According to Theron A. Rupe who wrote “From Oberhoffen to America” our 1752 immigrant Johann Jacob RUPP bought a 115 acres tract of land called Rhineharts Folly in Baltimore County in 1770 with Pennsylvania money. In 1788 he sold 15 acres of the property to Johann Shaur. The new owner of this small part was very likely his son-in-law Johannes SCHAUER who married his oldest daughter Anna Maria RUPE in 1771. The remaining 100 acres were sold to his youngest son Heinrich RUPE for a fraction of what he paid for it in 1770. Johann Jacob and his wife Maria Barbara were still alive in 1792 a year before Heinrich sold Rhineharts Folly to Jacob BOBLITZ in 1793. The 1770, 1788, and 1793 land records have not been found but…
Last August Eileen A. Souza of Old Bones Genealogy wrote about a unique collection of land records in her post The Tracey Collection: Colonial Land Records in Carroll County, Maryland. I was in the middle of writing about my children’s ancestors from Luxembourg but took a short hour to look into the collection.
I knew the land owned by Jacob RUPE, as Johann Jacob RUPP was known in America, was named Rhineharts Folly making it easy to locate these three cards in the Tracey collection.1
In 1755 12 acres of land were granted to FreDerick Rinehart on the north branch of the great Pipe Creek. In 1761 it was increased to 115 acres. Other information on the cards led to this map.
I was able to pinpoint Rhineharts Folly in quadrant G81 per the index cards. At the time the land was in Baltimore County, not Carroll County as seen here. Carroll was created in 1837 from parts of Baltimore and Frederick counties.
And The Search Continues
As I am once again working on this immigrant’s story and family I went in search of anything more I could find on Rhineharts Folly.
Eileen’s series Where to Research in Carroll County, Maryland was mostly about libraries and societies which can be visited for research but she also included the Maryland State Archives which have an online site.
I left my comfort zone (Maryland research is new to me) and began searching for land deeds for Rhineharts Folly. On the Maryland State Archives site, I found these index cards. (Index to the database here)
Notice on these index cards the location is seen as Now Carroll County.
I have to admit I was bewildered by the Maryland State Archives (MSA) site and was blindly clicking here and there in search of anything I could find about the piece of land bought by Jacob RUPE. When I slowed down I found MSA Baltimore County Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats, used the advanced search for Rheinhart or Rinehart, and found these:
SEVEN IMAGES! I was doing the genealogy happy dance and will be posting this link to Cheryl Hudson Passey’s Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!
I found the original 1755 patent of 12 acres by Derick Rheinhart
Baltimore County
By virtue of a Common Warrant granted out of his Lordships Land Office on the 25th day of August 1755 to Lay out for Derick Rheinhart of Baltimore County twelve Acres of Land
I Nicholas Ruxton Gay Deputy Surveyor of said County have Surveyed and Laid out for and in the name of him the said Derick Rheinhart a tract or parcel of Land lying & being in the County aforesaid. Begining at a bounded white Oak Standing on the North side of a branch descending into Great Pipe Creek, and runing thence West fourteen perches; South thirty five deg. West Seventy five perches; North eighty two deg. East fifty Six perches; and then with a Straight line to the begining containing and laid out for twelve Acres more or Less to be held of the Manor of Baltimore by the name of Rheinharts folly. December 20th 1755
Ruxton Gay DSBC
Platted perch a Scale of 100 perches in an Inch
[Transcribed by Cathy Meder-Dempsey 27 February 2016]
and the 1763 re-survey of 115 acres (adding 103 acres to the original 12) by Frederick Rinehart. The wording of the two surveys and the description of the land shows Derick Rheinhart and Frederick Rinehart were the same man.
Baltimore County
By virtue of a a Special Warrant Granted ou of his Lordships Land Office bearing date the ninth day of June Anno Domini 1761 to Lay out and resurvey for Federick Rineheart of Baltimore County a tract or Parcell of Land Called Rinehearts folly Lying and being on the County Afforesaid Originally on the 20th day of December Anno Dom. 1755 Granted unto him the Said Frederick Rineheart for Twelve acres under new Rent nevertheless Correcting & amending any Errors in the Originall Survey and by my out Landes (sic, lines?) add any Vacant Land thereto Contiguous be the Same Cultivated or Otherwise.
