They were not told that the civilian dressed German dignitaries aboard, consisted of a famous German General and his officers. French War records indicate this was a highly secret mission. Count St. Germain and Franklin had received information that England was hiring Hessian Germans by the thousands to come to America and fight against the Colonies. Ships were being ordered to the harbors at Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, and Amsterdam, to take the hired well-trained Prussian soldiers to America, to reinforce the English troops already in the colonies. The British promised these young German men not only money, but other goodies upon their return. Germain and Franklin agreed that the English should not know, that one of the greatest German Generals of the Prussian army was headed for America. He would arrive just in time to train the Germans already settled there, against thousands of comrades on their way to force them at the point of a bayonet and blasting them to hades, to be tax-paying slaves to England under a despotic and tyrannical King. There is no question that fevers ran high! The ship, under the new disguised name of Le'Flamed, departed the Port of Le'Havre under full sail on a nice warm fall morning. The crew settled down for the journey. Here and there sailors stored away what remained of their personal belongings. Ernst August and the other young Germans, leaned over the rails watching the sea glide under them and the port slowly fade away in the distance. Off in the distance they could see the white chalk clifs of Dover, England. Sea gulls soared and squawked overhead, as if to say God bless your journey. They slipped quietly into the Atlantic Ocean with only the flapping of the sails and sailors securing everything for the journey. The ship had no sooner lost sight of land, until the bow slowly turned and began to track a slightly northern course. Some of the seasoned sailors noticed the change right away. The sun that started off behind them was now casting shadows with the main mast, indicating the ship was not taking a southern heading. The expected full turn to the south toward the Canary Islands, which would have placed the sun nearly ninety degrees to port side, did not occur. Talk began to circulate among the crew of what was going on. A small group approached the Captain and ask for an explanation. The Captain, now with his ship safely far out to sea, was not afraid to tell them, since none of them would likely jump ship and try to swim ashore in the warm shark infested waters. They were informed they had not been told because they were on a French military mission. They were also instructed they would be paid by the French government and would not lose any money for the change in destination. This did not set well with many of the crew, who were foreigners, and did not care to be working for the French War Department, without their knowledge and consent. Some of them were British, and felt they were traitors to their own country by being aboard and helping the French and the Colonies. After a few days of their anger boiling, some of the crew determined they were not going to America and they would take the ship, turn it around, and head back to some port. Rumors of a mutiny spread from bow to stern. The Captain consulted with Von Steuben. Nothing could be done but talk to the men and try to convince them not to join those threatening to start a mutiny. No sooner had the Captain ended his speech when angry sailors began the attack. Von Steuben and his sixteen men, the Captain and the second mate, and a few other sailors were able to quell the mutiny. How many died we do not know. This we do know, that none of Von Steuben's party died. More importantly, Ernest August Reckert did not die. Another monumental event took place that would lead to the Reckart family clan being in Preston County, West Virginia. All went well for a few days when all of a sudden storm clouds appeared to the north and a strong wind began to make the sails pop and snap. The three foot seas changed almost immediately to fifteen foot. Heavy torrents of cold rain poured from the sky. The Captain ordered the sails down. He kept the ship headed right into the pounding storm. Waves crashed over the bow with spray and mist of salt water soaking their clothes and stinging their faces. The young Germans aboard got sea sick. Pitiful groans and the sounds of men retching and puking filled the lower deck. The seasoned sailors laughed and patted then on the back. The ship was nearly sunk several times. All aboard feared their lives would be lost, as the vessel heaved and tossed, crashing through wave after wave, and nearly capsizing again and again. After a full day of this torment, the storm passed and the waves settled down to four and five feet seas. The sky turned blue, but the air was cold and crisp with the unmistakable scent of winter. The warm waters and soft breezes of the south had turned into the frigid waters and winter drafts of the north. Those aboard put on double clothes not having prepared for a winter voyage. The vapor of their breathing signaled that summer was over. Many rued the day they agreed to come aboard this accursed ship. "How much further," they complained from day to day as the weather grew colder? The ship was now nearing the American Continent. On the