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Immigration to U.S.
My family, the ancestors of Fremont McKim Entsminger, can be traced directly back to John Henry Ensminger, Sr. who left Alsace, France with his family and arrived in Philadelphia on November 20, 1741.
Beginning in the 1730s, the Ensmingers begin their documented immigration to the US. In 1733, Peter and a family group of 37 went overland from the Mattstal region to the Rhine River. From there, they went north by boat, down river to Rotterdam, The Netherlands where they caught a ship to Philadelphia. Rotterdam, then as now, is one of the largest ports in the world. The ship, Samuel, landed at Philadelphia August 17, 1733.
This was not OUR direct line though. Our line descends from John Henry Sr., one of Peter's younger brothers, who took a similar route with his family and arrived in Philadelphia on November 20, 1741. Earlier their brother, Nicholas, & his family had arrived in Philadelphia in 1738. Their younger brother, David, arrived in 1750.
Soon after arriving in Philadelphia, all the Ensmingers proceeded to Cocalico Twp, Lancaster County, PA. Lancaster County became the gathering place for all Ensmingers who immigrated during this period.
Older brother, Peter, the first of our known Alsace clan to arrive, bought 100 acres along the Muddy Creek in Lancaster County. Numerous marriages and births of Ensmingers are registered as occurring at Muddy Creek.
Raymond Bell notes that the ancestors of Dwight David Eisenhower were also on the boat from Rotterdam to Philadelphia in 1741.
Peter was a blacksmith. In the mid-eighteenth century, Lancaster County was a prominent farming region. All records indicate that the Ensmingers farmed or associated with farming for their livelihoods.
As in Alsace, the family maintained its Lutheran religious roots in Pennsylvania. Religion continued to be a driving force in the family as they continued on to Virginia and Ohio.
Almost every Ensminger family of this era seems to have followed a similar route to America: Alsace, Rotterdam, Philadelphia, Lancaster County. & almost every Ensminger family remained in Pennsylvania for some time, either staying indefinitely or gradually moving to Ohio or Indiana. A few Ensmingers show up in relatively early records in Kentucky.