52 Ancestors: Anna (Frantz) Hocker (1827-1918)
Anna (Frantz) Hocker, widow of Levi Hocker, died on 3 February 1918 in Pennsylvania.1 Her death certificate began my research into her family.
What did I learn from this death certificate?
- Anna died at 102 Tuscarora Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- Anna was a widow.
- Anna was born 13 September 1828.
- Anna was 90 years, 3 months and 20 days old when she died.
- Anna died 3 February 1918.
- Anna died from a cerebral hemorrhage of 13 days duration.
- Anna was born in Pennsylvania.
- Anna’s father was named Michael Frantz.
- Michael was born in Pennsylvania.
- Anna’s mother was named Eliza Walters.
- Eliza was born in Pennsylvania.
- Anna was buried in Oberlin Cemetery on 7 February 1918.
Some of the information in this record is likely to be more reliable than the rest. Since this is her death record, information regarding her death was completed at or about the time of her death. If you look at #15 on the certificate, you will see that it was filed on 6 February 1918, 3 days after her death by D.H. Ellinger, the local registrar. This information is more likely to be accurate than secondhand information like her birth date. That’s not to say the secondhand data isn’t correct, just that it must be verified through other records.
Anna died at 102 Tuscarora Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
In this case, Anna died at the same address as that of the record’s informant: H. Hershey Hocker, who turns out to be Anna’s son. According to an article about her 88th birthday celebration, Anna had made her home with her son for several years.2 As early as 1910, Hershey, Anna and Sarah, Hershey’s wife, were all living at 102 Tuscarora.3
The house was still standing as of June 2011 and can be seen on the “street view” at Google Maps.
Anna was a widow.
Her husband Levi Hocker had died 31 October 1876.4
Anna was born 13 September 1828.
According to her death certificate, Anna was born 13 September 1828. Her gravestone indicates that she was born in 1827. Two newspaper articles were written—one each for her 88th and 89th birthdays in 1915 and 1916, placing birth in 1827.5 Her age in census records is consistent with a late 1827 birthday. The 1900 census states she was born in September 1827.6 So, Hershey was only off by one year on his mother’s date of birth.
Anna was born in Pennsylvania.
Census records consistently state that Anna was born in Pennsylvania.
Anna’s father was named Michael Frantz; Michael was born in Pennsylvania.
According to the History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania by Luther Reily Kelker, “Anna, [wife of] Levi Hocker, deceased” was the daughter of Michael Frantz and his second wife Elizabeth Walters.7 Michael Frantz was born to Michael Frantz and Feronica Nissley in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania8 on 24 May 1789 [calculated] and died 5 June 1865.9 His death occurred four days before Anna gave birth to her youngest surviving son, Herbert Hershey Hocker.10 While, Hershey may not have known his maternal grandfather, I’m fairly certain he knew of him. Especially because…
Anna’s mother was named Elizabeth Walters.
In 1880, an Elizabeth Frantz, “mother,” was living in Anna Hocker’s household with Anna and some of her children—Francis Michael, Curtin, Maggie and Hershey—as was Maggie Frantz, “sister.”11 Hershey was 14 years old at that time, so he certainly knew—and remembered—his maternal grandmother and Aunt Maggie.
Elizabeth’s gravestone in Churchville cemetery names her as “Elizabeth Walters wife of Michael Frantz.”12
Eliza was born in Pennsylvania.
Per the 1880 census, Elizabeth and her parents were all born in Pennsylvania.
All in all, Hershey only made a minor error in the information he provided for his mother’s death certificate and this information led me to additional information on Anna and her parents.
Summary
Anna Frantz, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Walters) Frantz, was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania—most likely on her father’s property near Oberlin. She married Levi Hocker on 6 February 1851 and the couple settled in Swatara Township where Levi was a farmer. Levi died in 1876, but Anna survived to the age of 90, dieing 3 February 1918 at her son Hershey’s home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Anna and Levi had 9 children:
- Benjamin Franklin Hocker (1852-1919)
- Francis Michael Hocker (1854-1919)
- Mary Elizabeth Hocker Farnsler (1855-1939)
- Emma L. Hocker Brinser (1857-1942)
- George Warren Hocker (1858-1868)
- Albert Curtin Hocker (1860-1940)
- Margaret A. Hocker Hughes (1863-1957)
- Herbert Hershey Hocker (1865-1946)
- John Edward Hocker (1869-1873)
Anna and Levi were my 3x great grandparents.
This post is part of an ongoing, blogging challenge entitled 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Crow of No Story Too Small. Participants must write about one ancestor every week. This is my fifteenth 52 Ancestors post and part of week twenty-five.
