Jacob Walter (c1767-1840) 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Kris Hocker on 5 Feb 2017

According to William Wingeard’s A German-American Hacker-Hocker Genealogy, Elizabeth Walter, second wife of Michael Frantz Jr. and mother of my ancestor Anna (Frantz) Hocker, was the daughter of Jacob Walter and Anna Stauffer.1 She was born 20 October 1800, probably in Rapho Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.2

I’ve been working on Jacob and Anna, trying to identify their family, but I haven’t gotten too far. Jacob and Nancy (as she was called) were living with their daughter and son-in-law in Upper Swatara Township in 1840.3 Jacob died there on 23 September 1840.4 Nancy died 5 March 1845.5 They were both buried in the Frantz/Hagy family cemetery.

Looking back through census records, Jacob and family were enumerated in Upper Swatara in 1840 and 18306, Swatara Township in 18207 and 18108, and Rapho Township, Lancaster County in 1800.9 Assuming all the children in their household in these records were theirs, their family included:

  • Jacob Walter, born 1760-1770
  • Anna (Stauffer?) Walter, born 1770-1780
  • Male Walter, born 1790-1794
  • Female Walter, born 1790-1794
  • Male Walter, born 1794-1800 [Christian?]
  • Male Walter, born 1794-1800 [John?]
  • Female Walter, born 1795-1800
  • Elizabeth Walter, born 2 Oct 1800
  • Male Walter, born 1800-1810
  • Male Walter, born 1804-1810
  • Female Walter, born 1804-1810
  • Female Walter, born 1804-1810
  • Female Walter, born 1810-1815
  • Female Walter, born 1810-1815

Jacob and Anna received a marriage license from Lancaster County 18 April 1795.10 In the 1800 census, they had 3 boys and 2 girls under 10 in their household. Daughter Elizabeth wasn’t born until October, so she is not included in these five children.

In 1810, they had five males—1 male (1784-1794), 2 males (1794-1800), and 2 males (1800-1810)—and four females—1 female (1784-1794) and 3 females (1800-1810). By 1820, there were two younger males—one born 1794-1804 and the second born 1804-1810—and four females—two born 1794-1804 and two born 1810-1820.

So, either not all the children survived or they were not living at home in every census. It’s also possible that Ann was Jacob’s second wife. Several of the household members consistently show birth years prior to 1795 when Jacob and Anna married.

Jacob purchased 129 acres in Rapho Township from James Mayes (aka “Mease”) on 27 February 1790.11 He sold three acres of this land 20 March 1795 to Jacob Otto.12 He sold the rest of the land to Peter Lindemuth on 27 March 1800.13

He purchased 58 acres in Mount Joy and Donegal townships from Christian Bare on 2 May 1801.14 This land adjoined land of John Stauffer, deceased. He sold it on 17 April 1807 to Jacob Rohrer.15

Jacob patented 290 acres of land in Swatara Township on 31 December 1813. He sold 42 acres to Jacob Steigelman on 6 April 1815.16 He sold another nine acres to William Rutherford 22 May 1822,17 20 acres to Daniel Page 2 April 1835,18 and 103 acres to Jacob Shuh on 2 April 1839.19 By my calculations, there are about 120 acres for which I need to account.

I have found no estate records for Jacob in either Dauphin or Lancaster County. If he still owned land at the time of his death, then there should have been a probate record dealing with the dispersing of the property to his heirs. It’s likely he sold the land prior to his death and the pertinent deeds were not recorded at the county Recorder of Deeds office.

I believe Jacob might have been the son of Jacob Walther of Rapho Township who wrote his last will and testament on 26 January 1789, naming his children: Andrew, Margaret, Magdalena, Peter, Baltzer, Barbara, Jacob, and Dorothea. I need to request this will from the Lancaster County archives as it is not available on FamilySearch.

52 ancestors in 52 weeks

This post is part of a blogging challenge entitled 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Crow of No Story Too Small in 2014. Participants were to write about one ancestor every week. I’m revisiting this challenge for 2017. This is my sixth 52 Ancestors post, part of week five.

