Historical Background:

What were the European roots of the Kistlers? It is the question that has plagued Kistler family researchers for years. Was the place of origin "Palatinate Germany," as the monument to John George Kistler at Jerusalem Church proclaims, or was it Aarberg, Switzerland, as Floride Kistler Sprague states in her genealogy?¹ Although the Kistlers of Pennsylvania "most likely" descended from the Kistlers of Switzerland, as Rev. C. E. Kistler noted in 1925², very little hard evidence has been uncovered to date to prove or disprove it. What is known for sure?

We do know that in 1652, a Hans Kistler and his family emigrated from Bözen, Switzerland (in Canton Aargau, west-northwest of Zurich) to Richen, Baden.³ Richen is located in an area called the Kraichgau which lies east of the Rhine and southeast of Heidelberg. The Kistler family from Bözen is documented for many generations in Richen. Among the recorded Kistler births, we find a Johannes Kistler born June 1, 1692 to Hans and Veronica (Heuberger) Kistler, and another Johannes born in March 1701.⁴

The published histories of the early Pennsylvania Kistlers all begin with the documented arrival in Philadelphia of Johannes Kistler on October 5, 1737 aboard the bilander Townshend.⁵ Fortunately, a manumission certificate, written sometime between April and August of 1737, has been found in the archives of Baden, Germany⁶ that appears to tie this Johannes to Auerbach, a village between Karlsruhe and Pforzheim which is approximately 43 km (27 miles) from Richen.

 No other information has yet been uncovered that helps us pick up the trail in Auerbach. Unfortunately, the records of the parish church at Langensteinbach (which included Auerbach) were destroyed in a fire. The only evidence of which we are aware that ties an early Pennsylvania Kistler directly to Richen is that of Maria Eva Kistler who married Paul Geiger in Richen.⁴ The couple had a child baptized at New Hanover Lutheran Church in 1756.⁷

Recent research on European Kistler ancestry has focused on the Richen-Auerbach vicinity due to the immigrant records, the availability of other records in the area, and the fact that several families associated with the Kistlers came from this area. However, it must be noted that there were pockets of Kistler people in other areas of Germany as well. As more church records are filmed and more indexes created, research in other areas may be productive. I am presently seeking the assistance of a professional genealogist in Germany to help confirm or disprove the theory that Johannes Kistler of Auerbach was related to the Kistlers of Richen and may possibly have been the Johannes Kistler born there in March of 1701.⁴

There is also evidence that two Kistler brothers immigrated directly from Bözen. The following is a notice placed in Christopher Saur's Pensylvanische Geschichte-Schreiber newspaper January 16, 1750:

Cross checking with the ship lists⁵, we find the following entries which agree with the arrival dates that can be inferred from this advertisement:
Johannes Kessler arrived November 9, 1749 aboard the ship Good Intent
Hendrick Keesner/Heinrich Kistner, age 40, arrived November 9,1738 aboard the ship Charming Nancy

Kistler family researchers have long pondered the significance of the Stammbaum der Familie Kistler von Aarberg, a family tree by W.E. Kistler of Offenbach, Germany in 1938 which Sprague included in her genealogy.¹ This document, which has fueled the notion that the Pennsylvania Kistlers are from Aarberg, Switzerland, includes a handwritten notation indicating that offspring of one Hans Rudolf Kistler was the "Americanishe Line." From this note is a line leading to another note in the margin which is in a different hand (probably Sprague's): "John George & wife Dorotheo, came to America in 1737." However, if anyone from this Swiss Kistler family did indeed emigrate to America, no evidence of it, other than these cryptic notes, has yet surfaced. It should be noted that Sprague's genealogy was written at a time when family historians believed John George Kistler and Johannes Kistler to be the same person.⁸ The home page of this web site shows a photograph of the magnificent glass window in the Rathaus in Aarberg featuring the Kistler crest.

Anyone having additional documentation on the European origin of the Pennsylvania Kistlers is urged to contact the Webmaster.

Genealogical research on the Kistler family of eastern Pennsylvania has centered on three individuals. Two of them lived close to each other in the so-called "Allemangel" region: Johannes Kistler of Albany Township, Berks County and George Kistler of Lynn Township, Northampton (now Lehigh) County. (The latter is often called John George or Hanjorg. To avoid confusion, I prefer to use George since he signed his name Jorg.) The third individual, Johannes Niclaus Kistler, lived farther west in the Tulpehocken region of Berks County. Articles published by early Kistler family researchers contributed to wholesale confusion that continues to this day. They had assumed that the three Kistler men were either the same person or father and son, depending on the records being examined. Later research showed that these individuals were actually the heads of three separate households. [See Hollenbach, Raymond, unpublished history of Kistler family, Kistler records compiled by Willard Werkheiser, Lehigh County Historical Society; Schwar, Elaine D., "The Kistler Confusion," Journal of the Berks County Genealogical Society, Summer, 1990; and Kistler, Bruce, "Sorting Out the Kistlers--A Research Update," The Palatine Immigrant, March, 1995]

It is still not known if the three men were related or, if so, how they were related. Where they settled only adds to the mystery. On one hand, if they were members of the same family, one would expect them to have settled in close proximity to one another. On the other hand, even though Johannes Kistler and George Kistler lived near each other, some researchers have pointed out that they did not serve as baptismal sponsors for each other’s children, which would be expected if they were brothers. Several current Kistler researchers are reexamining this matter in light of new information and are questioning long-held assumptions, including the assumption that the Johannes Kistler who arrived in 1737 was the same Johannes Kistler who settled in Albany Twp.

