Individual Details

Baptized as son of Hans Balthazar Bickel and wife Anna Eva. Sponsors were unreadable.

Married in the New York Lutheran Church. Minister was Rosscher; the marriage recorded by Rev. Justus Falckner.
Marriage bans recorded Aug 3, 1718 at N.Y.
Balthazar Pickel of the county of Hartenburg, Germ; Anna Gertrud Reiterin in the same county, now live at N.Y.
Marriage recorded Aug 16, after 3 publ. (bans) in our church at N.Y.
Balthasaurus Pickel and Anna Gertrud Reiterin
Ancestry.com, "U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-2000"


Early services of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church were held in the home of Baltes Pickel. He built at his own expense the Racheway Church [located today at Potterstown] in 1729 and the Leslysland Church about 1735. In 1749 when the Zion Lutheran Church was built at Oldwich, Baltes Pickel contributed money to its constructiion. In his will of 1765 he bequeathed the Zion church 1000 #'s. THE FAITHFUL AND THE BOLD, p.35.

[The names Baltes or Baltis and Balthazar seem to be virtually interchangeable in this family line.]

From Early History of Lutheranism in Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey, by C. H. Traver. Found on WorldVitalRecords.com
p.4 John A. Weygandt [John Albert Heygard] was called in 1749 to be the pastor of Zion's Luthernan Church by 78 persons, residents of Bedminster, Redington, Roxbury & Tewksbury. Balthus Pickel was listed as one of the trustees.
p.6 In 1760 Paul D. Pryzelius/Bryzelius settled at New Germantown as pastor of both Zion's and St. Paul's where he remained between six and seven years. During his pastorate Balthus Pickel died, and by his will bequeathed Zion's Church $5,000, also a silver cup and plate.

From New Jersey, Abstracts of Wills, 1670-1817, database on Ancestry.com
Volume XXXIII, p.329
1765, Dec. 2. Pickel, Baltheser, of Hunterdon Co: will of. Son, Baltheser Pickel, John Stein, Ruloph Rulops, a silver plate and cup to be delivered by them to the Germ Protestant Lutheran Church in New Germantown in Hunterdon Co. I order my Executors to transfer to Balteser Pickel, John Stein and Ruloph Rulophs, all the bonds I have of some of the members of said church, except the obligation I paid on the demand of George Remer and Jacob Dest, which I give to our minister, Paul Bryzelius, so as to make up a legacy of £1000, and the interest thereof is to teach two poor children to read at the German school of said congregation. Executors - Rev. Paul Bryzelius and my sons, Balteser and Henry Pickel, Philip Wise, John Mohlich, Jacob KIein and Valentine Reinhard. Witnesses: Ananias Randall, Weinland Vandeventer, Jacob Neff.
Proved Apr 19, 1766.
1765, Dec 31. Inventory, £4,688.2.5, made by Samuel Wyckof and Winand Van de Vender.
Lib. 13, p.236


FindAGrave has a picture of his gravestone - he was buried as Baltes Pickle, died 5 Dec 1765, aged 79 years.
Here Lies the Body of BALTES PICKEL Who Departed this Life December 5th, 1765 in the 79th Year of his Age Verse: "Remember me as you pass by. As you are now so onst was I. As I am now so you must be. Prepare for Death and follow me.
"Source: Genealogical Society of NJ, Zion Cemetery Oldwick records - Baltes Pickel & Charity, his wife, are said to have had a daughter, Catharine, who died before 1748. There is a small stone inscribed C. P. 1744 near their stones which may be hers. The Lutheran Baptismal records by Rev. Justus Falckner, mentions daughter, Maria Catharine born July 15, 1719, baptized Aug 2, 1719.)"

There is also a gravestone, Oldwick, Hunterdon, NJ. This wife is unknown, but the age would be about the same as this Baltis - did his wife used an Anglicized name or is this a wife of his later years?
Here lies the Body of CHARITY the Wife of Baltes Pickel Who Departed this Life December the 4th, 1761 in the 77th Year of her Age. My Life is run. My Grave you see. Prepare for Death And Follow Me.
She would have been born in 1684.

Found on Ancestry.com
The story of an old farm, or, Life in New Jersey in the eighteenth century. Somerville, N.J.: Unionist-Gazette,1889
From Chapter VII - Johannes Moelich appears in New Jersey in 1747 – His brother Godfrey-Echoes from the ancient walls of Zion Lutheran Church at New Germantown in Hunterdon County.
Beginning on page 76…. We learn from the records of the “Kirchen Buch de Corporation von Zion in New Germantown in West Jersey,” that Johannes Moelich was an active member and officer of Zion Lutheran church in Tewksbury, then Lebanon, township, in the same county. The exact date of the establishment of this congregation is not known. As early as 1730 there were German-Lutherans in the vicinity of what is now New Germantown, Pennsylvania.
In 1749, Zion corporation had been for some time in existence, and in that year a new church building “was solemnly dedicated to the service of God by the brethren Brunnholtz, Handschuch, Hartwig, Schaum and Kurtz.” This antique structure is still standing, and its thick stone walls will doubtless continue to house congregations for generations to come. Since those early days, however, it has undergone many alterations, and in present appearance differs materially from that of the original edifice, which in outward form was not unlike the little church on Pohick creek in Virginia, built a few years later, where Washington worshiped. An immense roof, converging to the centre, capped the walls, in which small windows were set high from the ground. A huge sounding board surmounted the lofty pulpit, and in the center of the building, in the broad middle aisle, was a square pit in which burned in cold weather a bright charcoal fire. It has been suggested that this fire served not only for the comfort of the worshipers but as an illustration for the preacher, who pointed his finger at the glowing bed of coals when dwelling on the everlasting fire that awaited the ungodly.
In 1831 the quaint building was remodeled. The old barrack-like roof made way for one more modern in style, Gothic windows were introduced, the exterior walls were covered with a composition of lime, sand and pebbles, and a vestibule, spire and bell added. Within ten years still greater changes followed, and the auditorium was made to more nearly conform to the present fashion of church interiors. There is still in existence the original instrument by which Ralph Smith conveyed to the trustees of Zion congregation seven and one quarter acres of land, which included the site of the church then “newly erected”. It is in the form of a lease running one hundred and four years, demanding an annual quitrent of “nine pence three farthings for each one acre, of Procklamation money”. This portentous document is elaborately inscribed on a heavy piece of sheep-parchment over two feet in breadth, the ink of the test still being distinctly black, although that of the signatures has grown pale, while yet perfectly legible. The leasehold was ultimately converted into a fee by the commutation of the quit-rent. The phraseology of the conveyance begins in this wise:
This Indenture made this tenth Day of November in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-Nine, Between Ralph Smith, Esq., of Lebanon in the County of Hunterdon and Province of New Jersey, on the One Part, and Baltis Bickle, Hones Melek, Philip Phise, alias White, Casper Hendershot, Lowrence Rulifson, Sammuell Barnard, David Melek, Jacob Cline, Adam Vockerot, Jacob Shipmann, George Swart and Joseph Hornbaker, Trustees to the Lutheran Congration in the Countys of Hunterdon, Somerset and Morris, on the other part, Witnesses, etc. None of the names of the lesses are correctly spelled. The second one is, of course, that of our German ancestor.
The writing of the lease, which is in a good, round, clerkly hand, is that of Smith, the lessor, who wrote Hones for Honnes, which is Hollandisch, or Low Dutch, for John. Ralph Smith was and Englishman of wealth, and a large land-holder in what is now New Germantown. H e came to Lebanon township from Boston in 1734, and is said to have been ambitious to found a town, which he desired should be called Smithfield.
With the influx of Germans, however, his influence was not strong enough to prevent the village from being named after Pennsylvania town from which many of these new-comers had migrated. Although all early documents mention this neighborhood simply as “King Street”, or Tewksbury, Smith persisted in using the name Smithfield in his leases, even after the high-sheriff of Hunterdon plainly designated it in a public advertisement as New Germantown.
The first record of this last name appears in a legal instrument drawn by Richard Stockton of Princeton, dated the twentieth of July, 1760. While Ralph Smith was unable to control the nationality of new arrivals, he endeavored, at least, to dictate the nature of the religious observances they should introduce into the neighborhood. He inserted in the lease of the church lot a clause which provided that Zion society should not allow “any other doctrin to be taught but that, according to the Lutherrien scheme, excepting a farther advance towards the Protestant Churches now established, according to the doctrines, contained in the Thirty-nine Artickles of the Church of England, or according to the Presbyterian scheme as professed and adhered to in America”.
The lessor was evidently solicitous that no popish errors should be propagated in the community. But imperfectly understanding the Lutherrien scheme (as he styled it)-for the services of that church were mostly in German-he was careful to provide that the preaching in the new house should not deviate in any essential respect from the doctrines of the Thirty-nine Articles and the Westminster Confession of Faith.
For several reasons this conveyance from Ralph Smith possesses an interest for the historian of Johannes Moelich. First, as showing who were at that time his con-trustees in Zion; and second, in the fact that his name appears among the first of the trustees. As their names were probably placed in the order of their importance, it is fair to presume that Johannes ranked among the most prominent of the officers and congregation.
“Baltis Bickle,” or more properly speaking, Balthazar Pickel, was easily the first in possessions, age and social consequence in that German community. He was a native of Hamburg, and early in the century settled in Hunterdon county, purchasing a large tract of land at the foot of that considerable elevation which in consequence of that purchase lost its euphonious Indian appellation of Cushetunk, and has since been known as Pickel’s mountain. Here his descendants for several generations have lived, a portion of the original purchase is still in possession of the family.
At the death of Balthazar Pickle, by his will he bequeathed one thousand pounds to Zion church, the intention of the pious donor being that the interest on this sum should pay the whole of the minister’s salary. In this regard his expectations were not fulfilled. The money willed must have been in colonial pounds, as the total amount realized from the bequest by the trustees was a little less than two thousand dollars. Baltis and his wife Charity, “good old mother Pickel,” lie buried close to the east walls of Zion.

Christen	2 Sep 1687	Bad Durkheim, Pfalz Bayern, Germany
Marriage	16 Aug 1718	Staten Island, New York - ANNA GERTRUDE "Charity" Reiterin
Death	5 Dec 1765	Oldwick, Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Spouse	ANNA GERTRUDE "Charity" Reiterin (1694 - 1761)
Child	Maria Catherine PICKEL (1718 - 1744)
Child	BALTIS PICKEL (1720 - 1786)
Child	Anna Eva PICKEL (1722 - 1752)
Child	Henry PICKEL (1729 - 1765)

Father	HANS BALTHASAR PICKEL (1656 - 1703)
Mother	ANNA EVA Mullier ( - )
Sibling	Anna Magdalena PICKEL ( - )
Sibling	Hans Michel PICKEL (1681 - )
Sibling	Johan Niclaus PICKEL ( - 1751)
Sibling	Maria Catharina PICKEL ( - )
Sibling	Johan Conrad PICKEL (1687 - 1689)