Update of 29 August 2025: I spent a significant amount of time painstakingly going through many additional German church records, and as well as records found in Colonial America in the 1700s. My sixth great-grandfather’s surname is listed many various ways, making it a bit more work to locate him in all the applicable church records.

I discovered the parentage of my sixth great-grandfather Johann Jacob Gretzinger. He was the son of Jacob Gretzinger and Barbara Scheüchzer. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Scheüchzer. His parents married on 17 August 1702 at the Jerusalem Chapel in Berlin, Germany.

The surname Scheüchzer is a Swiss German name, and its origin is Swiss. The name is a variant of the Swiss German surname Schwyzer, which is a habitational name for someone from the city or canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. “Schwyzer” is a Swiss German dialectical term that means “Swiss person”. Over time, the name evolved into various forms, including Scheuchzer. A famous bearer of this name was Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, a Swiss natural scientist and physician.

How my Scheüchzer ancestors came to be in Berlin is unknown. It is a considerable distance from Berlin to the Swiss border.

The surname of Johann Jacob is found in church records in Germany as Gritzinger, Gretzinger, Ertzinger, Götzinger, as well as some other weird variations of the spelling of the name.

Johann Jacob Gretzinger and Barbara Scheüchzer had the following children:

1. Anna Barbara Gretzinger, baptized 1 October 1702 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany. In her baptism record the surname is misspelled as Jetsinger.
2. Johann Jacob Gretzinger was born 1 November 1703 in Berlin, Germany. In his birth record the surname is misspelled as Jetzinger. He married Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett on 30 November 1725 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany. (my direct ancestors). After her death, he married second to Eva Elisabeth Geschken on 13 March 1735 at the Jerusalem Chapel in Berlin.
3. Anna Barbara Regina Gretzinger was born 29 November 1705 in Berlin, Germany, and was baptized on 2 December 1705 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany. In her birth and baptism record the surname is misspelled as Jetzmeyer and Jotzingers.
4. Anna Maria Barbara Gertzinger, baptized on 29 June 1710 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany. In her baptism record the surname is listed incorrectly as Schirtzinger.
5. Johann Jacob Wilhelm Ertzinger, baptized on 5 July 1711 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany.
6. Johann Heinrich Ertzinger, baptized on 6 September 1713 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany.
7. Ursula Catharina Elisabetha Ertzinger, baptized on 25 May 1719 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany.
8. Anna Dorothea Elisabetha Ertzinger, baptized on 21 November 1720 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany.

Examining my fifth great-grandfather’s will and other documents led to some additional changes. Christian (Johann Christian) Greatsinger (Gretzinger) died on 14 March 1805 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, and is buried in the Freer Cemetery along with his first wife Anne Antje Anna Palmer and two of their daughters. I had previously found his marriage record to Susannah Myers, his second wife. They married on 10 November 1799 in Ulster Park, Ulster, New York. This means that all of his known children were from his first marriage. Anne Antje Anna Palmer is the mother to all of his children. After his death, his second wife Susannah Myers did migrate with family members to Elmira, Chemung, New York, and she is buried in the Greatsinger Cemetery. My fourth great-grandfather John (Johann) Greatsinger/Kritsinger and his wife Lea Litts are also buried in the Greatsinger Cemetery.

It was only last night that I located the marriage record for (Johann Christian) Greatsinger (Gretzinger) and Anne Antje Anna Palmer. Both their surnames were incorrectly spelled, which made for some creative research to locate the record! They were married on 19 July 1762 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Their names are listed as follows: Palmmar, Anna, Monmouth, and Christen Graten, Monmouth … 1762 July 19 (see image above).

Some have attached Emanuel Palmer, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania as the father of Anne Antje Anna Palmer. I have not found any records to support this link to him. Her parentage, for now, remains unknown. But I believe that she had at least one sibling, a brother, named Christian. According to New Jersey marriage records, Christian Palmer married in 1753 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, to Ann Williams. I have not been able to locate any additional information regarding Christian Palmer and, his wife, Ann Williams.