Fact: A Johannes Kistler arrived in Philadelphia October 5, 1737 aboard the Bilander Townshend. (I will refer to him as the "immigrant Johannes." Note that only adult males were listed on arrival.) [Source: Strassburger, Ralph B. & William Hinke J. eds., Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 3 Volumes, Pennsylvania German Society, 1934]

Fact: The immigrant Johannes was almost certainly from the village of Auerbach, Baden, about 27 miles from Richen. (The records of the parish church of Auerbach do not exist for this period, complicating research.) [Source: Manumission certificate, Baden Stadtarchiv, Kennf Cammer Protocolla von 23 Apr 1737 bis 10 Aug 1737, Karlsruhe, Germany, Source 61/1258 #41]

Fact: The immigrant Johannes almost certainly had three "minor" sons with him when he departed. [Source: Manumission certificate]

Fact: The immigrant Johannes was a poor serf. [Source: Manumission certificate]

Fact: The immigrant Johannes could not sign his name and made his mark on the ship’s list. [Source: Pennsylvania German Pioneers]

Fact: Several passengers from the Townshend later settled in Tulpehocken, Berks Co. [Source: Research of Pat Ostwald, Boulder, CO]

Fact: Among the German-speaking immigrants of the early 18th Century, indentured servitude was a common method of paying for ocean passage.

Fact: As a common practice, boys who could not pay for passage were indentured until about the age of 21.

Fact: After 1737, the next available record of a Kistler in eastern Pennsylvania is a road petition signed by Johannes Kistler and George Kistler in 1745. Signature comparisons make it almost certain that this Johannes was the same Johannes who settled in Albany Twp. and who signed his will in November, 1772. [Source: Photocopy of road petition, Kistler records compiled by Willard Werkheiser, Lehigh County Historical Society]

Fact: Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. and George Kistler of Lynn Twp. lived near each other across the county line. [Source: Multiple records including Census records]

Fact: For many years, Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. and George Kistler of Lynn Twp. were members of the Lutheran congregation of Jerusalem church. Much later, Johannes became a member of the Freidens congregation after the followers of Rev. Daniel Schumacher split with Jerusalem. George remained a member of the Jerusalem congregation. [Source: Ministerial Acts of Daniel Schumacher, Family History Library microfilms #1414861 & #0940443; Records of Jerusalem Church, Family History Library microfilm #1206303 #0844966 and Fiedens Church]

Fact: Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. and George Kistler of Lynn Twp. applied for grants of land on October 30, 1765. [Pa. Land Records, East Side Applications, Nos. 1156, 1157 & 1160, Family History Library microfilm #0986894]

Fact: Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. and George Kistler of Lynn Twp. took oaths of naturalization in the early 1760s. Johannes took the oath on September 24, 1761. George took the oath a little more than six months later on April 4, 1762. [Source: Persons Naturalized in Pennsylvania]

Fact: From available records, it appears that: Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. had at least ten children born in America, the first born ca.1747 and the last born ca. 1764. George Kistler of Lynn Twp. had at least nine children born in America, the first born ca. 1742 and the last born ca. 1758. Johannes Niclaus Kistler of Tulpehocken had at least seven children born in America, the first born in 1744, the last born in 1760. [Source: Mutiple records reported in Kistler, Bruce, "Sorting Out the Kistlers--A Research Update," The Palatine Immigrant, March, 1995]

Fact: The in-laws and close associates of all three Kistler men whose origins have been traced to date, came from the middle Rhine (Northern Alsace, Northern Kraichgau, Baden etc.). [Source: Research of Bruce Kistler and Pat Ostwald]

Observation: At least with respect to church, civic and property matters, Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. and George Kistler of Lynn Twp. appear to be more or less in lock-step. This suggests that they were closely related.

Observation: Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp., George Kistler of Lynn Twp. and Johannes Niclaus Kistler of Tulpehocken raised large families of children born in America, each beginning his own family sometime in the 1740s. This suggests that they were of roughly similar age and, presuming that they were in their late teens or early twenties when they began their families, were probably born sometime in the 1720s.

Observation: What is not found in the available records is also interesting. For example, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the known children of Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. were born in Germany. That is, the children mentioned in the will of his widow can be accounted for as having been born in America. This increases the likelihood that Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. was not the immigrant Johannes, whom we know had children born in Germany. (On the other hand, it is possible that the children perished on the voyage.) Also, given the available records, there are few plausible alternative explanations for the appearance of the three Kistlers.

It is plausible that the Johannes Kistler born in 1701 in Richen later moved to nearby Auerbach, married and began raising a family in the early 1720s. In 1737, at the age of 36, he emigrated to Pennsylvania with three teenage sons. (Although it is possible that his wife also accompanied him, we have no evidence of this. He may have journeyed as a widower.) Being poor and unable to pay for their passage, Johannes and his sons were indentured for a period of service in Pennsylvania, perhaps in or near Philadelphia. Before his term of service was complete, Johannes died. The boys continued to serve their indenture until the age of 21 and when freed in the early 1740s struck off to seek land to farm among their German-speaking brethren in the Pennsylvania hinterland. Each married and began raising families.

This particular theory explains a lot. It accounts for four Kistler males in eastern Pennsylvania at the right time with only one arrival record. It accounts for the eight-year gap in the record between the 1737 arrival and the 1745 road petition. It accounts for three young Kistler families starting at roughly the same time in Pennsylvania. It accounts for the apparent close bond between Johannes and George. It accounts for in-laws and close associates with ties to the middle Rhine.

If they were brothers, the theory does not explain why one ended up in Tulpehocken and the other two in Allemangel. It is possible that the theory is correct for Johannes Kistler of Albany Twp. and George Kistler of Lynn Twp. and that Johannes Niclaus Kistler was not closely related. It also does not explain why there is no record of the death of the immigrant Johannes Kistler.

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