52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 30

 Week 30:

The theme for Week 30 is “Religious Traditions.” Have you explored religious records for any of your ancestors? Do you have an ancestor who was active in his/her place of worship?

I am the only practicing Catholic in my family. My mom comes from a long line of Protestants and United Methodists. When she married my father they agreed that their children would be baptized into the Catholic Church. 

Despite that agreement, we didn’t attend Catholic Mass while I was growing up. Instead, we found ourselves in various Methodist congregations throughout the years. It wasn’t until I turned 20 that I made the personal decision to be Confirmed in the Catholic Church—a step that marked the beginning of my own faith journey.

Anthony / Antoni Achenbach 

Born: 15 September 1749 Dorf Eisen Eisendorf, Schleswig Holstein, Allemagne, Germany

Died: 09 March 1813 Mannheim Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

5th great-granduncle 

Anthony Achenbach, my 5th great-granduncle, was born on September 15, 1749. He and his family settled into Pennsylvania Dutch country. Anthony as raised as a Mennonite, which was a common religion in the area. 

Today “Anabaptist” describes a family of faith that includes Amish, Brethren in Christ, Church of the Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Aspects of Anabaptist thinking and practice now appear in many Christian traditions, with some Anabaptist-interested folks calling themselves “Anabaptish.”

Mennonites got their particular name from Menno Simons, an early Dutch leader. Menno was a Catholic priest that became disillusioned with the church. 

The Mennonite faith is grounded in key principles such as nonviolence, voluntary church membership, believer’s baptism, and a commitment to Christ’s teaching to love one’s enemies. These convictions were costly—many early Anabaptists were executed for practicing them.

In Colonial America, Mennonites stood apart from other Pennsylvania Germans in several significant ways. They opposed the American Revolutionary War, while many of their German neighbors fought on both sides. They resisted public education, preferring to teach their children within their own communities. And they were cautious about religious revivalism, which was gaining popularity at the time. Despite being a minority, Mennonites made lasting contributions to American ideals, including advocating for the separation of church and state and taking an early stand against slavery.

Later in life, Anthony appears in the records of the Swamp Reformed Church (also known as Little Cocalico), a Reformed Lutheran congregation. He is listed as a baptismal sponsor, which may indicate that a child or grandchild had left the Mennonite tradition. His involvement suggests that Anthony remained supportive of his family’s choices, even when they diverged from his own faith heritage.

Anthony passed away on 09 March 1813 and is buried in Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery which is located in Friedensburg, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.