Harshbarger line: Martin Laber, 1738-1823

It's been a while since I've written about an ancestor in the Harshbarger line.  I seem to have written about most or all of the "easy" ones, and since most of the family is of German or Swiss ancestry, and didn't arrive in American until the first half of the eighteenth century, I have a smaller pool of ancestors to research.  However, here is one that I seem to have overlooked. 

Martin Laber is thought to have been born in Pennsylvania August 20, 1738, although I've not found a record yet. He is the son of Wendell and Anna Margaretha Mueller Laber, and was one of at least ten children.  His father was a religious man who helped to found at least two churches, the second one being closer to his home than the first.  "Home" by at least 1747, was in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Martin stayed there his whole life.  This is in the northern part of the county, bordering on Berks and Dauphin counties now, but at the time, it was all wilderness.  Lancaster town itself was hardly a village, and the area would go through some very rough times during Martin's lifetime.

Martin married Anna Catherina Enck, the daughter of Johan Jacob and Anna Catharina Becker Enck, on October 13, 1761.  The pastor was Rev. John Waldschmidt, who was actually sent as a pastor for the Dutch Reformed Church.  (Without going into a good detail of theological detail, the Germans of the area were satisfied with their pastor, be he Dutch, German, or some combination there of.

By 1761, the worst of the onslaughts from the French and Indian war (meaning attacks by the native Americans in cahoots with the French) were mostly over, and Martin and Catherine were able to make a home for themselves.  Martin, like his father, was a farmer and called himself a yeoman in his will.  He and Catherine had at least 5 children, and stayed on the farm they owned their whole lives.  In 1782, he is shown on a tax list as having 140 acres of land, 2 horses and 4 cows, and his tax is one of the higher ones on that particular page.  But I'm getting ahead of the story.

After the French and Indian war, and after the few years of peace, life was interrupted by the Revolutionary War.  Martin seems not to have been greatly affected by the war itself.  He was in the militia but I've not found that he was ever called to duty.  He may well have been used for a few days as a guard for prisoners of war, or to transport food and supplies, but it doesn't appear, as far as I've learned so far, that he ever was in a battle.  This is not to say that his life was easy.  He lived perhaps 50 miles from Valley Forge and 65 miles from Philadelphia.  Lancaster County, then, as now, had a reputation as being a "bread basket" and surely Martin would have contributed, we hope voluntarily, to Valley Forge.  It's possible there were British foraging expeditions that far from Philly but if so, they would have been of short duration.  And surely, there was tension.  Where would the next battle be?  Would the country maintain the independence they had declared, or would they be defeated by the British, with the help of the hired Hessians?  Mothers have always had to calm the fears of their children, it seems. 

That is as much of the life of Martin as I currently know, except for records created when he died.  Martin wrote his will on February 26, 1812 when he signed with a mark.  It wasn't probated for another 11 years, though, on October 20, 1823.  His actual date of death is given on Find a Grave as September 2, 1823, so it seems that he either had a long illness or he had a serious illness and recovered.  He provided for his wife in his will, but she died September 23, 1813.  He left land or money or both to each of his three sons, one hundred pounds to each of his 7 Dulibon grandchildren, and one hundred dollars to "his congregation" to build a new church.  The graves, with standing headstones, are at what is now the Brickerville United Lutheran Church and Cemetery at Brickerville, Pa. 

Martin lived through interesting times.  He survived, supported his country, supported his church, raised a family, and paid his taxes.  We can be grateful for ancestors like Martin!  I'm also grateful to Anne Caston, who located some of the information I've used in this post, and who generously shares her knowledge and information.

The line of descent is:

Martin Laber-Catherine Enck
Catherine Laber-Henry Dulibon
Elizabeth Tullepan-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer (Mancer)-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants  

Personal note:  This is my 700th blog post.  We'll see how much longer I can keep finding stories to tell.  I know there are a few more waiting out there!