The Teets Family
(below are
excerpts from multiple sources, as noted)
Today, the family name is Teets, certainly in my line. But the Teets ancestral name may have been derived from Tietz, Teacks, Tiets, Teats, Deats, Dietz, Teach, Teaks, Tieds, Deets, Tect, Ditz, and probably others.
We MAY all be one family.
What follows are excerpts taken from the many sources of Teets Family information that this researcher has been able to find to date. Much of what is stated can be supported with fairly convincing sources, but there are always open questions, which keep those of us who are interested in genealogy very busy attempting to separate fact from fiction and hearsay. Anyone who has attempted serious genealogy knows that real fact is almost impossible to determine; for example, when a person's birth certificate, death certificate, military draft registration, cemetery listings, census records, obituaries, and several books all differ as to critical dates! We KNOW only that such records can not be considered fact when this is the case. So, one should read these offerings of Teets Family history, knowing that the researchers are doing their best, but may be, in some cases, in error. It is the author's view that all of these Teets originate from one family, but that cannot be proven at this point beyond any shadow of doubt. So the research continues.
First, according to the "Teets Family History" at the West Virginia Wesleyan College Library in Buckhannon, West Virginia, donated by Boone and Greta Emma Teets Proudfoot, and notes taken by Anna Lee Teets Conner, both members of the author's line of Teets, and both deceased:
"The Teets family is of German origin. In Germany, they spelled their name Tietz. Jacob Teets was the first Teets of which we have definite information. His father came to the United States from Germany and settled near Washington D.C. From this point the family scattered. The father seems to have moved to Brandonsville West Virginia not far from Aurora West Virginia in Preston County"
Second, a more thorough extensive summary now follows which was donated with her permission by Mrs. Carol A. Skaggs, another dedicated researcher (contact information available through this author). A great big thank you to Carol from this author for sharing her version of the introduction to her Teets Family genealogy. Her work good work integrates many of the sources of information that I have also encountered in my research, and this introduction to the Teets Family deserves to be shared for the benefit of Teets family members everywhere. I must note that there are points of difference between this author's belief and what follows, but the story still needs to be told. It is included below verbatim, except for very minor formatting to match this document.
“People have been interested in family history for as long as there have been families. The Old Testament is thick with begats, and in the Middle Ages monks recorded royal pedigrees, bloodlines that were vital in defending claims to the throne.” I once saw a bumper sticker which read: “Genealogy is nothing more than tracing and recording sexual encounters.” This may be so for we have replaced the “Town Criers” with bumper stickers and “T-shirts” and our begats are now being recorded as GENERATION 7, 8, and 9 on computerized genealogy software products. But the bottom line is we are interested in knowing who our forefathers were and how many children our great-grandmothers birthed and where they lived, toiled, and met their Maker.
In pursuing this endless quest for family history, I have spent many long hours “surfing the internet”, meeting wonderful people who unselfishly shared information, and sorting through countless dates and places piecing together the “fabric of this family line.”
The following information has been pieced together from the works of dedicated researchers and may be considered controversial by some, but to the best of my knowledge it is not only accurate but concrete in context.
Michael Teets, Jr. is said to be the son of the pioneer, Michael Teets, Sr. born 1719 and died about 1803. Michael Teets, Sr. was an immigrant from the Netherlands (Holland) whose family lived in the vicinity of Sneek, Province of Friesland, in or near the village of Lippenhuien in 1680 at which time Bruch Taekes (spelling of the surname thus is from early historical records of the Sneek Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends) appears to have been the head of that family.
On October 28, 1738 a party of six (five males and one female) listed under the surname of Teacks arrived at the port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania aboard the ship “Billender Thistle”. George Houston was the Commander from Rotterdam but last from Cowes, England. The names listed with ages given on the ship’s passenger list (original documents in Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Harrisburg) and the Qualification List in records of the old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Courthouse where these immigrants (then listed as imported foreigners) took and subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance are as follows:
Name Age Birth Year
Uriah (Hans George) Diez/Teacks 50 1698
Anless (Probably Ann Eliza) Teacks 28 1710
Woldrich Dietz/Teaks 56 1682
Me universe Dietz (Michall) Teaks 19 1719
Petter (Peter) Teach 14 1724
Jacob Dietz/Teacks (from Bavaria Pfalz) 27 1711
Other records state that a shipped named “Marlborough,” docked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1741. Under Captain Thomas Bell, it contained Palatines* imported from Rotterdam, via Cowes, England; it landed on September 23, 1741. One of the passengers was a Johann Jacob Dietz.
