Harshbarger line: Isaac Whetstone 1714-1795

 Here's the long and the short of it.  I suspect there was more than one Isaac Whetstone, and I suspect that two or more of them are conflated.  I am not going to say much about Isaac in this post, except-help!  

The Isaac Whetstone (Wetstein and various other spellings) that I think I'm writing about was born in 1714 in Wartemburg, Germany.  I don't know when he came to America, and I'm not sure where he went when he did arrive here.  He apparently brought a wife with him, or she came later.  I've seen quite a few sources say that he settled near McKeansburg in what was then Berks but is now Schuylkill County.  His supposed son Jacob was surely there.  I'll get back to the "supposed" in a moment.

One of the first things I notice that raises my eyebrows is that Isaac is said to have married Anna Maria Maag.  Perhaps he did, but I don't know when or where.  I'm showing a birth date for his wife of 1729, which would make it difficult if not impossible for her to have given birth to Jacob in 1738.  So was Isaac married previously, or is Isaac even Jacob's father at all?

Other questions:  Who was the Isaac Whetstone in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia County, Pa in 1774?  He is on some tax lists without showing taxes owed, and he also seems to have had at least one indentured servant.  Was this the Isaac I'm tracing, or was this another Isaac?  And who was Capt. Isaac Whetstone of the Revolutionary War?  Who was the Isaac Whetstone that died in Coleman, New Jersey on the very date, February 25, 1795, that this Isaac was supposed to have died in Berks County?  Where is his will?

The information about Isaac comes mainly from volume V of Colonial Families of America.  This is information that was submitted by a family member (in this case, Hannah Catherine Whetstone Phelps born 1857.  It gives Isaac the title of "Captain", says he lived near McKeansburg in Brunswick township of Berks County and "he was one of the earliest settlers and original landowners in that section; served in American Revolution".   It goes on to name Jacob, born 1738 as Isaac's son.  I wish I knew where Hannah got her information.  Did it come from a family Bible of some sort?

One possible explanation for all this is that Jacob was not the son of Isaac at all, but the son of Isaac's brother, Heinrich.  That is how it is shown on a Geni web page.  That family also lived in Brunswick Twp, Berks/Schuylkill County.  That is a blog post for another day, if I can find information about him.  

I'd be thrilled to hear from anyone who can explain Isaac Whetstone to me, how many Isaacs there were, and whether Jacob is the son of Isaac or of Henry/Heinrich.  Please don't enter either man onto your tree yet!  Let's stop while we're ahead, with Jacob.