Myth #1: He was born in Salzburg

    Today, many Seeber descendants and researchers assume that Johann Wilhelm Seeber (1721-1777) was born in Salzburg, Germany.  For example, of the 200 or so family trees at Ancestry.com that included Johann Wilhelm as of January 2016, almost 130 listed Salzburg as his place of birth; the remainder listed Germany or no birth place at all.

    This is a relatively recent development.  In the 1900s, there was no agreement among descendants and researchers as to where in Europe the Seeber family came from.  Switzerland, Alsace and Germany were all frequently mentioned as the Seeber homeland.  (See, for example, the articles by Frederick Phillips published in the St. Johnsville Enterprise and News in 1931, and the research notes compiled by Edward D. Seeber in the 1950s).   

    My research, summarized on other pages of this website, indicates that the current consensus is incorrect and that the Seeber family emigrated to America, not from Salzburg in Germany, but from Bischwiller in Alsace.  If that is so, how did the misconception develop in recent decades that Salzburg is the Seeber town of origin?  It is an interesting story, the heart of which is a faulty English translation of a single sentence in a German Bible record.

The Seeber family Bible

    The story begins with an old family Bible in which someone has written information, in German, about Johann Wilhelm Seeber (1721-1777), his two wives, and his twelve children.

     In the 1930s, this Bible was in the possession of Willis Bullock of Canajoharie, a Seeber descendant, and it is sometimes referred to as the "Bullock Bible."  The current whereabouts of the Bible are unknown.  Fortunately for Seeber researchers, photocopies were made at some time of two pages in the Bible that contain the Seeber family information. These photocopies were placed in Seeber files at the Montgomery County Department of History & Archives in Fonda, New York, and probably in other archives and libraries.  I have scanned the pages, and they can be viewed by clicking here.

    The handwritten Bible information deals with Johann Wilhelm Seeber and his immediate family. It gives the following:

• the date of his birth (though, unfortunately, not the place);

• the dates of his two marriages, and the names of his two wives;

• the names of his six children by his first wife, and his six children by his second wife; and

• the dates of birth of his children, and death dates for two of them. 

    Who wrote the information in the Bible, and when, are unknown, but this much is clear:

• It was written by a single individual; the style of handwriting and expression is uniform throughout the two pages. 

• The whole thing was probably written at one time rather than on multiple occasions.  Often entries in Bible records are added from time to time when a family member is born, marries or dies, but that does not appear to be the case here.  The darkness of the ink is uniform throughout, the lines are evenly spaced, and the words and phrases used are repetitive -- all of which suggest that the items were not added piecemeal.

• The pages were written after Johann Wilhelm's death in 1777 because he is described as "deceased."  

• The author must have been a family member, or a close family friend, because there is detailed information including specific birth, death and marriage dates and in three cases the hour of birth. 

• The author was probably connected to the second wife of Johann Wilhelm Seeber, or one of her descendants, because (1) the maiden name of the first wife is misstated, and (2) the children of the first wife are described in less detail than the children of the second wife. 

• The Bible information has a high degree of reliability.  With one exception (the maiden name of Johann Wilhelm Seeber's first wife), all of the names and dates that can be checked by referring to other records are accurate.

• The author was literate and educated because the German spelling and grammar are good, although he or she capitalized words that are normally not capitalized in German.

    At some point an English translation of the family information was prepared.  When and by whom are unknown.  Copies of this translation were put in files at some libraries and archives, and thanks to photocopiers and the Internet, the translation is now available in many places.

    One long sentence of the German record, dealing with Johann Wilhelm Seeber's second marriage, has a particularly complex grammatical structure typical of the German language.  It is clear that the translator struggled with this sentence because there are two versions in English, the original version and a "clarification."  Unfortunately, neither version is a good translation of the German text.  The first version is inaccurate, confusing and disjointed; the second version sounds better in English but is inaccurate and not faithful to the German text.  Both versions give the impression -- subtly in the first version, explicitly in the clarification -- that both Johann Wilhelm Seeber and his father-in-law, Jacob Goebel, had been church elders in Salzburg in Orange-Nassau-Dietz. This is a crucial error of translation, because the German text clearly refers only to Jacob Goebel having been a church elder in Salzburg -- not his son-in-law.  This translation error has led many Seeber descendants and researchers to assume, mistakenly,  that Johann Wilhelm Seeber was born in Salzburg. 

    The original German text, the two old English translations, and a new accurate English translation, are set out below to demonstrate how the mistaken information about Johann Wilhelm Seeber's place of birth got into circulation:

Transcript of German text: Ferner, Hat Sich Weyland besagter Herr Johann Wilhelm Seeber im Jahr 1756 Den 9den August zum 2den mahl Mit der Tugendsamen Maria Elisabetha Goebelin, Weyland Herrn Johann Jacob Goebels Gewesenen Kirchen-Altesten zu Saltzberg in Teuschland, Fürstenthums Oranien Nassau Dietzischen, nachgelassenen Ehelichen Tochter, in ein Christl[iche] Ehe verlobnis eingelassen, in welcher Ehe Er nach Gottes Seegen wiederum 6 Kinder nehmlich 3 Soehnen und 3 Toechter gezeuget davon der Erste Nahmens Henrich Den 27den July 1757 zur Welt gebohren wurde.

Earlier incorrect English translation (first version): Furthermore, the formerly Mr. Johann Wilhelm Seeber had himself in the year 1756, on the 9th of August for the second time with the virtuous Maria Elisabeth Goebelin, formerly Mr. Johann, Jacob Goebels having been Church Elders in Saltzberg Germany, principality Oranien Nassau Dietzisthen, agreeably with the patient marriageable Daughter, entered into a Christian Marriage engagement; in which marriage he with God's blessing again reared 6 children, namely 3 sons and 3 daughters of which the first named Henrich was brought into this world on the 27th of July 1757.

Earlier incorrect English translation (clarification): Furthermore, the former Mr. John William Seeber on August 9, 1756, entered into marriage for the second time with the virtuous Maria Elisabeth Goebelin in which marriage he, with God's blessing, again reared 6 children, namely 3 sons and 3 daughters of which the first named (H)enrich was brought into this world on the 27th of July 1757.  The former Mr. Johann (Seeber) and Jacob Goebels had been Church Elders in Saltzberg, Germany, in the principality of Oranien-Nassau-Dietzisthen.  The former Mr. Johann Wilhelm Seeber had himself entered into a Christian Marriage engagement which was agreeable to the patient marriageable daughter.

New, accurate English translation: Further, the said deceased Mr. Johann Wilhelm Seeber, in the year 1756 on the 9th of August, entered into a Christian marriage for the second time with the virtuous Maria Elisabetha Goebelin, surviving legitimate daughter of the deceased Mr. Johann Jacob Goebel, former church elder in Saltzberg in Germany, principality of Orange-Nassau-Dietz, in which marriage with God's blessing he [Johann Wilhelm Seeber] again fathered 6 children, namely 3 sons and 3 daughters, of which the first, named Henrich, was born into the world on the 27th of July 1757.

 The Salzburg church records

  Fortunately, we can confirm the Bible information about Johann Wilhelm Seeber and his father-in-law by checking church records in Germany.  The small village of Salzburg is in the picturesque Westerwald region in the current German state of Rheinland-Pfalz.  There is no church in Salzburg itself; it is served by the Evangelical church in the nearby town of Emmerichenhain, about five kilometers south of Salzburg.  The records of this church have been extracted by Cathy Mellor for the period 1669 to 1806 and can be found on her website and in various databases to which she has submitted her information, including Ancestral File, the International Genealogical Index, and Pedigree Resources File.    Nothing has been found in the Emmerichenhain church books that would provide a link to the Seebers who later lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York State.  In Ms. Mellor's index, there are no entries for anyone with the last name Seeber or variants such as Seber, Sever and Seever.  The surnames Schaefer, Schaeffer, Schafer, Schaffer, Schefer, Scheffer, and Seibert do appear in the index, but there are no Wilhelms or Johann Wilhelms with those surnames whose birth dates match or approximate the one given for Johann Wilhelm Seeber in the family Bible (15 November 1721). 

    On the other hand, as stated in the Bible, the Goebel family did live in Salzburg.  Maria Elisabetha Goebel, the second wife of Johann Wilhelm Seeber, was born there on 14 March 1734, the daughter of Johann Jacob Goebel and his wife, Anna Louisa Benner.  Additional information about Maria Elisabetha Goebel, and several generations of her ancestry, can be found in an article I published several years ago on the Montgomery County (NY) Genweb site. That article was written before I discovered the Seeber family link to Oberhoffen and Bischwiller, so those towns are not mentioned as a possible birthplace of Johann Wilhelm Seeber.

Conclusion

    The Seeber family Bible correctly identified Salzburg as the hometown of Johann Wilhelm Seeber's father-in-law, Johann Jacob Goebel.  An inaccurate translation of one sentence of the Bible information resulted in the widespread misconception that Johann Wilhelm Seeber himself was born in Salzburg.