JONATHANHAGER
: CITY
FOUNDER
, LEGISLATOR, ANDPATRIOT
onathan Hager, the founder of Häger
Stadt or Hagerstown, in the province of
Maryland, was the first non-British immigrant
to occupy a seat in the Maryland
legislature. As an American patriot, Hager
also took a leading role in the events leading
up to America's independence. Earlier he
had laid out the Maryland town which carries
his name, although he called it
Elisabeth Stadt after his wife. A street
named Jonathan still bears witness to the
founder of Hagerstown, the seat of
Washington County about 70 miles northwest
of Baltimore and Washington. The
37,000 inhabitants of Hagerstown seem
proud of their founder. Hager's first home in
Hagerstown has been preserved as an historical
shrine. In the adjacent Hager
Museum, the visitor may see memorabilia
associated with this German-American pioneer
as well as German books, glass and
other artifacts.¹
The Washington County Historical
Society aptly sums up his accomplishments:
Evincing leadership from the
moment of his arrival in Western
Maryland, Hager quickly became a
leading citizen. He was involved in
many activities-farmer, cattleman,
even a gunsmith. Hager was a volunteer
Captain of Scouts during the
French and Indian War. In 1762 he
founded Hagerstown,² and in 1771
and 1773 he was elected to the
General Assembly at Annapolis,
qualifying him as the first German to
make his mark in politics.³
THE IMMIGRANT AND PIONEER
Many places in Germany have been
suggested as Jonathan Hager's birthplace.
The ancestral file of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints lists his birthplace
as Heidelburg, Germany.4 This is
almost certainly a misprint for Heidelberg.
Rick S. Thomas has found a Heinrich
Hager, who was born in Heidelberg in the
second half of the 16th century.5 Heinrich
was probably Jonathan's father.
The given name "Jonathan" was certainly
an unusual one for an eighteenth-century
German, as was the name of Jonathan's
older brother David. The Old Testament
Jonathan was the friend to whom King
David gave his robe and armor—the friend
who called him brother. At the time
Lutheran boys and girls were usually named
after New Testament figures. Catholics,
were named after those same individuals as
well as later Christian saints. Calvinists, or
Reformierte in German, put more emphasis
on the Old Testament than other Christians
and more often named their children after
Old Testament persons.
Two different birth years are given for
Jonathan Hager. In the manifest of the ship
Harle his age is recorded as 22, which
would make 1714 his birth year.6 On his
tombstone in the graveyard of the Old Zion
Reformed Church in Hagerstown his birth
year is given as 1719. The International
Genealogical Index of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints also gives
1719.7
Had Jonathan reason to advance his
age from 17 to 22 when he landed in
Philadelphia? At 17, he would have been
still a minor. Since he traveled alone, he
could have feared being placed under
guardianship or apprenticeship. If he were
21 or older, he could expect to be free to
J
Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagerstown
make his fortune. Whatever the situation,
the birth year of Jonathan Hager remains a
mystery.
We do, on the other hand, have a clue
as to where Hager may have spent some of
his time in Germany in addition to
Heidelberg. Heinrich Wetter, a former fellow
apprentice, wrote to Hager on May 16,
1773—thirty-seven years after Jonathan's
emigration. Wetter informed Jonathan of the
death of their erstwhile master, Rudolf
Scheurer. On the basis of their former
friendship, he asked Jonathan to help his
son with immigration to America. News of
Hager's success in the New World must
have reached Wetter, who addressed Hager
as esquire.8 Wetter didn't specify the trade
they had been studying under Master
Scheurer, but it may have been metalworking.
In Maryland, Jonathan was a practicing
blacksmith and gunsmith; he could hardly
have picked up these crafts on his own without
an apprenticeship. The letter from Wetter,
a reminder of the home country, seems to
have been especially dear to Hager,
because it is the only one of his letters which
has survived. It may be seen in the Hager
Museum next to the Hager House. The
letter was written from Berleburg (now
Bad Berleburg) in the Rothaargebirge,
northeast of Siegen.9
Was Jonathan an apprentice in
Berleburg? Wetter wrote, "Our above-mentioned
master Rudolph Scheurer, soon after
married my mother and so became my stepfather.
Hence, as you remember and perhaps
recollect, it is difficult for me to gain a
livelihood in these parts...." Wetter expected
Hager to know the job situation in
Berleburg; therefore, Hager must have spent
some time in that town. Most likely he was
an apprentice there.
Jonathan Hager arrived in Philadelphia
on September 1, 1736, on the ship Harle of
London (Ralph Harle, Master). It came from
Rotterdam, with a stopover in Cowes,
England. The Harle carried 388 men,
women and children, all called Palatines.
The immigrant is recorded as Jonathan
Hager, 22, in the ship's manifest. (This
would make his birth year 1714.) As Jonathan
Heger, he signed the Oath of
Abjuration of his previous sovereign in the
courthouse at Philadelphia on September 1.
As Jonathan Hager, he signed the Oath of
Allegiance to George II in the same place
and time.10 Only about 850 German immigrants
landed in Philadelphia in 1736, but
their numbers would rise to about 1,800 in
1737 and to 3,116 in 1738.11 Soon after his
arrival, Hager moved to western Maryland,
where land was cheap for persons willing to
settle on the risky frontier.
THE BUILDER OF THE HAGER HAUS
On June 5, 1739, Jonathan Hager
received a special warrant from the provincial
land office for 200 acres in the valley of
Antietam Creek and now within the city
limits of Hagerstown.12 It was then in
Prince George's County, subsequently in
Frederick and since 1776 has been in
Washington County. The surveyor listed
certain improvements which had been made
to the tract when he surveyed it on October
16, 1739. These were "about three acres of
corn field fenced in and two sorry [dilapidated]
houses."13 Hager lived in the "sorry
house" that was standing on or near the site
where he would build his stone dwelling.
No doubt he had chosen this tract because it
contained two everlasting springs on top of
which he could build his house. Hager took
up the land on October 19, 1739, for "£ 44
current money of Maryland" and called it
"Hager's Fancy."
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______________________Grass I
When did Hager build his house?
Hager married in 1740. "It seems likely that a
young and enterprising German, who was
later to be markedly successful, provided
for his bride a decent house to live in."14
Hager probably completed his stone house
sometime before his marriage. We can't
expect that he built it all by himself, of
course; for instance, he would have
employed one or several stone masons to
dress the fieldstone.
The Washington County Historical
Society describes the house as follows:
Situated in Hagerstown's City Park,
the Hager House is built of...fieldstones
carefully fitted by the young
German immigrant who had traveled
to the wilderness of Western
Maryland in search of adventure and
possible fortune.15
"The Hager House" in Hagerstown
City Park just southwest of downtown
Hagerstown is open to visitors; it is located
immediately east of City Park Lake, which
was a swamp in Hager's days.16
Hager settled here "to give encouragement
to traders, and to erect proper habitations
for the stowage of goods for the supply
of the adjacent country..."17 Hager "engaged
in the furtrade," and his house "may
be considered to be one of the few remaining
storehouses of frontier America."18 It is
described by an architect as "a typical simple
stone house of the Appalachian frontier,
particularly of the Pennsylvania-Maryland
region."19
"The Hager House" is a rectangular
building measuring 30½ feet by about 35
feet exclusive of the porch foundations,
which were added after Hager sold the
house. The exterior walls are constructed of
small fieldstones gathered from the surrounding
out-croppings of limestone. The
interior walls are mud-and-rye-straw plaster
over 1 by 4 inch oak strips laid horizontally
approximately 2 inches apart. The roof was
covered with wooden shingles (today's are
imitation). The brick-capped chimney originates
in a limestone hearth and flue on the
cellar-floor level.20 The house is built in the
German style around this central chimney.21
According to the Washington County Historical
Society, "the large central chimney
added warmth to the stone structure, while a
fill of rye straw and mud between floors and
partitions served as insulation against the
cruel winters."22
"The Hager House" is so constructed
that both the cellar floor and the first floor
are accessible from ground level. A few
steps lead down to the Dutch (two-leaved)
door on the southwest side of the house.
This cellar door is wide enough that cattle
could be brought in for slaughter. Another
door leads to the cellar from the northeast
side.
What is unique about this house is
"that it was erected over two separate
springs, thereby giving occupants a constant
and protected water supply."23 The two natural
springs in the cellar did indeed assure Herr
und Frau Hager a dependable, indoor supply
of fresh water.
In the cellar, which is largely at ground
level, each spring is enclosed in a separate
room. The first room entered through the
Dutch door contains the first spring and an
hearth more than five feet wide; this hearth is
built into a stone wall running from northeast
to southwest through most of the house. This
was the largest cellar room, and it served
as the main kitchen or Küche of the house.
Behind this kitchen is a slightly smaller
room with the second spring and a door
leading outside; this may have been the wash
room. The two springs provided natu-
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Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagerstown
ral air conditioning for the women working
before the hot hearth in the summer time.
Since the temperature of the springs is
always 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they also
offered a convenient place to chill and preserve
food. The waters from the two springs
merge and flow in a single stone channel
southward from the house.
A narrow room occupying the entire
northwest side of the cellar probably served
as storage space; it is accessible from the
first floor by steps with a very low overhead
(against which this 5' 10" author banged his
head during two visits after being duly
warned by the custodian).
Half a dozen wooden steps led up to
the front door at the southwest side of the
house. (The current porch was added after
Hager sold the house.) The front door opens
onto the Flur or entrance-hall. Straight
ahead is the dining room, with a large hearth
connected to the chimney; besides heating
the room, this hearth could be used for
warming food or for light cooking. On the
back wall of this hearth is a heat-reflecting
iron plate cast in Manheim, Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania.
To the right is the Stube or parlor, the
best room of the house. Stube is related to
the English word "stove." The parlor, where
visitors were entertained, was usually heated
by a tile or iron stove attached to the
chimney by a pipe. This room features
today an exhibition of furs, including buffalo
hides. Hager was a fur trader, and his
house served as an Indian trading post. The
hides remind visitors that mountain buffaloes
roamed Maryland in Hager's days.
The visitor is also shown samples of
wampum—Indian money that Jonathan
exchanged with the natives for furs. Behind
the Stube is an unheated Kammer or chamber.
From the hall, stairs led to the attic.
Besides trading in furs and goods,
Hager and his family also farmed the land; it
appears that they relied on themselves
alone, because there is no documentation
that they had slaves.
"The house, as it stands now, is a twoand-
a-half story limestone structure [counting
the attic but not the cellar]. However,
Hager probably only built a one-and-a-half
story structure—the full second story and
attic were added later. This is evidenced by a
visible mortar line on the north side of the
house...."24
THE HAGER MUSEUM
In the adjacent Hager Museum may be
seen items uncovered during the restoration
of "the Hager House" in 1953. Also on display
is a waistcoat of Jonathan Hager and
his German prayer book. There is also a
Lutheran Bible printed in 1743 by Christopher
Saur in Germantown, Pennsylvania, a
collection of sermons printed in Marburg,
Germany, and a book of medicinal cures
published in Frankfurt am Main in 1718.25
Hager's copy of a Bible published in
Nürnberg, Germany, in 1755 is in the nearby
Washington County Museum of Fine
Arts.26 Other items uncovered around the
Hager House include pieces of glass and
pottery, wrought iron, a blacksmith's iron
hammer and a metal smith's brass hammer.
Here was also found the stem of a tobacco
pipe bearing the manufacturer's name,
Friedrich Von Derwall.
HAGER
'S MARRIAGE
Probably shortly after having completed
his house, Jonathan Hager married the 15-
year-old Anna Elisabeth Kirschner.27
Jonathan wrote in his Book of Sermons, "I
entered into marriage with my wife,
Elizabeth Grischner, in the year 1740."
—102—
______________________Grassl
Anna Elisabeth Kirschner was born
March 25, 1725, in Langenselbold, Hesse.
Her father was Johannes Georg Kirschner,
born May 9, 1695, in Langenselbold. Her
mother's maiden name was Anna Fischer,
born June 13, 1696, also in Langenselbold.
Anna Elisabeth's ancestry may be traced
back through her father to Enders Kirschner,
who was born about 1570 in Herbstein,
Germany (See appendix).
Herbstein is located in upper Hesse on
the Vogelsberg. It calls itself "Die Stadt auf
dem Berge" (the town on the mountain).
Today it attracts visitors because of its beautiful
location, fresh air and thermal bath; it is
located next to Naturpark Hoher Vogelsberg.
It was founded in 976 by Count
Heribrath, hence the name Herbstein. In the
Thity Years War (1618-1648), Herbstein
was besieged and its castle destroyed.
Enders' son Ludwig Kirschner (1590-
1657) married Anna Fuchs (1585 1657) of
Langenselbold, and he moved to his wife's
hometown in Hesse near Frankfurt-am-
Main. His was the first of six generations of
Kirschners that would live in Langenselbold
until 1731.
In 1731, Johannes Georg Kirschner left
the village of Langenselbold to immigrate to
America with his wife Anna, and the children
Anna Elisabeth, Johannes Martin and
Anna Barbara. They traveled on board the
ship Samuel from Rotterdam to Philadelphia,
arriving on August 17, 1731. The
British ship captain listed them as "Joh.
Georg Kirschner," "Ann Crisner," "Elizabeth
Crisner," "Mertin Crisner" and
"Barbary Crisner."28
Jonathan and Elisabeth lived in "the
Hager House" at least until March 19, 1747,
when they sold the house and its now 507
acres to fellow German Jakob Rohrer.29
"The Hager House" is surrounded
today by herbal and flower gardens. "The
Elizabeth Kershner Hager Herbal Gardens"
feature about 35 varieties of herbs of the
type that she might have used for seasoning,
as teas, and for medicinal purposes.30
THE FARMER AT
"HAGER'S DELIGHT"
Hager acquired more land, most of it
north and west of Hagerstown. He then
decided to sell "the Hager House" and move
to his new holdings. Around 1747, he took
up residency in a house standing on a tract
of land he later called "Hager's Delight."
But the records show that he didn't actually
buy this 1780-acre tract until September 10,
1751. The entire tract would eventually
grow to 4,086 acres.
The house on the tract was a two-story
log structure, with a cellar, arched with
stones. By the late 19th-century the house
was owned by Samuel Zeller.31 It was later
described as "located about two miles from
Hagerstown on the Mercersburg road, on
the farm recently owned by Henry Zeller. It
was a large log house, a fine building in
those days. There were large log pens far
enough apart to constitute a hall."32 The
house was, however, torn down in 1898.33
John H. Nelson, the curator of "the
Hager House," believes that the dwelling on
"Hager's Delight" "stood almost exactly
where Interstate 81 crosses Broadfording
Road near Salem Avenue Extended, two
miles northwest of Hagerstown."34
Salem Avenue Extended becomes
Cearfoss Pike (58) after I-81 and heads
toward Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Just
before Salem Avenue becomes Cearfoss
Pike, Broadfording Road starts off to the left
or northwest. Today it is interrupted by I-81. If
we crossed I-81, we could follow
Broadfording Road past Bostetter and
—103—
Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagerstown
Martins Crossroads and eventually across
Conococheague Creek at the village of
Broadfording. But since Broadfording Road is
cut off today by I-81 at Interchange 7, this road
comes to a dead end on either side of I-81. It
is in this vicinity, called Wood Point today,
that Hager's log house stood. Unfortunately
no archeological work has been done on
this site. Not even a highway marker points
out the place where Hager resided for the
majority of his time in Maryland.
Mish wrote that the tract "Hager's
Delight" was on the Cearfoss Pike and
extended southward over the old National or
Western Pike.35 The Cearfoss Pike is at
Interchange 7 of I-81, and the National Pike
(US 40) is at Interchange 6. These interchanges
are about one and two-thirds miles
apart.
Elisabeth and Jonathan had at least
three children here. The first recorded was a
daughter, who was baptized July 1748 but
apparently did not survive infancy. The second
was Rosanna (also called Rosina), born
on April 21, 1752, and the third, Jonathan
Hager, Jr., born on December 13, 1755.
Hager ran a sawmill on nearby
Antietam Creek. His chief source of
income, however, was from his real estate
business; he would eventually own more
than 10,000 acres of land.
THE RELIGIOUS MAN
There is no doubt that Hager was a
deeply religious man, but questions remain
concerning Hager's religious affiliation.
There is no record that he was a member of
the German Reformed Congregation (later
Zion) established in 1770 in Hagerstown or
that he contributed a lot to that church. He
may have been a member of the Salem
Reformed Church (Troxell's) established ca.
1747 about two miles northwest of his home
at "Hager's Delight." But no early records
of this congregation on Salem Church Road,
between Broadfording Road and Cearfoss
Pike, survive.36
Nelson raises the possibility that Hager
was a member of the Moravian Church,
because members of that church preached in
his home.37 There is no doubt that Hager
was close to the Moravian Brethren if not
actually a member. We note that Pietism had
been prevalent in Berleburg, which could
have drawn him to the Brethren.38 But there
was also Calvinism in the form of the
German Reformed Church. Cunz states,
"When Hager grew older he disassociated
himself from the Moravians, joined the
Reformed Church and took an important
part in its activities."39 We can be certain that
he was no longer a pacifist Brethren when
he commanded militia in 1757.
CAPTAIN JONATHAN HAGER
"The French & Indian War, which lasted
from 1754 to 1763, spelled hard times for
those living on the American frontier in
western Maryland...." Hager "served as a
Captain of Scouts at various times during
1757, 1758 and 1759. However, his exact
role is unknown, nor is it known if he saw
any action.... Hager's rank as Captain was
probably an honorary title, yet it remained
attached to him until his death."40
According to a muster roll compiled
for the Maryland General Assembly on
August 13, 1757, Captain Hager commanded
39 officers and men for 6 days for which he
was paid 160 pounds of tobacco and I
pound sterling.41 "A List of Militia
Accounts now before the Committee of
Accounts" of the Maryland General
Assembly indicated that "Jonathan Hager of
Frederick County" was owed 52 pounds of
— 104—
______________________Grassl
tobacco, £ 8, 7 shillings and 11 pence; and
66 pounds of tobacco, £ 70, 9 shillings and
11½ pence.42 "After the French & Indian
War, Hager continued to serve in the military,
for there is a record of 'Captain
Jonathan Hager's Muster Roll—1767' at the
Annapolis Hall of Records."43
THE WIDOWER
Hager's wife Anna Elisabeth died at
"Hager's Delight" in 1765 at the age of 40,
after twenty-five years of marriage.
Jonathan Hager recorded in German in his
Bible published in Nürnberg in 1755, "We
lived together until the 16th of April, 1765,
then it pleased the Lord to call her, after
severe suffering, out of this world. What
God does is well done. Her funeral text is
recorded in 2nd Timothy.44 The hymn was
sung, 'Lord Jesus Christ True Man and
God,' also the hymn, 'Think Ye Children of
Men on the Last Day of Life.'"45 She was
buried in the family vault at "Hager's
Delight." Hager showed his love for her by
never remarrying and by naming the town
he would found in her honor.
THEFOUNDEROF ELISABETHSTADT
Hager began a new work after his
wife's death, partly to distract his mind and
partly to build a lasting memorial to her. He
acquired 714 acres of land in March 1765
and called it "New Work."46 Here he laid out
what he called Elisabeth Stadt or Elizabethtown.
Since the French and Indian War
had been concluded by the Treaty of Paris in
1763, Hager could expect that the peaceful
conditions would attract settlers to his new
town.
"Capt. Hager laid off the town in about
520 lots of 82 feet front and 240 feet deep,
making half an acre each.... He reserved all
the lots outside the town which were not
numbered in the original...."47 The first re-
corded lot sale was in 1768. "It is known
that 46 lots are recorded as being sold
before 1770, and a total of 97 by... 1775."48
In 1772, an Englishman named Eddes
visited Hager's town and was impressed by
its swift growth. He asserted that it was
established to give "encouragement to traders"
and "to erect proper habitations for the
stowage of goods, for supply of the adjacent
country." Eddes declared, "His (Hager's)
plan succeeded; he has lived to see a multitude
of inhabitants of lands which he remembered
unoccupied; and he has seen
erected in places, appropriated by him for
that purpose, more than an hundred comfortable
edifices, to which the name of
Hager's Town is given, in honour of the
intelligent founder."49 In 1776, the town
would become the seat of newly established
Washington County.
Hager was not successful in permanently
honoring his wife by naming the
town after her. People insisted on also calling
it "Hager's Town." Both names were used
until 1813, when the City Council voted to
change the name from Elizabethtown to
Hagerstown.50
THE CANAL COMPANY DIRECTOR
In 1770, Col. George Washington "sent a
letter to Governor Eden [of Maryland]
pointing out the great benefits that would
accrue to Virginia and Maryland if the
Potomac River were made a channel of
commerce between the Atlantic Seaboard
and the Western territory...." Washington
was convinced "that the opening of a communication
from tidewater to the great
country west of the Alleghanies was vitally
important to North America from a social,
commercial and political standpoint, as well
as from the standpoint of military defense."51
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Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagerstown
A company was formed to open the
Potomac to navigation, and subscriptions
were collected in 1770. Jonathan Hager was
appointed one of the eleven managers or
directors of the company from Maryland.52
Among the six managers from Virginia
were George Mason, who later helped draw
up the Bill of Rights, and Jacob and
Abraham Hite; they were descendants of
Justus Heide, who led German settlers into
the Shenandoah Valley.
Unfortunately the Maryland Assembly
and the Virginia House of Burgesses
"turned a deaf ear" to the idea of a canal.53
The plan was partially realized eighty years
later with the completion in 1850 of a canal
from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland,
Maryland—part of the planned Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal.
THE LEGISLATOR
Several factors worked against
Germans participating fully in politics during
the formative period of our nation.
While immigrants from Britain faced no
language barrier, Germans had to overcome
not only the obstacle of language but an
even more difficult one: the obstacle of tradition.
Unfamiliar with the practice of
democracy, German immigrants had to
eradicate their ingrained habit of thinking of
themselves as subjects [Untertanen] of
princes or lords. While in Britain some early
sprouts of democracy were raising their
heads, in Germany, public matters were still
determined by a few; the many had only to
obey. In America, German immigrants had to
learn to take public matters into their own
hands. Jonathan Hager learned these lessons
well and overcame these barriers; he
showed the way for the Germans of Maryland
by being the first of their numbers to
enter the Maryland Legislature.
When Hager was elected a Delegate to
the General Assembly of the Province of
Maryland in 1771, his fellow Delegates discovered
that British colonial law prohibited
him from taking his seat. According to the
law, a Delegate had to be born either in
Britain or in America or be a descendant of
someone born in either place. The Germanborn
Hager had been naturalized in October
1747, in Prince George's County Court,
where he reaffirmed his 1636 oath of allegiance
to King George II. But this was not
sufficient to satisfy the law. For this reason,
he was denied a seat by a vote of 24 to 23 on
October 8, 1771; Paca voting to seat him,
and Samuel Chase not to. The Delegates
voted on October 16th to change the law
and to open the General Assembly to naturalized
citizens. The new law gave full
political rights to Jonathan Hager and with
him to all "foreign Protestants who have
already settled in this province."54
Hager was re-elected in 1773 to another
two-year term in Annapolis. Doubts were
raised by the Delegates concerning the
validity of the laws they had passed in
October 1771, because Lord Baltimore, the
chief of state, had died in September. They
decided to pass all laws all over again. But
they decided to leave the issue of naturalized
citizens until the 1775 session. "In the
meantime, Jonathan Hager was permitted to
continue as a member and to hold his place
on several committees till the end of the session,
when he returned to Elizabeth-Town."55
THE AMERICAN PATRIOT
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______________________Grassl
In the period leading up to the
American Revolution, Hager served on various
patriotic committees championing U.S.
independence. On July 2, 1774, 800 men
assembled in Hagerstown and elected him a
member of the Non-Importation Association
that organized a boycott of British
goods, especially tea, opened subscriptions
for the relief of the Port of Boston and hung
and burned British Prime Minister Lord
North in effigy. On November 18, 1774,
Hager was named a member of the Committee
of Correspondence and part of a
group that represented the county in carrying
out the resolutions of the Continental
Congress. On January 24, 1775, he was
elected to the Committee of Safety and
Observation which had the task of carrying
out the resolves of the Continental Congress
and the Maryland Provincial Convention.
Hager's specific assignment was to collect
money for the purchase of arms and ammunition
in Salisbury Hundred, which he represented
in the Maryland Legislature.
HAGER
'S TOWN HOUSE
When Hager laid out Elisabeth Stadt,
he centered it upon Public Place at the
crossing of Washington and Potomac
Streets. Washington Street runs southeastnorthwest
and Potomac Street northeastsouthwest.
In the center of Public Place was
the square market building with an arched
opening in each side; these were large
enough for a horse and wagon to drive
through. The ground floor of the Market
House was built of stone; here's where the
residents of the town purchased their produce.
In the second floor, built of logs, were
public rooms. The Market House was
topped by a wooden tower with a weather
vane. This vane, called Little Heiskell, was
in the shape of a soldier. "Commissioned by
Jonathan Hager, Little Heiskell was
designed by a German tinsmith of the same
name." It has become the symbol of
Hagerstown and can now be seen in the
Hager Museum.56
Jonathan Hager built for himself a twostory
stone house at the northeast corner of
Public Place (Lot 12). It isn't known exactly
when he moved in, but "it is apparent that
Hager was residing at the townhouse at the
time of his death on November 6, 1775....
(the house at 'Hager's Delight' was being
rented out at the time of Hager's death.)"57
HAGER
'SDEATH
Unfortunately, Hager, who had begun
to play an important role in the struggle for
independence in the colonies, died just at
the outbreak of the American Revolution.
His life was cut short tragically in 1775 just
as he was making his greatest strides. There
are two versions of his death:
The historian J. Thomas Scharf, writing
in 1882, stated:
The elder Hager was accidentally
killed on Nov. 6, 1775, at a sawmill,
near the site of Hager's mill, by a
large piece of timber rolling upon
and crushing him. The timber was
being sawed for the German
Reformed Church, which Mr. Hager
was very active in building. 58
Judge Thomas J. C. Williams, writing
in 1906, elaborated on this information:
About a year after Capt. Hager's
return from Annapolis on the 6th of
November, 1775, this active, able,
and most excellent man and citizen
was killed at his saw mill on the
Antietam Creek near the town. Me
was superintending the preparation
of timber for building a German
Reformed Church on a lot which he
had given, when a log slipped,
knocked him down, and crushed
him. As soon as he could be rescued
— 107—
Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagerstown
from the log he was carried into a
house near by and laid upon the
floor. The pool of blood which ran
from him stained the floor and the
stain was well remembered by the
late M. S. Barber who saw it when a
young man. The house was pulled
down not long ago.59
In 1917, 142 years after Hager's death,
the site of his death was switched to the
German Reformed Church in downtown
Hagerstown. Mrs. Robert Brent, said that
her husband had told her that the account of
Hager's death, "which states that he was
killed at his mill, while preparing lumber for
the Reformed Church in this city was inaccurate."
She said, "1 have always heard in
the [Hager] family that he was killed at the
German Reformed Church where the men
engaged in the construction appearing to be
unable to handle a large piece of timber, he
stepped forward and put his cane against it
when it fell to the ground and he was
killed."60
This more dramatic version of Hager's
death is now in general circulation.61 But it
appeared thirty-five years after the first version,
and it has the intelligent Hager doing a
very foolish thing: standing under a heavy
piece of lumber and trying to steady it with
his little walking stick. Also, why would the
severely injured Hager have been carried to a
nearby house and not ministered to within the
walls of the church? Such a transportation
would have added to his agony and possibly
injured his broken bones further. On the
other hand, if he was injured out in the open
near his mill, it would have been logical to
carry him to the shelter of a home.
John H. Nelson writes regarding the
saw mill:
Whether Hager actually owned or
operated a saw mill has never been
confirmed; however, regarding its
location: "George Williams of Linda
Drive thinks it was located along
today's Mt. Aetna Road, not far from
the City Light Plant, and across from
Henson & Sons Offices.62 George
grew up in that neighborhood and
remembers that as a child some old
foundations were discovered and
residents referred to them as the
location of Hager's sawmill."63
This would put Hager's saw mill on
Antietam Creek where it forms a long
wedge pointing toward Hager Park and the
Municipal Stadium. Henson & Son, Inc.,
excavating and utility contractors, is located
on the land within this wedge. It is situated
at 975 Mount Aetna Road, where South
Colonial Drive meets this road. Antietam
Creek is dammed up today just south of the
bridge that carries Mount Aetna Road
across the stream; this dam, next to the old
Hagerstown City Light Plant, could be a
modern version of an 18th century dam. We
must look for Hager's sawmill and the site
of his death in this general vicinity.
Unfortunately, no archeology has been done
so far to determine the exact location of
Hager's mill.
Hager was not buried at the German
Reformed Church at North Potomac and
West Church Streets in whose construction
he gave his life; instead, he was buried in
the family vault at his home, "Hager's
Delight," several miles away.64 No doubt his
friends wanted to place him next to his wife.
HAGER
'S GRAVE
Some time after Hager's death, he and
his wife were reburied in the graveyard
behind the German (now Zion) Reformed
Church.65 Over his grave a stone obelisk has
been erected in his memory. This monument
bears on its south side the inscription,
—108—
______________________Grassl
Here lieth the remains of Captain
JONATHAN HAGER Founder of
HAGERSTOWN Born 1719,66 Died
Nov. 6, 1775
His only son JONATHAN HAGER,
Jr. Proprietor of HAGERSTOWN,
Born Dec. 1755, Died Dec. 1798
Was Gott thut ist wohl gethan.
[What God does is well done.]
In the same grave are buried the wife
of Jonathan Hager, Sr., namely Anna
Elisabeth Kirschner-Hager, and the wife of
Jonathan Hager, Jr., namely Maria Magdalena
Ohrendorf-Hager (1767-1845). Also
Elizabeth Hager (1785-1867), the only child
of Jonathan and Maria Magdalena, as well
as her husband, their son and their three
daughters.
CONCLUSION
Had it not been for his untimely death,
Jonathan Hager would no doubt have played
an even more prominent role in the struggle
for American independence. His only son,
Jonathan Hager, Jr., who was born in 1755,
was able to continue his father's patriotic
tradition and participate in the American
Revolutionary War.67 Hager's only daughter,
Rosanna (1752-1810), married Revolutionary
War General Daniel Heister, Jr.
(1747-1804).68
Hagerstown sustains the ties with
Germany begun by Jonathan Hager by
maintaining a sister-city relationship with
the city of Wesel. Hager no doubt passed
this town on the lower Rhine on his journey
down this river in 1736 to the port of
Rotterdam. A street in Hagerstown has been
named "Wesel Boulevard" in honor of this
association. Wesel Blvd. leads from southwestern
Hagerstown toward City Park and
"the Hager House."69
VIEWING THE SITES ASSOCIATED WITH JONATHAN
HAGER
A good place to start viewing the sites
associated with Jonathan Hager is at Public
Place, the center of old Hagerstown. Public
Place was laid out by Jonathan in 1665
where Potomac and Washington Streets
cross; it divides Hagerstown today into
north and south, east and west. Thus we
have North Potomac Street and South
Potomac Street, East Washington Street and
West Washington Street.
In the northeast corner of Public Place
was Jonathan's town house—the third
Hager house. To the southwest is "Hager's
Fancy"—the first Hager house. It may be
reached by driving or walking two blocks
west on West Washington Street, three long
blocks south on South Prospect Street and
one block right on Key Street.
To the northwest is the site of "Hager's
Delight"—the second Hager house. It may
be reached by driving one block west on
West Washington Street, turning right
(north) on Jonathan Street, left (west) on
West Church Street and angling to the right
on Salem Avenue. The site of the house on
"Hager's Delight" is near the intersection of
Salem Avenue and Interstate 81 (Interchange
7).
To the southeast is the site of Hager's
fatal accident at his sawmill near Antietam
Creek. Drive south on South Potomac
Street, left (east) on East Baltimore Street,
right (southeast) on Frederick Road, pass
Hager Street on the left, turn left (east) on
Memorial Boulevard East, pass Hager Park
on the left, and stop at Antietam Creek.
(Memorial Blvd. becomes Mount Aetna
Road after the bridge across the Antietam.)
On the right, before the bridge, is the old
Hagerstown City Light Plant and the dam
—109—
Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagerstown
across Antietam Creek. It was near here that
Hager's sawmill stood.
To the north are Jonathan and
Elisabeth's graves. Walk north two blocks
on North Potomac Street to West Church
Street. The Zion Reformed Church is at the
northwest corner of the intersection N.
Potomac and W. Church. The cemetery is
west of the church.
— Gary C. Grassl
The German-American Heritage Society
of Greater Washington, D.C.
Figure 1: The Jonathan Hager House ("Hager's Fancy") in Hagerstown, MD
Before 1937
—110—
1
Jonathan Hager is also honored by the City of
Hagerstown by a park at Frederick Street and
Memorial Blvd. Over the entrance gate of this
beautiful, walled-in park in the southeast part
of the city are the letters HAGER PARK. The
importance of Jonathan Hager to the German-
American history of Maryland may be gauged
by the fact that the Second Annual Report of
the Society for the History of the Germans in
Maryland (1888) contained Basil Sollers'
biography of Hager.
2
The year 1762 is officially considered the date
Hager founded Hagerstown, but this is incorrect.
He didn't acquired the land ("New
Work") on which he staked out the town until
1765.
3
The Washington County Historical Society, The
Hager House: Take A Walk Through the
Past.... Hagerstown, MD, undated brochure.
4
Vers 4.19, @I9BXZ-73@INDI, posted January 5,
1998.
5
Family Tree Makers for Windows, The Learning
Company, Inc., Fremont, CA 95439, posted
December 26, 1998, @I0899@INDI.
6
German Pioneers to Pennsylvania, Passenger Ships'
Lists, THE HARLE, List 41, http://www.ristenbatt.
com/genealogy/shplst38.htm.
7
FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service, International
Genealogical Index (R), Verse 4.0,
February 1997, File Hager-1719.ged.
8
The letter was addressed to Hager in the "Vicinity of
Philadelphia." The fact that it was delivered to
him in Hagerstown, more than 170 miles from
Philadelphia, is testimony to the fact that he
was well known in Colonial America.
9
Berleburg in Westphalia was first mentioned in
1258. (The name means "little bear's castle.")
In 1322 the town of about 50 houses on the
Odeborn came into the possession of the
Counts of Wittgenstein. Their castle, Schloß
Berleburg, may still be seen today as it looked
in 1732 (www.hist-stadt.nrw.de/source/nrw.
htm).
Schloß Berleburg is today a museum and the
site of indoor and outdoor concerts. It is interesting
to note in connection with the assumption
that Jonathan Hager learned metal working
in Berleburg that a smithery museum exists
in the nearby village of Arfeld. With a population
of about 22,000, Bad Berleburg 57319,
Kreis Siegen-Wittgenstein, Nordrhein-Westfalen,
is today known principally for its therapeutic
baths.
10
Minutes of the Provincial Council, in Colonial
Records, Vol. IV, 58f.
11
John W. Wayland, "German Immigrants, Male and
Female, Landing at Philadelphia" (1727-
1775), The German Element of the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Harrisonburg,
VA: C. J. Carrier Co., 1989, 28 [first published
in 1907].
l2
Province of Maryland Warrant Book LG No. A, f.
34.
13
Patented Certificate No. 1013, Prince George's
County, Land Office, Annapolis; Patents EI,
No. 6, f. 203-4. See also plat H 35, Hager's
Fancy, 200 acres, in Maryland State Archives
Building, microfilm FC862 and CFW-L-41.
l4
James W. Foster and William B. Marye, "The
Stone House Called the 'Hager House,'
Hagerstown, Maryland," 3, Historic American
Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Prints
and Photographs Division, HABS, MD, 22-
HAGTO, 2-.
15
The Washington County Historical Society, The
Hager House: Take A Walk Through the Past....
l6
The Hager House and Museum are located at 110
Key Street, City Park, Hagerstown. (Tel.
(301/739-8393.) From Washington, D.C., take I-
270 and from Baltimore take I-70 northwest. At
Frederick, continue on I-70 toward
Hagerstown. Take Exit 32B (U.S. 40 West)
into the city and continue on Franklin Avenue.
Turn left on South Prospect Street and continue
for three blocks. Turn right immediately after
you have crossed railroad tracks and follow the
road that parallels these tracks. This is Key
Street. Turn right across the railroad tracks at
the "Hager House" sign. "The Hager House
and Museum" are open Tuesday through
Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM and Sunday
from 2 to 5 PM. They are closed January
through March and from the last week of
November through the first Tuesday of
December to prepare for Christmas. A
Christmas celebration featuring German
customs is held throughout December. "The
Hager House" may be seen in color at
house.html.
NOTES
Jonathan Hager of Hagerstown, Notes____
l7
William Eddis, Letters from America. London,
1792, 133.
18
Mary Vernon Mish (signed Mrs. Frank V. Mish),
"The Jonathan Hager House, Hagerstown,
Washington County, Maryland," Historical
American Buildings Survey, Library of
Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,
HABS, MD, 22-HAGTO, 2-.
l9
Charles N. Stotz, registered architect and engineer,
"Comments on the Jonathan Hager House,
Hagerstown," Dec. 16, 1945, 5. Historic
American Buildings Survey, Library of
Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,
HABS, MD, 22-HAGTO, 2-.
20
Eddis, 133.
2l
"The comb roof is broken in the near-center by a
brick chimney. (On the Maryland-Pennsylvania
frontier central chimneys are a characteristic of
German construction)." See Mish, note 17.
A central chimney, which radiated heat
throughout the house, was more efficient than
the English-style chimneys at both ends of a
house. To warm a house with two end chimneys,
both would have to hold a fire, thus consuming
twice as much fuel (the author).
22th
e Washington County Historical Society, The
Hager House: Take A Walk Through the
Past....
23
John H. Nelson, "What God Does Is Well Done ":
The Jonathan Hager Files. The City of
Hagerstown, MD, 1997, 12.
24
Some writers have maintained that the Hager House
was built over springs so that the inhabitants
would have a secure water supply in case of an
Indian siege. This does not seem plausible.
When the rare opportunity presented itself,
Germans built houses over springs in their
homeland and in Pennsylvania: it spared the
great toil involved in carrying water. Indians
are not known for having conducted sieges.
They waged warfare as they conducted a hunt: a
quick strike from an ambush. The Hager
House has also been described as a fort against
Indians because of its nearly 2-feet-thick, stone
walls. But massive stone walls were a standard
German construction method (the author).
"The construction of a house over a spring was
not a rarity even in the early part of the nineteenth
century. Where topography was favorable,
and this was usually not the case at the
source of a spring, the owner was thus provided
with the equivalent of a modern refrigerator and
was spared trips to the springhouse in bad or
unseasonable weather... It is therefore not
necessary to assume that the house was built
over a spring with an eye to withstanding a
siege from Indians...." —Charles K. Stotz,
architect and engineer, December 16, 1949,
"Comments on the Jonathan Hager House,
Hagerstown," Historic American Buildings
Survey, Library of Congress, Prints and
Photographs Division, HABS, MD, 22-
HAGTO, 2-.
24
Nelson, 12.
25
The book of medicinal cures published in Frankfurt
am Main in 1715 may have been brought over
by the Kirschner family. Anna Elisabeth
Kirschner, the wife of Jonathan Hager, was
born 1725 in Langenselbold, only 16 miles east
of Frankfurt.
26
James W. Foster and William B. Marye, "The
Stone House Called the 'Hager House,'"
undated, footnote 8, Historic American
Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Prints
and Photographs Division, HABS, MD, 22-
HAGTO, 2-.
27
Like most German women, Anna Elisabeth had
two given names. Because they honored the
chief female saints of the New Testament,
Maria, the mother of Jesus, and Anna, the
mother of Maria, were common initial names
for girls. But with so many girls having these
names, a second given name had to be added to
distinguish them from other Marias or Annas.
The second given name was the Rufname or
call name: the name someone was actually
called. Since the initial given name was used
only on formal occasions, it may be termed the
titular name. Some American genealogists call
this initial name the "secular" name, but this is
incorrect. Both names were religious. The titular
name for boys was usually Johannes after St.
John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.
28
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Ship Samuel,
List of Foreigners Imported in the Ship
Samuel, Hugh Percy, Master, from Rotterdam,
Qualified Aug. 17, 1731, http://istg.rootsweb.
com/v2/l700v2/samuel 17310817.html.
29
The Rohrer family originated in Markirch, Elsaß,
Germany, which is now called Ste. Marie-aux-
—112—
______________________Grassl
Mines, Haut-Rhin, France. The Protestant
Hans Michael Rohrer and his family were
forced about the year 1711 to move from
Markirch to escape religious persecution.
Johannes Jakob, the third son of Hans Michael,
was arrested by the Catholic French while he
was trying to save some of the family possessions.
Johannes Jakob, known as Jakob, somehow
escaped from prison, and he immigrated
to America. Other Rohrers followed and settled
in Lancaster County, PA, and in the area
that would later become Hagerstown (Donald
L. Spidell, "The Great Palatine Migration":
palatine.html). Spidell describes himself
as a Rohrer descendant.
Jakob Rohrer bought 50 acres called "Rorer's
Lot" on 4-19-1739 in what later became
Washington County. "Rorer's Adventure" of
100 acres was purchased on 7-3-1740 in modern
Washington County. The settlement
Rohrersville is located in the southeast corner
of modern Washington County. Jakob Rohrer
bought "the Hager House" from Jonathan in
1745 (Land Office, Annapolis, MD, Deed Book
TT, No. 1, f. 447). "Rohrers and their
descendants, the Hammonds, possessed this
property until 1944, when the house and an
approximate ten acres were sold by them,
under the name of the West End Improvement
Company, to the Washington County Historical
Society" (footnote 18, 3).
30
The Washington County Historical Society, The
Hager House: Take A Walk Through the
Past....
The City of Hagerstown also honored
Elizabeth Hager by naming its Welcome
Center in Historic Downtown Hagerstown
after her.
31
Scharf, 1059.
32
Thomas J. C. Williams, A History of Washington
County, Maryland. Hagerstown: John M. Runk
and L. R. Titsworth, Publishers, 1906, 23.
33
Mary Vernon Mish to Francis Jencks, 28 Feb.
1950.
34
Nelson, 19.
35
Mary Vernon Mish, Jonathan Hager, Founder:
Commemorating the Founding of Hagerstown,
Maryland, 1762. Hagerstown Bookbinding and
Printing Company, 1937, 22.
36
Letter from Rachel S. Schwartz, Zion Church historian,
to Ilse Hager of Germany, 26 June
1980.
37
Nelson, 44.
38
"Alexander Mack and a small circle of pietists
lived for a while in the village of Schwarzenau
[close to Berleburg] under the protection of the
Count [Wittgenstein]. They were part of a
wider movement known as the German
Brethren, German Baptists, or Dunkards.
Because of their belief in adult baptism ("Anabaptism")
and other reasons, they were widely
persecuted in the German states and eventually
had to leave Wittgenstein. Mack and his
group arrived in Pennsylvania in 1729"
(Wittgenstein Genealogy Home Page, http://
Brethren Meeting House stood at Broadfording
(on the Conococheague Creek), 4 or 5
miles northwest of "Hager's Delight," but the
author doesn't know its dates.
"Between 1745 and 1479 a number of German
families belonging to the sect of Moravians
settled at what is now the village of Graceham...
twelve miles northwest of Frederick
city" (Gross, 16). Graceham is near Thurmont
and about 18 miles in a direct line east of
Hagerstown (the author).
39
Dieter Cunz, The Maryland Germans. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1948, 85.
40
Nelson,41.
41
Maryland Historical Magazine, "French and
Indian War," IX, No. 3 (September 1914), 279.
42
"French and Indian War," 366.
43
Nelson, 41. Colonial Muster Pay Rolls, Folios 173,
175, 192, 196, 197, 199. Maryland State
Archives, Annapolis, MD.
44
Probably 2:12: "If we have died with him, then we
shall live with him."
45
Jonathan's Bible is in the Washington County
Museum of Fine Art near the Hager House.
46
Basil Sollers, Jonathan Hager, The Founder of
Hagerstown. Baltimore: T. Kroh and Sons, 1888,
20. Also, Mish, 24.
47
J. Thomas Scharf, History of Western Maryland.
Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1882, 1060.
48
Nelson, 22.
49
Eddis, Letters From America. Cambridge, Mass.:
Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press,
1969. Also, Mish, 27.
—113—
Jonathan Hager of Hagerstown, Notes____
50
Hagerstown City Council Minutes for Dec. 5, 1813.
51
Edward S. Delaplains, "The Life of Thomas
Johnson," Maryland Historical Magazine
(December 1919), 14, No. 4, 347.
52
Delaplains, 346.
53
Delaplains, 347.
54
James W. Foster and William B. Marye, "The
Stone House Called the 'Hager House,"' undated,
footnote 12, Historic American Buildings
Survey, Library of Congress, Prints and
Photographs Division, HABS, MD, 22-
HAGTO, 2-.
55
Mish, 29.
56
The Washington County Historical Society, The
Hager House: Take A Walk Through the
Past....
57
Nelson, 19. See Jonathan Hager Estate Papers in
Hager House Files.
58
J. Thomas Scharf, History of Western Maryland.
Philadelphia, 1882.
59
Thomas J. C. Williams, History of Washington
County, Maryland. Hagerstown, 1906, Vol I,
59-70.
60
Nelson, 48.
6l
Mary Vernon Mish repeated this account in her
book Jonathan Hager, Founder. Hagerstown,
1937. So does a history of the Zion Church,
where Hager supposedly died: According to a
report with which Hager's descendants seem to
concur, "the accident happened at the site of
the church building, probably within the confines
of the stone walls, when he stepped forward
to steady with his cane, a heavy log being
hoisted to place, evidently high in support of
the roof. The log slipped, falling on the
Proprietor who sustained injuries resulting in
his death shortly thereafter" (Frank and
Rachael Schwartz, Old Zion: A History of the
First German Reformed Church in
Hagerstown, 1770-1970. Published by the
Consistory of Zion Church and printed by The
Craft Press of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania,
1970, 46).
This account of Hager's death is also circulated
by the City of Hagerstown in its brochure The
Hager House: "On November 6, 1775,
Captain Hager was accidentally killed while
supervising the building of the German (now
Zion) Reformed Church on land which he had
donated." This is repeated on the internet site
of the City of Hagerstown.
62
Henson & Son, Inc., excavating and utility contractors,
975 Mount Aetna Road, Hagerstown,
MD 21740-6876.
63
Nelson, 48.
64"
At the time of his death the Founder was buried in the
family vault at 'Hager's Delight.' It was
sometime later that his remains were removed
to the cemetery of the German Reformed
Church" (Mish, 72).
65
The first parish register of this congregation, dated
1771, is entitled Kirchen Buch Von Die
Reformirte Gemeinde Ihn Hägers Stadt oder
Elisabetha Stadt in Canageschik [Conococheague]
Fridrich County in der Province
Mereland.
66
The 1719 birth year of Hager, Sr., on his grave
monument contradicts the information in the
ship manifesto, according to which he would
have been born in 1714.
67
Jonathan Hager, Jr., enlisted in 1776 at the age of 21
in the American Army. He is listed as serving
with Captain Henry Hardman's company on
July 19, 1776 ("Archives of Maryland Muster
Rolls and Others of Maryland Troops in the
American Revolution, 1775-1783," 51). On 27
August 1776, he took part in the Battle of Long
Island, N.Y., the first engagement after the
declaration of independence. It was George
Washington's first command of an army in battle,
and his inexperience led to the defeat of the
American forces.
George Washington made the mistake of dividing
his small forces between Manhattan and Long
Island. British General Sir William Howe
landed about 20,000 troops on Long Island
against an American force of about 5,000.
Howe engaged the American troops near
Flatbush from the front while moving the bulk
of his forces around the unprotected American
left flank. Then he began an attack from the
front and the rear, which resulted in an
American route, with the loss of 1,500 men
compared to fewer than 400 British. Jonathan
Hager, Jr., was captured, along with General
John Sullivan, and transported to Halifax, Nova
Scotia. Here he was imprisoned in a dungeon
under the ramparts of the fort.
After his release at the end of the war, Hager,
Jr., returned to Hagerstown and married Mary
— 114—
______________________Grassl
Magdalena Ohrendorf (1767-1845). She was
the daughter of Major Christian Ohrendorf,
who lived near Sharpsburg, MD. Hager, Jr.,
and his wife Mary Magdalena had an only
child, Elizabeth Hager. (She would marry
Upton S. Lawrence, a leading member of the
Hagerstown bar, and one son and three daughters
would emanate from this marriage.)
Hager, Jr., died at the age of 43 in December
1798. His relatively early death has been attributed
to a disease that he is believed to have
contracted during his long imprisonment.
58
Heister was an American general in the American
Revolution and was elected three times to the
U.S. Congress from Pennsylvania beginning in
1798. He died in 1804 and is buried alongside
his wife in the same cemetery as his father-inlaw.
69
The City of Hagerstown holds in August an annual
"Celebration of Affiliation With Our Sister
City-Wesel, Germany." The celebration features
German music and dancers and German
food and drinks.
Figure 2: Plan of the cellar of the Jonathan Hager House ("Hager's Fancy")
— 115—
Figure 3: The Public Square in Hagerstown, MD, as it appeared in 1776. The market buildiing with the
"Little Heiskell" weather vane is in the center. North Potomac Street in in the upper center; East
Washington Street on the right and West Washington Street on the left. Jonathan Hager's townhouse is
in the upper right corner.
—116—
Ancestors of Anna Elisabeth
Kirschner, born March 25, 1725, in
Langenselbold, Hesse, died April 16,
1765, in old Frederick County (now
Washington County).
Father's side:
FATHER
Johannes Georg KIRSCHNER, born May 9, 1695,
in Langenselbold, Hesse, Germany, immigrated to
Philadelphia in 1733, died May 1748 in Prince
George's County, Province of Maryland (modern
Washington County, State of Maryland).
GRANDPARENTS
Johannes Konrad KIRSCHNER, born Nov. 14,
1669, in Langenselbold, died there April 26, 1746.
[K] + Maria Knies, born Feb. 28, 1668/69 in
Langenselbold, died there Nov. 21, 1697.*
GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Johannes KIRSCHNER, born Dec. 2, 1638, in
Stockhausen, married in Langenselbold, died
there April 23, 1713.
[E] + Anna Elisabeth Ermolt, born Nov. 14, 1641,
in Langenselbold, died there Feb. or March 15,
1682/83.
[K] Kaspar Knies, born March 24, 1640/41, died
Feb. 6, 1675/76 in Seligenstadt.
[R] + Anna Roht, born 1636 in Bobenhausen, died
March 6, 1708/09.
GREAT GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Peter KIRSCHNER, born c. 1621 in Langenselbold,
died there March 10, 1664/65. + Anna
Baumann, born c. 1607, died Aug. 25, 1693, in
Langenselbold.
[E] Hans Ermolt, born March 30, 1603, died Nov.
24, 1672.
[H] + Anna Hinkel, no further information,
[K] Konrad Knies, born c. 1615, died Jan. 17,
1666.
+ Margareta - - - - - , born 1608, died Dec. 14,
1688.
[R] Konrad Roht, born 1594, died Feb. 8,
1675/76.
+ Anna Barbara Nix.
GREATGREATGREATGRANDPARENTS
Ludwig KIRSCHNER, born c. 1590 in Herbstein,
Hesse, died before May 1657, in Langen. [F] +
Anna Fuchs, born Aug. 29, 1585, in
Langenselbold, died there Dec. 3, 1657.
[E] Nikolaus Ermolt, died Dec. 22, 1622. [L] +
Anna Lochmann.
[H] Nikolaus Hinkel, died 1610. +
Name unknown.
[K] Johannes Kniess, born April 20, 1584, died
Dec. 21, 1625.
+ Anna Hummel, married Feb. 13, 1608/09, in
Gelnhausen.
GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Enders KIRSCHNER, born c. 1570 in Herbstein,
Hesse.
+ Name unknown
[F] Anton Fuchs.
+ Ursula Deynes.
[L] Heim Lochmann
+ Name unknown.
[K] Peter Kniess, died April 14, 1618.
[R] + Elsa Ritter, married in 1569, died Feb. 7,
1615/16.
GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT
GRANDPARENTS
—— KIRSCHNER.
+ Name unknown.
[K] Adam Kniess. +
Name unknown.
[R] Stephan Ritter +
Name unknown.
APPENDIX
Jonathan Hager of Hagerstown, Appendix
Ancestors of Anna Elisabeth
Kirschner.
Mother's side;
MOTHER
Anna Fischer, born June 13, 1698, in
Langenselbold, Hesse, died about 1768, in
Maryland.
GRANDPARENTS
Konrad Fischer.
+ Anna Veronika Schubert, born Sept. 22, 1659.
GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Johannes Fischer. +
Barbara Herchart
———— Schubert.
+ Name unknown.
*1668/69 refers to years in Old Style and in New Style. Pope Gregory decreed that the 14 days from October 5 to
14, 1582, be dropped from the calendar to bring it in line with the movement of the sun. Protestant areas
complied only after some years. For some time, people continued to write both the old year and the new year,
perhaps in the fear that the newfangled calendar would not last.
Figure 4: Jonathan Hager House ("Hager's Fancy") in Hagerstown, MD. Interior of the basement
kitchen, with the first spring on the right.
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