Harshbarger line: The family of Hans Jacob Kemmerly 1734-1791

I know this man existed, and came to Philadelphia in 1753. I know he died, and I know the names of two of his children, but that is all that I am reasonably sure of.  So this will be a short post.

Hans Jacob Kemmerly or Kemmerli is said to have been born in 1734, or in 1721, in the Netherlands or in Germany, but I've found no records to support that.  His wife is said to have been Martha Punch, who is said to have been born in 1745 and whom he is said to have married in October of 1754.  But the children supposedly weren't born until later-in the late 1780s, mostly.  Obviously, there are problems here.  Martha would not have been 9 years old when she married, and if she was born prior to 1745, she would likely not have been having children as late as 1791.  So we may have the wrong couple here, or at least the wrong mother.  

The information from an abstract of Jacob's will, written in 1791 and probated in 1792, in Windsor Township, York County, Pennsylvania, mentions two children, Jacob and Margaret.  

Jacob was born about 1789, if there isn't a generation missing here, and was married to Anna Maria Lauber or Laber, whom I've not yet identified.  They had 8 children: Adam, Daniel, John, Jacob, George, Philip, William, and Mary.  I will write more of this family in my next blog post.  

The will also mentions a daughter Margaret, who was married to a (first name unknown) Towbenberger, and a granddaughter Margaret, daughter of the above Margaret, who was married to a Peter Schoenberger. The idea that Margaret was old enough to have a married daughter makes it seem unlikely to me that Jacob, born 1789, was the son of this Jacob, although of course there could be two different wives involved here.  

And to add to the confusion, some trees list Christian, Daniel, and Jacob Joseph as sons of this Jacob.  I know there was a Christian Kemmerli paying taxes in York County in 1789, and I'm wondering if Christian might actually be the younger Jacob's father.

Obviously, there is much more work to be done on this family.  I hope this post won't mislead anyone, but I also hope it will point out some of the flaws that are on on-line trees, so we can start to untangle this mess.   Please help if you can!