Via church records, I also discovered two additional children for Johann Jacob Gretzinger with his second wife Eva Elisabeth Geschken.

My Greatsinger (Gretzinger) and Bonnett ancestors are through my great x3 Grandmother Hannah Elizabeth Kritsinger/Greatsinger (she married David Prindle, Sr.).

Her grandfather was Johann Christian Gretzinger (Greatsinger), who was the son of Johann Jacob Gretzinger and Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett. He was baptized 17 Jun 1729 in the Jerusalem Chapel (Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel) in Berlin Stadt, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany.

Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett was the daughter of Johann Frantz Bonnet and Anna Dorothea Strelmer / Steiner.

Johann Frantz Bonnett is listed in German church records as Johann Franciscus Bonnet, Johann Frantz Bonet, Frantz Bonet, and with surname listed as both Bonnet and Bonnetts. On his marriage record his father is listed as Johann Bonnet.

History of the religious affiliation of the Jerusalem Church: United Protestant since its reconstruction in 1968, originally Roman Catholic, Lutheran from 1539 until deserted in the Thirty Years War, Calvinist (1658–1662), the Calvinists and Lutherans shared the church (1682–1830), Evangelical Protestant (1830–1941), Romanian Orthodox (1944–1945), then destroyed. (4)

Johann Jacob Gretzinger married to Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett married 30 Nov 1725 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany.

Johann Jacob Gretzinger and Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett had the following children:

1. Abraham Friedrich Gertzinger baptized 23 January 1727 at the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Germany. He may be the Friederich Gatzinger that came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1749, who is found as Fredk Getzinger in the 1780 US Census for Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is listed as Frederick Gatzinger in probate records of 1793 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His name is also found in records as Gotzinger.
2. Christian Greatsinger Gretzinger (baptized Johann Christian Gertzinger) born 12 June 1729 in Berlin, Germany, baptized 17 June 1729 in the Jerusalem Church in Berlin, Gemany. He died 14 March 1805 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York. He married first to Anna Anne Antje Palmer (my ancestors) on 19 July 1762 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Their names are listed as follows: Palmmar, Anna, Monmouth, and Christen Graten, Monmouth … 1762 July 19. They had 10 children. After her death he married second on 10 November 1799 in Ulster Park, Ulster, New York, to Susannah Myers.
3. Anna Dorothea Ertzinger baptized 20 August 1730 at the Jerusalem Church, Berlin, Berlin, Germany and died before 1738 in Berlin, Germany.

Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett died in December 1730 in Berlin, Germany. After her death, Johann Jacob Gretzinger married second on 13 March 1735 at the Jerusalem Chapel to Eva Elisabeth Geschken, the daughter of Daniel Geschken and Anna ____.

Johann Jacob Gretzinger and second wife Eva Elisabeth Geschken had the following children:

1. Anna Barbara Elisabeth Ertziner baptized 5 September 1736 at Neue Kirche (The New Church), Berlin, Germany.
2. Dorothea Louise Ertzinger born 4 June 1738 in Berlin, Germany, and died 8 November 1805 in Berlin, Berlin, Germany. She married Friedrich Willhelm Schellentrager in 1778. She had a least two children, a son and a daughter. The son has descendants. The surname Schellentrager was shorten to Schellin/Schellen. Some of their descendants immigrated to the USA at the end of the 19th century, but most stayed in Germany.
3. Jacob Benjamin Ertzinger, baptized on 12 June 1740 in Berlin, Germany. He went to South Carolina, where he married Maria Margaretha Marx. His daughter, Maria Magdalena Gitsinger / Gotzinger, married Barnerd Litz Lietz Leitz, a Litts/Litz cousin. He was the son of Barnerd Litz Lietz Leitz and Mary Magdalene Edon. The father, Barnerd/Bernard Litz Lietz Leitz, was born in New York and migrated to South Carolina and was the son of Daniel Litz Letts Litts Lietz and Femmetje Clerk/Klerk.
4. Johann Jacob Ertzinger was born about 1741 in Berlin, Germany. He married Dorothea Charlotta Kretschmann on 26 December 1763 at Evangelische Stadtkirchen Berlin (Brandenburg) – Evangelical City Churches of Berlin (Brandenburg). She was the daughter of Johann Christoph Kretschmann.
5. Anna Dorothea Louysa Ertzinger baptized 21 October 1742 at Neue Kirche (The New Church), Berlin, Germany.
6. Maria Elisabeth Charlotte Ertziner baptized 26 December 1745 Neue Kirche (The New Church) in Berlin, Germany

