Data source is the 1990 book, "Moomaw-Mumma-Mumaw-Mumaugh Genealogy" compiled by Robert Austin Moomaw (deceased).
Data source is Steve Kamm, 2117 SW 84th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73159, e-mail skamm@occc.edu
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Comment by Doug Mumma
Some researchers have listed the death location of John Moomaw and Anna Ranck as Virginia. The source of this information appears to come from Helen R. Prillaman's book, which contains no source information. Since John wrote his Will in Ross county about a month before his death, it is highly unlikely that he would have journeyed back to Virginia. Normally people wrote their Wills when they were very sick and contemplating death - not typically a good time to travel (walk, on a horse, or a wagon) 400 miles back to Virginia.
It is further unclear whether John ever used the middle name of "Conrad" that has been listed for him by some researchers. Because the name never appears in any family or civil records, it has been removed from his listing in this data file..
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John Mumma information extracted from Robert Moomaw's book
John, the only son of Christian Mumma, was left an orphan at an early age. His mother, Margaret Zimmerman, died soon after his birth. His father married again, then he died soon after the birth of a daughter. Leonard Mumma and Michael Weise were named guardians of both children.
John was probably raised by his grandfather Leonard, the immigrant. He was admitted to the Muddy Creek Reformed Church on Pentecost 1769 when he was 17 years old (this would suggest a birth year of about 1752 which is in conflict with his listed birth). He married Anna Barbara Ranck, the daughter of Philip and Magdalena Ranck. They had four children baptized in the Muddy Creek Reformed Church: John Christian, John, Maria Elizabeth, and John Philip.
Sometime after 1781, they left Lancaster County, PA and moved to Botetourt Co., VA, where the rest of their children were born. In Virginia, the spelling of the name was changed to Moomaw. In 1800, their son Christian (2211) married Catherine Snider, daughter of Peter Snider. They settled in Botetourt Co., VA where they lived the rest of their lives.
Two years later, John Moomaw (2212) married Sophia Snider, also a daughter of Peter Snider. Phillip (2213) married Catherine Bigler in 1885; soon afterwards they moved to Roanoke Co., VA.
Barbara Moomaw (2214) married Joseph Beath, and about 1810 (abt 1813 per census records of children's births) they went with John and his family to the new state of Ohio. They settled on Upper Twin Creek in Ross County, OH. John bought 150 acres, where he built a cabin for his family. Then he built a large barn entirely of logs with wooden hinges and locks on the doors. The second story had a large smooth floor where they threshed the grain. They also held the Brethren Church services there for several years. The peg-legged hollowed log foot washing basin used in this early church is presently in the Ross County Museum.
Then he felled the trees needed to build a real house. The walls of the first floor were eighteen inches thick and built of stone. The framing timbers were of yellow locust: the logs were squared and put in place with pins. The weather boarding was rived from straight clean limbed poplar logs. The first floor contained the kitchen and storage cellar. In the west end of the kitchen was a huge fireplace complete with a swinging crane. There also was a dough box in which the bread for five generations of the family was mixed and raised.
The second story could be entered by a stairway from the kitchen or through a ground level door at the back of the house. There a central hall opened into the second floor rooms, and a staircase led to the third floor and the attic. At one time, they raised silk worms in one of the third floor rooms.
John not only built his own house but also the furniture in it. He was probably the John Mumma mentioned as an apprentice in the Journal of his Uncle Philip Ranck, a noted furniture maker in Lebanon Co., PA. Several of the pieces he made are prized possessions of members of his family.
This walnut cupboard built with pegs by John Moomaw was featured in a display of the work of early Ohio furniture makers at the Columbus Museum of Art a few years ago.
A cobbler's bench and some other pieces built by John are in the Ohio Historical Society.
According to family tradition a few years later, Henry (2217) rode horseback alone to join them in Ohio. He and his brother-in-law Joseph Beath were chain carriers for a survey for Henry's land next to where the Beaths were living in Ross County.
Later, they were joined by all the rest of the family except Christian and Phillip, who stayed in Virginia. Eva, Henry, Christina, Jacob, Magdaline, and Margaret were all married in Ross County, and David (2215) was married in adjoining Highland County. Elizabeth (221b did not marry. Jacob (2219) became a minister in the German Baptist Church. He moved to Clark County, then to Pittsfield, Illinois. Margaret (221a) and her husband also moved West. Christina (2218) and her husband moved to Madison County, and David (2215) went with his children to Kansas after the death of his wife. The rest are buried in Ross County.
John Moomaw, Sr. (221) bought survey No. 8319 of 150 acres, adjoining the land of Peter Snider, and another 55-acre strip adjoining his other land. He and Barbara sold 50 acres to daughter Elizabeth and 100 acres to son Jacob. After Jacob moved to Clark County, he sold this land to his brother David. John and Barbara also sold 17 1/2 acres of the second piece to David.
When the 1830 census was taken, John and Barbara apparently had their recently widowed daughter Eva, and her three children, living with them on the remaining 37 1/2 acres.
On April 5, 1837, John made his Will. He left each of the children one dollar except Eva, and he left her the remainder of his estate. No graves for them have been found in Ross County. A descendant of son Christian said that he had been told that John and Barbara were buried in a walled cemetary near Amsterdam, VA. Perhaps they went back to Virginia to see Christian and Phillip, leaving the Will to dispose of the Ohio property.
The record of their deaths recorded in Barbara Beath's Bible appears to be a copy of a tombstone inscription.
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[The following information was written by Steve Kamm, based on Helen R. Prillaman's book, "Places Near the Mountains," 1985]
JOHN (CONRAD) MUMMA or MOOMAW
John was born in 1750 in East Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He was the only child of the first marriage of John Christian Mumma to Margaret Zimmerman.
He had a half-sister, Anna Christina Mumma, born 13 Sep 1753 in Muddy Creek, Lancaster Co., PA, to John Christian and his second wife, Anna Marie Dorr.
In 1773, John married Anna Barbara Ranck, daughter of Philip Ranck and Anna Magdalena Wishon, in Lancaster Co., PA. (See the Ranck Family history.) At least ten of their children would have been born in Pennsylvania. In 1785, he appears for the last time on the tax rolls of Earl Township.
In about 1791, John moved his family south to Botetourt County, Virginia. In all likelihood, they would have made this migration using one of the famous Conestoga wagons, constructed in the Conestoga Valley of Lancaster County. Once in Virginia, John apparently changed the spelling of the family name from Mumma to Moomaw.
The family settled in an area which would become the Town of Amsterdam in Botetourt County. The town was actually started in 1794, and the Plat was made in 1796. By 1800, according to "Places Near the Mountains" by Helen R. Prillaman, John Moomaw had lots 118 and 119 in the town.
Continuing from the same source:
"It has been said that Botetourt County is the ending of the Shenandoah Valley and the beginning of southwest Virginia. Without question, through this area most of the people who settled southwest Virginia, Kentucky, and southern West Virginia came.
The Scotch-Irish, who were staunch Presbyterians, came first in the mid 1700's, followed within a half century by the Germans, the Swiss and French Huguenots. All came primarily to purchase or acquire land and better themselves financially.
Many of the Scotch-Irish moved westward, selling their land to the Germans, Swiss and Huguenots, who for the most part had come to Pennsylvania and Maryland from the Province in Germany known as the Palatinate. These people bought land for their homes, not for speculation, and they had the ability to select the most productive and best lands available. They brought the religion, habits, and customs of their ancestors to the area which shaped the character of the parts of Botetourt [County] and a part of what was to become Roanoke [County], to a large extent. Most of them were of the Lutheran, Reformed (Presbyterian), Dunkard (Tunkers) or Brethren faith. It is interesting to find that in the 1980's many families live on land acquired by their ancestors in the early days.
The people who came early, and those that soon followed, were a hardy and brave lot, and their days were filled with hardships and struggles for survival.
They came down the Great Road--the Carlina Trail--which forked at the community later to be known as Amsterdam. Those who wanted to go south followed the Carolina Trail, with much the same route as present day Route 220. Those wanting to go westward turned to the right and skirting Tinker Mountain took the road up Catawba Creek."
Together, the couple had at least thirteen children. On 5 May 1837, John died in Amsterdam, where he is buried. Anna Barbara died five years later, again in Amsterdam.
Helen R. Prillaman's final comment on the Moomaws of Botetourt County reads, "It would not be possible to determine the contribution the Moomaw Family has made to the Valley. From the first days of settlement this family has been a part of the economic and cultural development. Certainly they have been involved in all facets of life in the region and have contributed a great deal to making this place the wonderful Valley that it is." Many locations and people in the area today can make a direct connection to John Moomaw and his family.
HANS VALENTINE RANCK
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Hans Valentine was the only known child of the Reverend Jean Valentine Ranc. (See his father's biography). Known as Valentine, he was born in 1668 in Mannheim, in present-day Germany. Note, however, that according to "The Ranks of the Rancks," Valentine moved with his father from France to Mannheim in an attempt to escape religious persecution.
From "The Ranks of the Rancks" by J. Allen Ranck, Sowers Printing Co., Lebanon, PA, as described in "Places Near the Mountains" (1985) by Helen R. Prillaman, reprinted for Clearfield Company Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1995: "Mannheim became a Huguenot center. Jean Ranc's son, Valentine, married Margarith Philipp [Margaretha PHILLIPES] here. They had six children -- Ann Barbara, John Michael, John Philip, Rosine Katherine, Susanna Margaretha and Johann Valentine. Two of these six children were to come to America."
Hans Valentine died in 1710 in Mannheim, two years before his father.
JOHN PHILIP RANCK
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From "The Ranks of the Rancks" by J. Allen Ranck, Sowers Printing Co., Lebanon, PA, as described in "Places Near the Mountains" (1985) by Helen R. Prillaman, reprinted for Clearfield Company Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1995.
John Philip was one of two sons of Valentine Ranck who immigrated to America. John Philip came to America a year after his older brother, John Michael. "He and his wife, Anna Barbara Schumacher, set sail June 20, 1729 on the same ship that had brought John Michael and his wife [the English ship, Mortonhouse, sailing out of Amsterdam]. They arrived in Philadelphia August 19, 1729. John Philip and his wife settled in the same area as his brother, namely Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and were given 243 acres adjoining John Michael's tract on the east. John Philip and his wife had eleven children. John Philip's and Anna Barbara Schumacher's son, George, moved with his family to Botetourt County, Virginia" as did his sister, Anna, who married Joseph (Durst) Ammen.
His granddaughter, Anna Barbara Maria Ranck, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She married John Moomaw and the couple also moved to Botetourt County.
An excerpt from John Moomaw's Will written 5 Apr 1837 and probated July 1837 In Ross County, OH
"
to my son Christian Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my son John Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my daughter Elizabeth Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my daughter Mary Magdelan Snider the sum of one dollar
to my son Philip Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my daughter Barbary Beath the sum of one dollar
to my son David Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my daughter Christiana Blaughter the sum of one dollar
to my son Henry Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my son Jacob Moomaw the sum of one dollar
to my daughter Maggel Ohmart the sum of one dollar
to my daughter Eve Fisher the half of the remainder of all my estate
Eva Fisher to be Executrix
"
+++++++++++ 1810 Virginia Census for Botetourt County ++++++++++++
John Sr. (father) and his son's, John Jr. and Christian are listed.
In addition, an Elizabeth Moomaw is listed being over 45 with one male under 10 years. Not obvious who this person is.
++++++ 1773 Lancaster Co., PA Deed Book GG p 550 ++++++++++++++
[The following deed was transcribed and copied, almost verbatim, leaving out only some of the legal repetitions, by Margaret Dieringer and it appears in the Moomaw Newsletter, Vol 2, No. 1, page 4
http://www.mumma.org/archives/NewsV2N1.pdf]
John Mumma.........) TO ALL PEOPLE TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME
.......To..................) John Mummer of Cocalico Township in the County
Barbara Poorman...)of Lancaster Yoeman SENDS GREETINGS.
WHEREAS by a certain Warrant from the Proprietary Land Office there was surveyed unto Nicholas Zimmerman in his lifetime
A CERTAIN Tract of land situate in Cocalico Township in the County of Lancaster. CONTAINING Two Hundred & Seventy five acres & the usual Allowences for roads & the said Nicholas died intestate seised thereof leaving issue two daughters Barbara who intermarried with Paul Poorman of the Township and County aforesaid & Margaret who intermarried with Christian Mummer late of Earl Township in the aforesaid County. Which Christian and Margaret died intestate leaving issue the aforesaid John Mummer.
And WHEREAS in the Minority of the said John an equal division was made of the said Tract between the said Paul Poorman & Barbara his wife,& the said John Mummer the legal representative of the aforesaid Margaret Zimmerman deceased by & with the consent of Leonard Mummer & Michael Wise, Guardians over the estate of the same John Mummer, which said division it is now agreed shall be ratified and confirmed, the said John having arrived at full age.
NOW KNOW YE That in Pursuance of the said Division & Agreement & in consideration of the sum of Five Shillings to the said John Mummer in hand paid by the said Barbara Poorman, the said John Mummer hath granted, bargained and sold unto the said Barbara Poor Poorman her Heirs and assigns
ALL THAT CERTAIN Tract of Land (Being one Moiety of the afore said tract divided as aforesaid).
SUBJECT TO THE Payment of the Proportionable Part of the Purchase Money Interest & Quit Rent now due or hearafter to become due for the Premises to the Chief Lord or Lords of the Fee thereof.
IN WITTNESS THEREOF THE Said John Mummer hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the Tenth day of April in the year of our Lord one. thousand seven hundred & seventy three.
John Mumma (seal)
Sealed and delivered in presence of
J. Yeates,
J. Ewing
+++++++++++++++++++ Notes +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
John Mumma was taxed in Earl Township in 1780 and he had children baptized in Muddy Creek Reformed church (see Moomaw Newsletter vol 1 p3).
He seems to have left PA about the time his grandfather's land was patented by John Shirk. Could this also have been about the time of Julianna's death? We next find John in Botetourt County, Virginia.