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How did we find and identify our Hessian ancestry? Perhaps the methodology of that search will benefit others. Your search will require that you, too, have an incredible amount of the type of help we had, and some just plain old luck, that led to our success.

“Grandpa’s grandfather was one of the hired Hessians that came over to fight in the Revolutionary War and stayed here.” This was the Fetters family tradition as passed down to school teacher, Minnie Gumbert Steahly, a granddaughter of Daniel Fetters, when she wrote about him to another granddaughter—her first cousin, Lillie Mae Fetters Huffman—in December 1976.[ii] Both were quite advanced in years at the time of this exchange, and were trading family information between Minnie in Portsmouth, Ohio (across the Ohio River from Greenup County, Kentucky where their grandparents had lived out their lives) and Mae in Sabina, Ohio. Minnie Steahly, the older of the two cousins, had known both her grandfather, Daniel Fetters, who died in 1910, and her grandmother, Sarah Love Schall Fetters, who had continued to live in Greenup County until her death in 1923.

If it were known in 1976 that the search to prove or disprove this family tradition would require an effort of nearly 25 years, perhaps the attempt would never have been made.

The Hessian tradition letter in 1976 provided many clues to the origins of Daniel Fetters and his wife Sarah Love Schall. Had it not been for those clues and family traditions, the ancestry of Daniel and Sarah Fetters would never have been subsequently found. Talking to older relatives really did pay off in this instance.

The first, or earliest, record of Daniel and Sarah Fetters was found in the Mormon Church’s International Genealogical Index[iii], where their 1859 marriage was recorded in Lawrence County, Ohio. An even earlier Lawrence County, Ohio tax record was found[iv] for Daniel, but after that find of a tax for the year 1857, the search for Daniel Fetters became the proverbial “brick wall.” How would we ever prove that Daniel Fetters’ grandfather was the “Hessian?”

Just to keep the Hessian search options open, several German Hessian books and the series of HETRINA[v] Volumes were purchased, and the Fetters co-author had joined the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Ltd. by 1985. Mr. Mark Schwalm of the Association was quite encouraging in the Hessian quest, but all leads for the Fetters surname (and various spelling variations) in Hessian records would not allow a leap frog to the lineage of a Fetters Hessian ancestor. This left as the only course of action a continuing search for the actual Fetters lineage.

A Lafayette, Indiana death certificate for one of the children of Daniel and Sarah Fetters was finally found, and stated that the parents had come from Dayton, Pennsylvania.[vi] Further investigation and research did lead to the large family of Lt. Michael Schall (Revolutionary War; Northampton County, Pennsylvania) in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania and a family genealogy[vii] identified (later verified in several ways, including an obscure newspaper obituary clipping in a family scrapbook for Sarah) the baptism and parentage of Sarah Love Schall Fetters. While there were two or three Fetters families in that part of Pennsylvania (Armstrong and Indiana counties), no evidence was or has ever been found to prove that Daniel Fetters was in that location. However, in Lawrence County, Ohio, Daniel (an iron “furnace hand”) and Sarah Fetters were in the 1860 census[viii] as neighbors of Sarah’s sister, the James Doutt family. It is also interesting to note that the Doutts named one of their sons, Daniel Fetters Doutt. Federal census extractions (1860 thru 1910) placed Daniel’s birth at between 1828 and 1832. A search of every indexed Fetters household in the United States was made in the 1850 census (using the LDS AIS census index[ix]), assuming that Daniel would be picked up in some one’s household in that census. That was a long and desperate search of a few years, borrowing more than 200 rolls of microfilm to be read. The possibility of a Daniel Fetters having been a “California ’49er” was even pursued. This census work proved to be a fruitless effort, as no mention of an unidentified Daniel Fetters at 18 to 22 years of age was ever found in the entire 1850 federal census. As other avenues of research were continually sought, Tom and George Fetters[x] (the two U. S. experts on the Fetters surname) suggested a more extensive study of a John Fetters in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. This John Fetters was identified as a part of the main Fetters family (of Tom and George) and as having been baptized in Huntingdon (now Blair), County, Pennsylvania. This baptism supposedly occurred at the Antis (Salem) Lutheran Church, and the name given was John Henry Fetters-a name that would develop more significance as the years passed, and research continued.

A Jacob Domer had preserved the Antis Lutheran Church records and translated the original church book from German script to English. “Done this 23^rd day of May 1841 by Jacob Domer . . . He transcribed from an older record the baptisms, burials, communicants and conformations [sic].”[xi] A Domer descendant had deposited this document of more than 130 pages at the Connecticut State Library. Fortunately, it was subsequently filmed by the Mormon Church[xii] and was available for study at local Family History Centers.

It would appear that the Fetters families were never regular attendees at the Antis Lutheran Church, though they were often baptized or confirmed and those events were recorded there. The earliest records showed the baptism of Jacob and widow July Ann [now believed to be Yingling] Fetters’ children, and entries for the Fetters family continued until 1833, when, at the baptism of Daniel Fetters, his birth on August 1, 1830, was recorded. This church record proved to be the “missing link,” connecting Daniel Fetters to the main Fetters family, as well researched by Tom and George Fetters. However, this well-proven and well-documented Fetters ancestry did not include a Hessian, and in fact precluded such a Fetters ancestor.

By using published county histories for clues and searching the state and court house records in Berks, Lancaster, Cumberland, Bedford, Huntingdon, and Blair counties, Pennsylvania, and in Stark and Tuscarawas counties, Ohio, the ancestry of Daniel Fetters (as given by Tom and George Fetters) was verified, and found back several generations in America, beginning with his parents:

4. Johann Michael (Jr.) and Maria Catharine (Schmied) Fetters Great-great-grandparents

5. Johann Michael (Sr.) and Maria Katrina (Weber) Fetter Great-great-great-grandparents

In 1731, Michael Fetter, Sr. had immigrated to America from Freinsheim Germany, with his family, including his son, Michael Fetters, Jr.[xiii] Daniel Fetters’ grandfather, Jacob Fetters, had been a mere youth of about nine years of age at the end of the Revolutionary War. His father, George Fetters, had been resident in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, at the time of the Revolution, and had apparently helped man his father’s Revolutionary War frontier fort, Fort Fetter, in Bedford (later Huntingdon, and now Blair) County, Pennsylvania. The possibility of this 1731 immigrating family having included a Hessian (by definition) was rather remote. That Daniel Fetters’ grandfather, Jacob Fetters (#2 above), was too young to have even participated in the war eliminated his having been a Hessian.

Jacob Fetters and his family had remained in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania when his parents and most of his siblings migrated to Stark County, Ohio in the early 1810s. Jacob Fetters then died in late 1815, leaving all of his children as orphaned minors. The George Fetters grandparents, now in Ohio, helped in the support of the orphaned children of Jacob by gifting to them additional land back in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Many of Jacob Fetters’ children, including the oldest, Abraham, appear to have remained the rest of their lives in what is now Blair County, Pennsylvania. However, Abraham’s son, Daniel Fetters does not appear in any records (after his Antis Lutheran Church baptismal record) until a Blair County, Pennsylvania tax list in 1852[xiv], as a single male (now aged 21). Daniel then proceeds to disappear from further records until he is found in the 1857 tax list in Lawrence County, Ohio. However, the Fetters family history was finally resolved, with no evidence of Daniel Fetters’ paternal grandfather having been a Hessian.

By 1996, even though the Fetters family lineage had been solved, the Hessian family tradition was still not proved or disproved. A maternal grandfather was still a possibility, and likely, if the Hessian legend were to be found true. In addition, the term “grandfather” could also have implied a great-grandfather or even great-great-grandfather. All but the maternal grandfather (or that line of ancestors) of Daniel Fetters could be eliminated, based upon the presence of all those other ancestors in North America before the Revolution. The Hessian search became one of determining the maiden name and parentage of Mary/Polly Fetters, wife of Abraham. The only place (except in an 1826 Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania deed record) where both Mary and Abraham Fetters were recorded was at the Antis Lutheran Church.[xv] The tax lists of Antes [sic] Township, then in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, showed Abraham to be a bachelor in 1820 and 1821, but as a married taxpayer beginning in 1822, continuing in that location only through 1835, though he did continue to own land there in 1836 and 1837. Abraham had moved to Allegheny Township and paid taxes there in 1836, 1837, and 1838. Beginning in 1839, and until he completely disappears from the tax records after 1849, he is listed as a single freeman in first Huntingdon County and then in Blair County upon its formation in 1846. Mary and Abraham’s oldest child was born ca 1821, implying a late 1820 or early 1821 marriage. All this would seem to indicate that Abraham and Mary/Polly Fetters were married from about 1820 or 1821, until her probable death about 1838 or 1839—a total of 17 to 19 years. It must be assumed that the younger children of Mary and Abraham had been “farmed out” to stay with other relatives and friends (or even a worse fate) after Mary’s death. Would it even be possible to find Mary’s maiden name?

The Fetters surname entries in the Antis Lutheran Church records had several other, apparently German, surnames associated with them, such as baptism witnesses or sponsors, and others in the communion and confirmation lists.[xvi] Would those provide a clue as to Mary’s family? In the order of appearance in the record book and because they were associated in some way with the Fetters name, these were: Domer, Yingling, Baker, Naugle/Nogel/Noggle/Naggle, Hammer, Adams, Kuntner/Kontmen, Nelson, Bower/Bauer, and Crisman. The surname Fleck also seemed to be prominent at the church. A conformation [sic] record on July 9, 1820 was of particular importance, as this was the first record of Abraham Fetters at this church, and included Susannah Hammer, Barbara Domer, Polly Hammer and Barbara Bower in this confirmation class. When Abraham Fetters later returned to Antis Lutheran Church for the baptism of his children, his wife was called variously Mary and “Polly.”

Courthouse and publications searches did eventually eliminate some of these surname possibilities for the maiden name of Mary/Polly Fetters. Further circumstantial evidence and deductive reasoning led to a conclusion that the maiden name of Mary/Polly Fetters was Hammer. Without going into all the negative research, suffice it to say that this conclusion was based upon no evidence to the contrary, and principally upon:

1. The Antis Church Records of the confirmation of Abraham Fetters in a class with Polly Hammer[xvii]–the first time that Abraham was listed in those church records. This was also the only possible Mary or Polly in that confirmation class that could have eventually become the wife of Abraham Fetters. This also implies that any marriage between the two did take place after that date, July 9, 1820, and this is compatible with the marriage timing concluded from the tax records and the birth of their oldest child.

2. A son of Abraham and Polly Fetters was baptized at the Antis Lutheran Church as John Henry Fetters. The witness to this January 18, 1824, baptism was John H. Hammer[xviii] and he was believed to have been the grandfather, as he had been the witness for other of his grandchildren.

3. The last will and testament of John Henry Hammer, was found in the Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Court House,[xix] though the estate was never submitted to probate there. In that will Maria Fetters was bequeathed Hammer’s chest and his German Reformed hymnbook. The will itself was written in German script by John Henry Hammer, and included a contemporary translation in English (since finding the will, the translation has been verified). There is no knowledge of the whereabouts of this German Reformed hymnal or even if it has survived. Perhaps the Hammer descendants will one day make such a find, as did the family of Hessian, Johannes Schwalm?[xx]

Though nothing of this father-daughter relationship was proven by direct evidence, this seemed the most likely conclusion, supported by the Fetters family Hessian tradition.

Of the eleven surnames identified in the Antis Lutheran Church records with the Fetters surname, the Fleck and Hammer names were mentioned in a Hessian article by Mark Schwalm in the JSHA Journal.[xxi] At the time of writing a letter on August 1, 1997, to Mark Schwalm, it was stated that John Henry Hammer was believed to be the grandfather of Daniel Fetters. Mark Schwalm provided information regarding two Flecks and two Hammers, including a “Henrich Hammer, Co. 2 of von Knyphausen, who deserted 31 Oct. 1782 at Bloomingdale, LI and took the oath to PA at Phila 5 Nov 1782.” Though this would prove to be remarkably prophetic, it would be some time before this could be proven to be the sought-after Hessian.

The Antis Lutheran Church record had proven to be an excellent source of information. However, most of the deduced family relationships were rather loosely defined and based on speculation. In March 1998, a query was placed in the Blair County Genealogical Society newsletter asking for information regarding either the Fetters/Hammer connection or a possible John Henry Hammer connection to a Hessian soldier. Mrs. Linda Black Shillinger replied to this query, and added immensely to the knowledge of John Henry Hammer. It turned out that Shillinger (co-author of this article) was a descendant of John Henry Hammer, through his son John Henry Hammer, Jr. who had married a daughter of an early Antis Church lay leader, George Adam Domer. From this point in time it became an equal effort to better define the John Henry Hammer family and to determine any possible Hessian origin for him.

George Adam Domer, father of the wife of John Henry Hammer, Jr., had written a manuscript in German script, which had only partially and inadequately been previously translated.[xxii] Domer’s spelling had not always been good, and some minor erroneous statements presented as facts can be accounted for by the necessary secondary nature of the sources for many of the family histories. Further, human memory and just the passing of time can account for some of the errors in dates and other supposed facts. A birth in the mid-1700s, being recalled in the 1820s, can often be off by a few days, weeks, or even years. Upon full translation many of the early Antis Church and Frederick County, Maryland area families were detailed and two critical pieces of information were obtained for this Hessian search:

1. John Henry Hammer’s wife’s (Julianna Dubs/Dups/Toops) family was identified, and later a complete published family history was found.[xxiii] Also, an estate file[xxiv] for her father, Jacob Dubs, was found in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and though he had died about 1761, the daughter Julianna was named, verifying the Domer manuscript page written about her.

2. John Henry Hammer was called a minister and teacher[xxv], and his two wives were named as Julianna Dubs (mother of all ten of his children) and widow, Elizabeth Hertzel Adams. Though his birth date was missed by a few years, nothing was given that could not have been twisted a bit by the word of mouth sharing of the information. Of special importance was learning the names of John Henry Hammer’s parents, and of the name of his teacher or educator in the Evangelical Reformed Church, a pastor named Eichler. The names of two American ministers who had encouraged him to pursue the ministry (Lochman and Wagner) were also learned.

Three years later, the research in Germany would verify all of this critical information. But, again, we’re getting ahead of the story.

[Copies of the JHH and wife Julianna pages from GAD Mss---German & Translation?]

In an initial attempt to prove that the Rev. John Henry Hammer at Antis was the Hessian Johann Henrich Hammer, it was believed that the signature of Johann Henrich Hammer signing his 1782 Oath of Allegiance could be compared to one or more of the various church records created by the Rev. John Henry Hammer in Pennsylvania. (The Hessian, German, and Pennsylvania church records will be discussed later.) However, after a two-year unsuccessful effort to track down that original oath, that approach had to be abandoned.

Mark Schwalm[xxvi] suggested that the German home churches of the two Hessian Heinrich Hammers be contacted. One Heinrich Hammer of the Minigerode Battalion was being pursued, only to see if he could be eliminated from further consideration. HETRINA had indicated that this Henry returned home after the Revolution. A letter to the Evangelisches Church Office at 34576 Homberg, Germany, was sent and the reply[xxvii] was for a “Henry” Hammer, an Adam Henrich Hammer. This Henry Hammer had been born in Homberg in 1751 and died in 1753, and a second child of that name was born in 1774 (perhaps transcribed in error, and really 1754?) to a couple of the same name, Christian and Elizabeth Hamer. Only these two baptismal and one death records were found in Homberg. This information was inconclusive, but it did show the name to be Adam, not Johann Henrich Hamer, in that area of Germany. It was another response, from Ibra, that was the more fruitful and promising.

An initial search of the records at Ibra was reported in January 2000 and a second, more extensive, study in April 2001. The work and reports by Frau E. Stübing, contract officer overseeing the use of church records in the church district of Ziegenhain was truly exciting—at least to two researchers chasing their elusive Hessian ancestor. The first report[xxviii] named Johann Henrich Hammer as being born in Machtlos (a nearby town to Ibra) [-see map??] on October 25, 1754. It appears that the parents were from Machtlos and Ibra respectively, and lived in the two nearby villages at various times, but were active in the Evangelical Reformed Church at both locations. The names of Johann Henrich Hammer’s parents were the same as those given for Rev. John Henry Hammer in the George Adam Domer manuscript: Conrad and Catharina (the surname Schmitt was not in the Domer manuscript) Hammer. The George Adam Domer manuscript, by a neighbor recording over 70 years later, had said John Henry Hammer was born October 20, 1757, while the Machtlos church records gave the birth as October 25, 1754. The naming of the parents seemed to be confirming evidence of the connection of Rev. John Henry Hammer to the Hessian of the same name from Ibra and Machtlos. The second letter would go on to add weight to this evidence.

The April 2001 second letter report from Frau Stübing[xxix] further expanded the family of Johann Henrich Hammer, showing his uncle, godfather, and name source, Johann Henrich Hammer. The report began with the origins of Hammer’s grandparents, and continued through the families of his father and his uncle. Of particular interest was the discussion of the church education of the time. “Christian upbringing in the Evangelical Reformed Church was very intensive.” There were two years of instruction in the Christian faith and church doctrine on Sundays, both before and after confirmation. What they learned, much of it by heart, included Bible stories, Protestant hymns and chorales, and prayers; from the catechism, they learned the five main points of Christian doctrine. These were: “1. the Ten Commandments (with explanations); 2. the Articles of the Christian Faith; 3. the Lord’s Prayer (with explanations); 4. the Sacrament of Holy Baptism (with explanations); 5. the Lord’s Supper or the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (with explanations).” The subject, Johann Henrich Hammer was instructed by Pastor Johann Wilhelm Eichler beginning in 1768. (Note: Eichler was also the name of the educator of Rev. John Henry Hammer, as given in the GAD manuscript reported previously, and providing further proof of the German Hessian identity of John Henry Hammer.) Pastor Eichler lived in Oberaula, the location of the main church for several villages. From Oberaula, the pastor served nearby Ibra, which had a small church of its own, at which he performed baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals. Eichler was pastor for Oberaula and the neighboring villages from 1746 until his death on June 28, 1768. Eichler’s successor (beginning Christmas 1768) was Pastor Conrad Jacob Ledderhose, who actually confirmed Johann Henrich Hammer in 1769. Following that, Pastor Ledderhose provided the final two years of Christian instruction to Johann Henrich Hammer. Even though there was not a formal college education for Johann Henrich Hammer, one can easily visualize that the Church may have provided sufficient education for a person to become a preacher and teacher in a rough foreign country such as late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century interior Pennsylvania.

This second Stübing letter, naming Eichler as one of his teachers, eliminated any question as to the Rev. John Henry Hammer being the Hessian soldier Johann Henrich Hammer. The tie between the Rev. John Henry Hammer of the George Adam Domer manuscript, and the German Hessian record was complete.

The paucity of American records for JHH seems to have been caused by his apparent occupations in Pennsylvania, at first as a parochial teacher and later as a full time minister. By the laws of Pennsylvania and as a teacher or preacher, he was exempt from some taxes at various times. Further, no (taxable) land for JHH was found until he went west to Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. All major German Lutheran and Reformed repositories were surveyed, but no ordination or official church recognition of JHH was ever found. That he did deliver sermons and was a recognized minister is recorded in several places, including in the Antis Lutheran Church records, the Domer manuscript and on the Newry Church stained-glass window. It would appear that at all of the earlier Dauphin/Lebanon and Berks (Blue Mountain Church) county charges or locations there was always a recognized or ordained resident or circuit minister, with JHH providing assistant or interim type pastoral functions. It can only be speculated that JHH’s main occupation there was as a teacher (or something else; weaver)? The time period from 1791 through 1807 is particularly uncertain as to JHH’s family location, though there were some possibilities found. When JHH went west to Huntingdon County, and after he moved to Antis Township, his pastoral duties became dominant over his teaching duties, and he was recognized as the minister, at least at the Newry and Antis churches.[xxx]

In Antis Township, and beginning in the tax lists there, Johann Henrich Hammer became the Rev. John Henry Hammer, and eventually the surname was anglicized to Hommer and Homer, probably following the English phonetic pronunciation. JHH continued to sign his own name in German script as “Jn. H. Hammer.” The Homer spelling was predominantly used by and for the widow of JHH, Elizabeth Homer. Homer’s Gap (road), Homer’s Run (stream) and Homer’s Reservoir are surviving reminders of the name in Antis Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania.

[Insert picture of Homer’s Gap Road sign, the reservoir sign or a map (best) showing the names??]

Many Blair County descendants today go by the spelling of Hommer. Most descendants of JHH, and of the surname, who are buried in either Huntingdon or Blair County, have used either the Homer or Hommer spellings on their gravestones.[xxxi]

1713 First mention of the family of “master stovefitter and tilemaker,” Georg Ernst Hammer in the church records at Machtlos was at the baptism of his son, Johann Conrad Hammer. This was on November 7, 1713. It appears that Georg Ernst was from Meiningen and his wife, Barbara Catharina Grau, from Schlitz.[xxxii] Georg Ernst was the grandfather and Johann Conrad the father of Johann Henrich Hammer, the subject of this time line.

1754 Johann Heinrich Hammer (JHH) was born and baptized in his father’s family village of Machtlos (D-36287 Breitenbach), near the village of Ibra in the county of Ziegenhain, in Hessen-Kassel, the son of Johann Conrad Hammer and his wife Catherina Schmitt. His father, Conrad, was a former musketeer in the Hessian Hessenstein Regiment, but the church records give no indication of his subsequent occupation. The godfather at his baptism was his uncle and name source, Johann Henrich Hammer, a tilemaker (potter).[xxxiii]

1758 The future wife of JHH, Julianna Dubs was probably born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Swiss immigrant Hans Jacob Dups/Dubs and his wife Barbara Weirich/Weyerich[xxxiv]. Her father would die in 1761, only 3 years later, so she must have grown up not knowing him.

1769 Having received his early Christian education from Pastor Johann Wilhelm Eichler[xxxv] of Oberaula, JHH was confirmed into the Evangelical Reformed Church at Ibra (his mother’s family village), and received further instruction from Pastor Conrad Jacob Ledderhose, also of Oberaula. After this confirmation, JHH was not mentioned again in the marriage or death church records in either Ibra or Machtlos.[xxxvi]

1775 In April, “Henrich Hammer, born 1754/5, from Ibra, a town in Hessen-Kassel, was appointed (in the unit rolls) a private or gemeiner in the von Knyphausen Regiment, 2^nd Company.”[xxxvii] In all likelihood, this was a “guard, line and garrison regiment.”

1776 The Hesse-Cassel troops were committed to America as the result of a “contract with England, dated January 15, 1776, by which Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse, agreed to send 12,000 troops . . . with haste.” The von Knyphausen/von Donop Regiment left its garrison town of Ziegenhain on March 3, 1776, without Lt. General von Knyphausen. Under the command of Lt. General Leopold von Heister, most of the Regiment set sail on April 17, 1776 [this first group probably included JHH], and on August 12^th, near Sandy Hook, this fleet joined forces with a second fleet, which carried the remainder of the regiment along with the Rall and von Mirbach regiments. Thus, two convoys of ships transported the Knyphausen Regiment to America, and on August 14^th and 15^th, the troops disembarked on Staten Island. They almost immediately took part in the New York battles of Flatbush (Long Island) on August 27, 1776, White Plains in late October and early November 1776, and in the capture of Fort Washington later in November. Fort Washington’s name was changed to Fort Knyphausen, in honor of General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, the senior Hessian officer at the battle. On December 14, 1776, the Rall Brigade (of which the von Knyphausen Regiment was a part) relieved the Donop Brigade in Trenton (New Jersey), and was put into winter quarters there.[xxxviii]^,[xxxix]

1776 On Christmas Day, 1776, General George Washington of the rebel army, after having been badly beaten and driven from New York, decided to counterattack at Trenton. This was a masterful piece of strategy, but involved a huge risk. However, the action was badly needed because of Washington’s “conviction that the public spirit required some such stroke and, indeed, that the [Revolutionary] cause might not survive the winter without it.”[xl] After the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, among the Hessian prisoners taken were 333 men and 5 women from the von Knyphausen Regiment. The privates (presumably including JHH) were imprisoned at Lancaster and the officers in Dumfries, Virginia. Eventually, 119 Hessians of the von Knyphausen Regiment remained in America and were considered deserters. Although JHH was not among them, the regiment returned to Germany after the war, disembarking on September 25, 1783, in Bremerlehe and marched to Ziegenhain on foot, arriving home on October 16, 1783.[xli] The Trenton Hessian prisoner of war list had included Henrich Hammer, private in the Knyphausen Regiment, (Henrich) von Borck Company, who was taken to Lancaster.[xlii] After the Battle of Trenton, there is no evidence that JHH ever after that participated in any further military action, though as a prisoner from Trenton he was exchanged back to the British and then subsequently (after a sojourn in Canada and after the fighting had virtually ceased) deserted to the Americans (see 1782).

1777 Hessian Prisoners at Lancaster, 10 Jan 1777, included 291 men of the Regiment of Knyphausen.[xliii] Tradesmen included among the prisoners weavers, linen and woolen, worsted and flowered linens [JHH had been listed previously as a “weaver.”].

1777 JHH was on a “list of the Hessian prisoners now at work with the people, and a return of their employers, etc.” Henry Hammer, #78 was employed by Frederick Huber at Bethel Township (Lancaster, later Dauphin and eventually Lebanon County) on November 3, 1777.[xlv] One source cites this employment as being at least on 03 Nov 1777.[xlvi] A summary of the prisoners was given in this same source: “The soldiers [as opposed to the officers captured at Trenton] were sent to Lancaster . 178 of these [of the over 900 captured] prisoners were employed in the present Lebanon County area. They were farmed out to 130 employers who accepted responsibility for them.” It should be noted that this was the location of the family of JHH’s future wife and where they apparently started their married life–at or near Jonestown in present day Lebanon County.

1778 During 1777 and probably into 1778, JHH worked for Frederick Huber in Bethel Township, but he was sent from Lancaster to Philadelphia for “prisoner exchange.”[xlvii] The British had been holding several thousand American prisoners on board ships floating in the harbor of New York, and the public was pressing Congress to arrange such a prisoner exchange. This was accomplished in the summer of 1778. Thus, all of the German and British prisoners in the Lancaster area were called back to the barracks and processed through Philadelphia and eventually on to New York. Hammer's name appears in the second group which left Lancaster on 21 June 1778 for Philadelphia.[xlviii] The three Hessian regiments which had been pretty much decimated at Trenton, were subsequently rebuilt by the return of those captured at Trenton and new recruits arriving from Germany. A list of Hessians and Waldeck Prisoners of War in Lancaster had included Henrich Hammer of the von Knyphausen Regiment.[xlix]

1779 The von Knyphausen Regiment saw little activity in the following year. However, with the French threatening to attack Quebec, the British decided to ship the Lossberg and von Knyphausen Regiments to that city in September of 1779. Fifty-three men and officers of Company 2 of von Knyphausen were sent aboard the ship Archer together with their Company Commander, Col. von Borck, and the remaining fifty-three men of the Company boarded the ship Triton.[l] Subsequently, as a result of a horrible fall equinox storm in the North Atlantic, the Ship Triton was captured by the Americans and the Hessians brought back to the jail in Philadelphia. Hammer's name was not among those from Co. 2 of the von Knyphausen Regiment captured on the Triton so it can be assumed that he sailed on the Archer. It survived the storm but returned to New York for several days. It then proceeded on to Canada. Again because of storms encountered, the Archer had to put in, at Charlottetown on what is now Prince Edward Island and wintered there.[li] It was not until 24 June 1780, that the Regiment arrived in Quebec, where it remained until 2 October 1781. It arrived back in New York City and settled in the barracks along the North River on 28 October 1781. On 22 September 1782, the Regiment was ordered to barracks at Kingbush, (Kings Bridge?) although the Hessian Headquarters were at Bloomingdale.[lii]

1782 “Henrich Hammer, from Ibra, a town in Hessen-Kassel (D6431), a Corporal [note the promotion] in the von Knyphausen, 2^nd Company, deserted or deserted to the enemy in November of 1782.”[liii] And, another citation said: “Henry/Heinrich Hammer deserted November 1, 1782 from Paulus Hook.” Another citation says: “The British kept permanent possession of two or three places on the western side of the Hudson. One of these places was paulus Hook, now Jersey City.” Further it states that Hessians were sometimes brought over to reinforce the garrison at Paulus Hook.[liv] He was identified as from Hessen Cassel and took the oath (from Magistrate Plunket Fleeson) on November 5, 1782. His occupation was listed as weaver (the only such listing of that occupation found until 1807). His age was given as 27 and he was 5’ 6” tall. Another earlier, but conflicting desertion date was given as October 31, 1782 from Camp at Bloomingdale, Long Island New York with his arms and equipment.[lv]^{, [lvi]}For all practical purposes, the fighting and war had ended at Yorktown, in October 1781, and JHH made peace effective for himself in November of 1782, not waiting until the peace was officially signed in 1783. In any case, JHH having taken the “Oath of Allegiance” qualifies him as a revolutionary War Patriot and his descendants for the DAR and SAR (Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution).

1782 A single citation was found for a John Hammer, for Lancaster County militia service on November 27, 1782[lvii]. The name was not found before or after, in Lancaster. It can only be considered speculative that JHH was that individual, serving the Revolutionary cause within the month after his desertion from the British service.

1784 On March 16, 1784, JHH married Julianna Dubs, daughter of Hans Jacob Dubs (deceased)[lviii] and his wife Barbara Weirich, probably at Bethel Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Dauphin County not being formed until 1785). Julianna would be the mother of all ten of JHH’s children.[lix]

1785 (1785-1787) The 1785 Supply Tax was paid by a Henry Hamer, in Bethel Township, Jonestown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and in 1786 and 1787 as Henry Hammer.[lx] There were no taxes for JHH after that, in this location, but see (following) the 1790 census in Dauphin County. No further tax lists are found for JHH until 1803, in Berks County. This may have been a period where JHH was occupationally exempt from taxes by Pennsylvania state law.

1785 1785, 1795 1797 and 1799 were the church recorded births and baptisms of JHH’s children in what is now Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. This was at both the Swatara Reformed congregation in Jonestown and at the Zoar Evangelical Lutheran Church at Mount Zion in Bethel Township. The birth and death of a son, Peter was recorded in 1797, at Zoar.[lxi]

1786 Henry Hammer was listed in the Pennsylvania septennial census in Jonestown, Bethel Township, Dauphin County.[lxii]

1790 Henry Hammer was in 1790 US Census in Dauphin County, with one son, and probably three daughters.[lxiii]

1790 Quoting Mark Schwalm of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Society Journal editorial staff: “Frequently, one hears that pastors and teachers in Pennsylvania in the early years (1790 through 1800+) were not taxed. In 1799, Pennsylvania passed a tax law which exempted churches and schools, although pastors and teachers were not addressed in the act.[lxiv] No positively identified tax records are found for JHH in this 1790’s time frame and until he shows up Huntingdon County, in 1807.

