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Facts and Events
Jacob Radtgab was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia
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Land Acquisition
Acquisition of Land from Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants:
- G-322: Jacob Roadcap of Augusta County, 400 acres in said County. Surv. Mr. John Baylis. Adj. Mill Run, Rudy Mock. 15 Sept. 1749. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 38].
Full Land Record:
- Jacob Roadcap Deed for 400 acres of land on Mill Run Augusta County, Virginia
- The Right Honourable Thomas Lord Fairfax Baron of Cameron, in that part, Great Britain called Scotland Proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia. To all whom this present Writing shall come send Greeting. Know ye that for good Causes for and in Consideration of the composition to Me paid And for the annual Rent hereafter reserved, I have given granted and confirmed and by these presents for Me my Heirs and assigns do give grant and confirm unto Jacob Roadcap of Augusta County a certain Tract of Waste and ungranted Land in the said county of Mill Run, joyning next above Rudy Mocks where He lives and is bounded according to a Survey thereof made by M. John Bayles as followeth. Beginning at white Oak on the side of a Valley and running thence N 37 W Two hundred and Sixty Poles to a white Oak and Hickory and Pine Saplin. Thence N 53 E Two Hundred and forty seven poles to a large white Oak and Hickory and pine; thence S 87 E. Two hundred and Sixty Poles to three More Pines; thence S 53 W Two hundred and forty Seven Poles to the beginning. Containing four hundred acres Together with all rights members and appertenances thereunto belonging Royal mines, Excepted and a full third part of all lead, copper, coals gathered from Mines and Iron Ore that shall be found thereon to have and to hold the said four hundred acres of lands Together with all rights Profits and Benefits to the same belonging or in my vise appertaining, Except before Excepted To him the said Jacob Roadcap His Heirs and Assigns forever Jacob Roadcap his Heirs or Assigns therefore Yeilding and Paying to Me my Heirs or Assigns or to my certain Atttorney or Attorney's Agents or Agents or the Attorney or Attorney's of my Heirs or Asigns propriortors of the said Northern Neck yearly and every year on the first Day of St. Michael the Archangel the sum of one Shilling Sterling Money for every Fifty Acres of land hereby granted and so proportionally for a greater or lessor quantity Provided That if the said Jacob Roadcap his Heirs or Asignors shall not Pay the said reserved annual Rent as aforsaid, so that the same on any part thereof Shall be behind and unpaid by the Space of Two whole years after the same, shall become Due if Lawfully Demanded that then it shall and may lawfull for me, My Heirs or Asigns Propriotors as aforsaid, my or their certain Attorney or Attorney’s Agent or Agents into the above granted Premises To Reenter and hold the same so if this grante had never passed. Given at my Office the County of Fairfax within my said Propriatary and of my Hand Seal Dated this fifteenth Day of September on the Seventy Third Year of the Reign of our sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and ordained King Defender of our faith, year Anno Domini One Thousand Seven hundred and Forty Nine
Will / Estate Records
From Chalkley's:
- Page 497.--19th December, 1751. John Jacob Rothgab's will. Settled and living at South Shanado. Written in High Dutch and translated by How Dickins. Son, John George (infant). Son, Peter. Daughters. Elizabeth, Anna, Barbery, Catherine. Wife, Anna. Executors, wife. Anna, and Paul Lung. Teste: John Spiller, John Taylor, Martin Forelight. Proved, 16th May, 1753, by John Taylor, who declared the other witnesses dead, and widow, Anna, qualified. (Signed Ann Holloback) with surety Peter Rufner.
- Page 505.--10th August, 1753. Jacob Rodgab's appraisement by Mathias Selzer, Jacob Halterman, Christian Magret.
- Vol. 1 - MAY 19, 1762. - (217) Peter, Elizabeth, Hannah, Barbara, Catherine, orphans of Jacob Rodcap, to be bound to Geo. Hollowback. Moses Maiden to be bound.
Records in Augusta County, VA
From Chalkley's: [unless otherwise listed]
- G-349: Rudy Moick of Augusta County, 400 acres in said County. Surv. Mr. John Baylis. Adj. Jacob Roadcap, on Mill Run. 17 Jan. 1749. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 40].
- H-240: John Oldham of Prince William County, 400 acres in Augusta County. Surv. Mr. George Hume. Adj. John Leynburger, Jacob Rodecap. 24 Nov. 1752. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 64].
