Aaltje Olshy Elrod

Following first are a few link resources for research on Aaltje Olshy Soelle Elrod. Source citation for Memoirs follows the narrative. [Redaction, text emphasis, and narrative arrangement, mine] Joachim Hawn profile co-manager

Soelle at Ancestry.com https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad...

Aaltje Soelle Elrod at WikiTree https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad...

Aaltje Elrod - Historical records and family trees from MyHeritage.com https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad...

Aaltje Olshy Elrod (Soelle)

• Born 20 Oct 1724 Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
• Died 17 Sep 1804 Hope, Forsyth, North Carolina, United States
• Burial MORAVIAN Cemetery, Hope near Clemmons, Forsythe County, North Carolina, United States — in Clemmons.

The parents of Aaltje Olshy Soelle were Johanne Adam Soelle and Sarah Fitzwater

Aaltje Olshy Soelle married Christopher Ellis Elrod Sr., on May 26th 1743 in Manakosy, Maryland

The children of Aaltje Olshy Elrod (Soelle) and Christopher Ellis Elrod Sr.

• Adam Soelle Elrod 1743-1812
• Elizabeth Elrod 1745-1745
• Sarah Butner (Elrod)' 1746-1832
• Catharina A. Wainscott (Elrod) 1749-1804
• Olshy Elrod 1751-Unknown
• Margrete Boner (Elrod) 1752-1821 married Joseph William Boner
• Mary McKnight (Elrod) 1755-1819 married George McKnight
• Jeremias Elrod 1755-Unknown
• Christopher Elrod Jr 1757-1827 married Sarah Douthit on Dec 7 1780
• Robert Elrod Sr. 1759-1828 married Elizabeth Riddle
• John B. Elrod 1762-1855
• Aaltje Doll (Elrod) 1765-1790
• Lydia McKnight (Elrod) 1767-1844 married Roger Lee McKnight

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AALTJE SOELLE ELROD

Her Memoirs (wife of Christopher Elrod Sr.)

The late widowed Sister Aaltje Elrod (Soelle) who died on September 17, 1804, at Hope had the following taken down about her life:

“I was born October 20, 1724, in Germantown, in Pennsylvania and since my parents belonged to the Mennonites, I was not baptized as a child. My father moved later to the Canawaga where I faithfully attended the meetings. After I was grown I was baptized by the Lutheran pastor by the name of Can- zler and this made a deep impression on me. Soon after this my father moved to Maryland to the region of Manaskosy where I married my late husband Christopher Elrod on March 26, 1743.

In 1751 we moved to North Carolina and settled on the Yadkin River. Some years later some of the Brethern came into the region and some of them visited in the country and preached in the houses and thus we soon had the opportunity of hearing them preach. The first in whose preaching I was awakened was the late Bro. Post. From this time on I sought to obtain my salvation and found much comfort in the preaching of the Brethren Soelle, Ettwein and Utley. “In the dangerous time of the Indian War we fled to Bethabara where we to our blessing had occasion to become better acquainted with the Brethren. When it again became safer in the country we moved back to our plantation but continued to attend the Sunday meetings in Bethabara until a little congregation was organized on the Southfork in Friedberg, when we then attended the meetings of the brethren there, which were very greatly blessed to my heart, although they were held in the German language which I did not know very well. I will, however, never forget how I was encouraged and revived anew when from time to time the late Sister Marschall visited in Friedberg and I could talk with her in the English language very open-heartedly about the state of my heart and her conversation and advice was true balm for my poor heart.

“On April 4, 1773, in Friedberg, I had the grace of being received in the congregation and on January 22, 1774, I became a communicant in the body and blood of the Lord in the service of the Holy Communion. Some of our children were also baptized and when the congregation was organized in the year 1780, we had the joy of being among the first members of this little congregation.” So far it was in her own information. From this time she found her greatest comfort and encouragement in the close association with the Saviour and in the observance of his suffering and death. In the olden times when the brethren frequently visited in the country and preached, they were always welcome in her house and could be refreshed there from their heavy labors.

The death of her dear husband in January, 1784 grieved her very much, and it was hard for her to adjust to her new condition, and only the hope of following him soon into eternity often supported her for she had an unusual longing to depart and be with Christ, her Redeemer, and finally became very impatient that she had to wait so much longer than she had expected.

