Harshbarger line: The family of Mathias Kramer 1692-1773 or later

 Here's another family that I fear is not correctly noted in family trees.  Please regard this entire post with a healthy grain or two of salt, because once again, we have similar names in differing locations, some of which make no sense at all.  It would help if I knew the occupation(s) of Mathias Kramer (Kreamer, Kraemer, Creamer, Cramer)'s parents, or of Mathias's own occupation.  He is generally thought to be the son of Johann Peter and Anna Barbara Lorenz Kramer, and is thought to have been born in 1692.  For the purposes of this post, I am not really concerned with his parents at the moment, because they died in what became Germany, and my posts are about families that came to America.  But for my own purposes, I'd sure like to know his parents!

Mathias married Elisabeth Catherine Theiss, who may be the daughter of Sebastian and Elizabeth Draht Theiss (Theyss) in 1711 and they started their family very soon after that.  Of course, the question is how many children they may have had, and what happened to the children.  Mathias came to Pennsylvania in 1732, and the ship's register does not indicate families on this passenger list.  So although all the children were born in Germany, we don't know how many came to America or whether they all came together, or even how many were alive in 1732.  The village of Wahnwegen in the Rhein-Palatinate was very very small but good records were either not kept or have been lost to time, but this is where Mathias and his growing family lived for at least a time.  If all the children who are reputed to have been theirs are actually theirs, then they lived in several different locations, not all in the Palatinate, during their first 20 or so years of marriage.  

Anna Cecilia was born in 1711, apparently in Wahnwegen.  That is all I have learned about her.

Andreas/Andrew may have been born next, in 1712.  He married Maria Magdalena Birckel, the daughter of Michael and Maria Willman Birkle, in 1738 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  This might indicate that he had just finished an indentureship, but is not proof of one.  Their children are Ludig, Johannes, George, Catherine ELizabeth, Adam, Christina , Rosina, Michael, Andrew, and Daniel.  I will follow this family in my next blog post.

Johann Jacob was born in 1713, again in Wahnwegen.  And again, that is all that I know of him.

Johann Heinrich was born in 1716 in Wahnwegen.  He may or may not have married Christina Baumgardner, and he may or may not have died as early as 1733.  I think the two events would be mutually exclusive, but I'm not sure which, if either, is correct.  

Then there are two names listed as sons of Mathias and Elisabeth Catherine, with no further mention.  I don't even have tentative birth years or locations for them, so I will mention them briefly.  Adam and John George are their names.  They may or may not belong to this family.  

There was a Martin born in 1717, not in Wahnwegen  He died in 1758 in Germany.  Again, does he belong to this family?

Maria Catherine was born in 1718 and Ludwig in 1720, both in Wahnwegen.   

And finally, there was Christina, born in 1725.  She married Mathias Gabhert or Babbert, and their children are Catherine, George, Elizabeth, Hannah, Peter, Rebecca, Sarah, Michael, and John Wesley.  She died in 1798 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.  If she belongs in this family, and if the family came to American with Mathias, she would have been just a young child in 1732, and most of her memories would have been made here.  

There are at least 60 entries in the 1790 census in Pennsylvania for men with the last name some variation of Kraemer.  Since we believe that Elisabeth Catherine died in 1747 in Berks County, it is likely that some if not all of the 10 or so men (and one widow) listed there somehow fit into this family, either as sons and grandsons, or as cousins of some sort.   There is no Mathias in 1790, which confirms my suspicion that his death was in 1773.  

I'd love to hear from someone who has even a scrap of information about this family.  Let's get it figured out!