There is a book titled “Destiny in Texas” which tells the story of the descendants of Jacob Hamsher who came from York County, PA to Louisiana before 1807 and whose descendants later moved on to Texas. Jacob is none other than the son of John Hamsher and that is proven by the (rather lengthy) baptism record of Jacob’s son John born in 1805. It says John was the son of Jacob, native of Pennsylvania and that Jacob was the son of John Hamcher and Lidie Hackart of Germany.

While this is one of three instances where John’s wife was named Lidie, or Lydia, I think it may be the most telling. I believe John had no other wife than Charlotta who came to be called Lotta or Lottie and in this case Lidie.

We don’t know exactly when Jacob was born. Descendants in Louisiana and Texas thought he was perhaps 40 (thus born about 1765) when his son John was born. In the 1840 Census, he was reported as age 80-90 (1750-1760) and his death was reported in the 1850 Mortality Census as 95 (1755). I think his age in both those Censuses was exaggerated but nonetheless support my contention that Jacob was definitely born before 1775, a key date since that is when Jacob Hecker wrote his will and it is hard to believe that his daughter Charlotta was not a living person when that will was written.

In other words, Charlotta must have been Jacob’s mother and it is she now being called Lidie.