On the Trail of John and Jacob Hocker Part One: Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Kris Hocker on 22 Feb 2009

Adam3 Hocker (Adam2, Christoph1) came to Dauphin County in the late 1780s. He is listed as a tavern owner in the Harrisburg tax list of 1787. About 1787, he married Sophia Maria [Hershey?], probably in Harrisburg. This couple had eight children, as follows:

  1. John4 Hocker, born 30 Aug 1788, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
  2. Anna Barbara Hocker, born 26 Apr 1791, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
  3. George Hocker, born 21 Jan 1794, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
  4. Jacob Hocker, born 22 Sep 1796, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and possibly baptized 12 Feb 1797, Zion Evangelical Church, Hummelstown1
  5. Benjamin Hocker, born 1 Mar 1799 and died 14 Mar 1799, Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
  6. Johan Adam Hocker, born 19 Jun 1802, Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and baptized 19 Jan 1803, Zion Evangelical Church, Hummelstown2
  7. Benjamin Hocker, born 1 Dec 1805, Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
  8. Elizabeth Hocker, born 5 Jan 1811 and died 25 Aug 1811, Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Adam died in testate about Nov 1821 in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. His heirs petitioned the Orphans Court to partition Adam’s estate in May 1822.3 John and Jacob Hocker purchased two tracts of land in Derry Township from their father’s estate in 1823.4 George and Adam Hocker purchased their father’s Swatara Township property from the estate.

John and Jacob Hocker appear in the 1830 U.S. census for Derry Township, Dauphin County, living adjacent to each other.5 The households were enumerated as follows:

John Hocker

  • Male under 5 (born 1826-1830)
  • Male 40-50 (born 1780-1790)
  • Female 5-10 (born 1820-1825)
  • Female 20-30 (born 1800-1810)

The eldest male in this household was John Hocker, the eldest female, most likely his wife, Catharina. The baptisms of two daughters of John and Catharina were recorded in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in Hummelstown prior to 1830. Either Margareth Hocker, baptized on 27 Jul 18236, or Anna Hocker, born 15 Oct 1824 and baptized 12 Jun 18257, died prior to this census enumeration. Because later records include Anna, it can be inferred that it was Margareth that died. Otherwise, the members of this household match the known information about John Hocker, son of Adam Hocker.

Jacob Hocker

  • Male born under 5 (born 1826-1830)
  • Male born 30-40 (born 1790-1800)
  • Female under 5 (born 1826-1830)
  • Female 20-30 (born 1800-1810)

The eldest male in this household was Jacob Hocker, the eldest female, his wife Barbara. The younger male and female were likely children of this marriage.

Although, no marriage record has been located for the marriage of Jacob and Barbara, we know they married based on two documents. The first was the inquest for the estate of John Noll. In it the petitioner Jacob Hocker is named as being “intermarried with Barbara Noll, eldest daughter and heir at law of the late John Noll, late of Derry Township…”8 The second, mentioned below, was the sale of property John and Jacob bought from their father’s estate.

John and Jacob Hocker do not appear in the records of Derry Township after 1838. They appear in township tax records between 1823, when they appear as the heirs of Adam Hocker, and 1838 when their names are crossed out and “to Benjamin Hocker” is written in.9 The brothers sold their Derry Township property to Benjamin Hocker on 2 April 1839.10 John Hocker and Catharine, his wife, and Jacob Hocker and Barbara, his wife, all signed the deed. Their brothers George and Adam Hocker were their sureties.

What happened to John and Jacob after 1838? We know from the tax records that they did not remain in the area, but these records provide no hint as to their destination. A possible lead appeared in an article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Gaius M. Brumbaugh wrote an article in Volume 19, Number 3 (1931) that states that John Hocker, son of Martin Hocker, married Catharina Sterling and settled in Hummelstown, Pa. where he was a minister in the River Brethren Church.11 The article states that the family moved to Montgomery County, Ohio in 1839.

The next installment will examine this article as a lead on John and Jacob’s destination after they left Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

Adam Howdyshell/Houdeshell

Kris Hocker on 22 Feb 2009

I am struggling to locate Adam and Mary (Sine) Howdyshell and their sons, Adam, Jr., Daniel, Isaac, John W. and George Westfall after the Civil War. Census records place them in Hardy County, Virginia (West Virginia) in 1860, but not in 1870 or 1880. The sixth son, James Benjamin turns up in Pennsylvania in 1870, but there is no indication that the rest of his family moved north, too.

UPDATE: I’ve located Adam Howdyshell living with his son George W. Houdeshell in Bear Creek, Henry County, Missouri in 1880. I haven’t located them in 1870, yet. Adam Jr. and Isaac Howdyshell were living in Newton Township, Licking County, Ohio in 1870. Daniel and John W.’s whereabouts remain a mystery.

UPDATE: I’ve located Adam Howdyshell/Houdeshell Jr. in 1880 in Elm Creek township, Morris county, Kansas. His sons Daniel and John appear in the 1900 Elm Creek township, Morris county, Kansas census; Daniel in the 1910 census for the same location; and Daniel’s son Samuel in the 1920 census, same location.

Christopher Hocker/Hacker

Kris Hocker on 22 Feb 2009

I am looking for information on Christopher HOCKER (original spelling: Hacker). He was born ca. 1776 at Erdenheim, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, to Johann George HOCKER and Margaretta WEIDMAN. Christopher married Catherine DAUB 10 Apr 1799 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

However, sometime around 1808, finding himself deep in debt, Christopher apparently fled Pennsylvania and his wife. He wound up in Ohio, where he married again and raised a family. I do not know who he married or where they lived. They had at least one child – George Washington HOCKER, born 16 Aug 1814, Ohio – who returned to Pennsylvania and married Elizabeth SCHEETZ, born Nov 1820, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Christopher/Christian Hoover

Kris Hocker on 22 Feb 2009

Christopher HOOVER is also giving me some trouble. According to family “legend,” Christopher came to Pennsylvania with seven brothers. However, according to his sons’ census records, Christopher was born in Pennsylvania. While I have been able to locate Christopher’s sons – Reuben, Samuel Thomas, Simon Edward, and George from 1870 to 1920 – and his wife Caroline KINNARD in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania in 1860 in census records, so far there’s been no sign of Christopher.
I have been “collecting” Hoovers from the 1850 census. Unfortunately, since I do not know the names of Christopher’s parents or siblings or his approximate date of birth, this has not proven fruitful.

UPDATE: With estate records for Thomas KINNARD of Armstrong county, I’ve been able to tie my ancestress Caroline KINNARD to both the Caroline in Jefferson county and to Thomas’s family. According to these records, Thomas’ daughter, Caroline, was married to Christopher HOOVER and the couple was in Jefferson county ca 1865. This gives me hope that I’ll be able to tie Christian/Christopher to the family of Philip HOOVER, also of Armstrong county.