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Margaretha "Gretchen" Sprau Smith
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Birth: 1789
Walshausen
Südwestpfalzer Landkreis
Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Death: 1861
Jefferson County
Pennsylvania, USA
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Margaretha 'Gretchen' Schmitt [Smith] was born in 1789 in Walshausen, Pfalz, Bavaria (now part of Rheinland-Pfalz). After emigrating to America with her husband and children in 1833, she and her family settled in northern Young Township, Jefferson County, PA, where she remained for the rest of her life. Their farm was located near the western banks of Little Elk Run Creek.
Letters of Katie (Smith) Hurlebaus, Margaretha's granddaughter, imply that she died in the fall of 1861, but she is not present in the 1860 Census and most likely died in 1859. Letters of Katie (Smith) Hurlebaus also state that her maiden name was "Spruse" or "Spru•"; however, the script in this passage is particularly illegible; in retrospect, Hurlebaus's record was most likely a mispelling of "Sprau," Anglicized to Sprow.
Other researchers over the past 30+ years or more, have been using the name "Spruce" and/or "Spruse," which has since been determined incorrect. [See additional Notes below.]
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Records obtained from Nünschweiler, Pfalz, Bayern through the LDS show that she was born Maria Margaretha Sprau 6 Apr 1789 in Walshausen, daughter of Johann Heinrich Sprau and Maria Margaretha Knerr. She was the sister of Johann Paul Sprau and therefore the aunt of Adam Sprau [Sprow] who settled in Bell Township and was a member of the Punxsutawney Reformed congregation.
Margaretha was the mother of six children, all born between 1808 and 1819, four of whom survived into adulthood. Her children Jakob, Louisa, and Wilhelm came to Young Township in the early 1830s. Records are missing for their town of origin for the years 1808-1812, likely due to the Napoleonic Wars, and may account for the absence of baptismal records for children Jakob and Louisa, born 1810 and 1812, respectively.
Additional research- Jan 2012 (UPDATED 2015)
Church Confirmation Records give a birth date for Christian Schmitt, son of Wilhelm & Margaretha Sprau Schmitt, as 28 January 1817, died 18 Dec 1818 in Nünschweiler.
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Burial Note: 1 of the 5 unmarked & unidentified graves that according to the church burial records, was not removed
from this cemetery for re-interment, according to a portfolio of records on St. Peter's held by the PAHGS.
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Wife of Wilhelm Schmitt/William Smith I
Per Court documents from the church,
William Smith I and Margaretta (Spruce or Spence)Smith,
were the parents of:
Jacob Smith
Louisa Smith Wingert
William Smith II
Additional research-Oct.2012- (Updated 2015)
Another daughter of Wilhelm & Margaretha Sprau Schmitt,known as, Katharina Elisabetha Schmitt was born 24 November 1811 in Nünschweiler, according to her descendants she stayed behind when her parents came to the Punxsutawney area. Her husband, George Weber, was the son of Joseph Weber & Katharina Bender of Hengsberg.
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Sources:
1. Letters of Catherine Smith Hurlebaus (unpublished)
2. Smith, J.D. "The German Pioneers of Punxsutawney and the Zweibrücken-Pirmasens Emigration, 1820-1900." The Jeffersonian Journal. 1.1 (2014). 4-25. (note: the parentage of Margaretha has been updated since the publication of this article). See Source 3.
3. Sprow, Harry Pohlman. The Genealogical Tree of the Sprau/Sprow Family. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 2007. Print.
4. "William Smith Household." 1850 Federal Census. Young Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.
Family links:
Spouse:
William(Wilhelm) Smith (1783 - 1861)*
Children:
Jakob Smith (1810 - 1877)*
Louisa Schmitt Wingert (1813 - 1892)*
William Smith (1819 - 1896)*
*Calculated relationship
Burial:
Saint Peters Reformed Cemetery
Punxsutawney
Jefferson County
Pennsylvania, USA
Maintained by: J.D. Smith
Originally Created by: Marianne
Record added: Aug 01, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 55743157
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1789 - 1861 (72 years)