JULIUS CASTLE - END OF ANCESTRY LINE

Julius served as a Mennonite minister and leader within his community at Kresheim, Palitinate, Pfalz, Germany. He was a friend of Martin Luther, poet of note and a farmer. 

Due to religious persecution for their Mennonite beliefs, Julius and his family lived in hiding, moving from town to town. He was a man of abiding faith who withstood tremendous hardships and came through his struggle with tremendous grace. 

William Penn, who was later to be know as the founder of Penn's Woods, or what is known today as the State of Pennsylvania, came to speak, in 1681, at a meeting in the city of Kassel at Frankfort, and then went to Kriesheim for a meeting held in secret because that type of religious preaching was forbidden by the authorities. 

Julius and members of his family traveled from Worm, Germany, by wagon, to attend the meeting. Mr. Penn spoke of the need for religious freedom. Julius and other members of the newly emerging Mennonite Church were so impressed with Penn's ideas, that they invited him to their home. Penn told them of the free land that was available in the new world.

As a result, his three sons travelled to Germantown, Pennsylvania,