I William Smith Deputy Surveyer of Baltimore County have Carefully Re-Surveyd and Laid out the afforesaid Tract of Land According to its Antunts (sic) metes & Bounds Containing and now Laid out for Twelve acres more or Less & I have by Virtue of the afforesaid warrant added to the out Bounds thereof the Quantity of one Hundred and Three Acres of Vacant Land Beginning for the Said Vacancy at the Begining of the Originall Survey as Marked on the Platt with the Letter A and have ?ausde the whole into one Intire tract Vizt. Lying in Baltimore County Begining at a Bounded White oak Standing on the North Side of a Branch descending into Pipe Creek and running thence North Twenty two degrees East forty Perches North Twenty Eight degrees East Sixty Perches North East Seventy two Perches North Thirteen degrees East
Twenty Eight Perches North Seventy Three degrees East Twenty two Perches South five degrees West Sixty Perches South Twelve degrees East one Hundrd Perches South Eighty degrees West one hundred Seventy three Perches onto the third Line of the Originall Survey then Bounding on the Originall Survey to the Begining Vvy. South Eighty two degrees West fifty two Perches North thirty five degrees East seventy five Perches & then with a straigt Line to the Begining Containing and Laid out for one Hundred & fifteen Acres more or Less to be held of the manor of Baltimore by the name of Rignhearts folley Resurvey. December the 4th 1761
Wm Smith DSBC
Platted perch a scale of 100 perches in an Inch
[Transcribed by Cathy Meder-Dempsey 27 February 2016]
What did all this searching get me? A plat of the land called Rhineharts Folly – the first plat I have ever found for one of my ancestors! Or is it?
All I need is the 1770 sale to Jacob RUPE, the 1788 sales of the same land to Johannes SCHAUER and Heinrich RUPE and the 1793 sale of land to Jacob BOBLITZ. But isn’t there another way to prove the land owned by my Jacob RUPE was the land seen in the plat above?
Why was it important to learn Derick RHEINHART and Frederick RINEHART were the same man? Stay tuned for a new discovery in my search.
Update (5 December 2021): Eileen A. Souza of Old Bones Genealogy passed away on 25 May 2019. Her blog is no longer online. I was able to find both articles referred to in this post on The Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive. Links have been updated.
© 2016, copyright Cathy Meder-Dempsey. All rights reserved.
- Dr. Arthur G. Tracey patent/tract index and map locations for Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties, an ebook edition of the original microfilm prepared by Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse and Sarah Patterson, Maryland State Archives, October 2009. (http://mdhistory.net/msaref07/tracey_fr_wa_cr/html/index.html : accessed 21 December 2015) ↩
Share this:
Opening Doors in Brick Walls 
I love your details, and your maps! Sharing information about the Pennsylvania money on FaceBook 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for the link Janice. I may have to add a little update to this after I finish reading the article. 🙂
LikeLike
Cathy, I just had a chance to read this entire article. OMG, I didn’t realize you mentioned me in this post. Thank you so much. You did a great job and this post really shows the value of the Tracey Collection, something the Carroll County Genealogical Society and I have been preaching for years. Thanks again for the mention.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Eileen. I wouldn’t have know to look for the Tracey Collection if I hadn’t read your post. I did not know at the time, when I wrote a comment on the post, that I would be coming back to the information so soon and looking further for information. You’re welcome for the mention. Hopefully others will read this and check out your articles.
LikeLike
Cathy, I Love This!!!! I’ll have to see what else I can find. Thanks!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope this is helpful and you can find the land records by using the Maryland State Archives site. You’re welcome, Brian.
LikeLike
I’ve been mapping the early patents in Baltimore County for many years. Of course, many of these are now Carroll County, I’m still a long way from having Carroll County patents all placed, but I think that I have Rinehart’s Folly (and Resurveyed) well placed. Send me an e-mail and I will trade info. mpierce1 (at) aol.com
LikeLike
Mike,
I must apologize that it has taken me over two months to approve this comment and reply. Thank you so much for this information. I will be checking out your website and will send you a quick email tomorrow.
Best wishes,
Cathy
LikeLike