- K-298: Casper Taylor of Frederick County, 200 acres on South River of Shannondoah in said County. Surv. George Hume. Adj. Jacob Rodcap, Mathias Selser, Rudy Moick, by Mill Run. 4 July 1761. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 127].
- P-110: Abraham Spitler of Frederick County, son and Heir at Law of John Spitler dec'd, 166 acres on Mill Run Branch of South River of Shannandoah in said County reserving unto Elizabeth Hayes late widow of John Spitler dec'd ⅓ during her life and after her decease whole to Abraham Spitler. Surv. George Hume. Adj. John Spitler dec'd, Jacob Rodecap. 2 Apr. 1772. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 215]. [Note: this Jacob Rodecap had been deceased for almost 20 years when this was recorded].
- Vol. 1 - MARCH 23, 1753. - (441) Anne Rothgap, relict of John Jacob Rothgap, now the wife of George Hollyback.
References
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On 29 May 1739 the ship Mercury, William Wilson, Master, last from Rotterdam, Holland arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with 186 passengers. Most of these passengers were from Zurich and nearby Swiss towns. These people were members of the Reformed Church movement in Switzerland and were under the leadership of Reverend Maurice Goetschy, whose son John Henry became pastor of the Goehenhoppen Reformed Church in Pennsylvania.
This colony is one of the few whose history can be traced from origin to destination with some detail. On 7 Oct 1734, The Nachrichten Von Zurich (a newspaper) published the account of the departure of the Reverend Goetschy and his followers, among whom were Hans Jacob Rathgeb and his future bride Barbara Hailer, his first wife.
Departure of Maurice Goetschy from Zurich 4 Oct 1734
(This lengthy article abridged to pertinent facts by Robert Roadcap). The past Monday 4 Oct Mr. Maurice Goetschy, together with his family and a large number of country people both old and young, departed for the New World. These people hoped for better fortune in the new land than they had experienced in their homeland. They were urgently dissuaded from going both by government and clergy but they were resolved and made their departure. A total of 174 people left down a tributary of the Rhine witnessed by thousands of people as they floated in two boats down river. "They were considered by some to be silly undertaking such a journey with little food and very little money and thus poorly provided. However they had much faith in God and He was with them every step of the way. The trip would take 300 hours to Rotterdam and many people provided the voyagers with food and clothing, etc. The following day the third boat departed and it was liberally provided with from the office of charities, with a large amount of bread, shawls, caps, etc, also flour, cured meat, etc, from the merchants. The third boat contained 82 people, however, upwards of 20 people were persuaded to remain in Switzerland.
The jouney of the colonists from Zurich to Basle is told by Ludwig Weber, one of the emigrants who later returned from Holland. His notes were published in Zurich. The following is taken from his notes: ~
The emigrants turned from Zurich northward till they reached the Rhine at Laufenberg. Then taking a boat on the Rhine they came on 5 Oct. to Rheinfelden, where they had to show their passports. Towards;I evening of the same day they reached Basle. There they had to wait until a passport could be procured from Compte de Jour, the commanding general of the French army at Strasbourg. It cost 44 guilders, which some gentlemen at Basle had paid for them.' After getting their passport they were further delayed two days waiting for boats on down the Rhine. 3 1 people became impatient at the delay and followed a tailor through France and nothing more was heard from them. Some 40 to 50 others got off and walked to Rotterdam through the countryside and received alms along the way. They arrived in
Rotterdam eight days after the main body arrived by boats. At Basis they were joined by 80 more refugees from Piedmont in a separate ship. They suffered intensely through rain and cold and were poorly protected with scanty clothes and provisions. After leaving Basle their first encampment was upon an island covered with trees and shrubs in the middle of the Rhine River. Such continued to be their night quarters, although the nights were wet and cold. Moreover, the ships were so crowded that there was hardly enough room to sit, much less lie down. There was no opportunity to cook on the ships, and as they were compelled to remain on the ship day and night, the cries of the children were pitiful and heartrending. Whenever they could go ashore they built fires, cooked, and dried their clothes. Many would have liked to have returned home but as the armies of the French and Austrians lay on both side of the river they dared not risk it. Quarrels between men and women were frequent. At night they saw campfires of the French on one side and the Austrians on the other. This terrified them by their ghostly appearance. As they were afraid of an attack by one or both sides almost at any time, they refrained from making the least noise, so as to pass unnoticed. Nevertheless they stopped repeatedly. At Breysach, in the Breisgau, all their chests were opened and examined. They were advised to depart immediately as the French on the other side of the river were aiming three field pieces at the boats. At Ketsch, near Schwetzingen, west of Heidelberg, and secured by the dragoons of the Imperial Army, they were compelled to buy another passport for 30 Guilders from the Duke of Wurtemberg, the commanding general of the Imperial Army. They were also forced to pay an extra two ducats for each vessel. 9 miles below Mainz the dragoons again rode after them and would not have allowed them to pass on were it not for the leader who was also of the Reformed Church movement. They took the meat away from Goetschy's plate with their sabers and swung it about his head until he quite lost his appetite (remember that our forefather Hans Jacob Rothgeb is with these people and witnessing all these things and enduring the hardships also.) Shortly before arriving at Mainz several men were out of money and were compelled to walk the rest of the trip to Rotterdam. At Mainz the remainder on the boats held~ up three days arguing over fares for the remainder of the trip. Finally they agreed upon three guilders for adults and half fare for children.
