Tombstone Tuesday: Christopher Hocker (1739-1819) Could This Be Adam and Elizabeth's Son?
I was kind of excited when I first found this entry for Christopher Hocker on Find A Grave. Uncle Bill determined through his research that our Christopher left Harrisburg, moved north, and his family settled in Lycoming County. Could this entry be for our Christopher and finally provide a death date and burial place?
Find A Grave Entry: Christopher Hocker
But in looking at the data, the only things that match are the name and death location.1 The birth date and death date don’t fit. Not at all.
Son of Adam and Elisabetha (Weidman) Hacker
What do we know about our Christopher?
He was born 21 February 1760 in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, baptized at Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, and sponsored by his uncle Christopher Weidman.2 Stophel,3 as he was called, was the third son of Johann Adam Hacker and his wife Maria Elisabetha Weidman.
Like his older brothers Frederick and John, Christopher served in the Lancaster County militia under Captain Michael Oberly in 1781.4 And like his brothers John, and Adam, he moved to Harrisburg after his father’s death. The three of them are listed in Harrisburg tax records in 1791.5 He’s found in various land and tax records in Lower Paxton Township from about 1795 through 1807.
So, about that time he left the Harrisburg area and started moving north. According to the 1810 census for Mohantango Township, Northumberland County, he was an innkeeper with three males between 10 and 26 and four females between 0 and 26, along with himself (45+) and his wife (26-45).6 In 1820, he can be found in the census enumeration for Williamsport.7 His household included one male under 10, one male over 45, one female under 10, one female 10-16, one female 16-26, and one female 26-45. The 1830 census shows him aged 60-70, living in Chapman Township, Union County.8 His household also included a male 5-10, a male 10-15, a female 15-20, a female 20-30, and a female 40-50.
If these records pertain to our Christopher, then he was alive as of 1830 and obviously didn’t die in 1819. Since the record includes a photo of the gravestone, what can it tell us?
If you look at the photo—even enlarged—it’s hard to read. But even so, I’m not seeing a death date in March 1819. To me it looks more like May 183[?], possibly 1839? And his age at death? Seventy something years, maybe two[?] months and [?] days. Since the birth date is not on the stone, the date in the memorial entry is likely calculated from the death date and age at death. If one of those was interpreted incorrectly from the gravestone, then the birthday would be off.
If I’m correct about the gravestone not matching the record entry and if it reads 1830 or 1839 and if his age at death was 70 or 79 years, then it’s possible that it could be a match for our Christopher who would have been 70 years old as of 21 February 1830.
I’ve submitted a request for a new photo—one that I hope is easier to read. Until some kind soul helps, this record will just have to stay in the “I’m hopeful the record is wrong and I’m reading the stone correctly; it could be a match” category.
