Chapter Two: Henrich Geck -- Immigrant Ancestor

Early History and Mythology

There is much mythology and legend surrounding Henrich and his European origins. The date of his birth, commonly given as 23 February, 1710, originated from a D.A.R. application (D.A.R. = Daughters of the American Revolution), submitted by Blanche Gertrude Keck Hummelsbach (Application #297 757) in 1936, who provides no source for the date. Most researchers, because of the lack of any proof, simply give his birthdate as ca. 1710. However, since we know that every male immigrant 16 years and older had to sign oaths of allegiance upon arrival in Philadelphia, and since we know that Henrich did in fact sign these oaths on 17 October, 1732, we can be reasonably certain that he was at least 16 years old in 1732. Therefore I usually give Henrich's birthdate as "before 1716."

There are numerous traditions given for his place of birth, but most of them are based on the following sources:

1) A. Mathews, and A.H. Hungerford. 1884. History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Everts and Richards.

Concerning Henrich they wrote: "Henry Keck was a native of Upper Pfalls, Bavaria. He left his home, with his wife (Peterson), of Holland, on board the English ship "Clyde" and had to take the oath of allegiance to George II before he landed in Philadelphia, Oct. 17, 1732. When he reached there he and his wife were sold as redemptioners for their passage-money to a man in Chester County, and served the time agreed upon -- about three or four years. After this he came to what is now Lehigh County...."

2) J.A Keck. 1901. History of the Keck Family. Unpublished mss (See Appendix A).

J.A. Keck wrote: "We know but little of the early life of our ancestors, and all we know we secured from our uncle, John Keck, who was known as Esquire John, who had it from the lips of his grandfather, George Keck, who was a son of our ancestor, and in 1853, had written a brief history of what he knew of the family.... He says in the paper that Henry Keck was a native of Basle, Switzerland... When twelve years of age he found himself in the employ of one of the generals of Frederick the Great.... Dr. Karl Keck, of Aisterheim, Upper Austria, says the family records were destroyed in the year 1709, when the French took that part of Germany. They bombarded the city of Regensburg, and all the houses were burned, with all the family papers."

3) J.W. Jordan, E.M. Green, and G.T. Ettinger, eds. 1905. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. 2 vols. New York: Lewis Publishing Co.

In vol. 2 they wrote: "Charles Keck ...was a descendant of Henry Geck, a native of Upper Pfalz, Bavaria, who left his native country with his wife (Peterson), of Holland, on board the English ship "Pink John and William" of Sunderland ...and arrived in Philadelphia October 17, 1732. When he reached there he and his wife were sold as redemptioners for their passage money to a man in Chester County, and served the time agreed upon, about three or four years.... After this time Henry Geck (now spelled Keck) came to what is now Lehigh County...."

Jordan and his fellow collaborators did not cite any sources, but it is obvious that much of what they wrote was taken from Mathews and Hungerfords history of 1884.

4) Charles R. Roberts, et al. 1914. History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. 2 vols. Allentown, PA.: Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.

In vol. 2 Mr. Roberts wrote: "The progenitor of this family in Lehigh County was Henry Keck (Geck) a native of Upper Pfaltz, Bavaria. With his wife (Peterson) he left Rotterdam, last from Dover on the English ship "Pink John and William," and landed at Philadelphia, Oct. 17, 1732. When he reached there he and his wife were sold as redemptioners for their passage money to a man in Chester County and served the time agreed upon about three or four years. After this he came to what is now Lehigh county ...."

Again, no sources are cited, but its dependence on the previous works is obvious.

5) John Melvin Keck. 1926. A History of a Keck Family. Privately Published.

John Keck wrote in his history: "The genealogy of the American branch traces back to Henry Keck who crossed the Atlantic in 1732. His early history is not clear. In fact most of this chapter is traditional. One writer has Henry come from Switzerland, another from the Palatinate, one from Bavaria. The preponderance of evidence favors the opinion that he was born in Hohenzolle rn. Having been a soldier in active war service, he probably was in each of these places. This much is sure, he was in some way connected with the staff of Frederick William, King of Prussia, 1713-1740, father of Frederick the Great.... He married a maid from Holland named Peterson. The name seems to be Swedish. ... Henry Keck and wife sailed for America on the British ship, Clyde, and landed at Philadelphia October 17, 1732."

6) Virginia Billingsley Fletcher 1983. "Down in the Barns" The Kecks of Claiborne County, Tennessee. Baltimore: Gateway Press.

In this more recent work, Mrs. Fletcher wrote: "The Keck family is thought to have originated in Germany, in the Hohenzollern province.... Records of Kecks have been found in Hohenzollern as early as 1642. Branches of the Keck family went to Basel, Switzerland, Upper Pfalz, Bavaria and the Palatinate. The founder of the Keck line in Northampton, Pennsylvania came from Germany, exactly where has not been determined. Henry Keck Sr., who signed his name on the ship's list as Henrich Geck, arrived at the port of Philadelphia on the ship Pink John and William, 17 Oct 1732. With him was his wife Catherine Peterson. After arriving in Philadelphia, Henry Keck Sr. and his wife were sold as redemptioners to a man in Chester County, Pennsylvani a for passage money. They served three or four years of indentured servitude...."

This history cites its sources as being the works mentioned above, especially the 1926 History by John Melvin Keck and the 1905 book by Jordan, et al.

The sources differ on whether Henrich originated in Switzerland, Baveria, the Upper Pfalz, or the Palatinate (the Upper Pfalz and the Palatinate refer to roughly the same region within Bavaria). At our present state of knowledge we cannot state exactly where Henrich originated. Since J.A. Keck mentioned Regensburg in his History, many genealogical enthusiasts, especially on the internet, have circulated the belief that Henrich came from that ancient city. But J.A. Keck never actually claims that Henrich came from there, just that their records were destroyed, implying, of course, that the Keck records were destroyed. Hilary Rauch, one of the premier Keck researchers, wrote: "I do not subscribe to the theory that has found its way into print that Henrich came from Regensburg. The somewhat disingenuous story surrounding this origin is difficult to accept, and I believe he came from the Upper Palatinate (OberPfalz), Bavaria.¹

All of the sources agree, however, that Henrich immigrated with his wife, who was either Dutch or Swedish, and was named Catherine Peters or Catherine Peterson. Furthermore, they all pass on the tradition that Henrich and his wife were redemptioners, that is, in exchange for their passage across the Atlantic they contracted with someone to serve as indentured servants for a set number of years. The person whom the Kecks allegedly served for 3 years was an unnamed man living in Chester County, PA.

The sources also agree that Henrich arrived in Philadelphia in 1732, although the name of the ship was variably given as "The Clyde," "The Pink John and William," and "John and William." We know the correct name of the ship that brought Henrich to America was the "John and William," and not the Clyde. The designation "Pink John and William," was not the actual name of the ship, a "pink" was a type of ship, not part of the ship's name, so what that tradition is trying to say is that Henrich immigrated on a pink by the name of "John and William." The "John and William" sailed from Rotterdam, Holland in June or July, 1732 and arrived in Philadelphia on 17 October, 1732.

One historian describes the voyage as follows:

"The John and William dropped anchor that fall day after a harrowing voyage of seventeen weeks on which forty-four of the passengers died. The crossing took about five weeks longer than usual and conditions on board became so desperate that some of the passengers mutinied and seized control of the ship. After sailing up and down the coast they found Delaware Bay. At this point eight of the mutineers escaped in a small boat but were later apprehended in Philadelphia."²

Immediately upon arrival in Philadelphia, on 17 October, 1732, all males passengers 16 years old and above were marched down to the city hall to sign oaths of abjuration and allegiance to the English king. Henrich's oaths are still on record, as mentioned in the previous chapter.

Captain Tymperton, the master of the John and William, kept a detailed list of the passengers on the particular voyage in question. This roster provides information bearing upon the question of Henrich's marital status at the time of his emigration.³ We are fortunate because few of these passenger lists survive, and even fewer listed the woman and children. This document lists "Palatines imported in the ship Pink John and William, of Sunderland, Constable Tymperton, Master, men above sixteen, 109 women and children of both sexes of different ages -- in all 170." Henrich is on the list, but we find no mention of any woman or children by the name of Geck, Keck, or any conceivable variation, suggesting that he traveled alone.⁴

Further evidence that he was still unmarried in 1739 comes from the records of the Egypt Reformed Church of (now) LeHigh County where he acted as a sponsor, together with Eva Roth, for the baptism of Eva Catharina Arndt, daughter of Clementz and Maria Arndt. Often in these records a husband and wife will sponsor a person for baptism together, but a married man would never be allowed to sponsor a baptism together with an unmarried woman.⁵

The Bassetts sum up the situation nicely:

"It is not known where Henrich was between the time of his arrival in 1732 and the baptism at the Egypt Church. It has been said that he and his wife served a term as redemptioners following their arrival in 1732. No record could be found to support this and since it is now evident that Henrich did not bring a wife with him this seems questionable.... No record of Henrich's marriage was found but, considering the probable birth dates of his children whose dates of confirmation are known, a marriage date of circa 1740 seems reasonable. Neither could any record of his wife's maiden surname be found. That her given name was Hanna is known from the baptismal records of St. Paul's Church which lists the parents of Wilhelm and Andreas Keck as Henrich Keck and Hanna."⁶