1791 In 1785, 1786, 1788 and 1791, JHH recorded (ca 1791) in his own handwriting and in a single entry, the births of four of his children at the Blue Mountain Church in Berks County.[lxv] The birth of the first child, Catherine/a, was recorded as January 22, 1785, with her baptism Mar 20, 1785, first by the Reformed minister, Ludwig Lupp, at the Swatara Reformed Church in Bethel Township, in what is now Lebanon County. Later, JHH recorded the same birth and baptism in the Church Book at the Blue Mountain Church, Upper Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, along with three other of his children.[lxvi]^,[lxvii] It would appear that JHH was located or worked in Berks County probably 1786 through at least 1791, but had returned full time to Dauphin/Lebanon County by 1795, when his children were baptized there.

1793 According to the George Adam Domer manuscript[lxviii], the Lutheran Preacher (George) Lochman[lxix] and Pastor (John Daniel) Wagner[lxx], a Reformed minister asked JHH, “ . . . because of the large knowledge of the word of God, to become a helper in the vineyard of the Lord and to shepherd the sheep of Christ. He served after agreement the communities at Nordhill and Schwattara [sic].” Lochman served at Jonestown only in 1793, but Wagner served the area, particularly Tolpehil, in the Tulpehocken parish, 1786–1793. This was where JHH’s son, Peter was born and died (1797–1798). This call to JHH to preach may have occurred in the single year of 1793, when both Pastors were in the Lebanon county vicinity, or it could have evolved over the full 1786 to 1793 time frame.

1798 Though unlikely, JHH was possibly the John Hammer in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the 1798 Federal (glass) Tax. John Hammer is located in Orwigsburg (with 36 perches of land and a dwelling house, now in Schuylkill County).[lxxi]

1800 Also, though unlikely, JHH was possibly the John Hammer in the 1800 Berks County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Population Census.[lxxii]

1803 JHH was possibly the John Hammer in the Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania tax lists in 1802, 1803, 1805, and 1806—the last year with a line drawn through his name.[lxxiii] This seems a possibility to have been JHH, as he immediately showed up further west in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. No record of any other activity for JHH in Heidelberg Township has been found, though it borders on Lebanon County, and is relatively near the Blue Mountain Church.

1807 Perhaps JHH never left Dauphin County, though he did provide teaching and ministerial services into Berks County? In the 1807, Dauphin County, Derry Township Pennsylvania, septennial census, there is a John Homer, with the occupation of weaver. However, another weaver there was a Peter Homer, and no known relatives of JHH at this age are known. From 1791 through this 1807 date, no certainty of identification of JHH at any place can be made.

[Insert map of the Lebanon and Berks county area where JHH left church records??]

1807 JHH acquired 25½ acres of land in Tyrone, later Morris, Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania from John and Barbara Pontius, part of a 100 acre land patent titled “Liberty” to Pontzus/Pontius. JHH and his wife Julianna sold this land to John Henry Hammer, Jr. on December 16, 1814.[lxxiv]

1808 Beginning in 1808 and continuing through 1816, Henry, John Henry or J. Henry Hammer/Hamer paid taxes in Morris Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania on 18 or 25 acres, and on one cow and/or one horse, though he was taxed only on the land in 1816—implying he lived elsewhere (see 1814 and 1822).[lxxv]

1810 1810–1813 dates are given on the Newry Lutheran Church (now called St. John’s Lutheran) stained-glass window, as the time of service of JHH, their first minister (after Missionary Pastors). “Rev. John H. HAMMER, a German Reformed minister who preached through these parts about this time, also preached in Newry from 1810 to 1813. The old church book, which was presented to this congregation, April 18, 1813, by Jacob Weber (Weaver), contains a frontispiece in German [and Latin?], done by Rev. John H. Hammer.”[lxxvi] This church is in Newry, south of Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania.

1814 See 1807, where JHH had acquired, then sells in 1814, his 25½ acres in Morris Township, Huntingdon County to his son, JHH Jr. JHH Jr. apparently occupied this land in Morris Township in about 1821 (see 1822 taxes there).

1815 Will of Christian Sheffer, late of Morris Township, was dated 15 Feb 1815 and probated 22 Jun 1816. Brother Jno. Sheffer, named as Executor, was given all of the estate. Witnesses were John Kennedy and Jno. H. Hammer.[lxxvii]

1815 At an August 1815 Communion at Antis Lutheran Church in Huntingdon (now Blair) County, the first record of John H. Hammer (#18) was made there. There were also a Henry Hammer (#14) and a John Hammer (#15) receiving Communion (sons of JHH).[lxxviii]

1816 John Homer (and various spelling variations including Hamer, Hommer, Hemmer and Hammer) was first taxed on 200 acres of land in Antes [sic] Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1817, other single freemen named Hamer are also taxed. The taxables vary from year to year, but by 1822 JHH (Henry) is the only taxed landowner named Hammer in Antis Township. He continued to be taxed until his last listing as John H. Homer in 1829, and following that, JHH’s widow, Elizabeth, was taxed through 1846 (when Blair was formed from Huntingdon County, and included Antis Township). The widow continued to be taxed in Antis Township, Blair County, though she was probably with JHH’s son-in-law, John Nelson, beginning in 1854.[lxxix]

[Homer’s Gap sign or other Homer locality pictures?? Homer and Hommer Cemetery stones at Shaffersville??.]

1820 John H. Hammer was in the 1820 US census, in Antis Township, Huntingdon County.[lxxx] Residents in 1820, according to a county history book, included John Homer, and Henry Homer, as well as another Henry Homer, a single freeman.[lxxxi]

1821 JHH’s first wife, Julianna, died July 9, 1821, after “37 years, 3 months and a few days” of marriage. She was the mother of all ten of his children, three sons and seven daughters, “one of which preceded her into eternity. From her married children, she lived to see before her end 16 grandchildren. She had been afflicted for many years with tuberculosis and asthma.”[lxxxii] Julianna Hammer was “beried” [sic] July 10, 1821[lxxxiii] at the Antis Lutheran Church Cemetery in Antis Township, Huntingdon (now Blair) County, where her badly worn, barely readable tombstone survived in 2001. The stone was readable to the extent that her given name and “wife of Rev.” were still legible.

1821 In the Huntingdon County Septennial (State) Census, returned the 29^th of November, John H. Hamer [sic] is in Antis Township as a “minister of the gospel.” His son, Henry Hamer is a farmer in Morris Township.[lxxxiv]

1822 Henry Hommer (and various spelling variations), Jr. began paying taxes on the 27 (25½) acres of land acquired from his father, JHH, in 1814 and continued paying taxes through the extent of the authors’ search through 1833.

1826 On August 15, 1826, JHH married the widow Elizabeth Hertzel Adams, who would be married to him for “3 years, 5 months and 10days,” and survived JHH by many years.[lxxxv] The first communion for JHH and his new wife, Elizabeth, was at the Antis Lutheran Church on September 24, 1826.[lxxxvi] The last act of the couple was as sponsors at the Antis Church baptism of William Alexander, son of C. and Nancy Bower on September 21, 1828. Elizabeth witnessed another baptism, alone, in June 1829.[lxxxvii]

1829 JHH “did his last sermon on October 18, 1829.” He had lived most of his later years in Morris and Antis Townships in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, serving the “community in Antis Township for 24 or 25 years,” prior to his death.[lxxxviii]

1830 On January 26, 1830, JHH died. The number of his grandchildren had increased to 36 (from the 16 at his first wife’s death), plus one great-grandchild at the time of his death.[lxxxix] In the Antis Church records acknowledging his death, JHH was called “Rev. J. H. Hammer.”[xc] He was buried beside his first wife at the Antis Lutheran Church cemetery, but a small unreadable, badly eroded, and delaminating, sedimentary stone is believed to be the original marker (2001). A modern granite stone was placed between the two older stones by a Hommer descendant in the 1970’s, naming him “Rev. John Henry Hommer.” A bronze plaque (and Hessian marker) has recently been added to this new stone providing a summary of the couple’s history.

JHH’s will, dated September 9, 1828[xci] was filed and recorded in Huntingdon County on October 2, 1830, with the proviso that his wife Elizabeth receive “all my movable and immovable property for her use, as long as she remains my widow,” with the exception of some special bequests. Elizabeth did not die until 1861, and probate was not completed until then and in what had become Blair County.

1830 Betz [Elizabeth?] Homer was in the 1830 US census, in Antis Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.[xcii] 1830 taxables, according to a county history, included Elizabeth Homer with 200 acres, two horses and three cows (obviously the widow of JHH).[xciii]

1850 Elizabeth Homer was not found in the 1850 Blair County Federal Census.[xcv]

1860 Elizabeth Homer was in the 1860 Census, in Logan Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania. [xcvi]

1861 “Elizabeth Homer widow Died the 7^th Day of July 1861. – Aged 81 years 11 months and 15 days.”[xcvii] This was the second wife and widow of JHH, who had died in 1830, 31 years previous. She is believed to be the last living Hessian widow.

1862 Widow Elizabeth of JHH died in 1861, ending her right to JHH’s estate. James Hutchison, Administrator sought the sale of the property of JHH, “late of Antis Township Blair County, deceased . . . the said John Henry Hammer died in the year A.D. 1830. . . .” JHH “died seized” of an improvement right to about 225 acres of land in Antes [sic] Township. Sale and accounting of the estate continued in the Courts until October 24, 1864, with no heirs named in the distribution.[xcviii]

1864 October 24, 1864: last mention of John Henry Hammer in the public records (Orphan’s Court) of Blair County, Pennsylvania.[xcix]

The following listing of the children in this family is, in some cases, not fully proven. However, it is proposed for further study. The order of birth may not be correct, but is the best placement that can be made to date; the letter F or M after the birth order number indicates female or male, respectively.

1F. Catherine/a Hammer: born 22 Jan 1785 and baptized 20 Mar 1785 at Swatara Church, Jonestown, Dauphin (later Lebanon) County, with the sponsor being Rosina Schaufler.[c]^,[ci] She married John Nelson, and he was the co-executor of her father’s 1830 estate, in Huntingdon County[cii]. He died 8 Feb 1842, of old age at 72 years, 1 month and 7 days, well before her father’s second wife & widow.[ciii]

2F. Judica Hammer: born 14 Nov 1786, baptized 26 Nov 1786, with Judith Lang serving as her sponsor. This baptism was recorded at the Blue Mountain Church in Upper Tulpehocken Township in Berks County.[civ]

3M. John Henry (known as J. Henry) Hammer (Jr.): born 28 Mar 1788, with John Henry Zehring & wife serving as baptism sponsors. This birth and baptism (no date) was recorded at the Blue Mountain Church in Upper Tulpehocken Township in Berks County.[cv] He married Barbara Domer, daughter of George Adam Domer and his wife Anna Catherina (Bauer). George Adam Domer was the author of a manuscript detailing many of the Antis community and Frederick County, Maryland families, including the parents, JHH and Julianna Dubs. John Henry Hammer, Jr. died in 1867. These are the ancestors of co-author Shillinger.