Bonnet Name Meaning

French: from the medieval personal name Bonettus, a diminutive of Latin bonus ‘good’. French: occasionally, a Gascon variant of Bonneau. English and French: metonymic occupational name for a milliner, or a nickname for a wearer of unusual headgear, from Middle English bonet, Old French bon(n)et ‘bonnet’, ‘hat’. This word is found in medieval Latin as abonnis, but is of unknown origin. In Germany the name was borne by Waldensians, of French origin. (1)

My Bonnet ancestors are found in church records of the Evangelical Lutheran church in Berlin. But the surname has its origins in France and most with the surname Bonnet in Germany were originally Waldensians from France that came to Germany.

Gretzinger Name Meaning

One source states the Gretzinger surname means someone from any of the three places named Grötzingen (Old High German Grezzingun) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Another source states it is a Swedish and German surname that was a locational name for a dweller on a pebbly or sandstone piece of land, or one who came from Gresse in Germany.  (2) The name could also be related to the surname Kritzinger which originally was Kreutzinger and meaning “Living near the Cross” in German.

Johann Christian Gretzinger (Greatsinger) emigrated to the American Colonies before 1760 and settled in Freehold, Monmouth, New Jersey. He married Anne (Antje) Palmer. Most of his older children’s baptism records are found there in the Dutch Reformed Church Records in Freehold, New Jersey. He migrated to Ulster County, New York by 1774. After the death of his first wife, he marries second to Susannah Myers in Ulster County, New York.

Children of Johann Christian Greatsinger (Gretzinger) with first wife Anna Anne (Antje) Palmer:

1. Catherina (Catrina) Greatsinger/Kritsinger, she married Johannes John Deyo
2. John (Johann) Greatsinger/Kritsinger, he married Lea Litts
3. Stephenus/Stephen Greatsinger, he married Deborah Litts
4. Susannah M. Greatsinger/Kritsinger, she married Benjamin Deyo
5. Maria Polly Greatsinger, she married Daniel Litts
6. Sarah Greatsinger, she married Isaac Sluyter
7. Anna Greatsinger, she married Ezekiel Rhodes
8. Eleanor Greatsinger, she married Johannes John Litz/Letts (Litts)
9. Rev. Christan Greatsinger, he married Anna Mariah Smith
10. William Greatsinger, he married Phebe Spencer

As you can see, many of the Greatsinger siblings married into the same Litts family, two married into the same Deyo family. One married into the Sluyter family, this is same Sluyter family that I am also descended from, for my ancestor Lea Litts mother’s maiden name was Sluyter (see below).

I am a DNA match to over 100+ people that are all descendants of Christian (Johann Christian) Greatsinger and his wife Anna Anne (Antje) Palmer.

My direct ancestor is John (Johann) Greatsinger, the son of Johann Christian Greatzinger (Greatsinger) and Anna Anne (Antje) Palmer. He was baptized 30 Apr 1764 in the Dutch Reformed Church in Freehold, Monmouth, New Jersey. I have not been able to find his marriage record yet, but he married Lea Litts, the daughter of Roelof Lits/Litts/Litz and Sara (Saartje) Sluyter.

My Litz ancestors came early to America most likely from Germany, although the surname is found to a lesser degree in the Netherlands as well. Roelof Lits/Litts/Litz was the son of Daniel Litz/Letts/Litts and Femmetje Clerk/Klerk.

Daniel Litts was the son of Johannes “John” Litz and Maria Barbara ____. In 1710, Johannes “John” Litz arrived in New York with his pregnant wife Maria Barbara, and their daughter Anna Magdalena. Their son Daniel Litts was born in 1710 after they arrived in New York.

