Harshbarger line: Hans Jacob Kestenholtz 1700-1768

 Regretfully. this is another blog post which has minimal information in it.  Even some of what we think we know is confusing.  But we can plce Jacob in definite places at definite times, and that, at least, is something.  

Part of the difficulty in researching Jacob is his name.  I've found several different spellings for it, and he may have also used the name Chestnutwood, which his granddaughter and probably his son definitely used.  Chestnutwood is the translation for Kestenholtz.

Jacob was born October 21, 1700 in Sissach, Basel Canton, Switzerland, the son of Abraham and Barbara Itin Kestenholtz.  The religion of his family is not known, except that he was baptized in Switzerland.  His parents may have been part of the state church, or it's possible that they were Mennonites, or Lutherans, and had their child baptized in order to comply with regulations.  Some Mennonite4s fled to the Palatinate rather than have their children baptized, but we don't know whether that was the case here.  They may have been perfectly happy to support the state church.  

We know nothing of Jacob's childhood, except that his mother died in 1713.  THe next record we have of Jacob is his arrival in America.  Whether it was for religious or for economic reasons, the Kestenholtz family, arrived here in 1738.  That's when Jacob was reported to have arrived on the snow Enterprise, in Philadelphia.  It's also when Jacob, along with his wife Anna Maria Glintz (also seen as Blintz) and their children Sepastian, Barbara, Hans Jacob, and Hans George arrived in "Carolina".  Jacob had married Anna Maria, who may have been the daughter of Emmert Glintz, on July 7, 1726 at Sissach, Basel, Switzerland.  

Currently I am unable to reconcile the two records.  Did the family first land in Carolina, and then made their way to Pennsylvania?  If so, I wonder what the story was behind that.  Were they driven off course by a storm, or did they perhaps first settle in New Bern, or is there another twist I've not yet thought of?  At any rate, they were in Pennsylvania, in what was then Bucks or Philadelphia County but later became Berks County.  The only mention I've found of him was in Union Township of Berks County, at the end of his life.

If Jacob lived in Union Township for most of his residence in America, I've not found him in tax records of the time.  Nor have I found his male children.  This makes me wonder whether Jacob may have been a merchant or a tradesman of some sort, not owning land or a dwelling.  Perhaps the records are just missing.  

It seems reasonable to place Jacob in Berks county at the time of the French and Indian War, and during the times of other unpleasantness with the native Americans.  The family, like many of their neighbors, may have had to leave their home to go to a larger city for protection, if they didn't already live in a town like Reading.  It would have been a time of tension and we don't know how it affected the family's livelihood.  

I've not found church records for Jacob, either.  He is said to have died at Union City, but that was not yet a town when Jacob died on September 5, 1768.  I've not found a grave site for him, nor have I found a will or inventory.  So there is much we don't know about Jacob, but we do know he was part of the Harshbarger family line, and we know he was brave enough, and adventurous enough, to come to America to start a new life. 

The line of descent is  

Hans Jacob Kestenholtz-Anna Maria Glintz

Sebastian Kestenholtz (referred to as Chestnutwood in his brother Abraham's will)-Christina Glintz

Christina Chestnutwood-Matthias Bruder or Brothers

Barbara Brothers-David Brown

Elizabeth Brown-William Cook

Barbara Cook-William Withers

William Withers-Della Kemery

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants