Harshbarger line: Daniel Kramer 1743-1813

 It's confusing.  There are records for a Daniel Kramer in several places in Pennsylvania.  I am not sure whether there were two Daniel Kramers, or whether Daniel moved from place to place, or whether he really only moved once in his life and the other locations were just boundary changes.  I also don't know for sure who his wife was.  Nor do I know where he was born, for that matter.  But Daniel Kramer existed and left a will, so we know he lived.  This post will be more speculation than fact, I believe, but I'm hoping that by writing it someone will step forward with more knowledge and documentation than I've been able to gather.

Daniel was born in 1743, the son of Andreas and Maria Magdalene Birckel Kramer (Kraaemer, Creamer, etc).  His birthplace is usually given as Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania but that is mistaken because there was no Berks County at the time.  He may have been born in what became Bethel Township, or another source says he was born in Germany.  Since his father arrived in the Colony in 1732, I think it most likely that he was born somewhere in Pennsylvania.  His father applied for land in Bethel Township, Berks County in 1765, so the family was definitely there at some point but perhaps not in 1743.

Wherever he was born, Daniel likely grew up on or near the frontier.  He would have been 11 years old or so when the French and Indian War began, and we can reasonably suspect that the family may have gone to a fort or "back East" to a larger town during that time.  There were many attacks on settlers, some of them involving fatalities, and Daniel was probably lucky to be considered a child during the early years of that struggle.  By the time of the later attacks, he probably was old enough to be considered a soldier and may have helped defend the forts in the area.  I've found no indication that he actually went out on patrols, but it's possible.

Daniel married someone at some point.  Almost every tree says that he married Anna Marie Geise and that is quite possible.  The marriage to Ana Marie took place in November of 1766, so if this is our Daniel, he may have had an earlier wife, or the marriage was simply a legalization of the couple's already established relationship, because Daniel's first child, Andrew, was born in September of 1766. Daniel and Anna Marie had as many as twelve children together, arriving between 1766 and 1785,  At least three died after only a few days of life, and there are two more I've been unable to locate death dates for. The family seems to be Lutheran in religion, as some of the children were baptized in a Lutheran church (they could be Reformed, and still have records in the Lutheran church). 

There are two Daniel Cramers who served in the Revolutionary War.  One was from York County, and one was in the Pennsylvania Navy.  These don't appear to be our ancestor.  However, he is recognized as a patriot during the war because he paid his taxes, including the supply tax of 1780 (directly related to the War) and took the oath of allegiance as required.  He had a young family to support, and also likely some of his crops went to the war effort. 

In 1790 there is a census record for Daniel Kramer in Northumberland County, Pa and also one in Bethel, Berks County.  The one in Northumberland shows a household of 12 and the one in Berks shows a household of 4.  Although I can't account for all of the persons in Northumberland County, it is possible that there were daughters in law or a mother in law or other relatives living with them.  Some of the older boys had likely moved out by this time as they would have been in their early to mid 20s. 

Sometime between 1790 and 1813 the Kramers moved west, to Haines Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.  There Daniel died sometime between March 20, 1813, when he wrote his will, and April 28, 1813, when it was probated.  His wife is not mentioned in the will.  I found one statement that she died just two weeks after he did, but it seems a bit odd that she wasn't mentioned.  (I should add, I have not seen the will, just an abstract.)  Several of his children were already in Ohio, and some of the daughter's names are familiar to our family-Buchtel and Kepler, especially.  I would love to find the will and an inventory, as that would tell us more about this ancestor.  

Daniel Kramer was a first generation American who lived through three major wars-the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and part of the War of 1812.  It would be interesting to know his reaction to some of those events, but we know that he had a part in the building of the United States, and that is a good thing.

The line of descent is:

Daniel Kramer-Anna Marie Geise (probably)

Anna Maria Kramer-Andrew Kepler

Mary Kepler-George Harshbarger

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants