Military Records of Peter Hasselbacher 1777-83

November 5th, 2009

Following my acquisition of the Doctoral Thesis of Erhard Städtler related to the Ansbach-Bayreuth Regiment, I took another swing at outlining what we know and do not know about the timing and circumstances of the conscription of Peter Hasselbacher (Hazelbaker) in 1777. A high priority for the family, it seems to me, is to obtain a copy of the relevant muster lists that are available in the Public Documents of England, and which may be available on microfilm in Nürnberg. Stadtler shows us a sample page of such a list from 1883.

I also present a time-line of Peter’s first year in Virginia during which he met and married Elisabeth Shively.

About Copyright and Privacy: Input Requested

October 25th, 2009

I recently felt compelled to make a statement about copyright and to re-address the issue of privacy. I initially created this website as a way to organize my own family history and make information available to my relatives. Obviously there is also material on this site that is of general interest and it is my intent that anyone is welcome to view it. Recall that the family trees on this site contain the names of people who are only our remotest relatives by marriage. It is understandable that others may wish to learn more about their own direct ancestors even though they are not themselves Hasselbacher descendants. I am of mixed mind how to handle such interested persons and would appreciate your input.

Issues:
I have seen examples of how some individuals have added names from this site to their family trees on Ancestry.com. (I myself have placed the names and dates of my direct ancestors there in a so-far unrewarded hope that a relative would find me.) Aside from the disappointment that there is no attribution as to their sources, they have made an absolute mess of the information by using various commercial sites’ uncritical automatic methods of adding information and making invalid links to other people. Such misuse and introduction of errors does us all a disfavor. Read the rest of this entry »

How the Hasselbachers got their name.

October 16th, 2009

I have speculated elsewhere on the Hasselbacher Family Website about how we got our name. I think we continue to get closer to having a satisfactory answer to this question. Once we learned that we came from Gresten, Austria, an obvious geographic possibility presented itself. The farms on which the late 16th and early 17th century Hasselbachers lived were in or near the headwaters of the Haselbach, and in the upper reaches of the Haselgraben carved out by that brook. Indeed, there was and still exists a farm in exactly that area named Haselbach. Because there was a precedent elsewhere in Europe that when last names were given out some people took the name of the farm on which they lived, it seems very reasonable to assume that this occurred for our family in Gresten.

I recently found a document at the GFF in Nürnberg that puts this assumption on a more scholarly basis. The 20th Century person with the best understanding of the names and places of old Gresten came to the same conclusion. Take a look at the document and additional discussion.

Peter Hasselbacher, Oct 16, 2009

Hasselbachers Left Behind!

October 15th, 2009

Until a few weeks ago, I thought all the Hasselbachers of Gresten participated the Counter-Reformation Exodus from Austria to the Aischgrund of Mittelfranconia. Of course we always knew that at least one Hasselbacher in the Aischgrund (Valley of the River Aisch) came from villages nearby Gresten, but until this summer it was not possible to attempt any family connections to modern Haselbachers living elsewhere in Austria.

During an additional study of Gresten church books from the 18th century I found at least one Haselbacher who remained in Gresten. His name was Adam and I present his history in the Hasselbacher Family Website.

Hazelbakers in the Civil War: Pension Files

October 14th, 2009

Over the weekend I visited the National Archive in Washington DC. I copied a huge number of records for 8 of the 11 Hazelbakers who filed for a disability or survivor’s pension. These files are a gold mine of Hazelbaker information. The applicant had to prove by record or affidavit that they were who they said they were, lived where they claimed, were married and had the children they claimed. There are detailed medical records and information about their service in the war. The actual signatures of family members are present. There is more than I can handle. If one of these men is your ancestor, contact me. I have a feeling I am going to want to offer what I have in exchange for someone analyzing the information for the rest of us. At the very least, I am offering a trade! Please note that the files are huge (5 MG each) and will require some basic knowledge about manipulating computer images.

There were no Hasselbacher names in the Pension File Index. There is a Haselbacher (with one ‘s’) from Michigan, but I was not able to review his file in the time available.

