Individual Details

Hartman Notes
Arrived on Ship Allen, Arriving Philadelphia 15 Sep 1721. From Isle of Wight 7 Jul 1721. Came with Alex Mac. of Swarzenau, Between Mannheim and Heidleburg, Germany.

Probably buried at graveyard near Ringoes.

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Lori Deardorff Marquette Notes - Lorimarque@aol.com

Deardorff/Dierdorff History

Our Immigrant Ancestor, ANTONYDIERDORFF was born 1683-1684 in Swartzenau, Chur-Pfalz, Germany, and died Abt 1745 in Amwell, New Jersey. He married CHRISTIANA.
Per "The Palatine Families of New York and New Jersey", Page 64, Anthony Dierdorf and Henrich Dierdorf - This family undoubtedly came from the Neuweid/Westerwald region (in which the town of 5419 Dierdorf is found) as did so many other Hunterdon Co, NJ settlers. However, intensive village-to-village searches over many years in extent chbks of the area have failed to document the NJ Dierdorfs. With this in mind, it is very possible that the family originated at 5450 Feldkirchen near Neuwied (4 km s.w. of Segendorf), the chbks for which are missing. The Furstl. Wied Archiv at Neuwied has several old documents which give names of 17th and 18th century Feldkirchen parish citizens. In the parish of Feldkirchen, for example, a Johannes Dirdorf of Wollendorf with 4 sons and 3 daughters was enrolled on a document dated 1690-1700; Johannes Dierdorf was then on a guard-money-list dated 1696 there (#27-7-3). Later members of the family at Wollendorf included Christian, Andreas, Peter, and Johann Wilhelm Dierdorf there in 1740. A Nicklas Dirdorf of Fahr had 5 sons and 2 daughters on the 1690--1700 roll, paid money on a "Zehentpfennig List" dated 1693, was on the guard money list for Fahr in 1696, and then on a 1709 Fahr roll with a Michael and Johann Con. Dierdorf. Conrad and Johannes Dierdorf of Fahr were registered in 1740 there (#27-2 & #27-7-3); perhaps they were related to the Johannes Dierdorf at Fahr found on lists dated 1669 &O1670 (#64-12-4). A Wilhelm Dierdorf had 1 son at Gonersdorf on the 1690-1700 list; A Paulus and a Michael Dierdorff also were of Gonnersdorf in 1740, and an Anthon and Georg Wilhelm Dierdorff also were listed that year nearby. It is my belief that Anthony and Henrich Dierdorf might have come from any of these Feldkirchen families.
Both Anthony and Christiana were born in Germany. Lived in Germantown, PA. Then on to Amwell, New Jersey. Came to American in 1719. Per letter from Hinrich to brother in law, Johann Diedrich Fahnestock, "My father is a devout and intelligent man who does many good works and has been here 15 years."

From "The Palatine Families of New York and New Jersey":
Hendrick Dirdorf, and Anthony Dirdorf and his four sons, namely Peter Dirdorf, John Dierdorf, Anthony Dierderf, and Christian Dierdorf (all sic) were naturalized in colonial NJ in 1730 (NJ Nat). Antony Deardorff of Amwell was for candidates John Emley and Benj'n Smith in 1738 (Hunterdon Co. Candidates List). Anthony and Henry Deerdoffe were both freeholders of Amwell in 1741 (Hunterdon CO. Freeholders). Anthony Dierdorff bought a plantation of 150 acres from Nathan Allen in 1742; he and his family were members of the German Baptist or Dunkards, founded by Alexander Mack (A History of East Amwell 1700-1800, p. 194). In a list of deaths written by Alexander Mack Jr. of those Brethren he had known were noted: Bro(ther) Henry Dierdorf and his wife, the sister. The Dierdorf surname is known in York Co., Pa., also particularly near the Conewago settlement. The will of Anthony Dirdorff was written 19 Feb. 1745 and probated 15 March 1746/47 in Hunterdon Co., NJ (Hunterdon Co. Wil #198J). Christiana, w/o Anthony, although not named in the will as administrator, was acknowledged in a bond of 7 May 1747 as having prior rights.

Per Bob Langdon, 1995: 8 July 1730, Antony and male members of the DirDorf family are naturalized by an act of New Jersey Assembly at Perth Amboy, NJ. New Jersey archives, Trenton, NJ, third series, Volume II, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 1703-1745 page 418. These are Antony Sr, Peter, John, Anthony, Christian, Henry. Some books have the same date for Henry, but list him separately. (It was necessary to be naturalized in order to own land). The male family members were naturalized in the province of New Jersey by an act approved by the council on 25 June 1730, the general assembly on 6 July 1730 and signed by the Governor on 8 July 1730. Peter was one month short of being 21, thus was listed as a minor with his younger brothers.
Per Bob Langdon, 1996, Raymond Martin Bell, was a professor at Washington and Jefferson College, thinks that John Trimmer, married 3 times, may have 1st been married to Mary Dierdorff, sister to Anthony Dierdorff. Bob has never been able to get anything out of Germany on this. She may have died on the way to America.

