The family of George Harshbarger

 Information about George Harshbarger is hard to pin down.  Although we have specific dates for his siblings, George's birth date is not currently known.  Many sites give it as 1796, with no documentation, although census records show that he was born in the 1800s.  It's important that this information be documented, because then we could better guess whether his mother was Christina Elizabeth Fehler, or an unknown first wife of his father, Johannes Harshbarger/Hershberger.  

Fortunately, information about his marriage and his family is a little easier to locate.  He married Mary E Kepler Garman, a widow, the daughter of Andrew and Anna Maria Kramer Kepler probably about 1827.  Their children were born in Summit County, Ohio, but I'm not sure where the marriage took place.  George drove wagons between his home town and Chicago, and was killed in a wagon accident in 1844 in Whitley County.  He is reported to be buried in both Whitley County and in Summit County.  I am reasonably certain that he was first buried in Whitley County, but I don't know if his body stayed there or if it was taken back to East Liberty Cemetery in Summit County, where his name is shown on the records there.  

In his short life, he and Mary had at least four children and perhaps five.  I have seen Milo Harshbarger, with no date given, listed as their child, but there are several Milo Harshbargers born during that time period, and I am not yet convinced he was their child.  If he was their child, I don't know how long he lived and it's possible that he died at an early age.  

More information is available about these children:

Lewis Harshbarger was born in Summit County in 1828.  He married Catherine Mentzer (seen in most records as Manser or Mancer), the daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth Tullapen (Duliban and other spellings) Mentzer.  Their children are Milo, Emanuel, Levina, Matilda, Henry, Catherine, and Mary.  I will write more of this family in my next post.  Lewis died in 1875 in Whitley County, Indiana.  

John Harshbarger was born in 1831 in Summit County, and married Julia Ann Snyder, the daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Knop Snyder.  Their children are Elizabeth, Matilda, Andrew B, Merritt, Flora, Mary, Laura, Ella, and Johnny.  He died February 12, 1878 in Whitley County, Indiana.  

Andrew Jackson Harshbarger was born September 30, 1835 in Summit County, Ohio and married Delilah Ruple, the daughter of James and Sarah Wagoner Ruple.  Their children are Samuel, Alice, William, Charles, Andrew Burton, Burton (these may refer to just one person?), Franklin, George, Leura, and Mary Emma, known as Mayme. He died in 1913 in Columbia City, Whitley County, Indiana.

There is a gap here of seven years, so if Milo was their son, perhaps his birth and possible death would fit in here.

Leah Harshbarger, born in 1842, was their only known daughter, and also the only of their children to stay in Summit County.  She married Jeremiah Garman, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Hunsberger Garman, and likely some relation to Mary Kepler's first husband, although I haven't traced that.  Their children are Mary, Mayme, George, Frank, Kirk, Gertrude, and Ida.  Leah is also said to have had a relationship with Elijah Sehriver, and was the mother of Byron Sehriver.  I have not been able to locate records to show this, so I don't know if this is anything more than gossip.  Both Leah and Jeremiah died in 1904.

 Although George's life was cut short (as were the lives of two of his sons), his surviving family helped build Whitley County, and his son in law, Jeremiah, served in the Civil War for over four years.  George could be proud of his family, and we can be proud, too!

The family of Johannes Harshbarger 1770-1853

 As usual with the early Harshbarger family, there are more questions than answers with these people.  Besides lacking absolute proof that this Johannes was the son of Christian and Magdalena van Gundy Hershberger, the dates that are given for his children don't match up with his marriage date as printed in the History of Centre County by John Blair Linn.  In that book, the marriage of Johannes and Christena Elizabeth Fehler is given as 1804, at Brush Valley Union Church.  But several of his children are given birth dates of before that date.  So we are left wondering whether there is a first wife whose name we have not located, or whether the marriage took place after several of the children had been born.  

Christena Elizabeth Fehler was the daughter of John Jacob and Anna Eva Behney Fehler, but the names of the people in that family don't give any help in sorting this out, because even children known to have been born to the couple don't seem to have names that have been in the family for generations.  

