Eichlin

Variations -  Eichline, Eichling, Eiglin, Eigglin, Eigling, Eichelen, Eukling, Eichley, Eychelen, Eigel, Achling and others

Written by Rich Henninger
Copyright 2004 - 2006

The story of the Eichlin family in America begins with the arrival in Philadelphia of the ship “Pennsylvania Merchant” on September 10, 1731. On board that day was Hans Adam Eichelen, his wife Maria Barbara (Wollschlager) age 28, and a child Johann George age 4. Several months earlier they had left Weisenheim am Sand and Freinsheim, Bayern-Pflatz, Germany to begin a new life in America. They would have made the usual journey up the Rhine to Rotterdam where they would be among the 175 passengers to board the Pennsylvania Merchant. Once in America Hans Adam and his wife would settle a farm in Philadelphia County in an area that would become Montgomery County in 1784. As for the child Johann George I could find no further mention. Did he die on the voyage, or after arrival in America, or did he simply go undocumented after arriving here, having lived a full life? The answer may never be known. On June 28, 1752 Hans Adam is elected a church elder at New Goshenhoppen Church, which was located in present day Montgomery County. Records of some of the births and baptisms of their children can be found in the records of Goshenhoppen Church. Also described in Church records is the marriage of daughter Barbara who wed Christopher Fehr November 1, 1757 in a ceremony that took place in the home of Hans Adam and Maria Barbara Eichlin.

Hans Adam and Maria Barbara would have several children after settling in America. Among those known to this researcher are two sons and three daughters. In the records of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (these records reference Goshenhoppen parishioners) one can find opinions offered by a pastor on the character and intelligence of his young parishioners upon their confirmation. Anna Maria Eichlin, a daughter of Adam and Barbara, at age 15 was described as “slow, mediocre in knowledge, good habits”. Son Leonard Eichlin at age 20 was described simply as “slow”. Regardless of one pastor’s opinion in 1753, later generations of this family would become highly educated and successful in an era when continued adult education was rare by comparison to today. As for son George Karl (Charles), of which this researcher is most interested, no comments were made. Some of Adam’s descendants would eventually move northeast into Bucks and Northampton Counties and east across the Delaware River into Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

George Karl (Charles) Eichlin (1735 - 1816) is found through tax records in Durham Township, Bucks County in 1785. Durham Township lies east north east of, and borders Hanover Township, Montgomery County, which is where the Goshenhoppen Church was located. By now he is commonly using the name Charles. He owns a 168-acre farm in Durham and is also taxed for 4 horses and 4 cattle. At this time it appears he is a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in neighboring Springfield Township, Bucks County. Exactly when Charles moved to Bucks County I am not certain. It appears to have been between 1767 and 1773. His children born between the years 1762 and 1767 were born in Franconia Township, Philadelphia County. Daughter Elizabeth (b. 1773) appears to have been born in Bucks County as her baptism occurred at Trinity Lutheran in April of that year. When Charles’s will is executed in 1817 his estate is only 43 acres. He requests that his property be sold and the proceeds be divided equally among all of his children except three sons. To those sons, whom he specifies as Andrew, John, and Leon, he asks they be given £40 each. Charles was buried in Trinity Union Church Cemetery in Springfield Township. His grave is designated to have a flag and so it is thought that Charles served in the Revolutionary War. What little is known of Charles raises just as many questions. Why did he wish his sons to receive only £40? Why had is estate shrunk from 168 acres in 1785 to 43 acres in 1817? These are questions that require further research. One other mystery I didn't understand is why Karl started going by the name Charles. I subsequently learned that Karl is a German form of Charles.

Charles’s son John Eichlin (1764 - 1851) is the subject of much concern to the Northampton County, Pennsylvania and Hunterdon County, New Jersey Eichlin descendants. John was the forefather to the Hunterdon County Eichlin’s. In the 1800 census John is residing in Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is thought that soon thereafter he moved his family to Alexandria Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. His brother Leonard Eichlin (1779 – 1845) moved his family to Tinicum, Bucks County, Pennsylvania about 1820. Leonard is the forefather to the Tinicum area Bucks County Eichlin’s. Tinicum is directly across the Delaware River from Alexandria Township and the town of Frenchtown. One could easily speculate that Leonard learned of opportunities in Tinicum from his brother John. For the next several generations the Eichlin’s of Tinicum, Frenchtown, and surrounding communities would remain closely associated. John and his wife Sarah are buried in Durham Cemetery. His son John (1797-1861), who resided in neighboring Williams Township at the time of his father's death, probably chose the final resting place. Many Williams Township residents attended and were members of nearby Durham Church, which was located just across the southern border of Williams. A third son of Charles, John Andrew Eichling, settled for a time in Hamilton Township in the extreme northern part of what was then Northampton county. That part of Northampton County became Monroe County in 1836. There are baptisnmal records for his children at Hamilton Square Lutheran Church. John Andrew moved his family to Beaver County, PA about 1813. He used, and his descendants to this day use, the spelling Eichling.

John Eichlin (1797 – 1861) was born in Springfield Township, Bucks County the son of the aforementioned John. He would move with his father to Hunterdon County and spend his young adult life there. He would meet and marry Catherine Fraley about 1820 and then sometime thereafter move to Williams Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He began to farm and raise a very large family. John would be the forefather to the Northampton County Eichlin’s, including those who would settle in Easton, Forks Township, Williams Township, and Palmer Township. This branch of the Eichlin family would take full advantage of the cultural and educational opportunities offered by the Easton area and produce some highly educated and successful people including:

Charles Edwin Eichlin (1863-1943) – Superintendent of Palmer Township Schools

Robert Eichlin (1865-1937) – Graduate Eastman Business College, Easton School Director

Henry F. Eichlin (1883-1965) – Music Teacher and Composer

Dr. Edwin Elsworth Eichlin (1884-1971) – Optometrist in the Easton area

Herbert H. Eichlin (1890-1981) – Graduated Lafayette College, Teacher of Music at Easton High School and others

Charles Garfield Eichlin (1893-1942) – Head of Physics at the University of Maryland

Arthur S. Eichlin (1895-1957) – Chief Chemist at Marshall Field Laboratory

Dr. Edwin Elsworth Eichlin, Jr. (1915-1996) – Optometrist in Easton

Maj. Herbert H. Eichlin (1917-1944) – West Point Graduate, Died in WWII at Bataan (see Military section)

Charles Garfield Eichlin, Jr. (b.1926) – Degree from Pratt Institute of Washington, D.C.

Arthur Eichlin (b. 1935) – Graduate of Northwestern University and USC, Served in U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Unit

Thomas Drake Eichlin, PhD. (b.1938) – Auburn University, Emeritus - Biologist/Entomologist for California Department of Food and Agriculture, also a published author

There appears to be a lengthy history of Eichlin’s with an interest and talent in music which continues to this day. The earliest musician I could find was Henry F. Eichlin (1883-1965). Henry was a well known music teacher and composer of organ music in Easton. He studied organ under the world famous organist Dr. William C. Carl of the Guilmant Organ School in Manhattan, NYC. Henry was for many years the organist at St. John's Lutheran church in Easton. Henry would have a son Henry C. Eichlin (1915-1952) who no doubt learned a great deal from his father. He would become talented at several instruments and go on to play french horn with the Easton Symphony Orchestra, trumpet with Brown and Lynch American Legion Band, and become leader of the Moravian Trombone Choir. Henry C. Eichlin would have a son Robert H. Eichlin. Robert attended Lafayette College and the U.S. Air Force Band School, including four years service as trombonist and bassist with the Air Force Band. An active musician for more than 52 years; he has performed as bassist with the Shreveport Louisiana Symphony Orchestra, and as trombonist or bassist with several traveling swing bands, recently including the “Bob Crosby Orchestra”, backing many prominent headline entertainers. For 32 years he was in the pit orchestra for local musical theater, and for 28 years with Parke Frankenfield’s “Cavalcade Of Nostalgia” big swing band and the “Debonaires” vocal group. In 1983 he formed and directs the popular “High Society Ragtime Band”. Currently he plays tuba in his “Half-Fast Dixieland Band”, “Brasstissimo” brass quintet, and as principle tubaist with the “Whitehouse Wind Symphony”. Recent years he worked with notable arranger Bob Lowden (“One Hundred And One Strings”) as copyist/arranger for the “Pennsy Pops” and “Ocean City Pops” Orchestras. He serves as adjudicator for local middle through high school stage band competitions. A retired electronics design engineer and technical sales representative, currently he arranges and self-publishes music for brass quintets, flute ensembles, and ‘old-time’ small brass bands. He is also a member of ‘Windjammers Unlimited’ circus band preservation.

Next we skip a generation and move on to Robert's grandchildren Michael and Alec Henninger. Michael is a graduate of West Chester University and has always had a strong interest and talent in music. A trombonist in high school marching band and jazz band, Michael’s focus since graduating from college has been primarily on composing for film and media. Michael uses the latest digital technology combined with a generous dose of his natural creativity to compose varying styles of music from beautiful dreamy melodic sequences to passages that will set the mood for the scariest horror film. He has been the composer for all original scores for a group of short films produced by Breaking and Entering Productions. His music has received very good reviews where B&E have entered their films into amateur film festivals/contests. You can hear samples of his work and view the short films here (High Speed Connection Recommended). Additionally he has been the voice of some of the characters in B&E's series of animated shorts "The Ani Show".

Alec Henninger can be seen around northeast Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley performing with the rock band Sold Short, though his musical interests cover a wider variety of genres. He is becoming proficient in digital recording technologies and is currently (2006) attending Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA in their Music Industry degree program.

Sources for this article:
Rich Henninger – conclusions reached through my own research and first hand knowledge
http://www.palproject.org/pa/1731pmer.htm - Passenger list for the Pennsylvania Merchant, 1731
http://home.cfl.rr.com/bfair/Christoph.htm - The marriage of Christopher Fehr and Barbara Eichlin
Rev. O.F. Wage, First Church Record of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Red Hill, PA – Church records at the Marx Room, Easton Public Library, pages 3, 125, and 126
http://metzgerclan.tripod.com/jonas.htm  - miscellaneous source info
Early Pennsylvania Reformed Church and Cemetery Records – by Ruth Allen
Closson Press, 1992 - ISBN 1-55856-091-2. From my personal collection and also available at the Marx Room in the Easton Library.
Old Graveyards of Northampton and Adjacent Counties - 1899, Vol. II - by John Eyerman
From my personal collection and also available at the Marx Room in the Easton Library.
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=:2781118 - genealogy research of Douglas R. Fraley
LCDR Frederick S. Ealer, People A History of the Ealer Family, (Schlechter's 128-130 North Law Street Allentown, Pennsylvania.)
http://www.oryokumaruonline.org/about.html - Details on the prison ship Oryoku Maru sunk in Subic Bay, Philippines
http://www.oryokumaruonline.org/e.html - Herbert Eichlin’s name and address
Interview with Marion (Drake) Rice on 12/24/03 – discussion about Herbert Eichlin, Jr.
Various Census Data – census data for various years in Bucks Co., PA, Northampton Co., PA, Hunterdon Co., NJ
http://defender.west-point.org/service/gradphp/display/1,1142,usma1939:alpha:E,00.html - West Point Graduates
Interview with Lauri (Eichlin) Henninger – information on Robert Eichlin
Mini Bio Sketch - Robert H. Eichlin – autobiographical information provided by Robert Eichlin
Paul Eichling [pwe@crosstel.net]- series of e-mail exchanges in August 2006 providing information on John Andrew Eichling and his children.

This article was edited to include new/updated information on 1/14/2006 and 8/7/2006.

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