Johann Bartholomaus Romberger was the patriarch of most Rombergers in the United States today. Variants of the descendants' names include Rombarger, Ramberger, Rumberger, Rambarger, and so forth. While it's known he was laid to rest in this cemetery, his exact plot location is unknown and there's no legible surviving marker either. If you have additional information, please feel free to send me a message.
Born in Franconia, Bavaria (Germany) Johann was a son of Caspar Romberger, a miller, and his wife Catharina. Johann himself was also a miller, a tenant miller. He arrived in the United States September 1753 aboard the ship "Neptune", landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The first of his wives was Anna Maria Brückner, with whom he had children Balthasar, Adam, and Maria Eva.
I've done some reading on the times and circumstances that must have made leaving his hometown easier. The local taxes were extremely high, and the church taxes were high too (while the local bishop was living in a new, sumptuous, massive castle nearby that was bigger than Buckingham Palace). The area was heavy with an honest but poor peasantry who suffered from an ongoing series of droughts, grasshopper plagues, and crop shortages. Indeed, most of the locals would have found it financially impossible to leave the area, but fortunately a miller could still make some income, even a tenant miller who rented his mill from someone else, as Johann Bartholomaus did.
The crossing was done in a slow series of steps, taking various boats and rivers to finally arrive at Rotterdam, Holland. From there the ship left for the Isle of Wight (off Britain's southeast coast) and commenced the long crossing of the Atlantic. The accommodations were not splendid- tight and not overly sanitary. In such crossings of the mid-1700's, each passenger brought his or her own food, and it was roasted on a sandpit on deck. Some never made it to the United States. Those who did (and who were male and over the age of 16) had to sign an oath of allegiance to the British king, because it would be years until the US fought for and won independence from Great Britain.
The reception of American colonists to newly-arrived Germans was overall not terribly warm. As the influx kept rising the locals felt overwhelmed and culturally threatened. Too much German was being spoken everywhere, and the newbies had the audacity to begin their own newspapers in German. Even Benjamin Franklin himself regarded the German people as non-white, and warned that continued acceptance of them would lead to the Germanification of the New World British subjects. Though the newcomers were largely hardworking, pious and literate, they seemed barbaric with their guttural language and tendency to stick to their own. One can imagine that it would have made great sense for them to leave the big city of Philadelphia, and move out to the Lebanon/Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania where they could live more amongst their own, and work the good land that must have reminded them of home.
Johann's second wife was Anna Sabina Häss (or Haas/Hess), whom he married in New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on March 31, 1761. They had children Maria Catherine (2/19/1763), Maria Magdalena (12/4/1764), Johannes (2/27/1767), and George Bartholomaus (8/2/1768). All the children of this marriage were born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Johann Bartholomaus Romberger died in Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Many of his descendants are grateful he had the will, resources, luck, and fortitude to come to America! RIP.
Born in Franconia, Bavaria (Germany) Johann was a son of Caspar Romberger, a miller, and his wife Catharina. Johann himself was also a miller, a tenant miller. He arrived in the United States September 1753 aboard the ship "Neptune", landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The first of his wives was Anna Maria Brückner, with whom he had children Balthasar, Adam, and Maria Eva.
I've done some reading on the times and circumstances that must have made leaving his hometown easier. The local taxes were extremely high, and the church taxes were high too (while the local bishop was living in a new, sumptuous, massive castle nearby that was bigger than Buckingham Palace). The area was heavy with an honest but poor peasantry who suffered from an ongoing series of droughts, grasshopper plagues, and crop shortages. Indeed, most of the locals would have found it financially impossible to leave the area, but fortunately a miller could still make some income, even a tenant miller who rented his mill from someone else, as Johann Bartholomaus did.
The crossing was done in a slow series of steps, taking various boats and rivers to finally arrive at Rotterdam, Holland. From there the ship left for the Isle of Wight (off Britain's southeast coast) and commenced the long crossing of the Atlantic. The accommodations were not splendid- tight and not overly sanitary. In such crossings of the mid-1700's, each passenger brought his or her own food, and it was roasted on a sandpit on deck. Some never made it to the United States. Those who did (and who were male and over the age of 16) had to sign an oath of allegiance to the British king, because it would be years until the US fought for and won independence from Great Britain.
The reception of American colonists to newly-arrived Germans was overall not terribly warm. As the influx kept rising the locals felt overwhelmed and culturally threatened. Too much German was being spoken everywhere, and the newbies had the audacity to begin their own newspapers in German. Even Benjamin Franklin himself regarded the German people as non-white, and warned that continued acceptance of them would lead to the Germanification of the New World British subjects. Though the newcomers were largely hardworking, pious and literate, they seemed barbaric with their guttural language and tendency to stick to their own. One can imagine that it would have made great sense for them to leave the big city of Philadelphia, and move out to the Lebanon/Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania where they could live more amongst their own, and work the good land that must have reminded them of home.
Johann's second wife was Anna Sabina Häss (or Haas/Hess), whom he married in New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on March 31, 1761. They had children Maria Catherine (2/19/1763), Maria Magdalena (12/4/1764), Johannes (2/27/1767), and George Bartholomaus (8/2/1768). All the children of this marriage were born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Johann Bartholomaus Romberger died in Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Many of his descendants are grateful he had the will, resources, luck, and fortitude to come to America! RIP.
Johann Bartholomaus Romberger was the patriarch of most Rombergers in the United States today. Variants of the descendants' names include Rombarger, Ramberger, Rumberger, Rambarger, and so forth. While it's known he was laid to rest in this cemetery, his exact plot location is unknown and there's no legible surviving marker either. If you have additional information, please feel free to send me a message.
Born in Franconia, Bavaria (Germany) Johann was a son of Caspar Romberger, a miller, and his wife Catharina. Johann himself was also a miller, a tenant miller. He arrived in the United States September 1753 aboard the ship "Neptune", landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The first of his wives was Anna Maria Brückner, with whom he had children Balthasar, Adam, and Maria Eva.
I've done some reading on the times and circumstances that must have made leaving his hometown easier. The local taxes were extremely high, and the church taxes were high too (while the local bishop was living in a new, sumptuous, massive castle nearby that was bigger than Buckingham Palace). The area was heavy with an honest but poor peasantry who suffered from an ongoing series of droughts, grasshopper plagues, and crop shortages. Indeed, most of the locals would have found it financially impossible to leave the area, but fortunately a miller could still make some income, even a tenant miller who rented his mill from someone else, as Johann Bartholomaus did.
The crossing was done in a slow series of steps, taking various boats and rivers to finally arrive at Rotterdam, Holland. From there the ship left for the Isle of Wight (off Britain's southeast coast) and commenced the long crossing of the Atlantic. The accommodations were not splendid- tight and not overly sanitary. In such crossings of the mid-1700's, each passenger brought his or her own food, and it was roasted on a sandpit on deck. Some never made it to the United States. Those who did (and who were male and over the age of 16) had to sign an oath of allegiance to the British king, because it would be years until the US fought for and won independence from Great Britain.
The reception of American colonists to newly-arrived Germans was overall not terribly warm. As the influx kept rising the locals felt overwhelmed and culturally threatened. Too much German was being spoken everywhere, and the newbies had the audacity to begin their own newspapers in German. Even Benjamin Franklin himself regarded the German people as non-white, and warned that continued acceptance of them would lead to the Germanification of the New World British subjects. Though the newcomers were largely hardworking, pious and literate, they seemed barbaric with their guttural language and tendency to stick to their own. One can imagine that it would have made great sense for them to leave the big city of Philadelphia, and move out to the Lebanon/Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania where they could live more amongst their own, and work the good land that must have reminded them of home.
Johann's second wife was Anna Sabina Häss (or Haas/Hess), whom he married in New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on March 31, 1761. They had children Maria Catherine (2/19/1763), Maria Magdalena (12/4/1764), Johannes (2/27/1767), and George Bartholomaus (8/2/1768). All the children of this marriage were born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Johann Bartholomaus Romberger died in Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Many of his descendants are grateful he had the will, resources, luck, and fortitude to come to America! RIP.
Born in Franconia, Bavaria (Germany) Johann was a son of Caspar Romberger, a miller, and his wife Catharina. Johann himself was also a miller, a tenant miller. He arrived in the United States September 1753 aboard the ship "Neptune", landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The first of his wives was Anna Maria Brückner, with whom he had children Balthasar, Adam, and Maria Eva.
I've done some reading on the times and circumstances that must have made leaving his hometown easier. The local taxes were extremely high, and the church taxes were high too (while the local bishop was living in a new, sumptuous, massive castle nearby that was bigger than Buckingham Palace). The area was heavy with an honest but poor peasantry who suffered from an ongoing series of droughts, grasshopper plagues, and crop shortages. Indeed, most of the locals would have found it financially impossible to leave the area, but fortunately a miller could still make some income, even a tenant miller who rented his mill from someone else, as Johann Bartholomaus did.
The crossing was done in a slow series of steps, taking various boats and rivers to finally arrive at Rotterdam, Holland. From there the ship left for the Isle of Wight (off Britain's southeast coast) and commenced the long crossing of the Atlantic. The accommodations were not splendid- tight and not overly sanitary. In such crossings of the mid-1700's, each passenger brought his or her own food, and it was roasted on a sandpit on deck. Some never made it to the United States. Those who did (and who were male and over the age of 16) had to sign an oath of allegiance to the British king, because it would be years until the US fought for and won independence from Great Britain.
The reception of American colonists to newly-arrived Germans was overall not terribly warm. As the influx kept rising the locals felt overwhelmed and culturally threatened. Too much German was being spoken everywhere, and the newbies had the audacity to begin their own newspapers in German. Even Benjamin Franklin himself regarded the German people as non-white, and warned that continued acceptance of them would lead to the Germanification of the New World British subjects. Though the newcomers were largely hardworking, pious and literate, they seemed barbaric with their guttural language and tendency to stick to their own. One can imagine that it would have made great sense for them to leave the big city of Philadelphia, and move out to the Lebanon/Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania where they could live more amongst their own, and work the good land that must have reminded them of home.
Johann's second wife was Anna Sabina Häss (or Haas/Hess), whom he married in New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on March 31, 1761. They had children Maria Catherine (2/19/1763), Maria Magdalena (12/4/1764), Johannes (2/27/1767), and George Bartholomaus (8/2/1768). All the children of this marriage were born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Johann Bartholomaus Romberger died in Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Many of his descendants are grateful he had the will, resources, luck, and fortitude to come to America! RIP.
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