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Descendants of Jean le PAPE de Stavelot

(Johann "the older" BAPST of East Prussia)

Ancestor of the Pabst/Bobst/Pope Families in America

The early history of Pabst/Bobst/Pope families in America and their European roots has been established by the work of several persons.

J. Bland Pope, Ph.D., C.P.A. of Austin, Texas, in 1978 did the hard work of separating the Heinrich Pabst family from his Pennsylvania neighbors, the Probst family.(1) His was the first and most comprehensive study that I found while trying to trace my mother's family, whose maiden name was Bobst.

The next break through in tracing the family of Heinrich Pabst overseas to its European origins came through C. David Pope in 1986 when he located the homeplace of Heinrich in Taleischweiler-Froshen, Germany, and his parents, Abraham and Maria Magdalena Pabst.(2) His find came from the Pennsylvania German Society's 1985 publication of The Western Palatinate: Eighteenth Century Emigrants.(3)

Then in 1992, Virginia Murray visited the town of Taleishweiler-Froshen where she discovered a book titled 750 Years in Taleischweiler-Froshen, and subsequently corresponded with one of the authors, Wilfried Stein.(4) Stein's letter is reproduced here:

TRANSLATION OF LETTER FROM MR. WILFRIED STEIN, DATED MARCH 23, 1993

translated by Rosemarie Carlin

Wifried Stein Taleischweiler-Fröschen, March 22, 1993

Kriegswaldstrasse 58 Telephone: 06334-5485

6784 Taleischweiler-Fröschen





Dear Mrs. Murray:

Many thanks for your good letter. I am so very pleased that you got to know Germany in a positive and pleasant way, and especially that you liked our home town.

Our town celebrated its 750 yr. anniversary in 1987, i.e., it was first mentioned in a document from the year 1237. During the emigration of your great-great-greatgrandparents the town of Herschberg was part of Taleischweiler. To this day there are some families in this town with the name of Kiefer. I am trying to find out if the name Gertrud Kiefer is mentioned in old documents from the town of Herschberg. In 1987 a group of your countrymen visited Taleischweiler-Fröschen, and was directed to me. One of the men was named Pope. His ancestors likewise came from our home region, and were at that time named Papst. Possibly they, too, lived in a town nearby called Höhfröschen, which also belonged to Taleischweiler during the time of emigration. Their dead were buried in the cemetery of Meisenbach, and I understand there existed a grave stone of the family Papst until a few decades ago but was lost during renovation of the chapel ruins. Mr. Pope was kind enough to send me a summary of his ancestors. A copy of it is enclosed. By the way, it would be interesting for us in Taleischweiler-Fröschen to learn of any old papers, letters, reports, or oral stories from the time of emigration from the town of Meisenbach you might have, since Meisenbach no longer exists. If you are in contact with Mr. C. David Pope, Jr. perhaps I could ask you to write him to let me know if he has received the coat of arms of our town which we sent him. We still owe him some money. He had written me that his daughter was planning to visit Germany, and I had hoped that she would look us up and get in touch with me, so that I could give her the money.

Now to your other request You had asked about a copy of the book celebrating Taleischweiler-Fröschen's anniversary. Since I am one of the essential co-authors of the book, I am enclosing with this letter a copy, with my compliments, and hope that you will enjoy it I took the liberty of writing a dedication in it I hope and wish that you will continue to stay in contact with me and "your old home region."

With best regards,

signed Wilfried Stein


Most recently, Gail Pope Barnes discovered the three earlier generations from Abraham Bapst to Johann Bapst "the younger" to Jean Le Pape de Stavelot (Johan Bapst, the Elder), in the records of Protestant Reformed Church of Annweiler, Bayern, Germany; Taufen 1650-1724; Heiraten 1640-1761; Tota 1640-1755 found in the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.(5)

Please be aware this is a working report and not everything is formally documented. However, many sources are listed in the notes. In addition, many documents can be found online in the Finley Family History Database at Sonoma State University, Sonoma County, California. Interested members of this family are encouraged to contact the author.


Footnotes

1. Jennings Bland Pope, Pabst/Bobst/Pobst/Pope Family in the South, (Austin, TX: privately printed, 1978).

2. Letter from C. David Pope, Jr. (Drawer 1266, Statesville, NC 28677) to Carmen J. Finley, 28 March 1986; held in 1999 by Finley (4820 Rockridge Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95404).

3. The Western Palatinate: Eighteenth Century Emigrants.

4. Letter from Virginia Murray (9203 Leamington Court, Fairfax, VA 22031) to Carmen J. Finley, 13 May 1993.

5. Letter from Gail (Pope) Barnes (272 Twickenham Trace, Suwanee, GA 30024-6947) to Carmen Finley, 19 May 1999.



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