When one spoke to her she usually expressed emphatically this longing to be with Christ and if she was recommended to have patience, she said, “I belong to the Savior”. He knows his time best and when it pleases him I will go to him, but soon, soon.!” Manifestly she put her hope in God in her almost twenty years of Widowhood and this hope was not destroyed when she lived by turns with her four sons who all belonged to the congregation and who cared for and tended her with the love of a child. Her quiet way of life, withdrawn from this world and her attachment to and persistent association with the Saviour which shone forth from all her activities, made her generally beloved.

Since for several years, because of her age and weakness, she was unable to come to the meetings of the congregation, so much the more she was comforted and refreshed by the association with the Saviour at home and when her children sometimes brought her to communion or otherwise at times to church festivals, it was for her always a day of blessing. God had blessed her marriage with 12 children, of whom 9 are still living. From these she had 63 grandchildren and 73 great-grandchildren of whom 57 grandchildren and 68 great-grandchildren are still living.

Two weeks ago, in the house of her son, John Elrod, where she is now living, she became sick with the prevailing fever and it was appointed for her to go home to her Saviour as she had so many years longed to do.

While conscious and even in delirium she called on the Saviour often and prayed English and German verses. When her children asked her whether she was now ready to go to the Saviour she gave witness of that with joy that she was really separated from the world and had a complete desire to be at home with her Saviour and this was evident in a lovely manner in her last illness. On Sunday, the 16th of this month, in the presence of several of her children and children’s children and blessing of the Lord and the congregation was administered to her for her homegoing and she departed in the afternoon of September 17, 1804. Her age was 79 years, one month, and 3 days.

From Document found in Moravian Archives, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

NOTES SOURCE:

Moravian Records, census records, Holy Trinity Church Records Delaware
LOCALITY: This area of Rowan County is now Forsythe County. DOCUMENTATION: Elrod Records from Jack and Doris Rose and Mrs. Bill T. Crawford, by correspondence. Pauline Walters-Elrod book-1971 MEMOIRS: Christopher Sr's and Aaltje's Memoirs are both on file in the Moravian Archives Museum at Old Salem North Carolina. Notes for Aaltje: SOURCES: See "Memoirs of Aaltje Aletha Soelle Elrod" , Moravian Archives, Winston-Salem, NC . "Moravians" by Fries; also "Records of the Moravians in North Carolina" from the Wachovia Church Book, Vol I, 1752-1771. From Pauline Walters Elrod book: p.3

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Aaltje is buried next to her beloved Christopher, in Clemmons, Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States To view burial site, see below link.

Interned in the original Hope Moravian Church, Clemmons, Forsyth County, North Carolina, USA graveyard which is no longer in use. The current Hope Moravian Graveyard is adjacent to the church at 2759 Hope Church Rd Cemetery Plaque shown as profile image, above. .
Hope Moravian Cemetery, the old cemetery, is located in a different place than the current Hope Moravian Church and cemetery which is located on Hope Church Road. NOTE: There are no new burials there. This is the site of the earliest Hope Moravian Church, which no longer exists. The cemetery has wooden fence posts around it, and there used to be a stapled picture of the old church on a tree, but it might be gone by now. The graves are Moravian, so they’re all the same, simple stones. This makes the cemetery hard to find as it’s hard to see from the road. It’s located 500 feet north of the end of Copeland Road, just north of the intersection with US 158.

Aaltje Olshy Elrod (Soelle) and Christopher Ellis Elrod, Sr. Find A Grave :https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ca...

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Sarah Elrod

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com OneWorldTree Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Christopher Elrod

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Sarah Elrod

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com OneWorldTree Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Christopher Elrod

GEDCOM Source

Yates Publishing U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Aaltje Soelle

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com OneWorldTree Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Adam Soelle

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com OneWorldTree Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Adam Soelle

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; @R9@

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Altage Soell

GEDCOM Source

Yates Publishing U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;

GEDCOM Source

Database online. Record for Christopher Elrod

Daughter of Adam and Sarah Soelle.

Wife of Christopher Elrod Sr. (Son of John Teter Elrod and Maria Magdalena Lerchenzeiler).

Parent of John Elrod (m. Sarah Ann Riddle).* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2024, 16:05:16 UTC