• According to “family tradition,” Christopher and his wife, Catherine, are known to have emigrated to the United States from Alsace-Loraine with their son, Michael. An exact date is not given, but, according to the story, both parents died “shortly after landing in Baltimore, Maryland, from contracting one of the various plagues onboard ship.” Michael was subsequently raised by a family in Baltimore until he reached manhood, according to the story.
Several details cause me to question this story. First, the dates of death recorded for Christopher and Catherine of 1812 and 1819. Their deaths are seven years apart, yet the story says that they both died shortly after landing. Secondly, at the time of Christopher’s death, Michael, being born in 1773, would have been 39 years old and would not have needed to be “raised by a family in Baltimore.”
More logical is the possibility that Christopher and Catherine survived the crossing and settled in Pennsylvania with other Ehrets. They probably later moved down through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia as many other families did. There is a Christopher Erret recorded as a member of the Militia of Berkley County, Virginia, in 1782.610

• 1810 Census: Hampshire County, Virginia. 1 male 45+; 2 females, 15-26; 1 female 26-45.1935

• Christopher Arritt was in the 1st Battalion, Berkley Co., VA Militia. According to VA law, all males 16 to 50 had to serve in the militia. He was in Berkley Co., VA at the same time as Samuel Dew and Christopher Hermantrout.1935