Jakob and Hans Greiter are presumed to have been brothers. Their families are listed on the German document described below. Members of these two families appear together on later records in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.The document below is the earliest known record of the Kreider/Greiders who settled in what later became Lancaster County Pennsylvania.

Letter To The Barons Von Gemmingen

"Nine families are listed in a letter to the court of the Barons von Gemmingen at Ittlingen. The letter, dated May 14, 1715, is now preserved in the Generallandesarchiv at Karlsruhe. These Mennonites were protesting a fine of six guldens imposed in exchange for permission to follow their Anabaptist faith. They said that in other knights' lands people had to pay only three guldens, and for this reason they hoped not to have asked in vain.

Many of these names appear a few years later in Lancaster County. ... They are listed below with the ages of family members as of May 14, 1715, along with the approximate years of birth."

Jakob Greiter
m. Barbara Schenk

• Michael Greiter, age 24 [b.1690 or 1691]
• Jakob Greiter, age 22 years [b.1692 or 1693]
• Hans Jacob Greiter, age 20 years [b.1694 or 1695]
• Anna Greiter, age 15 years [b.1699 or 1700]
• Barbara Greiter, age 13 years [b.1701 or 1702]
• Martin Greiter, age 9 years [b.1705 or 1706]
• Barbara Graf [no age given]

Hans Greiter
m. Anna

• Anna Greiter, age 17 years [b.1697 or 1698]
• Barbara Greiter, age 15 years [b.1699 or 1700]
• Jakob Greiter, age 13 years [b.1701 or 1702]
• Hans Greiter, age 10 years [b.1704 or 1705]
• Martin Greiter, age 9 years [b.1705 or 1706]
• Jorg Greiter, age 8 years [b.1706 or 1707]
• Mona Greiter, age 5 years [b.1709 or 1710]
• Heinrich Greiter, age 4 years [1710 or 1711]
• Michael Greiter, age 2 years [b.1712 or 1713]
• Tobias Greiter, age 1/2 year [b.1714 or 1715]

From a January 1984 article published in Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage titled European Roots Of The Bear Families Of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: An Update. By Jane E. Best