Michael Neiman

Life

Johann Michel Neiman was born around 1730 in Germany.

Michel married Anna Elisabetha, surname unknown, in Germany in roughly January of 1750, then immigrated with his family on the "Bennet" out of Rotterdam, later that year.

The couple settled in Conewago Township, York County, Pennsylvania, and built a family. But his first wife died in 1766, upon which time he remarried to Anna Elisabetha Schillng. Two more children were born to them before Johann Michel died.

Children with First Wife Anna Elisabetha:

1. Johann Georg Neiman, b. 1750
2. Susanna Neiman, b. 1752
3. Michael Neuman, b. 1761
4. Margaret Neiman, b. 1765
5. Andrew Neiman, b. 1766

Children with Anna Elisabetha Schilling:

1. Catharine Elisabeth Neiman, b. 1769
2. Eve Neiman, b. 1772

Johann Michel died in 1778.

Origins

Johann Michel's origins are a mystery. Web trees universally do not guess at his parents, and his place of birth varies between Germany and Pennsylvania.

Since he was born around 1730, he was probably either a child immigrant, with parents from Germany or France, or an early birth to a newly immigrated couple in Pennsylvania after arrival.

From cemetery stones and christening records, there appears to be two Neumann brothers (?) in York County born in the 1730's -- Michel and Christian. It is plausible to guess that they are the sons of an immigrant from Germany, probably from the Palantinate region, who arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1720's or 1730's. But we don't know his name (yet), and we also don't know whether his sons were born in Germany or in Pennsylvania.

I was able to find no record match at all for Michel Neumann, but I found a number of matches for Christian Neumann in Mutterstadt, Bavaria. Unfortunately that match did not pan out because that Christian died in Mutterstadt. Beyond that, there are a number of Neumann families with a Christian Neumann born in the right time from Prussia. Some of them have name usages (e.g. the name "Herman") which are similar to the Pennsylvania family. But there is no match that stands out above the others.

There seemed a strong possibility that Michel was in fact born into the Schwenkfelder Church. The Schwenkfelders were a Lutheran offshoot. They originated in Silesia and migrated to Germany to escape religious oppression, and only a short time later, gave up on Germany and left for Pennsylvania. The Neiman clan, specifically descendants of Melchior Neiman, are a significant Schwenkfelder family in Montgomery County. But the Schwenkfelder Library has no recorded association between Michel and Melchior.

There is, however, a group of Neimans who emigrated to York County from whom Michel could have hailed. These were headed by a Johannes Nickol Neiman. A book apparently exists in York County describing this family, and at least one Ancestry tree was built upon it. The one problem is that the book does not in general contain dates, which means we are left with stones and other documents to figure that out.

Immigration

Michael's birthdate comes from his immigration record from 1750. He arrived with his brother Christian/Christopher, possibly with other family members as well.