Frequently Asked Questions About the Family of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr.

What else do we know about the ancestors of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr.?

Compiled by Donald Lynn "Don" Lance, June 23, 1999

Quite a bit, but there's still lots of room for research!  We can thank John Paul Lentz, Robert Lentz, Edwin C. Dodd and the many other contributors to LENTZ HERITAGE for their years of research that eventually connected into the family of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr.

In another FAQ page, I describe James Jasper's connection to his father, J4-Henry Lince.  Here I will elaborate further on the family of J-John Lentz, Sr., and what we know about his background.  This information is described as presented in LENTZ HERITAGE and other noted sources.  I only give a general presentation of the information here; for more details, please refer to the cited source.

J-John Lentz, Sr., was one of four Lentz brothers that settled in the Carolinas in the late 1700's

J-John Lentz, Sr. was supposedly one of four Lentz brothers that settled in the early Carolinas.  John Paul Lentz states this as a legend that has been heard for a long time in North Carolina as regards to Rowan County.  As evidence, LENTZ HERITAGE notes that the earliest Lentz people in the Carolinas have been traced to one of four Lentz's: J-John Lentz, Sr., P-Peter Lentz, Sr., B-Bastian Lentz, and D-Dewalt Lentz.  This was no easy task.  Brothers and first cousins named children after each other, making it very difficult to separate everyone into families as they all lived in close proximity.   This was the main accomplishment of LENTZ HERITAGE.

Additional evidence is the use of the above names (John, Peter, Bastian, Dewalt) throughout all the families.  For example, the name of "Peter" was used not only in Peter's family, but also in Dewalts', Bastian's and John's.  Names of the other "brothers" appear in the other families as well.

Thirdly, John Paul Lentz noted in LENTZ HERITAGE that 3 to 4 Lentz family reunions were held from 1912-1915 in Rowan County, North Carolina, and reported in newspaper accounts.  The reunion participants include descendents of D-Dewalt, P-Peter, and B-Bastian.  J-John's descendents are missing -- perhaps because it is believed that all his descendents moved to Tennessee between 1811 and 1815 and none remained in the Carolinas.  Obviously there was some kind of blood relationship to bring all these people together at family reunions -- maybe gatherings such as this continued to preserve the information that the four were brothers and passed it down through the generations.

Of course, all of this is not conclusive evidence that they were brothers, but it supports the legend. 

One item of conclusive evidence has been located that has linked B-Bastian and D-Dewalt Lentz as brothers.  An early deed shows B-Bastian Lentz selling land to "his brother Devalt Lentz, Sr."  Now we just need to prove that the J-John and P-Peter were brothers, and that one of them was a brother to D-Dewalt or B-Bastian.

John Paul Lentz listed several beliefs and facts in LENTZ HERITAGE, all of which would be of interest to descendents of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr.  They are presented here exactly as they were written, with clarifications and my comments in brackets []:

BELIEF NO. 1 - [Information presented in LENTZ HERITAGE] leads us to believe that Peter and John Lentz arrived from Germany and landed at Charleston, South Carolina, about 1750.

BELIEF NO. 2 - As stated by Dr. Thomas Jackson Lance ("Jack"), 1886-1980, when I visited him in 1958, "we were always told that the name Lance came from an earlier German name and was changed by the English record keepers to a more English sounding name."  He also stated that it probably happened or the change probably took place in Buncombe County [North Carolina] since their earlier ancestors in Georgia moved down there from that area. [Note to descendents of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr. - This is also the very county that James' family came from when they moved to Tennessee, and we also carry the name as "Lance."]

BELIEF NO. 3 - That these four Lentz brothers from Germany were well educated in German for the times.  Sebastian was a Captian in the Militia of Berks County, PA., a carpenter and taught at least two of his sons to be carpenters.  Dewalt (Diebolt) was a tailor and trained one son as a tailor and another as a cobbler or shoe-maker.   Both of them signed church records at Organ Church.  Bastian WILLED his 'Large Bible' to his daughter, and J2-Benjamin Lentz proved his age by his father's large Bible (Gross Bible was probably miss-read as Gross-father's Bible in the translation to English and recorded as "Grandfather's Bible".)  [Note for descendents of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr. - This Bible, supposedly the Bible of J-John Lentz, Sr., grandfather of J42-James, traveled with J2-Benjamin Lentz when he travelled to Bedford County, Tennessee.  It was used for court records in the 1830's at Shelbyville.   Is it possible that it still exists somewhere in Bedford County, Tennessee, today?   An interesting thought.  Also, records show that J-John Lentz was a blacksmith.]

BELIEF NO. 4 - From the sermon at Organ Church [in North Carolina] in 1894, and the Coats-of-Arms for Lentz in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1709, we have developed a belief that our ancestors may have originated in that province of Germany, and arrived in America 1750-1764.

FACT NO. 1 - German preachers spelled the names of members of the families of all four brothers as LENTZ... This shows members of all four Lentz brothers or their descendents spelled LENTZ on church records that were kept by people who were German and educated in German.

FACT NO. 2 - Germans are the largest ethnic minority in America.  At the height of the German migration to the Colonies, it has been estimated that they composed almost half of the population.  Even today, if Irish, English and Scots are counted separately, Germans become this nation's largest ethnic group... 60 million Americans trace all or part of their ancestry to Germany.

Clearly, J-John Lentz appears to be German and he came from Germany.   But from where?  And who were his ancestors?

A good summary of this is given by James W. Lance (B715B4) in a special article called "Beginning Genealogy - Especially for Members of the Lance, Lantz, Lentz, Lence People, Inc.".   This article was distributed at the 1997 reunion of the organization, which is composed of the descendents of the four Lentz brothers.  (If you suspect you're a descendent and you're not a member of this organization, please read more about it at the Lance-Lantz-Lentz-Lence People web site.)

James also presents a major genealogy problem currently facing Lentz family researchers, and where you can help if you have the means!

In December of 1992, a Dr. Johannes T. Schlenker, residing in Pennington, NJ, had obtained a copy of LENTZ HERITAGE (hereinafter referred to as LH) and reported to Paul, saying "Johann Sebastian Lentz of your book LH, was a son of Johann Peter (Hans Petrus) Lentz and wife Anna Magdalena, and he was born 26 Aug 1753 at the village of Postroff near Vinstingen (German) or Fenetrange (French) in what was then the Independent German State of NASSAU-SAARWORDEN (Grafschaft-Nassayu-Saarwarden).  This was caused by the territory being lost to the French in WW1, 1918, in the Departement Bas-Rhin (Nieder-Rhein) in France (former Deutsch Elsass).  P.S. A notation by the name Johann Sebastian Lentz in the village church book (Kirchenbuch) says 'Went to America in 1753.'" [Did you pay attention?  How could Johann Sebastian Lentz be born in 1753 and also go to America in 1753?  However, I've reproduced it here exactly as it was written. - Don]

After receiving this information from Dr. Schlenker, Paul, Robert, and Edwin C. Dodd (who, I think, is somehow related to us [yes, indeed, he is descended from J42-James Jasper's son J424-Henry Lance]) decided to extend their research to Europe in an effort to find information as to their native villiage of Postroff, other family members, and so on.

By March 1994, Mr. Dodd had examined a microfilm containing the baptismal record mentioned above by Schlenker.  (This film is LDS Film No. 0768146.)  In addition to the baptismal record of Johann Sebastian Lentz and the notation about him leaving for America in 1753, the film also contains a significant amount of additional information, including the baptismal record of Joh. Theobold Lentz (also known as Dewalt, or Diebolt).

No record was found on the film showing baptisms for a Peter and/or John (Sebastian's and Dewalt's two brothers, according to the old NC family legend).  This led Mr. Dodd and others to conclude that Peter and John were not brothers but possibly they were some other kin -- uncles or cousins, perhaps.  It was, as least as of 1994, Mr. Dodd's intention to examine microfilms of church records in other villages near Postroff, to see if we could discover what the kinship was between Sebastian and Dewalt on one hand and Peter and John on the other.

Until very recently, I also accepted the conclusion that the four probably were not brothers.  Then I noticed that the Postroff church records do not record a marriage date for Joh. Peter (Hans Petrus) Lentz and Anna Magdalena, who were Sebastian's and Theobold's parents.  This leads to the possibility that they were living in a different village nearby when they were married, in which case their marriage might be recorded in that other village church.  In that case, then, they could have had at least two baby boys -- Peter and John -- before moving to Postroff, where children, including Bastian and Dewalt, born in/near Postroff were baptised.

At this point, we need to do additional research in LDS films of church records in other villages around Postroff.  I have a feeling that, if we found a marriage record for the parents, we will also find baptisms for two baby boys, Peter and John.   If we do find this, then, I believe we will have convincing proof that the old family legend about the four brothers was accurate.  If my theory is proved true, these records will show that babies Peter and John were born several years before Bastian and Dewalt, and this would fit with traditional estimates here in America that Peter and John were older than Bastian and Dewalt.

The legend also said that Peter and John landed in America at Charleston, SC (we have documented proof that Bastian and Dewalt landed at Philadelphia).  We need to find record of their arriving in Charleston and something about their lives in SC before they showed up in NC.

You must not assume that looking at these microfilms is an easy task.   First, of course, they are in German.  Second, the German used is archaic; readers of modern German find it very hard, if not impossible, to read even if the handwriting is perfect.  Third, the handwriting is not only far from perfect; it is, by all accounts, absolutely atrocious.

So, if you believe you are a descendent of Peter or John, be not discouraged.   I have a strong hunch that eventually we will find proof that the old family legend of four brothers is true.

Interestingly, I (Don) noted the same information about the church records and deducted the same possible conclusions before ever reading James' article.  It is true that the church records do not list John or Peter in the family of Hans Petrus Lentz.   However, the first child listed is Bastian, baptised in 1735.  Assuming John and Peter were members of Hans' family, and since it has been estimated by researchers that John and Peter were older than Bastian (for example, research seems to indicate that J-John Lentz was born circa 1731), there would have been a record of their baptism before Bastian -- unless they were not baptised there. There is no record of the Hans Petrus family there before 1735.  And, as James noted, there was no marriage record there in Postroff of Hans and his wife Anna Magdalena Klein, and in those days children began arriving very soon (and repeatedly) after marriage.  Looking at Hans' and Anna's ages -- if they were married before J-John (their suspected oldest) they each would have been around 19 years old at marriage.  If their first child was Bastian, they would each have been around 23 years old at marriage.  Certainly their ages fit with the possibility of John's birth, as it was common to marry very young. (Indeed, it appears that J-John Lentz got married at age 19, as did J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr.)

So - it is a very real possibility that J-John's parents Hans Petrus Lentz and Anna Klein got married elsewhere, had two baby boys (John and Peter), and then moved to Postroff where Bastian, Dewalt, and the rest of his family was born.  Only more research will confirm if this really happened or not.

Go Back to Main James Jasper Lance, Sr., Genealogy Page

These Pages Were Constructed by Donald "Don" Lynn Lance (J42363241), a Descendant of J42-James Jasper Lance, Sr.
For more information on the family of James Jasper Lance Sr., visit the main web page at http://TheLances.org/roots/jamesjasper.html.
Questions regarding the content of these pages can be directed to me at info@TheLances.org, or visit my personal web site at http://TheLances.org.