Private Levi F. Hocker of Co. F, 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, in uniform with pistol and sword, on horseback (source: Library of Congress)
Levi F. Hocker, son of Johan Adam and Mary (Hoover) Hocker III, was born 2 October 1843 and died 28 March 1899 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He served in Company F, 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil War. He married Frances R. Steigelman on 18 Jan 1866 in New Kingston, Cumberland County.
There were two Levi Hockers from Pennsylvania who enlisted in 1862: Levi F. Hocker who enlisted on 23 Sep 1862, and Levi Hocker who enlisted on 15 Sep 1862. Levi F. Hocker reportedly served in the 17th Cavalry, Company F, which was recruited from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1862. The company fought at Trevillian Station in Virginia between the 11th and 13th of June 1864. Levi F. Hocker reported in his application for invalid pension on 11 January 1878 that he had been wounded on or about the 11th of June 1864 at Trevillian Station. His reply of 10 February 1892 to the government’s denial of the pension was supported by Benjamin W. Hocker of Cumberland County. Benjamin states that he knew Levi intimately and had seen the injury on Levi’s return home in 1864.
Wingeard, I believe, inappropriately attributed him as the son of Peter and Hannah (Reinhold) Hocker of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Given the location of recruitment (Cumberland County) and Benjamin Hocker’s statement supporting Levi’s application, I feel it is more likely that Levi F. was the son of Adam and Mary (Hoover) Hocker, who lived in Cumberland County, than it is that he was the son of Peter and Hannah (Reinhold) Hacker of Lancaster County.
Adam and Mary (Hoover) Hocker were in Cumberland County by 1840 when Adam Hocker appeared as a head of household in North Middleton Township. They were still farming in North Middleton in 1850 where their household included:
- Adam, aged 47
- Mary, aged 41
- Jeremiah, aged [14?]
- Mary, aged 20
- Elizabeth, aged 16
- Fanny, aged 13
- Isemia, aged 9
- Levi, aged 6
- Benjamin, aged 4
The family can be also found in Cumberland County during the 1860 enumeration of Middlesex Township.
Meanwhile, Peter and Hannah Hocker can be found consistently in Lancaster County in Ephrata, Elizabeth and Clay townships, respectively in 1840, 1850, and 1860. In 1850, their household included:
- Peter, aged 37
- Hannah, aged 35
- Susanna, aged 13
- Jacob, aged 12
- Mary Ann, aged 10
- Levi, aged 7
- Rebecca, aged 4
- Elizabeth, aged 2
Both Levi and Benjamin Hocker were living in Cumberland County in 1880—Levi in Monroe Township and Benjamin in Middlesex Township. Levi died there in 1899 and was buried in Mount Holly Springs Cemetery.
