Falkenstein, Ludwig (Lewis) (3)-[46]

  General Notes:

Ludwig(3) (Lewis) was 12 years old when his mother, Maria Verionica, moved with him and his brother Jacob and sister Margaretha to York Co, PA. Nothing is known of the growth and training of Ludwig(3) except that he learned the weavers trade. Later in life he used the name of Lewis. Lewis married Margaret Smith in 1799 and they had twins on June 13, 1800. The 1800's saw many families migrating to the west. About 1806 Lewis moved his family to Masontown, PA and in 1808 he made a trip to West Virginia and in 1817 he brought his family for settlement at Valley Point, about 5 miles south of Bruceton Mills, West Virginia (then Virginia).
They bought 800 acres of hilly and timbered land at Valley Point. They paid one dollar per acre. Here they raised their family of 11 children and became the ancestors of a substantial half of the Falkensteins in America.
It is likely that Lewis and Margaret Spent much of the remainder of their lives hewing out a home in the Preston Co. hills. Their daughter, Hannah, married Lewis Wolfe, who with his brother gained a wide reputation as Indian hunters. Lumbering on the hills and farming in the valleys were the common occupations.

In 1882, Ludwig's nephew,Jacob (#4) wrote to his son Benjamin (#1087) , in a letter Stating:" We have no acount at all from Fathers Brother Lewis we gust know he did start for the Western States in the early times. He left between 1822 and 1825 (it was 1817) He went of with his family We have not heard Any thing since we have reason to Believe they all lost there life one way or an other. I do belif they all gid kild by Indient"
As we know they settled and survived in Preston Co.
It is possible that Lewis was born in Germantown, instead if Philadelphia.


Ludwig Falkenstein (now often written Falkenstine) settled about one
mile from Valley Point, in 1815. He was from Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
He had eleven children. Lewis, one of his sons, had six children: William,
Louisa, Mary, Ann, and Joseph, the father of Ethbell; and Jerome.

Ludwig married Margaret Smith-[49] [MRIN:12], daughter of Unknown and Unknown, in 1799 in Philadelphia, PA. (Margaret Smith-[49] was born on 28 Sep 1776 in Philadelphia, PA, died on 4 Apr 1856 in Valley Pt., Preston Co., WV and was buried in Apr 1856 on the Family Farm (Preston Co.).)