12. Johann Heinrich³ Gerlinger (Phillippus Jacobus², Christoph¹) (#1025) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace February 21, 1692. Johann died February 17, 1762 in Weitersweiler, Alsace, at 69 years of age.

He married twice. He married Maria Catharina Vogtlin in Weitersweiler, Alsace, November 28, 1719. (Maria Catharina Vogtlin is #1026.) Maria was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace March 26, 1700. Maria died October 2, 1727 in Weitersweiler, Alsace, at 27 years of age. He married Anna Margaretha Wilde in Weitersweiler, Alsace, February 5, 1728. (Anna Margaretha Wilde is #1031.) Anna was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace May 28, 1711.

Johann Heinrich Gerlinger raised a large family in Weitersweiler and many of the births and christenings of his children can be found in the Weitersweiler Evangelical Lutheran Church Records. He lost his father when he was only 1-1/2 years old.  The Alsace had been a reasonably good place to live since his grandfather Christoph has settled there in 1657. The Alscee was under French control and the population was predominantly German speaking Catholic. Most of the town and place names were German.. The Religious Freedom of the Alsace was guaranteed by the Edict of Nantes. Swiss Mennonites and other refugees traveling down the Rhine River found the Alsace in the mid-1600's a relatively safe area for the practice of their religion.

This began to change in the late 1680's when King Louis XIV of France decided to strengthen his borders and squelch independence. He began an active campaign to discourage Protestantism in the Alsace. Some of the Gerlinger's found it more desireable to move to the nearby Pfalz (Palatinate) outside of French Control.. That may have proved to be little improvement as in May of 1707, during th War of Spanish Succession. French Marshall Villars terrorized southwestern Germany, plundering and requisitioning freely in the Palatinate, Baden, and Wuerttemburg.

Then in 1708 an event occurred that would drive emigration to America for the next generation of German speaking people from the districts along the Rhine River. Even though the term Pfalz or Palatinate applied only to one of these districts, the name "Palatine" was applied indiscriminately to all Swiss and German speaking immigrants of a dozen neighboring districts.

PALATINATE along the Rhine River

An unkind prank of nature occurred in the Winter of 1708. A bitterly cold and cruel winter never before seen gripped the region in its deadly clutches. The cold was intense in early October, by November 1st, it was said that firewood would not burn in open air!. In January of 1709, wine and spirits froze into sold blocks of ice, birds fell dead in flight, saliva congealed in its fall from mouth to the ground. The Seine, Rhone and Rhine Rivers froze, even the sea froze sufficiently along the coast to bear heavily laden carts. Many people died in the bitter Arctic weather, livestock did not survive and when the late spring finally came in 1709, the fruit trees were killed and the vines were destroyed. All was in ruin.
 
This spurred a massive exodus of Germans from the Palatinate which continued over the next 60 years. Promises of a new life in the "promised land" of  Pennsylvania appeared in notices posted in German throughout the Palatinate. Even William Penn himslef had visited the area and promoted Pennsylvania as a haven for the poor. By 1745, there were an estimated 45,000 Germans in Pennsylvania. and in 1766, Benjamin Franklin complained that Germans made up one-third of the entire population of Pennsylvania.  Nevertheless Johann Heinrich Gerlinger remained in the Alsace amidst the cold, famine, depression, crop failure and growing religious persecution. He had fathered 16 children, 4 with his first wife Maria and 12 with his second wife, Anna. When he was 35, his first wife Maria, died at the age of  27. Within four months he re-married to 16 year old Anna.

Johann Heinrich Gerlinger died in 1762. One of his sons. Johannes Georgius Gerlinger was 21 years of age and must have thought often about a better life in America. His cousin, Maria Catherina (Gerlinger) Greiner had gone to Philadelphia 13 years earlier in 1749. It is known that Maria Catherina wrote letters back to her family in Kleinbundenbach. WIth his father gone, Johann Georgius would decide to emigrate to America around 1763. He had twin brothers who were 10 years old,  Ludwig and Michael. They would join him ten years later in Philadelphia..
 
 
Johann Heinrich Gerlinger and Maria Catharina Vogtlin had the following children:

31 i. Phillipp Heinrich⁴ Gerlinger (#1027) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace November 9, 1720.

32 ii. Johannes Michael Gerlinger (#1028) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace July 17, 1722. Johannes died August 10, 1722 in Weitersweiler, Alsace, at less than one year of age.

33 iii. Johann Michael Gerlinger (#1029) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace November 10, 1723.

34 iv. Johannes Adamus Gerlinger (#1030) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace August 16, 1726. Johannes died October 2, 1727 in Weitersweiler, Alsace, at 1 year of age.

Johann Heinrich Gerlinger and Anna Margaretha Wilde had the following children:

35 v. Johannes Heinrich Gerlinger (#1034) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace November 17, 1728. Johannes died November 17, 1728 in Weitersweiler, Alsace, at less than one year of age.

36 vi. Johannes Jacob Gerlinger (#1032) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace February 18, 1730.

+ 37 vii. Johann Heinrich Gerlinger was born November 13, 1731.

38 viii. Johann Christianus Gerlinger (#1035) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace March 12, 1734.

39 ix. Phillipp Jacob Gerlinger (#1036) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace November 15, 1735.

40 x. Margaretha Gerlinger (#1037) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace October 2, 1737.

+ 41 xi. "George" Johannes Georgius Garlinger was born November 6, 1740 in Weitersweiler, Alsace.

42 xii. Anna Magdalena Gerlinger (#1039) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace September 24, 1743.

43 xiii. Anna Catharina Gerlinger (#1040) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace September 7, 1746.
 
+ 44 xiv. Johann Michael Garlinger was born April 1, 1748.
 
45 xv. Johann Christman Gerlinger (#1042) was born in Weitersweiler, Alsace May 27, 1750.
 
+ 46 xvi. Johann Ludwig "Lewis" Garlinger was born April 3, 1752.
 

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