I wish I could have been able to retrieve the email I had received more than a decade ago from Judy Bangle Persin in which she was writing me that she had found baptismal records for three of the children of Adam Bangle and Marie Davis!
I wouldn’t have had a clue where to look having, of course, no idea about the exact location where the Germans had been settling in New York along the Mohawk River. But Judy knew! And she ordered microfilms from her Family History Center for various churches in the area.
All three children were baptized in the State of New York, at the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in Stone Arabia, in Albany County (now part of Montgomery County). Stone Arabia is a hamlet near the town of Palatine.
Nowadays, these documents may be viewed on your home computer via Ancestry Website. I must say I was really surprised when looking at them to see how well preserved they were and, moreover, I was not even looking at the originals, they were only copies!
Once again, while at Salt Lake City, I searched for the “real thing” and I got these images:
Born 6 September [1765], baptized 17 September [1765] Wilhelmy; parents Adam Bengel [& blank]; sponsors: Wilhelm Seever and Elizabeth B…
Born 15 or 19 January [1768], baptized 10 April [1768] Johan Henrich; parents Johann Adam Belgel and Anna Maria; sponsors: Johann Henrich Bellinger and Elizabeth Schollin
Born 23 September [1770], baptized 14 October [1770] Catharina; parents Adam Bengel and Anna Maria; sponsors: Isaac and Catharina Paris
As you can see, Marie Davis gave birth to William only ten months after the Jeneffer arrival in November 1764; I think we might assume that Marie was on the ship with her husband. We might also conclude that they didn’t stay much long in Pennsylvania, because remember that in his Loyalist’s claim, Adam declared that he bought his land upon arrival.
By now, you’ve all noticed that John is not there. We think that he might have been born in Germany and therefore made the trip with his parents.
Now let’s see how looks our tree in light of the new information in hand:
There are still some revealing documents to review about the life of Adam in the Mohawk Valley River, but you know me by now, I’ll be there in two weeks!