However, we do know the children's names, and have birth dates for all but the first son, George.  George is thought to have been born about 1796.  He married Mary Kepler, daughter of Andrew and Anna Maria Kramer Kepler.  Their  children were Milo, Lewis, John, Andrew Jackson, and Leah.  I will follow this family in a future post.

Eva was born December 9, 1798 and died in 1874.  She married Samuel Long, the son of Johannes Long and a mother as yet unidentified.  Their children were Johannes, Anna Marie, Rachel, Leah Mae, Margaret, Samuel B., Reuben, Jonathan, Elias, and Daniel.  Eva died in Copley Township, Summit County, Ohio.

Leonard was born October 13, 1800 and died in June of 1845.  He married first Phebe McCamon, daughter of John and Mary Davis McCamon and had five children with her, Thomas, Solomon, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Jacob.  Phebe died in 1839 and Leonard then married  Margaretha Barbara Schnieder, daughter of Jacob and Barbara Renschler Schneider, and had at least two additional children, Leonard and Phebe.  Leonard died in June of 1845 in Marion County, Ohio. 

Susanna was the next daughter born, on April 18, 1802.  She is variously reported to have died in 1803 and to have married Jonathan McCammon, but I can't find supporting evidence for the marriage.  I think it's possible that she died at the young age mentioned here, but don't rule out that she survived long enough to marry.

Catherine was born February 7, 1804 and died October 20, 1876.  She married John Castetter, the son of Sebastian and Maria Johnsonbaugh Kerstetter.  Their known children are John, Margaret, Samuel, Susan, and Daniel. Elizabeth, and probably Emmanuel.   Her husband John bears the identification of "Reverend", and they died in Elkhart County, Indiana.  

Next was Thomas, born April 15, 1806 and died about 1863.  His wife was Salome Leitner (also seen as Sally Lightner), the daughter of Christian and Salome Bechtel Leitner.  I haven't been able to locate him in either the 1850 or 1860 census, so I'm not sure where the death date came from.  He and Salome or Sally are the parents of Leah, Sarah, Rachel, and John.

John Heinrich, known as Henry, was born May 31, 1810. He married Sophia Bachman in Stark County, Ohio in 1834.  There are several Bachman families in the 1830 census there but I am unable to identify even a guess as to whether she belonged to any of these families.  Their children include Daniel, Urias, James, Amos, and Eve or Eva.

Christina was born June 7, 1813 and died October 21, 1893.  She married Jacob Kepler, the son of Andrew and Anna Maria Kramer Kepler, and yes, brother and sister married sister and brother here.  Their children were Elizabeth,  Adam, Solomon, Sophia, Alfred, Susanna, Mary Magdalena, William, and a boy who died as an infant.  One web site also mentions a Christina as their daughter. Like many in the Harshbarger family, she died in Summit County, Ohio.  

Their last known child was Maria Magdalena, born Feb. 6, 1816.  She married Charles Rodebaugh in 1851, when she was 35 years old.  I have four children listed for them, but am not sure whether these were hers or not.  Their names were William, Charles, Thomas, and Susannah.  Again, I'm not locating census information so am not entirely certain this is correct.

So John was the father to many children and the grandfather to many more, perhaps as many as 50.  Some of his family moved further west, as he had done in moving from Centre County, Pennsylvania to Summit County, Ohio, but some stayed in the Summit County area.  This is yet another Harshbarger family that needs further research, but we know they were hard workers and good citizens.

 

 

The family of Christian Harshbarger

 I hesitate to write this blog post, because I have little documentation to back it up.  Most of what I'm going to report here comes from FamilySearch and Find A Grave, and I'm not sure that it's all correct.  So take this not as a report to be believed, but as a round up of ideas for further research.  

Christian Hershberger or Harshbarger (I use Harshbarger because it makes it easier for me to distinguish between father and son on my tree, but many sites are using the spelling Hershberger, including census records) was born about 1745 to Christian and Barbara Rupp Hershberger, in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He married Catherine Magdalena (or Magdalena Catherine) van Gundy, the daughter of Peter and Fronica Ann Forny van Gundy, likely in Berks County, where the couple lived for many years.  At some point after 1790 they have moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in what later became Somerset County, and he died there about 1815.

