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George Summers/Sommers lineage controversial or questionable issues [Please forgive any repetition given in this narrative]
1. Did George Summers/Sommers 1713-1787 on the ship Brothers or St. Andrew
2. Did this George arrive? have 2 sons named John?
3. Were his parents Michael & Elizabeth Summers who arrived on the ship Charming Nancy with his wife & son John
4. Did he marry Maria Margaretha Evans?
5. Which George was the father of the John b. 1737 and confirmed in the New Hanover Lutheran Church in Montgomery, PA?
6. Did both John Summers marry women named Elizabeth?
7. Which John married Elizabeth Reidennauer?
8. Which John died 1803 and which died 1806?
9. Did John carry a middle name of Tobin?
10. Was the John who died in 1803 born in 1740 or 1746?
Disagreement exists on these questions and documentation and information should be carefully examined by anyone researching this line. The following are my thoughts and conclusions after many discussions and fact finding with other Summers researchers. I remain open to documentation that might shed further light on these issues:
Church records establish that George was in the States prior to 1752 and therefore was not the George who arrived on the ship Brothers. The records show children born in Pennsylvania in 1746 & 1748
Michael & Elizabeth Somer and Maria Margaretha Evans along with her parents arrived on the ship Charming Nancy. No documentation has been found to date that I am aware of that supports the supposition that these were his parents or that this Maria was his wife. Some researchers have said she was already his wife and that his young son Johannes was on this same ship and that they arrived a year earlier then did George himself. It is very unlikely if they were married in Germany that she would have sailed under the name of Evans which she did. Did they marry later in Philadelphia as other researchers have reported? This remains a possibility, but I have found no documentation to date to support this theory.
The will of George establishes that there were indeed two John Summers who were brothers. Though there has been confusion regarding the lack of punctuation leaving some to believe that George’s younger sons were the heirs of Michael Summers instead of the sons of George, the will of Michael shows he had three daughters.
There has been much confusion over two John Summers, brothers, found in Augusta County, Virginia in the late 1700s. They were two sons, Johannes Sommer and John Sommer, of Hans Georg Sommer/John George Summers, mentioned in his will of 1782. The older John Summers is found in the records of the New Hanover Lutheran Church of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to Holy Communion on 20 May 1753, about age 17, born ca. 1737. Later in these church records a John Summers married Elizabeth Reidennauer on 24 January 1764. She was the daughter of George Reidennauer and Julianna. John and Elizabeth Summers had a child named John (Jr.) born 24 February 1765, and one of the sponsors was Julianna Reidennauer, as noted in the same church records. It is most likely that this is the John Summers born in 1737. He would have been married at age 27. He wrote his will naming nine children on 9 May 1806, in Augusta County Virginia. His last child, Philip, was born in 1779. He had children named George and Julianna.
The younger John Summers, son of Hans Georg Sommer, is found in the same church records as being born 13 December 1746. This son would most likely have been too young to have married Elizabeth Reidennauer in 1764 as he was barely 18 then. He did marry a lady named Elizabeth, surname unknown. They had a first child named John (Jr.) born 17 September 1775, in Virginia. John Jr.'s date of birth is given on his tombstone. This younger John Summers wrote his will on 26 April 1803, naming his 10 children. The last child, Mary Eva was born 1795. His tombstone in St. John's Cemetery in Augusta County Virginia gives his birth 13 December 1746, and death 9 May 1803. His wife, Elizabeth, is buried beside him. Her stone says born 28 January 1742 (? hard to read) death 1832.
Many researchers have confused the two John Summers. John (1737-1806) is most likely the one who married Elizabeth Reidennauer. [PHB]
There is a record of a George Summers who reportedly arrived on the Philadephia. This is not the same George as our ancestor. It is my belief that the person in writing this has confused the two when it comes to the Lutheran Church records and erroneously [in my opinion] claims the older John and the older daughter. Interestingly enough, neither of these two are followed further then what the records of the NH Lutheran Church shows in the record for the other George. They are also the only two listed in that family that has since be found to have migrated to Virginia.
Note the date of 1752 - which is after the date of the children baptized in the New Hanover Lutheran Church. [see transcribed below] Also these children are not attributed to this other George. So were there 2 George Summers attending the same church? I find that very unlikely. Especially in view of the fact none of his other children appear in the records
From this, however, I believe we can deduce that George Summers would not have arrived on the ship Brothers due to its very arrival date. I think this account is correct in the ship Brothers listing for the other George - but errs in claiming John and Margaretha Elizabeth as belonging to him. The genealogy listed shows that this family appears to have stayed in PA some later moving into KY. Lastly, of course, is the fact they were unable to document either Johannes/John or Margaretha Elizabeth but we have. The writer states they are the children of George & Elizabeth, but Elizabeth is not named in the records. It's listed instead as Jurg which is consistent with the name listed as Hans "Jurg" on the St. Andrews ship. Note also that in the birth of Joh. Michael he is listed as Hans. My opinion is that we can definitely say our George arrived on the ship St. Andrew and eliminate the possibility of the ship Brothers.
The New Hanover Lutheran Records of Douglass Twp, Montgomery Co, PA per documentation:
I've changed the order to reflect the birth order.
ORDER GIVEN: NAME - BORN - BAPTIZED - SPONSORS
Sommers, Joh.Michael
Mar 2, 1745
Mar 10, 1745
Hans & Margaretha
John. Micahel Fack & Maria Magdalina Krumrein
Sommer, Johannes
Dec 13, 1746
Jan 1, 1747
Georg & Maria Margareth
Johannes Stebeltaun & Maria Maragerth Geiger
Summer, Joh. Paul
Jul 28, 1748
Sep 10, 1748
Jorg & Maria Margareth
Paul Moser & Eva Maria
Summer, Maria Eva
Sep 18, 1751 Oct 27, 1751
Jorg & Maria Margreth
Paul Moser & Maria Eva
Summer, Joh. Jacob
Apr 24, 1754 Jun 2, 1754
George & Maria Margareth
Jacob Dengler & wife
Summer, Andreas
Jan 9, 1757
May 20, 1757
George & Maria Margareth
Andrew Honette & wife
Grandchild:
Summer, Johannes
Feb 24, 1765
April 7, 1764
Johannes & Elisabeth
Johannes Smitz & Julianna Reitnauer
A List of Catechumens - separate listings no dates showing on documentation
pg 297 - Johannes Sommer, Jurg Sommer's son......16 years [born 1837] Confirmed May 20, 1753
pg 299 - Margaretha Elizabeth Sommer, Jurg Sommer's daughter is 12 years of age and well isntructed. [born 1741] Confirmed April 20, 1755
It may well be that the older John was the son of a different mother and possibly the daughter Margaretha Elizabeth. It was common practice to give a son the same name as another if born of a different mother. He was the only child that would have been born in Germany. Note that no wife being listed with George also means that the other George’s wife, Elizabeth, was not named.
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