Harshbarger line: Martin Laber, 1738-1823

It's been a while since I've written about an ancestor in the Harshbarger line.  I seem to have written about most or all of the "easy" ones, and since most of the family is of German or Swiss ancestry, and didn't arrive in American until the first half of the eighteenth century, I have a smaller pool of ancestors to research.  However, here is one that I seem to have overlooked. 

Martin Laber is thought to have been born in Pennsylvania August 20, 1738, although I've not found a record yet. He is the son of Wendell and Anna Margaretha Mueller Laber, and was one of at least ten children.  His father was a religious man who helped to found at least two churches, the second one being closer to his home than the first.  "Home" by at least 1747, was in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Martin stayed there his whole life.  This is in the northern part of the county, bordering on Berks and Dauphin counties now, but at the time, it was all wilderness.  Lancaster town itself was hardly a village, and the area would go through some very rough times during Martin's lifetime.

Martin married Anna Catherina Enck, the daughter of Johan Jacob and Anna Catharina Becker Enck, on October 13, 1761.  The pastor was Rev. John Waldschmidt, who was actually sent as a pastor for the Dutch Reformed Church.  (Without going into a good detail of theological detail, the Germans of the area were satisfied with their pastor, be he Dutch, German, or some combination there of.

By 1761, the worst of the onslaughts from the French and Indian war (meaning attacks by the native Americans in cahoots with the French) were mostly over, and Martin and Catherine were able to make a home for themselves.  Martin, like his father, was a farmer and called himself a yeoman in his will.  He and Catherine had at least 5 children, and stayed on the farm they owned their whole lives.  In 1782, he is shown on a tax list as having 140 acres of land, 2 horses and 4 cows, and his tax is one of the higher ones on that particular page.  But I'm getting ahead of the story.

After the French and Indian war, and after the few years of peace, life was interrupted by the Revolutionary War.  Martin seems not to have been greatly affected by the war itself.  He was in the militia but I've not found that he was ever called to duty.  He may well have been used for a few days as a guard for prisoners of war, or to transport food and supplies, but it doesn't appear, as far as I've learned so far, that he ever was in a battle.  This is not to say that his life was easy.  He lived perhaps 50 miles from Valley Forge and 65 miles from Philadelphia.  Lancaster County, then, as now, had a reputation as being a "bread basket" and surely Martin would have contributed, we hope voluntarily, to Valley Forge.  It's possible there were British foraging expeditions that far from Philly but if so, they would have been of short duration.  And surely, there was tension.  Where would the next battle be?  Would the country maintain the independence they had declared, or would they be defeated by the British, with the help of the hired Hessians?  Mothers have always had to calm the fears of their children, it seems. 

That is as much of the life of Martin as I currently know, except for records created when he died.  Martin wrote his will on February 26, 1812 when he signed with a mark.  It wasn't probated for another 11 years, though, on October 20, 1823.  His actual date of death is given on Find a Grave as September 2, 1823, so it seems that he either had a long illness or he had a serious illness and recovered.  He provided for his wife in his will, but she died September 23, 1813.  He left land or money or both to each of his three sons, one hundred pounds to each of his 7 Dulibon grandchildren, and one hundred dollars to "his congregation" to build a new church.  The graves, with standing headstones, are at what is now the Brickerville United Lutheran Church and Cemetery at Brickerville, Pa. 

Martin lived through interesting times.  He survived, supported his country, supported his church, raised a family, and paid his taxes.  We can be grateful for ancestors like Martin!  I'm also grateful to Anne Caston, who located some of the information I've used in this post, and who generously shares her knowledge and information.

The line of descent is:

Martin Laber-Catherine Enck
Catherine Laber-Henry Dulibon
Elizabeth Tullepan-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer (Mancer)-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants  

Personal note:  This is my 700th blog post.  We'll see how much longer I can keep finding stories to tell.  I know there are a few more waiting out there! 




 

Harshbarger line: Johann Jacob Enck, Immigrant

Johan Jacob Enck is new to the family tree, and I am grateful to Anne for setting me straight and putting me on the trail of this man.  His story appears to be a lot like those of the other German immigrants in the family.  He was possibly born July 30, 1698 in Hueffelsheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, to Bernard Heinrich and Elisabetha Arnd Enck.  (It is possible that he was born in Heddesheim rather than Hueffelsheim, but he married in Hueffelsheim and lived there for at least twenty years.  Since men typically took their bride to their own home village I'm going with Hueffelsheim until or unless we find actual records of the birth location.)

