Cripe Descendants

An unknown German man with the last name GREIB had two children move to America, a son named Jacob and a daughter named Elizabeth.

The son was born about 1712 and arrived in Philadelphia 28-September-1733 on a ship called Brigatine Richard and Elizabeth. In about 1742, in York Township, Lancaster Co., PA, Jacob married Elizabeth ULRICH, who had been born in about 1724. Jacob and his wife had ten children -- four sons and six daughters. Jacob died in 1802 in Frankstown, Huntingdon Co., PA; his will was recorded 20 May 1802 in Huntingdon Co. The will was written by Jacob in German and signed "Jacob Greib." This man and his wife were direct ancestors of Pheobe Mosey, better known as Annie Oakley. The surname "Greib" mutated to "Gripe" and "Cripe."

The daughter of that unknown German man with the last name GREIB was named Elizabeth. She was born about 1720, died 1781, and had eight children with her husband.. Her husband was Stephen ULRICH, born about 1710, who was the brother to Elizabeth ULRICH. In other words, a brother and a sister GREIB married a sister and a brother ULRICH. The name "Ulrich" mutated to include "Ullery" and "Ulrey," among other variations.

The descendants of these two couples of brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives intermarried for generations, vexing many genealogists. The two couples who produced all these descendants were German Baptist Brethren, a.k.a. Dunkard. The greater portion of their descendants were Brethren for at least several generations. Included among their descendants (besides Cripe and Ulrich/Ulrey) are surnames familiar to any genealogist who has worked Brethren lines: Blickenstaff, Fouts, Franz, Gouchenour, Harshbarger, Henricks, Hufford, Latshaw, Metzger, Mikesell, Miller, Musselman, Neher, Pippinger, Puterbaugh, Rench, Replogle, Root, Shively, Skiles, Studebaker, Stutzman, Wagoner, Wolf, Yoder.

The list of descendants you can "click to" HERE is the result of work done by many genealogists. While I do not have permission to name the genealogists whose work resulted in the list, those who have worked Brethren genealogy for any length of time would be familiar with the genealogists on whose work this list is based.

The list as it appears requires a few caveats: First, with the software I use (LDS's PAF), when a descendancy chart is made, all dates are reduced to a simple year. In some cases, the year is actually "before" or "after," but the software will show only the simple year when it creates a descendancy chart. Second, the number that immediately follows the name is an identification number arbitrarily created by the genealogy software when a name is entered into the data base. Every person has a unique identification number. Because the Cripes and their intermarriages are so complex, I chose to leave the ID numbers. Third, when the software created the list, the list was created in pages; I left the page numbers within the text so one can find descendants noted as, for example, "SEE PAGE 2 FOR CHILDREN."

Experienced researchers on this line claim that all CRIPEs in the United States descend from the immigrant Jacob Greib/Cripe. There is an internet site for posting queries on CRIPEs: genforum.familytreemaker.com/cripe/. There also is a Brethren mailing list sponsored by ROOTS-L where the CRIPE folks are sorted out as they intermingle with other Brethren families. To subscribe to the Brethren mailing list, send an e-mail to brethren-request@rootsweb.com with the single word "subscribe" in the body of the message; do not use the quote marks. To search old messages to the Brethren list, and there have been many posts dealing with CRIPE, click here: searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl and type the word "Brethren" in the search box; it will take you to where you will be able to search old posts on the Brethen list. But first, be sure to bookmark this site so you can return.

If you do wish to check out the Cripe descendancy list, please be aware that it is a long list and will take more than the usual time to load:
List of CRIPE descendants

Other sites of interest beyond this web:
Brethren History & Genealogy

CRIPE GenForum: If you have a genealogy question dealing with a CRIPE, this is the place to post it.

YODER Family Info: Archives Online: This site is included because so many Cripe descendants also have YODER ancestors.

Descendants of Jacob Grieb, research by Pat Mote: This is another site listing descendants of Jacob Greib/Cripe, and Pat is sharing for all the internet community the little story about Jacob that has circulated for years among family genealogists. Its source and validity are unknown, but the story has been passed quietly among genealogists.

If you are a CRIPE descendant with a genealogy page and would like it listed here, please email Alice at

In years past, there was a Cripe family newsletter that read by some of the best researchers on this line. The most recent address I have for anyone connected to the newsletter is
Cripe Family Newsletter
c/o Jeff Keim
823 South 8th St.
Goshen, IN 46526-4022

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