Johann Adam Pontius

 

 

Little is known of Adam Pontius.  The few mentions of one or more persons by this name, in the period between 1749 and 1800, are listed below.

 

In Eine Chronik der Pontius Familien, Rudi Pontius lists Johann Adam Pontius as follows:

Adam Pontius *in Niederbrombach. Die Eltern von Adam sind nicht bekannt. Adam Pontius
war Schneider und Krämer. Er heiratete Anna Elisabeth NN und hatte vier Kinder. Die gesamte
Familie wanderte 1747 nach Pennsylvania, USA aus. Über die Zeit in Amerika liegen keine
Informationen vor. Quelle: FB Birkenfeld (ev. u. kath.) 1557-1798 v. Rudi Jung.

 

Roughly translated, this says:  "Adam Pontius in Niederbrombach.  Parents of Adam are not known.  Adam Pontius was a cutter and shopkeeper.  He married Anna Elizabeth (last name not known) and had four children.  The entire family emigrated in 1747 to Pennsylvania in the USA.  No information is available on his time in America.  Source:  Family Book, Birkenfeld (Evangelical and Catholic.) 1557-1798 by Rudi Jung."

 

James Punches' research on Pontius immigrants included mention of Adam Pontius "imported at Philadelphia in 1747, with a wife and two children."  Other emigration records indicate Adam was from Birkenfeld (see

http://feefhs.org/GER/s&f/18RhinelandEmigrants.htm).

 

In a book called "The Colonial Laws of New York from the Year 1664 to the Revolution," Volume IV, page 357 (printed Albany, NY, 1894), a document is printed entitled, "An Act for Naturalizing the several Persons therein Mentioned," dated July 3, 1759.  Adam Pontius is on the list of those being naturalized.  This book can be viewed at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=JDmjntNilxYC&pg=PA357&lpg=PA357&dq=%22adam+pontius%22&source=web&ots=3iaeknnhfx&sig=7Cqd0AU_KHThKetNXk2IfrkBiH4#PPA357,M1

 

An Adam Pontius is among the soldiers listed in a June 6, 1760 report of "Colonel John Chevillette's Battalion of South Carolina Militia in the 1759 Cherokee Expedition."  The list includes soldiers in the payroll of Captain Lewis Golsan's Company, under the command of Colonel John Chevillette, who fought in the Cherokee Wars of 1759-62. 

 

December 6, 1759 The Pennsylvania Gazette PHILADELPHIA, December 6. Extract of a Letter from Charles-Town, South-Carolina November 7, 1759. Congarees, November 3, 1759. “The Governor, on his Arrival here, did not find the expected Number of Troops. The collected Force of the three Battalions (Chevellette’s, Powell’s, and Richardson’s) does not exceed 800 Men, but he intends to lose no Time, and will therefore, on the Arrival of the Regulars and Provincials with the Baggage Waggons and Artillery, proceed to the Cherokees. Further Draughts, to the Number of 500, are ordered to follow. We hope to be joined (according to Directions sent to that Purpose by his Excellency) by the North-Carolina Forces at Keowee. It is said the Little Carpenter is returned from the Expedition he was upon, and has brought in four Scalps, and two French Prisoners.” http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hp/colonial/newspapers/Subjects/FIW.htm#1759

 

A child, Johannes Pontius, baptized 18 July 1775, was listed in the records of St. Michael’s and Zion Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, whose parents are listed as “Johann Adam and Elisabeth.”  There is no further information about this child.  This is the same church where David Pontius, the 1768 immigrant, and his wife were married and their children were baptized.  David's wife was also named Anna Elisabeth, and it is possible the father's name has been misread or confused; the original record would need to be consulted to determine the facts.

 

 

               

Sources: 

Len Niesen

James E. Punches

Rudi Pontius