Kolb-Kulp-Culp Family Reunion

Kulp Reunion Newsletter 2026-04 22 April 2026

“The Entire History of German Immigration to America” Video on YouTube

Hi KKC Extended Family,

I was trying to figure out what to write about this month, but Scott Lingle saved me by sending me a link to a YouTube video, “The Entire History of German Immigration to America.”

I am usually skeptical about these videos, as the AI graphics tend not be accurate. But since Scott is a history teacher, I watched it, and the video did not disappoint. It is only 15 minutes long, but it crams a lot of information into that short time span. It definitely provides topics for future research. Here is the link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuWDpe-jp_8

It is a good reminder that many German speaking immigrants came after the first wave in the late 1600s and early to mid-1700s, and the impact all Germans had on the United States and its culture.

The video’s synopsis reads:

“Over 45 million Americans have German ancestry — making it the largest ancestry group in the United States. More than Irish. More than Italian. More than English. But most of those 45 million people know almost nothing about where their family actually came from. Not because the history isn't there. But because someone buried it.

“In this video we trace the complete history of German immigration to America — from the first thirteen families who crossed the Atlantic on the Concord in 1683 and built Germantown, Pennsylvania, through the redemptioner ships, the revolutionary Forty-Eighters, the German Civil War regiments, all the way to the systematic cultural erasure of World War I that silenced an entire community within a single generation. And we look at what DNA testing is revealing now — including why so many German Americans are finding French, Polish, Czech, and Scandinavian ancestry in their results, and what it means for families who thought they knew exactly where they came from.

“If you have German roots, Pennsylvanian Dutch ancestry, Midwest German heritage, or a family name that was changed somewhere along the way — this video is for you.”

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Working on the bulletin to go out sometime about mid-May. For those receiving it via email, I will print enough copies to give out at the reunion.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on June 14th!!

Jack Oberholtzer ([email protected]) 215-534-0194
Secretary, Kolb, Kulp, Culp Family Association https://kolb-kulp-culp.org

The Kolb-Kulp-Culp Family Association | A Genealogical History Welcome to the Kolb-Kulp-Culp Family Association! Based in southeastern Pennsylvania, we celebrate all of the Kolbs, Kulps and Culps, and other variations, who left the Palatinate and other regions of greater Germany to come to America. This Year's Reunion Will Be Held on June 14, 2026!

Kulp Reunion Newsletter 2026-03 19 March 2026

Rev. George Whitefield

Hi KKC Extended Family,

When the Rev. George Bechtel "returns" to the 21st Century to attend the 2026 Kolb-Kulp-Culp Reunion, one of the 18thCentury experiences George might share is hearing the English evangelist Rev. George Whitfield preach during his visit to Skippack in 1740.

So, who was George Whitefield? Why is Sight and Sound Films, based in Lancaster, releasing a film featuring him in A Great Awakening, starting April 2nd in selected theaters for a limited time near you?! Please see my brief write-up below…

Looking forward to seeing everyone on June 14th!!

Jack Oberholtzer ([email protected]) 215-534-0194
Secretary, Kolb, Kulp, Culp Family Association https://kolb-kulp-culp.org

Rev. George Whitefield (1714-1770)

George Whitefield was born in 1714 in Gloucester, England, the youngest son and seventh child of Thomas and Elizabeth Whitefield, owners of the Bell Inn and Bell Hotel on Southgate Street. Unfortunately, his father died when he was two years old and, while growing up, had to help his mother with the inn.

George attended the St. Mary De Crypt School of Gloucester. Even at a young age, he found a bit of the theatrical bug in him and became known for his elocution and memory. He was often selected to recite speeches before the Corporation of Gloucester at their annual visitation to the school. But his mother struggled to run the inn, so he had to leave school for a time to help her. Because of this background, he was used to serving others.

He was not religious at all growing up, in fact, George was known for his wild behavior. But later in his youth, he visited an older brother in Bristol and attended St. Johns Church. There, he had a sense of God’s presence over him.

Normally, a man of his lower-class background would not have the means to attend Oxford. However, he was able to attend the university as a servitor, basically a servant to the upper-class noblemen. He was then granted free tuition and able to attend college and pursue a degree, but could not initiate a conversation with any of the students in the upper-class.

Prior to him entering the Pembroke College of Oxford, he had no religious convictions. But once there, he became acquainted with John and Charles Wesley and a group of like-minded men to whom the name “Methodists” were applied on account of their strict “method” of living.

George became a member of their “Holy Club”, which started each day at 5:00 a.m. with an hour of prayer, followed by several hours of community service. After this, there was plenty of time to do serve his fellows at the college. John Wesley lent him many books to read, including Henry Scougal’s, The Life of God and the Soul of Man, written in 17thcentury, which contrasts real and nominal Christianity. That book led to his spiritual conversion, believing man should be “born again” of the Holy Spirit and should do good works, not to be saved, but because he had already been graciously and undeservedly saved by God. Thus, he began to pursue a Calvinist theology.

At the age of twenty-two, upon graduation from Oxford, Whitefield was ordained as a deacon by Bishop Benson of Gloucester, on Trinity Sunday, 26 March 1736. He preached his first sermon a week later at his home church in Gloucester. The Church of England did not assign him to a church so he began preaching in parks and fields on his own, reaching out to people who normally did not attend church. Beginning in late 1737, he spent a year in the Georgia colony at the behest of the Wesleys. But once back in England in late 1738, he found the bulk of the clergy were no longer favorable to him, and regarded him with suspicion as an enthusiast and fanatic.

As opportunities to preach within the Church of England diminished, he adopted a system of open-air preaching, resolving to go out after them, “into the highways and hedges.” One day, he went to Hanham Mount, near Bristol, England, where standing on a hill, began to preach about Matthew 5:1-3 to the coal miners there. The crowd was estimated to be 23,000 people. He continued to preach there in the open, and over the next two months, hundreds were converted to Christianity.

On 27 April 1739, he began open-air preaching in London. He had gone to Islington to preach for his friend, Vicar Stonehouse. But because he did not have license to preach in London, he was forbidden by church wardens to preach in the pulpit. So, he preached in the court yard to a large group. Two days later, he preached in Moorfields to another “great multitude.” Thus began his field preaching, even persuading John Wesley to adopt it.

In 1739, George went on an extensive preaching tour in America. Starting in Philadelphia, he traveled among the colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia. Bejamin Franklin had read about him in the London papers, and published in his Philadelphia Gazette that George Whitefield was coming. Franklin even published some of Whitefield’s writings and sermons in his newspapers, so the people knew who Whitefield was, a young 25-year-old upstart preacher delivering sermons to thousands of people at a time.

When Whitefield spoke in Philadelphia at the old courthouse at Second and Market Streets, it was estimated his booming voice was heard by 20,000 people. Franklin was skeptical and measured it off. His estimate was that 30,000 could hear him! In Boston, 20,000 heard him and the city’s population at the time was only17,000.

In 1740, George Whitefield visited and preached to the Mennonites in Southeastern Pennsylvania, with several thousand attending. During this visit after preaching in areas like Skippack, he recorded his impressions of their simplicity.

So, Whitefield preached up and down the colonies in what was later known as, “The First Great Awakening.” It brought many people into the church across many different denominations.

Whitefield was well-traveled across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, having been seen by a very large portion of the British population. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean thirteen times and visited all of the colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia. So many people had a “Whitefield experience,” that it is estimated ¾ of the American population saw him in person. He kept a rigorous schedule, giving as many as thirteen sermons a week, at least 18,000 sermons in his career!

In 1769, he returned to the colonies for the seventh time, first traveling to Savannah, Georgia, to check on the Bethesda Orphanage he helped established in 1740. He then traveled up the coast to Maine, and gave his last sermon in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he climbed atop a barrel to speak. Attendees thought they saw the Holy Spirit appear to descend upon him as he preached for hours. He then then traveled to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he was welcomed and stayed with his close friend, Jonathan Parsons, pastor of the Old South Presbyterian Church.

While sleeping that night in the parsonage, he passed away on 30 September 1770, at the age of 56. Both he and Parsons are buried beneath the pulpit of that church.

Geroge Whitefield was probably the biggest celebrity in his day, greater than anyone else would be today in American culture. Historians refer to him as “America’s Spiritual Founding Father.”

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDIHSeYQluI
https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/george-whitefield/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield
https://www.sight-sound.com/films/a-great-awakening

Kulp Reunion Newsletter 2025-12 – “Pennsylvania German Passenger Lists” 24 December 2025

Hi KKC Extended Family,

I want to thank Gail Kulp Kogut for this month’s newsletter topic. A few weeks ago, she had sent me a video link about the Pennsylvania German Passenger Lists 1727-1808: A Users Guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBIXlvmLBwI made by the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Even if you have researched your ancestor in these lists, it is an excellent video, well worth the 45 minutes of your time to look at it. To quickly summarize:

It describes the founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn, and how he recruited those in the greater German region to settle there. The narrator describes the Palatinate and some of the conditions that drove them to leave, such as famine, overpopulation, war, religious persecution, high taxes and compulsory military service. Pennsylvania offered them cheap and fertile land, religious toleration, low taxes and freedom from conscription or military service. But to uproot their lives and homes and restart again in an unsettled frontier was a daunting task.

There were many challenges and hazards faced during the journey, which would take months and be very expensive. Groups would often be guided by someone who had made the journey before (Newlanders). It would take several weeks just to sail down the Rhine, because there were at least 27 tolls controlled by the many different German states between the Swiss border and Rotterdam. From there, they might have to wait weeks for a small British ship to carry them, first to land in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, by British law, and then make to 7 to 8-week ocean voyage to Philadelphia.

Between 1683 and 1775, between 84,000 and 130,000 German and German-speakers would come to America. Germantown was founded in 1683 and served as an anchor for these immigrants, before they moved to other parts of the region. These large numbers concerned authorities, fearing the colony would become de-facto German, and by 1750, nearly 40% of Pennsylvania was German.

Between 1727 and 1808, the Province and later Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created lists of all foreign settlers who landed at the port of Philadelphia. These lists are the finest collection of passenger records in existence for Colonial America. Other colonies had similar requirements, but they were only halfheartedly fulfilled or just ignored.

In 1727, it was required that ship captains keep a record of all foreigners arriving in Philadelphia. These Captain’s Lists are also known as “A lists”, and might include all names in a family. They were also required to swear an oath of loyalty and fidelity to the British Crown and the Proprietor of Pennsylvania. These Oaths of Allegiance are known as “B lists”.

In 1729, an additional law required all male passengers, over the age of sixteen, to take the oath and an additional oath forswearing the authority of the Pope and the Stuarts (an exiled family of former British rulers). These Oaths of Abjuration are known as “C Lists”. After the Revolution, the oaths were to Pennsylvania or the United States. The lists ended in 1808 when new Federal control over naturalization took over and there was a decrease in immigration, due to wars in Europe. B and C lists may not include the names of women and children.

While these lists have been published in many places, the definitive version is the book series by Ralph Beaver Strassburger. The series has three volumes: Volume One contains lists from 1727-1775; Volume Two contains lists from 1776 to 1808 and the Handwriting Facsimiles; Volume Three is the Index Book.

These volumes can be accessed online through the Internet Archive.

Pennsylvania German pioneers: a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808 by Strassburger:

• Volume One https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniagerm42stra/mode/2up
• Volume Two https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniagerm43stra
• Volume Three: https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniagerm44stra/mode/2up

However, these immigration records should be considered far from complete.

The narrator also gave some examples of how to search for an ancestor and used handwriting comparison to find a specific person. He mentioned looking at others on the ship and neighbors upon settlement was also important, as many traveled in groups that stayed together after their arrival.

There is also a downloadable handout with an extensive bibliography. The Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center also has many other videos and genealogical resources https://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy.

I hope you find the video helpful in understanding the journey and finding genealogical information. In our modern era 300 years hence, it is often difficult to imagine just how everyday life was, let alone taking everything with you to another foreign land and the difficulties it entailed.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jack Oberholtzer
Secretary, Kolb, Kulp, Culp Family Association

P.S. Be sure to follow the website (http://kolb-kulp-culp.org) and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Kolb-Kulp-Culp-Family-Reunion-111440337655136 )

Kulp Reunion Newsletter 2025-11a – “The Immigrants, Part 3 of 4” 8 November 2025

Hi KKC Extended Family,

The following section, “The Immigrants” written by Avery Kolb, appeared in Mary Francis Beasley’s Culp and Related Families published in 1986. The sections she used describing the background of the Kolb family were taken from first revised draft 1978 of Avery E. Kolb ‘s book: Kolb Families and Relatives in the South – Johannes Kolb and Sons Progenitors of Southern Families.

I hope you find this interesting, but it is rather lengthy, so I will be sending this out over the next few weeks in four parts.

Jack Oberholtzer
Secretary, Kolb, Kulp, Culp Family Association

P.S. Be sure to follow the website (http://kolb-kulp-culp.org) and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Kolb-Kulp-Culp-Family-Reunion-111440337655136 )


The Immigrants (Part 3 of 4)

Among the original Palatines in Pennsylvania, fair records were kept in heavy-cover old German bibles and in records of the church. The relations of these people have been well documented in Mennonite histories and in the work of Daniel Kolb Cassel who in 1895 found most of the descendants of the names still living in Pennsylvania and its neighboring states. The families of the latter work comprise what has come to be known as the Northern Branch of the Kolb Family.

All the problems of establishing homes, schools and churches in the new land faced these early settlers. Martin Kolb was one of those in 1708 who signed a letter to Amsterdam presenting “a loving and friendly request for some catechisms for the children and little testaments for the young.” They explained that the country was still weak and that “it would cost them much money to get them printed, while the members who came here from Germany have spent everything and must begin anew, and all work to pay for the conveniences of life of which they stand in need.”

Another request in 1745, by Martin and Dielman, asked that the “Bloedigh Tooniel” (Martyr’s Mirror) be translated from Dutch into German for use by the colonists. When the request was turned down, the community got the Dunkards, who had a hand press and paper mill in Ephrata in Lancaster County, to print the work. It took years and the labors of fifteen men to translate and print “a true history of Christians put to death from the time of the Apostles to the year 1660.” The book consisted of some 1500 pages.

But while the communities gained in self-sufficiency, the Mennonites were torn by internal strife over doctrines of the church, so that their history is one of various sects splitting iff over such matters as the manner of baptism, the correct day for the Sabbath even over the proper clothes to be work and tools to be used. Many were conservative and wished to hold to old ways while others wished to press ahead with new ideas and reforms aimed at liberalizing the old restrictive codes. The Kolbs were generally of the latte group, and we read that on April 289, 1749 because on John Philip Bocher died without having been sick, so no minister could be secured to deliver his funeral sermon.

The death was seen as an act of God’s wrath and none of the doctrinaire ministers would give the man’s body final blessing. Then Martin Kolb came forth to perform the service for the family. This was seen as such a kind act by one of the Dunkard pastors of Germantown that he wrote: “When such circumstances take place, not of necessity but out of love, then all jealousy, sectarianism, and the like would take an end.”

Other circumstances of the frontier tended to induce these early settlers to give up their doctrines of non-violence. On May 10,1728 inhabitants of Calebrook Dale petitioned Governor Gordon, praying for relief against what they suffered, and were likely to suffer, from the Indians who had fallen upon the back inhabitants of Faulkners Schivamm and Goshenhoppen. The Pennsylvania Archives which report this matter (Vol. I, p. 213) lists Martin Kolb among the forty-five petitioners.

To be continued with Part 4…..