Author: Kris Hocker

My Hoover Research

Kris Hocker on 2 Apr 2009

In researching my Hoover family line, I’ve always hit a brick wall at my great-great-great-grandfather Christian Hoover. He seemed to appear almost from nowhere. Family history regarding Christian and Caroline (Kinnard) Hoover was vague and sometimes contradictory. Here’s what the older family members recall about the Hoover family, specifically regarding Christian:

  1. Christian was one of seven brothers who immigrated to this country from Germany, through Holland, in 1817 and settled in York County.
  2. The Hoover family came from southern Pennsylvania and moved northward.
  3. Christian was born in 1826.
  4. Christian was the son of one of the seven brothers.
  5. Christian cleared his land of trees and built a log house and barn along the road from Karthaus to Driftwood.
  6. Christian was a self-taught veterinarian, horse breeder, and trader.
  7. Christian and his first wife, Caroline Kinnard, had 4 sons: Reuben, Samuel, Simon, and George.
  8. Christian and his second wife, Mary Conaway, had 1 daughter: Edith.

I was able to verify points #7 and #8 through my research in census reports, vital records and the estate records of both Caroline (Kinnard) Hoover and Christian Hoover.

I have a picture of a house that I’m told belonged to Christian Hoover and deeds of sale for property in Covington township, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania after Christian’s death in 1888. The property is referred to as the “Dodge lands” from warrant 5404, but that’s the best I can identify/locate the property.

The closest I’ve come to locating parents for Christian was when I found a census record for 1850 for the Philip Hoover household in Plum Creek township, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania.1 The family is listed as follows:

  • Philip Hoover, 48, M, Farmer, 1500
  • Hannah, 48, F
  • Christopher, 25, M, Farmer
  • Mary Anne, 23, F
  • John T, 21, M, Farmer
  • Margaret, 19, F
  • Barbara, 17, F
  • Wm, 15, M, Farmer
  • Jacob, 13, M
  • Ralston, 11, M
  • Sarah, 8, F
  • Samuel M., 5, M

Philip’s son Christopher is the correct age to be my Christian. The death certificate of Simon Hoover, son of my Christian Hoover, lists Christian’s birth place as Armstrong county. Additionally, Christian’s wife Caroline (Kinnard) Hoover was the daughter of Thomas and Maria (Fisher) Kinnard of Armstrong county.2  So, I have circumstantial evidence that Christian is the son of Philip and Hannah, but no real proof—no baptism or marriage record, no mention of siblings or parents in any of the information on Christian.

To further frustrate me, in the late 1870s Philip sold his property in Armstrong county and moved west with his son Jacob to Kansas where he died and was buried in 1882. The likelihood of his having left estate papers naming Pennsylvania heirs is slim. Jacob, meanwhile, continued his westward migration until the family finally settled in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, Washington. Jacob married Julia Ann Rupert, I believe daughter of Isaac/Israel Rupert and Christina (___).

I know little on the other children of Philip and Hannah (Thomas) Hoover. Mary Ann may have married a Fisher and died in Kansas. William may have been in the 62nd 63rd Regiment, Company C G during the Civil War with his brother Ralston, who died on 18 Jun 1862 at the Baltimore Cross Roads in Virginia.3

However, if Christian is the son of Philip and Hannah (Thomas) Hoover, then points #1, #2, and #4 are not quite correct. I was far luckier in researching Philip than I have been with Christian. There is a manuscript at the Pennsylvania State Library by Luella Schaumberg Hoover entitled “Some Descendants of Andrew Hoover.” Her research was invaluable to fleshing out Philip’s ancestry.

Philip’s grandfather (George) and great-grandfather (Andrew) immigrated to the United States in 1754 along with the rest of the Andrew’s family. They first settled near Leitersburg, Frederick county (now Washington county), Maryland. Then about 1769 moved to Fayette county, Pennsylvania.4

So, yes they came to Clearfield county from the south, but not from York county.5 They came to this country some 63 years before the family’s estimate and Christian was most likely not the son, but the great-grandson and great-great-grandson of the immigrants.

