Those Places Thursday: My Connection to George Washington – Sort of

No, not that type of connection! As far as I know, I am not related to George Washington through his mother or his father. This is similar to the “Six Degrees of Separation” game (and no, I haven’t found any connection to Kevin Bacon either!). I did however, discover that one of my ancestors had something in common with our country’s first president. It was a particular place.

As I was researching information on my  4th great-grandmother, Elizabeth Lutz, I came across an interesting piece of information. The daughter of Adam Lutz and Maria Rucht was baptized on September 24, 1762 in the First Reformed Church of Philadelphia by Rev. Frederick Rothenbuehler. The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 35, No. 1, published in 1987 lists this on page 11. It mentions that her father was “of the Palatinate (came on the ship Lydia from Rotterdam, 13  Oct. 1749…)” and lists her sponsors.

Wanting to know more about this church, I used Google to see what I could find. The First Reformed Church of Philadelphia was also called the German Reformed Church of Philadelphia and was founded in 1727 by German immigrants. The minister, Rev. George Michael Weiss, arrived with 400 other people from the Palatinate region of Germany. Today, the church is called Old First Reformed UCC (United Church of Christ).  For more on the church’s history, you can go to History of Old First Reformed UCC, Old First Reformed Church, and The German Reformed Church. I was excited to find that my 4th great-grandmother was baptized in a church that is now part of the denomination of which I’m a member!

I also learned that in 1800 memorial services for George Washington was held at that church! Well, not in the same building because the congregation had moved down the road a bit but the congregation still had the same history as it did when Elizabeth Lutz was baptized 38 years before!

My 4th great-grandmother married Adam Goul and went on to have eight children. My direct ancestor was their first son, John W. Goul, through his daughter, Melissa Goul, through her daughter, Katie J. Blazer, through her son, Glen R. Johnson, through his daughter, Mary Johnson (my mom!). Elizabeth died in Champaign county, Ohio on November 13, 1845 and is buried in Treacles Creek Cemetery in that county.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons; photograph in public domain)