Johannas IMLER

                   Immigrated on the ship "CHARMING BETTY" dated October 12, 1733 from London, John Bull, Master.
Johannas Emler called John Imler and also Jack Imler.   Listed on Ships Manifest of Charming Betty as Johan Imler, age 7.

The following is a direct quote from Thomas C. Imler's, THEY PLANTED A TREE IN THE WILDERNESS (Genealogy of Dutch Corner, Bedford Co.,Pa.)

"On Aug. 6, 1980, Mr. Lloyd F. Embler, from Asheville, N.C., came to see me in Bedford.  He told me, it came down in his family that even though they spelled their name EMBLER they came from John Imler, whose father was Wilhelm Imler.  The father of George Mark Imler."

Wilhelm came to America in 1733.  His son John who was 5 years old, b. 1728 came with him.  John Imler paid taxes in Bedford County in 1771,1772 and 1773.  Then he left the county, going to Chabersburg, Pa., but then disappeared from there in 1754.  He had two sons, Henry born in 1752 and John Jr. born 1754.  Lloyd F. Embler knew from family history that this family came from Joseph EMBLER, whose father John was born in 1774. So we agreed that their Wilhelm Imler was our Wilhelm."

On July 20, 1996 I (Michael Imler Dopson) had the opportunity to talk in some length with Mr. Lloyd Emler of Asheville, N.C., confirming the dialog mentioned by Thomas C. Imler and going into more depth concerning his ancestors.

Also on July 20, 1996 I stumbled across another spelling of our name.  The new spelling was Imbler.  In digging further and several phone calls later I was able to establish contact with that clan's historian, Mr. Durley Don Imbler, Mentor, Oh.  His family tree was also through John Imler's AKA Johannas Emler's descendants up to William Imler AKA Wilhelm Emler.

John Imler (abt 1726) also nicknamed Jack Imler paid taxes in Bedford Co., Pa. in 1771-73 for land on Top of Snake-Spring Mountain.

John married at the age of 24, chiefly occupied as a hunter and trapper, he built a cabin and cleared a few acres of land for crops to support his growing family of wife, name unknown, and two children, Henry Imler (born 1752) and John Imler II (born 1754).  Returning from a hunt he found his cabin burned to the ground and his wife killed and scalped by Indians.  What happened to the children here is in question.  The boys may have been taken captive by the Indians, as was the Indian custom, such as their cousin Eve Imler was, or they could have been away from home. There is some question concerning the attack on the above home whether Henry Imler and John Imler II are the two children mentioned, if they are not, then John Imler was married twice and Henry and John II were the product of the a second marriage.  Then the fate of the first two children would be unknown.  In either case John wandered the mountains for days in a daze over his loss.  When he got over the shock he was in the Lancaster, Pa. area.  Going into Lancaster to recuperate he had a local gunsmith make him a double-barreled rifle.  With much practice he was soon able to hit a squirrel at a hundred paces. (Around 250-300 yards depending how long a stride the pacemaker had.  Anyone that has ever hunted to any extent knows that hitting a squirrel consistentlyat that distance with open sights is no small accomplishment.)   He returned to his former home and he changed his occupation to revenge, "Indian Killer".  His fame and his rifle expertise were soon known for miles around.  A wealthy landowner visited him one day, offering him a large section of Southern Morrison Cove in trade for his rifle.  John's answer was, "How many Indians will that Land Kill?"

During this same period of time, in the same geographical location along with an identical doubled barreled rifle with same vendetta towards Indians another character emerges as an Indian Fighter.  He is known by the names of Black Jack, Captain Jack, The Black Rifle and The Wild Hunter of The Juanita.  The "Black" in the name came about because of the hunter's dress and other equipment.  As legend goes the Indians feared and hated him more than any other white man during this time.  Black Jack led a group of well-trained men of the forest in quelling the Indian uprising of 1763.

Several fiction writers have used this legendary fighter as bases in their Historical Novels.  Zane Grey used him in two of his early frontier novels, one of that was called Betty Zane, a distant relative of his.The Indian Hunter in these novels was known as "Lewis Wetzel" also called"Death Wind".

