Holbrook line: Abraham Hetrick 1776-1861

 Abraham Hetrick was my third great grandfather, and I feel closer to him than to some others because I've stood at his gravesite.  I've seen the land that he owned, and that he farmed and walked.  I've imagined him with Sarah and with his children, and how hard they must have worked to build a life together in Morrow County, Ohio.  He was of German descent, so there would have been cultural differences, if I had known him then, but still...Abraham seems to be part of me.  I don't know why I haven't written about him before, except that there are one or two basic things about his life that are still mysteries to me.  They may remain mysteries, or I could find the answers the day after I post this.

Abraham was born September 15, 1776 in Codorus Township, York County, Pennsylvania.  He was a son of Johan Jacob and Eizabeth Nuss Hetrick, and his family was well off.  His father at one time owned at least 1700 acres of land. He appears to be the youngest of nine known children, so perhaps he was a little bit spoiled, or at least his brothers thought he had been favored in the settlement of his father's will.  He was young enough when his father died in 1789 that he needed a guardian, and Abraham chose his brother Christian as that person.  Yet, that same year, his mother, brother and three uncles pledged to take the land from Abraham when he was 21 and give it to Christian.  If they could not get a release, they would each share with Christian a part of the money they had been left.  

It's hard to know how to interpret this.  Was it truly a family dispute or had Jacob left extra land to Abraham for his support until he reached manhood?  Maybe this was merely a formal written agreement and there was no conflict at all.  This family was God fearing, respected and respectable, so one can hope they were merely putting something in writing that they had all agreed to beforehand. It's not often that I find reference to an ancestor before he or she reaches adulthood, so this was a different kind of "find" for me.  

Abraham married Sarah Lemmon, daughter of Alexis and Rachel Stansbury Lemmon, on October 7, 1801.  The marriage took place in Baltimore County, Maryland, which leads one to wonder how the two met.  The two locations were actually quite close to each other, with the Lemmon home being on the border between the two states, so perhaps they were near neighbors.  The couple had 6 children during the first 9 years of their marriage (by the 1810 census) in York County and then at least one additional child before the 1820 census.  

By 1820, however, the family had a new home.  The ten years between 1810 and 1820 must have been eventful, because Abraham and his son in law are in Richland County, Ohio by 1814.  They are both described as riding the horses they rode during the War of 1812, and they chose adjoining land in what is now Morrow County, Ohio to settle.  I have been unable to document the War of 1812 experience, and I don't know where Sarah was during the time that Abraham was in Ohio preparing a home for them.  They had sold land in York County in 1811 and perhaps had already moved, or perhaps had gone to live with relatives (hers?).

Abraham was busy raising a family but he still had time to devote to civic duties.  He was a justice of the peace in his new home, and signed various claims for wolf scalps, among other business.  He and Sarah raised their children together into adulthood, with the youngest being in his middle twenties when Sarah died in 1834.  Abraham helped found the Methodist church in 1847, which met in the Lamb Schoolhouse.  We don't know whether he had earlier been practicing the Lutheran/Reformed religion he grew up in, or whether there was no congregation near enough for him to participate.  

Abraham lived about 24 years after Sarah died, farming, buying and selling land, and contributing to the life of his family and community. He was living with his son Isaac in the 1850 census, but I've not located him in 1860.  His will seems to have disappeared long ago, although surely he had one.   

Abraham was born just months after our country's birth, and died December 29, 1861, as the country was fighting the Civil War to keep the Union intact.  He lost grandsons in the War, but as far as I can tell, those I know of who died, died later in the War.  Not much fighting had been done by the time of his death.  

I think back to Shauck Cemetery, to the rolling hills around it, and the creek to the south, and think that it wasn't a bad area in which to settle.  I hope he and Sarah were content with it, too, and I wish I knew more of the story of the family's trip from Maryland (or Pennsylvania) to Morrow County.  I also wish I knew what state he served in during the War of 1812.  

The line of descent is:

Abraham Hetrick-Sarah Lemmon

Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants