Pennsylvania Families

The Weaver Family History, at http://members.lycos.co.uk/edoubleu7/weber1. htm, includes the maternal ancestry of Jacob Kern back seven generations in Germany.

Jacob Kern may have been baptized Philip Jacob Kern. The name Philip would be his baptismal name according to German custom, and the name Jacob would be the name he would be known by. Filing papers for membership in the DAR and earlier family histories seem to have been the sources for this information, which is found online, and was also obtained from a Kern descendant.

Jacob appears to have come to America in 1754 in the Edinburgh, with his brother Matthias, cousin Erhardt Weber, and other extended family members. See "When did Jacob Kern arrive in America?" below for more.

Jacob Kern was in York County by 1762. The baptism records of the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church include "John Lidy of John and Mary Elizabeth, born 1746, baptized January 1, 1762. He was an Anabaptist born in Conestoga, now living with Jacob Kern the tailor." ( York County, Pennsylvania, Church Records of the 18th Century, Volume 2, page 176.)

Jacob's occupation of tailor is shown on the York County tax lists as well. In 1779, in York Borough, he was:
Kern, Jacob, taylor
Houses: 2, Lots: 1 1/2
Tax: 22.10.0 [Pounds, shillings, pence]
(Tax list of York County, 1779 (Westminster, MD: Family Line Productions, 1989) page 3. "taken exactly as written in the published Third Series, Pennsylvania Archives (1897)."

and in 1783, the list shows him as:
Jacob Kern, tailor, 8 persons, valuation: 223.
An accompanying note for 1783 says that the valuation is on a specie basis. The continental currency had become worthless in 1781. (York County Tax List of 1783 in George Prowell's History of York County, Pennsylvania, (Chicago: Beers and Co., 1907), pp. 646-648.)

Jacob was naturalized on 3 Apr 1763 (Persons Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania, 1740-1773, Excerpted and Reprinted from Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Volume II, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967, page 88). He began buying property in York County. (Lost the source.) A descendant of Jacob who has evidently seen the complete text of Jacob's will says that these properties included a stone quarry in Manchest er Township, and a tract of land in Newberry Township.

Jacob died between 26 Jan 1799 when his will was written and 27 May 1799, when it was probated. (The earlier family histories give a date of 20 Feb 1799.) The abstract of his will provides the following information: the executors were Joseph and Jacob Kern of York Boro; his wife's name was Catharine; his children John, Jacob, and Joseph; and his grandchildren Elizabeth (child of John), and Catharine (child of Jacob).

When did Jacob Kern arrive in America?

In Filby and Meyer's Passenger and Immigration Lists there are three Jacob Kerns listed in the time period during which our Jacob could have arrived. By looking at the sources they have indexed, we find the exact dates of arrival and the ships on which they were passengers. (Source: William P. Filby and Mary K. Meyer, editors, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1st Edition, Volume 2, Detroit and London: Gale Research Inc., 1981) Their original sources: Ralph Beaver Strassburger's Pennsylvania German Pioneers etc., and Israel Daniel Rupp's A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names etc.)

Those three men, dates of arrival, and ships' names are:

1) Hans Jacob Kern, Philadelphia, 7 Feb 1739, Jamaica Galley
2) Jacob Kern, Philadelphia, 9 Sep 1749, St. Andrew
3) Jacob Kern, Philadelphia, 30 Sep 1754, Edinburgh.

1739:
If the baptismal names are correct, we can eliminate the first man, since our Jacob Kern's baptismal name was said to be Philip. But besides this, an online transcription of the manifest for the Jamaica Galley says that this man was twenty years old at the time. (Source: transcription contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Thera Schwenk Hammond. tsh@harborsi de.com, Her source: Strassburger's Pennsylvania German Pioneers etc.)

This would make our Jacob twenty-one years older than his wife and almost sixty when his last known son was born. Both are possible but are they likely?

