Harshbarger line: Yost (Joseph) Gingerich or Kingery or something in between about 1712-1776

 We have to love these German people, really we do.  But gee, could they make it any harder?  There are so many spellings for Yost, or Joseph, or Josef's last name that we could spend a lifetime chasing bright shiny objects, as we say in the genealogy world, without really finding anything new.  So this is a brief summary of what we think we know about a man whose name we can't even agree on.  I'm going to call him Joseph Gingerich because that is the most common way I've found records for him.

It's not know who Joseph's parents were, or at least I'm not convinced we know who is parents are.  Most trees show a Johannes Heinrich Gingerich and Anna Sherk as his parents.  Others show a different mother.  One tree says his father is Hans and not Johannes. Johannes's will in 1769 did not mention a Joseph.  All that I am willing to say is that he was likely born in Switzerland, possibly Bern Canton, to a Mennonite couple.  

We don't know when Joseph came to Pennsylvania, but he was here by 1747, when he purchased land from Michael Baughman in Lebanon Township, Lancaster County.  He purchased 239 acres for 37 pounds.  His name is on a tract of land from 1740, but we don't know if he was here by then or if this Michael Baughman might have purchased it in his name and held it until Joseph arrived and paid for it.  If he came as an indentured servant, then he would have had to have worked and saved for quite a while to have that kind of money.  I am inclined to think he was not indentured, because he would have been about 35 years old (using a birth year of 1712 or 1713) and already had a family when he purchased this land.  

Joseph married Anna Elizabeth Huber, daughter of Jacob and Anna Huber, about 1740, possibly in Seftigen, Bern, Switzerland, or perhaps even in Pennsylvania.    Immigration and naturalization records seem to be lacking for him, which is somewhat of a mystery but he isn't the first person to come from Switzerland or the Palatine undocumented.  Because the Mennonites were persecuted and harassed, it's possible that he came under an assumed name, although I don't know how common this would have been.  

Joseph and Elizabeth may have had as many as ten  children, although the Mennonite Vital Records database on Ancestry lists eight: John, Michael, Jacob, Mary, Peter, Ann, Christian, and Barbara.  The dates on this cards show John, the oldest, as having been born in 1743. We find Joseph's name on 1750 and 1755 tax lists, and in 1772 Joseph is still paying taxes, identified as a "freeman".  which is a puzzle to me because "freeman" usually meant a single man.  

Joseph apparently worked hard and prospered in Pennsylvania.  He was always in Lancaster County, but after his death Lebanon County was organized out of what had been Lancaster County, and we can identify his farm as being in what is now South Annville Township. In 1771, he was taxed on not 240 acres of land, but also four horses, 4 cows, and a mill.  This means he lived on a creek or river, to power the mill.  Some tax records in some counties are a little more detailed than what I've found so far, but I'm still looking for more information.

I've not yet found anything that indicates what the Gingerich family did during the French and Indian War.  There were numerous battles and skirmishes near where they lived, but if they were practicing Mennonites, they would likely not have taken up arms.  Did they leave their farm and go to, say, Reading, or Lancaster itself, for safety?  Or did they stay, and go to a nearby fort when the natives were known to be in the area?  If they were part of the general exodus east, then there were surely stories to tell, and if they stayed, there would be more stories.  Most families in that part of the state had were affected in one way or another by the war.  

Joseph died on or before March 5, 1776, and is believed to have been buried at the Gingrich Homestead Cemetery near Annville.  Elizabeth had died in 1759 and I'd certainly like to know her cause of death.  I've not been able to locate a will for Joseph, but the search is ongoing.  I'd love to know more about Joseph, and about his trip to America, and his experiences in what became Lebanon County.  There are always more questions than answers!

The line of descent is

Joseph Gingerich-Anna Elizabeth Huber

Mary or Maria Gingerich-Adam Burkholder

Joseph Burkholder-Elizabeth Miller

Barbara Burkholder-Benjamin Buchtel

Nancy Buchtel-Adam Kemery

Della Kemery-William Withers

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants