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John Eberhart Zundel, who was born in 1771, migrated to America in 1802, under rather unusual circumstances.
He was the son of the Baron Zundel of Wurteumburg and succeeded in infuriating his father by marrying a servant girl in a society where class difference was of great importance. Baron Zundel considered John's decision a family disgrace, forcing John and his lovely young wife, Julianne to flee their village'.
Baron Zundel's rage was so great, however, that he continued to search for the young couple, finding them six years later. Upon discovery, the two were exiled from Germany.
They fled to America, taking their family with them. The couple had five children, including Jacob, John, Cathrina, Magdelina and Henrica.
The Zundel family settled in the Harmonist colony at Harmony, Pa., where the family prospered tremendously, as did all the Harmonists. In addition to the wealth accumulated from produce raised at Harmony, John received 11,000 marks from Baron Zundel per year, with the stipulation that John agree never to return to his native land of Germany.
As the Harmonist Society grew more prevalent, members decided to expand their land claims. John and his wife, Julianne who relocated in New Harmony, Indiana, chosen for its level land, access to transportation, building materials and abundant pasture lands.
Zundel's original log cabin still stands in New Harmony, Indiana. The state of Indiana has preserved much of the New Harmony settlement, in the same way that Old Economy has been restored.
Members of the group in New Harmony lived many good years there, but eventually Frederick Rapp and followers mostly young Harmonists, were forced to return to Pennsylvania for various reasons. There occurred a decline in the demand for the Society's produce and marketable goods and tension existed between the Harmonist Society and neighboring communities, who were often jealous of the great prosperity and harmony which characterized the Harmonist settlements.
The site chosen for the final Harmonist colony was approximately 1000 acres of wilderness 18 miles north of Pittsburgh adjacent to ideally situated Ohio River. The settlement was known as Economy, part of what we today call Ambridge. Here the group continued in their profitable ways, observing the custom whereby men were housed separately, celibacy became a way of life, which proved to be a primary factor in the decline of the Harmonist sect.
Meanwhile in 1830, Jacob Streit I arrived in America, where he became a barrel maker or copper, at the Old Economy settlement. While living at the colony, he met and married Henrica Zundel and the couple raised four children: Henry; Benjamin; Julianne, who married an Economite farmer and George, who was also a farmer.
The Economy settlement experienced some disruptive forces when certain members chose to follow the doctrines introduced by Count de Leon, an agitator who arrived in America and succeeded in stirring up the peaceful ways of Old Economy. Count Leon introduced such ideas as marriage and promised a better way of life for those who chose to accompany him. This group settled in Phillipsburg, which is now Monaca.
The Jacob Streits were one of the families who decided to accompany Count Leon. Jacob purchased 300 acres of land, for 50 cents an acre. It is here that he raised his family and built a farmhouse.