William Penn, the admiral’s son, was given a great tract of land in the central colonies of America. Penn and a number of settlers arrived in 1682 to inspect this land. His ship sailed up the Delaware estuary, and after making several landfalls and visits to the existing Swedish colonies, he continued up the river until he came to a green tongue of land between the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers and there came ashore. He laid out a “Green Country Town” on this terrain and called it Philadelphia. Idealistically, he made a treaty with the Lenni Lenape Indians who inhabited the territory and peacefully arrived at an agreement whereby he could own, and Europeans could occupy the environs. A John Moll appears on one of the committees of the first state assembly held at Chester, Pennsylvania on December 4, 1682. This John Moll was the first recorded Moll in Pennsylvania. I have not been able to establish a family lineage to him however.
John Michael Moll
1st Generation American
Less than 50 years after it’s founding, Philadelphia was growing rapidly and ships were arriving from Europe carrying passengers and merchandise. A constant flow of immigrants resulted in Pennsylvania becoming the second most populous province in colonial America and the city of Philadelphia becoming the second largest city in the British empire — second only to London. On one ship, the "Pensilvania Merchant", which arrived in Philadelphia on September 10, 1731, Johan Michael Moll (1689- 12 Feb 1770) from Weisenheim am Sand, Germany, started my branch of the Moll family in America.
Johan Michael Moll is listed in Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Strassburger & Hinke, as among fifty-seven Palatine passengers, who with their families, making in all one hundred and seventy-five persons, were imported on the ship "Pensilvania Merchant", John Stedman Commander, from Rotterdam, arriving in Philadelphia on September 10, 1731. A younger brother, Johann Peter Moll, had arrived in Philadelphia on August 10th, 1729 on the "Mortonhouse", James Coultas, Master, last from Cowes, whence the ship sailed June 21st, 1729. Other passengers on the Pensilvania Merchant in 1731 included Christophel Moll, Margarite Moll and Rosina Moll. Children under the age of 16 included Conrad Moll and Margarite Moll. The relationship of these other Molls to Michael Moll is unclear.
During this period, the vast majority of ships arriving in Philadelphia with German passengers sailed from Rotterdam. Ships from the continent bound for England's North American colonies at this time were required to visit an English port to register their cargo before crossing the Atlantic. The Pensilvania Merchant on this voyage stopped at Dover. Passage between England and Philadelphia ranged from a minimum of 58 days to a maximum of 89 days, and probably averaged about 75 days.
This map of Southeastern Pennsylvania illustrates where my branch of the Moll family first settled in America. East Greenville (Goshenhoppen) is where John Michael Moll settled in 1732. Over 80% of families named "Moll" in Pennsylvania can be found in this 4 county (Lehigh, Berks, Montgomery, Bucks) area today. Over the past three hundred years descendants of this colonial pioneeer family have migrated across Pennsylvania and the United States.
Christophel (Christopher) Moll (1716?-1802, 1st Generation), initally settled in Montgomery County. Approximatley 1735 he married Anna Catharina. In 1753 he moved to Rowan County, North Carolina. The evidence of this is a land grant for 435 acres in 1753 in his name. Christopher Moll died approx. 1802 in Rowan County, N.C., living well into his 80's (86?).
Christopher's oldest son, Johannes "Peter" Mull (note the phonetic spelling of "Moll") (1736 - October 29, 1805, 2nd Generation) was born in Montgomery County, but after the family move to North Carolina he married Barbara A Kline (b. approx. 1740 - d. approx. 1836 in Burke County), about 1759 and started the southeastern branch of the Moll/Mull family tree.
Peter Mull owned 12 slaves; sold 320 acres of Burke County land located at the mouth of Upper Creek in 1771 to Abraham Collett. In the 1790 census, listed as head of family of 13. He fought in the Revolutionary War, being a member of the Burke Militia, 7th Regiment. He is listed as a Captain under the command of Colonel Christopher Beekman in the 2nd Rowan Regiment. He owned 165 acres in Burke County in 1778, and qualified as a Justice in Burke County prior to 1792. Peter Mull became the 8th "High Sheriff" of Burke County from 1790 through 1792.
Peter's oldest son, John Mull (1760-1812), whose descendants settled primarily in the Catawba, Lincoln and Cleveland County section of North Carolina. Other sons were Henry Mull (1771-1850) and Jacob Mull (1783-1843) whose families mostly inhabited Burke County. His son, Peter Mull, Jr. (1773-1857), moved to Western North Carolina and his descendants are found in Buncombe, Haywood, Transylvania and other western counties, as well as Tennessee and Northern Georgia. Further information about this branch of the family tree can be found in the book Mull Families of North Carolina , written by R. Rondal Mull and Mable M. Mull.
 Old engraving of the Port of Philadelphia in the 1700's |
This branch of the Moll family settled in modern-day Berks and Montgomery Counties. Additional information about this branch of the family tree can be found on the 'Molltown PA' and 'Montgomery County' pages.
The Molls of Northampton and Lehigh County
 Original map of Allentown, 1762 |
William Allen purchased the tract of land that was to become Allentown on September 10th, 1735 from his business partner, Joseph Turner, who acquired it from William Penn. At the time of the purchase, William Allen was the mayor of Philadelphia, and was later to serve as Chief Justice of the Province from 1750 to 1774.
In 1741, the sons of William Penn had decided that the land, which now consists of the upper part of Bucks County and areas east of the Lehigh River, should be opened for settlement. The area agreed to with the Lenni Lenape was a walk covering a period of a day and a half. The three men who represented the Europeans were renowned athletes in the English community. They "walked hard" (the Indians said "White man run, run, run all day") and at the end of the "walk" reached the crown of the Blue Mountain to the east of Lehigh Gap. The land to the east of this line was then opened up for sale and ownership to Europeans.
In 1752, Northampton and Berks counties had been formed, each with a county seat, Easton and Reading, respectively. It's likely that a certain amount of rivalry with the Penns prompted Judge Allen to decide to start a town of his own in 1762. Allen's plans covered forty-two blocks in the area now bounded by Union, Liberty, Fourth, and Tenth streets. Allen named the town Northampton, but many people referred to it as "Mr. Allen's town." Although the name was widely used, Allentown was not officially adopted as the city's name until 1838.
Colonial Allentown Molls
The first Moll that I have an established lineage to is a William Moll ? (1712?-1780, 1st Generation). The only information about him is the fact that he left a rifle threading tool to his heirs, evidenced as follows:
In "The History of Lehigh and Carbon Counties", page 123, is found the statement that "A tool containing the inscription April 10, 1747 "WM" is in the possession of his great, great grandson, Wm. H. Moll."
 A typical rifling machine used by Pennsylvania gunsmiths in the 18th century. Most of the parts of this machine were made of wood, although later types were made of metal. |
It's doubtful that William Moll lived in the Allentown area as there is no record of him on the Northampton County tax lists; nor does his name appear on any ship's list in the Port of Philadelphia; nor is there any record of indenture for him. It is also unclear whether or not his name was actually "William Moll".
A great amount of effort has been spent by genealogists filling in the numerous family groups of the early Molls. Many early German settlers had large families of 12-19 children with fairly high survival rates, and it's unlikely the Molls were different. There is a belief among several of the Moll genealogists that the Allentown/Hellertown Molls, are a branch of the Montgomery/Berks county family which moved into colonial Northampton County.
This is the branch from where my lineage is from.
One unusual aspect of William Moll is that his name does not appear among those who took the oath of allegiance nor among those who refused to take it at the time of the Revolutionary War. William Moll died in 1780 intestate; and in the Northampton County Court House, there is a record of his inventory taken by Court Order.
Johannes(John) Moll (1746?-1794, 2nd Gen) settled in Allentown in 1764. His origins are also unclear, other than his father was William Moll. The first record of him is on the Allentown tax list of 1764, listing him as a Gunsmith. Numerous tradesmen such as potters, tailors, blacksmiths, masons, shoemakers, joiners and bankers settled in the community. In 1764 the community was growing. In 1762 there were 13 houses. By 1766 there were 35 houses. In 1768 this number had jumped to 43.
 2002 aerial photo of Allentown showing the location of the Moll gunsmith factory and Zions Church |
John Moll was married to Lydia Rinker on March 28th, 1772 by the Rev. Abraham Blumer, in Zions Reformed Church. They lived in Allentown and he is listed as John Moll, Gunsmith. The first record of his owning property is a deed dated March 19th, 1773:
"John Melchoir sold to Moll a property for 45 pounds ($135.00) a piece of land 60 feet wide, on now North 7th street, and running to a depth of 230 feet."On this property he established himself as a gunsmith in the community, and the factory that he founded would be in business for the next 119 years (See "The Moll Gunsmith" page).
John and Lydia Moll had a son born May 13th, 1773 named John Moll, II. He was baptised on 25 July 1773 and his godparents were John and Eva Mueller. On March 1st, 1776, a second son, named John Jacob Moll was born. He was baptised on 7 April 1776 and his godparent were John and Catherine Mohr. The Mohrs were bakers who were neighbors of the Molls, living on North 7th street. A third son, Peter Moll, was born on November 20th, 1779. He was baptized on 12 December 1779 and his godparents were Peter and Sabina Roth. Peter Roth was a lawyer.
During the Revolutionary War, John Moll enlisted as a Private, Eighth Class, of the Third Company of the First Battalion of Northampton County Militia on June 18, 1777. He was not called into active service, as his services were utilized at the gun factory in Allentown that was established by the Continental Congress. See the "Molls in the Revolution Page" for more details.
 Silhouette of The Reverend Abraham Blumer, pastor of Zion's Reformed Church, 1771 - 1801 He performed the wedding ceremony of Johnnes (John) Moll and Lydia Rinker on March 28th, 1772 |
"An old Allentonian who, however, long ago entered into that better world recounted to me years ago that it had been reliably reported to him by old inhabitants that the prison camp had been located in the northern section of the present city - around Gordon St. On the present Seventh St., which at the time was called Allen, to honor the founder of this place lived, amoung others, a baker by the name of Mohr and a gunsmith whose name was Moll, the latter keeping bees. Now these Hessian prisoners in those austere and terrible times were naturally put on small rations and fancy dishes were hardly the subject of discussion. No wonder they hankered after the honeycombs in Moll's garden and many a time at night and in foggy weather they fetched some of the sweets. Once Moll caught a honey thief when he was about to make off with a beehive and shot him dead. In those hard times no one took stealing of food as a joke. With the help of neighbor Mohr, he buried the corpse of the thief in his lot. When one of the Hessians in the prison camp was missing the next morning, they believed he had escaped. If they had known the true facts, the bee keeper and gunsmith on Allen St. would evidently have been given a rough time."
In the years during and directly after the Revolution, the economy of the newly independent United States was very unstable, with inflation soaring. In those years, John Moll evidently had a hard time raising his family. However the need for firearms was strong, as the frontier was pushing further and further westward.
As the economy picked up in the 1790's, John Moll evidently prospered. His inventory upon his death revealed a vast store of tools and personal property, totaling about $1,200, a lot of money in 1794 when he died. He was survived by his widow, Lydia Moll and his two sons, John Moll, II, and Peter Moll. There is no record of what happened to the third son, John Jacob Moll, although he was probably alive at the time of his father's death.
In 1846, this Cemetery was moved to a new location along the north side of Linden street @ 10th, and is now called "The Old Allentown Cemetery". The exact location of both Johannes and Lydia (Rinker) Moll's graves are today unknown, as the writing on many of the old tombstones have been lost over the passage of time.
| Name | Cemetery | Location | Reference | |
| MOLL, John | Allentown PA 17 | Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol.3, p. —Serial: 7324; Volume: 14 | ||
| MOLL, John | Allentown PA 16 | Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol.3, p. —Serial: 7119; Volume: 6 | ||
| MOLL, John | Old part cem | 10th & Linden, Allentown, Lehigh Co PA 40 | Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol.3, p. —Serial: 10468-A; Volume: 23 | |
All volumes of the DAR Reports to the Smithsonian are available at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C. The genealogical section of the Dallas Public Library has most of the Senate Documents. The Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City has the 1975-1977 volume. Local DAR and genealogy collections may have copies of the publications. The Brigham Young University library has a card file based on the published work of the DAR which is being microfilmed by the Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City.
Source Info: Hatcher, Patricia Law. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots. [database on-line] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1999-. Original data: Hatcher, Patricia Law. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vols. 1-4, Dallas, TX: Pioneer Heritage Press, 1987.
