Herman Liebengut: Another Child of Ulrich Liebengut

Herman Liebengut: Another Child of Ulrich Liebengut Judson A. Lovingood* CHORTLY AFTER PUBLICATION of Donald J. Martin's research Lion Ulrich Liebengut in this journal in 1976,1 Dr. Martin himself called attention to the fact that publication had been premature because research on all the Liebengut families in Pennsylvania was not complete.2 Since that time, an important addition has been made to the offspring of Ulrich Liebengut, his fourth son, Herman Liebengut. Herman Liebengut, the fourth son of Swiss-born Ulrich, was born in colonial Pennsylvania after the arrival of Ulrich and his family in Philadelphia from Alsace on 12 October 1733 aboard the Charming Betty .3 As Dr. Martin reported, Ulrich had three older sons, Peter, Adam, and Jacob, and two daughters, Anna and Maria, who were born in Europe. The only child born in colonial America was Herman. The genealogical evidence supporting this lineage is found in the records of the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church, New Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In a list of confirmations by John Philip Leydich appears the following under the date of Whitsunday (Pentecost) 1752: Herman, son of late Ulrich Liebegut[d 18 [years old.]4 Therefore Herman was born late in 1733 or early in 1734, in the first year after the arrival of Ulrich, his wife Susanna (Anna), and their children in Pennsylvania. *Mikes Note: The audio; who holds a Ph. D. in mathematics, is director of Engineering and Research at Thiokol Corponation's Huntsville (Alabama) Division. He was formerly the manager of the Space Shuttle main engine jiMgralli at NASA's Marshall Space Right Center His previous publications have been in the field4 of mathematics and engineering. He has been studying the genealogy of the Liebengut/Lovingood family since 1988. 171 172 The Pennsylvania Gena2logical Magazine Dr. Martin's article dealt with the records pertaining to Peter, Adam, and Jacob Liebengut in Pennsylvania, so that these descendants will not be considered here. Rather, the subsequent immediate records pertaining to the life of Herman, the youngest son of Ulrich and first-generation American, will be discussed. To date no records pertaining to Herman's life in Pennsylvania, other than his confirmation, have been uncovered. It is hoped that further research will yield additional information on his early life. The earliest known records of Herman Liebengut after his confirmation are in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he bought land near the town of Woodstock in 17625 and 1763,6 In the English language deeds, his name appears as Herman (Harman) Livingood. Records show that in 1761 and 1762 Harman Lovingood was a chain carrier for surveyor Robert Rutherford, and in 1764 Rutherford surveyed Harman Lovingood's 196 acres on the drains of Passage Creek.' In 1765 Herman sold his land on Passage Creek to John Hite, Isaac Hite, and Peter Hangee; in the deed his name appears as Herman Livingood, but his signature in old German script is Herman Liebengut. The use of Livingood as the surname (apparently phonetically anglicized) is consistent with the surnames of Ulrich Liebengut's sons Peter, Adam, and Jacob in Pennsylvania during this era, which were Livingood, Leavergood, and Liebegut.9 When Herman sold all his Frederick County real estate in August 1770, the several resulting deeds record his surname as both Livingood and Lovingood, some-times in the same deed.' In the 1770s Herman began buying land in Augusta County, Virginia, near the town of Staunton." At this time his name in the deed is Harmon Lovingood. In 1791 he sold land to Peter Hanger, who had bought some of Herman's Frederick County land; the name in the deed is Hermon Lovingood, and the signature is, again, Herman Liebengut, in old German script, as in Frederick County in 1765.1 Therefore Herman Liebengut of Virginia was most probably the youngest son of Ulrich Liebengut. He left Pennsylvania in the 1750s or early 1760s for the Virginia frontier, where his name became anglicized to Lovingood, and he began a line of descendants of Pennsylvania Germans who became Southerners. Records in Augusta County state that Herman owned a tanyard, appraised estates (with the same Peter Hanger who bought his land), served on a jury in April 1790, was appointed road surveyor on 5 August 1780," and was listed in Captain Thomas Smith's company of Virginia militia during the Herman Liebengut 173 American Revolution." Herman, his wife Ann, and three of his sons, Samuel, John, and Harmon, left Virginia in 1791. Herman, Ann, John, and Harmon settled in Elbert County, Georgia, and Samuel settled in upper South Carolina in the old Pendleton District." His other son, Jacob, remained in Virginia.' Herman Liebengut (Lovingood) and his descendants became a lost branch of the Pennsylvania German descendants of Ulrich Liebengut. The author became aware of the relationship between Herman and Ulrich through contact with Dr. James Livingood of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who is a descendant of Ulrich's son Adam. In 1976 Dr. Livingood received a letter from Isaac Koch (also a descendant of Adam) in which Mr. Koch wondered why Ulrich's son Herman and his descendants had never been mentioned in all the Livingood reunions held in Pennsylvania." Mr. Koch had found the confirmation of Herman, son of Ulrich, in the original Falkner Swamp Reformed Church records. The present author recently verified this record through microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The author's ancestor, Samuel Lovingood, son of Herman, had three sons, Samuel, jr.; George