[BURIAL Body lost or destroyed, Specifically: She was killed in the raid by the Indians]
Courtesy of Glen Swartz: According to her original baptismal record, her place of birth was in Lambsheim, Kurpfalz, actually part of the Holy Roman Empire at that time. On modern maps, that is in the Rhineland-Palatinate. She was baptized at the Evangelische (Lutheran) Kirche (Church), Heuchelheim-bei-Frankenthal, Kurpfalz, which is about two miles north of Lambsheim.
1st wife of Michael Rugh. Various records show that Anna's maiden name was Mercklen/Mercklin/Markle.
Courtesy of Glen Swartz: It is quiet common for people to focus on the spelling of someone's last name, but in her era there really was no such thing as the correct spelling of a last name. The closet thing you will find are the original records in which it is recorded. In a dozen different original records, her last name is spelled a half dozen different ways. Unless she was literate and recorded her own name, just accept the fact that there are numerous variations on the spelling.
Very likely (but not completely proven) that she was killed in an Indian raid at a wedding reception, the day after a wedding, at “Miller’s Blockhouse,” the home of the Samuel Miller family, on July 13, 1782. The celebration was suddenly attacked by Seneca Indians, incited by the British. On the same day, another element of the same group attacked, totally burned, and destroyed the county seat of Hannastown.
Their son Michael Rugh, Jr., his wife, Phoebe, and their children were taken captive by the Indians. Anna's daughter Anna Christina may also been killed by an Indian raid.
Information from the Westmoreland County Historical Society; 2 paragraphs from Glen Swartz, Member #46889224. Submitted by Angela (Member #48520699 and 6-great granddaughter).
Family Members
Parents
Christian Merckel
1678–1766
Anna Catharina Bender Mercklin
1668–1749
Spouse
Johann Michael Rugh
1723–1795 (m. 1745)
Siblings
Maria Catharina Merkling Stoever
1715–1795
Maria Appolonia Merkel Hill
1719–1774
Peter Merkel
1721–1785
Anna Merkel Biehl
1725–1803
George Merkel
1726–1779
Christian Merkel
1728–1814
Gaspard Markle
1730–1819
Children
Michael Rugh
unknown–1820
Mary Magdalena Rugh Castner
1746–1830
Johann Peter Rugh
1747–1828
Christian Rugh
1748–1827
Catherine Rugh Smith
1757–1828
Anna Maria Rugh Macklin Bonsey
1758–1839
John Jacob Rugh
1761–1845
