General Notes

Perhaps Olde English - Lovering a.d. 1086 "Leofherng" (son of Leothere)
translated to Beloved Warrior.
The Levering/Louvering family is probably descended from an ancient
Teutonic family, which entered England with William the Conqueror. The
family settled in Leverington, a large village, divided into the townships
of Leverington St. Leonards and Leverington Parson Drove, located in the
north end of Cambridgeshire, deep in the fens. Leverington is ninety-nine
miles north of London. The patriarch of the English family may have been
John De Levering, born about 1250 in Leverington; John's son was Robert,
born about 1280 in Leverington. In 1316 The family settled in Leverington,
a large village, divided into the townships of Leverington St. Leonards
and , Robert De Leveryng became a lessee of the Wisbech Barton Manor. This
is what some the some Genealogist think, that this family is English.

The Holland Origin:
Two books on the Levering family are "THE LEVERING FAMILY; or A
GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT OF WIGARD LEVERING AND GERHARD LEVERING.Two of the
pioneer settlers of ROXBOROUGH TOWNSHIP, Philadelphia County,
(Pennsylvania) AND THEIR DESCENDANTS" by Horatio Gates Jones dated 1858
and the other is "LEVERING FAMILY History and Genealogy" by Col. John
Levering of LaFayette, Indiana.
The book "LEVERING FAMILY History and Genealogy" by Col. John Levering of
LaFayette, Indiana. States"Rosier Levering is BELIEVED to have been born
in Holland, of ancient English or Anglo-Saxon parentage; exiled, because
of persecution for their religious principles." The family listed above is
without documents so for now it is a belief only.

The above two books have the family as being French, living in Germany and
Holland.
Rosier LEVERING B abt 1615, Leydon Holland Death: Gamen Germany; Reli:
Mennonite; Married abt 1647,wesel Westfalia Germany to Elizabeth VAN DE
WALLE b 21 May 1626, Wesel, Westphalia,in Germany; d Gamen Germany. Her
father was Jacobus VAN DE WALLE.

"ROSIER LEVERING; was born in the early years of the seventeenth century.
He is the known progenitor of the Levering family in America, hence I
designate him as the zero, or benchmark, from which to grade succeeding
generations descending from him. It is believed that he was born in
Holland, of ancient English or Anglo-Saxon parentage; exiled, because of
persecution for their religious principles. These Germans were from the
palatinates of Cresheim and Crevelt, many of them having become Friends
through the preaching of William Penn in Germany. William Penn acquired
his estates in what eventually became Pennsylvania by patent in 1681. He
began travelling throughout Holland and Germany, recruiting settlers. At
the same time, he took partners, thereby acquiring the services of agents
to bring in even more settlers. One of the earliest partnerships,
organized about 1683, was the Frankfort Company; a partner in the
Frankfort company was Jacob Van De Walle, the uncle of Wigard and Gerhard
Levering.
RosierLevering married Elizabeth Van de Walle, of Wesel, in Westphalia, in
Germany, near to the frontier of Holland. They settled in the same
district, at Gemen, where several children were born to them, between the
years 1648 and 1662. Tradition, preserved by the remnant of the family at
Gemen, says they occupied the old Levering homestead in that town, and
that they died there." As found in the book # 2
The following is from book # 1. "Various traditions have prevailed among
the different branches of the family one of which. States that Rosier
Levering was a physician, and a very pious man; that he belonged to the
Reformed Church in France, of which country he was a native, and that upon
the Revocation of the Edict Nantz, he fled with his family to Germany,
where he afterwards lived and died. That Rosier Levering was a native of
France is not at all improbable, as that name has a French sound, but more
than this cannot be asserted, as there is no documentary evidence on the
point. That he fled from Franc to avoid persecution; can also be readily
believed, but his settlement is Germany most have been long anterior to
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantz. The Edict was nor revoked untion
Octer, 1685, and Wigard himself says He WAS BORN IN Gemen, Germany, and
that as I shall hereafter show, about the year 1648. The probability
therefore is that Rosier Levering left France during some of the earlier
religious wars and persecutions, which visited the Waldenes and Huguenots.

Elizabeth VAN DE WALLE b 21 May 1626 in the city of Wesel. The amount of
children they had, what was his occupation, and when he died, are
questions about which I have no answers. per: Horatio Gates Jones, dated
1858. As you see this family has been reseached by others we do know the
children and Rosier occupation. At least on research has found this out
for us. Thank you Col. John Levering.
Rosier and Elizabeth VAN DE WALL w Levering children were:
(1) John Wigard b 1648/49 Gemen, Germany
(2) Eberhard (Enert) b 1652 at Gemen, Germany, where married in 1677
Mecntold, daughter of Gerhard Schmullling, and died there Sept 5,1711
(3) Elizabeth b abt 1654 in Gemen, Germany. Her presence at the
christening of her brother's children is testified in items Nos. 6 and 10
of the Gemen Church records, which see. We have no further knowledge of
her
(4) Alche abt 1656 in Gemen, Germany. She appeared as a witness at the
christening ceremony of her brother's twin daughters, at item # 7 of
church records, as certified by the Churchmester. That she and her sister
Elizabeth appeared in these vicarious relations attests the fact of their
having attained the acceptable age for recognition by the church.
(5) William b aby 1658 in Gemen, Germany. Where he married about 1678
Grete Nilant, who died. He married 2nd abt 1691 Maria Veits of Gemen. He
died there January 3,1700.
(6) Gerhard (Garret) b abt 1660 in Gemen, Germany. He emigrated to America
with his brother Wigard in 1685. He married Mary (maiden name unknown),
after his arrival Philadelphia. He died in Whitpain Township, Philadelphia
County, PA.,after the year 1731.
(7) a daughter b September, 1662 in Gemen. The evidence of this is found
at item #17, copied from church reords, which see. That godmothers only
appeared determines the "child" to have been a daughter.
The above facts on the children came book # 2. The facts on John Wigard
Levering comes both books.
(I) JOHN WIGARD: born in 1648 or '49, in the town of Gemen, in Germany. In
April, 1674, he married "the chaste virgin," Magdalena Bokers, of Essen.
She was a native of Leyden, in Holland. They lived in Gemen until some
time after the birth and decease of their first child, and then removed to
Mulheim, where they remained until they emigrated to America, after the
20th of March, 1685, bringing their surviving four children. He settled
first in Germantown, Philadelphia, and removed from there a short distance
west, into Roxborough Township, in 1691, where he bought a tract of five
hundred acres of land, lying between and bordering upon both the River
Schuylkill and Wissahickon Creek. Upon this estate he lived his remaining
years with his family, and died there.
His wife Magdalena died in the summer of 1717 at the age of about 67
years. He died February 2, 1745, at the probable age of 97 years, and was
buried upon his farm in a spot overlooking the romantic Wissahickon, which
has become a part of the famous Fairmount Park of Philadelphia. This spot
subsequently became the churchyard and burial ground of the Baptist
Church, organized in 1789, which was greatly enlarged, and is now known as
Leverington Cemetery, under a special charter from the State of
Pennsylvania. This ground doubtless contains the remains of Magdalena. A
gravestone marking the interment, in June, 1744, of their grandchild,
Clement Levering, still stands, and points the place where repose the old
pioneers, though no sculptured tablet was ever erected there to their
memory.
The earliest record of John Wigard Levering and his wife, Magdalena
Boeckers, appears in the records of the Presbytery of the Evangelical
Parish of Gemen, Munster Stadt, Westphalia, Germany. On March 22, 1674,
the first wedding banns for "John Wigard Levering, Rosier's son, with the
chaste virgin Magdalena Bokers, of Essen," were proclaimed.

Wigard and Gerhard Levering emigrated in 1685. Their agreement with the
Frankfort Company is at the Pennsylvania Historical Society:
Wigard came to Philadelphia on the ship Penn's Woodland from Holland in
1685 having arrived before the month of August, 1685. The Frankfort
Company was engaged in the transportation of persons desiring to remove to
their colony. The written contract entered into by Wigard Levering with
the local agents at Wesel, Dr. Thomas Van Wylick and Johannes Le Brun, for
transportation of himself and family to Philadelphia, dated 20th of March,
1685
We, the subscribers, do acknowledge and confess by these Presents, that we
have contracted and agreed together, that Doctor Thomas Van Wylick and
Johannes Le Brun, in behalf of the Pennsylvania Company, in which they,
and other friends of Frankfort and other parts, are engaged, to accept or
receive me, Wigard Levering, old 36 or 37 years, and Magdalena Boeckers,
old 36 years, and four children, Anna Catherine, William, Amelia, and
Sibella, respectively 1/2, 2 1/2, 5 and 9 years, to and for the service of
the aforementioned Company, to transport by shipping out of Holland or
Ingland, to Pennsylvania, upon their cost. On Their arrival in
Pennsylvania, they were to report themselves to Francis Daniel Pastorius,
who was general agent for the company. Written upon the margin of the
instrument an agreement to include "the Contractor's brother, Gerhard
Levering."
The family Bible was in the possession of Mrs. Sarah Kirk, of Germantown,
a great-great-great-grand daughter of the old pioneer, until her death in
1863, when it passed to her granddaughter, Mrs. Linton, who also died. Her
husband probably has the relic. So said my Col. John Levering.
FAMILY REGISTER OF WIGARD LEVERING
I, Wigard Levering, was born in Germany, in the Principality of
Westphalia, in the District of Munster, and town of Gemen. My father's
name was Rosier Levering, and my mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Van de
Walle, who was born in Wesel. In the twenty-third year of my age, I,
Wigard Levering, was married to my beloved wife, Magdalena Boker. Her
father's name was William Boker, and her mother's name was Sidonia
Williams Braviers, of the city of Leyden, in Holland. The above said
Magdalena, my wife, was also born in Leyden, and God hath blessed us with
the following children, to wit:
The first born, Joanna Sophia, born in Gemen, in the year of our Lord
1672, in March, and died in the third week.
The second, Anna Catherine, born in Mulheim on the Rhur, in March, 1673.
The third, Maria Elizabeth, born in July, 1676, and died in the eighteenth
week of her age.
The fourth, William Levering, was born the 4th day of May, 1677.
The fifth, Amelia Anna Sophia, was born in the middle of July, 1682.
The sixth, Anna Sibella, was born in the middle of September, 1684.
The above named children were all born in Mulheim on the Rhur, in Germany,
and the following six children were born in North America, in the province
of Pennsylvania:
The seventh, Herman, was born the 18th of November,1686 and died in the
fourth year of his age, in May.
The eighth, Elizabeth, born the 7th day of January,1689 and died in the
fourteenth year of her age, in September.
The ninth, Sidonia, born the 23d of April 1691.
The tenth, Jacob Levering, born the 21st of January,1693.
The eleventh, Magdalena, born the 13th of January,1695 and died in the
third week of her age.
The twelfth, Magdalena, born the 4th of June, 1696.

The above two books have the family as being French, living in Germany
and Holland.