Tobias Bickel, I

Parents are unknown. Please be careful when merging Tobias Bickels'. There are three known Tobias Bickels in Berks County during this time and several early genealogies provide confusing and mis-leading information. John F. Valentine's well-source study "The Tobias Bickels of Old Tulpehocken" published in Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families from the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, Volume 1: Arnold-Hetzel, pages 92-100, published in 1982, sorts out the three men and clarifies their families and properties. The book is available on Ancestry and through Google books.

The 3 men are

1. Tobias Bickel (Bockel, Boeckel) born 1711, died 1791, A Moravian of No. Heidelberg Township, Berks County.
2. Tobias Bickel (Bechtell), "late of Lancaster County," who died in 1748, but live near Bernville in Berks.
3. Tobias Bickel, born 1714-1718 died 1784-1790, lived near Meyerstown - THIS Tobias is the subject of this memorial.

TOBIAS BICKEL was born in Germany between 1714-18. His parents are not known. Immigration lists show that Cristopher Bickel age 48, George F Bickel age 32, and John Bickel age 16 arrived at Philadelphia PA from Rotterdam Holland aboard the ship "MARY" and took the oath of allegiance 26 Sept 1732. Many claim Tobias was the son of one of these two men, but he'd have been between 16-20 at the time and should have appeared as John did on the manifest and taken the oath. Neither Christopher nor George are names that appear in the family tree with any frequency. The most common names in the tree are Tobias, Henry, and John.

Based on the quality documentation provided by Valentine, the following family appears: Tobias born abt 1718 in Germany 1st wife: Margredalis Zeller abt 1718 in Germany, dec'd Jun 1748

Tobias had at least three children with Margredalis: 1. John: 1744-1805; m. Maria Catherine (poss. Deups or Witwer) 2. Maria Margaretha: 1746-aft 1790; m. 12 Mar 1756, Tobias Lehman 3. Henry: c.1748-1781; m. Esther Regina Sharp.[Henry is not in the original baptismal record, but that would not be uncommon is his mother died at the time or immediately after birth.]

Tobias next married Catherine Moser/Mosser (c.1720-aft 1790) bet 1748-49 - this is based on the birth/baptism of son Simon. Tobias had 10 known children with Catherine: 4. Simon: 1750-1824; m. Catherine Elizabeth Buchtel 5. Anna Maria: 1751-aft 1790 6. Thomas: 1753-aft 1790; m. Barbara Weaver 7. Tobias: c.1754-1816; m. Ann Catherine Aumiller 8. Rosina: 1755-aft 1790; m. 24 Oct 1771 Michael Treaster Jr. 9. John Jacob: 1757-1852; m. Mary Magdalene Ulrich 10. Christian: 1765-?; he is not included in his father's 1790 will. 11. Maria Catarina: 1765-? 12. Maria Elizabetha (twin of Maria Catarina): 1765-? 13. John Tobias: 1766-bef 1790 [Note: I've included him based on Valentine's records, but I believe that this is actually #7 Tobias. Most of these baptisms included birth dates and this one who simply wasn't baptized until a later date.]

Tobias's made his will 16 Oct 1784, but it was not filed and proved until 10 Mar 1790 in Northumberland County. In that will, he left bequests to the following children/heirs: the heirs of Henry (d.1781), Tobias, John Simon, Thomas, Jacob, Catherine, Mary Elizabeth, Maria Margaret, Anna Maria, and Rosina.

Note: Many of his children can be found under the surname of Pickel/Pickle due to the way the name was pronounced in German - the "B" sounds like a "P" to non-German speakers. Extant records may be found under either spelling.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Bickel&GSfn=T...