Other sources say that Hans Jacob Kern settled in New Jersey (Source: Daniela Moneta, A Kern Homepage, dmoneta@primenet.com. Her text reads: Johannes Jacob Kern GER migrated to NJ, 1739. This link was dead on 19 Jul 2003) or else he died in Philadelphia in 1739, and was survived by a son who settled in New Jersey (Source: Pamela Lee Sliker Miller, Oxford, New Jersey, "Early Families of Northwest New Jersey" at freepages.genealogy.root sweb.com/~smokey/. Her text reads: John Jacob KERN Supposed to have come to American in 1739. on "Jamaica Galley". Wife suppose to have died on way to America BIRTH: CIR. 1705 DEATH: CIR. 1739, Philadelphia, Pa.)

1749:
If our Jacob Kern was the man who arrived in 1749 on the St. Andrew, then he was still fifteen years old at the time, if he was born in 1734, or even in October 1733. But he is included in the "C" List or third column of passengers, which was for those sixteen and older signing to disavow allegiance to a pretender to the British throne calling himself James III. (This information about the "C" list comes from an article about Nov 2003 in either Heritage Quest Magazine or Everton's Family History.)

It would also mean that he waited fourteen years to be naturalized when the residency requirement was only seven. He seemed to be interested in buying property almost as soon as he was naturalized, and a person had to be a citizen to own property. "After [the German settlers in Pennsylvania] had taken the oath of Citizenship and swore allegiance to their new country, they were permitted to move elsewhere and own land for their livlihood." (Source: Www.akamine-moore.com/genealogy/notes.asp.)

Finally, an online source says that the Jacob Kern onboard the St. Andrew, settled in Bowmansville, Brecknock Township, Lancaster County, and was a follower of Zwingli, not a Lutheran. (Source: www.horseshoe.cc/pennadutch/places/pennsylvania/ lancasterco/towns/bowmansville/bowmanvl.htm Author: Rodric R. Reese
Copyright 1999 All Rights reserved by Author.)

1754
If Jacob arrived on the Edinburgh in September 1754, he was twenty or twenty-one on arrival, old enough to sign the disavowal of James III, and he only waited eight years to be naturalized, not fourteen. But the most convincing evidence for his arrival in 1754 is that there is also a Mathias Kern on the list of passengers on the Edinburgh. One source describes this situation in this way:

Year:1754
Primary Immigrant:Kern, Jakob
Accompanying Family Members:Brother Mathaus

(Source: EHMANN, KARL. Die Auswanderung in die Neuengland-Staaten aus Orten des Enzkreises im 18. Jahrhundert. in Suedwestdeutsche Blaetter fuer Familien-und Wappenkunde, special supplement, 1977, p44. Indexed on Family Tree Maker's Family Archives CD#354, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s- 1900s, 2001 Edition.)

Mathias is listed immediately after Jacob Kern and the list was not alphabetical. (Source: Ships Lists: Edinburgh, 1754, PA. Contributed for use in USGenWebArchives by Frances Morrison, fpm9944@mindspring.com. Her source was Strassburger's Pennsylvania German Pioneers.)

The Weaver Family History, at http://members.lycos.co.uk/edoubleu7/weber1. htm, says that Jacob and Matthias were traveling with their cousin, (Jacob) Erhardt Weber, who paid their passage, since the Kerns' parents had died.

There is a Mathias Kern in Donegal Township, Westmoreland County, by 20 Nov 1773, when he witnessed a transfer of land. (Source: a book, I forget which, at New England Historic and Genealogical Society Library, 19 Dec 2003, in Westmoreland Co. section, probably an index to Westmoreland County deeds.) Mathias is still there on the 1790 Census of Donegal Township. (Source: 1790 Census, Donegal Twp., Series M637, Roll 9, page 94.)

All three of Jacob Kern's sons who survived to adulthood moved to Greensburg, Westmoreland County, when they were married, seeming to indicate that they had a connection with someone already in Westmoreland County.

The above evidence has caused me to draw the conclusion that Jacob Kern who lived in York County from 1762 to his death in 1799 is the Jacob Kern who arrived on the Edinburgh on 30 Sept 1754.