Some list Johannes “John” Litz as the person baptized on 27 May 1660 in Wannweil, Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. While it is not impossible, it makes him quite old, almost 50 years old at the time of the birth of his daughter. I believe that where he was from in Germany, or possibly even in the Netherlands, has yet to be found.

Some change the name of his wife to Maria Elisabetha Völmlin, with a marriage date of 27 Jan 1711 in Adersbach, Baden-Württemberg, to a Johannes Letz. The year of this marriage is after the family had already arrived in New York. So, that is not correct. Also, his wife’s name was Maria Barbara, not Maria Elisabetha.

DNA and the researching of records in Germany and the Netherlands, may shed light on his roots, but for now, his parentage, and place of birth are unproven.

Femmetje Clerk/Klerk was the daughter of Willem Klerk/Clerk and Hilletje in ‘t Veld (Hendricksen). Hilletje in ‘t Veld was the daughter of Roeloff Hendrick in ‘t Veld Hendricksen and Aeltje Lubbers. In the past, there were some that listed her maiden name as Van der Bilt, that is a misreading of her name in church records, it is clearly listed as in ‘t Veld, and once listed as van Veld, but never as Van der Bilt.

Roeloff Hendrick in ‘t Veld Hendricksen was born in Meppen, Coevorden, Drenthe, Netherlands. His parentage is unproven. But it appears he was the son of a man named Henrick. Aeltje Lubbers was born in Elburg, Gelderland, Netherlands. She was the daughter of Lubbert Jansen and Aeltje Wygerts/Wiggers, who were from Heerde, Heerde, Gelderland, Netherlands.

There are those that say Willem Clerk was the son of William Clerke of Leicester, Leics, England who died in Virginia and Mary Spenser. His parentage is unknown and unproven, what is known, based on his marriage record, is that he was born in England.

Roelof Litts married Sara (Saartje) Sluyter, the daughter of Edward Sluyter (Sluiter) and Lea Van Schuyven. My Sluyter ancestors were originally from Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany, but Sluyter/Sluiter is exclusively a Dutch surname. Variants are Sluiters, Sluijter(s) and Sluyter(s). Literally meaning “one who closes”, it is an occupational surname, originating from people with the profession of doorkeeper, gateman, warden, jailor, etc. Prior to being in Germany, their roots no doubt were in the Netherlands, possibly in Groningen. My Van Schuyven ancestors were from ‘s-Hertogenbosch (now called Den Bosch), Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. The name Roelof is a given name of Dutch origin, it is the Dutch cognate of Rudolph. (3)

You may read more about my Dutch ancestors related to my ancestors Edward Sluyter and Lea Van Schuyven here: My Dutch Gardenier (Flodder) Ancestors and Related Lines. And Cousin Hannah Hoes Van Buren (wife of Pres. Van Buren).

My direct line:

1. Jacob Ertzinger Gertzinger Götzinger and Barbara Scheüchzer.
2. Johann Jacob Gretzinger Gritzinger Ertzinger and Loisa (Louisa) Antoneta Bonnett (daughter of Johann Frantz Bonnet and Dorothy Strelmer/Steiner).
3. Johann Christian Gretzinger Gertzinger Greatsinger and Anna Anne (Antje) Palmer.
4. John (Johann) Kristinger/Greatsinger and Lea Litts (daughter of Roelof Litts and Sara (Saartje) Sluyter).
5. Hannah Elizabeth Greatsinger/Kritsinger and David M. Prindle, Sr. (son of Amos Prindle and Esther Canfield).
6. Daniel Prindle and Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman (daughter of Jacob Doman and Mary Ann Davison/Davidson).
7. Anna Cora Prindle and Joseph Edward Cole (son of Lorin Richard Cole and Nancy M. Losure). My great-grandparents.

I will be writing in the future, in more detail, about the life of my Greatsinger and Litts ancestors in America.

References:

1. Bonnet Name Meaning – Ancestry.com
2. Gretzinger Name Meaning – Ancestry.com
3. Origins of the Given Name Roelof
4. Rabe Family Genealogy Blog

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