HERSPERGER, Bernhard

Male 1735 - Bef 1798  (< 62 years)


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  • Name HERSPERGER, Bernhard 
    Born 13 Nov 1735  Sissach, Basell, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died Bef 22 Sep 1798  Frederick County, Maryland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Jefferson Cemetery, Jefferson, Maryland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1154  Connecticut Spangs
    Last Modified 23 Jun 2015 

    Father HERSPERGER, Heinrich,   b. 05 Aug 1694, Diepflinen, Basell, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Dec 1747  (Age 53 years) 
    Relationship Natural 
    Mother MOHLER, Dorothea,   b. Abt 1698, Wintersingen, Bassell, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship Natural 
    Married 18 Jul 1719 
    Family ID F632  Group Sheet

    Family NEBIGER, Elizabeth,   b. 22 May 1732, Haefelfingen, Basell, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 22 Sep 1798  (Age < 66 years) 
    Married 11 Dec 1759 
    Children 
     1. HERSPERGER, Dorothy,   b. 03 Jul 1753, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 03 Dec 1831, Frederick County, Maryland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years)
     2. HERSPERGER, Catherine,   b. Abt 1758
     3. HERSPERGER, Henry B.,   b. 16 Nov 1760, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 03 Dec 1812, Maryland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 52 years)
     4. HERSPERGER, Barbara,   b. 08 Apr 1762, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location
     5. HERSPERGER, Elizabeth,   b. 23 Jun 1765, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location
     6. HERSPERGER, Mary,   b. 06 Dec 1767, Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this location
     7. HERSPERGER, Eva,   b. 22 Jan 1771
    Last Modified 23 Jun 2015 
    Family ID F620  Group Sheet

  • Notes 
    • Herschberger is spelled in a variety of ways - Hershberger, Hersperger, Hershperger, Hersberger. The last is reportedly the most common spelling in Indiana although this was not the spelling given to David Spang by Carl and Audrey Hinshaw.
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      Bernard Hershberger and George Scott served on the Observation Committee of Frederick County, Maryland for the colonies in the Revolutionary War. (Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. XI, pp 168-173)
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      Bernard laid out New Town, later called Jefferson, on one corner of his farm.
      Bernard and his wife were buried on the farm but Bernard's body was later moved to the cemetery in Jefferson, Maryland. His wife's body could not be found.
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      Swiss Records of Bernhard Hersperger?s Immigration to the Colonies in 1772

      ?1772, I. Emigrants recorded in MP.

      MP records the names of the heads of the emigrating parties followed by the number of the members of which each party consists in figures, the first denoting men, the second women and the third children. A few times also the father?s name is added and usually ?unmarried? in case of the single persons. Besides, the tax and manumission dues paid, or the release from their payment, are recorded as in 1771. The amount of the property on which the tax was levied and all other items have been taken from other sources.? p. 185

      In the section on Basel records, 1772, Amt [district] Farnsburg, from Sissach, p. 187, is listed:
      ?Bernhard Hersperger, 1.1.6
      Pays: Manumission......................................................20.---
      Ten percent tax (on lb 2024.-).........................202.- 222.---

      Elisabeth Nebiger, his wife
      Their children:
      1. Heinrich, bapt........................................................... ?
      2. Barbara, bapt..............................................?............Apr. 8, 1762
      3. Dorothea, bapt..............................................?..........July 3, 1763
      4. Elisabeth, bapt............................................................June 23, 1766
      5. Maria, bapt......................................................?........Dec. 6, 1767
      6. Eva, bapt.....................................................................Jan. 22, 1771"

      ?...II. Emigrants not recorded in MP, Sissach (Amt Farnsburg):

      Anna Wurtz from Rumlingen, stepdaughter of Bernhard Hersperger above. Had permission and paid for the letter through her stepfather (AA, ?Ausfertigung der Frenlassungen?), but was not recorded in MP. In 1784 (GAV 19, 452) Martin Riggenbacher collected lb 646.10 for her.? p. 197.

      ?After 1736, or possibly 1738, roughly speaking the emigration from Basel was directed mainly to Pennsylvania, whence some proceded to the colonies further South, very few to those further North.? p. 83.

      ?The spelling of names varies greatly, not only between different sources, but also in the same source, sometimes even in KB [Parish Registers]. In the first place variations arise from...then the interchanges between b and p, especially sb and sp. ... We give therefore the names simply in the spellings and forms of the leading source and add variants only where the former are faulty or unusual. ...? p. 84-85.

      ?...all financial statements of this treatise are made in Basel pounds. ... corresponded in 1737 to 2/15 Pennsylvania pounds. It may however be assumed that some of the emmigrants had at least a little more money at their disposal than they admitted.? p. 85

      ?Amt Farnsburg was one of the largest districts in the Canton of Basel. The Canton of Basel of the eighteenth century comprised both the present Canton of Basel-Stadt and the Canton of Basel-Land. ... Even today one-third of Basel -Land is covered with forests. ... The city had control of the whole Canton and kept its subjects until 1790 in the state of serfdom in which it had acquired them from the bishop of Basel and other rulers.... The Church was the Reformed Church. ... Church discipline was very strict. Wilful and continuous absence from public worship...could be punished by banishment.? pp. 86-87.

      ?1771-1772-The immigration of these two years suddenly equals that of the year 1749 and was undoubtedly caused by hard times. ... most of the emigrants of the preceding years [1771-72] were poor and had sought other countries and better sustenance on account of the high prices and unemployment....? p. 173.

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      Faust, Albert Bernhardt and Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus, editors. Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies, Volume II. From the State Archives of Bern and Basel Switzerland. Washington, DC: The National Genealogical Society, 1925. Republished with Volume I, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1976.