Deardorff/Dierdorff Name and Immigration
By Lori Deardorff Marquette

It is hard to discuss the spelling of our name without going into a lengthy article. I am going to quote from what I consider to be several reliable sources. The next 5 paragraphs, I am quoting from "Our Dierdorff Ancestors in Early America" by Richard F. Deardorff, 1984, (with permission) regarding our immigrant ancestors, Antony and Christiana Dirdorff, and their descendants' variations and explanation of surname spelling.

"Antony spelled his name on his will Dirdorff. The children wrote Dir Dorff. Peter signed his name on his father's will as Petter Dir Dorff.......his tombstone, in German, was fairly well worn in 1984, but Peter Dierd---- was still legible."

"English scribes, who wrote legal documents for recording deeds, wills, etc. spelled the surname 3 different ways in the same document: Deardorff, Deardoff and Deardroff. Other spellings abound. For example, the first half of the name varied such as Dir, Dier, Dirr, Deer, and the last half could be found as dof, doff, dorf, dorff, dough, and even dorph."

"Peter's son Johannes tombstone reads Hannes Dierdorf. Anthony, son of Peter's wife's tombstone reads Maria Dierdorff."

"There is a small village in West Germany, east of the Rhine River near Coblinz and Neuwied which is spelled Dierdorf..........the minister of a local Protestant church said (told the the author) that people who left there in the 1700's often assumed the name of the town as their own. It was a way of changing identity to escape persecution."

"Dorf in German means "village" or "small town". The proper name has 2 ff's. Dierdorff, in German, means someone from (the village of) Dierdorf. And, Deardorff is the English spelling of the German Dierdorff."

In "A History of the Descendents of Jacob and Maria Eva Harshbarger of Switzerland" prepared by the Secretary of The Harshbarger Association" (written ca 1909) I quote "It is said that nearly two centuries ago a Dunkard preacher named Anthony Thierdorf lived near Heidleburg, in Germany. Being persecuted he fled to Holland and soon after came to Germantown, PA, with three sons. We find them in York County, Pa. in 1738." I do not have any idea where the author got this information. My copy of the book (not a very good copy) does not have references to any sources, unfortunately, a very common problem...

Edna Britton DeLong's book, "The Deardorff-William Family" New London, Iowa, 1968, echo's the Harshbarger book stating the Thierdorff surname. I had the same question on the surname. Lee H. Dierdorff, Jr., in a letter some 15 years ago told me he thought Edna probably got that information out of the Harshbarger book, as she was a Harshbarger descendant. Again, no sources were given.

"Genealogical Facts and Stories of the Dierdorff Family, No. 1", by Lee H. Dierdorff, 1962, does briefly mention the following: "Some time after the first World War, I met a member of the Army of Occupation in Germany who had been stationed at the village on the Rhine named Dierdorf. I do not recall whether he met any people of that surname, but more likely the village was named for its situation above the Rhine - High Village, or Tierdorf."

Also from "Our Dierdorff Ancestors in Early America" comes the following information regarding the Dirdorff/Dierdorff's arrival to America. "It was not possible to determine precisely when or where Antony and his family arrived in America. They were not listed on any ship records that I could find. However, all the publications on German immigrants made it quite clear that not everybody was listed on the ship's rolls. The lists were prepared carelessly; few gave complete lists; and many were lost. Others, who reported sick, did not sign, and, therefore, were not listed."

A highly thought of Deardorff researcher, Miss Sudie Wingert of Waynesboro, PA, (1875-1962) sited that per a letter from Heinrich in the year 1734, to brother in law, Johann Diedrich Fahnestock, "My father is a devout and intelligent man who does many good works and has been here 15 years", which would be 1719. Many researchers have based the year of immigration by this information. There is more detailed speculation on immigration and naturalization in "Our Dierdorff Ancestors in Early America". It is no longer in print. I would be happy to send interested researchers a copy for the cost of copying and postage, as I feel it is a solid foundation in which to base our heritage. The book "The Palatine Families of New York and New Jersey", Page 64, also gives speculation on the Dierdorff's arrival in America.

My own personal answer to Rosemary Conner's question of August 13th: "My question is would this Henrig Dierdorf be any relation to Anthony Tierdorff the first know Tierdorff to come to America? Could be, but more that a couple of Dierdorff/Deardorff researchers in the past 150 years have not been able to concretely link any previous or subsequent Dierdorff/Deardorff's to Antony and his immediate family, which I feel, without better evidence, arrived in 1719, possibly by ship with Peter Becker. Chester A. Peters, author of "Some Descendants of Anthony Dierdorff Jr." agreed with this speculation.