Since John's nickname was Jack, his attitude towards Indians well documented, owner of a well known rifle and was operating in the exact same geographical area at the exact same time the local historians in the Bedford, Pa. area that contributed to the writing of the book, "The Kernel of Greatness" attribute that John/Jack Imler and Captain Jack are the same man.

John Imler I left Bedford, Co., Pa. after 1774 and went to Chabersburg, Pa.  He disappeared and was never heard of again.  Remember that America's War for Independence was just around the corner and lots of people were killed and history never recorded their passing.

Henry Imler is lost in time but, John Imler II moved to North Carolina and his children contributed to two different name changes spelling of the name of Imler.  John Imler II's son, John Imler III (born abt 1774) changed his name to John Embler, Sr.  The change to "E" was perhaps an attempt to return to the original spelling of Emler, why the inputting of the "b" is anyone's guess.  A likely explanation for the "b"is lack of literacy.  The original literacy of the 1st generations of Emlers/Imlers was probably very good.  John Imler the 1st had been a rover, an explorer and a man that appears not at rest.  John 1st's son, John Imler II maintained this adventurous spirit and was most likely outstripping any formal education during this trail blazing and his spelling or general literacy may have been lacking. In the South the pronunciation of "E" or "I" in Emler or Imler is sometimes slurred and the "b" sound is faintly heard.  It wasn't uncommon for someone to dictate a letter whose literacy was lacking to a second person.  The scribe writing what he heard could have inputted the "b" from the sound of the pronounced name. If this was done on tax records or titles to land it wouldn't take very long before it became legal.  Very likely the insertion of the letter "b"in the Emler name was accidental.  John Embler, Sr. had eight children of which six were boys.  Two of these boys, John Embler, Jr. and Jacob Embler appears to have attempted to make the name change back towards the IMLER by dropping the "E" and inputting back the "I", but, the "b" stayed in thus making the spelling IMBLER.  John Embler, Jr. became John Imbler and Jacob Embler became Jacob Imbler.  The descendants of these names of Embler and Imbler are living today.  I've talked to members of both families: On 8/6/1996 I visited by phone with Mr. Lloyd F. Embler of Asheville, N.C. and a Mr. Durley Don Imbler of Mentor, Oh.  Both of their family trees have remained small probably never exceeding more than 3-500 total name count, currently living and dead.  They both have traced their ancestral trees back through John Imler AKA Johannas Emler to William Imler AKA Wilhelm Emler.

Johannas Emler aka Johann Emler aka John Imler aka Johann JurgImmeler aka John Embler.

The Decendency of Johannas was provide in courtesy by :   BettinaKesteloot

Due to Thomas C. Imler's section in the book, "They Planted A Tree In TheWilderness" and a section in the book, "Kernel Of Greatness" there have been several errors credited to Johannas aka John Imler.

John Imler aka Johan Embler was probably married before he married Christina Fuss/en.  There is enough family documentation to support that approach.  If so, then he was married to her sometime from his 16th year(about 1742) or soon there after.  If they did have children (Henry & John) as previously mentioned in "They Planted A Tree In The Wilderness", the D.O.B. previously given by Thomas C. Imler was in error and these children probably perished with their mother in the Indian Attack. Following the Indian attack upon his cabin, the killing and scalping of his wife, John/Johan probably preceded to Lancaster, Pa. and had aspecial double-barreled rifle made.  The statement concerning him as being offered a trading the rifle for a parcel of land was noted in family papers.  Accordingly, the offer was:   A wealthy landowner visited him one day, offering him a large section of Southern Morrison Cove in trade for his rifle.  John's answer was, "How many Indians will that Land Kill?"    How long did John pursue his vendetta towards Indians, probably not two long---perhaps 1-3 years, but certainly it stopped long enough for him to hold hands a couple of times with Christina, get married in Lancaster, Pa. in 1747 and have his first child in Lancaster, Pa. in1748.  How long did they stay in the Lancaster, Pa. area after the first child was born is not known, but they certainly weren't there when the second child was born in 1750 in Montgomery, N. Y..

The statements made by Thomas C. Imler in  "They Planted A Tree In TheWilderness" concerning his and Lloyd F. Embler, of South Carolina giving credit to Johannas for starting this Embler surname spelling of the southern family clan should be given to George Mark Imler's son John William Imler aka John Imbler/Embler aka William Imbler/Embler.