Moll-Newhard-Kuntz Triangle Timeline

[Bob Smalser]

The Moll-Newhard-Kuntz Triangle Timeline

1731, 1732, 1737, 1738.  The Moll, Newhard and Kuntz families migrate to Pennsylvania from three villages within a 50-mile circle in the Palatinate-Alsace region of Europe, settling within a 30-mile circle in Berks and Northampton Counties.  They are skilled farmers and tradesmen from the most advanced farming area of Europe, and are Pietists of the German Reformed faith.  Relationships within family and members of their church congregations play a dominant role in their lives.

1732, 1737.  The Newhard migration is exceptionally well-planned, and includes five families in two increments using pooled resources, establishing a strong pattern of mutual assistance that continues in the new world.

1740’s-1770’s.  Establishing farms and businesses from wilderness proceeds slowly until the first generation of sons reach adulthood.  The limiting factor is the time and labor required to convert forest to productive farmland.

November-December, 1755.  French and Indian War raids by Delaware and Shawnee war parties from the Wyoming Valley into Northampton County kill or capture over a hundred settlers, including Newhard and Kuntz family members.

1762.  The streets are laid out in the new settlement of Allentown (then called Northampton Town).

May, 1763.  Pontiac’s Rebellion Indian violence begins west of the Alleghany Mountains and progresses eastward.

1-7 September, 1763.  In Berks County, 16 settlers are killed or captured in Indian raids near Reading.

5 September, 1763.  “Johannes Moll, Gunsmith” sells his 50-acre farm and shop in Rockland Twp of Berks County, and appears on the 1764 Allentown tax rolls as a gunsmith.  The distance between Moll’s farm and Allentown is 30 miles.

8 October, 1763.  The Whitehall-Allen Township Massacre by Wyoming Valley and local Indians near Allentown, with 23 settlers killed and others seriously wounded.

10 October, 1763.  Allentown reports a severe shortage of arms; requests guns and ammunition from the governor and organizes a local militia company with farmer Abraham Rinker as lieutenant.

22 October, 1763.  Based on the recent Berks and Northampton massacres, the Pennsylvania General Assembly raises 24,000 English Pounds to raise and arm temporary militia companies on the frontier.

Circa November, 1763.  Nineteen-year-old farmer Peter Newhard (1743-1813) probably joins Johannes Moll (B1746-1794) as an assistant making and servicing guns in Allentown, bartering training for labor.

July, 1764.  The Franklin County Schoolroom Massacre adds urgency to the Northampton community effort to arm themselves.

1767.  Peter Newhard marries and probably takes in his 3-year-old nephew David Kuntz (1764-1834)  after David’s father dies unexpectedly at age 32 on his Berks County farm leaving his wife with 8 small children to raise alone.

28 April, 1772.  Johannes Moll marries Lydia Gertrude Rinker in Allentown’s Zion Reformed Church.  Lydia is the younger sister of Whitehall Massacre militia lieutenant Abraham Rinker.

June, 1775-April, 1776.  Family members Philip Newhard, Christopher Neuhart and Frederick Kuntz join Thompson’s and Miles’ Rifle Regiments, probably using rifles made by Peter Newhard.

1777.  As Philadelphia was about to fall to the British, armory operations were moved to Allentown, Lancaster and Harrisburg.  As these were large operations, local tradesmen were probably employed as subcontractors, including gunmakers Johannes Moll, Peter Newhard and Allentown joiner Jacob Neuhard (1752-1835), Peter’s younger brother.

1777-1783.  Johannes Moll, Peter Newhard, and Jacob Neuhard serve in the Northampton County militia, probably as gunsmiths, serving in different companies to distribute their skills.  Jacob serves until 1789 after he was selected for company command.

Circa 1779.  Twenty-three-year-old war veteran Herman Rupp (1756-1831) probably goes to work for Johannes Moll as an assistant, perhaps joining his younger brother Johannes Rupp (1762-1840) already serving in the Moll shop as a wartime apprentice.

1780.  Peter Newhard becomes a trustee of Zion Reformed Church where Moll was married.

Circa 1784.  Gunmaker David Kuntz relocates back to Berks County, probably to support his remaining family there.

Circa 1787.  Johannes Moll’s oldest son and namesake John Moll II (1773-1834) joins his father as an apprentice gunmaker in their Allentown shop.

1794.  John II Moll marries Elizabeth Newhard, Peter’s younger cousin.

3 November, 1794.  Johannes Moll dies and is buried at the cemetery at 10th and Linden in Allentown.  John II takes over the Moll gunshop.

Circa 1794-1797.   Peter Newhard’s nephew Conrad Newhard (1783-1853) and in-laws Jacob Kuntz (1780-1876), Adam Kuntz (1781-1876) and Peter Kuntz (1782-1862 probably join gunmaker Peter Newhard as teenage apprentices.  Perhaps they also assist at Moll’s gun shop, as John II was likely running the shop alone.

1806.  Herman and Johannes Rupp’s first cousin Susanna Oury marries Benjamin Schrecengost (1788-1868) to establish the line of Schreckengost gunmakers in western Pennsylvania.  This was the first of at least five Rupp-Schreckengost intermarriages.

1808.  Allentown joiner and occasional gunsmith Jacob Neuhard is elected to the state legislature, serving in Philadelphia during legislative sessions.

1810.  Gunmaker Jacob Kuntz moves to Philadelphia to ply his trade there, probably living temporarily with in-law Jacob Neuhard.

Circa 1810-1814.  John II Moll’s sons John Moll III (1796-1883) and Peter Moll (1799-1879) reach apprentice age and begin work in the Allentown gunshop.

1812.  Jacob Kuntz marries Jacob’s daughter Barbara Neuhardt, and they establish a home and shop in Philadelphia.

16 September, 1813.  Peter Newhard dies and is buried in Egypt Church Cemetery.  Gunmakers John Rupp and David and Peter Kuntz are mentioned in his estate inventory as having “notes outstanding”.

1814.  Jacob Neuhard leaves the state legislature when he is elected Lehigh County Commissioner, serving in Allentown.

Circa 1818-1828.  John II Moll’s nephew James Moll (1804-1870) and sons David Moll (1807-1853) and Nathan Moll (1814-1892) reach apprentice age and begin work in the Allentown gunshop.

11 April, 1820.  John III Moll takes over the Moll Allentown gunshop.  By 1824 John II Moll at age 51 relocates to Hellertown to assist with 25-year-old son Peter’s gunshop there, with teenage son David as an apprentice.

Circa 1827.  Jacob Kuntz’s oldest son Peter Kuntz II (1813-B1914) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Philadelphia gunshop.  By 1860 he is a gunsmith working in Farmington Township in Fulton County, Illinois.

1829.  Allentown gunsmith James Moll marries Sarah Neuhart, another of the late Peter Newhard’s younger cousins.

1838.  Gunmaker Nathan Moll marries Rosina Lee, older sister of later gunmaker George Lee.

Circa 1839.  John III Moll’s son William Henry Moll (1829-1889) reaches apprentice age and begins at Moll’s Allentown gunshop.  George Lee (1825-1889) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown gunshop doing business as “P & D Moll”.  

1839.  Jacob Neuhard’s son Peter Newhard (1783-1860), namesake of the master gunmaker and in-law to all the Kuntz and Moll gunmakers, is elected to the US House of Representatives for two consecutive terms.

1844.  John III Moll is elected to the Allentown City Council, with former congressman Peter Newhard serving as Burgess.  The Allentown gunshop does business as “J. & W.H. Moll”.

Circa 1848.  Peter Moll’s son Reuben C. Moll (1834-unk) reaches apprentice age and begins as a clerk in the Hellertown gunshop.

Circa 1850.  David Moll’s son William H. Moll (1836-1877) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown gunshop.