Footnotes

  1. William O. Wingeard, A German-American Hacker-Hocker Genealogy (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1991), page 282. ↩
  2. Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 Jan 2017), memorial #131825893, Elizabeth Walters Frantz (1800-1882); citing Churchville Cemetery, Oberlin, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; gravestone photograph (#1403645821) by Kris Hocker(#46861951); Birth date was calculated from her age at death. ↩
  3. 1840 United States Federal Census, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Upper Swatara Township, page 227, line 15, Michael Frantz household; online, Internet Archive, “Population schedule of the sixth census of the United States, 1840, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org : accessed 4 Feb 2017); citing National Archives and Records Administration, micropublication M704, roll 456; Jacob was most likely the 70-80 year-old male and Nancy was the 60-70 year-old female. ↩
  4. Debbie Ovechka, “Cemetery Records for Three Small Graveyards North of Highspire, Dauphin Co., PA”, Pennsylvania Genealogy Trails (http://genealogytrails.com/penn/dauphin/cemeteries/highspire.html : accessed 30 Jan 2017), section #1; citing transcription of records by Dr. Egle. ↩
  5. Ovechka, “Cemetery Records for Three Small Graveyards,” Pennsylvania Genealogy Trails. ↩
  6. 1830 United States Federal Census, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Swatara Township, page 186, Jacob Walter household; digital image; Internet Archives, “Population schedules of the fifth census of the United States, 1830, Pennsylvania” (http://archive.org : viewed 4 Feb 2016); citing NARA micropublication M19, roll 151. ↩
  7. 1820 United States Federal Census, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Swatara Township, page 101, Jacob Walter household; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the fourth census of the United States, 1820, Pennsylvania” (http://archive.org : accessed 13 Jun 2016); citing NARA micropublication M33, roll 102. ↩
  8. 1810 United States Federal Census, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Swatara Township, page 699, line 1, Jacob Walters household; online, FamilySearch, “United States Census, 1810” (https://familysearch.org : accessed 16 Jan 2017); citing NARA micropublication M252, roll 54. ↩
  9. 1800 United States Federal Census, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Rapho Township, page 264, line 15, Jacob Walter household; online, Internet Archive, “Population Schedules of the second census of the United States, 1800, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org : accessed 4 Feb 2017), citing National Archives and Records Administration, micropublication M32, roll 39. ↩
  10. William Henry Egle, Notes and queries, chiefly relating to Interior Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Library, 1932), Volume 1, page 537, Jacob Walter and Ann Stouffer. ↩
  11. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book I3:308, Jacob Walter & wife to Peter Lindemuth, 27 Mar 1800; digital image, Recorder of Deeds, “Online E-Film Reader” (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com : accessed 1 Apr 2016). ↩
  12. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book I3:308, Jacob Walter to Jacob Otto, 20 Mar 1795; digital image, Recorder of Deeds, “Online E-Film Reader” (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com : accessed 1 Apr 2016). ↩
  13. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book I3:308, Jacob Walter & wife to Peter Lindemuth, 27 Mar 1800; digital image, Recorder of Deeds, “Online E-Film Reader” (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com : accessed 1 Apr 2016). ↩
  14. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book M3:76, Christian Bare & ux to Jacob Walter, 2 May 1801; digital image, Recorder of Deeds, “Online E-Film Reader” (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com : accessed 1 Apr 2016). ↩
  15. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book M3:76, Jacob Walter & ux to Jacob Rohrer, 17 Apr 1807; digital image, Recorder of Deeds, “Online E-Film Reader” (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com : accessed 1 Apr 2016). ↩
  16. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book U1:136, Jacob Walter & wife to Jacob Steigleman, 6 Apr 1815; online, Recorder of Deeds, “Dauphin County Pennsylvania Public Web Search” (http://deeds.dauphinc.org : accessed 4 Feb 2016). ↩
  17. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book X1:532, Jacob Walter & wife to William Rutherford, 22 May 1822; online, Recorder of Deeds, “Dauphin County Pennsylvania Public Web Search” (http://deeds.dauphinc.org : accessed 4 Feb 2016). ↩
  18. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book H2:64, Jacob Walter & wife to Daniel Page, 2 Apr 1835; online, Recorder of Deeds, “Dauphin County Pennsylvania Public Web Search” (http://deeds.dauphinc.org : accessed 4 Feb 2016). ↩
  19. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book L2:135, Jacob Walter & wife to Jacob Shuh, 2 Apr 1849; online, Recorder of Deeds, “Dauphin County Pennsylvania Public Web Search” (http://deeds.dauphinc.org : accessed 4 Feb 2016). ↩

Cite This Page:

, "Jacob Walter (c1767-1840) 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy, the genealogy & family research site of Kris Hocker, modified 19 Jan 2018 (https://www.krishocker.com/jacob-walter-c1767-1840/ : accessed 23 Apr 2024).

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