Mercklen Family

I've uploaded a gallery of pictures from Moselem Springs in Berks County, Pennsylvania. This area was settled by many Protestant Alsatians fleeing persecution following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, including my great-great-great- great-great-great-grandfather Johann Christian Mercklen. Johann left the city of Metz for Pennsylvania in 1703. His descendants lived as farmers, blacksmiths and millwrights in western Pennsylvania, at one point owning over 1,300 acres of land.

Although the family land was sold in the 1960's to build a golf course, most of the buildings remain, including an 18th-century house and mill. The Lutheran church nearby has a graveyard with many family tombstones from the past 250 years. Most are carved in German blackletter and eroded by the elements, which makes deciphering the names difficult.