Christian Nafziger b. Abt 1779 Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR d. 5 May 1836 Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: The Schrock-Birkey Connection

Christian Nafziger

Male Abt 1779 - 1836  (~ 57 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All

  • Name Christian Nafziger  [1, 2
    Birth Abt 1779  Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4, 5
    • Kirschbacherhof
      (Born 1778 in Siebeldingen, GR?—not sure the source of this.)
    Gender Male 
    Immigration 1822  Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Reference Number 83 
    Religion Amish Mennonite 
    Death 5 May 1836  Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 7
    Person ID I10349  Schrock-Birkey Connection
    Last Modified 1 Mar 2021 

    Father Christian Nafziger,   b. 1749, Steinseltz, Bas-Rhin, FR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Madeleine Güngerich,   b. Steinseltz, Bas-Rhin, FR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F745  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Maria Stalter,   b. 1786   d. 1827, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 41 years) 
    Marriage 1814  Bavaria, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [8, 9, 10
    • Near Munich
    Family ID F32  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 16 Jul 2022 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - Abt 1779 - Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1814 - Bavaria, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 5 May 1836 - Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • According to an unaccredited article in the Summer 1979 issue of the Nafzger Heritage News, Christian Nafziger “had gone after 1803 with the Stalter family to Bavaria, where he applied in vain to King Max I Josef, to whom the Stalters maintained good relations, for a tenement of a larger farm. Mr. [Hermann] Guth states that the letter can be found in the Staatsarchiv in Munich...” Christian and Maria were managing the estate of Count von Gohren at Ebersberg east of Munich when Christian left for Canada (via Amsterdam and New Orleans) in 1821. Christian made the arrangement that procured the German Block of Wilmot Township, Ontario, and returned for Maria in 1823. She emigrated with him on the Nimrod in 1826. The passenger list shows her husband age 50, and she was age 45.

      “Lived on an estate in Ebersberg District near Munich. Because of high rent on the estate, in 1821 he decided to see if he could find a better situation for himself and his family. He decided to leave his family and to travel the world alone in pursuit of this dream location. He traveled first to Amsterdam and earned enough money to continue to New Orleans, arriving in January, 1822. He then traveled by foot through the southern states to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. After accumulating additional funds, he traveled north Waterloo, Ontario. There, he convinced the governor to give him and his countrymen a tract of land west of Waterloo if his council would approve it. Christian returned to New York and sailed to London. There, he met with the King of England and repeated his request. The King granted Christian and his countrymen each 50 acres of land west of Waterloo in order to encourage them to emigrate. He returned home, collected his family and friends, and with little money, but with the help of friends in Canada, they emigrated to Ontario via Philadelphia, arriving in October, 1826. Christian took possession of his 50 acres, built a home and began his life in his new country near modern Kitchener, Ontario. However, before he was finished with his new homestead, his wife Maria Stalter Nafziger died (1827). Christian died in 1836. An Ontario Heritage Foundation commemorative plaque erected at Baden in the county of Waterloo reads: "In 1822 Christian Nafziger, an Amish Mennonite from Munich, Germany, came to Upper Canada to find land on which to settle some 70 German families. With the assistance of a group of Mennonites headed by Jacob Erb, who had settled nearby, a petition was made to the government for land here in present-day Wilmot Township. Surveyed two years later by John Groessman, this "German Block" was peopled primarily by Amish from Europe. In 1824-25 Bishop John Stoltzfus of Pennsylvania organized the first congregation and ordained as ministers John Brenneman and Joseph Goldschmidt. Services were held in the homes of members until 1884 when a simple frame meeting house, which served until 1946, was erected near this site."

      “The following biography of Christian Nafziger appeared as an obituary in the publication Canada Museum in Berlin, Waterloo Township, Ontario, Canada, on 5 May 1836.
      "Mr. Nafziger was born in the Palatinate in the year 1776, and later lived on a leased estate near Munich; but the extremely high rent caused him to use up so much of his savings that he saw no way before him to improve his situation there, so in the summer of 1821 he decided to try and see if something better was not in store for him in a distant land; following this, he took leave of his dearly beloved family, took up his staff and travelled alone into the wide world, without knowing where the journey would take him. He came to Amsterdam, where his upright conduct and his honest statements earned him the favor of Mr. von Eeghen, who gave him a bill of exchange for 50 dollars, drawn on Mssrs. Vincent Nolte and Company, New Orleans, where he arrived in January, 1822. After paying for his passage, he had 10 dollars left, and Mr. Nolte gave him ten dollars more, with which he journeyed on foot into the country, through the southern states to Philadelphia and Lancaster County. There he was given, as a gift, traveling money and an old horse, with which he came here to our dear Upper Canada in August 1822. Here he went to the governor and asked him for a piece of land. He [the governor] was willing, and promised him, for himself and his fellow countrymen, the tract of land west of Waterloo (which today is Wilmot), if his council would agree to it. Now, Mr. Nafziger was heartily glad about his good prospects for getting his own home; his only worry was how to get his family here; but advice and help for this problem as well were soon found in that charitable people in Waterloo gave him traveling money to return to his old home country. He began his journey immediately, went via New York to London, where he went to see the King, to whom he had told his story with an innocent heart and repeated his request for land, whereupon his Majesty most graciously granted 50 acres to him and to each of his fellow countrymen who would follow him, put a couple of pieces of money into his hand, and wished him a good journey, which he did continue, and arrived safely at the home of his family, finding them in good health. A short time later he wrote to his friends in Canada, describing with melancholy his sad situation and telling them that his sole but firm hope lay in trusting the dear Lord, who would certainly help him now again, as he had done so lovingly up to now. As soon as his letter arrived here, several friends offered at once to advance him the necessary money for his trip and to send it to Philadelphia, so that when he arrived there the money for his passage would be waiting for him. No sooner said than done.This news gladdened his noble German heart anew, and he started out immediately in the spring of 1826 with his family and many of his countrymen. His earlier friends in Amsterdam, on being shown the letter from Waterloo, gave a guarantee for payment of his ship passage; the journey was good, and soon our traveller landed with his party in Philadelphia, where he found the travel money which had been promised and experienced again that "whoever puts his trust in God will not be forsaken." He experienced this even further, for completely unexpectedly he got to know people from Bucks County in Pennsylvania who took him and his family home with them and gave him, as a gift, travel money and a wagon and team, which then with the continuing help of God brought him and his family, consisting of his wife, three sons and two daughters, here, where he arrived safely, with great joy, in October 1826. In the following year he took possession of his gift of land in Wilmot, cleared it, and built himself a home, but before he was completely finished, he had to experience that home here is not a lasting one, when his wife was taken to another eternal and better one, to which he now, as just reported, has followed her. Through his upright and virtuous way of life, the deceased won many friends and we hope and wish that his children and grandchildren will follow his example in all of his virtues."

      Christian and Maria had the following children: Catharina, Jacobina, Christian Jr., Johannes, and Josef.”

      “Nafziger's obituary should not be taken literally. It is written as a Christian pilgrimage story to demonstrate the rewards of an upright life, a style that was popular at the time. The parable of the sower from Matthew 13:18-23: "As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case as hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." [7, 11]

  • Sources 
    1. [S40] Hermann Guth, Amish Mennonites in Germany: Their Congregations, The Estates Where They Lived, Their Families (English edition), (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA).

    2. [S1201] Our Geno: Bauer, Nafziger, Lind, See this source for much information about Christian’s life.

    3. [S547] Gary Yordy, Yordy Family information, Rheinbayern, Germany.

    4. [S615] Heinrich Stalter History.

    5. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co., 1776 (per obituary).

    6. [S810] Descendants of Johannes Stalter, Place.

    7. [S547] Gary Yordy, Yordy Family information.

    8. [S40] Hermann Guth, Amish Mennonites in Germany: Their Congregations, The Estates Where They Lived, Their Families (English edition), (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA), 1814.

    9. [S208] ?, Stalter Genealogie-Johannes and Heinrich, sons of Johannes (b. abt 1690), 1814.

    10. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co., Gives year as 1810.

    11. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co.


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