First found in Bavaria, where the name contributed greatly to the development of an emerging nation and would later play a large role in the tribal and national conflicts of the area.

The great European flow of migration to North America, which began in the middle of the 17th century and continued into the 20th century, was particularly attractive to those from Bavaria who wished to escape either poverty or religious persecution. For many Bavarian tenant farmers, the chance to own their own land was a major incentive. So the widespread colonization of the United States began in 1650, when many immigrants from Germany settled in pockets in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. In Canada, German settlement centered in Ontario and the prairie provinces. Research into various historical records revealed some of first members of the Rohrbach family to come North America: Johann Heinrich Rohrbach, who came to Carolina and/or Pennsylvania in 1709. Jacob Rorbach came to Philadelphia in 1739; Jacob Rorback to Maryland in 1765.

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