Notes:
Johann Lorantz Momma arrived in America on 13 October, 1747 aboard the ship, "Two Brothers". The passenger lists did not show the names of the women or boys & girls under the age of 16 so we don't know exactly who came with him, but it is likely a wife and young children.
His signature is found on the oath lists where he pledged allegiance to the King of England and the Colonial Government. A careful examination of his name clearly shows that he wrote his name as MOMMA. You will note that there is a straight bar over the top of the single "M" in his name. This is sometimes called a "Bar-M" and it was used only in German script as a shorthand method of writing a double M, as in MOMMA. See the Mumma Archives for an article about MUMMA signatures. His name has been incorrectly transcribed as Johann Conrad Momma/Mumma.
Lorantz was taxed in Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania tax rolls for 1750 and 1751. This is probably where he died in early February of 1752. On February 24, 1752, a Michael and Barbara Witmor appeared in Lancaster County Orphans Court and swore that they heard the following "noncupative" or "oral" Will from Lorantz:
***** A Noncupative Will of Lorrantz Muma ******
February 24th 1752
The Suberibet persons Says That They ask the Lorrantz Muma Late Deceased in his sikness, That if he should dye, Who shall be your heirs after you decease, becasue That you have a Brother in the Province and The Said Lorrantz Muma answered and said That his Brother have nothing to ask from his Estate, because that his Brother is Indebted to him, and Said further That his Wife and Childrens Shall be Heirs to his Estate,
his
Michael "MW" Whitmor
mark
her
Barbara "B" Whittmor
mark
***************************
On the 4th of March, 1752, Letters of Administration were issued by the County Court of Lancaster to Michael Whitmore & Martin Hoover. A £100 bond was agreed to by Michael Whitmore, Martin Hoover, Joseph Sherrick and John Hoshford .
An estate inventory was taken on March 6th, 1754 by Henry Neaves, Joseph Shirk, Jacob Shally & Christian Carver. The inventory included:
Wearing apperal & riding horse..15-0-0 (pounds-shillings-pence)
Horses and Mares.......................15-0-0
Horned cattles............................. 15-0-0
A waggon, Plowes & horse gears..6-0-0
Sheep.............................................1-10-0
A Wind Mill & Cutten Bop...............1-0-0
Grains.............................................8-11-3
Bags...............................................0-10-0
Spinen Wheels...............................0-12-6
A dow Draugh & Sieves..................0-4-6
A Woman Sadle & Whiten Cant......0-7-6
Sawes & Sisses.............................0-7-6
A Grind Stone.................................0-5-0
Sundry Iron Tools..........................1-18-6
Pewtter Wears...............................1-10-9
Iron Kettles Potts and Panns.........3-0-3
Hoop Wears...................................1-8-6
2 Hakles.........................................0-15-0
a Cunn............................................0-10-0
Beds & bed States.........................3-10-6
a Capart & Trashur.........................1-9-0
Bed Cloth........................................1-6-0
Chists, Tables & Chears.................0-15-0
A Lattren & Stilgard.........................0-5-0
Swines............................................1-5-0
a Note.............................................9-5-0
a Note.............................................8-0-0
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80-3-1
In "Memorials to the Huguenots", Stapleton says that Lorentz Momma came from Lorraine. I can find no evidence for this statement made by Stapleton. It might be true, but there is no basis what so ever.
Johann Lorantz Momma has been given the Henry Reference number of "3". Since we have no descendants for Lorantz, he is the only person in this tree. It is entirely possible that some of the unconnected individuals listed in the database are descendants of Johann Lorantz Momma.
He spelled his name as "Johann Lorantz Momma" in the book of oaths. It was spelled as Lorrantz Muma in the Noncoupative Will, Laurantz Mumma in the Letters of Administration and Lorrantz Muma on the Inventory list. No other mention of Lorantz has been discovered other than these documents which were not recoreded in the Book of Wills nor the Orphan's Court proceedings. This was likely because it was an Oral Will and no books were available for this type of document. These documents were originally located in the Lancaster County Court house in a Miscellaneous Box. They currently reside at the Lancaster County Historical Society in their basement, also in a miscellaneous box.
From these documents we know that he had a wife and children, but none of them have been identified. We also learn that he had a brother in the "province", which would mean within Pennsylvania - a rather broad area at that time. Lebanon & Dauphin Counties did not exist and they were a part of Lancaster County. Berks, Cumberland and York Counties had only been formed a few years prior.
There is circumstantial evidence that would suggest Lorantz was closely related to Leonard Mumma, but it is hard to conceive that they were brothers, but it is possible. Likewise, Peter Mumma, was also living in the area and it is my speculation that Lorantz was his brother. Peter was single when he arrived in America two years after Lorantz and he was not literate. Quite possibly Lorantz paid for his passage and this debt had not yet been paid. - Speculative!
The following documents and events are worth noting.
1) George Anthony Mumma & Peter Mumm were living in Hempfield township as well as Lorantz Mumma
2) The near neighbors of George Anthony Mumma in Hempfield Township were:
John Wittmer
Michael Wittmer (he and his wife provided the statement of the oral will)
Joseph Sherrick
3) When John Wittmer died, George Anthony Mumma served as guardian of one of John's children.
If Lorantz was living on George Anthony Mumma's land when he died, then it is likely his widow probably lived there for some time. Since Lorantz left property and young children (under age 16 in 1747) one would have expected guardianships to have been established in the Orphans Court, but none has been found.
It is still unclear who Lorantz's brother was. It is very unlikely George Anthony Mumma since there was about a 25 year age difference. The likely candidate for his brother is Peter Mumma who had arrived in America only the year before and was also living in Hempfield Township.
I would appreciate any further information or thoughts regarding Johann Lorantz Momma (Mumma), especially about his wife and children. One possible lead would be to study the ships lists for both men and determine whether there is a common location of origin for the passengers.
Doug Mumma
doug@mumma.org
