The Story of Hans Jacob Allwein
We will start this saga with the first story I ever uncovered about my immigrant ancestor. To be honest, I don't know where or how this story started. Over the last several years, much research has been done on Hans Jacob Allwein, and little evidence has been found to corroborate this story. Links to more recent theories about his origins can be found below.
Hans Jacob Allwein was born April 16, 1719 of a Mennonite family who moved from France (Alsace Lorraine) to Germany because of religious persecution. The family was granted asylum by the King of Wittgenstein, Germany, and they worked for him while living in Schwarzenau. At age 22, Hans Jacob left home with his shoe last and hammer and walked 60 miles to the Rhine River. He floated to Rotterdam and embarked for America on the ship "St. Andrew," under the command of Capt. Charles Stedman, with 103 men, 60 women and 60 children. They stopped in Plymouth, England to take on provisions and water, then sailed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving on September 2, 1741. He lived in Berks County, Pa, and married Katrina (maiden name unknown). Hans, who went by the name Jacob, died in 1781; Katrina in 1790.
The following was taken from Vol. XVI and New Series Vol. II, Part 2 of COLONIAL & REVOLUTIONARY FAMILIES OF PENNSYLVANIA, pages 555 & 556:
The name Alwein is of great antiquity in the Netherlands where it was found spelled as Alewijn or Halewijn. The meaning is, literally, "ale-wine," and the original bearers were probably the owners of large vineyards or vintners, a profession highly esteemed in old and modern times. Bearers of the name held positions in the courts of the Holland nobility. Gerrit Alewijn was in charge of munitions under Willem III, Count of Holland, in 1332, and was appointed to the same post in 1342 under Willem IV. Jan Alewijn was a schepen, or magistrate, in Amsterdam in 1405 and another of the same name was a councillor in 1469 under Karl the Bold. Diedrick "de Halevin alias Alewijn" was made a knight by the French King, Francis I, at Pavia, in 1525. His grandson, of the same name, who was born in 1574, and died in Amsterdam in 1637, received a large estate in Beemster, thirteen miles north of Amsterdam. Many persons of the name served as burgomasters in their localities. Mr. William Alewijn of Amsterdam, born 1769, died 1835, was granted a coat of arms in 1815.
Jacob Alewijn was mint-master in Zutphen, in the province of Gelderland, near Arnhern, and died in Harder, a locality about thiry miles east of Amsterdam, May 26, 1606. His name indicates that he may have been the progenitor of the family whose records follow:
(J.B. Rietstap: "Wapenboek van den Nederlandischen Adel," Vol I, pp 6, 7. A.A. Vorsterman Van Oyen: "Stamen-Wapenboek van Aanzienlijke Nederlandischen Familien," Vol 1, p 7.)
Hans Jacob Alwein, or Alwine as the name appears in early Pennsylvania records, was probably a descendant of Jacob Alewijn, a mint-master in Zutphen, as above mentioned. Hans Jacob Alwein was born about 1719 and died in Berks County, Pennsylvania; at an unknown date, he emigrated to Pennsylvania in the ship "St. Andrew" sailing from Rotterdam, and took the oath of allegiance required of foreigners in Philadelphia, October 2, 1741, being then twenty-two years old.
April 24, 1748, Jacob Alwein, probably identical with Hans Jacob Alwein, above mentioned, and his wife, brought a son to be baptized at Hohn's Church, Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The son's name was recorded as "Alwein" in the church records.
(Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol V, p. 54. "Records of Hohn's Church." W.H. Egle: "Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania 1725-75," p. 213)
In the book, "Pennsylvania German Pioneers," by Ralph Beaver Strassburger (a book that published passenger lists from ships which arrived in Philadelphia, PA between the years of 1727 and 1775, primarily from the Palatinate), there is a Hans Jacob Alwine, age 22, listed on the ship roster for the ship "St. Andrew", which arrived in Philadelphia and was qualified on October 2, 1741. The ship, captained by Charles Stedman, sailed from Rotterdam. I do believe that this is our immigrant ancestor.
The problem with the "Mennonite" story about Hans Jacob Allwein is that all of his children were Catholic or at least took sacraments in the early Catholic mission in Berks County, PA. Helmut Schmahl, a genealogy researcher in Germany, was commissioned in the 1980s to study the Allwein family origins. His report consists of two parts, one dated March 16, 1989 and one May 19, 1989. According to Nancy Allwein Nebiker, the report was commissioned by Theodore W. Allwein. Schmahl's research centers on Catholic records in the village of Fuerfeld, Germany, and a copy of the report is available at these links:
Schmahl Report 1 Schmahl Report 2, page 1 page 2 page3
Duane Alwin, another descendant of Hans Jacob Allwein, has done extensive research in Germany using the Helmut Schmahl report as a guideline. He has written comprehensive narratives on his theories of our Allwein origins, as well as information gleaned from years of research in Pennsylvania, which you can find at the links below:
There is so much more we need to find out about our immigrant ancestor. Please contact me (chrispaige58@yahoo.com) if you have any information which will corroborate, contradict, or add to, any of the above.
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