Washington; and Harmon. Samuel, jr., removed to Union County (now Fannin County), Georgia, in 1836, and thence to Cherokee County, Georgia, in the 1850s. The other two sons of Samuel, Sr., eventually settled in Cherokee County, North Carolina:8 From the author's research the only descendant of Ulrich Liebengut whose surname became anglicized to Lovingood (Lovinggood)19 was Herman. Furthermore, Herman is the progenitor of all Lovingoods (Lovinggoods) in the United States, based on comprehensive research of official records of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The immigrant ancestor of all of the Lovingoods (Lovinggoods) is Ulrich Liebengut, who was born in Melchnau, Canton Bern, Switzerland," ca. 1688.21 Herman Liebengut ( Harmon Lovingood), first-generation American, died 16 July 1800 in Elbert County, Georgia.22 174 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Notes 1. Donald J. Martin, "Ulrich Liebengrui," Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, 29 (1975-74253-55. 2. "Additions and corrections,"PGA, 30 (1977-78):54. 3. Ralph Beaver Strassburger and William John Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers (Baltimore, 1966; orig. publ. Norristown, Pa., 1934), 1:134-36. 4. Records of the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church, New Hanover Twp., Montgomery Co., Pa., 1748-1854, 1:165 (original: 1:124). These records are on microfilm at the Family History library, Salt Lake City, Utah. The microfilm order numbers for the original German and the translation are 0020359 and 0020351. 5. Frederick Co., Va., Deed Bk. 7:498-5.00. All Frederick Co. deed books are located at the Frederick Co. Courthouse in Winchester, Va. 6. Frederick Co., Va., Deed Bk. 9:58. 7. Peggy Shomo Joyner, comp., Abstructs of Virginia's Northern Neck Warrants and Surveys, Volume II: Frederick County, 1747- 1780 (By the compiler, 1985), 75, 123. 8. Frederick Co., Va., Deed Bk. 10:326. 9. Martin, "Ulrich Liebengut," PGM, 29 1975-76}:253 55. 10. Frederick Co., Va., Deed Bk. 13:406-15. 11. Augusta Co., Va., Deed Bk. 20:291. All Augusta Co. deed books are located at the Augusta Co. Courthouse in Staunton, Va. 12. Augusta Co., Va., Deed Bk. 27:108. 13. Lyman Chalkley, °twinkles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in ViTgrinia, 3 vols. (Baltimore, 1965, repr. 1980), 1:205, 216, 509, 2:148, 285, 301, 426, 3:140, 177, 179, 185, 539, 588. 14. John H. Gwathmey, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution (Richmond, 1938), 485. 15. Samuel Lovingood was in the old Pendleton District of South Carolina according to the U.S. Census of 1800. Land records show he owned land on Choestoe Creek (bought in 1794) in current Oconee Co., S.C. According to the U.S. Census of 1810, Samuel Lovingood was a resident of Haywood Co., N.C., having left South Carolina sometime after 1803. Harmon Lovingood was of minority age at the time of the migration from Virginia, having been born between 1780 and 1785, based on subsequent U.S. Census records. Georgia land lottery records show that in 1805 he and Herman's widow, Ann, were entrants. U.S. Census records show the son Harmon was a resident of Elbert Co., Ga., until his death in 1878. 16. Herman had four sons, Samueljohn, Jacob, and Harmon, and five daughters, Ann, Barbara, Polly, Catherine, and Peggy, according to court records. Chancery District Court, Staunton, Va., 26 July 1809. (This record, located at the Augusta Co. Courthouse in Staunton, Va., pertains to a land title suit resulting from the sale of Herman's land to Peter Hanger in 1791.) John Lovinggood was on the jury list of Elbert Co., Ga., Superior Court, 26 Nov. 1793. Jacob Lovingood married in Shenandoah Co., Va., 6 Feb. 1801. U.S. Census records place Jacob Lovengood in Harrison, Va., in 1810, and John Lovingood in Harrison, Va., in 1840. No other record of these sons has been found. Herman Liebengut 175 17. The Liebengut descendants compiled a family history, which apparently was a topic of discussion at family reunions. A genealogy was filed with the Library of Congress in 1934. The 1935 revision is Lynne L. Levegood, The Pennsylvania Germans from the Palatinate, Alsace, and Switzerland: Genealogy of the Leuegood, Levergiood, Lemangoort Livergood, Livengood, Livingood Family (by the author, 1935). Clearly they knew not of Uhich's son Herman nor of their Lovingood cousins. Of all the records cited in this book of various German Swiss Liebengut immigrants and their descendants, none contains the name Herman Liebengut. 18. Noah W. and B. Lovingood, A Macr►y of the Lovingood Family (Murphy, N.C., 1976). In this book Noah Lovingood cites some records of Herman in Virginia but was unable to identify Herman's father, hence his conclusion (p. 12) that Herman was the immigrant. 19. Records of Herman's son Harmon of Elbert Co., Ga., and of Samuel, Jr., of Haywood Co., N.C., (and later Union and Cherokee Cos., Ga.) show that beginning with the U.S. Census of 1830 the surname was spelled Lovinggood. (On the Elbert Co. jury list in 1793 John's name is Lovinggood, and in Georgia land lottery records in 1805 Harmon's name is Lovinggood.) The Lovinggood spelling was used for subsequent generations until many descendants deleted one "g." The author's grandfather was Samuel Eli Lovinggood, whose sons deleted one "g" from the spelling. 20. Martin, "Ulrich Liebengut," PGM, 29 (1975-70:253-55. 21. Strassburger and Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 1:134-36. The passenger list gives Ulrich's age as 45 years in October 1733. 22. Historical Collections of the Geotgia Chapters, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution (Atlanta, 1930), 3:62, 64, 81, 145, 212, 242.