In response to Eric, the most authoritative research I have seen on early Zook
ancestors is a book, "Zug/Zuck/Zouck/Zook Genealogy" by Harry D. Zook, printed
by Gateway Press, Inc. Baltimore, 1983. 428 pgs. I believe the author is working
(or perhaps has published) a revised edition of this work. I believe his address
is P.O. Box 10091, State College, PA 16805-0091.
The quotes below are from Harry's book.
"An estimate of the number and distribution of Zauggs in Canton Bern
[Switzerland] can be obtained from the work of the Swiss genealogist Julius
Billeter who searched the Bernese parish records for hundreds of family names.
For the period 1500-1700, Billeter lists 170 Zauggs born in Steffisburg, 59 in
Ltzelflh, 31 in Eggiwil, 65 in Langnau, and 298 in Trub. Throughout this
period, there wre born in these five locations alone, 80 Hans Zauggs, 66
Christian Zauggs, and 58 Ulrich Zauggs. Other popular given names were Peter,
Jacob, Barbli (Barbara), Anna, Magdalena, Katharina, Elsbeth, and Verena
(Veronica). The towns of Eriswil and Rthenbach contained equally large Zaugg
populations."
"On 31 January 1659, Hans Zaugg from Signau was imprisoned in the orphanage at
Bern. He was one of three colleagues of Preacher Uli Baumgartner forcibly taken
at an evening church meeting at Drsrtti, near Langanau..."
According to strong tradition, this Hans Zaugg was our ancestor. However, there
has been no proof of this, to my knowledge. Due to the Swiss Annabaptist
persecution, many fled to the Palatinate in Germany, where their name took on
the Zug spelling. Harry discusses many bits and pieces of evidence of Zooks in
Germany. Unfortunately, enough evidence has not been uncovered to make any
definite linkages of the various Zug immigrants.
Here's a bit on the Knble name.
"By tradition, The Christian Zug on this boat brought a wife named Anna
"Kanabell." Zug genealogists have long speculated on this surname, unknown
among
Amish or Mennonite surnames. The name Knble would provide a ready explanation
for the spelling, since the Germans attempt to pronounce both initial
consonants. At least one Knble, a widow of sixty-five years, came to the
Palatinate with the Anabaptist migration of 1672. Some Knble immigrants to
America later spelled the name Kanable. Again, we have a name linkage between
the 1742 Zug immigrants and the region near Kaiserslautern. In 1730, the city
authorities of Kaiserslautern whipped several Anabaptists, one of whom was
Christian Knble."
The following list of Zook immigrants, dates of arrival in Philadelphia, and
names of ships is included in Harry's book along with a facsimile of their
signatures:
Ulrich Zug 27 Sep 1727 James Goodwill
Peter Zug 27 Sep 1727 James Goodwill
Henrich Zaug 30 Sep 1732 Dragon
Jacob Zuch 27 Jul 1738 Catharine
Christian Zug 21 Sep 1742 Francis & Elizabeth
Moritz Zug 21 Sep 1742 Francis & Elizabeth
Johannes Zug 21 Sep 1742 Francis & Elizabeth
Frederick Zugg
The ship, Francis and Elizabeth, from Rotterdam, was last from Deal. While
strong tradition holds that the 3 Zugs arriving on this ship were brothers, I am
not aware of any proof that Moritz was a brother. Harry discusses this in quite
some detail. Here's one piece of evidence:
"By deed of 30 November 1744, Johannes transferred to Christian for 25, 167
acres of land on which Christian was already living. The deed is important in
two respects; it was signed only by Johannes, a suggestion that he was single at
the time. And for those who, for good reason, question any three-brother
tradition among immigrants, the deed states explicitly that the 25 was 'paid by
his brother Christian Zug.' If only we had similar evidence for the relationship
of Moritz!"
Another interesting article I've read is "Previous Kennel Froschauer Bible
Owners" by Neil Ann Stuckey Levine in the April 1996 issue of "Mennonite Family
History" (RR#1, Box 20, Morgantown, PA 19543-9701). At one point this Bible was
owned by a Christian Zoug late in the 17th century, apparently in the
Palatinate. I quote from her article,
"Hans Zoug received the Bible from Christian Zoug. And, by 1713, a Hans Zuck is
documented at the village of Weisenheim am Berg (D 67273) in the Palatinate.
Based on information in secondary sources and circumstantial evidence, it seems
highly probably that the Hans Zuck at Weisenheim am Berg in 1713 may be
identified as Hans Zoug, the fifth known owner of the Kennel Froschauer Bible."
This Bible records the handwritten names of Hans Zoug's children, and dates of
birth.
Ana, born September (Herbstmonet) 1710
Hans Zoug, born 21 May 1712
Barbra, Born 16 September (Herbstmonet) 1714
Magtlena, born 19 June (Brachmonet) 1716
Kristen [sic] Zoug, born 21 February (Hornug) 1718
Could these be our ancestors, Johannes (Hans) and Christian (Kristen) Zug? Here
are two more quotes from this article,
"And in 1739 a widow Zuck, married to a Jacob Guth, is documented at the
Salingsmhle near Kaiserslautern. To get around a newly introduced opressive tax
on coreligionists, Jacob Guth, who has been employed at the Salingsmhle since
late 1737, testified on April 6, 1739, that he planned to transfer his residence
to Baron von Hack's territory, in other words, to the Wilensteinerhof.
Apparently Jacob Guth did just that, spending his last two years or so in Europe
on the very estate known to have been leased to Christian Zug two decades
earlier. This fact has fueled speculation that the North American Zug immigrants
of 1742 hailed from the Wilensteinerhof. Jacob Guth landed in America on the
ship Francis and Elizabeth on September 21, 1742, together with the three
legendary 'brothers,' Christian Zug, Moritz Zug, and Johannes Zug."
"How satisfying it would be to be able to prove that Zoug records scrawled in
the Kennel Froschauer Bible provide precise dates of birth for two of the three
males named Zug who arrived in America in 1742. This history of the ownership of
that volume would then cast oblique light on the Old World milieu from which
several persons named Zug came to this country in the first half of the
eighteenth century. The hypothesis that the Hans Zoug who once owned the Kennel
Bible was the father of two of the three Zug immigrants of 1742 is argued in
detail in what follows. Problems with the meagre available evidence and
potential objections to the argument are openly acknowledged."
Ken
ken.zook(a)sil.org
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Questions and speculations
Author: ericz(a)ento.csiro.au at internet
Date: 7/10/97 10:16 PM
Greetings,
It appears that a number of us are descendants of Christian Zug and his
wife Anna....
Any enlightment would be welcome!
Cheers,
Eric Zurcher
CSIRO Division of Entomology
Canberra, Australia
E-mail: ericz(a)ento.csiro.au