Best we can tell, most of the Bentz's came out of the Palatinate (SW Germany) in the 18th century as a result of factors I will go into in a later post. When they arrived in Philadelphia, there was a general trend to move westward across Pennsylvania between 1730-1800. Some from this line moved south to Maryland and straight on through to Virginia and beyond to the Carolinas. In America, the Bentz name was spelled in a variety of ways: Bens, Benz, Pens, Pentz, and Pence (the latter being the most common). I've heard that the Germans in the Palatinate pronounced the letter B quite softly, in the manner of the English letter P, and therefore Pentz and Bentz would be nearly identical to the untrained ear. I'd need a person from Baden, Germany to correct this assumption. Let me know.
As for myself, I am on a journey to break through a brick wall. Daniel Pentz (m. Catherine Chase) lived at the turn of the 19th century, produced several children, then disappeared without a trace. Family tradition has him perishing in 1819 (still a young man), but there is no evidence, as yet, to support this. To discover who his parents were, and his line's relation to that of the other Pentz's on the Pennsylvania map, we'll also be utilizing DNA (y-DNA, specifically). There're a few of our family already doing y-DNA testing. There needs to be more. And I'll cover this in an upcoming post in much more detail.
All the best,
Derek
Hi there! Glad I found this. I've tested several places including Family Tree DNA i'm I-m223 terminal SNP as of now is L812. My earliest PA Bentz is William born 1811 Lancaster County I think. Based on results at FTDNA seems i'm related to a Benz family in Elsenz.
ReplyDeleteHi Ron. We need to connect William to one of the Founding Fathers. Do you have any other data points on William (1811)? We need to get at least one generation prior to William (1811). Data points will help, although I know they aren't always plentiful.
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