Hochstetler (Father’s side)
Jacob and Barbara Hochstetler came to America from the Netherlands on the “Charming Nancy” to Philadelphia in 1736. They were seeking religious freedom as part of the Anabaptist Migration of Amish, Mennonite and Quaker communities. We have traced my family back to Echery, Alsace, a Northeaster region of France and Switzerland in the 1600s. My mother and her 10 siblings were born Amish and her family moved from Amish to Mennonite when she was a toddler.
Hochstetler line: Herman born-1947 (My father), Harvey born-1914, John—born—1877, Daniel born- 1851, Manasses, born-1828, Henry, born -1773, John, born- 1733, Jacob, born-1704
Yoder History (Mother’s side)
My Grandfather, Moses Yoder, had a sister Barbara, whom I visited when I was a teenager, she was married at age 19 and had 14 children. When she died in 1996 at age 96 she had 129 grandchildren; 742 great grandchildren and 53 great great grandchildren. She was married to Jacob J Swartzentruber and they were from the strictest Amish. They still have outside bathrooms and have nothing on wall except calendars.
Moses born - 1907– Daniel born- 1859, and Jacob born- 1827, Christian, Henry, Yost born - 1734.
Hochstetler Massacre of 1757
After the Attack:
“When Jacob returned from captivity he did not return to the farm in Berks County, which was on the edge of the white settlement and in a path the Indians frequently traveled. He had earned the Indians’ hatred because he had escaped from them. So he bought a farm in Lebanon County which he probably considered safer. He is buried there.More on the Hochstetler MassacreBeing by principle noncombatants and not having defended themselves again the Indians when an excellent opportunity offered itself, it could be not be expected that they take a part in the Revolutionary War. Besides, it is well known that the Amish, having enjoyed perfect religious freedom under the British government, which was denied them in Europe, naturally felt grateful to the English government. They did not approve the American policies. Therefore many of them actually sympathized with the British. And who could blame them? Just stop to think what they suffered before they came to America.
Because the Amish, being noncombatants, refused to bear arms, they suffered during the Revolutionary War. They were hated by those who did fight, fines were assessed against them, property seized and many of the men were imprisoned. The wives had to work the fields to support their families. According to tradition, those who were imprisoned were sentenced to be shot and a day set for their execution. Henry Hertzell, pastor of the German Reformed church, appealed to the authorities in behalf of those who had fled Europe to escape military service. The appeal was heard and the prisoners set free.
Doubtless these troubles helped induce many of the Amish to move westward. Jacob’s oldest son, John, was often called the pioneer of Somerset County, Pa. He moved in 1784 to a homestead of 392 acres. John, his wives, Catherine and Anna, and his son John are buried in a little graveyard on this farm. John conveyed 352 acres of his land to his son, Henry on April 1797. Henry and his family moved to Ohio in about 1836. It is interesting to note that John, the pioneer, his sons John and Jacob, and his brother Christian, from 1784 and the few years following, obtained warrants for over 2300 acres of land in Somerset County, most of it in the vicinity of Meyersdale”
