Email From Gary Aden to Gary Aden
Email Dated 7/23/2001  

     Considering the vigor and prosperity of the MECHLING FAMILY
ASSOCIATION, it is surprising how sparse and sketchy old world
information is on this first degree twig. As I  have mentioned, the name
shares confusing modifications with the Hunsuckers. There is a major
difference, however. Whereas the Hunsucker name was influenced strongly
by forces outsidde the family, the Mechling name underwent changes
within the family with the exception of the ship manifest listing below.
Conventional wisdom also maintains, as in the case of the Hunsuckers,
that the progenitor resided in the Palatinate prior to emigrating to
America. The progenitor of my Mechling line carried the name of Deobald
or Dewalt MECHLIN in Germany, was listed as Teobald MAKELING or MEKELING
on the ship that carried him to America, and was known initially as
Theobald MECHLIN in the area where he married and raised a family, and
then much later mysteriously changed the spelling of the last name to
MECHLING while his sons retained the legal name of MECHLIN, but
eventually added the "g" as well. In 1800, one of his grandsons, George
J., who is directly in line in my pedigree, changed the spelling of his
last name to MACKLIN, again for reasons unknown. His sons changed their
last names back to MECHLING for unknown reasons. Theobald certainly
could have saved the association from endless speculation had he passed
on some information about his background to all of us. As it is,
educated guessing has led to the belief that the family of Theobald and
his brother, Jacob, were engaged in the leather and tanning business
near present day Strasbourg, France and that Theobald and his brother
worked at that trade in Philadelphia for a couple of years prior to
settling down to farming and ranching in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

      The zeal of various family members to nail down and identify
contemporary old world family members led to a rather humorous happening
in 1996. Their feverish search had ended with prominent members of the
association identifying a family from Hoerdt, France as one of their
Mechling blood. Apparently, the genealogical authorities in our group
had concluded that certain ancestors were shared by members on both
sides of the Atlantic. The seven member family negotiated an
all-expenses paid trip to the annual Mechling Family Reunion in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania plus an open account for a trip to Disney World
in Florida which the Board of Directors believed would be for a couple
of days. Wow! They showed up and had a festive time at the reunion
dancing among themselves. As they couldn't speak English and only a few
association members could speak French, the groups largely partied among
themselves. The guests stayed a week at Disney World and had a wonderful
time! I didn't attend the next reunion, but I suspect the Board of
Directors had a lot of "egg on their collective faces" and felt like
chumps when it was revealed that sober analysis had been unable to
establish any relationship whatsoever between the Hoerdt family and the
descendants of Theobald and Jacob Mechling.

      I am attaching the two most relevant pages of the MECHLING
sub-section as I will be picking up on this illustrious family in the
New World. My father always attributed his finer qualities to his mother
and her family roots. As we know so little about Theobald Mechling
pre-Bucks County, it is unknown whether he was acquainted with the LAUER
family, the next twig to be discussed, in the old country. He married
Anna Elisabeth LAUER Mechling in Germantown, Pennsylvania. 

      I must contemplate a stop in Deal, England to imagine what
temptations two young healthy, albeit religious,  male brothers facing
one to two months of peril  at sea en route to America would face in the
layover from Rotterdam to Philadelphia while the ship James Goodwill in
the year, 1728, took on provisions. Perhaps, I will seek a book
describing the transmission of VD in the brothels of that time and
place. I wonder if they thought of it. I don't think the relationship
between sexual promiscuity and gonorrhea and/or syphilis had even been
considered at that time.