*More often than not, German passengers from were listed as “Palatines” or foreigners, even freight or cargo. Palatines referred to two regions of Germany which at the time were Lower Palatine or Rhine Palatine and Upper Palatine which is now Bavaria.
And yet a third ship called “Patience & Margaret” docked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 25, 1748 - Captain John Govan. According to a TEETS researcher, "Old Mike" and his father Johannes came to America from Germany on this ship. They took an oath of allegiance to King George II and His Majesty's government in His colony of Pennsylvania.
Genealogy is not an exact science; nothing is more constant than change, and nothing more changeable than people. Climbing one’s family tree can be interesting, time consuming, controversial, frustrating due to language barriers and the influence of language development, not to mention the dialectical phenomena involved in varying localities and environment.
In early colonial history, church records in some sections, particularly those settled by the people of German descent like eastern Pennsylvania and areas of New Jersey were largely in German script, while public records were recorded usually by English officials putting into English as best as they could, the sounds made by German speaking people, or Holland Dutch, Swedes, French Huguenots, and so on. Records were hand-written and hand copied, and those copying had to interpret what was written before him. The chance for errors was obvious. Now consider you trying to find in all of this a certain individual or individuals who came to this country long before there was even a United States.
Since surnames are passed from one generation to another only by the males of the family, names of wives are all too frequently not included. A father is recorded as having “The following children,” and then come the names of a number from 8 to 10; sometimes dates of birth are given, sometimes not. There were many second marriages due to high fatality rates among mothers at childbirth. Families were known to “raise their own” meaning that it was very common for a nephew, niece, or grandchild to be raised in a family without recording their relationship to the mother and father of the household.
With the family surname TEETS, the spelling was found in many variations; even today, in communities within a few miles of each other there are differences within the same family line. During the transition period, the Teets settlers from old Philadelphia/Germantown area and New Jersey were following the migration westward through Lancaster County, into York, some following the “Great Valley” down into Maryland then from Maryland back to Pennsylvania into old Bedford County’s “Brothers Valley” Township, and finally further westward. They drove out Native Americans, cleared land for homes and started farming.
Following history records, an Adam Dietz may be the same as “our” Adam Teets who was in New York April 21, 1729 married Catherine Schulenburg (his wife mentioned in his will was Mary who may have been Adam’s second wife). Adam purchased 203 acres on November 26, 1747 in Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey from Mary Kirkbride. The Kirkbrides were large landowners in that area.
Traditions of Hunterdon by Lequear (page 191) states, “Readington Township was a part of the ancient Armwell. It was divided into four proprietary rights, Joseph Kirkbride taking the southeast past…..” It is very possible that Mary Kirkbride was a daughter of this Joseph and is the Mary mentioned in Adam’s will. Adam’s story continues, “Naturalized by act of council, 1744, he was an elder of the High Dutch Calvinistical Church of Armwell at Ringoes, 1747. His will of February 20, 1769 probated March 25, 1747 names his wife, Mary, and eleven children. Adam’s children were: Peter, Jacobus, Honis (Johannes or John), William, Adam, Patris (Patrick or Patricia), Christeen, Margaret, Maryn (Mary Ann), Catherine, and Elizabeth.”
There is little doubt that these early Dietz, Deats, Teats, Tieds, Teets, Deets, Teacks, Tect, Ditz, etc. were of Holland Dutch decent living in Germany and they are all related in varying degrees. We find evidence that some of these found their way right along with the Dutch migration westward, while many others stayed on in both New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania and they live there still.
Reported in the Library of Congress research in the “Netherlands Adel Book” The Hauge, 1928-1939, which is a record of family surnames of the Netherlands, frequently references “Taets” and “Tets” but not “Teets.” Apparently the Roman “ae” form is still used by members of the family who reside in the Netherlands or Holland. Since the “ae” takes the long “o” sound, the transition to double the “e” is understandable and pronounced “Tets” without our “et” sound.
Not found in the New Jersey research was a Michael Teets, Teats, Teits, Dietz, or Deats. Although through the Somerset County Genealogical and Historical Society a Michael Diets was listed in a tax list for Brothers Valley Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 1774-75-76. (This is thanks to Eber Cockley of Meyersdale’s research.) Researchers back-tracked to York and found quite a few Dietz, some Teats and even some Teets, but no Michaels.
Continued research at the Pennsylvania Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Church of the Brethern, Elgin, Illinois lead to a three-volume work by Strassbuger and Hines where copies were made of ship passengers into the port of Philadelphia 1729-1808. Here were found THREE Michaels with surnames spelled in various degrees of TEETS similar to research done in York and Bedford County records and mentioned in New Jersey genealogy.
Detailed research by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania researching through the book of “Pennsylvania German Pioneers” which contained a printed listing and also facsimile prints of the original signatures, confirmed that the handwriting was that of a Jonas Dietz and a Johannes Michael Dietz.
It was concluded that since these men knew how to write and spell their name “DIETZ”, there wasn’t “our” Michael listed with an approximate age of 17. Considering the possibility that while in Holland, members of the family were Teacks originally, perhaps those that got over into Germany (Deutchland) got their surname spelled with the “D” sound instead of the “T” sound and Deitz it then became.
Michael Tietz is listed as a passenger on the ship “Peggy” with a Captain James Abercrombie from Rotterdam but last from Gosport, England. It arrived in the Port of Philadelphia on October 16, 1754. Upon docking, the passenger list notes “sick on board”. The medical inspector record reports:
“Sir, According to directions we
have carefully examined the state
of
health of the mariners and passengers on board the ship “Peggy”,
Capt. Abercrombie, from Rotterdam and
found a few of them in a
low weak condition, but no disease
amongst them which we
apprehend infectious. Signed - Tho.
Graeme Th. Bond”
The Michael Tiets listed on board the ship “Peggy”may have been a bachelor, no clue to his age or what became of him, or further evidence that his name was not Dietz, rather than as spelled by the ship’s officer.
Reviewing all this information the original group of five brothers who came over from Holland and settled in Virginia can be confirmed. Their surnames may have been spelled differently and they may have come over at different times but it’s felt that they were all related. Much is left desired as to fact as it has been passed down through researcher and generations since 1783.
In a list of Teacks (Teacks was the spelling used in “Quaker Meeting Records), the oldest Teacks is 56, youngest being 14. It is possible and might well be suggested that of this group, Woldrich age 56 and Hans Georg age 40 may have been brothers; that Jacob was a son of Woldrich and Anless (Ann Eliza) his wife; and that possibly Michael age 19 and Petter (Peter) could have been the sons of Hans Georg.
Pending further research both in Pennsylvania and Virginia records, it is accepted that Michael as the immigrant, who in his late 60’s, made the settlement at what is now the Glade Farms Community, just southwest of the present site of Markleysburg, near the “Twin Churches”,on the highway (WV 26), at junction of the Hazelton Mountain / Dale Friendsville Roads, therefore the “Pioneer” listed in Pennsylvania German Pioneers.
“Morton’s History of Preston County, West Virginia” in its genealogy section (page 474) lists the following as children of the pioneer Michael Teets, Sr.:
1. Michael Jr. who married a Margaret Miller, drowned in Cheat River about 1850, was a veteran of War of 1812 (note - some carry the name of Margaret as given by Morton as Elizabeth. She had a daughter named Elizabeth, also one named Margaret.)
2. George who married Unknown. Research at York County Historical Society in Pennsylvania show a George Teets on assessment list in 1763 marked with a valuation indicating a bachelor. A George Teets again in Hellman Township in 1772.
There is a statement under the seal of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania giving record of a George Deets - Private under Captain Joseph Comfort’s Sixth Company, 3rd Battalion, York County Militia - American Revolutionary War.
In 1783, records list a George Deetz and census of 1795 list a George Dietz, Henry Dietz, and John Dietz. The military record mentioned ascribes George Deets as being from Hellman Township. Men were drafted for military service during the Revolutionary War in Pennsylvania, white men between the ages of 19 and 52. There was no central government then and each of the original 13 colonies had its own regulations. Hence the method of raising “levies” of soldiers in one colony was not the same in all yet, to an extent the efforts of all 13 colonies were coordinated pretty well by what was called the Continental Congress. (A mini history lesson here for all you “history lovers.”)
3. Abraham who married a Catherine J. Ringer. (A conflict in genealogy records, some researchers show an Eleanor Sebring as the wife of Abraham.)
4. Adam who married an Elizabeth Mosser. The Mossers came from Lancaster, Pennsylvania soon after the revolution and settled near what became Selbysport, Maryland. Nicholas Mosser, head of the family was a German immigrant reaching America via the Port of Philadelphia, a little earlier than the Revolutionary War. He came to Maryland accompanied by his sons Christian, John, and Nicholas.
John Mosser, a soldier in the War of 1812, settled after the war at Clifton Mills (now Preston County, West Virginia) and Jacob, the son of Christian settled near Rockville around 1847. Adam Teets was also a soldier in the War of 1812, as was his brother Michael, Jr. under Captain Leonard Cupps’ Company of Virginia. Captain Cupp is buried in the old Cupp Cemetery near Hazelton West Virginia and a grave stone shows he was 36 years old at the time of the War of 1812.
5. John who married an Elizabeth Wolfe in 1814 in Rockingham. Their daughter, Eva C. Teets was born 1828 in Rockingham.
6. Anthony who married and settled in what is now called “Teets Hill”on Route 20 close to the Upshur-Barbour County line. At the time of his settlement, around 1790, this area was part of old Harrison County, Virginia. Some record Anthony as having settled at Buckhannon in Upshur County. Teets Hill, named for that family is between Buckhannon and Clarksburg. There is a Jacob Teets born January 18, 1816 who became the “pioneer” Teets settler in Hardy County, settling near Lost City, is said to have come from Barbour County and he could very well be a son of Anthony. Jacob married Barbara Wilson, the daughter of Isaac Wilson of Mill Gap near Lost River. There are records of Jacob’s children and their families. They were quite prominent people.
[Author's Note: this item is one area where this author's sources currently disagree regarding the parents of this Anthony Teets, who was born c1790 and could not be the Teets Hill Anthony Teets. Currently, this author believes that there is another Anthony Teets, born 1820, of Teets Hill fame who was the son of Jacob Teets, b. 1787, along with that Anthony's brother, Martin Teets, the GGGrandfather of the author. Also, we don't recognize a Jacob Teets born January 18, 1816 to be a son of this Anthony Teets. The Hardy County Jacob Teets was born in July 1814 or 1815, depending upon the source, and was the son of Jacob Teets, b. 1787. See the data on this Jacob Teets for details. We are always prepared to listen to new evidence.]
7. Mary who married a John Wolfe.
8. Elizabeth who married a George Wolfe. George was born in 1793 and they married in 1914 in Rockingham. Members of the Wolfe family are also descendants of German immigrants. These German descendants were numerous in old Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Several of them coming from there to Brothers Valley Township in Bedford County. Some of the Wolfe family members came westward to settle in what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania, east of Uniontown, along the headwaters of Sandy Creek which runs south through the Glades in what is now Preston County, West Virginia - it empties into the Cheat River. It is thought that this might have influenced Michael Teets, Sr., known as OLD MIKE, in his later years in making his GLADE FARMS settlement.
The majority of this HISTORY of the TEETS FAMILY was from Clifford Ollen David, Jr., grandson of Helen and Ray Teets - May 22, 1969 . Taken from a letter to Charles Teets from John L. Teets, Richwood, West Virginia - November 26, 1968. Additions were made by Martin L. and Harley O. Teets with the help of their Uncle George H. Teets. Additional comments and research was provided by researcher Karen Koschke, Shirley Teets, and Carol A. Skaggs.
Another Teets Origin Theory...
(from Carol A. Skaggs, via
Burley W. Johnson, Sr)
It has also been documented that the lineage of “OLD MIKE” Michael Deitz/Teets, Sr. came from the Brucht Teacks family of Lippenhuizen around 1640. This is from Burley W. Johnson, Sr. (March 10, 2000). What follows is an outline of this possibility.
First Generation
Brucht Teacks was born in Lippenhuizen. He was the father of a Woldrich Teacks also from Lippenhuizen born 1682. (Information from the William Penn and the Dutch Quaker Migration to Pennsylvania book written by William I. Hull (Trenton, New Jersey), page 6, second paragraph “The Teets History.” Page 108-109 of this same book records William Penn’s visit to Sneeks Monthly Meeting (Quaker) in 1686.
Second Generation
Woldrich Teacks was born in Lippenhuizen in 1682. At the age of 37 Woldrich became the father of Michael “OLD MIKE” Teacks (Teets) in Friesland Provience, Netherlands, near the town of Sneek in 1719.
Burley W. Johnson, Sr. traces Eleven Generations from the Teacks/Teets origins up to 1999, recording his family history. Of interest to my particular family line, which is the Samuel Teets and Elizabeth Hawk descendants, is the fact that Mr. Johnson does indeed record our family. Many researchers do not have Samuel Teets in their data base.
Mr. Johnson’s family line descends from “OLD MIKE” Teets, Sr. down through his son George Teets, our family line descends from “OLD MIKE” Teets, Sr. down through his son Michael Teets, Jr. The majority of information recorded for the George Henry Teets born 1784 family side came from the files of Burley William Johnson, Sr. born December 24, 1936. I thank Mr. Johnson for this information! (Carol A. Skaggs)
End of Introduction (John Jay Teets II)