4F. Unknown Daughter: In the 1790 census, there was one male under 16, and four total females in the household.[cvi] All other daughters seem to have been born after 1791, and this female in 1790, was speculated to have been the tenth child born to Julianna, as identified in the George Adam Domer manuscript.[cvii] No rationale can be given for the lack of a baptism record for her, as one was found for her brother, John in 1791.

5M. John Hammer: born 24 May 1791, baptized 23 Jun 1791, with John Wallmer and his wife serving as sponsors. This was recorded at the Blue Mountain Church in Upper Tulpehocken Township in Berks County.[cviii] The early Huntingdon County tax records did account for this John Hammer, but his ultimate fate was unknown.

6F. Susannah/Anna Hammer: No record has been found of her birth and baptism. Her birth order was placed here, because she was not among the recorded, pre-1791 baptisms of JHH’s children in Berks and Dauphin Counties. She was recorded as witness “Anna Hamer,” with probable sister Bekey Hammer, in the 1814 Huntingdon County deed from her father, JHH to JHH, Jr.[cix] Susannah Hammer was “conformed” [sic] at the Antis Lutheran Church, with a Polly Hammer (her probable sister) on 9 Jul 1820.[cx] JHH was the only Hammer of an age to have been the father, for the females in the 1814 and 1820 recordings. Her first and only communion at Antis was on 26 Aug 1821, indicating she married shortly after that time.[cxi] She may have married Henry Kuntner; for in 1829, at the baptism of a daughter Catherine, her stepmother Elizabeth Hammer was witness.

7F. Elizabeth Hammer: born 16 Sep 1795, baptized 17 Jan 1796, and recorded at the Swatara Reformed Church in Bethel Township, Dauphin (now Lebanon) County. At the baptism, she was listed as daughter of Henry and Anna Maria [apparently in error] Hammer.[cxii]^,[cxiii] She was also recorded as witness “Bekey Hamer,” with her probable sister Anna Hamer, in the 1814 Huntingdon County deed from her father, JHH to JHH, Jr.[cxiv]

8M. Peter Hammer: born 18 Jul 1797, baptized 10 Sep 1797, and recorded at Zoar Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mt. Zion, Bethel Township, Lebanon County. Sponsors at the baptism were Peter Bucher and his wife. He died at age “7 months less 5 days” on 10 Jan 1798 (based upon a birth date given then as 15 rather than 18 Jul 1797) and was buried at Klopp’s Church (originally the Tolpehil, Little Swatara, and now St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Hamlin).[cxv]^,[cxvi] Peter was possibly the deceased child named in his mother’s obituary in the George Adam Domer manuscript.[cxvii]

9F. Madlena Hammer: born 4 Mar 1799, baptized 14 Apr 1799, and recorded at Zoar Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mt. Zion, Bethel Township, Lebanon County. Sponsor at the baptism was Christian Schuÿ.[cxviii] No other records have been found for her, but this could also have been either of two possible other persons (low probabilities): 1. Maria/Mary/Polly Hammer (the tenth child listed here) may have used those shortened names for the given name Madlena. An alternative possibility was: 2. Margrate, wife of George Hartzel at the 1826 baptism of their son, Jno. Henry (witness was John H. Hammer) at the Antis Lutheran Church, although she received adult baptism herself at that same time.[cxix] There are aspects of the two alternative persons named as having possibly been Madlena that make either conclusion unlikely.

10F. Maria[cxx]/Mary/Polly Hammer: No record has been found of her birth and baptism, at least with these given names (see 9F. Madlena). She was born in 1799 to 1810, according to the 1830 census (one female 20 to 30). She was listed in an 1820 Antis Lutheran Church “conformation” [sic] class with her future husband, Abraham Fetters.[cxxi] Tax records (discussed earlier) showed that “Polly” married Abraham Fetters in late 1820 or early 1821. In an 1826 Huntingdon County deed with Abraham, and in various other Antis Lutheran Church baptismal records, she was listed as both “Polly” and Mary.[cxxii] Mary/”Polly” died ca 1838 or 1839 (again based upon the previously discussed tax records), leaving her husband to survive her until about 1850 or 1851. These are the ancestors of co-author Fetters.

Perhaps there are many more unidentified descendants of the Hessian soldier, teacher and minister, Johann Henrich Hammer, scattered throughout the United States (and even further). Maybe they can now place a part of their heritage with John Henry Hammer, who helped lay the foundation for this new country as a respected teacher and minister in his communities.

Robert A. Fetters is the great-great-great-great grandson of Johann Henrich Hammer, and has pursued this family tradition of a Hessian soldier in his ancestry since learning of it in 1976. His interest in family history dates back to family reunions in the 1940’s, and genealogy has become a consuming passion, with a particular interest in the Revolutionary War period (so far, with 27 proven SAR Patriot ancestors). Bob grew up on a farm near Chillicothe, Ohio and did his undergraduate work in Chemistry at Miami University (Ohio). He did graduate work in Physical Chemistry at Michigan State University, and earned an Executive MBA degree from Ohio University. Most of his career was working for the Mead Corporation, out of Chillicothe, in a Research, Technical Management or Production Management capacity. He reached semi-retirement from Mead in 1996, but has continued as a Product Safety consultant since then. Bob married Bernice M. Dearth in 1957, and they have three adult children, Robert A. Jr. (Janet Hartman) Fetters, Bambi (Dr. Vincent) Billock and Brendy Fetters, and have three Billock grandchildren, Amber, Rachael and Matthew.

Linda Black Shillinger is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of both Johann Henrich Hammer and George Adam Domer (prominent in this article), and has been researching her ancestors for several years. Her love of history began as a child and has continued to this day. Linda was born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, attended the local schools and graduated from high school in 1961, then married her childhood sweetheart the following year. Traveling with her husband as a military wife she has been able to experience other cultures, living abroad for nearly half of her husband’s 22-year Army career. She was employed for several years as a proofreader for Doubleday Publishing Co., Inc. Linda lives in western Maryland with her husband Nick and her cat Eddie Munster. The Shillinger’s have three children: Ruth (Jim) Bowell, Rhoda (Carmine) Schiani Moriello, and Paul N. (Robyn Van Dusen) Shillinger, Jr. The Shillinger’s also enjoy the company of their five wonderful grandchildren, Jimmy, Linda, Amy, Emily, and Anthony.

MW file: Johann Henrich Hammer Hessian Paper – FINAL for the family history-13 Dec 2005

End Notes:

[i] Though this title was first used for drafts of this paper, it was also used in a further edited version published previously: Robert A. Fetters and Linda Black Shillinger, edited by Mark A. Schwalm, “Johann Henrich Hammer; How We Got From Family Tradition to Proof of Hessian Descent,” Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association [JSHA], Vol. 7, Number 2 (2002): 46-54. The JSHA Journal article was edited more toward the details of the Hessian experience, while this version of the article is intended for documentation of a Johann Henrich Hammer family history. However, some of the Hessian detail has been incorporated into the present article.

[ii] Minnie Gumbert Steahly letter to her first cousin, Lillie Mae Fetters Huffman, dated 16 Dec 1976, and as notated by Mae Huffman. This included a detailed listing of their grandfather’s (Daniel Fetters) descendants and traditions. A copy of the letter is in the possession of Mae Huffman’s great nephew, Robert A. Fetters. The original was in the possession of Aunt Mae at her death, in July, 1994 at age 97. Minnie Steahly passed away in August 1979 at age 90.

[iii] Daniel Fetters & Sarah Shawl [sic] 15 Feb 1859 marriage listing, International Genealogical Index [IGI] (Salt Lake City: Family History Library, September 1981), and eventually leading to the Lawrence County, Ohio Court House record in Marriage Volume 6, p.108 (on microfilm at the Public Library in Ironton, Ohio).

[iv] Ohio University Library, Athens, Ohio, Department of Archives and Special Collections (1983). The holdings included the 1857 tax records of Lawrence County, Ohio, and some of the other records of that county.

[v] HETRINA I Citation: From Kenneth S. Sell, Ph. D. “A Hessian Bibliography,” Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Volume 3, Number 3 (1987): 72-81. Resources for Hessian studies: An English Language (only) Bibliography does not include the foreign, especially German, books and articles on Hessians. 220 citations to published works are included, as well as references made to manuscript collections at the Library of Congress and 8 other US holdings. Also included was this explanation of HETRINA: “Hessische Truppen Im Amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg or Hessian Troops in the American Revolution, and abbreviated HETRINA, was prepared by the State Archives at Marburg, Germany, where military rolls of the Hessians are located. Five or six volumes have been published since 1972, with the first four devoted to Hessian military units. The volumes are presented in German, but there is an English summary, with the abbreviations and codes explained in English.” [John Merz, manager of the Rootsweb Internet, American Revolution Hessian exchange List has said: HETRINA is a computer compilation of records as found in the Hessische Staatsarchive in Marburg (Germany), in the form of Hessian soldiers’ Regimental Muster Rolls, and Regimental Records.]

[vi] January 17, 1943, death certificate for Maggie Mary Fetters in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Local No. 40, Registered No. 2970, Indiana State Board of Health Vital Records, Indianapolis, Indiana. This death certificate was for a daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Schall) Fetters, and another daughter, Mrs. Lucy (Fetters) Stalhut was the informant.

[vii] June (Shaull) Lutz, A Historical Account of the Schall / Shaull Family (Grand Rapids, MI: published by the author, 1968).

[viii] 1860 US Census (population), Ohio, Lawrence County, Elizabeth Township, p.263, nos. 1503,1504/1462, 1463National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, roll 997 (James Doutt and Daniel Fetters families).

[ix] Accelerated Indexing Services (AIS) on microfiche, as combined in Searches 5, 6, and 7 of the Family History Library (FHL), Salt Lake City. This index included the entire US 1850 Census.

[x] Thomas T. Fetters, 545 South Elizabeth Drive, Lombard, IL 60148 and George E. Fetters, 659 Green Forest Drive, Fenton, MO 63026. These are the Fetters family experts.

[xi] Extractions from The Altoona [PA] Mirror, Monday, 10 October1932, article titled “Salem History Given”.

[xii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877: Antis Lutheran Church (Formerly Called Salem Lutheran Church), Logans Valley, Blair County, Pennsylvania, Records 1805–1877, as a handwritten manuscript, placed in the Connecticut State Library by a descendant of a Jacob Domer. Microfilmed twice as Nos. 0021545 and 0029436, Family History Library [FHL], Salt Lake City, Utah.