Circa 1852.  John III Moll’s son Josiah David Moll (1838-1873) reaches apprentice age and begins at Moll’s Allentown gunshop.  David Moll’s son Edwin Moll (1838-1900) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown shop.  Nathan Moll’s son Samuel Moll (1838-1915) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown shop.

Circa 1860.  Hellertown gunmaker Nathan Moll with son Samuel relocate to Poweshiek Township, Jasper County Iowa where they work as gunsmiths and farmers.

Circa 1861. Peter Moll’s daughter Elizabeth M. marries gunmaker George Lee of the Moll Hellertown gunshop.  Peter Moll’s son Peter Moll II (1847-1883) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown shop.

Circa 1863.  Peter Moll’s son John Jacob Moll (1849-1909) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown gunshop.  David Moll’s son David M. Moll (1849-1926) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown shop.

Circa 1866.  David Moll’s son Thomas Moll (1852-unk)  reaches apprentice age and begins at the Hellertown shop.

Circa 1874.  William Henry Moll’s son Henry Thomas Moll (1860-1913) reaches apprentice age and begins at the Allentown gunshop.

1877.  The Hellertown gunshop gradually converts to dry goods, hardware and groceries after William H. Moll dies.

1884.  The Moll Allentown gunshop is sold, and until 1889 Henry Thomas Moll was the last practicing Moll gunsmith in Allentown in a small shop on Hamilton Street.

Circa 1905. John Jacob Moll is the last practicing Moll gunsmith in Hellertown, repairing guns on a part-time basis.

[Tom Currie]

Bob, Thanks again for sharing your research into these families. Much appreciated.

I will make an observation though on one of the "probably'"s

Quote "Circa 1779.  Twenty-three-year-old war veteran Herman Rupp (1756-1831) probably goes to work for Johannes Moll as an assistant, perhaps joining his younger brother Johannes Rupp (1762-1840) already serving in the Moll shop as a wartime apprentice"

While Herman Rupp's work very closely follows Johannes Moll, I believe the artistic elements of probably Johannes Rupp I and even # II, as exhibited in the KRA presidents CD , display a closer association with perhaps Neihardt or even Oerter's work at CS.

I have no solid evidence to back that up other than my observation of the rifles I am able to view.

[Bob Smalser]

Expertise in the artifacts isn't my lane...I merely lean toward what appears to be the expert consensus providing it fits my other evidence.   In the Rupp's case, the historical and family facts fit either Moll or Newhard, but besides similarities in workmanship, Moll ran a full-time production shop and would probably use more outside labor than Newhard, who was a seasonal gunmaker also farming what would eventually become 345 acres.  Further, not having a farm to fall back on, Moll was living on a cash economy at least 15 years before his farmer neighbors were, and needed constant production just to feed his family.  

I do, however, discount Moravian training entirely.  Although I'm sure Moll, Newhard etc got to study Moravian guns, I have found zero evidence that an apprentice-age or adult non-Moravian was trained in any kind of trade there without also joining their commune or church.  That would have been unthinkable for devout Calvinists like the Molls, Newharts and Kuntz's, as would Moravian requirements about private property and family.    Add to that the Rupps, Newhards and Kuntz's served extensively in various colonial military units, with Herman Rupp's and Peter Newhard's fathers serving in ranging companies at age 56 and 63 respectively, and Herman Rupp and a Newhard brother themselves remaining in the militia after the war and eventually becoming officers....Rupp a Brigadier.

What sets the Rupps apart from other gunmakers was that they arrived in Pennsylvania wealthy, and remained that way.  Herman's mother was the daughter of an Alsatian Count.  Johannes and Herman could have done anything they wanted to, and they wanted to make guns.

[Shreckmeister]

Great work Bob...  Can you expand on this? "Herman and Johannes Rupp’s first cousin Susanna Oury "  How are they cousins?  Susanna is my 5 great grandmother and I'd be curious to know that.   Also, Susanna's father Christopher
was the son of Peter according to my sources.  How was Peter related to the
Christopher Ury (Oury) that was involved in the indian attack.   I am told that
Peter was married to a full blooded indian?

[Bob Smalser]

Susanna Oury's mother was Catharina Christina Rupp 1749-1825 who was the daughter of Ulrich Rupp 1695-1754 of Wimmerau, Alsace.  Christina's brother Johann George Rupp 1721-1801, was the father of gunmakers Herman and Johannes.

I show Cristopher's father Peter Oury 1715-1781 married to Anna Margarethe 1720-1782, an ethnic German.

But there is a "Captain Lewis Ourry", who fought under his friend, Colonel Henri Bouquet in 60th Royal American Regiment of the French and Indian War I'm still trying to track down

[spgordon]

Bob,

Lewis Ourry shows up frequently in Benjamin Franklin's writings. The entire 39 vols. (to date) of Franklin's writings are available digitally here: http://www.franklinpapers.org/franklin/

Below I've copied the references to Ourry from the ongoing index to the Franklin papers: with these references, you can then consult each of them in by volume & page in the digital edition from the above link.

Ourry, Capt. Lewis (vii, 62-3n; xii, 298n)
bf recommends, XVI: 56
dines with bf, XIV: 224
document in hand of, VII: 63n
fossils owned by, described, XIV: 29
given funds for Bouquet, XI: 317n
greetings to, XIII: 33; XIV: 143, 159, 224n
letter from, VII: 62–3
mentioned, XIV: 226; XV: 26; XVI: 188; XVII: 128, 208; XX: 152, 318
pay orders for, VII: 97n, 156
reports quarters inadequate, VII: 62–3
returns to Eng., XII: 298n; XIV: 29n
sends greetings, XIV: 224
takes sb's gown for repairs, XII: 298, 318
trip to Paris, XVI: 56n
tutors Galway's son, XVII: 167; XVIII: 162
visits df, XII: 15, 46

Ourry also shows up, hundreds of times, in The Papers of Henry Bouquet (vols. 2-4, and maybe more but those are the only three I have here). Unfortunately these aren't available online.

And there are a few mentions of him (according to the index) in the Papers of William Johnson, also not digitally available.



 

[Bob Smalser]

Thanks.

I have some of that in Bouquet's papers, but what I was referring to is tracking him down in the various geneaological databases.  Some secondary sources report him to be from Scotland, but I strongly suspect Alsace or the Palatinate is closer to the mark.

[spgordon]

Here's the short bio from the Franklin Papers:

Ourry, Lewis (1717-1779)

British army officer.

Lieutenant in Churchill’s marines (1747). Fort adjutant at Jersey (1750-56). Served as quartermaster and commissary officer under Col. Henry Bouquet in western Pennsylvania, reaching the rank of captain (1756-65). On friendly terms with Franklin family in Philadelphia and later with Franklin in London. Traveled abroad as tutor to Lord Galway’s son (1769-70). Served with 15th regiment in Scotland and Ireland (1772-77). Commissary for prisoners of war (1778); died of a fever contracted from his charges.

Son of Louis Ourry, a Huguenot refugee who settled in London c. 1707. Three brothers also served in the British army. Married; father of Franklin correspondent Ann Ourry.

[Shreckmeister]

This link shows a connection between Peter Oury (Christopher's brother) and Adam Oury
another brother who owned land jointly with Philip Cuntz (likely Kuntz).  And Christopher Truby who was connected with gunsmith Jacob Truby.  It's kinda coming together that these families were pushing their way into the frontier of western PA and shared military service to some degree, but I have yet to connect Lewis Ourry to them.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=olney&id=I102214

[spgordon]

For a moment I thought that Bob Smalser was back!

[Shreckmeister]

Hadn't realized he left until I started to think about it.  Haven't seen a post by him in awhile. 

[spgordon]

The profile says he hasn't posted since June 2012.