After leaving Mainz their journey was a little more comfortable as they could at least cook on board the ships. Their spiritual needs however were sadly neglected because the Rev. Goetschy apparently always had his pipe or glass of wine handy. Mornings and evenings one of the men, Heinrich Scheuchzer from Zurich, said or read a prayer.
When they reached Neuwied, Westerwald Canton, in Bavaria, four couples were married by a reformed minister. They were as follows:
1. Hans Conrad Wirtz and Anna Goetschy
2. Conrad Naff, of Walliselen and Anna N.---
3. Jacob Rathgeb and Barbara Hailer, both of Walliselen
4. Conrad Geweiller, a gardener.
The Count of Weld desired them to remain in his territory, offering to give them houses and land, but as he did not promise to give them as much as they expected t o receive in the new world, they did not accept his offer, but left. From Neuwied they continued their journey down the Rhine until they reached Culenborg in Holland. There they were compelled to stop for four days because of a strong contrary wind. At Culenborg as a result of Goetschy's preaching, each of the travelers was given 1 guilder. They sold their small ships which they apparently bought in Basle for 45 guilders, a very small sum. Then contrary to their agreement they were compelled to take still another ship to Rotterdam. In their haste to change ships several small children fell overboard and with some difficulty were received back on board ship.
Having reached Rotterdam, they heard to their dismay that no ships were waiting for them. Moreover the captain of the ship in which they had come wished to return at once., so they had to unload their goods quickly and, having no other place, they dumped them on the bank of the river in one heap. They starved in Rotterdam and two died of hunger before the populace took pity on them and fed and clothed then. Rev. Goetschy apparently left his people to their own devices and left for the Hague to make arrangements for money and passage. He somehow got himself appointed over the reformed churches in Pennsylvania and got a nice salary to boot. Returning to Rotterdam he persuaded most of his charges to remove to Pennsylvania instead of Carolina as planned before. Some of the people however refused to have anything to do with Goetschy. At least 88 of them booked passage to England and nothing more was heard from them. The rest, 143 persons, signed their names for passage to Philadelphia. 43 more signed their names a little later, among them Hans Jacob Rathgeb and his new wife. In all, 186 passengers sailed on the ship Mercury that reached Philadelphia 29 May 1735.
John Henry, the son of Rev. Goetschy, in a letter to Zurich dated 21 July 1735, wrote in part the following: After we had left Holland and surrendered ourselves to the wild and tempestuous ocean, its waves, and its changeable winds, we reached through Gods' great goodness toward us, England. After a lapse of two days we came to the Island of Wight, and theFe to a little town named Cowes, where our captain supplied himself with provisions for the great ocean trip. We secured medicines f o r the trip and then with a good East wfnd we sailed away from there. After a day and a night with the good wind we were buffered with aterrible storm and awful raging waves as we came into the Spanish and 'Portuguese Oceans. For twelve weeks we were subjected to these miseries and had to suffer all kinds of bad and dangerous storms and terrors of death. With these we were subjected to all kinds of bad diseases. The food was bad for we had to eat what they called "galley bread". We had to drink stinking muddy water full of worms. We had an evil tyrant and rascal for a captain and first mate, who regarded the sick as nothing more than dogs. If one said "1 have to cook something for a sick'man", he replied "Get away from here or I'll throw you overboard". "What do I care about your sick devil?"., In short, misfortune is everywhere upon the sea, we alone fared better. This has been the experience of all who have come to this land and even if a king were to travel the ocean it would behave no better. After being in this misery sufficiently long, God, The Lord, brought us out and showed us the land, which caused great joy among us. But three days passed the wind being contrary, before we could enter into the right river. Finally a good south wind came and brought us in one day through the glorious and beautiful Delaware River, which is a little larger than the Rhine, but not by far as wild as the Rhine. The Rev. Goetschy died the same day upon arriving in Philadelphia and his son although unordained tried to organize the Reformed Church in Pennsylvania, but wasn't very successful.
