Allen line: Joseph Stebbins 1652-1728

 The Allen line has a lot of Stebbins names in it.  Joseph is one of them.  Fortunately, he is pretty well documented.  He is of Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, which is the location of many of our Allen family lines.  

Joseph was the son of Thomas and Hannah Wright Stebbins and was born at Springfield October 24, 1652, when the village was just sixteen years old.  He lived and died in Springfield, and had family all around him, both his own and his in-laws.  He was one of at least 9 children born to his parents, so he was never without siblings to play and work during his childhood.  It should be noted that Springfield was very much a frontier town during the earlier years of Joseph's life.  Even into the 1690's his siblings were receiving bounty payments for wolf heads, and there were other wild animals in the area, too.  However, as time went on the fur trade, which was the reason for the founding of the town, became less and less important as the stocks of wild animals diminished.

Joseph was granted land by the town in February of 1673 (as well as later grants) and married Sarah Dorchester, daughter of Anthony and Martha (last name debated; either Chapman or Kritchwell) Dorchester on November 27, of that same year.  Perhaps he had time to build a home for them before the wedding.  Joseph and Sarah had at least nine children together,and some lists show ten.

The wedding was about eighteen months before King Philip's war broke out.  Joseph Stebbins of Springfield is listed in "Colonial Soldiers and Officers in New England"  and due to his age of about 23 at the time the war broke out, we can probably guess that he participated in some fashion in that conflict, although I've not found his name on any other list for the period.  We do know that he was an ensign (sort of a junior lieutenant) by 1694 and ended his life being called "lieutenant", so he was active in the militia at some point.  To return to King Philip's War, if he wasn't in any of the known battles he was in one of the garrison houses, defending the residents who had stayed in town.  

Joseph held several positions of trust during his lifetime.  He was made a freeman in 1681 and was a surveyor for the highways, a constable, a fence viewer, town treasurer, moderator of town meetings in 1716 and after (the first person who was not a Pynchon to have that privilege), a selectman for several years and also a representative to the General Court.   I have read that people of a higher social status were the ones who were elected to positions like selectman and representative to the General Court, so the Stebbins name was one that was appreciated in the town.  He must have been something of a diplomat, too, because he was appointed to committees to help decide various issues, including the management of turpentine resources.  

Joseph died October 15, 1728, shortly before his seventy-sixth birthday.  We are fortunate to have his will and inventory, which tell us quite a bit about how he lived.  He refers to himself as a husbandman in his will, which is pretty modest of him.  Husbandmen didn't usually own land, and in his will he gives land in Springfield, Enfield, and Brimfield to his sons.  His wife Sarah was to have 1/3 of his real and personal property during her lifetime, and daughters were given 25 pounds, less whatever they had already received.  (In our ancestor Martha's case, she received 10 pounds so had already received approximately 15 pounds worth of property, perhaps as a wedding gift.)  His personal property is valued at a little over 225 pounds, which combined with the land he owned, was a sizeable estate.  

One thing I loved about his inventory is that it listed his books, although I can't read all of the titles.  He had a Bible of course, and a dictionary, a book of Psalms, several books of sermons, a spelling book, and various other titles.  This was a not insignificant number of books for the time, and it's nice to think that his children had access to them as they grew.  

He had other items I found interesting, too.  Why would someone need five gallons of molasses, for instance?  His household goods, including several pieces of pewter but no silver, are listed as are all his farm animals and implements.  The only gun I notices was one "old musket".  He also had horses, various cattle, shoats and pigs, and sheep, in a greater quantity than one would think a 75 year old man would need.  

Sarah was well taken care of by the will, and she lived until 1743, when she was about 93 years old.  

We can be proud of Joseph.  He was quite literate, he raised a family and helped build his community, was a part of the church and a protector of the town, as well as a civil servant.  His life is one to be honored.

The line of descent is:

Joseph Stebbins-Sarah Dorchester

Martha Stebbins-Samuel Lamb

Eunice Lamb-Martin Root

Martin Root-Ruth Noble

Ruth Root-Samuel Falley

Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

Beeks line: Jonathan Dunham 1709-1748

 This will be a short post, but only because Jonathan seems to be hiding from us.  He is important, though, because he's an ancestor to the Beeks family, and because he is part of the family of Barack Obama.  So then, why is it so hard to find information about him?

Jonathan's grandfather, also Jonathan, was an early settler and founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey.  I'm surprised that I seem to not have written about him before, and I will remedy that situation in a future post.  I've written about his father, Benjamin Dunham, earlier.  Benjamin died at an early age and Jonathan did also, which may be why Jonathan's estate was small.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Jonathan was the son of Benjamin and Mary, possibly Rolph or Rolfe, Dunham, and was born January 7, 1709.  He grew up in Woodbridge Township, probably in Dunhamtown which was just north of the meeting house, and died there also.  The earliest birthdate we have for a child is 1738, so he and Mary Smith likely married in 1736 or 1737.  I've not found records of the marriage.  Mary was the daughter of Shubael and Prudence Fitzrandolph Smith, and those families were also Woodbridge families.  

Jonathan and Mary had at least six children together.  In his will, Jonathan mentions Benjamin by name and notes that he had six children under the age of 15.  It's possible that there were other children who did not survive.  

All we know of his life is that he identified himself as "yeoman" in his will, so we know from that that he owned land and farmed it.  As his father's oldest surviving son, he had probably received land from his father, but I don't know how much.  

We can make one other guess about his life.  His father was Episcopalian, so it is likely that is the religion that Jonathan followed.  Some of his siblings were Baptist but we have no indication that is the case for Jonathan.  

Benjamin died on September 21, 1748, not yet 40 years old.  He had written his will January 31, 1747/48, and it was proved the following January 8, noted as 1748 in court records.  If we look at those dates, something is not correct.  I have not seen the original transcriptions so perhaps there is a date that has been misread or mis-typed along the way.  At any rate, he was not yet 40 years old when he died, and since he had written his will several months prior to his death, we are left wondering whether he'd had some sort of lingering illness.  We wonder the same thing about his father, who also died young.  

This is what we know of Jonathan, along with a few semi-educated guesses.  Jonathan seems to be a man who took care of his family and that is all we can really say about him.  But he's an ancestor in the Beeks family, and perhaps someday someone will be able to learn more.  

I have seen two "facts" which I question.  One calls him "Reverend",  There was an Elder Jonathan Dunham, but he lived later that this one.  He was Baptist.  The other assigns him a middle initial of "S" for Singletary.  I suspect that "S" also belongs to the Jonathan who is termed "Reverend."  It's easy to get men of the same name confused, particularly when they lived in the same area and trace back to the same Jonathan Dunham, the one  that I still need to research and write about.  

The line of descent is:

Jonathan Dunham-Mary Smith

Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Charles Merryman 1655-1724

I've written before about John Merryman, father of Charles Merryman, who came to Virginia as a young man about 1638, and I've written about John Merryman, son of Charles Merryman, who owned property and lived in Maryland.  I've not written about Charles, though, and of course he is part of the Holbrook line, too.  Fortunately for me, I've not had to do a lot of research about Charles because the website Colonial Settlers of Maryland and Virginia has a quite thorough document about his life.  There of course are still questions that aren't answered, but we know more about Charles than we know about some of our other early Maryland ancestors.

Charles was the son of John and Audrey Heynes Merryman, and was born about 1655 in Lancaster County, Virginia.   This is a small county at the mouth of the Rappahanock River, where John Merryman and his other children lived their lives out.  Charles, however, was different.  We don't know for sure when Charles moved to Baltimore County, Maryland, nor do we know why.  However, he owned land there by 1682 and it is likely that he moved at about the same time.  His first tract, East Humphreys,  was about 300 acres in the northern part of the Patapsco Hundred.  He also owned 210 acres north of the Patapsco Rive210 acres called "Merryman's Lot", 120 acres called "Merryman's Addition, 246 acres called "Merryman's Beginning, and 200 acres called "Merryman's Pasture".  If this was all his land, and none of it belonged to his son Charles Jr., then this would follow the typical pattern of needing more land to grow tobacco, as the good soil necessary to grow tobacco was depleted.  We do know that he called himself a planter, and that tobacco was a form of currency for the family, as for most "planters" of the time.

I've found no reference to the Merryman family participating in Bacon's Rebellion in 1675-76, so probably they stayed on the right side of the law during that time.  It would have been a tense time, whether or not they participated and whatever side they took, as the rebellion involved a good number of native Americans as well as colonial rebels.  

Charles married Mary Haile, daughter of Nicholas and Mary Haile, probably before 1680 when their oldest son was born, and probably in Virginia rather than Maryland.  If the family moved to Baltimore about 1682, they likely had a toddler and an infant son with them as they began their new life in Maryland. Charles may have felt that he had little choice but to leave Virginia, as he was involved in a dispute which he lost, and his land in Virginia was ordered to be seized as security. 

Charles was apprenticed to a wheelwright, and we don't know whether he carried on that craft after he arrived in Baltimore County.  Perhaps he had saved enough money to make the original purchase in Maryland, and that was his chance to "make good".  Charles served on at least one grand jury, and was also captain of the militia in Baltimore County in 1696.  While it doesn't sound like he was really prominent in the county, he was known and respected enough to hold the military appointment.Both John the father and John the son seem to have been Anglican, and our Charles is reported to have been buried at Old Saint Pauls Cemetery, so he also must have practiced that faith. 

Charles and Mary had at least three sons, and possibly a daughter who, again possibly, may have been the daughter of a second wife.  Two sons were left just one shilling in his will, likely because they already had received land from their father.  Mary is thought to have died in 1709, which is why many think he married again, to another Mary, who was mentioned in the will.  Charles died December 23, 1724 and it took until 1726 to finalize the estate.   

I've not found records of slaves in his records, but they may not have been recorded.  It's difficult to think that someone with that much land, cultivating tobacco, would not have been a slave holder but we don't know for sure.  Let's just say it's possible.  

Charles is another in our Maryland line, one who led an interesting life and who lived perhaps a little more "on the edge" than some of our other ancestors.  But he raised a family and contributed to the building of Maryland, and for that, we honor him.

The line of descent is:

Charles Merryman-Mary Haile

John Merryman-Martha Bowen

Martha Merryman-Alexis Lemmon

Alexis Lemmon-Rachel Stansberry

Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick

Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Allen line: Thomas Kinton 1702-1779

 Thomas Kinton is new to our family tree and I'm not sure I have him completely figured out yet.  He had a son Thomas who may actually be the Thomas of some of these stories.  Part of the confusion is that it's possible that this Thomas may have had two wives, one, Rebecca Stoves, and the second, Rachel Carson. The Thomas I am writing about was married to Rachel Carson, daughter of John and Sarah Elizabeth Dickey (not 100% sure of her mother's name) Carson, and that is our line. Thomas who was married to Rebecca was born March 1, 1701 and that doesn't leave much time for a Thomas Jr. to be born and married to Rachel by about 1740, although it is possible.  

The reason I'm writing this post without being sure of parentage and dates is that Thomas Kinton was an absolutely fascinating man.  We need to know his story, even though we're not sure which Thomas was which.  

I've written about a lot of people who settled in Pennsylvania.  Some, mostly in the Beeks line, were Irish or Welsh Quakers.  Many in the Harshbarger line and a few in the Holbrook line were Swiss or German, Lutheran or Reformed or Mennonite.  And then, in the Allen line, we have a few Scots-Irish, and possibly a few Irish.  Thomas Kinton may be Irish, as his father (or grandfather) was reportedly John O'Canton of Lycargus, County Down, Ireland.  

Be that as it may, Thomas was a very early settler in what was then wilderness but became Bedford County in Pennsylvania.  There is a story that Thomas first became a landowner when he sold a barrel of whiskey to a native American in return for 600 acres of land, perhaps as early as 1738.  This was long before settlement in the area was common, and any neighbors would have been very distant.  Thomas and Rachel would have been on their own, except that Thomas somehow became friendly with George Croghan, who was a fur trader (and more) of the time.  Croghan became a huge land owner and it's possible that Thomas purchased more land from him.  Thomas signed petitions as one of the "Suffering Traders" who had lost property to the French from 1749-1754, just prior to the outbreak of the French and Indian War. 

Thomas traveled with Croghan at times, although it's hard to pinpoint exactly when and where.  He was with Croghan at a place called Pickawillamy (now Piqua, Ohio) on the Great Miami River when a trading post was established there in 1748.  Although he was likely involved earlier than this, he is known to have been horsemaster of the Forbes Expedition in 1758, the third time George Washington was involved in the effort to capture Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) from the French.  The expedition started out with about 6000 men so we don't know whether Thomas ever met then Colonel Washington in person, but he surely would have at least laid eyes on him.  Thomas was horsemaster for York County, through at least 1764.  By this time, he would have been 63 and perhaps no longer up to the duties and traveling requirements of the job.  

When Thomas was not involved in military expeditions or traveling to trade with natives (or possibly after he stopped trading with them), he apparently kept a tavern, which would have been a welcome respite for others who were traveling as well as for anyone in the general neighborhood.  He did spend a considerable amount of time at home because at least eight children were born to the couple.  Thomas gave up his trading after the French and Indiana war and settled in Bedford, where he had two lots laid out in 1766.  He also owned land near what is known as Kinton's Knob in Bedford County.  

Thomas made in will in February of 1777 and died in March of 1779.  In it, he mentions his three sons and two of his five daughters. 

Thomas had a brother, Mark Kenton, who made his home in Virginia, and Mark had a son, Simon, who is famous in Kentucky and Ohio River valley history as a longhunter, Indian trader, and translator.  It's reported that our Thomas was one of Simon's mentors and that he occasionally visited Thomas and Rachel's home when he needed a bit of respite or was just generally in the area.  (You can read Simon's story in "The Frontiersman" by Alllen W. Eckert, among others.)

Thomas's story is fascinating to me.  How did he decide, once he'd arrived in Pennsylvania, to travel to such a place as western Pennsylvania, then mostly unknown?  Did he know George Croghan, or his family, in Ireland?  What kind of woman was Rachel Carson, that she would agree to live in such an unsettled place?  How did Thomas gather the courage to trade with people of such a completely different culture as the one he came from?  And oh, I wish we could hear his stories, of military life, of the natives he traded with, of what sort of encounters he had with the wild animals of the area.  These stories are just as interesting as those of our more settled families, "Back East".

The line of descent is

Thomas Kinton-Rachel Carson

Rachel Kinton-Solomon Adams

Mary Adams-Joseph Knott

Thomas Knott-Hannah Bell

John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Nathaniel Mowrey 1643-1717

 We have quite a bit of information about Nathaniel Mowry, but there are also gaps in our knowledge.  This is one of those cases where the glass is half full, to my way of thinking. His birthdate is given as January 10, 1644 although I've also seen it written as 1643 (one of those tricky calendar double dates, so I'm using the most common date I've found).  Some of the sites say he was born in England but his father had been in New England since 1631, so it is much more likely that he was born in Lynn or Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, where his parents were living.  His parents were Roger and Mary Johnson Mowry.  (Note that there are about 10 different spellings for this name; the "Mowrey" I've used in the title seems to be the one Nathaniel settled on.)  He was one of about 11 children, born in Salem, Lynn, and Rehoboth, Massachusetts and the last two in Providence.

His parents seem to have traveled with Roger Williams, although they didn't arrive in Providence until about 1649.  Nathaniel was just five years old at the time, so he would have had little memory of his days in Massachusetts.  Rhode Island would have always seemed like "home" to him.  I like to think of little Nathaniel perhaps visiting with Roger and Mary Williams.  They were kindly people and I like to think they treated children well.

Nathaniel married Joanna Inman, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (possibly Hopkins) Inman after August 28, 1666, (date of intention) and they had either 11 or 12 children.  It was enough to keep the parents busy, anyway . 1666 was a busy year for Nathaniel.  Not only did he marry that year, but his father died, and he also became involved in a land acquisition of 3500 acres (in what became Smithfield) from native Americans.  He and his partners bought the land without an agreement from the Providence Plantation residents, and although they kept the land, it caused a bit of tension in the settlement.  This didn't destroy his reputation, because he was admitted a freeman in 1672.

We don't know what Nathaniel did during King Philip's War.  Presumably he either fought or took his family to safety, or both.  He would have been in his early 30's and unless he was Quaker, he probably fought in at least the Great Swamp battle.  The family probably went to an island for safety.   I've not found any mention that he held any colony offices but he was a man of some substance, if only for being Roger Mowry's son.

Nathaniel gives his occupation as yeoman (farmer who owned property) in his will.  He had sold much of the land he owned by the time of his death March 27, 1717, but he did have 300 acres of land which he disposed of to his sons.  The daughters were to divide up the farm animals and household goods after the death of his wife.  It appears that his farming operating by the time of his death had been curtailed; his animals were listed as a mare, six cows and two heifers, and four swine.  His inventory also included an old gun, a Bible and four old books, household furnishings including a few pieces of pewter, and farm implements and food in storage.  The total valuation of the personal property was a bit over 106 pounds.  

I have seen speculation that Nathaniel was Baptist and I've also seen speculation that he was Quaker, but I've not seen anything that documents either religion.  I'd like to know how and where he worshiped, and I'd like to know the extent of his military service, if any.  The Bible in his inventory indicates that he had some education, and we have a record of his signature so he could at least write his name.  How much education did he receive?

Even though we know quite a bit about Nathaniel, there are always more questions.  What we don't question is that he is a part of our family, part of our Rhode Island roots.

The line of descent is:

Nathaniel Mowrey-Joanna Inman

Joanna Mowrey-Walter Phetteplace

Sarah Phetteplace-Elisha Eddy

Enos Eddy-Sarah Brown

Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine

Joseph Brown Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Daniel Kramer 1743-1813

 It's confusing.  There are records for a Daniel Kramer in several places in Pennsylvania.  I am not sure whether there were two Daniel Kramers, or whether Daniel moved from place to place, or whether he really only moved once in his life and the other locations were just boundary changes.  I also don't know for sure who his wife was.  Nor do I know where he was born, for that matter.  But Daniel Kramer existed and left a will, so we know he lived.  This post will be more speculation than fact, I believe, but I'm hoping that by writing it someone will step forward with more knowledge and documentation than I've been able to gather.

Daniel was born in 1743, the son of Andreas and Maria Magdalene Birckel Kramer (Kraaemer, Creamer, etc).  His birthplace is usually given as Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania but that is mistaken because there was no Berks County at the time.  He may have been born in what became Bethel Township, or another source says he was born in Germany.  Since his father arrived in the Colony in 1732, I think it most likely that he was born somewhere in Pennsylvania.  His father applied for land in Bethel Township, Berks County in 1765, so the family was definitely there at some point but perhaps not in 1743.

Wherever he was born, Daniel likely grew up on or near the frontier.  He would have been 11 years old or so when the French and Indian War began, and we can reasonably suspect that the family may have gone to a fort or "back East" to a larger town during that time.  There were many attacks on settlers, some of them involving fatalities, and Daniel was probably lucky to be considered a child during the early years of that struggle.  By the time of the later attacks, he probably was old enough to be considered a soldier and may have helped defend the forts in the area.  I've found no indication that he actually went out on patrols, but it's possible.

Daniel married someone at some point.  Almost every tree says that he married Anna Marie Geise and that is quite possible.  The marriage to Ana Marie took place in November of 1766, so if this is our Daniel, he may have had an earlier wife, or the marriage was simply a legalization of the couple's already established relationship, because Daniel's first child, Andrew, was born in September of 1766. Daniel and Anna Marie had as many as twelve children together, arriving between 1766 and 1785,  At least three died after only a few days of life, and there are two more I've been unable to locate death dates for. The family seems to be Lutheran in religion, as some of the children were baptized in a Lutheran church (they could be Reformed, and still have records in the Lutheran church). 

There are two Daniel Cramers who served in the Revolutionary War.  One was from York County, and one was in the Pennsylvania Navy.  These don't appear to be our ancestor.  However, he is recognized as a patriot during the war because he paid his taxes, including the supply tax of 1780 (directly related to the War) and took the oath of allegiance as required.  He had a young family to support, and also likely some of his crops went to the war effort. 

In 1790 there is a census record for Daniel Kramer in Northumberland County, Pa and also one in Bethel, Berks County.  The one in Northumberland shows a household of 12 and the one in Berks shows a household of 4.  Although I can't account for all of the persons in Northumberland County, it is possible that there were daughters in law or a mother in law or other relatives living with them.  Some of the older boys had likely moved out by this time as they would have been in their early to mid 20s. 

Sometime between 1790 and 1813 the Kramers moved west, to Haines Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.  There Daniel died sometime between March 20, 1813, when he wrote his will, and April 28, 1813, when it was probated.  His wife is not mentioned in the will.  I found one statement that she died just two weeks after he did, but it seems a bit odd that she wasn't mentioned.  (I should add, I have not seen the will, just an abstract.)  Several of his children were already in Ohio, and some of the daughter's names are familiar to our family-Buchtel and Kepler, especially.  I would love to find the will and an inventory, as that would tell us more about this ancestor.  

Daniel Kramer was a first generation American who lived through three major wars-the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and part of the War of 1812.  It would be interesting to know his reaction to some of those events, but we know that he had a part in the building of the United States, and that is a good thing.

The line of descent is:

Daniel Kramer-Anna Marie Geise (probably)

Anna Maria Kramer-Andrew Kepler

Mary Kepler-George Harshbarger

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

 

 

Harshbarger line: Isaac Whetstone 1714-1795

 Here's the long and the short of it.  I suspect there was more than one Isaac Whetstone, and I suspect that two or more of them are conflated.  I am not going to say much about Isaac in this post, except-help!  

The Isaac Whetstone (Wetstein and various other spellings) that I think I'm writing about was born in 1714 in Wartemburg, Germany.  I don't know when he came to America, and I'm not sure where he went when he did arrive here.  He apparently brought a wife with him, or she came later.  I've seen quite a few sources say that he settled near McKeansburg in what was then Berks but is now Schuylkill County.  His supposed son Jacob was surely there.  I'll get back to the "supposed" in a moment.

One of the first things I notice that raises my eyebrows is that Isaac is said to have married Anna Maria Maag.  Perhaps he did, but I don't know when or where.  I'm showing a birth date for his wife of 1729, which would make it difficult if not impossible for her to have given birth to Jacob in 1738.  So was Isaac married previously, or is Isaac even Jacob's father at all?

Other questions:  Who was the Isaac Whetstone in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia County, Pa in 1774?  He is on some tax lists without showing taxes owed, and he also seems to have had at least one indentured servant.  Was this the Isaac I'm tracing, or was this another Isaac?  And who was Capt. Isaac Whetstone of the Revolutionary War?  Who was the Isaac Whetstone that died in Coleman, New Jersey on the very date, February 25, 1795, that this Isaac was supposed to have died in Berks County?  Where is his will?

The information about Isaac comes mainly from volume V of Colonial Families of America.  This is information that was submitted by a family member (in this case, Hannah Catherine Whetstone Phelps born 1857.  It gives Isaac the title of "Captain", says he lived near McKeansburg in Brunswick township of Berks County and "he was one of the earliest settlers and original landowners in that section; served in American Revolution".   It goes on to name Jacob, born 1738 as Isaac's son.  I wish I knew where Hannah got her information.  Did it come from a family Bible of some sort?

One possible explanation for all this is that Jacob was not the son of Isaac at all, but the son of Isaac's brother, Heinrich.  That is how it is shown on a Geni web page.  That family also lived in Brunswick Twp, Berks/Schuylkill County.  That is a blog post for another day, if I can find information about him.  

I'd be thrilled to hear from anyone who can explain Isaac Whetstone to me, how many Isaacs there were, and whether Jacob is the son of Isaac or of Henry/Heinrich.  Please don't enter either man onto your tree yet!  Let's stop while we're ahead, with Jacob.