Members of this family spell their name as both "Bach" and "Back"
The Bach (Back) Family book
The Bach (Back) Family book
The Bach (Back) Family book
If you have an ancestor with the last name of Bach, or Back, who lived in southeastern Kentucky, then you descend from the family of the famous musician, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
Johann Sebastian Bach had a first cousin named Johann Christoph Bach, who was also a brilliant musician. Christoph's grandson, Johann Heinrich Bach (1709-1789), and his wife and young son, sailed to America in 1740, with his younger brother and their cousin. He settled in southern Virginia, near the Robinson River. He simplified the spelling of his name to be, John Henry Back. He had three sons: John Back (1738-1794); Henry Back (1740-1809); and Joseph Back (1745-1819).
John Back (1738-1794) married Margaret Hoffman, and Henry Back (1740-1809) married her sister Elizabeth. The father of those two sisters was John Hoffman (1692-1772), who lived along the Robinson River, and practically next door to Johann Heinrich Bach (John Henry Back).
In 1772, Joseph Back (1745-1819) married Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard (1755-1826). She was the daughter of Nicholaus Hoffman and Barbara Elisabetha Heÿßnerin (pronounced as, "Heissnerin"), who lived in Augusta County, Virginia. But her parents had died in 1770, and so, Elizabeth was raised by her neighbors, Samuel Maggard (1716-1778) and his wife. Nowadays, professional genealogists refer to her maiden name as being, "Hoffman-Maggard," in order to differentiate her from her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Hoffman (b. July 13, 1746), who was married to Joseph Back's brother Henry Back (1740-1809).
Joseph Back and his wife Elizabeth had four children: Joseph Back Jr. (1773-1802); John Back (1774-1854); Mary Back (1777-1807); and Henry Back (1785-1871). In 1791, the family migrated to southeastern Kentucky, and they founded the Bach (Back) family there. Samuel Maggard (1774-1853), who was the best friend of John Back (1774-1854), went with them. (Samuel's grandfather had raised John's mother.) They first settled along Quicksand Creek, in what is now Breathitt County. Around 1796, they moved down to some land near the Cumberland River, in what is now Harlan County. Their son Joseph Jr. was murdered; their son John married Catherine Robertson; their daughter Mary had an illegitimate son named Alfred Back; and their son Henry married Susannah Maggard.
Joseph's wife Elizabeth died in 1826, and she was buried near the Cumberland River. The Maggard Cemetery was soon created around her grave, because she had been raised by the Maggard family. In 1922, Dr. Wilgus made a larger gravestone for her, however, he mistakenly had her date of birth inscribed as July 13, 1746, because he had seen that date of birth in the old Bach Family Bible for a woman named Elizabeth Back. But that Elizabeth Back was the wife of Henry Back, who was a brother to Joseph Back. Unfortunately, that mistake made by Dr. Wilgus has since led to a great deal of confusion.
Shockingly, the 1922 gravestone that Dr. Wilgus had erected for Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back was illegally removed from the cemetery, in 1988, by "The Back-Bach Genealogical Society." They then erected a new gravestone over her remains, but it described her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Hoffman Back (b. July 13, 1746), even though she had actually died in Rockingham County, Virginia, around 1813, and was buried there, on her son Aaron Back's land, along a creek called, "Wolf Run."
The genealogy in this book reflects the professional research of Johann Sebastian Bach, Dr. Wilgus Bach, Tilden Bach, and many others. It's supported by numerous actual historical documents that prove the genealogy, many of which are included in the book. If you descend from this family, you need to get this book, not only for yourself, but for your children, and your grandchildren, to preserve your family's ancestry.
ISBN #978-0-9891687-8-6
The book is coil-bound, and it includes an Index
$45 (includes free shipping)
Tilden Bach's book
The Bach (Back) Family book
The Bach (Back) Family book
Before Tilden Bach passed away, on November 1, 2009, he sold us the copyrights to his books, because he wanted us to continue to sell them, so that people could know the accurate genealogy of their family. He wrote several books about the genealogy of his family, the Bach (Back) family in southeastern Kentucky. This was the first book that he published.
Tilden will always be remembered as being the genealogist who correctly documented the actual link between Johann Sebastian Bach, and the Bach (Back) family in southeastern Kentucky. That specific link had been forgotten, over time, for more than 200 years.
Tilden had located the Family Tree that had been created by Johann Sebastian Bach, in 1735. In that document, Sebastian listed 53 men in his family who knew how to play a musical instrument. He numbered each man, from #1 to #53. Some of them also composed music, and many of them also performed music. But several of them simply knew how to play an instrument (or two), without being composers or performers.
Man #53 was Johann Heinrich Bach, but Sebastian didn't know much about him. All he wrote was that Heinrich was the only son of Johann Christoph Bach Jr. (which wasn't accurate), and that "he was a good clavier player." Sebastian didn't know when Heinrich died, so he simply wrote, "173_," meaning that he thought that Heinrich had died, sometime in the 1730s. At the time, Sebastian was living in the city of Leipzig, while Heinrich was living 120 miles away, out in the countryside, in Thuringia, so it's easy to see why Sebastian didn't know much about Heinrich. And after Sebastian's youngest son Johann Christian was born, in 1735, Sebastian seemed to lose interest in the Family Tree, and he didn't make many updates after that. He didn't even update the information for himself, or for his own children.
As Tilden studied that Family Tree, he realized that Man #53, Johann Heinrich Bach, was the same Johann Heinrich Bach (John Henry Back) who settled in southern Virginia, and whose name was on the deed for 786 acres along Crooked Creek, which flowed into the Robinson River, in the far southern part of Culpeper County, Virginia. It was also the same name as the man who Dr. Wilgus had described as building and selling gristmills in that area; and who was written about in the newspaper articles that reported on the Bach family reunions, starting in 1933, as founding the Bach (Back) family in southeastern Kentucky, in 1791.
Tilden was also the one who discovered documents relating to some of the gristmills that Johann Heinrich Bach (John Henry Back) had built and sold there. He was also the one who figured out that the old Bible that Johann Heinrich Bach had bought, in 1762, came from Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. That was because Johann Christian had signed his name in it, as "John Bach," with his year of birth (1735), when he got confirmed into the Catholic Church, in Milan, Italy, shortly before he moved to England.
In addition, Tilden proved that Elizabeth Hoffman Back (b. July 13, 1746) had moved to Rockingham County, Virginia, with her son Aaron, after her husband Henry Back died, because she wanted to live near her widowed sister, Margaret Hoffman Back, who had moved there the year before. Aaron bought 50 acres there. Elizabeth was indicated on the 1810 census report, in Rockingham County, living with Aaron, and she was named as "Aaron Back and mother," on three tax lists. She died around 1813, and she was buried there. Her sister Margaret was indicated on two census reports and several tax lists. She died around 1834, and she was also buried there. The details of how Aaron Back bought that land in 1809 were revealed in the August 19, 1816 deed, when he sold it.
Elizabeth Hoffman Back (b. July 13, 1746) never moved to Kentucky, and she was never buried in The Maggard Cemetery.
The book is on a DVD
$40 (includes free shipping)
Dr. Wilgus Bach's book
Dr. Wilgus Bach's book
Dr. Wilgus Bach's book
In the early 1900s, Dr. Wilgus Bach was the highly-respected Historian for the Bach (Back) family, in Breathitt County, Kentucky. Dr. Wilgus interviewed many elderly people about their ancestors, and he made notes about what they said. He put those notes in a binder, calling it, "Manuscript of Families of Breathitt County Area."
After Dr. Wilgus died, his widow later donated that binder to the Kentucky Historical Society. Sadly, shortly after that, a member of "The Back-Bach Genealogical Society" went to that facility, and he got hold of the binder.
While that man sat all alone, in the archives, he removed several pages from the binder that documented the history of the Bach (Back) family. He also used an ink pen, and a bottle of "White-out," to change Dr. Wilgus' research about the Bach (Back) family, to make it appear that the family descends from Harman Back through his alleged son Henry Back. However, there is still quite a bit of accurate genealogy about the Bach (Back) family left.
In addition to the section about Bach (Back) family, the book also contains Dr. Wilgus' genealogical information about 62 other families: Adams, Banks, Blair, Boggs, Bowman, Breeding, Byrd, Calhoun, Campbell, Carpenter, Caudill, Chambers, Cockrill, Combs, Cooper, Cope, Craft, Crawford, Davis, Deaton, Eversole, Fields, Frazier, Fugate, Gabbard, Gibbs, Haddix, Hagins, Hargis, Hensley, Hogg, Holbrook, Holliday, Hollon, Hounshell, Howard, Hudson, Hurst, Kash, Landrum, Landsaw, Lovely, Maggard, Miller, Murphy, Noble, Reynolds, Roberts, Robertson (Robinson), Rose, Russell, Short, Smith, South, Stacy, Stamper, Strong, Swango, Terry, Turner, Tutt, and Williams.