[xiii] Ralph Beaver Strassburger, LL.D., edited by William John Hinke, Ph.D., D.D., Pennsylvania German Pioneers (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1980), 42–47.

[xiv] Logan Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania Tax Lists, originals located at the Blair County Genealogical Society (431 Scotch Valley Road, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648): The 1852 tax list shows a new entry (in red ink) of Daniel Fetters, as single freeman. He was also in the militia list for that year in that location. No prior or subsequent year entries were found for Daniel Fetters.

[xv] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877.

[xvi] Ibid.

[xvii] Ibid, p. 81-The 9 July 1820 recording of a “conformation” [sic] class, that included among those surnames of interest: 3. Abraham Fetters, 6. Susannah Hammer, 7. Barbara Domer, 8. Polly Hammer and 10. Barbara Bower.

[xviii] Ibid, p.10-This entry is the baptism (18 Jan 1824) and birth (27 Oct 1823) of son John Henry, of Abraham and Polly Fetters. Witness was John H. Hammer.

[xix]1828 will of JHH: will of John Henry Hammer, dated 9 Sep 1828 and filed 29 Oct 1830, in Will Book 3, p.331, Huntingdon County, PA Court House. Courthouse work carried out by Miss. Alberta Y. Haught, 1528 Moore Street, Huntingdon, PA 16652. Only a local, experienced and knowledgeable about the Court House, could have obtained the wanted papers and information. The original will was written in German script and a contemporary translation by Rev. Jacob Martin was also provided (translation later verified by Ann C. Sherwin, credited elsewhere). The estate was never probated in Huntingdon County, as a provision of the will was that distribution and sale would occur only after the death of his widow. Since the widow, Elizabeth, did not die for 31 years and until after Antis Township became a part of Blair County in 1846, what limited estate was left was probated and distributed in Blair County, Pennsylvania (and well after most of John Henry Hammers’ children had died).

[xx] Ralph H. Schwalm, “The Discovery of an Unexpected Treasure – Johannes Schwalm’s Hymnal,” Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Volume 6, Number 4 (2000).

[xxi] Mark A. Schwalm & Richard C. Barth, “Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Inc. Hessian Register”, Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Volume 6, Number 1 (1997). This Registry of 492 (of the estimated 6000) soldiers that remained in the United States is of those that were queried to the Association. Among those identified in the list as being of interest, were the names of a Hammer and a Lehbrecht Fleck.

[xxii] GAD Mss.: A Family History by George Adam Domer 1829 (By the time this article reaches publication, the Manuscript with both original German and the newly commissioned translation will have been published and offered for sale by the Blair County Genealogical Society.) This manuscript was prepared as a register of short biographies of “friends, neighbors, preachers, parents, ancestors, cousins, in-laws and other persons” of Frederick County, MD and Blair County, Pennsylvania. The original manuscript is believed to be in the possession (2000) of Donna A. Shrum of Florida. Ms. Shrum had earlier placed a full copy of the original manuscript in the Blair County Genealogical Society, in Hollidaysburg, PA. Final translation and correction of earlier translation work was commissioned by Linda Black Shillinger and Robert A. Fetters, and was accomplished by Ann C. Sherwin, 1918 Medfield Road, Raleigh, NC 27607-4732; e-mail = <[email protected]>. It is believed that 3 or 4 Hessian soldiers have been detailed in this manuscript. It should be noted that much of the early biography of Johann Henrich Hammer given in this GAD Mss. is fanciful, and not even similar to the facts as later obtained from his church records in Germany.

[xxiii] Minnie Dubbs Millbrook, with Mary Alma Kay, Dubbs, Dubs, Dups and Toops Families (St. Louis, MO: Mrs. Wilma Dunlap, ca 1970?), as found in Microfilm No. 1036624, Item 5, of the Family History Library (FHL), Salt Lake City, Utah. This Swiss family history is recorded back five more generations from Jacob, to a Jergmann DUPS in the 1500s in Affoltern.

[xxiv] Rebecca (later in the court house records corrected to Barbara [Weirich]) Dubs granted administration of her late husband Jacob’s estate on 16 Nov 1761. Bond Book 1, p.282, Lancaster Court House, Lancaster County, PA. December 7, 1762 account of administration by Barbara Dubs of the “Goods &c of Jacob Dubs deced”; names the children, including a minor Juliana. Misc. Book 1760-1763, p.177, Lancaster Court House, Lancaster County, PA.

[xxv] E. J. Mezler, “Salem Lutheran Church,” Altoona Tribune, July 20, 1897. This was reported in an article of the same title in the Blair County (PA) Genealogical Society Newsletter, Volume 16, No. 1, p. 3,3a,4,4a in March, April, May 1995. The article states: “Prior to 1803, a parochial school teacher, a Mr. Homer, after whom Homer’s Gap is named, taught school, instructed the children in catechism and read sermons in the Antis school house.” And later in the article, “It is not positively known who served them [the Antis or Salem Church] between 1815 to 1827,” though it is highly probable that this was Rev. John Henry Hammer, who according to the Domer Manuscript,^[20] preached his last sermon on October 18, 1829. A student pastor, Rev. G. A. Reichert, was said to have had responsibility for this congregation from Indiana County, PA, and in 1827 resigned this pastorate to accept a call in Kittanning, Armstrong County, PA. During that 1815 to 1827 time frame it seems unlikely that Rev. Reichert could have provided much guidance or service to the Salem/Antis congregation in Huntingdon County, PA.

[xxvi] Mark A. Schwalm letter to Robert A. Fetters dated 12 Aug 1999. This included recommendations on where to write in Germany to learn of the two Hessians named Henry/Henrich Hammer.

[xxvii] Eberhard Olberg (for the three church parishes in Homberg Germany) letter to Robert A. Fetters dated 16 Dec 1999. This was in response to a request for information on a Henrich Hammer of the Minigerode Battalion during the American Revolutionary War. Two Adam Henrich Hamers were identified, but could not be tied to the American, Rev. John Henry Hammer, or to the Revolutionary War (based upon birth and death dates). At best, the info was inconclusive.

[xxviii] Frau E. Stübing’s letter (first report) to Robert A. Fetters dated 12 Jan 2000 regarding Johann Henrich Hammer. Three generations of the Hammer family were provided, naming Johann Henrich Hammer’s parents and grandparents. At the marriage of his parents in the Ibra church records, his father, Johann Conrad Hammer, was listed as a former musketeer in the Honorable Hessian Hessenstein Regiment (Murmann Regiment), otherwise from Machtlos (married to Catharina Schmitt on 29 Jan 1750). Catharina had been confirmed at Ibra in 1731 or 1741. For Johann Henrich Hammer, the birth was given as 25 Oct 1754, the baptism as 27 Oct 1754, and his confirmation in 1769 at the age of 14 years, 5 months (March), all in the Machtlos Protestant Church records. At the baptism, the godfather was another Johann Henrich Hammer, tile maker. The Machtlos church records also showed the father, John Conrad Hammer, was baptized 7 Nov 1713, son of Georg Ernst Hamer, a tile maker, and his godfather had been Conrad Gies. Conrad died 14 May 1783 and was buried at “Ibra (resident with limited burgher rights).”

[xxix] Frau E. Stübing’s letter (second report) to Robert A. Fetters dated 26 Apr 2001 regarding further research and detailing the family of Johann Henrich Hammer. The report begins with the family of Georg Ernst Hammer, stove fitter and tilemaker (born 1688: Meiningen and buried 9 Mar 1744 in Machtlos) who married in Schlitz, Barbara Catharina Grau (born 1688 in Schlitz and died 20 Oct 1763 in Machtlos), and includes direct citations, word for word copies, from the church book entries. The families of two of the sons of Georg Ernst are given in full detail. One was the father of Johan Heinrich Hammer, Johann Conrad Hammer, the subject of this paper, and the other, his brother Johann Henrich Hammer, uncle to the subject Johann Henrich, and godfather at his baptism. The church education of the times was also discussed by Frau Stübing, and Pastor Johann Wilhelm Eichler was responsible for Johann Henrich Hammer’s early studies.

[xxx] JHH’s first location in Huntingdon County was at Morris Township, and based upon later family burials, was probably at or near Shaffersville. At the cemetery is the 1831 grave of Rev. John Deitrich Aurandt, a Reformed pastor there for 27 years. This coincides with the migration of JHH to that location. It may also explain JHH’s move in 1810 and 1814, to the Newry and Antis charges respectively, where he became the irregular or non-ordained minister.

[xxxi] In 2000, the Shaffersville Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery (located in Morris Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania) holds the remains of several JHH descendants. A John Henry Hammer gravestone has him as John H. Hommer (1824-1905), while a grandson is described as “Jacob, son of J. H. & B. (Domer) Homer, died July 20, 1853.” Both the Homer and Hommer spelling variations of Hammer were used and became prevalent. Note: Shaffersville is probably at or near the location of the 25 ½ acres that in 1814, JHH sold to his son, JHH Jr.

[xxxii] Frau E. Stübing second report.

[xxxiii] Frau E. Stübing first and second reports.

[xxxiv] Millbrook’s Dubbs, Dubs, Dups and Toops Families (ca 1970).

[xxxv] Frau E. Stübing second report.

[xxxvi] Ibid.

[xxxvii] HETRINA-II Citation: Hessische Truppen Im Amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg or Hessian Troops in the American Revolution, and abbreviated HETRINA, was prepared by the State Archives at Marburg, Germany, where military rolls of the Hessians are located. Five or six volumes have been published since 1972, with the first four devoted to Hessian military units. The volumes are presented in German, but there is an English summary, with the abbreviations and codes explained in English.

Volume I: The four Hessen-Kassel grenadier battalions presented in this first volume were newly formed for the American campaign, from grenadier companies of guard, line and garrison regiments. The von Minnegerode Battalion (MNG), was formed from the grenadier companies of the regiments of the Prince-Successor (Erbprinz), von Ditfurth, von Lossberg and von Knyphausen, and was organized with the other battalions simultaneously in Wolfhagen and Immenhausen. Three battalions formed a grenadier brigade under the command of Colonel von Donop. Some troops left as early as May. The equipping and training of the companies delayed the departure of the 4^th Battalion, though the embarkation took place in Ritzebüttel at the beginning of June and they arrived in New York at the end of October 1776. Volume 1, p.66 lists:

#3350. Henrich Hammer, b-1753/4; from Homberg; D3588+ (Federal Republic of Germany, a town in Hessen-Kassel); fourier or quartermaster-sergeant in the Minnigerode Grenadier Battalion; appointed in the unit rolls in 1775 (archive code of the source-A964/6.84).

