The Jarvis Family and Other Relatives
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Benzien Family
First Generation
Christian Thomas Benzien was a Moravian minister in Bethlehem PA. His wife was Anna Maria Neisser (1724-1783), whose parents Jacob Neisser and Anna Holaschk were among the founders of the Herrnhut settlement in Saxony. They married in Germany in 1744 and immigrated to Pennsylvania ten years later. Two of their children came to Salem. There was at least one additional child from this marriage, a daughter who died in 1749. After Christian Thomas Benzien's death, Anna Maria married another Moravian minister, Amadeus P. Thrane, and had one more child, Anna Paulina Thrane born 1763.
Second Generation
Children of Christian Thomas Benzien and Anna Maria Neisser
Anna Benigna Benzien (1751-1818) did not marry
Christian Ludwig Benzien (1753-1811) m. Anna Dorothea Elizabeth Boettcher (1767-1832)
Christian Ludwig was one of the leaders of the Moravian community in Salem. After his death, his widow returned to Bethlehem PA, where she died in 1832.
Third Generation
Children of Christian Ludwig Benzien and Dorothea Boettcher
Christian H. Benzien (b. & d. 1794)
Wilhelm Ludwig Benzien (1797- bef. 1840) m. Christina Caritas Schneider (1799-1863)
Lydia Theodora Benzien (1801-1864) did not marry, died in Bethlehem PA
At the time of his marriage, Wilhelm Ludwig Benzien was a teacher in the school for little boys. His death is not mentioned in the Records of the Moravians in NC, nor does he appear in the records for the Salem graveyard, and the last reference to him in the published church diary records is in 1834. In 1840, Caritas Benzien appears as head of household with two female children in the age 10-15 bracket. When did her husband die, and where?
In 1845, the widow Caritas Benzien received an offer to become a tutor in a family living more than 60 miles from Salem. The church leadership ascertained that she was considering this for financial reasons, and offered her additional work as a music teacher in the girls' boarding school. She then declined the tutor's position and remained in Salem..
Fourth Generation
Children of Wilhelm Ludwig Benzien and Christina Caritas Schneider
Ludwig Theodore Benzien (1825-1826)
Francisca Louisa Benzien (1827-1891)
She was a musician and teacher in the Girls' boarding school and at Greensboro College.
In 1854 she m. James Fischer (1818-1874), his second wife (the first was Paulina Schneider)
Hermine Eleanora Benzien (1830-1898) m. Charles Samuel Hauser (1833-1896).
Previously we had a note on this page regarding Charles Samuel Hauser's connection to the rest of the Hauser family. This question has now been answered; he was son of William Joseph Hauser and Anna Susanna Schultz; William Joseph Hauser was son of Johannes Hauser and Magdalena Boeckel.
Sources
Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, 12 volumes; Publications of the North Carolina Historical Commission
Forsyth County Cemetery Records
This page was revised on November 24, 2003.
©, 2001-2007 Faye Jarvis Moran
faye@fmoran.com
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