As an end note, also from Lee H. Dierdorff's book, "There is another Dierdorff history, of an entirely different family, springing from another Peter Dierdorff, who came from Germany in 1848 and settled in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Some of his descendants may have been confused with the descendants of Antony."

After 15 years of correspondence, I have found that Dick Deardorff, Lee H. Dierdorff, Lee H. Dierdorff Jr., Sudie Wingert and Bob Langdon to be the most reliable sources of early information, as I know they have seen many of the original documents personally. (Bob Langdon currently being the only one still alive/actively researching)

Many things are subject to speculation, which makes all the data more challenging!


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Anthony Dierdorff, was the immigrant father of the tribe. He was a native of Schisbeim, in the Chapfaltz, Bavaria, Germany. This area lies between Mannheim and Heidleburg.

Although no researcher to date has been able to definiely determine the month and year when he came to America, the most probable account of his coming indicates that he came with his wife and family in the year 1719 with a group of "Tunkers" (presently termed Dunkards or Old German Baptists) under the leadership of Peter Becker. This fact is substantiated by a letter written by Henrich Dierdorff, Anthony's first child, to his brother-in-law Johann Diedrich Fahnestock, which said among other things "My father is a devout and intelligent man who does many good works and has been here fifteen years." The letter was written in German script, Oct 1, 1734 at Amwell, NJ. The letter is in the possession of H. Minot Pitman of Stoneington, Conn.

It is appropriate to record, however, that family tradition and some early researchers, contend that Anthony and family came over with a group under the leadership of Alexander Mack on the ship "Allen" in 1729. They suposedly landed at Philadelphia, PA but we have not been able to locate any records of their arrival at that time or place.

Upon arrival in America, Anthony and his family lived in the vicinity of Germantown, PA for several years, where they were already many German-speaking immigrants, possible some of whom were neighbors of the Dierdorff's in Germany.

Anthony and family apparently left the Philadelphia area sometime before 1730, for the History of the Church of the Brethren of Eastern Pennsylvania (p. 163) tells us, "The history of the Church of the Brethren in New Jersy begins in 1733. IN the fall of that year, John Nass with four other heads of Dunkard families, vis; Anthony Dierfdorff, Jacob More, Rudolph Harley and John Laushe, crossed the Delaware River into what is now Hunterdon Co., NJ, and settled near Amwell, 38 miles NE of Philadelpia, PA and organized the first German Baptist Church in America."

Anthony and his sons Peter, John, Anthony Jr. and Christian were naturalized by an Act of the New Jersey Assembly on June 8, 1730. Since naturalization presupposed residence in the area for a period of time, it is argued that they must have been New Jersey residents for five to seven years prior to that date. This Act can be examined in the Senate Library of Legislative Reference Bureau at Trenton, NJ.

Anthony's will, written in German script, on Feb 1, 1745 and recorded in Trenton, NJ has been translated and shows the members of Anthony's family. It was translated into English by Christian Grassold who testified as to its correctovess on Mar 2, 1746 at Philadelphia, PA before recorder William Allgan. The translated will is as follows:

"In 1745, Feb 19. Dierdorff, Anthony, will of. Whereas our children are all begat of one father and mother, they shall have an equal share in the division. Land sowed by my children upon the old place. Wife to live on the land where the testator there dwelt by his son, Christian, as long as she pleases. Son, Christian bought the land with the testator, son Christian and daugter Christine. Witnesses: Hans Peter Jager, Wilhelms Wertz and Johannas Peter Leusshart.

All the above copied from book, "Some of the Descendents of Anthony Dierdorff Jr."

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From Ancestors of Cheryl Lavonne Nau WFT 40 Tree 920:

From all of the information which has been accumulated on some of our earliest ancestors who came to America, we find that the family of Antony Thierdorff I arrived in either 1719 or 1729. His will was actually signed as Antony DirDorff. Based on a letter written by his son, Heinrich, Antony came to America in 1719 as opposed to 1729. Please note that there are several different spellings for this name as with many other surnames. Evidently, the original German spelling must have been Thierdorff. One also finds the spellings of Dierdorff, Deardorff, and others. We, the descendants from the state of Iowa, use the spelling of Deardorff.
The original Thierdorff family came from near Heidelburg, Germany----perhaps from the town of Dierdorff, which is still shown on the map in the Rhineland (Rhenish Prussia) on the Weidbach, 14 miles northeast of Coblenz. Before Heidelburg, they had come from Mannheim in S.W. Germany.
Why did the Thierdorffs and other families leave Germany? A historian has written, "The Rhine Country from 1618 to 1748 was a continuous field of carnage. Three state churches denied all others the right to exist. Those whose faith was of a different sort found life a burden and a cross." Holland became the refuge of many religiously persecuted families. That is the reason that the Thierdorffs, also the Ammens and Harshbargers, escaped to Holland, then to America, as the pilgrims had done before them. Anthony Thierdorff I was a Dunkard Preacher and to escape this religious persecution, he took his family, along with 30 other families from his community, to Holland.
The ship "Allen" set sail from Rotterdam, Holland, with its import of German settlers and then put in at Cowes, an island in the English Channel. They sailed from Cowes on July 7, 1729, arriving at Philadelphia on September 15, 1729. Adults took the oath of abjuration and allegience. There were 53 of these adults who took the oaths. However, the name of Thierdorff did not appear in the list of passengers, nor in the oath list. Illness was an accepted excuse for not taking the oaths, so Anthony Thierdorff could have been ill----or, at least said he was. The taking of oaths was against his religion. The captain's list was dated September 11, 1729, the date of docking was September 15, and September 17, was most likely the day of disembarking. However, we now know that Antony did not come on this ship in 1729, but came in 1719 with Peter Becker.
From "History of the Brethern of Eastern Pennsylvania", page 163, Special Biography (Dirdorff--Dierdorff--Deardorff)--In this there is a reference stating that H. Minot Pitman of Stonington, Connecticut, has a letter in his possession, written by Henrick Dierdorff, the eldest son of Anthony Thierdorff I. It was written in German script, dated 1734 from Amwell, New Jersey. The letter states that his father, Anthony I, had been in America about 15 years. That would make the date of Anthony coming to America as 1719 instead of 1729. The only date of the arrival of the ship "Allen" recorded is September 15, 1729, at Philadelphia. But, up to 1727, ships docking records were not compulsory. The ship could have landed there in 1719 and not been recorded. The fact that the Thierdorff/Deardorff name was not among the ones who came with Alexander Mack in 1729-------it goes on to say, "that Anthony I came at this earlier date, possibly with Peter Becker and others to Germantown, Pennsylvania." There is a family tradition that Anthony I did come with the Peter Becker family in 1719. Anthony's youngest daughter married a Becker.
By 1719 he had 5 sons and a daughter. There are marriage and will records so that we do know that all 5 sons came to America. On July 8,1730, Anthony I and his 5 sons were naturalized at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. This was necessary in order to own land.
After their arrival in America, the Thierdorffs and others of their religious faith settled in Germanstown, Pennsylvania and there the first Dunkard Church was built. The Dunkards are a sect of German Baptists who are opposed to military service and the taking of oaths. Later, they were called "German Baptist Brethern" or "Church of the Brethern". Later, the church was started in North Jersey near Amwell in 1733 under Reverend John Naas.
According to the "History of the Church of the Brethern" by Brombaugh, the will of Anthony I was dated February 19, 1745, written in German. It was probated March 15, 1745, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey (New Jersey Archives of Wills--Vol.2 (1730-1750), Page 144.) It was witnessed by Hans Peter Yeager (Yager), Peter Laashent, and W. Wertz. His will did not name an executor and his wife, Christina, did not want the job. She turned it over to her son Peter. Peter was a yeoman in the navy.
The children of Anthony Thierdorff/Deardorff I and Christina ?:
1. Heinrich (Henry): Married #1 Elizabeth Fahnestock, married #2 Elizabeth Moore, and died in 1749.
2. Peter: Born August 12, 1709, married Mary ?, and died January 30, 1786.
3. Daughter: Married Bernhardus Achenbach.
4. Johannes: Born 1715, married Anna Mary Ahardt, and died 1776.
5. Anthony II: Born about February 15/17, 1716/1717, married Anna Marie Yeager (Yager), and died on August 16, 1800.
6. Christian: Probably born about 1719.
7. Christiana: Probably born about 1721.
8. Anna: Born 1724 and married William Becker (or Ecker) in 1740.

Birth	1683	Swartzenau, Chur-Pfalz, Germany
Immigration	15 September 1721	Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Death	1743	Amwell Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey
Will	19 February 1745	Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Alt name		THIERDORFF
Burial		, Hunterdon, New Jersey

Spouse	Christiana RODEBUSCH (1683 - 1724)
Child	Heinrich DIERDORFF (1709 - 1749)
Child	Peter DIERDORFF (1709 - 1786)
Child	Margaret Catherine DIERDORFF (1711 - 1770)
Child	Johannes DIERDORFF (1715 - 1776)
Child	Anthony DIERDORFF III (1717 - 1800)
Child	John DIERDORFF (1717 - )
Child	Christian DIERDORFF (1719 - 1747)
Child	Susanna DIERDORFF (1722 - )
Child	Anna E. DIERDORFF (1724 - )
Child	Mary DIERDORFF (1727 - )
Child	Christina DIERDORFF (1728 - 1787)

Father	Anthony DIERDORFF Sr. (1655 - )
Sibling	Mary Catherine DIERDORFF (1690 - 1738)

Notes