Data source is the Robert A Moomaw "Moomaw, Mumma, Mumaw, Mumaugh" book 1990 and the "Moomaw Newsletters" published by Margaret Dieringer between 1983 & 1989 and other miscellaneous documents.
This Christian Mumma was originally identified as Christian Mummer who appeared in Augusta County, VA and was assigned the “un-connected” number of 135 anc was later merged with this Christian Mumma, 135, the son of Frederick Mumma.. While in Virginia, the family primarily used the surname spelling of MOOMAU.
In Margaret Dieringer's Newsletter, Volume 1, #2, page 7, she wrote the following:
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I have copies of two handwritten sheets from the files of the Lancaster County Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster. It is not clear who wrote them:
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Copied Aug 1856 from a small book Uncle John Mumma has --
Family records of grandfather and his offsprings to the present time. Frederick Mumma was born in Germany, came to America young, died February 8, 1814 and was 84 years of age. His wife, Fronica, her maiden name was Nolt, died in 1807. They had nine children - John, Elizabeth, Jacob, Aney, Christian, Barbara, Jonas, David, and Mary. These came to maturity.
"
However, since Christian is not identified in his father's Will written in 1814, we can speculate that Christian was deceased by this time.
It is possible that he could have lived in Rapho township of Lancaster County. The following evidence and data that has been accumulated.
1) Two Christian Mumas appear on the Hempfield tax lists of Lancaster County from 1777 to 1779. In 1777, an additional fee or tax was imposed on a large number of men in the exact same amount of £3.10. This was a common amount charged to all "Non-Associators" who were eligible men whose religion or beliefs forbid them from fighting in the Revolutionary War. I presume the following Mummas were on this list since they, or their parents, followed the Mennonite or Church of the Brethren religions.
George Muma
John Muma
Henry Muma
Christian Muma
Christian Muma
It is surprising that two Christian Mummas are listed in the Hempfield tax lists. The only way I can explain this is to presume that Rapho Township men were included in the Hempfield listing. This data suggests that there were 2 Christian Mummas living in the Hempfield/Rapho townships. The following information about a Christian Mumma who migrated to Hampshire Co., VA further supports this.
[Note - Much of the following information about the two Christian Mummas of Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., PA was found by Jane Moomau Doughty in her quest to discover the parents of Christian Mummer of Augusta County, VA]
2) On 7 Jan 1784, a Christian Muma of Rapho Township sells to Stephen Wenger all of his personal property (1 horse, 3 cows and all household goods including beds, pots, etc. for £110.13.4 which seems like a lot of money in those days for personal property) This would certainly suggest someone who preparing to leave the area. No wife is mentioned, but if he had one, her signature would probably not be required for the sale of personal property. [Lancaster Co. Deed book Z, Vol 1, pages 10-11]
3) On 25 Mar 1785, Christian Muma of Rapho Twp. buys 264 acres of land on the Cacapon River in Hampshire Co., VA from John Mishy (Meshia) and his wife, also of Rapho Twp. for a price of £200 Pennsylvania money. [Lancaster Co Deed book 7, pages 21-24]
Since another Christian Mumma remains in Rapho Township of Lancaster County, we can conclude that there were two Christian Mummas.
4) A Christian Muma appears on the 1787 Census of Virginia for Hampshire County. No additional males living in the family between the ages of 16 to 21, no slaves, 1 horse, 3 cattle.
[It is clear that this Christian Mumma is not the "Christian Mummer" who appears in Augusta County, Va and is the progenitor of the MOOMAU family.]
5) In 1788 Christian Muma and his wife, Nancy, of Hampshire Co., VA sell 46 acres of land of his Hampshire property to a Daniel Miller. [Emmert Bittinger's book, "Allegheny Passage, Churches and Families, West Marva District, Church of the Brethren, 1752-1990".]
6) On 10 June 1793, Christian Muma and his wife, Ann, sell 12 1/2 acres of their Hampshire property to a John Kenner for the price of £18. [Hampshire County VA Deed book 9 pg 149-151]. The "Nancy" listed in the previous document was probably just his wife's nickname since Nancy was a common nickname for Ann in Virginia.
7) On 9 April 1794, Christian Muma and his wife, Ann, sell 205 acres (the remaining balance of their Hampshire land) to Daniel Weller for £265 current Virginia money. [Hampshire County VA Deed book 9, pp339-341]
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A couple of observations and thoughts.
o It is clear that there were 2 Christian Mummas living in Rapho Township of Lancaster County in the 1770/1780's.
o Strange that Christian would sell all of his personal property in 1784. Probably has no wife while living in Rapho Township?
o Christian can sign his name on all documents (fairly rare ability for this generation of Mummas).
o Although the name of "Nancy" and "Ann" appear on the various deeds, it is probably the same person. "Nancy" was a commonly used nickname in Virginia for "Ann".
o Christian and his wife probably left the Virginia area after selling their remaining Hampshire County, Virginia property in 1794.
o No children or other descendants have been identified.
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Is this Christian Mumma who lived in Rapho township and migrated to Hampshire County, VA the son of Jacob Mumma, a son of the immigrant Jacob Mumma or the son of Frederick Mumma, also a son of the immigrant Jacob Mumma? Data source is Sarah Jane Moomau Doughty. E-mail janedoughty814@gmail.com
Data researcher is Doug Mumma doug@mumma.org
Christian's birth year of 1768 is estimated from a 1790 Botetourt County, VA document. His son, John Houp Moma, listed his parents place of birth as Pennsylvania in the 1880 census. On 21 April 1790, he married Elizabeth Hawpe in Augusta County, VA.
On 9 Jan 1790, Christian was listed as a member of the Staunton Virginia Fire company. His signature as it appears on that list is shown above. The top line is his signature in classical German script. The 2nd line is likely the recorder's added "transcription" of the German script into more common English Script. The mark Christian made above the letters "um" are a combination of the straight line "bar" used to signify the doubling of the letter "m" and the "u-bogen" to distinguish the letter "u" from being misinterpreted as an "n". The script lower case "u" in old German is correctly formed with the "u-bogen". The "a" on the end of "Mumma" when written in old German script is often misinterpreted as "er". This is why some researches think his surname was "Mummer". That surname spelling of "Mummer" has been retained for Christian since it uniquely identifies him, but it was never the way he wrote it.
Christian Mummer is listed in the 1793, Augusta County tax rolls, but the assessor reports "gone to Amherst" (this is a nearby county). Apparently there is documentation in Amherst County, saying that Christian served as a witness in 1795. His exact date of death is not known, but it had to be between the birth of his youngest child (1805) and the marriage of his daughter, Catherine, in 1812.
Recent discoveries by Jane Doughty of documents relating to the estate of Rudolph Moomau in Kingston, Roane Co., Tennessee have led to the determination that Rudolph was the son of Elizabeth Mummer and he identified his siblings. Copies of these documents, transferred to pdf format by Jane Medefessor, are available on the Mumma web site archives at
http://www.mumma.org/archives.html With the aid of census and other documents, including family histories, we are able to attach the various children to Christian Mummer and Elizabeth "Betsy" Hawpe of Augusta County, Virginia. When viewing the different documents, a wide variety of name spellings are found. When referring to a specific document, the spellings found in the document are shown. For each individual, the name which that individual primarily used during his life time and would have been placed on their tombstone is used as their "primary" surname. One should note that West Virginia did not become a state until 1863 during the Civil War and places of birth may list Virginia, whereas that location may now be located in West Virginia.
Elizabeth "Betsy" Hawpe [~1770 - 1844] - Elizabeth's father was Rudolph Hawpe, b. abt. 1730, d. 1804 (data from the Hawpe web site). Rudolph first resided in Lampeter Twp., Lancaster County, PA. He later move his family to Greenville Twp., Augusta Co., VA in 1784. Betsy's mother was Catherine Heilman. Betsy was born ~1770(?) most likely in Lancaster Co., PA. She and Christian were married 21 April 1790. On 23 Nov 1833, she signed a "Power of Attorney" in Augusta County, VA to her son, Jonas, regarding the disposition of her son's estate, Rudolph, in Kingston, TN. Her exact death date, place and place of burial are unknown to this author. Several researchers report a death year as 1844, but the source is unknown. It is not known if she remarried after Christian's death.
Hawpe information can be found at the following address:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hawpe/index.html