Hans Jacob Rathgeb and his bride were indentured to a Virginia planter who had paid for their passage to America. After serving for a number of years they were freed from bondage. Then they were given 400 acres of rich bottom land in [current] Page County, Virginia by Lord Halifax of England. They had 5 children before Barbara died.
Hans Jacob took for his second wife Anna Good who bore him one son, John George, from whom all the Roadcaps are descended. All the Rothgebs are also of John George. However, there are both Roadcaps and Rodecaps that are descendants of both John George and his half brother Peter. The Militia roster from the Revolution had spelled the names George & Peter Rodecap. Peter left it that way on some of his records and he most likely sold out to his younger brother George and moved to Rockingham County, Virginia.
After arriving in America Hans Jacob Rathgeb and his bride may or may not have been indentured to a Virginia planter, Joseph Strickler of Egypt Bend, Page County, Virginia , who had paid for their passage to America. After serving 7 years they were freed from bondage. Then they given 400 hundred acres of rich bottom land (by Lord Fairfax of England), on 15 September 1749, located in Page County, Virginia. The road leading from Luray to Leaksville runs almost directly through the center of this original tract of 400 acres. The old church built in 1846 stands near the center of the said 400 acres. Jacob and Barbara had five children before Barbara died. Hans Jacob took for his second wife Anna Güt (Good) who bore him one son John George who all the Rothgebs and Roatcaps are descended from except a few Roadcaps and Rodecaps that are descendents of both John George and his half brother Peter. The militia roster from the revolution had spelled the names George and Peter Rodecap. Peter left it that way on some of his records and he most likely sold out to his younger brother and moved to Rockingham County, Virginia.
Jacob's will was probated 16 May 1753; John Spitler was a witness to the will. Jacob Rothgeb's two sons divided the property each taking 200 acres. Anna must have held the land for 18 years first leaving the land to her son George after her death because it was not until 28 September. 1771 that George deeded (sold or gave) 200 acres to his older half brother Peter. The deed was signed by George & Mary (Hite) Rothgeb to Peter and Hannah Rothgeb. Peter built a house on the west side of Mill Creek and sold 30 acres of his Northwest tract to Casper Good. The farm is still owned by the Strickler family who are descendants of Jacob Rothgeb.
On 15 September 1749 lord Fairfax, by patent, conveyed to Jacob Roadcap 400 acres of land near Leaksville and elk run, where in 1846 the German Baptist church was built.
Will written 19 Dec. 1752, probated 16 May 1753. Mentions six (6) children; Elizabeth, Anna, Barbara, Catherine, Peter and John George. (John George listed as an infant). Widow Anna Rothgab, relict of John Jacob Rothgeb, now wife of George Hollowback qualified as executor.
On 1 May 1762 Peter, Elizabeth, Hannah (Anna), Barbara, Catherine, and John George, orphans of Jacob Rodecap bound to George Hollowback.
In 1749--John Jacob Rothgeb (Roth-roads); Rudy Mauck and John Spitler settled on Mill Creek. All three? Obtained deeds from Lord Fairfax. John Jacob Rothgeb owned 400 acres. Near Leaksville and Elk Run where in 1846 the German Baptist church was built. Mill Creek is now in Page Co. On May 16, 1753 John Jacob Rothgeb died. (will bk. I, Augusta Co., Va.) His will named Wife. Anna Hollowbrook; children; peter, Elizabeth, Anna, Barbara, Catherine and minor son, John George.--Guardians; Paul Long and wife. Anna-- witnesses; John Spitler, John Taylor, Martin Kaufman--security; Peter Ruffner.
In "A history of Shenandoah County Virginia" by John W. Wayland he states on page 636 that John Jacob Rothgeb, who died in 1752, owner of 400 acres in Page County area, was not a redemptioner.
(a colonial emigrant from Europe to America who paid for the voyage by serving for a specified period as a bondservant.)
http://www.miles-shute-kouns-families.com/getperson.php?personID=I7120&tree=Mosby
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