#3351. Henrich Hammer, b-1753/4; from Homberg; D3588+; sergeant in the Minnigerode Grenadier Battalion, in the unit rolls on Feb 1783 (archives code of the source-SR557A).

(NOTE: by being in the unit rolls in Feb 1783, this can not be the Henry Hammer who deserted in November 1782. Further, the church records at Homberg/Homburg show this Henrich Hammer was possibly named Adam Henrich Hammer.)

Volume III: This volume of HETRINA discusses six regiments, including the 4^th, the von Knyphausen Regiment. The von Knyphausen Regiment’s monthly reports for August 1778 and December 1779 are “lacking.” The introduction of this volume gives a summary of the von Knyphausen Regiment in German. Finding no translation, a commissioned translator (Ann C. Sherwin, credited previously) provided the following:

Von Knyphausen Regiment, beginning 1784, the von Donop Regiment (partially listed here):

KNY 1: 1st Company (commander’s own company)

KNY 2: 2nd Company (until January 1776 Johann David Gotthard von Schuler; beginning 1776, Col. / Maj. Gen. Henrich von Borck) The list continues through KNY 5: 5^th Company.

The 1775 enrollment of JHH in the von Knyphausen Regiment was cited as Archive code SR398.

[xxxviii] Ibid.

[xxxix] Nelson R. Sulouff, “Johannes Zulauf – Soldier-Immigrant, Father of Sulouffs and Suloffs in America,” Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association Volume 5, Number 4 (1996): 1–20.

[xl] Craig L. Symonds, A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution (Baltimore, MD: The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, Inc., 1986), 31.

[xli] HETRINA-II: translation of the von Knyphausen Regiment history by Ann C. Sherwin

[xlii] Richard C. Brath, Ph.D., William E. Dornemann, Ph.D. and Mark A. Schwalm, “The Trenton Prisoner List,” Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association Volume 3, Number 1 (1985): 1–21. The transcription of the Trenton Prisoner of War list was taken from a copy in the Library of Congress, with the original list in the archives in Marburg (Germany). The list is dated 27 February 1777, and includes over 1000 Hessians and states the disposition of nearly every soldier who was captured, died during the battle, or died between the battle and 26 February 1777, the date the lists were compiled. It was noted that “the Continental Congress went to great lengths early in the War to entice Hessians to desert. However, the attitude shifted a full 180 degrees as it related to the Trenton Prisoners, and British Prisoners in general.” “By 1777 the British were holding many American soldiers captured in the Long Island Campaign, in August 1776, and the surrender of Fort Washington, in November 1776.” It was now important that the Americans have a maximum number of prisoners available for a general exchange. Eventually the exchange took place at Elizabethtown, NJ, from July through October 1778.

[xliii] John B. Linn & Wm. H. Egle M.D., Pennsylvania Archives 2^nd Series, Vol. 1 (Harrisburg, PA: Benjamin Singerly State Printer, 1874), p.435..

[xliv] HETRINA-II: #6800 in Volume III list, citing archive code of the source as 4H410/539.

[xlv] Clifford Neal Smith, “Muster Rolls and Prisoner-of-War Lists in American Archival Collections Pertaining to the German Mercenary Troops Who Served With the British Forces During the American Revolution,” German-American Genealogical Research Monograph Number 3, Part 2 (1976; reprinted McNeal, AZ: Westland Publications, 1985), p.86–90.

[xlvi] Gladys Bucher Sowers, Hessian Prisoners and Their Employers in the Lebanon Township Area, (Lebanon, PA: Lebanon County Historical Society, Sep 2002), 15, 33 & 60. Also known as Vol. 18, No. 4 of the Society.

[xlvii] Mark A. Schwalm, editorial staff, "Johannes Schwalm Historical Association Inc." Registry for Descendants of Hessian Troops; Public Depository, Gratz, PA Historical Society.

Quoting Schwalm in a letter of Aug 1999: "Heinrich Hammer from von Knyphausen was captured at Trenton on 26 Dec, 1776 and taken to Lancaster, PA. During 1777 (and perhaps into 1778) he worked for one Friedrich Huber in Bethel Twp., Berks Co. He was sent from Lancaster on 21 June 1778 to Philadelphia for exchange.”

Mark A. Schwalm in a letter of February 2000: Quoted from Johannes Schwalm The Hessian (Precision Printers, Inc., 1976) p.229–242: “Henry Hammer” is shown as having signed out to Frederick Huber of Bethel Township on 3 Nov 1777.” He is #78 on a “List of Hessian prisoners now at work with the people, and a return of their employers, etc.” The place is not shown nor is the document signed. The document is found in Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

Heinrich Hammer is #95 on “List of British, Hessian and Waldeck Prisoners of war sent from Lancaster under the escort of (blank) toward Philadelphia for exchange the 21^st day of June 1778, by order of Elias Boudinot Esquire, Commissary Gen’l of Prisoners.” This list contained 171 names besides eight that had been crossed off. Of these, one was British, five were Hessian, and two were Waldeckers. The rest were numbered consecutively except for Frederick Wellhausen inserted between numbers 76 and 77. At the very end is the notation: “Fred Wellhausen of Scheffer’s missed numbering is 171.”

[xlviii] JSHA, Johannes Schwalm, the Hessian (Lynhurst, OH: Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, 1976), p.230/242.

[xlix] Herman Radloff and Alexander Coyle, Hessians in the Revolution (St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Genealogical Society, 1975), 8. This list was included in the previous consolidated list by the J.S.H.A., Inc..

[l] As written by Mark Schwalm and cited as “from the Col. Von Loos Embarkation List included in the ‘Correspondence of von Knyphausen’ found in the Lidgerwood Collection at Morristown National Park, Morristown, NJ.”

[li] Ibid, but from Col. Von Borck’s report from the same source.

[lii] Ibid, but from the Journal of the von Knypahusen Regiment.

[liii] HETRINA-II: #6801 in Volume III list, citing archive code of the source as 88843/27.

[liv] Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (1884; reprint Baltimore, MD: Clearfield Publishing Co., Inc., 2002), 227.

[lv] M. A. Schwalm, “Oaths of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” and “German Soldiers Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania Between the Years of 1777 and 1784,” Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association Volume 5, Number 2 (1994): 15–23. “According to the records maintained by Magistrate (Plunket) Fleeson of Philadelphia, he identified 160 males who deserted from the ‘British and Hessian Lines.’ and who took the oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania between the years of 1779 and 1784.” “Of that number 131 have been tentatively identified on the German military records which have survived.” An additional 59 German sounding names from the Fleeson ledgers as deserted from the British or enemy lines led to identification of an additional 19 having German and British records.

This oath was given as: “We the subscribers do swear (or affirm) that I renounce and refuse all allegiance to George the third, King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors, and that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a free and independent State, and that I will not at any time do or cause to be done any matter or thing that will be prejudicial or injurious to the freedom and Independence thereof, as declared by Congress; and, also, that I will discover and make known to some one Justice of the Peace of this State, all treasons or traitorous conspiracies which I now know or hereafter shall know, to be formed against this or any of the United States of America.”

Among those taking the Oath was “Henry/Heinrich Hammer deserted 1 Nov 1782 from Paulus Hook. He was identified as from Hessen Cassel and took the oath 5 Nov 1782. His occupation was listed as a weaver. End noted that he was born 1754/55 (D6431 Ibra); Knyphausen Regiment, 2^nd Company (per Mark Schwalm: Borck Co., from Ibra, amt Oberaula, age 27, 5’ 6” tall); deserted 31 Oct 1782 from Camp at Bloomingdale, LI, NY with Arms and equipment.

[lvi] Thompson WESTCOTT, Names of Persons Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania, Between the Years 1777 & 1789, etc. (1865, reprint Baltimore MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1992), 92: 5 Nov 1782-Henry HAMMER, deserted the British Service & Hessian Line at Paulus Hook 1st Inst.. Weaver.

[lvii] Thomas Lynch Montgomery, Ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Vol. VII (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1906), p.290–92: Lancaster County Militia, 1^st Company of 3^rd Battalion (aged 18–53), for year 1782, Captain Philip Duck’s Company. 1^st Class lists a John HAMER (27 Nov 1782). This citation was found in the Harrisburg Pennsylvania State Archive Revolutionary War card file (Microfilm Reel 4444)

[lviii] GAD Mss, p.31.

[lix] Ibid.

[lx] Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Personal Property Tax Rates 1785–1810. Henry Hamer/Hammer found among these lists, with numerous of the name Dubs (his wife’s maiden name). Salt Lake City: Family History Library Microfilm number 1027051, Items 1, 2 and 3 for 1785 through 1787. Beginning in 1788 Henry disappears from the tax lists here, but residence probably continued, since he was found in Dauphin County in the 1790 federal census.

[lxi] F. Edward Wright, Early Church Records of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1995):

1. Baptisms of Rev. John Conrad Bucher, Apr 1770-Jun 1779 [Note the following was the man who hired the Hessian prisoner, JHH):

p.129 Frederick Adam of Frederick Adam Huber and Catharine, b-5 Nov 1774, bapt. 5 Dec 1774; Spon: parents.

2. Baptisms by Rev. Ludwig LUPP, Jan 1785–Apr 1798:

p.135 Catharine of Henry HAMMER and Julianna, b-22 Jan 1785, bapt. ___; Spon: ___.

p.140 Elizabeth of Henry HAMMER and Anna Maria [?], b. 16 Sep 1795, bapt. 17 Jan 1796; Spon: Martin MEILI and Christine.

3. Zoar Evangelical Lutheran Church; Mount Zion, Bethel Township:

p.277 Peter of Johannes HAMMER and wife, b. 18 Jul 1797, bapt. 10 Sep 1797; Spon: Peter BUCHER and wife.

p.278 Madlena of Joh HAMMER and wife, b. 4 Mar 1799, bapt. 14 Apr 1799; Spon: Christian Schuÿ .

p.280 Peter of Joh. HAMMER and wife, b. 15 Jul 1797, bapt. 7 months less 5 days old; buried 15 Feb at Klopp's

Church.

[lxii] 1786 Pennsylvania Septennial Census for Dauphin County read from microfilm at the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Historical Society, in Lancaster Pennsylvania.

[lxiii] 1790 U.S. Census (Population) Heads of Families at the First Census (1907–1909; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1992), p.88: Henry Hammer with 1 male over 16, 1 male under 16 and 4 females in Dauphin County, PA. Original records on microfilm: T498-2.

