Johann Heinrich LaMott Biographical Info
More info from Charles Mawhinney:
The story seems to be: Johannes Heinrich LaMotte was born in France in 1705 and came to America in 1741 at the age of 36 years leaving France because of religious persecution. He arrived in Phila., Pa. on the ship, Phoenix ( documented ).
He embraced the Menonite faith after arriving in Pa. He was a man of peace. (This supports the Menonite faith) He registered his oath of Allegiance in Maryland as a non combatant ( documented ) which means he would not fight for the colonies but gave his allegiance to the colonies and not the crown of England.
He apparently traveled after arriving in the country and went to Charleston, S. C. where he joined a Hughenot colony. He returned to Maryland/Pa. area where he met and married widow Bollinger who had three sons.
We think he married in 1750 as his first child, Henry was born in 1751 in York Co., Pa. The Marquis de LaFayette was a first cousin of Johannes Heinrich LaMotte and when he came to America to fight for the colonies one of his staff officers was Nicolas de La Motte.
Nicolas was an uncle of Johannes Heinrich and he called upon him with other officers. On this visit they, Nicolas and Johannes Heinrich spoke in fluent French and the family was stunned.
They did not know their father could speak French and were also stunned at the high respect he was shown by the other French officers accompanying Nicolas. Apparently Johannes Heinrich did not talk about his family with his children.
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Johanne Heinrich Lammott was a Hugenot protestant when he came to this ountry and then embraced the Menonite religion. He was a pacifist and registered with Maryland as a non-combatant with allegiance to America during the revolution.
Later he returned to the German Lutheran religion and his family seemed to all resume their religious faith with the German Lutherans as the records show many baptisms in the Lutheran churches.
The Menonites did not keep very good records and if they had any they were usually private records. The Menonites were so badly treated and persecuted in Europe that they did not want any governmental records available to locate them or identify them.
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Also found a publication in Phila., Pa. on the Hughenots immigration to PA. and it reported Johannes Heinrich Lamott was born in Provence, France; could speak German and French fluently, immigrated to PA. with the Palatines and the Swiss.
He settled down in Hanover, Pa. in 1754. He was visited by a relative, Captain Nickolas de la Motte in 1785, of the French Army who came to America with Rochambeau to fight in the American Revolution with Marquis de la Fayette.
(More and more information seems to support the family story of LaFayette as cousin, although the first cousin part is doubtful.)
A Mrs. Knapp who lived in York Pa. in 1825 is the one who passed the Lafayette story down in the Lamott family. So far my research seems to indicate Mrs. Knapp was the granddaughter of Johannes Heinrich Lamott and the daughter of Henry Lamott (1751-1798) who lived and died in Hardford Co., Md.on the family genealogy.
This Henry Lamott is the father of Jacob Lamott ( our line ) and Mrs. Knapp should be Mary Lamott the only daughter in this family and a sister of Jacob Lammott (1774-1845 ).
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I found a descendant of widodw Bollinger who tells me they have the first name of widow Bollinger and it is Catherine. and the name of the ship on which she came to America.
Also, Johannes Heinrich Lammott gave land to Jospeh Bollinger, his step son and oldest child born to widow Bollinger.This descendant is in the process of sending me the material.
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Who'd a thunk that the LaFayette family rumor would be true?
