144. John Peter Bubickhoffer-59
1Scott Winston Teal, Presenting the Publicovers (Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia; Scott Winston Teal, 1986), pp. 4-13, Library of Wallace F. Gray, ISBN 0-9697852-5-9.
From pp. 6-7:HIS ARRIVAL: Johann Bubeckopfer arrived in Halifax on May 30, 1752. He stated that he was a farmer from the Palatinate,a region of The Holy Roman Empire. He spoke High Deutsch, or what is known as ancient German and is thought to have never been able to speak a word of English. Peter claimed that he was 34 years old placing his year of birth around 1718. Some of these immigrants however were known to have lied about their age and occupation to make their application look more favorable to the British who were looking for young hearty settlers to work the land. HIS ANCESTRY: So it is with these few clues that one must try to locate Peter's ancestry in the Empire. I had searched for the name Bubeckopfer or anything that looked or sounded something like that name since I commenced my research back in 1978. Only twice have I been able to locate anyone by that name. The first was a Josef Bobikofer who left his homeland somewhere in German territory and went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1754 right around the time Peter came to Nova Scotia. The second time was when records on Franz Bubikauffer appeared in church records in Epfenbach. Epfenbach in 1752 was part of the Palatinate. Although church records in this village go back well into the 1600's, no records appear on the Bubeckopfers until 1717 when a daughter is born unto Franz and his wife. A year later, in 1718, a son was born and they named his Johann Peter, the exact same name and birth year of Peter Bubeckopfer the Nova Scotian immigrant. Is this pure coincidence? Or was this baby boy born in 1718, the same person that 34 years later arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia ready to make a new life for himself in the wilderness? What seems to further strengthen the arguement that he was indeed the Nova Scotian immigrant was that although Franz's daughter married in 1736, no record of marriage can be found for the boy born in 1718. Nor is there any record of his death. This indicates that the son Peter left the village of Epfenbach. So were these two different people born in the same year with the same name, or was it Franz Bubeckopfer's son Peter that left Epfenbach for Nova Scotia. I feel certain that Peter Bubeckopfer of Nova Scotia was indeed the son of Franz of Epfenbach, however, there are so few clues and so much time has passed that this mystery may never be solved. But if Franz cannot be accepted as the father of Peter, in Germany there probably is nobody better to fit the mold. On page 8 the author has the following entry:
Second Edition Published 1994. Copy in possession of Wallace F. Gray.
" NOTE: Captitalized letters are the work of Wallace F. Gray in order to highlight the information. This will be true in all source entries. Extra paragraphs have also been added.
JOHANN PETER BOBILAUFFER I & Sabina Catharina,
Petite Riviere, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia, farmer & soldier.
Peter was the son of Franz.
Peter was born in 1718; died 28 June 1789.
Peter married Sabina Catharina Himmelman of J. Georg & Barbara Himmelman on 30 January 1753.
Sabina born in 1726; died 28 October 1801. He then lists the nine children with some comments which will be placed under the individuals. On pp. 9-13, the following is given which should be of interest to all of John Peter Bubickhoffer's descendents: POLITICAL BACKGROUND: Johann Peter Bubeckopfer's arrival in Nova Scotia was a matter of British politics. France and Britain had been at war for years over the lands in North America. The year 1748 saw the fortress of Louisburg returned to France with the signing of a treaty. This left Britain without a strong naval base in Acadia. In 1749 the British landed a fleet at what is now Halifax on the twenty first of June of that year. France and Britain had had religious conflicts for two hundred yars, France being Catholic and Britain Protestant. In fact it was still within recent memory that in 1688 Britain had overthrown their Catholic monarch King James II, after his refusal to change his faith from Catholic to Protestant. THE PROTESTANT SETTLERS: Thus the settlers Britain had brought from Europe were all protestants mostly from England, but a few from the Rhineland. After a miserable winter and many deaths at Halifax, due to the poor weather and Indian attacks, Britain decided to induce Protestant settlers from eastern France, southern Germany and the lands of the Swiss. Britain sent agents to these areas and proclamations were posted in various towns and villages throughout the region offering grants of land tax free for several years and other provisions would be provided after their arrival in North America. Life for the people that applied for passage was rough in their homeland It would have to be considered what was in Nova Scotia in 1750. The province was then a barren wilderness with savage people living in the forests that killed relentlessly. Many of the settlers that come were serfs in Europe, which basically meant a slave. These people were used to hunger, religious strife and constant wars ravaging their lands. Some serfs bought their freedom from ruling princes, but were told if they returned home they would become serfs again. Johann Dick was the agent assigned to immigrate the Protestand settlers to Halifax. He was paid one guinea for each immigrant he secured. HOW THEY REACHED CANADA: The immigrants were told to sell everything they had, and only bring a few precious items, which often this meant the family bible which was the only comfort many of these people had. They travelled from their villages to the Rhine River where they would either build of acquire a wooden raft. Then they would load onto the raft what afew belongings they had. The rafts were then floated down the Rhine River in Rotterdam, Holland. From here some of the ships sailed to Portsmouth, England. Most of the ships set sail for Nova Scotia, but two veered south and headed for the Carolinas. It was pure fate that some ended up in Nova Scotia while others landed hundres of miles away. In 1750 the first ship arrived in Halifax, with Swiss and German Protestant settlers. She was the "Ann" packed with poor frightened people, seeking a new and better life in what would have seemed to them like a totally different world. SHIPBOARD CONDITIONS: On board ship each person had a bunk betwen four to six feet in length with barely enough room to stand up right. Some of these bunks were shared with other passengers. The food was poor, the water foul. Using the bathroom was done in front of the other passwengers in a bucket. The contents were later dumped overboard. The passengers were rarely let above deck, only in fair weather. During storms they were locked below, sometimes for days. If someone died, the corpse was left below with the living until the crew had time to dispose of the body. The voyage lasted around two months, and needless to say upon landing at Halifax, the settlers were very eager to go ashore. However they were not permitted to do this immediately. A significant number of the passengers had died aboard ship, many parents were left childless and many children were left orphaned. It was sad. The orphaned children most always went to work as servants in return for food, clothing and shelter. UPON THEIR ARRIVAL: In May 1751, the Indians raided the forests across the harbour from Halifax at what is now Dartmouth, carrying off men, women and children and torturing them. Many were killed instantly, having their scalps cur off. When some weary Swiss and Germans disembarded from the ship in July 1751 after their two month voyage at sea, they were given no chance to rest. The men were sent into the woods to build a high picket fence from the Northwest Arm around BCedford Basin to Dartmouth. This was a dangerous task with little protection as there were only three blockhouses with a ptrol road between them. The men felled some trees and built several log cabins in which to house the settlers who all had to work together to stay alive! Some men were sent to chop trees on the Halifax Penninsula which culd be used to gow crops to feel the population. ARRIVAL OF MORE SHIPS: The year 1751 also saw the arrival of several more ships, the "Pearl," the "Speedwell," the "Gale" and the "Murdoch." ARRIVAL OF PETER, HIS MARRIAGE AND ARRIVAL IN LUNENBURG: 1752 was the last year the settlers came and it was in that year that on a ship called the "Sally" there appears a man's name, Johann Peter Bubeckopfer. After Peter Bubeckopfer left the Sally, he spent on year at Halifax. That winter he married Sabina Himmelman another German girl who had arrived in Halifax that same summer on the Gale with her family froma the Palatinate. In May 1753, Peter & Sabinaa went with Governor Lawrence and most aof the other French, German and Swiss Proatestants, and sailed several miles down the coast on a southerly course to an abandoned French settlement. The settlement was name Lunenburg. PETER, A SOLDIER: Indian attacks persisted at Lunenburg. In 1758, Peter Bubeckopfer was enlisted in the British militia along with other settlers to go on the Indian patrol. Private Peter Bubeckopfer was now a soldier stationed at Lunenburg to fight the Indians. In 1760 the attaches ceased aftder the French lost their foothold in North America. THE PUBLICOVERS: All of Peter's children were born at Lunenburg. Sometime in his later life, Peter moved his family to Petite Riviere, where he obtained a tract of land and began farming it with his sons. Four of his nine children moved away. The name Publicover can be found in every province of Canada and nearly every state of the United States. Every family that has been contacted claimed that ther father, grandfather or further back had come from Nova Scoatia. Over the years there have been many Publicover men that left Nova Scotia to make roots in another part of the world. THE FIRST PUBLICOVER MYSTERY: The first two Publicover men to vanish from record were Peter's eldest and fifth sons, Conrad and Johann Bubikofer. Their names appear until 1778 and 1776 respectfully, and then they abruptly vanish from record. Johann was about 17 years of age and his older brother Conrad about 24. I have search for a record of death without success for these two men. The American Revolution of 1776 was brewing at this time and it is possible, that this was a factor in their leaving Nova Scotia. Conrad Bubeckopfer was a sailor, and he may have been lost at sea. Their whereabouts remain a mystery t this day, and of all the Publicovers found, none have traced their ancestry back to thesae two brothers. In every case it."2Passenger List, http://www.rootsweb.com/~canns/lunenburg/shiplist7.html.