afternoon of December 1, 1777 the coastline was spotted. Nearly frozen to death, the crew prepared for landing while the Captain brought the ship into Portsmouth, New Hampshire, docking just before dark. This is an important date for those who descend from the Preston County, West Virginia Reckarts in America. It is the first date that Ernest August Reckert stepped foot on American soil, where he would fight for a new country, find a wife, change from a soldier to a farmer, and raise a respectable family. Finding a military unit, Von Steuben spoke with the officer in charge and a messenger was sent by horseback to General George Washington at Valley Forge. Washington was now expecting them, having received the earlier letter from Benjamin Franklin. Steuben and his men were ushered to Valley Forge and into the company of the man who was to become the first President of the United States. General Washington greeted all of them and welcomed them to America. He thanked them for their desire to help the Colonies. With formalities finalized, General Washington got down to military business and informed them that until he had official authorization from the United States Congress, he could not give them permanent assignments. Von Steuben then drafted a beautiful letter to Congress, in which he laid out his purpose and his request. This letter is among the official documents of early America. In January of 1778, by a special act of Congress, General Steuben and his men were accepted into the United States and into military service. What became of General Steuben is well documented. What became of the others remains a mystery. Thus far, only Ernst August Reckert has been identified as one of the sixteen who came with him. Family tradition claims that some of these sixteen Germans acted as body guards for General Washington the winter of 1777. There is evidence in records of Congress of a certain German Company that existed and fought in the Revolutionary War. There were German speaking companies from Pennsylvania under the command of other American German officers, but these are not the ones referenced. Exactly which were under the command of General Steuben we do not know. It is here that we again lose Ernest August Reckert until the year of 1782. The normal enlistment of Revolutionary soldiers was for six months. When Von Steuben first saw the rag-tag American troops sitting around like chickens ready to roost, he knew this outfit would be no match for the disciplined well-trained Prussian soldiers, on their way by the ship loads. With the approval of Washington, he amassed them together and begin to drill and train them in Prussian war skills. He slowly changed these farmers and coon hunters into a respectable fighting force. They learned to understand and take orders, how to march, and how fix and use bayonets. He taught them the importance of keeping their home-brought squirrel rifles and shooting irons clean, and ready for action at all times. Von Steuben wrote a manual on military discipline that is still the core of American basic training of service men today. Because of desertion in large numbers, Steuben convinced Washington that a professional army was essential, if they were to have men available to wage a winning war when the British struck, reinforced with well-trained German soldiers. He was also frustrated with training men, who once disciplined, went back home their six months enlistment expired, leaving the Brigades and Companies with not enough fighting men to muster and fulfill their needed obligations. A standing professional army is what Steuben felt was necessary to win this war. He convinced Washington of this Prussian design. The winter of the war that went down in history, is the one during which Washington crossed the Delaware. Among those cold, shivering, and nearly frozen soldiers, was a twenty four year old young man named Ernest August Reckert. Serving under Von Steuben, he was at Valley Forge that winter and helping to train troops. We do not know presently whether or not he was promoted as an officer during his American military career. His military records have not been recovered. We are sure that Von Steuben kept his sixteen men under his own command. When Steuben was sent down through Maryland and into Virginia to fight the British, his men must have served under him there. This was a reason later for several of the men to move back into Virginia, as the rolling hills were most similar to their beloved Germany than the flat lands of New Jersey. Washington called Steuben from Virginia in 1781 and sent Lafayette to replace him. Steuben and his men then served at the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis in October of 1781, that unofficially ended the war. After sharing in the victory at Yorktown, Ernest August was to decide to leave military service forever. At this siege there was also one Jacob Feather also a German, founder of the Feather clan in Preston County. It is believed that Ernest was influenced to make the final trip of his life to Virginia land in Preston County, by this Jacob Feather. How many if any, of the sixteen in the original party that came with Steuben, who might have been killed in skirmishes with the redcoats, we do not know. A list of names of the sixteen men who came with Steuben has not yet been established or found. But