The Family of Anna Rosine Fetterman & Heinrich Gernhardt

Introduction

Until recently, I had very little information concerning Anna Rosine Fetterman and Heinrich Gernhardt. Through contact with both Linda Houyouse and Diane Fetterman Rice, I acquired the book Heinrich Gernhardt and His Descendants, written by Jeremiah M. M. Gernerd and published in 1904. This book contained not only a wealth of information of genealogical value concerning the descendants of Anna Rosine and Heinrich, but also gave personal accounts of various family members who served in both the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, most of whom were still living at the time this book was published, and other remembrances of family members that Jeremiah was personally acquainted. There were also a large number of pictures of various descendants, and they are included here as well.

Anna Rosine Fetterman and Heinrich Gernhardt—What We Know

Anna Rosine(2) was the third of eight children born of Balthasar(1) Fetterman’s second marriage to Catharine Margrethe Heiszt. The dates of her birth and death are unknown, but it is known that she died sometime before her husband, who passed away in the spring of 1820.

It is not known when Heinrich arrived in America; however, we do know that on September 9, 1765, he took the oath of allegiance to the King of England, “heartily, willingly and truly.” This oath occurred 55 years before he died, so it could be assumed that he was probably between 20 and 25 years old when he became a citizen of the Province of Pennsylvania under the crown of Great Britain, and he was most likely between 75 and 80 years old at the time of his death.

Anna Rosine married Heinrich Gernhardt October 16, 1770 (from Record of Lehigh Church, Zion's Lutheran Church, Lower Macungie, Lehigh Co., PA, Vol. 2, by Raymon E. Hollenbach, 1964—marriages by Pastor Jacob vanBuskirck—Hainrich Gerhard and Anna Rosina Fäderman at Upper Milford), and they settled in Lehigh Township in what was then Northampton County, PA. Heinrich located on a tract of 157 acres of government land in Lehigh Township, for which he did not list his patent until 1790. It should be noted here that the patent was granted to him as Henry Garnet. On April 21, 1795, he sold this tract of land to George Ensle for the sum of 575 pounds. It was here that their ten children were born. (It had been presumed that they originally settled in Berks County, PA, however, the family Bible of their first-born daughter Magdalena confirmed that she was born in Lehigh Township, Northampton County.) It should also be noted here that their children Philip, John, Catharine, Margaret and Baltzer were all baptized in the Stone Church near Kriedersville in the time period 1779-1786 (Pennsylvania Births Northampton County 1733-1800 by John Humphrey [Lehigh was not formed until later]. Spellings used were Gernet, Gernhard, Gerhard, and Gerhardt but the wife was always Anna Rosina or Rosina).

From Lehigh Township, they moved to Greenwich Township, northwest of Kutztown, Berks County, PA., where they lived at least until April 19, 1805. It was on this date that Heinrich bought 181 3/4 acres of land in Turbot Township, Northumberland County, PA, from James Durham for “one thousand pounds in real specie.” Three years before Heinrich’s death, he bought an additional 162 acres of land that adjoined his from the estate of James Durham who had since passed. This area is now known as Delaware Township, and the property where Heinrich and his family settled was known as “Sinking Springs.”
The "Sinking Spring"

The Name Gernhardt

The ancestral name of Gernhardt has undergone many changes and from the book Heinrich Gernhardt and His Descendants, written by Jeremiah M. M. Gernerd, published 1904 (pg. 70), we learn that the name “…has been changed to Garnhardt, Gernhart, Garnhart, Gernardt, Garnett, Garnet, Gernet, Gernert, Gernerd, and several of the kin we know had formed the habit of spelling it Gerner.”

The Children and Grandchildren of Anne Rosine(2) Fetterman and Heinrich Gernhardt

Because there are so many derivations of the name “Gernhardt,” the full names are listed below. Their children and grandchildren were:

  1. Magdalena Gernhardt (3) [b. February 6, 1771, d. in Sparta Township, Livingston County, New York, May 8, 1834] married Andrew Shafer [b. January 31, 1758, in Germany, d. April 2, 1846, in Sparta, NY] on February 11, 1794. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Turbot Township, and about 1812 moved again to Sparta which was then a district of Ontario but since 1821 a part of Livingston County, NY. They had:

    1. Henry Shafer (4) [b. December 8, 1794, d. June 14, 1878] married twice. His first marriage was to Maria Magdalena Kline [d. September 10, 1832] on August 8, 1820, and his second marriage was to her sister Susanna Kline on February 7, 1833.
    2. Elizabeth Shafer (4) [b. March 16, 1797, d. September 18, 1816] died unmarried.

