Person Page - 156

     Alexander Klinger was born on 16 February 1767, Reading, Berks County, PA.¹ He was the son of Johann Philip Klinger and Eva Elizabeth Beilstein. Alexander Klinger was baptized on 24 February 1767, Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, Berks County, PA.² He married Magdalena Haag, daughter of George Haag and Catherine (?), circa 1788, Erdman, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, PA.³ Mary Klinger says that Alexander and Magdalena "helped keep order in the first loghouse [built by John Philip], which was their church, trading post, etc., Especially after the moth Eve Elizabeth [Beilsteiin], went back to reading with her brother-in-law, wife and Abraham Hoffee and family ca. 1795. It was a big order for them [Alexander and Magdalena], but well worth the while as they received the deed to Philip's farm and a vast area of land, [of] which they gave a part for Klinger's Church. They owned everything from the hotel grounds east to the present-day Marlin Shade and Paul Wiest's boundary line, south to a field strip beyond Klinger's Church! As the daughters were the oldest, they moved out. . . . George m. Eva Stein and he built a home and barn on the eastern section of Alexander's land, which is now the home of Marlin Shade. The son Alexander m. Elizabeth Schwalm and he stayed at home."⁴ Alexander Klinger died on 6 April 1839, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, PA, at age 72.¹ He was buried on 9 April 1839, at Zion (Klinger's) Church, Erdman, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, PA.

     Johann Philip Klinger was born on 11 July 1723, Pfaffen-Beerfurth, Hesse, Germany.² Philip arrived in Philadelphia September 24, 1751, aboard the Ship Neptune, which carried a total of 284 passengers. Philip's wife Anna apparently died before the landing and is buried in Philadelphia.³ Morton Montgomery's History of Berks County (published 1886), pp. 653-54, lists John Philip, Alexander, and Peter Klinger as the first patentees of three lots in Reading, which was laid out in 1748. The first lots were sold in 1751, and the three Klingers, apparently, purchased their lots in 1753. John Philip purchased Lot number 203, while Alexander purchased the adjacent Lot number 204. Peter purchased Lot number 349. Lots 203 and 204 were located on the north and south sides of East Penn Street, between what were then Lord Street and Vigor Streets. Today these are 10th and 11th Streets, respectively. These street names have changed. In 1763, the three brothers each acquired an additional lot (Philip, 176, Alexander 207, Peter 222).
An obituary for Alexander's daughter Elizabeth, who was born in Philadelphia in July 1750, further suggests that at least Alexander's family moved to Reading around the end of 1751 or early 1752. It is not known if Philip's family accompanied them or moved to Reading at a different time.⁴ He married Eva Elizabeth Beilstein on 21 May 1754, Neunkirchen, Germany. Montgomery's History of Berks County (published 1886), pp. 655, lists John Philip, Alexander, and Peter Klinger on a 1759 List of Taxables. According to Montgomery, this is the earliest tax assessment list for the County.⁵ A 1767 Berks County Tax list includes both Alexander and his brother Philip, who are listed as "Taverners." Alexander is shown in "Reading Town" as owning 2 house, with two lots, and 1 cow. The tax was 5. Philip, also listed in Reading Town, has 2 houses, 2 lots, and 1 cow. His tax was 6.⁶ A 1768 Tax List for Berks County lists Philip as a "taverner" who owned 1 house and 1 lot. His brother Alexander, also listed as a taverner, is shown as owning two houses and one and one-half lots.⁷ A newspaper item published by Philip Klinger noted:
CAME, on the 11th of December, 1775, to the plantation of Philip Klinger, living near Shamokin, on the Point Creek, one mile distant from the Double Eagle, about 26 miles below Sunbury, A GREY H0RSE, about 3 cr 4 years old, about 13 or 14 hands high, and hath a white head. The owner proving his property and paying charges, may have him again, by applying to PHILIP KLINGER.
The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 03 Apr 1776, Wed, Page 3.⁸ Philip's name does not appear on the 1779 register of property in Reading, although his brother Alexander's does. Similarly, on the 1780 Berks County tax lists, Alexander's name appears, but Philip's does not. Both of their names are missing from the 1781 and 1784 tax lists in Berks County, but Alexander's name appears on the 1785 Berks County lists, while Philip's does not.
The name of a "Philip Clinger" appears on the Supply Tax List for 1779 in the "Wisconisco District" of Lancaster County (now part of Dauphin County). Dauphin County was not formed until 1785. He is shown as owning 100 acres of land, 3 horses, and 3 cattle.
Mary K. Klinger's article notes that both Johann Philip and Alexander served in the Berks County Militia during the Revolutionary War. Apparently they guarded prisoners captured at Saratoga.
Mary K. Klinger writes, "Sometime between the last date of their militia service in 1781 and 1790, both families took the Tuplehocken [sic] Trail across the mountains. Alexander acquired land in the Mahantango Valley East of present Klingerstown while his children made their home in an about the town. It was named for his son Johannes." (p. 34) Klingerstown itself lies in the present Schuylkill County, while the Mahantango Creek, west of Klingerstown, forms the boundary between Northumberland and Dauphin County.
A 1781 Tax List for Reading includes only 2 Klingers, Peter and "Jno." This suggests that Philip and Alexander had already left Reading by then.

It is also not clear precisely when Philip and his family moved the Lykens Valey area in eastern Dauphin County. Records of the Lykens Valley Lower Church (St. David's Reformed Church) in Killinger, PA, include a reference to a "Philip Klinger" as sponsor of the baptism of John Philip Rauschkolb, in June 1779. Although it is unlcear which Philip Klinger this is, it appears likely that at least some of the Klinger's had migrated from Berks County at least by 1779.
The first baptism in the published record at Klinger's Church is dated 16 Sep 1787. It is for one of Philip's grandsons, "Johen George", son of Philip's son George and his wife Elizabeth (Brosius). It is probable that the congregations were actually started sometime before that date.
Mary Klinger's book, Klingers from the Odenwald, Hesse, p. 41, notes that Philip owned four contiguous tracts of land, warranted to him between 1771 and 1796 and patented between 1793 and 1796, covering more than 1,100 acres "along Pine Creek to the south of the [Klingerstown] gap in Mahantongo Mountain at Spread Eagle . . . present day Klingerstown." Klingerstown lies about a half mile north of the gap in the Mahantango Mountain, where Pine Creek flows through the moutain. Klingerstown lies in the extreme northwest corner of Schuylkill County. Erdman, in Dauphin County lies just south of the gap. Most of the area north of the Mahantango Mountain is in Northumberland County. The area referred to as the "Mahantongo Valley" must be in Northumberland County, as the Mahantongo Creek lies on the north, or Northumberland County side, of the Mahantongo Mountain It is not clear whether Philip's lands extended as far north as Klingerstown. At roughly 1,100 acres, John Philip's land would have covered a bit less than 2 square miles.^9,10,11 Philip served from June 1780 through July 1781 with the Berks County Militia, guarding prisioners first in Reading and then in Lancaster. In 1782 he was with Sgt Eisenbeis' detachment of the Berks County Militia guarding prisioners.
DAR Listing:
KLINGER, JOHN PHILIP Ancestor #: A066071
Service: PENNSYLVANIA Rank(s): PRIVATE
Birth: 7-11-1723 THE PALATINATE EUROPE
Death: 9-30-1811 GRATZ DAUPHIN CO PENNSYLVANIA
Service Source: PA ARCH, 5TH SER, VOL 5, PP 291, 292
Service Description: 1) SGT GEORGE EISENPEIS, ENS NICHOLAS CONRAD;
2) DETACHMENT OF BERKS CO MILITIA GUARDING PRISONERS.^12,13 A 1787 tax list for Mahanoy Township Northumberland County, reprinted in the Pennsylvania Archives, lists "Alexander Clinger," "Philip Clinger," and "Alex'r Clinger" as "non-residents." The two Alexanders are shown as owners of 150 acres and 300 acres respectively, while Philip is shown as the owner of 300 acres.
A 1781 Tax List for Reading includes only 2 Klingers, Peter and "Jno." This suggests that Philip and Alexander had already left Reading by then.
The first baptism in the published record at Klinger's Church is dated 16 Sep 1787. It is for one of Philip's grandsons, "Johen George", son of Philip's son George and his wife Elizabeth (Brosius). It is probable that the congregations were actually started sometime before that date.
John Philip's homestead was in present day Dauphin County, close to the village of Erdman and near Klinger's Church, which sits south and east of Erdman.
The site of Philip's first permanent home in Dauphin County lies along what is now Fearnot Road on parcel ID # 39-003-007 in Dauphin County. This 58.85 acre parcel spans from the north side of Fearnot Road south across Klinger Church Road to the property that Philip's son Peter owned. The parcel abuts the Klinger Church property on the north, west, and south sides of the Church, and includes a small part located in Schuylkill County.
There are reports that Philip originally lived in a dugout on the side of the hill on which the Church stands, but by the time the 1798 "window tax" was assessed, he had built a 40x35 foot, two-story wooden frame house on the property. That house, demolished in 1922, was built on 2 cleared acres of the 550 acres that he owned.
On June 10, 1810, Philip and his wife conveyed 371 of those acres to their son Alexander Klinger. In 1837, Alexander and Magdalena conveyed 89 acres 62 perches of that land to their granddaughter Emma (Klinger) Reed, her husband John Reed, and her brothers Samuel and John Klinger as tenants in common.
Eventually, Emi (Emma) and John Reed came to own the entire 89 arce 62 perches tract. On her death, Emi, having no children, willed the property to her servant Elizabeth (Strohecker) Paul. In 1917, Elizabeth and her husband Irvin Paul transferred 60 acres and 1 perch of this land to Edwin Ray Klinger, who owned the property property in 1922, when Philip's original two-story house was torn down and replaced with a more modern bungalow, which still stands along Fearnot Road. During the construction, Edwin and his wife Verdie (Mausser) lived in a second home on the same property that served as a summerhouse for the original home.
Mary Klinger's book, Klingers from the Odenwald, Hesse, p. 41, notes that John Philip owned four contiguous tracts of land, warranted to him between 1771 and 1796 and patented between 1793 and 1796, covering more than 1,100 acres "along Pine Creek to the south of the [Klingerstown] gap in Mahanto[N]go Mountain at Spread Eagle . . . present day Klingerstown." Klingerstown lies about a half mile north of the gap in the Mahantango Mountain, where Pine Creek flows through the moutain. Klingerstown lies in the extreme northwest corner of Schuylkill County. Erdman, in Dauphin County lies just south of the gap. Most of the area north of the Mahantango Mountain is in Northumberland County. The area referred to as the "Mahantongo Valley" must be in Northumberland County, as the Mahantongo Creek lies on the north, or Northumberland County side, of the Mahantongo Mountain It is not clear whether John Philip's lands extended as far north as Klingerstown. At roughly 1,100 acres, John Philip's land would have covered a bit less than 2 square miles.^14,15 Johann Philip Klinger died on 30 September 1811, Schuylkill County, PA, at age 88.^16,2 He was buried at Zion (Klinger's) Church, Erdman, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, PA.¹⁶