one day, the Lord willing, the list will be found or constructed from military records, and Ernst August Reckart will be found among them. After serving from January 1778 until 1781, and enlisting seven times, Ernest became frustrated. Von Steuben was striking his own deals and leaving them more and more under the command of others. There were promises of thousands of acres of free land from New York, Virginia, and New Jersey for Steuben, but nothing for his sixteen comrades. Apparently, considered foreign mercenaries, they did not qualify for warrants of land for their Revolutionary War service. This just didn't seem fair or right. Whatever the contention that arose between Ernst August and Steuben, it is definite that Ernest August Reckert had some decisions to make, the most important of which, should he continued following Von Steuben or chart the future of his own life? With England talking peace and Von Steuben talking of grand plans with his land in upper New York State, Ernest August was confident that he had to think now of his own future. It had been five years since he left Germany. His mother had now been dead fifteen years, and he knew not if his grandparents were still alive. Would this young man return home to no one, or should he decide to stay in America? Many tens of thousands of Hessian troops that had come to America, hired by the British, were now loading up on ships and heading home. Should he go also? While he thought of his deceased family, Germany, and his future, he took his discharge. We believe this was in Morris County, New Jersey, although we believe he was not in the New Jersey Militia. His name does not appear in the New Jersey Militia rolls. It was in Morristown, New Jersey, in the fall of 1781, right after Yorktown, that he met and became the espoused husband of Maria Elizabeth Standle. They were married on January 1, 1782. The last and final event that would insure the establishment of the Reckart family in America and in Preston County, West Virginia, was a beautiful young woman. To her he cleaved, and together they began the Preston County, West Virginia Reckart dynasty, that now permeates the nation in several states, counties, towns, and cities. The newly married couple lived in Morris County for a short time. They then moved to Sussex County, and there Maria was fruitful and multiplied. In Sussex County she gave to Ernst five children: Maria Elizabeth (named after herself), Carl Christian (who died in 1787 named after Ernst's dad and her dad), Margaretha Magdalena, Johann Peter, and Anna Catharine (who married John Craig). We do not know where four of these were baptized. Anna was taken across the river over into Pennsylvania to Bucks County, and baptized at the Notkamixion Lutheran Church on June 10, 1792. The next time we find the family they are in Shenandoah County, Virginia, where their twins, Ernst August Reckert, Jr. & Ann Gertrut Reckart were born on January 31, 1797. Another son, George Ludewig (Lewis) Reckart was born at this location on October 15, 1799. For whatever reason, the family pushed south and came to Staunton, Virginia, which at that time had less than a hundred citizens. Here the last child, Eva Christena Reckert (the second wife of George Strawser), was born on Jan-1-1804. For six more years the soldier turned farmer, tilled the soil, worked as a blacksmith, and a stone mason, to support his family. He appears in the 1810 Census of Augusta County, Virginia, as Ernst Rickerd with a household of a wife over 45, four girls over 16 but under 26, one son over 16 but under 26, a boy and a girl over 10 but under 16, a boy under 10, and a girl under 10. This accounts for all the children of Ernest August and Maria Elizabeth except for Johann Carl who died in New Jersey in 1787. In the fall of 1810, right after the Census was taken, at the age of fifty five, Ernst August loaded up his family for the northern parts of what is now Preston County, to start a new life one more time. He arrived here in late 1810 or early 1811 and found friends among the Feather and Wolfe families. Although Indians were still in these parts, and there were several who were savagely killed, the Reckart clan as far as we know them, suffered no losses of life. With the help of Jacob and Mary Feather (Mary Feather and Maria Reckart became the best of friends), Ernest August purchased land next to one of the Feather places above Crab Orchard run (Crab trees were once grafted to apple trees producing delicious apples here). The Reckart homestead contained about 210 acres, but other lands were also owned. Our ancestor and his family cleared part of the farm, and built a one room log house, together with a small barn the first year. Piled up rocks along the perimeter of the field, gives an idea that clearing the land was very hard. As soon as the land was suitable for plowing, the request went out for a volunteer militia. The oldest boy Johann Peter, answered the call. He joined up with Captain Leonard Cupp. Because his dad had taught him to read and write and he was a good disciplinarian, Johann Peter was given the rank of a sergeant. His name appears in Wiley's as Peter Reihart and Morton's as Peter Reichart. He served in the War of 1812 with distinction. Ernst August and his wife Maria were well respected in the community. They were people of Godly character. That