119 Families 30 May 1752 "SALLY"
Passenger Lists for Ships Carrying the
"Foreign Protestants" to Nova Scotia
<http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ecanns/lunenburg/grbar2.gif>
John Robinson, Master Mentioned as Bubikauffer, Pieter, 34, Palatinate, Farmer.3See Notes.
Extensive info and biography in notes.4Scott Winston Teal, Presenting the Publicovers, Page 9.
Teal records him as Johann Peter Bobikauffer.5Scott Winston Teal, Presenting the Publicovers, Page 8.
145. Sabina Catherine Himmelman-60
1Scott Winston Teal, Presenting the Publicovers (Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia; Scott Winston Teal, 1986), Page 9, Library of Wallace F. Gray, ISBN 0-9697852-5-9.
Second Edition Published 1994. Copy in possession of Wallace F. Gray.
For the birth date of 1726.2Christopher Young, Chris Young Website, http://geocities.datacellar.net/Heartland/Ranch/8785/.
This site gives 28 October 1800 as death date.3Scott Winston Teal, Presenting the Publicovers, Page 9.
Death date of 28 october 1801.
152. James or Jacques Darez-86
1See Notes, o.
2Ancestry.com, One World Tree.
Gives birth year as 1750. Names him James Dare.3Community Records, Lunenburg. Marriage Records of St. John's (Anglican) Church, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, 1752-1869, Line 319, Page 5.
This record calls them James Darez and Catherine Langille.4Ancestry.com, One World Tree.
f.5choldershawl, Holdershaw Family Tree.
Source citations: Karen Farmer - Langill - Langille Family Tree.ged.
153. Elizabeth Catherine Langille-87
1Ancestry.com, One World Tree.
Names her Catherine Langille and gives full birth date and place.2Scott Wilson Teal, Shepherds of Markland, 1991, p17.
3Ancestry.com, One World Tree.
Gives full death date.
154. Peter Knock-1099
1Don Shankle's Lunenburg Repository., Parish Register, Dutch Reformed Church--Lunenburg.
For both birth and death dates. Age at death given as 84 years.2World Connect Project (RootsWeb).
3World Connect Project (RootsWeb).
4Ancestry.com.
Gives death date as 14 Aug 1816 and name as Johann Petet Knack.5Curry/Wernig Genealogical Files.
Contributers to the Research: Jason A. Curry and Dana W. Ryder.
From Ancestry.com site.
Found at Ancestry.,com.
155. Francesca Margaretha Bargeld-1100
1World Connect Project (RootsWeb).
Gives birth place, death infor as Arkansas and only given names as Francesca Margaret.2Ancestry World Tree (Ancestry.com).
William T. Perkins family.
Gives bd in Germany and full name.3Ancestry.com, One World Tree.
4Ancestry.com.
This source gives death location in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. Same date.
178. Mads Nielsen-180
1International Genealogical Index Online.
179. Anne Jorgensen-181
1International Genealogical Index Online.
186. Jorgen Andersen-166
1See Notes.
2International Genealogical Index, 2000, 1235224.
Place of Pentz provided.
Batch 7109132, Sheet 31. Submitted by LDS Church Member.
1International Genealogical Index 1997.
193. Jennet Brown-1357
1See Notes.
2See Notes.
194. John Drysdale-1418
1See Notes.
2See Notes.
1Ancestry.com, One World Tree.
200. Marten George-3744
1Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, 25 Year Service Award (F.C. Gray) (Certificate), Wallace F. Gray.
2See Notes.
201. Catharina-3745
1See Notes.