The Fix Family
The Barrel Maker
It is believed that Lorentz Fix arrived in Philadelphia at the age of 59, aboard the Ship Patience in 1751 from Offenburg, Ortenaukreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany and that the person identified as Lorentz Voss on the manifest is in fact Lorentz Vix (Fix).
Family tradition notes Lorentz & wife Catharine Stull were referenced as “Pennsylvania Dutch” and almost certainly spoke German. Tax records indicate that Lorentz may have been in Reading as early as 1752 but was certainly there in 1754.
Lorentz Fix was a cooper or barrel maker and bought land in Reading on 4 Jan 1757 from Joseph Shoman.
On 6 Sept 1761 Lawrence Ficks (Lorentz Fix) of Reading “took the Sacrament” (became a naturalized citizen) pursuant to an Act of Parliament in allegiance to King George. On 14 July 1762 he acquired land(half of lot 117) on Penn Street in Reading, PA which became his home for the remainder of his life.
Lorentz & Catharine had six children; two sons, Lorentz Jr. & George and four daughters, Catherine, Anna, Magdelana and Margaretha. Lorentz died in 1777 which is the same year that the smallpox epidemic raged in Pennsylvania, it is unknown if this is what caused it death.
Homesteading in Hostile Territory.
Michael Fix was born 1814 in Pennsylvania but moved to Indiana with his wife Mary in 1845. After spending nearly eleven years in Indiana they headed to Kansas in 1856. Their journey was long; first coming by train to Westport, then by boat to Leavenworth and as they continued on across the plains, they came upon Mill Creek which reminded them of the hills in Pennsylvania so they decided to homestead.