Children of Jacob Christlieb and Anna "Nancy" Singer
That the exact month, day, and year are given for the birth of each of the 14 children indicates that the information may have been copied from Jacob and Nancy’s family Bible. The copied information exists in two forms: The first, which may be the older of the two, is retained by Janet Scott Humphreys, great-great-granddaughter of Abram and Amanda (Britton) Chrislip. The second list is thought to have been copied from the first. Both were done by Jacob and Nancy’s son, Samuel. In both cases, the family name is spelled Crislip throughout.
Mary Christlieb/Crislip [119], born 31 January 1780. At age 22 she married David Willett in 1802. After 15 years of marriage, she became a widow and remained so for 21 years. At age 58, she married Arthur Hickman in 1838. She and Arthur were married for 32 years. Mary died in 1780 at age 90.
Elizabeth Christlieb/Crislip [125], born 5 September 1781. At about age 22 she married Nicholas Crouse. After being married 55 years, Elizabeth died in 1857 at age 76.
George Christlieb/Chrislep [148], born 22 December 1782. He married, at about age 25, Mary Boice/Bice. After being married for 49 years, George died in 1857 at age 75.
Christiana Crislip [186], born 19 December 1785. At age 21, she married Jesse Reed/Read in May 1806. Having been married for 49 years, Christianah died in 1855 at age 70.
Catherine Crislip [358], born 9 May 1786. At age 28, she married Hugh J. O’Connor in August of 1814. Having only been married two years, Catherine died at age 30, in 1816.
Jacob Crislip II [376], born 16 September 1787. At age 29, Jacob married Elizabeth Reger in 1816. Jacob died at age 83 in 1865.
John Chrislip [405], born 25 July 1789. At age 22, John married Margarett Harvey in 1811. John died in 1865 at age 76.
Nancy Crislip [556], born 31 October 1793. At age 23, Nancy married Jacob Ours in 1816. After about 28 years of marriage, Jacob Ours died ca. 1821. Nancy remarried William Turner in January 1828. Nancy died at age 84 in 1877.
William Chrislip [562], born 27 March 1794. In 1833, at age 39, William married Hannah Ward, daughter of Job and Tabitha Ward. Married for 14 years, William died at age 53 in 1847.
Abram Chrislip [746], born 26 September 1795. At age 39, he married Amanda Britton in 1834. Married for 45 years, Abram died at age 84 in 1879.
Margaret Crislip [779], born 16 October 1797. The twin of Isaac, Margaret married David Jenkins in 1826, at age 29. Margaret died at age 58 in 1855.
Isaac Chrislip [785], born 16 October 1797. Unmarried twin of Margaret, Isaac died in 1881 at the age of 84.
Samuel Chrislip [790], born 2 May 1800. At age 39, he married Eleanor Jane Board in 1839. After being married for 50 years, Samuel died at age 89 in 1889.
Sarah Chrislip [832], born 6 April 1802. At age 24, she married her first cousin, Solomon Christlieb in 1826. After 57 years of marriage, Solomon died at age 83. Sarah died at age 83 in 1885.
An interesting piece of oral history came to the author’s father back in the 1950s: James Clyde Crislip was told that in the early years of the family in northwestern Virginia, a bear came out of a thicket and stole a baby off a blanket, while the mother was working nearby. Harold McGee, great-grandson of Abram Chrislip, remembered his grandfather’s telling the same story. If the tragedy was Jacob and Nancy’s, the event would have taken place, ca. 1791, between births of John and Nancy, who were born in 1789 and 1793, respectively. Ned Crislip.
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Jacob Christlieb
Overview of his Life
Jacob Christlieb, progenitor of the Chrislip-Crislip Clan and early settler in northwestern Virginia, came to America in 1765 at age 16. Accompanied by his parents, Friedrich Carl and Anna Catharina, his brother, Friedrich Carl II, and half-brother, Georg Bock and his wife, he arrived at the Port of Baltimore from the southwestern part of Germany known as the Palatinate or Rheinland-Pfalz.
Jacob Christlieb was born in 1749. His father, a resident of Frankenstein, a small village in southwestern Germany, was born a Jew. He was known by the name, Simon, until his conversion to Christianity in 1742. His God-sponsors were Elector Prince Carl Philipp III, Count Christian Carl Reinhard of Leiningen, and Count Friedrich Magnus of Leiningen. It was also at this time that the new convert received the surname, Christlieb, which, means “Lover of Christ” in the German language. A few weeks later, Jacob’s father married Anna Catharina (née Engel) Bock, widow of Gottfried Bock. Anna Catharina was the daughter of Johann Peter and Anna Gerdrauth Engel.
About 1779, Jacob Christlieb married Anna “Nancy” Singer in Pennsylvania. Jacob and Nancy were residents of Allen Township in Cumberland County. After the Revolutionary War, in which he served, Jacob removed to northwestern Virginia. He resided in Berkeley and Hampshire counties for several years, before settling with his family in Harrison County, in 1792.
Jacob and Nancy Christlieb were the parents of seven sons and seven daughters, all of whom lived into adulthood. Jacob’s children adopted the American form of their German surname; hence, the spellings Crislip and Chrislip. Jacob Christlieb died in 1822. Nancy died in 1824. They and many descendants are buried in the old family cemetery at Chrislip Hollow, near Elk City in Barbour County, West Virginia.
The above was prepared by the Christlieb-Chrislip-Crislip Family Association for submission to the Archives of West Virginia University at Morgantown.