Christian and Magdalena had many children.  I don't know how many for sure, but there seems to be a possibility of at least 13, with one apparently dying young (or at least, no one has been able to trace her yet that I know of). As I found with the first generation of Hershbergers, many of the same names are used over and over, and it is hard to keep them all straight.  This is their family, subject to further refinement and research:

Christian Harshbarger, born 1765, died 1848 in Elk Lick Township, Somerset County, married Anna Shrock, the daughter of Ulrich and Anna Christner Schrock.  Their children are thought to be John, Peter, Joseph, an unidentified child, Abraham, Mary, Eve, Henry and Jacob.  

Benjamin was born in 1767 and died in 1861.  He married Mary Magdalena Speicher, the daughter of Michael and Maria Louise Fockner Speicher.  Their children are Magdalena, Catherine, Benjamin, Abraham, and Christian.  Benjamin may have later married Anna Mast, but I've found no mention of children from that marriage.

John or Johannes was born about 1770, and married Christena Elizabeth Fehler, the daughter of John Jacob and Anna Eva Behney Fehler.  Their children were Eva, Leonard, Susanna, Catherine, George, Thomas, John Henrich, Christena, and Mary Magdalena.  I will write more about this family in my next post.  

Joseph was born in 1774 and died in or before 1855 in Somerset County.  He married Sarah Hochstetler, daughter of John and Veronica Mast Hochstetler.  Their children are Rebecca, Mary, Moses, Veronica, Jacob, Magdalena, Martha, Susanna, Elizabeth, Adam, Christina, John, Mary, and Dorothea.  I think Joseph is likely another son, and I've seen Catherine, Sarah, and Hannah also listed as their children.

The next child was Daniel, born in 1776.  His first wife's name may have been Elizabeth, but I haven't found even a hint of who she might have been.  Their known child is Isaac.  He then married Veronica Lapp, daughter of Michael and Mary Zug Lapp, and their children were Nancy, John, and Lydia.  

David was also born in 1776 (so may or may not have been a twin to Daniel) and died in 1861. He married Catherine Miller, the daughter of John and Margaret Kline Miller.  Their children are listed as John, William, Kathryn, Samuel, Solomon, Barbara and Daniel, plus three who are not named.  They may have died as infants, or perhaps there are records waiting to be found for this family.  

The first daughter was Catherine, born in 1778, who was likely greeted with considerable rejoicing by her parents.  Sadly, there seem to be no records and no mention at all of her, so the possibility is strong that she died at a young age.  

Magdalena Mary was born in 1780 and died in 1862.  She married John Miller, the son of Christian and Mary Magdalena Weaver Miller.  Their children are Mary, John, Leah Sarah, Charlotte, Jesse, George, Christian, Benneville (? I wonder if this could have been misread and might be Benjamin?), Sarah, Catherine, and Lydia.

Henry was born in 1782 and died in 1870.  He married Mary Blough, the daughter of Jacob and Anna Marie Kauffman Blough.  Their children were Veronica, Jonas, Anna, Nancy, John, Henry, Daniel, and Jacob.  

Barbara was born in 1784 and may have died in 1808.  She married Jacob Foy, the son of Nicholas Foy and they had Rosanna and Jacob.  Mary Magdalena may have been their child also, or she may be the child of Jacob's second marriage, to Mary Van Gundy (yes, she was part of Peter Van Gundy's family, somehow).  

Peter was born in 1785 and died in 1865.  He married Barbara Kauffman, the daughter of Isaac and Barbara Schindler Kauffman.  There seem to be just two known children for this couple, Adam and Ann.  

Elizabeth was born in 1788 and married John Kauffman, the son of John and Anna Kauffman.  Their children are Christian, Mary, and Catherine.  I do not have a death date for her, so she may have died sometime after their third child was born.  

Christian's last known child was Abraham, born in 1790 and possibly died in 1821.  He married Elizabeth Rachel Blough, the daughter of John and Nelle Berkey Blough.  Their children were Catherine, Veronica, Elizabeth, Magdalena and Rachel.  

