Patriot Ancestor: Simon Riegel
Submitted by Compatriot Jeff La Marca, Ph.D. (Member #185242)
Simon Riegel (1738 to 1829): P-279147
Private, Lieutenant Jacob Rherer's Detachment,
2nd Battalion of the Berks County Militia
Very little is known about Simon Riegel, my fifth great grandfather. After many years of research, the following information has been confirmed. Simon married Anna Gertrude Kirshner (1744 to bef. 1829) in 1764 at Host Church in Berks County, Pennsylvania. I am a descendant of their son, Johann George Riegel (1787 to 1857). As considerable misinformation appears on the Internet concerning Simon Riegel and his family, I am providing sources for the information that follows. (In-text citations are provided for sources that do not mention him.)
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeff La Marca, Ph.D.
NSSAR # 185242
Simon Riegel was born on Nov. 5, 1738 in Tulpehocken, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania [1, 2]. He was baptized on Nov. 10, 1738 at Host Reformed Church at Tulpehocken or Christ Church (Jefferson Township) in Tulpehocken, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania [2].
On Nov. 14, 1777, Simon signed an Oath of Allegiance. This oath was taken in response to an Act, passed by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania on June 12, 1777, that was used to identify men who would defy the British and openly support efforts to establish a new American government [3]. He appears in tax records from 1781 to 1789 in Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The records state that he owned 168 acres of land, as well as several horses, cows, and sheep. In 1783, the records note that 12 people lived on the property [4-6].
Simon entered military service during the American Revolutionary War with Lieutenant Jacob Rherer's Detachment of the 2nd Battalion of the Berks County Militia, He served from Oct. 6, 1781 to Dec. 6, 1781 (plus or minus two days) in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It is established that he served with Lieutenant Jacob Rehrer's 2nd Battalion and guarded captured Convention prisoners of war at Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1781 [7-11]. He spent 62 days in service with the Battalion that was charged with guarding Hessian prisoners of war [10]. On Dec. 17, 1790. he received 9 pounds 17 schillings for his service with the Berks County Militia [12]. Contrary to numerous claims found on the Internet, as well as in extremely poorly sourced family histories, Simon did not guard captured Redcoats in Reading, PA; he guarded Hessians who had been captured in 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga, NY who had originally been sent to Yorktown. In 1781, when it was evident that a major conflict was going to occur, the Americans sent the Hessians up to Reading, PA in order to avoid the possibility that the prisoners could be reunited with the British. The Hessian presence in Reading has been well-documented (http://www.berkshistory.org/multimedia/articles/hessian/).
Simon Riegel died on Jan. 12, 1829 at the age of 90 at Bethel, Berks County, Pennsylvania. An obituary for him appeared on Jan. 27, 1829 [13]. Simon was buried at an unknown location in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It has become an urban myth that he is "buried in private burial grounds one mile west of St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Bethel Twp. (now Tilden Twp.)" due to an uncited entry in the poorly researched and documented book, "The Riegel Family" by Mary Riegel Brower, published 1975. Although Ms. Brower claims that she obtained the information regarding the location of Simon's burial from "the records of Historical Society of Berks County," exhaustive searches by me, as well as by the librarians at the Historical Society have failed to produce any documentation. However, searches of the materials at the Historical Society, as well as at the library of the Berks County Genealogical Society reveal tombstone transcriptions made during the 1930s by the Works Project Administration (WPA) on the "private burial ground on the farm of Simon Riegel, near St. Michael's Church, Hamburg, Penna." The transcriptions were made in 1932 and "copied by E. R. Miller, Reformed Elder of St. Michael's Church and A. B. Schuman, Reading, PA for the Historical Society of Berks County." These transcriptions only list the names of three apparently unrelated individuals (all of whom are also mentioned in the Brower book). No mention, however, is made of Simon Riegel other than that the three individuals are buried on a "private burial ground on the farm of Simon Riegel near St. Michaels Church, Hamburg, Penna." Another document found at the Berks County Historical Society, "A Genealogy of the Descendants of Matthew Naftzger, Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and History of the Naftzinger Families" by Joseph P. Naftzinger, published 1939, notes that the same three individuals are buried at the "Naftzinger Private Burial Ground on the Simon Reigel [sic] Farm in Upper Bern Township, Berks County, PA." Once again, there is no mention of Simon Riegel other than he once appears to have owned the property. All three individuals buried in the Naftzinger Cemetery are believed to have died during the 1850s, more than twenty years after Simon's death.