they were religious people, is made very clear by the method of the record of their children in the Family Bible. That the Reckarts, the Feathers, the Wolfs, and the Rodeheavers became early, if not the first members of the Lutheran Church at Crab Orchard, is unquestionable (if only the records could be found). It was not until after the clan began to grow and spread abroad, that God and religion began to play less a part in many lives, as they had once shaped the faith and the kindness of the first pioneer Reckarts. It is very possible that Ernst August Reckart was an early freemason adopted into the lodge along with Von Steuben by George Washington. Germans were notorious for joining societies and other guilds and operating fraternities. Von Steuben used these to his advantage more than once, and it would be unlike him to choose men for his company who were not like-minded. To our knowledge, there was no operating lodge in Preston County in 1811, and maybe not during his whole life time, he may have been the first freemason into Preston County. If he was, the antimasonic movement of the early eighteen hundreds would have been his reason to avoid disclosing it. He may also have left the lodge through voluntary resignation, because of all the things that brought the fraternity much shame and disgrace. Ernst August Reckart lived out his days in a country far away from his native homeland. He came and fought on foreign soil for liberty and justice for all, that his descendants would call "almost heaven." He himself could never afford to go back to Minden where he was born. As of the writing of this Tree Book, not one of his descendants have made that trip either. His last respects were not to his own father, mother, and sisters, or even to his native Germany; but to those he loved and brought into this "irksome" world, his own clan. To keep his family together, he helped his sons Ernst and George to build small log houses on the home place. The foundations of these dwellings are still visible today. In 1849, the home place was sold to John Feather, first son of Jacob Feather, and it has never come back into the Reckart family again. Today it is owned by Milford Jenkins, Dale Hartman, and Loyal Foreman. After the farm was sold, Ernst August Reckart Jr., one of the twins, took his inheritance of the Reckart land below the Lutheran Church, a bove the Pike. That land was sold and we do not know where he settled next. Ernst August Reckart, Sr. died on the Crab Orchard home place, in the wee hours of the morning, on April 4, 1843. He had lived 88 years, 5 months, and 25 days. He left his widow Maria (Mary) Elizabeth, who would be 83 that December 8th. There is no doubt that God spared this man of courage, because of his faith and prayers. It might also be considered that being a Godly man, he interceded unknowingly on behalf of his descendants in the future, who likewise would not blush at being called a Christian. Another factor without doubt, is that out of these roots would come a few Ministers, that would preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ first preached by the Apostles (Acts 2:38-42), and herald it throughout other frontiers in the world, till Jesus returns again. Ernst August Reckart (E. A. Reckart), and his wife, are buried at the Lutheran Church at Lenox. Because of an error by someone, their graves are currently marked as the resting places of Arnest Allen Reckart and his wife Alethea and their two daughters. These are actually buried on the next row up as witnessed by the original markers that remain there today (unless someone pulls them up). Threats to pull these markers up because of the confusion between E. A. Reckart and A. A. Reckart, and make the early resting places of the first Reckart pioneers, the graves of Arnest and Alethea, is not only wrong, it forever steals from the family, the identity of the burial place of the man who came from Germany at the age of twenty four, and gave us our heritage and our name. If the Reckart name means nothing in antiquity, the present Preston County clan can give it the meaning which Ernst August Reckart brought to it. That he was a man of principal and given to discipline of both his moral and spiritual qualities, is testified to by his life. That he was a man who was not afraid to go into the unknown with hope, faith, and determination, is manifest in his acceptance to come to America. That he was a man of feeling and emotion and lived up to the definitions of a man and a husband, is revealed in his devotion to his children and his lovely wife. That he was a gentleman and got along with his neighbors, is witnessed by the testimony of Israel Baldwin, John Feather, and Frederick Smith, on the pension application of Maria Elizabeth his wife, after his death. Now, the Reckart family must determine what they think of their ancestor. The closing words of his chronicle, translated from his own handwriting out of the Family Bible he held to his breast, are those of our pioneer ancestor, Ernst August Reckart: "The merciful Saviour Jesus Christ, rule my family with his Holy Spirit, that they will obediently keep their baptismal covenant and walk in the same for their eternal bliss. Amen" Researched, compiled, and composed by: Gary Reckart, Sr. 4006 N. Marguerite Street Tampa, Florida, 33603 813-238-7283 acts0412@jesus-messiah.com