Update! Additional research has shown that Christian’s grandfather George Hoover was the son of Michael Hoover, not Andrew Hoover. While I don’t have a year of immigration, tax records put them in Derry Township, Dauphin County by 1758. They remained there through at least 1763 when Rosannah Hoover was baptized. The family moved south, settling near Hagerstown, Maryland by 1773—and, ironically, near Andrew Hoover’s family—for some time before moving west to Bedford (now Somerset) County in the spring of 1773, then Westmoreland County by 1779. George and, likely, his sons, moved north again about 1800 to Armstrong County to land on Crooked Creek in Plum Creek Township. Unlike many Huber/Hoover families, this family did not practice the Mennonite faith. They were Lutherans.

Photo: Greulich Family Generations

Kris Hocker on 1 Apr 2009

Greulich Family Photo

Greulich Family Photo


Standing, L to R:\

Clarence Franklin Greulich, Marie (Letterhouse) Dise, Linwood Greulich (hidden), Kate Amanda (Weil) Greulich, Carrie A. (Greulich) Letterhouse (partly hidden), Alda (Greulich) Broadwater, Linwood’s Anna (Hunsberger) Greulich (hidden), Anna E. (Greulich) Keller, Chester’s Annie M. (Scholl) Greulich, Ralph Keller(?), Frances A. (Schantz) Greulich, Loretta C. (Hill) Keller(?), Theodore Greulich, Elmer’s Lillie Witmer (Snyder) Greulich, Michael Francis Donnelly, Elmer Calvin Greulich, Minnie L. (Greulich) Donnelly, Flora (Greulich) Sterner, Albert Sterner, John Wieder, Katharine Jane (Greulich) Wieder, Charles Ambrose Greulich.

Seated. L to R:

Wilmer N. Dise, Marjorie Dise(?), Lewis Keller, Leslie Keller(?), Edna M. (Moore) Greulich, Carl Greulich(?), Bill Wieder, Wilmer Greulich (the new addition).

I believe this identification to be correct. Bill Wieder (seated second from right) sent me his best estimate on who everyone was. There are 3~4 generations of Greulichs in this photo.

Tuesday Tombstone: Catharina Hacker

Kris Hocker on 31 Mar 2009

Catharina (FUCHS) HACKER

Catharina (FUCHS) HACKER

Catharina (FUCHS) HACKER was the wife of Frederick3 HACKER (Johan Adam2, Christoph1). She was born 23 Sep 1756 died 6 Apr 1806 in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.[1] She was buried beside her husband in the Emanuel Lutheran Church cemetery in Brickerville, Pennsylvania. The couple married 26 Oct 1779 at Reiher’s Reformed Church in Lancaster.[2]

Footnotes:

  1. Xakellis, Martha J., Grave Undertakings – Elizabeth Township (Apoll0, Pennsylvania: Closson Press), Volume 1; Catharina (FUCHS) HACKER tombstone, Emanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Brickerville, Pennsylvania; photographed by Kris Hocker, November 2001.
  2. Wright, F. Edward, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Church Records of the 18th Century, Volume 1, (Westminster, Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 1994), page 150.

All Blue-Eyed People Share Common Ancestor

Kris Hocker on 31 Mar 2009

The article “Blue-eyed humans have a single, common ancestor” in the Innovations Report states that:

“New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.”

Unlike green eyes—which, according to the article, are only a variation of brown—blue eyes are not merely a variation of the amount of melanin in the iris. The genetic mutation actually “resulted in the creation of a ‘switch’, which literally ‘turned off’ the ability to produce brown eyes.” The switch doesn’t completely turn off the ability to produce melanin in the iris, but reduces the production of melanin in the iris to the point that brown eye color is completely diluted to blue. Any variation in the amount of melanin in the iris in a blue-eyed person would then only change the shade of blue. Cool.

So, I wonder how that got passed on. The trait is a recessive, meaning you need to get it from both parents. Does that mean that our blue-eyed ancestor had brown-eyed children, and they had brown-eyed children and so on until brown-eyed descendants who carried that gene got together and started producing blue-eyed children and then those blue-eyed children got together…?

I have blue eyes. I’m the product of two blue-eyed parents. However, three of my four grandparents had brown eyes. I have brown-eyed aunts and uncles. In my family just in the last two generations we show the results of chance in genetics. Both my parents just happened to get the blue-eyed gene from their parents. Then they could only pass on the blue-eyed gene…

Makes you think, huh? How has this played out in your family?

Photo: Elmer Calvin Greulich

Kris Hocker on 27 Mar 2009

Elmer Calvin Greulich (1880—1947)

Elmer Calvin Greulich (1880—1947)

Elmer Calvin Greulich, youngest son of Charles Philipp Greulich and Caroline K. Wolf, was born 6 Aug 1880 in East Greenville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania and died 10 Jan 1947 in Lansdale, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. On 21 Sep 1901, he married Lillian Witmer Snyder, daughter of Henry D. Snyder and Saraphine K. Witmer.

Friday Finds: Philipp Peter Greulich

Kris Hocker on 27 Mar 2009

According to my grandfather’s research, his ancestor Charles (Karl) Philipp Greulich’s step-brother (or maybe half-brother) Philipp Peter Greulich, who remained in Haag after Charles emigrated from Germany to the U.S., never married and never had any children.

Imagine my surprise when a half-hearted search on FamilySearch.org found in the IGI for Germany a marriage in Haag for Philipp Peter Greulich to Anna Elisabetha Berger. Haag is the village the family came from where Philipp inherited the shoe shop from his father Georg Philipp Greulich. The birth and death dates given were also a match.

All of a sudden, instead of a dead end in Germany there’s the possibility of family in Germany! Here’s what I knew about Philipp Peter Greulich.

Philipp Peter Greulich was born 13 Dec 1806, son of Maria Katharina Lindebach. She married Georg Philipp Greulich on 17 Dec 1815 in Haag, Germany. Georg adopted her son and he was given the surname Greulich. Philipp’s biological father is unknown, but I was told that there was the possibility that Georg was the father. If that were the case, I have no idea why they waited to marry until Philipp was 9. Katharina died 29 Oct 1832 and Georg married again in 1833 to Anna Margaretha (Wurzel) Jakob. His second married produced Eva Katharina and Karl Philipp in 1834 and 1838. Margaretha died in 1854 and Georg died in 1855, leaving his shoe shop to his eldest son Philipp.  The orphans Eva Elisabetha, age 21, and Karl (later to become Charles), age 17 left Germany for the United States.

I always wondered—if Philipp hadn’t married and didn’t have kids—why would Eva Elisabetha and Karl leave Germany? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to stay and help with the business in Haag? The information I found in the IGI actually makes sense of their emigration.

I found the marriage of Philipp and Elisabeth (Berger) Greulich on 27 Mar 1832 in Haag, Germany. I also found record of four children:

  1. Anna Margaretha Greulich, born 15 May 1833 and died 20 Sep 1833 in Haag
  2. Georg Philipp, born 13 May 1834 and died 11 Sep 1852 in Haag
  3. Georg Adam, born 17 May 1837 and died 12 Nov 1837 in Haag
  4. Philipp, born 29 Apr 1841 in Haag

There may have been other children; these were the only ones I found.

So, the departure of Philipp’s siblings for America makes sense to me if he was married and had a family to support. He would not have needed assistance with the business. His son Philipp would have been 14, old enough to help out. If there were other surviving children, then there most likely wouldn’t have been enough revenue from a village business to support a brother and sister as well.

And so begins the start of a future research project: the Greulichs of Haag, Baden, Germany.

Jacob and Sarah (___) Hacker

Kris Hocker on 26 Mar 2009

I’m seeking information on the family of Jacob and Sarah (___) Hacker of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They are another of my loose ends. I’d like to figure out where they fit in the Hacker/Hocker family. Any help would be appreciated.

Jacob K./R.Hacker was born 26 Aug 1838 and died 16 Feb 1906. He was buried in Bowman’s Cemetery, Ephrata, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Circa 1870, Jacob married Sarah M./A. (___), probably in Lancaster county. Sarah was born 6 Feb 1849 and died 26 Jul 1921. She, too, was buried in Bowman’s cemetery.

Jacob and Sarah Hacker, I believe, had the following children:

  1. Franklin K. Hacker (ca 1870—1952) married Maggie M. Rishel.
  2. Amanda K. Hacker (ca 1872—?) married John S. Turner
  3. Jacob Hacker (ca Feb 1789—aft 1910)
  4. Emma Hacker (Dec 1883—?) married Frank A. Crall?
  5. Annie K. Hacker (May 1886—?) married William I. Mull?
  6. Elizabeth Hacker (Nov 1888—?)
  7. Lottie Hacker (27 Aug 1892—11 Nov 1895)

Photo: Morris Linton Greulich

Kris Hocker on 25 Mar 2009

Morris Linton Greulich (1866—1931)

Morris Linton Greulich (1866—1931)

Morris Linton Greulich, second and eldest surviving son of Charles Philipp Greulich and Caroline K. Wolf, was born 7 Jun 1866 in East Greenville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania and died 25 Jan 1931. He married on 15 Jan 1887 Elizabeth “Lizzie” Butterweck Fox, daughter of John Fox and Elizabeth Butterweck.

Will of Jacob Hacker

Kris Hocker on 24 Mar 2009

This is a transcription of the last will and testament of Jacob Hacker (1803—1873) of Elizabeth township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.

I’m am seeking to determine whether or not this Jacob Hocker/Hacker belongs to my Lancaster Hackers, and if so, where. He’s of an age to possibly be the son of George3 and Christina (Miller) Hacker or John4 and either Salome or Susanna (Moser) Hacker.

Last Will and Testament of Jacob Hocker

Jacob Hocker, Dec’d

I, Jacob Hocker of the Township of Elizabeth County of Lancaster, and State of Pennsylvania, being of sound mind, memory and understanding, do make and publish this my last will and testament, hereby revoking and making void all former wills by me at any time heretofore made,

1st I order and direct my body to be decently buried, suitable gravestone to be procured and placed at my grave, and the costs of theses as well as all my other just debts and funeral expenses, to be paid as soon conveniently can be done after my decease,

2nd I give and bequeath to my wife Mary Hocker, such articles of my furniture, as she may select to retain for her use said articles so selected by me wife shall be appraised and the amount deducted from the three hundred dollars to which she is otherwise entitled out of my estate,

3rd I order and direct that the rest and residue of my furniture and all personal property in my possession, to be appraised and sold at public sale,

4th I order and direct, that my real estate shall also be sold, and converted into money as soon as conveniently can be done authorizing my executors, to make good and sufficient title deeds unto the purchase n purchasers thereof

5th I order, will and direct that after all my property both real and personal be converted into money by my hereinafter mentioned executors that all my debts by fully paid and satisfied, and the balance, I give and bequeath to my said wife Mary Hocker, during her lifetime and after her decease, the balance if any remains, to be divided in equal shares to and among my five children namely, Eli, Allen, Martin, Henry and Benjamin Hocker

6th I order, will and direct however, that if my son Eli, should fail to pay the judgment on which I am security—And said judgment must be paid out of the proceeds of my estate he shall not be entitled to any thing after my said wifes decease if anything remains as before stated

7th I appoint my two sons Allen Hocker and Martin Hocker, to be my executors of this my last will and testament, in Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty fifth 25th day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three (1873)

Jacob his mark X Hocker

signed, sealed, published and declared by the above named Jacob Hocker, to be his last will and testament in the presence of us, who at his request and in his presence have subscribed our names as witnesses therewith

Joel Hippert
Isreal G. Erb

Lancaster County, S.S.
On the 13th day of August A.D. 1873 before me the subscribers personally appeared Joel Hippert, and Israel G. Erb Esq., the subscribing witnesses to the preceding will and on their solemn affirmation did declare and say that they were present and saw and heard Jacob Hocker, the testator therein named, sign, seal, publish, pronounce and declare the same to be his last will and testament, and that at the time of the doing thereof he was of sound and well disposing mind, memory and understanding to the best of their knowledge, observation, and belief.   J.S. Albright, Depy Regr.

August 13th A.D. 1873, Setters Testamentory granted to Allen Hocker, and Martin Hocker the executors named in the annexed will they being duly affirmed and well and truly to administer the goods and chattels, rights and credits which were of the testate according to the law, and also that they will diligently and faithfully regard and well and truly comply with the provisions of the law relating to collateral inheritance.    J.S. Albright Depy Regr

Photo: Caroline (Wolf) Greulich

Kris Hocker on 24 Mar 2009

Caroline (Wolf) Greulich

Caroline K. (Wolf) Greulich

Caroline K. (Wolf) Greulich, daugher of Joel and Elizabeth (Krauss) Greulich, was born 10 Mar 1845 and died 24 Apr 1915 in East Greenville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

She was the second wife of Charles Philipp Greulich, son of Georg Philipp and Anna Margaretha (Wurzel) Greulich. The couple married 17 Aug 1864 and had 13 children, one of whom—Clarence Jefferson—died as an infant.