    The land in Sparta on which Magdalena and Andrew finally settled was owned by her father Heinrich and was bequeathed to Magdalena in her father’s will. Also of mention is that Magdalena and Andrew took in her brother’s child Catharine and raised her as their own as a consequence of the death of her mother. Magdalena and Andrew are buried in an old graveyard near the center of Sparta close to where they lived.

  2. Jacob Garnet (3) was born about 1773 and died about 1813. For many years, efforts to locate his whereabouts were futile, but it was finally discovered that he had made his way to Fayette, New York. He was married first to Anna Maria Kramer with whom he had six children. The exact date of Anna’s death is unknown but she died just a few months after the birth of their daughter Clarissa who was born in August 1809. The first three of their children were born while they were living in Turbot Township, Northumberland County, PA, and the other three children were born after the family had relocated to New York. By the first marriage he had:
    1. George Gernhardt (4) was born about 1798 in Northumberland County, and little is known of his life. In January 1871, he was located in the Seneca County Poor House and died on April 20, 1878. According to the records of the asylum, George was a widower, but no one had any prior knowledge that he had ever married.
    2. Jacob Garnet (4) [b. February 25, 1800, d. April 5, 1859] was married twice. His first marriage was to Anna Margaret Frantz [d. May 28, 1847] of Seneca County, NY, on April 13, 1819. By this marriage ten children were born. His second marriage on June 22, 1848, to Margaret Bolander [d. December 13, 1854], also of Seneca County, produced two more children.
    3. Susannah Garnet (4) [b. October 29, 1803, d. April 21, 1851] married Jacob Lilley on March 31, 1825. They resided in Willoughby, OH, and eleven children were born of this marriage.
    4. John Garnett (4) [b. November 3, 1805, d. January 29, 1865] was also married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Hunt [d. March 27, 1861] of Romulus, NY, in 1828. Not long after their marriage, the family settled in Willoughby, OH, and four children were born of this marriage. His second marriage was to Augusta Van Avery, and one child was born of this union. John is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery near Willoughby.
    5. Daniel Garnhart (4) [b. October 7, 1807, d. May 17, 1876] was raised in Perry County, PA, by a relative after the death of his mother. On January 20, 1826, he married Elizabeth Goshorn [d. February 18, 1894] of New Germantown, Perry County. Sometime in 1832, Daniel moved his family moved to Richland County, OH. At least three of their twelve children were born in Perry County.
    6. Clarissa Garnet (4) [b. August 10, 1809, d. December 25, 1883] was given into the care of a neighborhood family after the death of her mother when she was just an infant. Her young life was not a happy one, as this family worked her as a menial even to the point of having her perform work that would normally be done by a man on their farm and did not even allow her to attend school. On January 19, 1826, she married Gotlob D. Wichterman [d. April 8, 1887], the son of a Lutheran clergyman. It was her husband who taught her to read and write. They acquired a piece of land in 1828 and moved to the vicinity of Lockport, NY. After just four years, they sold their property and bought several hundred acres in the township of Royalton, east of Lockport. Thirteen children were born of this marriage.

Jacob’s second marriage was to Mary Shetterly in 1811, and by this marriage, two more children were born:

  1. Lydia Garnet (4) [b. July 8, 1812, d. September 16, 1868] married James Clark, date unknown, and they lived in Venice Township in Seneca County, OH. Seven children were born of this marriage.
  2. Anna Maria E. Garnet (4). The exact date of Annia Maria’s birth is unknown, but she was born early in 1814, a few months after the death of her father. In 1835, she married Stephen Friedley, and six children were born of this marriage. Anna Maria died in 1849 in Venice Township, Seneca County, OH.
  1. Anna Elizabeth Gernhardt (3) [b. April 3, 1776, died, July 8, 1854] was the only daughter of Rosine and Heinrich who did not marry, and after her mother’s death, she continued to live with her father, keeping house for him. After his death, she then lived with her youngest brother, Baltzer, until his demise After Baltzer’s death she lived the rest of her days with Baltzer’s youngest son and his wife, and she is buried next to her brother and near her parents in the Delaware Run Cemetery.