If my count is both complete and correct, which is not likely, there were 80 grandchildren of Christian and Magdalena.  What a family reunion that would have made!  

Some of these grandchildren eventually ended up in Lagrange County, Indiana, where many of the names mentioned (Hershberger, Hochstetler, Miller, Yoder) are still plentiful.  I've often been asked whether we are related to the Hershberger/Harshbarger family of Lagrange County, and I've replied "probably distantly."  I can now change that answer to "distantly".

I certainly welcome additions, corrections, and confirmations to this post.  Please contact me at happygenealogydancingATblogspotDOTcom.  

Harshbarger line: The family of Christian Hershberger 1714-1770

 For this family outline, I am using information provided mainly on the Vitter-Weaver genealogy website, with just a few additions. The Hershberger/Herschberger/Harshbarger family is truly confusing, and some of the children seem to have disappeared.  There are a lot of Christian Hershbergers and they gave their children some of the same names over and over-David, Jacob, Abraham, as well as Christian-so I'm not absolutely sure this information is correct.  But it is at least plausible, and it's the best information we have to go on.  

Christian Hershberger arrived in Philadelphia in 1737 on the Charming Nancy, part of a huge flood of German/Swiss immigrants who arrived at that port during the mid 1700s.  He was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1714 and may have lived in the Palatinate of what is now Germany for a few years before traveling to America.  He is thought to have been Amish in religious belief, and settled in an Amish community in what is now Berks County, Pa.  His wife was Barbara Rupp, daughter of Ulrich and Anna Schuepbach Rupp, and they had married about 1732.  They arrived in Philadelphia with their first two children, and the others were born in Pennsylvania.

Anna Nancy Harshbarger was born about 1734 in Bern, Switzerland.  She married Abraham Miller, who was the son of Christian David and Barbara Mishler Miller.  This marriage took place in 1765, when Anna was nearly 30, so it is possible that she had been married before, and that he had, also.  Their children were Catherine, Daniel, Susannah, David, and Tobias.  

Peter Harshbarger was their first son, born in 1736 in Alsace-Lorraine.  He married Veronica Gnaegi, the daughter of Johannes and Magdalena Yoder Gnaegi.  Their children were Anna Barbara, Abraham, Christian, and Veronica.  

Barbara Hershberger was born about 1738, so not long after the family arrived in America.  There seems to be no further information about her so perhaps she died young.

Veronica Hershberger was born in January 1739/40.  She married Hans Rudolf Glattfelder, son of Hans Peter and Salomea Amberg Glattfelder.  This family went to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  Their children were Johan George, Elias, John, and Anna Catherine, who all used the spelling of Clodfetter.

Next born was Daniel Hershberger, born about 1742.  I have not found further record of him.  

The next child was Christian Hershberger, who was born May 11, 1745.  He married Magdalena Catherine van Gundy, daughter of Peter and Fronica Ann Farny van Gundy.  Their children were Johannes, Abraham, Catherine, Samuel, Henry, Elizabeth, Anne and Mary, and I will write more of them in my next blog post.

Elizabeth was born in 1745 but I have not located further information about her.

Johannes Jacob was born in 1750 and married Veronica Dilabaugh, the daughter of Peter and Elspeth Gerber Dellenbach.  Their children were Christian, Peter, John, Abraham, Barbara, Anna, Jacob, Catherine, and Henry.  

There are two more children listed, Marie born in 1752 and Abraham born in 1754.  I have not located any information on either of these children.  This makes a total of 5 children who have not been traced.  Did all five die young?  That would be a lot of grief for one set of parents to handle, but of course it's possible.  Or are there still records to be discovered, that would bring at least some of these children to life?  We don't know.

With the exception of Veronica, the other surviving children moved west, into Dauphin and Somerset counties of Pennsylvania, where the next generation was born.  There were at least 30 grandchildren who called Christian and Barbara "Grandpa and Grandma", which is a large number indeed.  They would have loved to hear stories of the "old country" and the trip to America.  I'd love to hear those stories, too!