Stoney Creek Farm - Joel Schlosser's Ancestors

Joel Schlosser's Ancestors

According to local deed records, Joel Schlosser is the first recorded owner of the property known today as Stoney Creek Farm. The Schlosser family has long ties to Boonsboro and Washington County, Maryland, and parts of Pennsylvania after their immigration from Germany in the late 18th century. In fact, Joel’s brother David served as the mayor of Boonsboro from 1869 to 1872, and many family members are buried in the Boonsboro Reformed Church Graveyard or on private property close by. The Schlessor family owned the farm for almost 140 years.

Joel Schlosser transferred ownership of the farm to his wife and children on April 6, 1841. It was likely obtained by Schlosser as part of a larger parcel belonging to his father, John Schlosser. Transfers of land between family members did not require the governmental deed recordation until the mid-19th century in most cases. It is likely that the structure had been built shortly after 1835, when Joel was married to Catherine Doub.

Joel’s father John Schlosser had been born in Germany on April 2, 1782, and his mother, the former Elizabeth Painter, had been born on September 21, 1783. They married about 1798, and had seven children, including: Simon (born about 1799), Eli (born between 1801 and 1818), Sarah (born December 13, 1804), Mary (born between 1802 and 1829, David (born October 25, 1814), Samuel (born 1822), and Joel, the owner of 19223 Manor Church Road, who had been born on November 11, 1810. His father John (died August 20, 1862), and mother Elizabeth (died July 19, 1855) are both buried in the Reformed Church Graveyard in Boonsboro, Maryland.

Joel’s grandfather, Peter Schlosser, was born about 1736 in Pennsylvania. He died on October 23, 1834 on his homestead in Washington County, and was buried “on farm by Iron Bridge, Antietam Creek.” The bridge was later referred to in the local newspapers as Schlosser’s Bridge, located adjacent to their farm holdings. He had married the former Susannah Regnas in Cumberland, Maryland on April 4, 1769, who had been born in Germany on September 28, 1749, and they had four children together, including John. Susannah died on Halloween in 1830, and is buried adjacent to her husband.

Joel’s great-grandfather was also named Peter Schlosser, and he had been born on January 20, 1709 in Hilsbach, Germany, where he was baptized five days later at the Hilsbach Reformed Church. He and his brother Leonhardt came from Germany by way of Rotterdam via Plymouth aboard the ship Dragon, arriving in Philadelphia in 1732. Peter took the oath of allegiance to the British Crown on September 30, 1732 in Philadelphia. He died on January 18, 1790 in Sharpsburg, Maryland, and is buried in the Old Reformed Churchyard there. His large tombstone still stands at the cemetery, and is written in German. Sometime after 1734, he married the former Maria Margaretha Waschenbach, who had been born in 1713 in Eichen, Germany.