  2. Philip Garnhart (3) [b. March 1, 1779, d. June 9, 1843] was married twice; however, no one knows the name of his first wife or the circumstances of their marriage. It is believed that she died around 1810 and is buried in the same cemetery as Rosine and Heinrich in an unmarked grave. Of this marriage, one child was born.

    1. Catharine Garnhart (4) [b. January 13, 1806, in Delaware Township, Northumberland County, PA, d. May 17, 1860, Scottsburg, NY] was taken by her aunt Magdalena Gernhardt Shafer in 1812 and raised in Sparta, Livingston County, NY. She was married twice, the first marriage occurring April 3, 1825, to Daniel W. Cruger of Dansville, NY. Of this marriage, three children were born. She next married James Coller, also of Dansville, NY, in 1836, and one child was born of this marriage.

    Philip next married Mary Magdalena Bieber of Lycoming County, PA, around 1811, and this marriage produced seven more children:

    1. Rosena Fetterman Garnhart (4) [b. about 1812] married John Mecum on January 8, 1832. They settled with their three children in Indiana in 1849. Rosena died a few years after that, and John died in 1877 in Van Buren County, MI.
    2. David Garnhart (4) [b. July 2, 1813, d. October 8, 1842] married Charlotte Walton [d. December 17, 1868] date unknown, and of this marriage two children were born. David and his family remained in the Muncy, PA, area.
    3. Sarah Kelley Garnhart (4) [b. November 23, 1816] married William Cruse on April 8, 1850. In 1853, they moved from Muncy Valley to Calhoun County, MI. One of their children was born before they relocated to Michigan, and the other two were born within five years of their move.
    4. Andrew Garnhart (4) died in infancy.
    5. Adam Garnhart (4) died in infancy.
    6. Hannah Bieber Garnhart (4) [b. June 10, 1823, d. August 19, 1895] married James W. Lyman on February 11, 1841. They moved from Muncy, PA, with their three young children in 1852, where they made their home in Oconomowoc, WI. Five children were born of this marriage. After James’ death on October 2, 1893, Hannah moved to Milwaukee where she lived until her death.
    7. Maria Williams Garnhart (4) [b. January 1, 1826] married Fleming Walton [d. December 8, 1855], who was the brother of her sister-in-law, on February 22, 1848. They made their home in Muncy, PA, where three children were born of this marriage.

  3. John Gernert (3) [b. about 1780, d. August 14, 1851] was the only child of Anna Rosine and Heinrich who remained in what was at that time Northampton County. A chairmaker by trade, he married Catharine Siegfried [b. February 10, 1788, d. July 7, 1844] who had been adopted by Heinrich Brobst in August 1805. Upon the death of her adopted father, Catharine inherited his farm, and they lived there throughout their marriage. They became the parents of thirteen children, although one died nameless and is not on record. This hard-working couple in time owned three farms. It was written that John was so bereaved by the death of his wife, he remained in a melancholy state until the time that he was laid beside her for his final rest in the cemetery of the Reformed and Lutheran Church at Trexlerstown, PA. Their children were:

    1. Hannah Gernert (4) [b. November 1, 1806, d. March 3, 1864] who married Benjamin Donmoyer [d. about March 5, 1864] of Maxatawny, Berks County, PA, in 1824. Nine children were born of this marriage. Hannah and Benjamin both contracted typhoid fever and succumbed to the ravages of this dreaded disease within a few days of each other.
    2. Catharine Gernert (4) [b. February 8, 1808, d. November 12, 1881] married Daniel Hinterleiter [d. 1889] of Maxatawny, Berks County, PA, on February 27, 1827. They made their home on a farm a few miles east of Kutztown, PA, that had first been owned by Daniel’s uncle. Up through at least 1904, the farm had remained in the family. This couple was blessed with ten children.
    3. Jonas Gernert (4) [b. November 21, 1809, d. March 4, 1893] married Lea Zeigler [d. November 4, 1876] on August 9, 1829. They owned a farm next to the farm that Jonas was born on, and ten children were born of this marriage.
    4. Mary Ann Gernert (4) [b. July 25, 1811, d. March 17, 1868] was married twice. Her first marriage was to Charles Gackenbach in 1834. They made their home in the Trexlertown, PA, area, and of this marriage, four children were born. Her second marriage was to John Bortz on March 10, 1850, and one child was born of this marriage.
    5. Nathan Gernerd (4) [b. January 1, 1813, d. June 13, 1879] married Salome Steininger [d. February 3, 1876] of Upper Macungie, PA, on February 25, 1834. They bought the Gernert homestead where they lived and worked and raised eleven children.
    6. David Gernerd (4) [b. April 13, 1815, d. December 31, 1846] married Lydia Mohr [d. May 6, 1855] of Fogelsville, PA, in 1835. They moved to Muncy, PA, where David was a chairmaker by trade. Only one child was born of this marriage, and it is to him that we genealogists owe a great debt in the gathering of information pertaining to the family line of Anna Rosine and Heinrich Gernhardt.
    7. Solomon Gernert (4) [b. February 20, 1817, d. April 22, 1887] married Annie M. Eisenhart [d. June 10, 1896] on April 20, 1840, and ten children were born of this marriage. They are buried at Jonestown, Lebanon County, PA.
    8. Henry Gernert (4) [b. November 6, 1818, d. November 1, 1860] married Phoebe Eisenhart [d. December 31, 1860] on February 18, 1841. (Phoebe was a sister to Annie, Solomon’s wife.) Eight children were born of this union.
    9. William Gernert (4) [b. January 30, 1821], a harness maker and farmer, was married twice. He was first married on June 16, 1844, to Elizabeth Gross. Of this marriage eleven children were born. Elizabeth died shortly after the birth of her last child on October 30, 1860. His next marriage was to Saloma Gross on May 27, 1862, and one child was born of this marriage. William and his family resided in the Allentown, PA, area.
    10. John Gernert (4) [b. November 7, 1822, d. December 2, 1900] married Hannah Straub [d. March 31, 1890] on February 27, 1845. John was a farmer and cattle dealer, and the family lived in Breinigsville near the place of John’s birth. Eleven children were born of this marriage.
    11. Benjamin German Gernert (4) [b. July 30, 1825, d. March 12, 1908] was married twice. His first marriage was to Caroline Gackenbach [d. June 22, 1862] on May 8, 1849, and two children were born of this marriage. The family lived in Allentown, PA, where Benjamin made his living as a stone mason. His second marriage was to Lucetta Sarah Eisenhart [b. November 2, 1836, d. January 12, 1912] on February 21, 1863. During this marriage, the family lived in Trexlertown where Benjamin became a butcher, and by her, three more children were born. Benjamin and Lucetta are buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Allentown, PA.
    12. Ruben Gernert (4) [b. April 17, 1827, d. July 27, 1875] married Eliza Hinkle [d. May 30, 1894] on July 3, 1849. Four children were born of this marriage. For three years, they lived in Easton where they kept a hotel and found themselves so suited to entertaining the public that in 1872, they purchased a hotel in Allentown, PA, which was very successful. After Ruben’s death, the family continued to run the hotel until 1887.

  4. Catharine Gernhardt (3) [b. February 18, 1783, d. September 3, 1840] married Peter Fogelman [d. October 31, 1848] of Delaware Township, Northumberland County, PA, about 1805. They made their home just a few miles from Catharine’s parents, and in 1820, Peter acquired the title to the land on which he had settled. Of this marriage, five children were born:

    1. Mary Fogelman (4) [b. April 8, 1806, d. April 3, 1852] married Henry Mosteller [d. May 27, 1886] of Monroe County, PA, in 1837. They made their home soon after on a farm at Quaker Hill in Eldred Township, Lycoming County, PA, where eight children were born of the marriage.
    2. John Fogleman (4) [b. July 4, 1809, d. March 7, 1867] married Lydia Treon [d. July 9, 1900] of Muncy, PA, on February 14, 1837. After the death of his father, he bought the family homestead, and it was here that they raised eleven children. John and Lydia are also buried in the Delaware Run cemetery.
    3. Elizabeth Fogleman (4) [b. October 20, 1810, d. June 5, 1878] married Joshua Harleman [d. June 28, 1898] on December 25, 1838. They migrated from Delaware Township to Oregon, IL, and four children were born of the marriage.
    4. Catharine Fogleman (4) [b. November 8, 1814, d. March 14, 1882] married twice. Her first marriage was to John Washington Baker [d. June 15, 1849] on December 26, 1837. The family resided in Muncy Creek Township, Lycoming County, PA, and three children were born of this marriage. After John’s death, Catharine married a second time to Daniel Frey, date unknown. No children were born of this marriage.
    5. Peter Fogleman (4) [b. July 11, 1820, d. October 1, 1881] married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Ann Buck [d. July 1, 1851] in 1843, and of this marriage, five children were born. He next married Hannah Buck, sister of Mary Ann, on March 16, 1852. They moved to Dubuque County, IA, and it was there that ten more children were born, for a total of fifteen children. His first wife Mary Ann is buried in the Delaware Run cemetery next to his parents.

    Catharine and Peter are buried in the Delaware Run churchyard in the vicinity of her parents.

  5. Margaret Gernhardt (3) [b. February 18, 1783, d. June 12, 1836], twin sister of Catherine, married John Litchard [b. about 1788, d. June 18, 1867] about 1807, and they settled east of Muncy in Pennsboro where their first six children were born. About 1818 when their youngest was just a baby, they migrated to Sparta, NY, and settled on a tract of land owned by Margaret’s father. This land was later bequeathed to her in Heinrich’s will, and it was here that the last four children were born. Their children were:

    1. William Litchard (4) [b. December 8, 1808, d. August 30, 1879] married Harriet H. Smith of Setauket, Long Island, NY, in 1832. They settled at Greenport, LI, and four children were born of this marriage.
    2. David Litchard (4) [b. November 23, 1810, d. March 13, 1846] married Lydia Tucker, date unknown. They settled in Sparta, Livington County, NY, and one child was born of this marriage.
    3. John Litchard (4) [b. about 1811/1812] died when he was about two years old.
    4. George Litchard (4) [b. April 28, 1813, d. February 16, 1902] married twice. His first marriage was to Nancy Buzzle on April 14, 1837, and of this marriage, five children were born. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Miller [b. October 5, 1824], and five children were born of this marriage. George and his family made their home in Canusaraga, NY.
    5. Elizabeth Litchard (4) [b. March 11, 1817, d. November 17, 1884] married James Keihle [d. October 28, 1889], date unknown. They made their home in Dansville, NY, and of this marriage, eleven children were born.
    6. Mary Litchard (4) [b. April 18, 1818, d. June 9, 1891] married Isaac Steffy, date unknown. They made their home in Springwater, NY, and four children were born of this marriage
    7. Catharine Litchard (4) [b. December 20, 1820, d. August 25, 1893] married twice. Her first marriage was about 1840 to Baltis Mosteller. The family made their home in Sutlphen, KS, and three children were born of this marriage. Her second marriage occurred November 3, 1858, to John Amess [d. January 1, 1895] of England and by this marriage, four more children were born.
    8. Margaret Rebecca Litchard (4) [b. October 22, 1822] married James Clemons [b. November 11, 1820, d. May 6, 1903] of Conesus, NY, on January 13, 1842, and twelve children were born of this marriage. In 1870, the entire family moved from Burns, NY, to Dickinson County, KS, and settled on 480 acres near Sultphen. The famous “Pike’s Peak Trail” crossed their lands.
    9. Henry Litchard (4) [b. 1823, d. August 27, 1854] married Catharine Ingolson, date unknown. They settled in Sparta, NY, and of this marriage no children were born.
    10. Benjamin Litchard (4) [b. December 26, 1826, d. December 26, 1848] never married.

  6. Baltzer Garnhart (3) [b. August 1785, d. April 12, 1851] married Anna C. Esbach about 1808, and they continued to live at Sinking Springs where Baltzer managed his father’s farm. Like Baltzer, Anna was also born in Northampton County, PA, and her family had migrated to Northumberland County in 1805. After the death and subsequent sale of the property belonging to his father Heinrich, Baltzer bought property two or three miles northwest of the Sinking Springs also in Delaware Township, Northumberland County, PA. The children born of this marriage were:

    1. Mary Garnhart (4) [b. June 15, 1810, d. October 14, 1846] married Samuel Sees [d. September 23, 1887], date unknown. They made their home on a farm less than a mile from the Sinking Spring property, and six children were born of this marriage.
    2. John Garnhart (4) [b. March 12, 1812, d. July 26, 1876] married twice. His first marriage was to Louise J. Moritz [d. September 23, 1861] on June 30, 1833, and of this marriage his first seven children were born. In 1849, John and his family—which at that time included six children—migrated to Ogle County, IL, where John bought a 216-acre farm in Marion Township. They lived there until 1870, when he moved for the last time to Rockford in Winnebago County, IL. His second marriage was to Margaret Parsons on July 4, 1862, and of this marriage one child was born.
    3. Benjamin Garnhart (4) [b. February 22, 1816, d. January 1, 1894] married Susan Martz [d. October 4, 1888] on March 16, 1840. They made their home in Muncy Creek Township in Lycoming County, PA, and seven children were born of this marriage.
    4. Samuel Garnhart (4) [b. October 11, 1818, d. September 21, 1879] married Catharine Hoffman [d. May 23, 1884] on May 6, 1838. The land he bought had once been a part of his father’s estate in Delaware Township, and they were located just three miles from where he was born. Of this marriage, seven children were born.
    5. Daniel Garnhart (4) [b. May 22, 1825] married Susan Treon [d. September 10, 1898] on February 6, 1851. Susan was a younger sister of Margaret, John Garnhart’s second wife. Like his brother Samuel, Daniel and Susan lived on a subdivision of his father’s land, and it was here that they raised a family of ten children.

    Baltzer and Anna are also buried in the same cemetery as his parents and other family members.

  7. Anna Maria Gernhardt (3) [b. September 17, 1786, d. April 8, 1862] married Charles Williams on December 13, 1808, just three years after her father had purchased the Sinking Springs Farm, and for a period of time as directed by her father’s will had remained on the property of the Sinking Springs where all four of their children were born. About 1838, the family moved to Pekin, Niagara County, NY, where they settled on a farm near the river. The children born of this marriage were:

    1. John William (4) [b. June 15, 1809, d. December 29, 1881] married Mary Levan on June 9, 1830. For the early part of their marriage, they lived on a farm near Limestoneville, Montour County, PA, but located in 1838 with John’s parents to Pekin, NY. Of this marriage five children were born.
    2. Rosanna Williams (4) [b. November 5, 1810, d. April 4, 1887] married Nathan Kinman on January 3, 1827. This couple had a total of ten children, eight of which were born before their migration from New York to Bellbrook, Green County, OH in 1847.
    3. David Williams (4) was born January 22, 1812 and died April 13, 1833.
    4. Charles C. Williams (4) [b. March 18, 1813, d. August 21, 1857] married Emily A. Combs [d. 1848] of Chautauqua County, NY on September 1, 1845. This couple had only one child, George Williams (5), who will be mentioned here as he had enlisted in the 23rd Independent Battery of NY and died of yellow fever at Newbern, NC, on October 26, 1864. He was just eighteen years and five months at the time of his death.

  8. Susanna Gernhardt (3) [b. September 24, 1789, d. November 25, 1846], the youngest of Rosine and Heinrich’s children was still single when her father died in 1820. Because of this, Heinrich bequeathed to his daughter certain effects to make their patrimony “equal to what their married sisters get.” Sometime after the death of her father, she married George Mosteller [b. 1784, d. November 15, 1859], date unknown, and one daughter was born of this union:

    1. Rubet Marion (4), born February 6, 1825, died May 1, 1831.

    Susanna and George lived their entire marriage in Delaware Township, just three miles from the Sinking Springs Farm. They are buried side by side with their daughter in the Delaware Run Church and graveyard.

Rosine died before her husband Heinrich, who died around the year 1820, and they are buried at Delaware Run in an unmarked grave.

Questions or comments: Email me and include Gernhardt or Genealogy in the subject line.
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