[lxiv] The tax statute can be found in The Statutes at Large of PA From 1682 to 1801, Vol. 16, p.379, the “Act of April 11, 1799." Mark Schwalm stated that he had over time, checked for tax records for known pastors and parochial teachers in Eastern Pennsylvania for the years from 1790 through 1800 and has not found any.

[lxv] Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record: Salt Lake City: Family History Library microfilm #1294882, Item 7: Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record, Strausstown, Upper Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, p.16.

[lxvi] John T. HUMPHREY, Pennsylvania Births Berks County 1781-1800 (Washington, D.C.: Humphrey Publications, 1998), taken from records of Blue Mountain Church, Upper Tulpehocken Township: HAMMER children's parents listed as Henry & wife.

[lxvii] Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record; Strausstown, Upper Tulpehocken Twp, Berks Co, PA (1767–1863), LDS film #1294882, Item 7:

p.1 -Title Page of church record includes entries of both Ludwig LUPP (1st) in 1767, and "H.H." (Henry HAMMER) in 1792.

p.16 -Baptisms entered by Henry HAMMER [ca 1791]

-Catharina HAMMER, b. 22 Jan 1785, bap. 26 Nov 1786, daughter of Henry HAMMER & wf.; sponsor Rosina SCHAUFLER.

-Judica HAMMER, b. 14 Nov 1786, bap. 26 Nov 1786, daughter of Henry HAMMER & wf.; sponsor Judith LANG.

-John Henry HAMMER, b. 28 Mar 1788, son of Henry HAMMER * wf.; sponsors John Henry ZEHRING & wf..

-John HAMMER, b. 24 May 1791, bap. 23 Jun 1791, son of Henry HAMMER & wf.; sponsors John WALLMER & wf..

[lxviii] GAD Mss, p.35 & 36.

[lxix] Charles H. Glatfelter, Pastors and People: German Lutheran and Reformed Churches in the Pennsylvania Field, 1717–1793 (Breingsville, PA: The Pennsylvania German Society, 1980), p.333. Among the assignments of Lutheran minister George Lochman was at least a part of a single year, 1793, at Jonestown Lutheran Church.

[lxx] Ibid, p.153 and 154. John Daniel Wagner was a Reformed minister who served the Tulpehocken parish 1786-1793. Those churches associated with Tulpehocken included Tolpehil, the place of recording of the birth and death of JHH’s son Peter.

[lxxi] Berks County Pennsylvania 1798 Federal (Glass) Tax; Salt Lake City: Family History Library microfilm #0351603 or National Archives Film M372, Roll 10. This was the only John or Henry Hammer found in this tax, either in Berks or Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

[lxxii] 1800 U.S. Census (population), Pennsylvania Index. Henry Hammer in York County had been disproved, but the John Hammer in Berks County, p.614 was possibly the correct listing. Original records on microfilm: M32-35.

[lxxiii] Salt Lake City: Family History Library microfilm #0020829, tax lists for Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

[lxxiv] Deed from John H. Hammer and his wife, Julianna to John Henry Hammer, Junior, 16 Dec 1814 (recorded 2 May 1820), 25½ acres in Morris Township acquired by Jn. H. Hammer 24 Apr 1807; witnesses by their marks (x) were Anna Hamer and Bekey Hamer, obviously daughters of JHH; Deed Book Q-1, p.534 and 535, Register of Deeds, Huntingdon County, Court House, Huntingdon, PA. It is suspected that, as daughters of a teacher, they had signed in German script and that the recorder wrote as he thought the script read?

[lxxv] From the personal files of Mrs. Linnaria Wheland, researcher in Huntingdon County, The Tax Assessment Records of Morris Township Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania were extracted for the Hammer surname through 1833. It was speculated that JHH was in the township through 1814, but then moved to Antis Township, and JHH Jr. returned to the property in Morris Township in 1822.

[lxxvi] Rev. W. H. Bruce Carney, History of the Alleghany Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania, 2 volumes, p.470–71: Newry Charge - Rev. F. H. Schrader, Pastor: Evangelical Lutheran Church Newry, Blair Co, PA presented info on JHH.

[lxxvii] Huntingdon County, PA Will Book Vol. II, p.190. [Abstracts published by Blair County Genealogical Society in 2002.]

[lxxviii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.80.

[lxxix] From the personal files of Mrs. Linnaria Wheland, researcher in Huntingdon County, The Tax Assessment Records of Antes Township Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania were extracted for the Hammer surname from 1811 through 1846 when the township became a part of Blair County at its formation. Co-author Shillinger completed the Blair County tax lists at the Blair County Historical Society, finding the JHH widow, Elizabeth, in Antis Township, 1847 through 1850 (with 200 acres and two cows). In 1854, John Nelson (probable son-in-law of JHH) had 200 acres and two cows, implying that Elizabeth was now living with them, since she did not die until 1861.

[lxxx] 1820 U.S. Census (population), Pennsylvania, Huntingdon County, M33-104, p.54.

[lxxxi] J. Simpson AFRICA, History of Huntingdon & Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Press of J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1883), p.38 and 39: Taxes for Antis Twp, Blair Co.

[lxxxii] GAD Mss, p.31.

[lxxxiii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.38.

[lxxxiv] 1821 Septennial Census of Huntingdon County, PA, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Microfilm holdings at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (Archives), Harrisburg, PA; Record Group 7, Roll #2044.

[lxxxv] GAD Mss, p.35, 36.

[lxxxvi] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.82.

[lxxxvii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.14.

[lxxxviii] GAD Mss, p.35, 36.

[lxxxix] GAD Mss, p.35, 36.

[xc] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.40.

[xci] 1828 will of JHH.

[xcii] 1830 U.S. Census (Population), Pennsylvania, Antis Township, Huntingdon County, M19-166, p.63.

[xciii] J. Simpson AFRICA, History of Huntingdon & Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Press of J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1883), 39: Taxes for Antis Twp, Blair Co.

[xciv] 1840 U.S. Census (Population), Antis Township, Huntingdon County, PA, M701-462, p.405.

[xcv] 1850 U.S. Census (Population), Blair County, PA, M432-755 was searched by both authors, and Elizabeth HAMMER (or other spelling variation) was not found.

[xcvi] 1860 U.S. Census (Population), Logan Township, Blair County, PA, M653-1078, p387, indicating Elizabeth Homer was aged 80, born in Pennsylvania, could neither read nor write, and that she had a personal estate worth $20.

[xcvii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.30.

[xcviii] Blair County Pennsylvania Court Records: Orphan’s Court C114-#31, Court ordered sale of JHH estate dated 3 Feb 1862; Orphan’s Court C123-#50, Court confirmed sale on April 25, 1862; Administrative Account B27, Letters of Administration to James Hutchison for JHH filed June 2, 1862 and granted July Term of Court; Orphan’s Court C148-124, an accounting of $425, reduced by expenses to $142.77½ by July, 1862 Term of Court; Orphan’s Court C224-#134, audit of account read July 27, 1863. Administrative Account B115, final account of James Hutchison, confirmed in 1864, with balance of $288 and $190.75 in hands of Accountant; Orphan’s Court C312-#153, Final Account of James Hutchison, Admin. of the estate of John Henry Hammer, confirmed 1 Aug 1864; Orphan’s Court C332-#228 Report of Auditor to distribute balance of the John Henry Hammer dec’d estate, confirmed October 24, 1864.

[xcix] Ibid.

[c] F. Edward Wright, Early Church Records of Lebanon County Pennsylvania (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1995): Baptisms by Rev. Ludwig LUPP, Jan 1785–Apr 1798 include on p.135, Catharine of Henry HAMMER and Julianna.

[ci] Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record, p.16

[cii] 1828 Will of JHH.

[ciii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.41.

[civ] Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record, p.16

[cv] Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record, p.16

[cvi] 1790 US Census (Population) Heads of Families at the First Census (1907–1909; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1992), p.88: Henry Hammer with one male over 16, one male under 16 and four females.

[cvii] GAD Mss, p.31.

[cviii] Zion (Blue Mountain) Church Record, p.16

[cix] 1814 Huntingdon County Deed from John H. Hammer & his wife, Julianna to John Henry Hammer, Junior.

[cx] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.81, #6.

[cxi] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.81, #21.

[cxii] John T. Humphrey, Pennsylvania Births Lebanon County [PA] 1714–1800 (Note: Lebanon County was not formed until 1813 from Dauphin and Lancaster Counties.) (Washington, D.C.: Humphrey Publications, 1996): p.87. Many Hammers, but only two in "Records of Swatara Reformed Church in Bethel Twp; the baptismal register was begun in 1751." 1. 22 Jan 1785 Catharine HAMMER, dau of Henry & Julianna; 2. 16 Sep 1795 Elizabeth HAMMER, dau of Henry & Anna Maria.

[cxiii] Copied by William J. Hinke, Church Record of the Swatara Reformed Congregation, Jonestown, Lebanon County 1740–1862 (July 1936)-typed transcript. From 1785 to 1798, under Ministry of Ludwig LUPP: p.23-Catherine dau of Henry and Julianna HAMMER, b. 22 Jan 1785; p.29-Henry HAMMER & Anna Maria, daughter Elizabeth b. 16 Sep 1795, bapt. 17 Jan 1796; sponsors Martin MEILS and Christine.

[cxiv] 1814 Huntingdon County Deed from John H. Hammer and his wife, Julianna to John Henry Hammer, Junior.

[cxv] Charles H. Glatfelter, Pastors and People: German Lutheran and Reformed Churches in the Pennsylvania Field, 1717-1793 (Breinigsville, PA: The Pennsylvania German Society, 1980), 337–338.

[cxvi] Wright’s Early Lebanon Church records: F. Edward Wright, Early Church Records of Lebanon County Pennsylvania (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1995): Zoar Evangelical Lutheran Church; Mount Zion, Bethel Township: p.277 Peter of Johannes HAMMER and wife, b. 18 Jul 1797, bapt. 10 Sep 1797; Spon: Peter BUCHER and wife; p.278 Madlena of Joh HAMMER and wife, b. 4 Mar 1799, bapt. 14 Apr 1799; Spon: Christian Schuÿ; p.280 Peter of Joh. HAMMER and wife, b. 15 Jul 1797, bapt. 7 months less 5 days old; buried 15 Feb at Klopp's Church.

[cxvii] GAD Mss, p.31.

[cxviii] Wright’s Early Lebanon Church Records, p.278.

[cxix] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.12.

[cxx] 1828 Will of JHH.

[cxxi] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.81.

[cxxii] Antis Church Records, 1805–1877, p.9,10,12,13,16.

How We Got from Family Tradition to Proof of Hessian Descent[i]