Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Spouses
Birthabout 1695, Schornsheim, Germany
Mother8G GM Catherine Heyd
ChildrenJohn Jacob (1731-1802)
Parent-Proof notes for 7G GM Maria Catherine Reinick
The name of her father comes from the Ancestry World Tree of Danielle Harrison.
Parent-Proof notes for Johannes (Spouse 1)
The names of his parents comes from the extensive Ancestry World Tree of Danielle Harrison. Ordinarily, I might not include their names in my family tree, since my source is just that family tree, but in this case that family tree has proven to be quite accurate in the picture it portrays about how all the Hassingers of Snyder County fit together into a unified family tree. I have verified most of what it says and am willing to believe this additional thing.
Relocated notes for Johannes (Spouse 1)
IMMIGRANT. He arrived America on the ship Judith 15 Sep 1748, along with Jacob who I believe was his son.
Research notes for Johannes (Spouse 1)
Fisher states his belief that the Johannes Hassinger who died in Snyder County in 1797 and arrived on the ship Juidth was the brother of John Jacob Sr. The AWT I have cited says he was the father.
My Comments notes for Johannes (Spouse 1)
There is some confusion as to whether Johannes and his wife emigrated or not and whether the Johannes who was listed on the ship Judith along with John Jacob (1731) was in fact John Jacob’s brother or father.
The story gets even more confused when this fact is introduced: in 1797 Johannes Hassinger died and Catherine, his presumed wife, was named Administrator of his estate. The initial conclusion is that John Jacob’s father, whose wife was named Catherine, was the immigrant Johannes in 1748 and that he died in 1797. Catherine becomes the connective link.
But Charles A Fisher in Snyder County Pioneers said that the immigrants Johannes and John Jacob were brothers. So which is it -- father and son, or brothers?
I found a very good discussion on this point posted by Thom Carlson on the Hassinger Message Boards. He said:
The evidence in support of the “father” theory seems to reduce to two points:
1) Johannes Hassinger, the father, married Maria Catherine Reineck.
2) Who else could it have been who died in 1797, was there another Johannes whose wife was Catherine?
But then Thom argues the contrary point by saying:
1) Johannes Hassinger, the father, is now known to have been born circa 1695, given the church records in Germany, so that he would have been over 100 years old in 1797. Similarly, his wife Catherine Reineck was born between 1700-1710. While not impossible, it is highly unlikely that both survived the Pennsylvania frontier to become centenarians.
2) A study of the 1800 Census shows there was a Catherine, clearly a widow, and we learn she was age 26-45. [There was also a young widow Catherine listed in 1810, but I think she may have been a different one.]
3) David Nyhart, one of the bondsmen for Catherine Hassinger, in 1797, on the estate of her late husband John, was a neighbor of Herman Hassinger on Swatara Creek. (Herman Hassinger was apparently another son of Johannes, the one born in 1695.)
4) Herman Hassinger baptized a son Johannes in 1765 at the Altahala Church in Berks County.
5) Thom has seen mention but not found an actual document that states that a John Hassinger married a Catherine Sehler/Seyler on 9 Dec 1788.
So Thom argues that there was another Johannes/Catherine candidate, and the Johannes that died in 1797 was this younger Johannes. He does not address, though, who the Johannes was on the same ship as John Jacob.
From my reading of the various credible family trees on this family, I would add these points left out of the discussion above.
1) It is not clear that the older Johannes even had a son named Johannes. Of his known sons and based on their birth dates (which I believe must be based on German church records), Jacob was the only one “of age” -- old enough that he would have been listed as a passenger in 1748. The others were too young.
2) A theory that would explain everything is that the two men named as passengers were father and son, that the father died well before 1797, and that it was a much younger Johannes probably even of Generation 3 in America, who died in 1797 with wife Catherine. Who he was, for me, is not that important a question.
I believe Johannes was our immigrant ancestor. His 17-year-old son, Jacob, also our ancestor, and his younger sons came at the same time.
The story gets even more confused when this fact is introduced: in 1797 Johannes Hassinger died and Catherine, his presumed wife, was named Administrator of his estate. The initial conclusion is that John Jacob’s father, whose wife was named Catherine, was the immigrant Johannes in 1748 and that he died in 1797. Catherine becomes the connective link.
But Charles A Fisher in Snyder County Pioneers said that the immigrants Johannes and John Jacob were brothers. So which is it -- father and son, or brothers?
I found a very good discussion on this point posted by Thom Carlson on the Hassinger Message Boards. He said:
The evidence in support of the “father” theory seems to reduce to two points:
1) Johannes Hassinger, the father, married Maria Catherine Reineck.
2) Who else could it have been who died in 1797, was there another Johannes whose wife was Catherine?
But then Thom argues the contrary point by saying:
1) Johannes Hassinger, the father, is now known to have been born circa 1695, given the church records in Germany, so that he would have been over 100 years old in 1797. Similarly, his wife Catherine Reineck was born between 1700-1710. While not impossible, it is highly unlikely that both survived the Pennsylvania frontier to become centenarians.
2) A study of the 1800 Census shows there was a Catherine, clearly a widow, and we learn she was age 26-45. [There was also a young widow Catherine listed in 1810, but I think she may have been a different one.]
3) David Nyhart, one of the bondsmen for Catherine Hassinger, in 1797, on the estate of her late husband John, was a neighbor of Herman Hassinger on Swatara Creek. (Herman Hassinger was apparently another son of Johannes, the one born in 1695.)
4) Herman Hassinger baptized a son Johannes in 1765 at the Altahala Church in Berks County.
5) Thom has seen mention but not found an actual document that states that a John Hassinger married a Catherine Sehler/Seyler on 9 Dec 1788.
So Thom argues that there was another Johannes/Catherine candidate, and the Johannes that died in 1797 was this younger Johannes. He does not address, though, who the Johannes was on the same ship as John Jacob.
From my reading of the various credible family trees on this family, I would add these points left out of the discussion above.
1) It is not clear that the older Johannes even had a son named Johannes. Of his known sons and based on their birth dates (which I believe must be based on German church records), Jacob was the only one “of age” -- old enough that he would have been listed as a passenger in 1748. The others were too young.
2) A theory that would explain everything is that the two men named as passengers were father and son, that the father died well before 1797, and that it was a much younger Johannes probably even of Generation 3 in America, who died in 1797 with wife Catherine. Who he was, for me, is not that important a question.
I believe Johannes was our immigrant ancestor. His 17-year-old son, Jacob, also our ancestor, and his younger sons came at the same time.