Kern
Adam KERN (1671-1736)
possible ancestor
Adam KERN (1671-1736) and his wife Maria Barbara MICHEL (1691-1764) were born, lived and died in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. They had three sons, who emigrated to America.
Coat of Arms of Rheinland Pfalz
1 Adam KERN b: 1671 in Konken, Germany, d: 1736 in Germany
+ Maria Barbara MICHEL b: 05 Oct 1691 in South Mainz,Zornheim, Germany, m: 1736 in Germany, d: 1764 in Germany
...2 Leonard KERN b: Abt. 1730 in Konken, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, d: 1819 in Washington, IN
+ Anna Margaretha SCHMIDT b: 1740, m: 27 Apr 1756 in Swatara, Dauphin, PA d: 1780
+ Katherine b: 1745 in Rowan, NC, m: 1781, d: 1834 in Washington, IN
...2 John KERN b: 1734 in Rowan, NC, d: 25 Jun 1818 in Rowan, NC
+ Catharine
...2 Conrod KERN b: 1736 in Rhine, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, d: Nov 1812 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC
+ Mary Magdalene BILLINGS b: 1745 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC, m: 1758 in Rowan, NC, d: 1803 in Rowan, NC
I suspect that the 1736 marriage date for Adam and Maria is incorrect, since their children were born about 1730, 1734 and 1736.
Note: There was another Adam KERN, who immigrated in 1727 or 1731, and settled in Virginia. The town of Kernstown, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, was built on land that had belonged to this Adam KERN. Many of his descendants remained in Virginia, and I don't know if they are related to the KERN family described on this page. They do not seem to be members of a Dunkard church. See "Places Near the Mountains [Botetourt and Roanoke Counties, Virginia]", page 304. A copy of the page is posted here.
The MICHEL and BILLINGS ancestries will be described on separate pages.
Dunkards
The KERN (KERNS, KARN, KARNS, CARNES) family were members of the sect of German Baptists known as Dunkards, so called because of their baptismal rituals. Other Dunkard families, such as SEARS, BILLINGS, and RIBLIN, immigrated and formed communities, first in Pennsylvania, then Maryland and North Carolina, and many migrated westward after the Revolutionary War. These extended families intermarried many times, often with first cousins, making the family trees very twisted!
A notable event, hosted once or twice a year by the Dunkards, was the Love Feast, which often drew many spectators, partly because they provided free food for everyone. The wood engraving, shown above, by R. Staudenbaur after Howard Pyle, appeared in Harper's Weekly, 1883. [Public Domain image, obtained here.]
The Dunkards were similar to the Mennonites, in some ways. They wore only simple clothing, and the men never cut or trimmed their beards. They refused to take oaths or litigate, and were extreme pacifists. They could not have gone along with any revolution, because the Bible told them they must submit to any leader that God had put in authority over them. Their refusal to take part in any military force, or pay for someone to take their place, caused trouble for them, and this may have been a factor in their westward migration.
They were called Dunkards (or Dunkers, Tunkers, German Baptist Brethren) because they insisted that baptism, for adults only, had to be face forward, with full immersion three times, in flowing water. They also had ritualized washing of each others' feet, and other peculiarities. A Dunkard church would never have stained glass, steeples or crosses. After the Reformation, they were known as Disciples of Christ. Many different sects of German Baptists inhabited America in the 19th Century, and they were constantly arguing and splitting up over the details of baptism and communion rituals. As hard as their lives must have been, it seems ironic that the most important things on their minds involved the minutiae of the baptism ceremony.
The most well-known Dunkard church is the one at Antietam, Maryland. Its location played a key role in the Battle of Antietam, which took place on 17 Sep 1862. The photo above shows the church, in the aftermath of the battle. [Public domain photo obtained here.]
Conrod KERN (1736-1812)
Conrod KERN arrived in America in 1754, at age 18. He probably went first to the Dunkard communities in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but by 1758 he was in Rowan County, North Carolina, where he married 13-year-old Mary Magdalene BILLINGS. (I think the 1745 birth date for Mary may be a mistake, partly because her mother was born in 1733.) Conrod and Mary lived the rest of their lives in Rowan County, but most of their 8 children migrated west.
In the Kern Family Tree we find, without citation, the following paragraph:
Conrad KERN immigration
Conrad Kern came over from Germany through Rotterdam, Holland on the ship "Phoenix", landing in Philadelphia on October 1, 1754.Conrad stayed in Pennsylvania only a short time as he shows up for jury duty in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1762. There is speculation that Conrad came from the Palatinate, which is along the Rhine River in central Germany.
In 1762, the same year that his first child was born, 26-year-old Conrod KERN became minister of the Yadkin Congregation, in Crane Creek, Salisbury, NC. His older brother, John KERN, was minister of the same church, after Conrod.
1 Conrod KERN b: 1736 in Rhine, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, d: Nov 1812 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC
+ Mary Magdalene BILLINGS b: 1745 in Salisbury, Rowan, NC, m: 1758 in Rowan, NC, d: 1803 in Rowan, NC
...2 Adam KERN b: 02 Jun 1762 in Rowan, NC, d: 24 May 1838 in Stanford, Monroe, IN
+ Katherine RIBLIN b: 06 Nov 1762 in Rowan, NC, m: 1785 in Rowan, NC, d: 06 Oct 1818 in Nicholas, KY
+ Mary ANDERSON b: 1760 in Lawrence, IN, m: 20 Oct 1825, d: 1827
...2 Gabriel KERN b: 1766 in Rowan, NC, d: 11 Oct 1826 in Goshen, Clermont, OH
...2 Susanna KERN b: 1772 in Rowan, NC, d: 10 Apr 1853 in Rowan, NC
...2 Simeon KERN b: 1774 in Rowan, NC, d: Oct 1851 in Nicholas, KY
+ Rachel RIBLIN b: 1778 in Rowan, NC, m: 1801 in Rowan, NC, d: Oct 1853 in Nicholas, KY
...2 Rachel Jane KARNS b: 1776 in Mecklenburg, NC, d: 02 Jun 1860 in White Oak, Franklin, AR
...2 Mary Elizabeth KERN b: 1776 in Rowan, NC, d: Bef. 1807 in Clark, IN
+ Daniel STUTSMAN b: 1763 in Frederick, MD, m: 04 Nov 1800 in Rowan, NC, d: 1843 in Van Buren, IA
...2 Conrad KERN b: 1778 in Rowan, NC, d: 08 Nov 1811 in Rowan, NC
...2 Henry C. KERN b: 1789 in Rowan, NC, d: 11 Apr 1828 in Stewart, Houston, TN
Although a pacifist, Conrod did serve in the militia during the Revolutionary War in some capacity, and he was a guard at a local prison. This according to Merle C. Rummel, Church Historian.
Most of Conrod KERN's sons and sons-in-law became ministers, and founded Dunkard churches all over the Midwest, and beyond.
Adam KERN (1762-1838)
Adam KERN married Katherine RIBLIN in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1785, when they were both about 23.
Adam KERN, with his wife and five children, made his way through the Cumberland Gap, into Nicholas County, Kentucky, in 1795-6. There, they had five more children. In 1817, the family moved to Lawrence County, Indiana, where Adam started his church. According to Merle C. Rummel, the trip was made by sled, in winter.
Adam Kern in 1819
Harmony Church (Monroe County, IN) Adam Kern Sr, minister -part of "Brethren Association."
From "Frontier Journal" by Merle C. Rummel ~ Published January, 1999
http://www.cob-net.org/docs/brethrenlife_journal.htm
It must have been two decades, instead of four, since Adam only lived in Indiana 21 years.
Adam Kern 1762-1838
"Kern was known as the "marryin'est parson" in Indiana. For four decades his name fills the Lawrence Co marriage register. He founded a church on his own farm, giving the land for the church and cemetery. It was the Old Union Church - Dunkard at first, then New Light Baptist, finally becoming Campbellite Christian. Kern never received any payment for his forty years of active ministry (Book - "Captain Isaac Williams and His Grandchildren", "Capt Isaac Williams Jr." by Ben F. and Alice L. Dixon, 1963) (The Kern Family Tree)
1 Adam KERN b: 02 Jun 1762 in Rowan, NC, d: 24 May 1838 in Stanford, Monroe, IN
+ Katherine Caty RIBLIN b: 06 Nov 1762 in Rowan, NC, m: 1785 in Rowan, NC, d: 06 Oct 1818 in Nicholas, KY
...2 Baby KERN b: 1781, d: 1787
...2 Abraham KERN b: 24 Jun 1786 in Rowan, NC, d: 25 Oct 1858 in Williams Town, Lawrence, IN
+ Susan WILSON b: 05 Oct 1785 in PA, m: 08 Nov 1807 in Bourbon, KY, d: 16 Aug 1852 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Mary M Polly KERN b: 01 Apr 1787 in Rowan, NC, d: 1845 in Montrose, Lee, IA
+ Ephraim OWENS b: 11 May 1787 in Wrightsboro, McDuffie, GA, m: 1 Jan 1824 in Monroe, IN, d: 1839 in Montrose, Lee, IA
...2 Anna KERN b: 15 Aug 1789 in Rowan, NC, d: 10 Apr 1824 in Indian Creek, Lawrence, IN
+ David SEARS b: 07 Dec 1791 in Yadkin Valley, Rowan, NC, m: 1811, d: 24 Aug 1864 in Indian Creek, Lawrence, IN
...2 William KERN b: 07 Apr 1791 in Rowan, NC, d: 09 Sep 1846 in Fayetteville, Lawrence, IN
+ Susan SEARS b: 10 Oct 1795 in Lancaster, Lancaster, PA, m: 1813 in Nicholas, KY, d: 13 Sep 1852 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Adam KERN b: 02 Dec 1794 in Rowan, NC, d: 19 Jan 1876 in Antioch, Clinton, IN
+ Margaret POTTS, m: 1810
...2 Elizabeth Betsy KERN b: 1796 in Nicholas, KY, d: 1880 in Nicholas, KY
+ John YOUNGER m. 1818, d: May 1820 in Nicholas, KY
...2 Conrad KERN b: 25 Apr 1797 in Nicholas, KY, d: 13 Feb 1861 in Hancock, Hancock, IL
+ Polly BERRY, m: 1820 in Hancock, IL
...2 Sarah KERN b: 16 Jan 1799 in Nicholas, KY, d: 05 Jun 1873 in Lawrence, IN
+ Stephen YOUNGER, m: 1819 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Susan KERN b: 1800 in Nicholas, KY, d: 02 Oct 1859 in Lawrence, IN
+ Adam SEARS m: 1819 in Livingston, MO
...2 Son KERN b: 1803 in Nicholas, KY, d. 1803
+ Mary ANDERSON b: 1760 in Lawrence, IN, m: 20 Oct 1825, d: 1827
The remains of what was thought to be Adam Kern's cabin, in Lawrence County, Indiana.
[From Find A Grave Memorial# 67727902]
After his wife Caty died, Adam KERN married Mary (REENS) ANDERSON, the widow of Thomas ANDERSON. He was 63 and she was 65. The ceremony was performed by Adam's son, Abraham KERN.
William KERN (1791-1846)
William was only 4 or 5 when his family made the journey through the Cumberland Gap, from North Carolina into Kentucky. He was the youngest except for little Adam, who was only 1 or 2.
William grew up in Nicholas County, Kentucky, and in 1813, he married Susannah Jane "Susan" SEARS, another member of the SEARS family, from Pennsylvania. They had one son before moving the family to Indiana.
William and Susan were in Indiana before his parents and the rest of his siblings. Their son Noah was born in Harrison County, Indiana, in 1816.
1 William KERN b: 07 Apr 1791 in Rowan, NC, d: 09 Sep 1846 in Fayetteville, Lawrence, IN
+ Susannah Jane "Susan" SEARS b: 10 Oct 1795 in Lancaster, Lancaster, PA, m: 1813 in Nicholas, KY, d: 13 Sep 1852 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Ezra KERN b: 25 May 1814 in KY, d: 18 Mar 1873 in Lawrence, IN
+ Elizabeth CATHER b: 07 Nov 1815 in Laurel, KY, m: 24 Dec 1835, d: 27 Jul 1844 in Indian Creek, Lawrence, IN
+ Elizabeth SMITH b: 15 May 1819 in KY, m: 18 Feb 1845 in Lawrence, IN, d: 08 May 1891 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Noah KERN b: 27 Mar 1816 in Harrison, Harrison, IN, d: 12 Feb 1885 in Bedford, Lawrence, IN
+ Evaline Boyd HURD b: 28 Sep 1819 in Nicholas, KY, m: 21 Aug 1836 in Lawrence, IN, d: 03 Mar 1897 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Anna Catherine KERN b: 10 May 1818 in IN, d: 21 Feb 1852 in Lawrence, IN
+ Lewis Jackson BAKER b: 06 Apr 1817 in Woodford, KY, m: 22 Oct 1836 in Lawrence, IN, d: 01 Jan 1882 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Benjamin KERN b: 06 Aug 1819 in KY, d: 28 Jul 1899 in Lawrence, IN
+ Nancy Jane BAKER b: 03 Mar 1822 in KY, m: 20 Nov 1839 in , Lawrence, IN, d: 14 Nov 1900
...2 Peter KERN b: 23 Dec 1821 in Lawrence, IN, d: 21 Jan 1901 in Lawrence, IN; Age: 79
+ Mary Jane LACKEY b: 01 Mar 1828 in IN, m: 25 Jul 1844 in Lawrence, IN, d: 21 Feb 1881 in Lawrence, IN
...2 Louisa KERN b: 04 Jan 1824 in Lawrence, IN, d: 1850 in Lawrence, IN
+ John L LACKEY b: Abt. 1818, m: 17 Dec 1840 in Lawrence, IN
...2 John Jacob KERN b: 25 Dec 1828 in Lawrence, IN, d: 30 Aug 1908 in Lebanon, Boone, IN
+ Margaret Ellen FEELY b: 13 Dec 1830 in Ireland, m: 15 Aug 1847 in Lawrence, IN, d: 12 Apr 1903 in Lebanon, Boone, IN
...2 Adam Clay KERN b: 01 Aug 1831 in IN, d: 14 Nov 1890 in Clinton, Boone, IN
+ Angeline R. NEWPORT b: Oct 1839 in IN, m: 10 Aug 1871 in Boone, IN, d: 20 Nov 1905 in Boone, IN
+ Martha P KERSEY b: 08 Jun 1834 in IN, m: 26 Feb 1863 in Boone, IN, d: 06 Jan 1871 in IN
...2 Polly Elzira KERN b: 1832 in Lawrence, IN, d: 1846
...2 Susan Jane KERN b: 05 Aug 1834 in Lawrence, IN, d: 03 May 1901 in Lawrence, IN
+ Peter Hon SEARS b: 05 Nov 1822 in Harrison, Harrison, IN, m: 08 Sep 1848 in Lawrence, IN, d: 31 Mar 1898 in Fayetteville, Lawrence, IN
...2 Sarah A KERN b: 29 Sep 1836 in Lawrence, IN, d: 03 Oct 1912 in Lawrence, IN
Noah Kern
DNA Close Matches
Interestingly, most of the same close matches have also appeared as descendants of John BOYD (1760 VA – 1828 IN) that are shown on the BOYD page. The BOYD and KERN families both lived in Lawrence County, Indiana, and there were a few key marriages which have interwoven the two family trees.
The grandparents of srainey2310 are William Lester RAINEY, a 6g-grandson of Adam KERN, and Thelma Burnice ROACH (1915 IN – 1974), a 2g-granddaughter of John BOYD. Both William and Thelma were born in Lawrence County.
Francis Marion KERN (1856 IN – 1927 IN) apparently had children by 6 different women! Francis and Martha Emma CHAMBERS (1868 IN - 1935 IN) were grandparents of Mary Constance CHAMBERS, and great-grandparents of D.C. They were never married, which explains why the children had the name CHAMBERS. Francis was a great-grandson of both Adam KERN and John BOYD.
Siblings L.J.H. and K.R.H. are 2g-grandchildren of Sciotha Evans CALLAHAN, a grandson of John BOYD, and Margaret Ann SEARS, a g-granddaughter of Adam KERN. So they are 4g-grandchildren of John BOYD, and 5g-grandchildren of Adam KERN.
References
The Kern family of Rowan County, North Carolina, Nicholas County, Kentucky; Boone, Clinton, Lawrence, Monroe Counties, Indiana; Hancock County, Illinois; Lee County, Iowa, by Mary Margaret Kern, 1986
The Kern Genealogy, by Peter Edward Kern, 1917