The myth surrounding Simon's burial place has since been perpetrated by an equally unreliable genealogy, "Riegell to Riggle, 1390 - 1995: Mattheis Riegell of Bad Munster: His German Ancestry and American Descendants" by Carl Robert Riegel and James Earl Reigle. To date, no other records appear to exist on the actual location of Simon Riegel's final resting place.
References
- Burgert, Annette Kunselman (1985). Eighteenth Century Emigrants from German-Speaking Lands to North America: Volume II: The Western Palatinate. Birdsboro, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania German Society. || pp. 271-272. Simon Riegel. Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania. David Library of the American Revolution.
- Wright, F. Edward, compiler (1993). Berks County, Pennsylvania Church Records of the 18th Century: Volume 3. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications. || p. 91. Simon Riegel. Jefferson, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Georgina Cole Library.
- Province of Pennsylvania, General Assembly (14 November 1777). 1777 Oath of Allegiance, Book D, Vol. 1: Simon Riegel. || p. 15. Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Historical Society of Berks County.
- Egle, William Henry, editor (1897). "Return and Assessment for the County of Berks for the Year 1781," Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, 1664–1902, Vol. VXIII. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives. || p. 545. Berks County, Pennsylvania. Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com: accessed 6 March 2012).
- Pennsylvania, Office of the Comptroller General (from 1781 to 1789). Tax & Exoneration Lists, 1762–1794. Series No. 4.61: Simon Riegel. || p. 271. Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
- Pennsylvania, Office of the Comptroller General (from 1781 to 1789). Tax & Exoneration Lists, 1762–1794. Series No. 4.61: Simon Riegel.
- Pennsylvania Office of the Comptroller General, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (17 December 1790). RG-4; Militia Loan Accounts, 1781-1792 {4.37}; Certificate Books, 1784-1792, Vol. 10 1791-1791 (Nos. 17433-19164); 3rd Roll, Film #7393: Simon Rigle. || Certificate No. 17575. Simon Riegel. Berks County, Pennsylvania.
- Pennsylvania State Archives (1984). Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File: Simon Riegel. || item 94. Simon Riegel. Berks County Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Archives (http://www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp?view=ArchiveItems&ArchiveID=13&FID=560123&LID=560222: accessed 20 September 2011). Series #13.50.
- Montgomery, Thomas Lynch, editor (1906). "Soldiers Who Received Depreciation Pay," Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, 1664–1902, Vol. IV, Pt. 2. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives. || p. 265. Simon Rigel. Berks County, Pennsylvania. Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 September 2011).
- Montgomery, Thomas Lynch, editor (1906). "Muster Rolls Related to the Associators and Militia of the County of Berks," Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, 1664–1902, Vol. V, Pt. 3. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Publishing Company, State Printer. || p. 187. Simon Rigle. Berks County, Pennsylvania. Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 September 2011).
- Pennsylvania, State of (1853). Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, From Its Organization to the Termination of the Revolution: Containing the Proceedings of the Supreme Executive Council from February 7th, 1789 to December 1790, Both Days Inclusive. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Theo. Fenn & Co.. || p. 460. Google Books (http://books.google.com: accessed 30 August 2016). Vol. XVI.
Comment: This source notes that John Lamm, who served in the same Battalion as Simon Riegel, was paid for two months service in the militia. John Lamm's service with Simon's is clearly confirmed by other sources, such as the Pennsylvania Archives. Interestingly, however, Lamm only served 60 days while others, including Simon, served for 62 days. Given this information, it is reasonable to assume the exact dates that Simon served were from October 6, 1781 to December 6, 1781, plus or minus a total of two days.
- Pennsylvania Office of the Comptroller General, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (17 December 1790). RG-4; Militia Loan Accounts, 1781-1792 {4.37}; Certificate Books, 1784-1792, Vol. 10 1791-1791 (Nos. 17433-19164); 3rd Roll, Film #7393: Simon Rigle. || Certificate No. 17575. Simon Riegel. Berks County, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Archives.
- Der Readinger Adler (27 January 1829). "Starb [Deaths]," Der Readinger Adler. Reading, Pennsylvania: Der Readinger Adler. || Simon Riegel. Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.