Johann Adam Raudebaugh Reidenbach Radabaugh was born on December 4, 1725, in Otzweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, his father, Johann, was 28 and his mother, Anna Abolonia Riegel, was 25.
In the decades before and after 1738, people from Europe were lured to America by transportation companies and land speculation. The Radabaughs came from what is known as the Palatinate, an area lying on the west side of the Rhine with its southern board resting on the part of France called Alsace-Lorrain. Many historian speculate that the Radabaughs originated as Huguenot of France. In 1738 many people of the Palatinate were leaving their homeland, traveling down the Rhine river some 300 miles to Rotterdam in Holland and embarking at that seaport on ships that would take them to America. The ship “Glasgow” departed Rotterdam and arrived in Philadelphia on 9 September 1738 with 349 passengers on board. One passenger was Heinrich Radabaugh and was the first known Radabaugh on American shores . We don’t know if Henry was the father of Johan Adam Radabaugh but the fact that he named his first born son, Henry would lead us to believe that he was.
Adam Johan Radabaugh Sr lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1744. The Radabaugh family settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Berks County appears to be where Adam grew up, established himself, and married. He married Maria Barbara Fischer on June 9, 1754, in Berks, Pennsylvania, when he was 28 years old.
There was a movement abroad among the Berks County colonists, to move further west. It is presumed that John Adam Sr and family decided to head for the vicinity of Lord Fairfax’ South Branch Manor in Hampshire County, Virginia and per census, Adam Johan Radabaugh Sr lived in Virginia in 1782. The census of 1782 was actually only a head count. The government wanted to know how many people it had and worked to get a count based on white and black. The rugged terrain of Hampshire County was no easy task. Adam Rodebaugh shows on the ‘Stump list’ as head of a family of nine. Those nine likely included Adam and Barbara with the five youngest children, Catherine, 18; Peter, 17; Martin, 14; George, 12; and Adam, Jr., 10, plus daughter Mary about 20 with her Moyer husband. The other adult children can be located at other census counts.
They had land in Berks County, Pennsylvania that in 1786, after he and Barbara had moved to Hampshire County, Virginia, they wished to sell. Adam and Barbara made a deed to John Rager for a tract of land and in 1789, they gave power of attorney to one Martin Fisher of Berks County to sell lands in Berks County.
Adam Sr and Barbara settled two mountain ridges and one creek east of the Buzzard property. Their land was on the South Fork of the South Branch, 8 to 10 miles south of Moorefield and 7 or 8 miles east of Petersburg. Radabaugh Run in that vicinity was named for him. Note: Virginia’s Hampshire County was divided in 1786, the southern half, where the Radabaugh’s lived, became Hardy County.
Through the years, about 1758 to 1772 Adam and Barbara had eight know children. They were mentioned in Adam’s will as a daughter who married a Carshner and a daughter Barbara; Mary who married a Mawyers/Moyers; a daughter who married Higher/Hyer who had children Mary, Peter and Christian Hyer, and sons Henry, Peter, Martin, George and Adam. Peter inherited the land or the South Fork on Adam’s death before 1806. His will was drawn on 6 August 1802, probated on 10 September 1806 and the appraisal was recorded on 16 October 1806). His wife Barbara was not mentioned in his will and so presumed deceased. Many descendants remain in the area.
Records in the DAR – A134371
Service:
VIRGINIA Rank: PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Birth:
12-4-1725 OTZWEILER GERMANY
Death:
ANTE 9-10-1806 HARDY CO VIRGINIA
Service Source:
ABERCROMBIE & SLATTEN, VA REV PUB CLAIMS, VOL 2, P 452
Service Description:
1) FURNISHED SUPPLIES