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233. Hans Jacob Reager (Ruger) (Reger) (Married Barbara Crites (Kreutz) (#234) about 1760 in Burnersville, Barbour County, WV,. [The source of the orange information is an e-mail from Jim Reagor on 17 June 2009. Source of wine colored information: Reger WV Tree on ancestry.com posted by Larwvusa.The source of purple information: Decendants of Hans Jacob Rueger by Henry Koffman (Reger Family Genealogist) via Internet posting)]

Born: 22 April 1734 in Benken, Switzerland of Antoni Reger (Ruger) (#465)(and Barbara Wurtin (Wurtz) (#466)(Daughter of Elsbeth (Scholerin) Wurtz); Baptized 22 April 1734 in Benken, Canton Basel, Switzerland.

Died: Before 1803 at the age of 69 in Burnersville, Barbour County, West Virginia; About 1810 in Nr. Volga, Barbour Co., WV

 

[His siblings include:

Anthony Reigel (Antoni Reuger) (Ruger): (Married: Catherine Shook (Schock) in 1740) Born: About 1713 (according to the passenger list of the ship Virtuous Grace, he was 24 years old on September 24, 1737 of Antoni Ruger/Reger and Juditha Shaub; Baptized 8 July 1713 in Benken, Switzerland of Antoni Ruger (Reager) and Juditha Schaub. Died: 1 August 1780 in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Miscellaneous: Anthony and Catherine had six children: Jacob, John, Judith, Magdalena, Martin, and Mary.

Burghart Reigel (Burckhart Ruger)(Ruger) : Born: About 1716 (according to the passenger list of the ship Virtuous Grace, he was 21 years old on September 24, 1737) of Antoni Ruger/Reger and Juditha Shaub; Died: ?

Maria Ruger: Born: about 1730 in Palatinate, or Benken, Switzerland of Antoni Ruger and Barbara Wurtz. Died: ?] [Note: Anthony and Burghart were Hans Jacob's half brothers. They had the same father but different birth mothers.]

 

Miscellaneous:

Hans Jacob would have been 3 years old when the family arrived in America aboard the Virtuous Grace on September 21, 1737.

"The family went to a German speaking community in what is now Berks County, PA--" The original records of the Bern Reformed Church in Leesport, PA, show that Antoni and his wife were godparents of a child baptized there in 1745.

By the next year 1746, the family was in what is now Hardy County, WV on the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potamac near Mooresfield. There, Anthony (now spelled) Reager [Hans Jacob's father #465] received two land grants from Lord Fairfax: 375 acres in 1748 and 498 acres in 1749.

"Eventually, in 1760, Hans Jacob would marry Barbary (Barbara) Crites, another German immigrant. She had arrived in Philadelphia with her father, Hans Kritz (Crites) aboard the 'Osgood' in 1750. Jacob and Barbary had 11 children born in Hardy Co. (formerly Hampshire) WV and did not cross the Alleghenies into Lewis (Barbour, Upshur) Co. until near the end of the Revolutionary War. Jacob received a land grant for Big Run, Barbour(Upshur) Co. in 1781."

"The family worked, worshipped and thrived. Antoni (#465) died in 1770 leaving all of his property to his eldest son, Antony, Jr. Jacob [Hans Jacob], the youngest son, had to look elsewhere for land."

"In 1776, he [Hans Jacob] established "tomahawk" rights to land in what is now Barbour County. In 1785, Patrick Henry, Governor of Virigina, granted him 400 acres including the orginal tract of land."

"After the Revolution, he and his wife, Barbara Crites, brought their large family over the mountains to settle in the Volga area. They carried with them their large German language Bible weighing 16 pounds. Soon after their arrival, they established in their home a Sunday service of Bible reading, singing and prayer, for their own and neighboring families. That German Bible is now on display in the main entrance of Wesley Chapel. Bob, John Reger, Kyle Reger and Dean Johnson, a Reger descendant from Missouri, bought the Bible from Ben Teter and presented it to West Virginia Wesleyan College." (References used by Henry Koffman were Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the 18-century to the American Colonies, by Faust and Brumbaugh and Pennsylvania German Pioneers by Strassburger, edited by Hinke.)

"In 1777 Jacob Reger and Sam Pringle accompanied by a number of men, journeyed into Monongahela County, Virginia, at the urgent request of George Washington. This company of men selected and marked claims, then returned and filed their claims at Richmond, Va., and received titles for the same. Jacob Reger located a claim on Second Big Run, and built a cabin in 1778. This location was one quarter of a mile East of the present village of Volga, Barbour County."

"Several of these men built cabins. Reger built a cabin but could not live on his claim for seven years owing to the hostility of the Indians. In the spring of 1780, Jacob Reger with a number of men returned to their claims and cleared and planted corn and vegetables. They cultivated and fenced their gardens and corn, then returned to Wopatomaca (now Moorfield) intending to bring their families in the early fall."

"Before starting to move, a few men returned to see how their crops had fared, only to find a herd of buffalo had passed by, broke down their fences and destroyed their corn and gardens. One man by name of White, said he would have the satisfaction of killing one for eating their crops if he had to follow them into Kentucky. And he did follow them. [It was] Three days before overtaking the herd, White killed one, took the hide and a choice cut of steak and carried it all that distance to prove he had killed one of the buffaloes."

"This disaster delayed their moving until the following Summer of 1781."

"Reger built a double log house and in building it had it so arranged that with his family, they could, in case of Indian attack, make a strong defense. The rooms were made low so an Indian could not strike overhanded with their tomahawks if they got inside of the house. A line of holes were cut in the walls in building so that an enemy could be seen in any direction. These holes were all closed by blocks made to fit into them. This cabin was built about one hundred yards from the Seneca trail."

"Reger was compelled to take refuse in Bushels Fort on two or three occasions, yet was not attacked at his home."

Hans Jacob and his wife had three children, Philip Reager, Anthony Reger (Reager) (117), and one other son (name is not known). (Source: Notes of Gwen Reger, Reger Family Historian). Another source says Hans Jacob and his wife had 11 children: Anna Reger, Anthony Reger (Reager) (117), Jacob Jr. Reger, Philip Reger, John Reger, Elizabeth Reger, Abraham Reger, Barbara Reger, Mary Reger, Isaac Reger, and Catherine Reger.

 

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