When he married, it was to Anna Cathareina Becker, daughter of Anthonii Becker, on Noember 23, 1723.  His father is there listed as Bernhard Enck.  The marriage took place at the Evangelisch, Heddesheim, which means it was a Lutheran church.  It appears that there are currently three churches in Heddesheim that would fit the description, but probably there was only one church at the time.  Heddesheim is described as being a tiny town, which at one time grew a lot of tobacco, but that time period isn't designated so I don't know if it was before or after the time of Jacob and Catherine. 

They came to America in 1743, on the ship Snow Charlotta, which arrived on September 5,1743.  It is possible that they stayed in Germantown for a while, but they eventually settled in Lancaster County.  We know they had three children born in Germany, Johan Jacob, Johannes, and Anna Catherina, but there may have been others born in Pennsylvania.  A lot of trees show Jacob marrying again in 1755, but I'm not sure this is the same Jacob.  If it is, then he must have first been widowed, which is entirely possible. 

It seems that his land may have been along the Cocalico Creek but I am still trying to confirm that.  He was buried on March 30,1774 at either the Zion German Reformed Church Cemetery at Brickerville (per Find A Grave) or the Bethany United Church of Christ at Ephrata, per a database from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania found on Ancestry. Bethany UCC was formerly a German Reformed Church, and they have records indicating Jacob was buried there, yet I can't find his name in their old cemetery listing.  So perhaps the pastor buried Jacob at the Brickerville location?  It's hard to know for sure what happened, but that is the general location of his grave, anyway.

There is a will for Jacob which I need to research further.  If I can locate it, I will make a transcription in a separate blog post.  I'd love to travel to Lancaster County so I could do more thorough research on this family, as on many others, but for now we at least know where he came from, the name of his wife, when he arrived in America, his religion, and when he died.  That's a start.

The line of descent is:

Johan Jacob Enck-Anna Catharina Becker
Anna Catharina Enck-Martin Lauber
Catherine Lauber-Henry Dulibon (Tullapen)
Eliizabeth Tullapen-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Johann "Hans" Wendel Laber, 1701- , Immigrant

I've found another Harshbarger line ancestor to write about, and no surprise, this family is German.  It's also no surprise that there are differing birth locations, and different death dates, for him.  However, I'm going to write of what I've found so far in the hopes that someone will see this and straighten me out.  Wendel was born on or before March 10, 1701 (this is probably a christening date) in Steinsfurt Parish, Northern Kraichgau, Germany.  This area is in southwestern Germany and would track closely with the history of other Harshbarger ancestors.  . 

Wendel was the son of Johannes Balthasar Lauber and Anna Elisabeth Wanner, and was one of at least eight children born to this couple.  I've not found any information as to his father's occupation, but it was likely to have been farming.   

We do know that Wendel married Anna Margaretha Mueller or Muller in Steinsfurt in 1726.She was the daughter of Andreas Mueller.  The young family stayed only in Steinsfurt only a few short years after their marriage.  They arrived on the ship "Dragon" in Philadelphia on September 30, 1732, along with their  two daughters.  I don't yet have birth dates for all of their children, so I am unable to say whether the family was already expecting another birth while en route to the New World, but there were 8 children born after the first two daughters. 

Again, it is hard to trace the first few years of their life in America.  The family probably first settled in Germantown, but by 1746 they had saved enough money to purchase 180 acres of land in Clay Township, Lancaster County, Pa. This is on the northern edge of the county, bordering on Berks County, and was probably excellent farm land. The Old Zion church was founded about 1747, and the Laber's apparently attended there.  His death date is actually unknown and is variously given as 1739 (wrong), 1749, 1757 and about 1762.  We know that his estate was probated December 27, 1762., although I have yet to find it on line.  He was buried in the Brickerville Lutheran and Reformed church cemetery, probably about 16 months after his wife had died, if we use the 1762 date as his date of death.

There is obviously much more I would like to know about this family.  Why did they come to America?  How long did it take them to finally obtain permission, and how much did it cost?  Had the family "always" been Lutheran?  How did they support themselves in Germany, and here in the New World?  Did they have to serve a period as indentured servants?  What was life like on their farm?  
While the general outline of his line may be known, sort of, I'd always like more details!

The line of descent is:

Wendel Laber-Anna Margaretha Muller
Martin Laber-Anna Catharina Enck
Henry Dulibon or Tulipan-Catherine Laber
Elizabeth Tullepen-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants