First Families of Orangeburgh District, South Carolina
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BAIR (BÄHR, BÄR, BEHR)
1. JOHANN GEORG BÄHR [2,3], the son of TOBIAS BÄHR and ANNA CATHARINA ____, was baptized 25 Sep 1706 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2] and died 4 Jul 1754 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina, aged 48 years 2 1/2 months[4,5]. He married EVA CATHARINA WEDEL[1,2,3], the daughter off JOHANNES WEDEL and Maria Elisabetha ____, 10 Feb 1728 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2]. She was baptized 13 May 1706 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2].
Joh. Georg Bähr, with his wife and five children left Dossenheim 9 May 1752 bound for Carolina[1,3]. Eleven other families from Dossenheim left on the same date[3]. These twelve families probably traveled as a group down the Rhine to Rotterdam.
Joh. Georg and family sailed from Rotterdam on the ship Cunliffe, arriving in Charleston in September 1752[6]. At least a half-dozen of the eleven other families from Dossenheim arrived with them[3,7].
George Beher petitioned for 350 acres and bounty 7 Nov 1752. He stated that he arrived on the Cunliffe and listed a wife and five children: Kath aged 21, Adam 18, Mary 16, John 14, Barbara 12[6]. Note: Mary is really Margaret. Also, the ages of the three younger children are quite incorrect. It appears they were simply assumed to be two years apart by the agent.
George Behr's plat for 350 acres was recorded 16 Aug 1753[8] and the grant was issued 14 Nov 1754[9]. He recorded a memorial for the property 28 Jan 1765[10].
The "äh" or "ä" in the original name is pronounced like the "a" in "pay" or "bay" so the original name sounds very much like the present day Bair.
Children of Johann Georg Bähr and Eva Catharina Wendel are:
a. EVA CATHARINA BÄHR, bapt. 15 Dec 1728 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2], m. the widower HANS GEORG HAYNER 24 Aug 1755 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[4,5].
A Catharina Barrin is mentioned in The Book of Record as Susceptr. at the baptisms of Zibilla Catharina Hungerbuller Tilly 22 Apr 1753 and Mary Catharina Ulmer, 17 Feb 1754 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[4,5].
b. JOHANN PETER BÄR, bapt. 10 Apr 1730 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2], probably died shortly there after and in any case before Dec 1733.
c. HANS ADAM BÄR, bapt. 8 May 1731 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2]. Arrived in Carolina[6].
d. JOHANN PETER BÄR, b. 7 Dec 1733, bapt 10 Dec 1733, and died shortly there after in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2].
e. ANNA MARGARETHA BÄR, b. 31 Oct 1734, bapt. 1 Nov 1734, d. 2 Jan 1736 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2].
f. ANNA MARGARETHA BÄR, b. 8 Nov 1736, bapt. 9 Nov 1736 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2].
A Margaret Barr is mentioned in The Book of Record as Suret at the baptism of George Tilly 28 Mar 1756 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[4,5].
Anna Margaret Barrin is mentioned in The Book of Record as Suret at the baptisms of Bernhard David Hungerbuller 22 Apr 1753, John George Hayner (her nephew) 27 Feb 1757 and Hans Caspar Ziegler 30 Nov 1757.
g. JOHANNES BÄR, b. 6 May 1739, bapt. 7 May 1739, d. 30 Nov 1739 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2].
h. MARIA BARBARA BÄR, b. 29 Aug 1740, bapt. 31 Aug 1740, d. 14 Nov 1740 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2].
i. JOHANNES BÄR, b. 29 Oct 1743, bapt. 31 Oct 1743 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2], d. 1766/67 in Orangeburg Township, South Carolina[11]. He married Catharina ____ in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[11].
John Barr was a new communicant in the Orangeburgh Church on 3 Jun 1753[4,5].
j. MARIA BARBARA BÄR, b. 15 Sep 1746, bapt. 18 Sep 1746 in Dossenheim, Baden, Germany[2]. Arrived in Carolina[6].
An Ann(a) Catharina Barrin is mentioned in The Book of Record as Suscept. at the baptisms of Catharina Margaret Hungerbuller 18 may 1755 and Anna Catharina Snell 18 Jun 1758[4,5]. It is not clear who this might have been.
Research Notes:
Both Hacker[1] and Yoder[3] have a Joh. Georg Bär and wife Eva Catharina leaving Dossenheim alone in 1752 and with five children in 1757. There was only one Joh. Georg Bär married to an Eva Catharina in Dossenheim at this time and the entire family was in Carolina in 1752.
REFERENCES:
1. Werner Hacker. Eighteenth Century Register of Emigrants from Southwest Germany, 1994
2. Evangelische Kirch Dossenheim (A. Heidelburg), "Kirchenbuch, 1695-1962", FHL INTL Film #1192196 Items 5-7.
3. Don Yoder. Rhineland Immigrants: Lists of German Settlers in Colonial America, 1981.
4. Joop Giesendanner, "The Book of Record, Orangeburgh, SC". http://www.xs4all.nl/~sail/
5. A. S. Salley, The History of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, 1898.
6. Brent Holcomb. Petitions for land from the South Carolina Council Journals, Vol. III : 1752-1753, 1997, pp. 84,85.
7. Frederick A. Smith, "The 1752 Voyage of the Cunliffe", OGSGS Newsletter, Vol. 10, p. 15.
8. SC Archives, Colonial Plats (Behr, George), Ser. S213184, Vol. 0006, Pg. 00430, Itm. 01.
9. SC Archives, Colonial Grants (Behr, George), Ser. S213019, Vol. 0006, Pg. 00179.
10. SC Archives, Memorials (Behr, George), Ser. S111001, Vol. 0006, Pg. 00361, Itm. 02.
11. Gene Jeffries, "Descendants of George Behr" (no longer available).
Other references to this surname are found in OSGSG Newsletters: Vol.1, p. 131; Vol. 2, p. 14, 38, 55, 66, 78; Vol. 3, p. 8, 36, 37; Vol. 4, p. 15, 16; Vol. 5, p. 23; Vol. 6, p. 16, 69, 78, 86, 92, 93; Vol. 7, p. 8; Vol. 10, p. 74.
Information provided by Jim Rickenbacker 1/27/06