George Ruch ^{1 2 3}

  General Notes:

Per Bill Frasier
Hans George, Catharina, and their family travelled to America on the ship Samuel in 1733. The ship departed from Rotterdam, stopped in Deal, England, and arrived in Philadelphia on August 17, 1733. Fortunately, the ships master was conscientious and recorded the names of all the passagners (male, female, and children) and their ages. The Ruch family members (actual spelling on ship and oath lists in parentheses) and their age are listed below.

Hans George Sr (Jerick Sr., Hen Seire, Hans Jurg) 48
Catharina 46
Hans George Jr (Jerick Jr., Hanns Gerg, Hans Gerg) 24
Jans Jacob17
Michael10
Maria Eve8

The age of Hans George Sr recorded on the ship list would place his birth date in 1685, which differs from the birth date specified above by 3 years.

The family settled in Whitehall Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (this area became Northampton County in 1752, then Lehigh County in 1812). Apparently Catharina died shortly after arriving in Pennsylvania; Hans George married a third time to Susanna about 1735.

The procedure for acquiring unoccupied land from the Penn land office began with the purchase of a warrant, which was a certificate authorizing a survey of a tract of land. THe issuance of the warrant gave the settler presumptiive title to the property. The survey would provide a sketch of the boundaries of the land and define the exact acreage. The warrantee then had the option of selling the warrant or securing a patent. with the payment of a final fee based onthe surveyed acreage, a patent would be issued, which perfected title to the property.

Hans George secured several warrants for land in Whitehall Townshipo, the first of which is dated August 19,1737 for 10 acres. However, he did not patent these tracts. On December 3, 1760 he conveyed 400 acres, which he rented.

Hans George died in 1769 and is buried in the Jordan Lutheran Cemetery. The date of death was inscribed on his gravestone, which was last observed in1939, but is no longer standing. A photograph of his gravestone is shown in the "History of Jordan Lutheran Church". The birth year on this stone is not correct.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alternate Spell: Hans George Ruch. ²

• Baptism, 2 Jan 1683. ⁴

George married Catharina Reiss, daughter of Baltharr Reiss and Unknown, on 9 Aug 1707 in Northern Alsace, France.¹ (Catharina Reiss was born about 1687 in Northern Alsace (Now Bas-Rhin) France ¹ and died about 1733 in South Whitehall Twp, Northampton Co, Pennsylvania ¹.)

George next married Catharina Burkhard on 13 Nov 1704 in Uhrwiller, Alsace.² (Catharina Burkhard was born on an unknown date and died on an unknown date.)

George next married Susanna Unknown about 1734.² (Susanna Unknown was born on an unknown date and died on an unknown date.)

  Marriage Notes:

They had seven children between 1735 and 1744. The family attended the Jordan Lutheran Church at what is now Walbert, PA.