Andrew Michael Bodenschatz, Jr. (AMB) was not the only person who brought the Bodenschatz name from Upper Franconia, Bavaria, to the New Germany area of Cambria County, Pennsylvania (see the blog post “You’re One of “A”s Kids, Ain’t Ya?” — May 24, 2025). One of his brothers (pictured above), Johann Josef Bodenschatz (aka John Joseph or “JJB”), followed AMB to New Germany in the fall of 1867. JJB started a farm and worked in the saddle and harness-making trade — skills he learned from his father at Zengersloh, the longtime family farm in Upper Franconia, Bavaria.

The two brothers ran their farms and raised their families in New Germany, but they were not immediate neighbors. AMB settled on the Summerhill end of the rural area, and JJB settled on the Wilmore end.

This 1872 map shows adjacent Summerhill and Croyle Townships (labeled on an angle in capital letters). The added blue dot on the left shows the settlement of Summerhill, which was then part of Croyle Township and known during earlier periods of its history as Croyle’s Mills, Half Way, or Sommer Hill. Summerhill became a borough independent of Croyle Township in 1892. 

The blue dot on the right marks Wilmore Borough, which was incorporated much earlier in 1859. The blue-circled area shows roughly where the area informally known as “New Germany” was—and still is—located. 

Years after they settled in Pennsylvania, two of AMB and JJB’s nephews, both also named “Johann” (John Michael Bodenschatz or “JMB” & John B. Bodenschatz or “JBB”), made their own voyages (in 1884 and 1913, respectively) to the United States. They each wanted to try life where their uncles had settled, and both stayed in the region for the rest of their lives. 

JMB married and raised a large family in New Germany, just as his uncles did a generation earlier. In his early years in Pennsylvania, JBB lived with AMB’s son George and his family. He later moved to the greater Johnstown area (shown in the lower-left corner of the map above) but did not marry.

This cluster of Bodenschatz immigrants in the Pennsylvania hills was just one of several that took shape in the U.S. in the mid-to late-1800s. Others formed in Massachusetts, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and California. Some were Roman Catholic, like those who settled in New Germany, but most were of Protestant faith. Do you have stories or information to share about the family in any of these or other places?