The book is on a DVD
$25 (includes free shipping)
The Bach Family Bible
Dr. Wilgus Bach's book
Dr. Wilgus Bach's book
In 1762, Johann Heinrich Bach (John Henry Back), who was the immigrant in this Bach (Back) family, and who had settled in southern Virginia, in 1740, bought an old Bible (actually, an old Catechism) from his cousin, Johann Christian Bach, who still lived back in Europe. Johann Christian Bach was the son of Johann Sebastian Bach, and he had inherited many of his father's books.
In late 1787, John Henry Back wrote down, in his Bible, the names and dates of birth of five of his family members who were at his cabin one day: his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Hoffman Back (b. July 13, 1746), who was married to his son Henry Back (1740-1809), and their infant son Lewis Back (b. Oct. 14, 1787); and three of the four children of his son Joseph Back (1745-1819) and his wife Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back: John Back (b. Nov. 19, 1774), Mary Back (b. Nov. 1, 1777), and Henry Back (b. Feb. 6, 1785).
Because Elizabeth Hoffman Back's name and date of birth (b. July 13, 1746) were written into this old Bible, which was owned by John Henry Back, that is absolute proof that she had married into his family, and not into the family of Harman Back, who lived 25 miles away, up in Little Fork.
In 1791, when John Henry Back's son Joseph Back (1745-1819), his wife Elizabeth Hoffman-Maggard Back, and their four children, migrated to southeastern Kentucky, they took that Bible with them. Over the next 120 years (until 1911), many other family members recorded their names and dates of birth into that Bible as well. The old Bach Family Bible provides additional proof of the actual genealogy of the Bach (Back) family from southeastern Kentucky.
The book is on a DVD
$25 (includes free shipping)
These books below are available from Amazon
J.S. Bach's book
Philipp Spitta's book
The New Bach Reader
This is the English translation of the genealogy book that was written by Johann Sebastian Bach, in 1735, in German, titled, Ursprung der musicalish-Bachischen Familie. In that book, Sebastian created a Family Tree in which he identified 53 men in his family who could play a musical instrument. Each man was assigned a number, from #1 to #53. The man assigned #53 was Johann Heinrich Bach, because he could play the clavier (like a harpsichord), but he was not a composer or performer.
Johann Heinrich Bach later sailed to America.
After he arrived, he simplified the spelling of his name to its Americanized version, which was "John Henry Back," so that other colonists could more easily pronounce it and write it.
Johann Heinrich Bach (John Henry Back), our ancestor, is the second cousin, once removed, to Johann Sebastian Bach.
The New Bach Reader
Philipp Spitta's book
The New Bach Reader
This book contains even more information than the original book, which was written in 1945, by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel.
It contains copies of hundreds of Johann Sebastian's letters, reports, contracts, and various other types of writings. It even includes recommendation letters he wrote for some of his students, and photos of his original music, which are on display in numerous museums, in Berlin, Leipzig, and London.
The book describes Sebastian as somewhat stodgy, who preferred the routine, every day, except for when it came to writing music and performing music. He clearly had a very strong personality, as most people of high intellect do.
It's very easy to read, and it's very easy to find information in it. If you are interested in Johann Sebastian Bach, this book should have a place on your bookshelf.
Philipp Spitta's book
Philipp Spitta's book
Philipp Spitta's book
If there is just one book to own about Johann Sebastian Bach, it has to be this book by Philipp Spitta.
It was first published in 1873, and it continues to remain the best. The book covers his life, his family, his genealogy, and his musical work.
The book also includes copies of letters, family records, and many historical documents. It also discusses hundreds of Johann Sebastian Bach's musical compositions, in detail. There are actually three volumes. This is Volume I.
Philipp Spitta (1841-1894) was a German music historian, and an exceptionally brilliant man. He also played the piano. He earned a Ph.D. in 1864, and he wrote several books. He taught Ancient Greek and Latin, and in 1875, he became a professor of music history at the University of Berlin.