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Flomborn, Germany
the origin of the name
the origin of the name
The origin of the Pennypacker name, and the various other spellings of the name, is Dutch. The original Dutch spelling is Pannebakker. The name is of occupational origin and is traceable to a term literally translated as "producer of tiles." (See the blog post "What is a 'Pannebakker'?" for more information) Legend has it that the family emigrated from central Europe in the mid 1300’s to the Netherlands to escape the wars and plague that were common in the area at that time.
The earliest trace of the name in the Netherlands is in the year 1568, associated with Herr Jan de Pannebakker and his wife Nancy who were accused of heresy and killed by the Spaniards at Utrecht. The Pannebakker families emigrated the Netherlands somewhere in the late sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries up the Rhine to the vicinity of Flomborn and Bermersheim, Deuschland. The name appears to have been changed to the Germanic spelling, Pfannebecker, while the family was living in this Rhineland Palatinate area of Germany. Heinrich Pannebecker is the first known Pfannebecker German immigrant to America.
The Pannebakker name has been spelled many different ways in the United States. Whether the name was changed because of quarreling siblings trying to distance themselves from each other, or because of census takers and other officials who wrote the name the way it sounded to them, the name did change many times. It is understandable that at least some of our ancestors didn’t know how to read or write, and therefore didn’t know the spelling of their own name, just the sound of it. When their name was needed for a deed or census, etc., the spoken name was written down as interpreted by the listener. There are over 60 variants of the surname found in available records.
Pannebecker changed to Pennypacker in Pennsylvania. It is interesting to note that there is a Pennypack Creek in the Philadelphia area. The creek draws its name from the Lenape word pënëpèkw meaning "downward-flowing water" or "deep, dead water; water without much current." Early cartographers gave various spellings for the name, including Pennishpaska, La Riviere de Pennicpacka, and Pennishpacha Kyl. In early Swedish patents it was called Pemipacka. Thomas Holme called it Dublin Creek, while in later maps it is called Pennypack and Pennepack. It is unknown if the name of the creek influenced the spelling of the surname in Pennsylvania.
The Pennebaker surname became entrenched in southern and western family lines.
Surnames appearing in the Social Security Death Index, and probably indicative of family preferred spelling, are as follows:
Panabaker
Pannebakker
Pennabaker
Pennybacker
Panebaker
Pannebecker
Pennabecker
Pennybaker
Pannabaker
Pannenbecker
Pennebacker
Pennypacker
Pannabecker
Pannepacker
Pennebecker
Pfannebecker
Pannapacker
Penabaker
Pennepacker
Pfannenbecker
Pannebaker
Penebaker
Pennybacher
Other spellings, of which there are many, are probably transcription errors.
HANDWRITTEN GENEALOGY BY HEINDRICK PANNEBECKER IN 1745
HANDWRITTEN GENEALOGY BY HEINDRICK PANNEBECKER IN 1745
A book, De Werken van den Hoog Verlichten Jacob Bril or The Works of Jacob Bril, recently acquired by Pennypacker Mills, contains previously unknown genealogical facts about Hendrick Pannebecker written in his own hand.
GERMAN TRANSCRIPTION
GERMAN TRANSCRIPTION
A Buch genamte schreiben von Jacob Bril Hendrich Pannebecker zu Ihr es und find Der es find Der bring Weder geshreiben Den 17 Tag am February 1745
Anno 1739 Den 27 Tag November is Mein hausfrau gestorben
Anno 1702 Den 12 Tag January is Mein Tochter Martha gebohren zwischen 12 und 1 Uhr Anno
1704 Den 8 Tag Junius zwischen 6 und sieben ist Mein Tochter Catharine Gebohren Anno
1707 Den 14 Tag February ist Mein Sohn Adolph gebohren
Anno 1710 Den 8 Tag Martz ist Mein Sohn Petter gebohren.
Anno 1713 Den 27 Tag Agustus ist Mein Sohn Johannis gebohren
Anno 1716 Den 28 Tag Junnis ist Mein Tochter Annabarber gebohren
Anno 1719 Den 6 Tag Martz zwischen 5 und 6 Uhr Dess Morgans Jacobus geboren
Anno 1725 Den 26 Tag November und 6 aft nachmittag ist mein Sohn Hendrichus gebohren
Anno 1699 Den 14 Tag October bin ich Hendrich Pannebecker von Crefelt mitt Eva Umstat zu Den Ehestand getretten.
Anno 1698 bin Ich Hendrich Pannebecker Den 2 Tag September in Philadelphia gearrivert
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
This book called the Writings of Jacob Bril [belongs to] Hendrick Pannebecker to who finds it bring it to him written this 17 Day of February 1745
My wife died November 27, 1739.
January 12, 1702, my daughter Martha was born between 12 and 1 o’clock .
June 8, 1704, my daughter Catharine was born between 6 and seven.
February 14, 1707, my son Adolph was born.
March 8, 1710, my son Peter was born.
August 27, 1713, my son John was born.
June 28, 1716, my daughter Barbara was born.
March 5, 1719, Jacob was born between 5 and 6 in the morning.
September 26, 1725, my son Henry was born at 6 in the afternoon.
October 14, 1699 I Heinrich Pannebecker from Crefelt entered into the state of marriage with Eva Umstat.
September 2, 1698 I Heinrich Pannebecker arrived in Philadelphia.
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