I'm writing for direction in finding an answer to a question about a Moravian membership pamphlet.

My question involves an interpretation of information copied from the December 15, 1950, issue of the Pennsylvania Dutchman: "Moravian Pioneers in the Swatara Valley - 1752".

My information states "Christian Ohrendorf, widower from Kiselberg, in Freudenberg, born 1692, Reformed, was received into Moravian membership in 1749".

That being all well and good, my question is whether the 1752 listing means that Christian was a widower in 1749, the year he was received, or was he deemed a widower when the listing was printed in 1752?

The answer to this question would permit me, and other researchers, to determine the mother of Christian's children.

Christian Ohrendorf (1692-1772) is buried in Plot #21, Bethel Moravian Cemetery, between Jonestown and Fredericksburg.

Thank you,

Joe Nihen
Lansford, PA