Peter Oct 14, 2009

The Value of Collaboration

October 7th, 2009

I do not consider myself an expert on the Hazelbaker family, at least not since they came to America in the late 1700’s. I have however, enjoyed interacting with this largest discrete branch of the Hasselbacher clan, and I know as much about the pre-American Hazelbakers as anyone. Therefore with some trepidation, I agreed to participate in a history presentation at a Hazelbaker family reunion this past August. There are so many knowledgeable Hazelbaker historians out there that I had the feeling that I would be taking coals to Newcastle. I think I held up my end of the exchange with some brand new observations at the interface of the old and new countries. I was even more pleased to see one of my basic assumptions validated again: the interaction and sharing by interested people never fails to uncover new information and extract new insights from the known. Additionally, I learned again the value of revisiting what I thought I knew in the light of what I have learned since. In my experience, a second look by yourself, or even better with someone else, rarely fails to improve understanding.

Specific examples of brand new or better understanding resulting from preparing for this one meeting alone include the following: Read the rest of this entry »

Birthplace of Peter Hasselbacher/ Hazelbaker 1759

October 7th, 2009

One of the first things I posted on this site were photographs of the old houses in Münchsteinach where Hasselbachers were said to have lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then my German has improved enough for me to learn that one of the houses burned early in the 20th Century. I revisited the neighborhood this summer and came to a conclusion very different from my first! I believe I have found a photograph of the house before it burned. It was reconstructed soon after in a location slightly different than its original one. This is what led to my confusion. The half-timbered house looks old enough to have been the birthplace of Peter Hasselbacher the First in 1759. See if you agree with my reasoning here.

Of course, all this assumes that the Peter of Münchsteinach is the same person as Peter the soldier.

Peter Hasselbacher the Younger
Oct 7, 2009

Successful Family Reunion in Vermillion Co., PA.

August 16th, 2009

The Hazelbakers of Vermillion County Illinois had their most recent of a long string of family reunions earlier this month. It was a special event to celebrate the 250th birth year of their family patriarch, Peter Hasselbacher/ Hazelbaker. If you have looked at these pages, you will know the story of the 18 year-old Hasselbacher boy from Münchsteinach who was conscripted by his Margrave to fight for the British in the American Revolutionary War. Family legend and secondary sources tell of his remaining behind and moving from Virginia (where he was captured and held) to Pennsylvania where he sired the largest discrete Hasselbacher family line of which I am aware.

Mark Hazelbaker (who has contributed to these pages) and his cousins John and Tammy Hazelbaker organized a wonderful reunion picnic for well over 100 persons. On the evening before, a family history night was held at which Craig Hazelbaker (also a contributer) and I gave presentations related to the family history. In honor of Peter the Elder, I focussed on events in his family life in Germany and before he moved to Pennsylvania. Craig and I were both made to feel very welcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Minute Information about Hazelbaker Family Reunion

August 2nd, 2009

Hi everyone.
Well, it is only a couple weeks until we have our 75th Hazelbaker reunion. This year we have added a celebration to commemorate the 250th birthday of our first American forefather, Peter Hazelbaker. We have invited Hazelbaker’s from all over the country to join us at our reunion on Sunday, August 9th at Kickapoo State Park. We look forward to seeing all of you there as well. As always we will serve our potluck dinner at 1 pm. We will have signs in the park to direct you to our shelter. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Hazelbaker’s Gravesite & The Joy of Genealogy.

January 30th, 2009

The recent discovery of the tombstone of family Patriarch Peter Hasselbacher/ Hazelbaker points out that it is still possible to find or resurrect very old information about our families. I have to believe that there are still wonderful and illuminating old documents, artifacts, or historical knowledge out among us that are begging for an opportunity to be shared more widely before they become lost. The best part is that knowledge of every new piece of information opens the door to evermore rapid accumulation or new facts and even more meaningful associations between what we have. I want to use the opportunity of Craig Hazelbaker’s adventure to stimulate us to even more efforts of discovery. Read the rest of this entry »