Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Abraham Honsberger[1, 2]

Male 1755 - 1816  (60 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Abraham Honsberger 
    Born 4 Oct 1755  , Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Gender Male 
    FindAGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14589162 
    Eby ID Number 00057-3860.1 
    Died 23 Feb 1816  Limerick, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Buried Mennonite Church Cemetery, Neiffer, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Person ID I2484  Generations
    Last Modified 25 Apr 2024 

    Family Esther Tyson,   b. Abt 1750,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Abraham Honsberger,   b. 3 May 1782, , USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Dec 1857, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 75 years)
    Last Modified 26 Apr 2024 
    Family ID F800  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • #341 in The Hunsbergers book
      Abraham Hunsberger, husband of Catherine Nash Tyson, father of Alice, Anna, Isaac, Abraham, Catharine, Magdalena, William, Elizabeth, Mary, Susanna, Sarah, Hannah, and Martin. Farmer who sold produce in Philadelphia during the Revolution; sang praises to God early in the morning while he worked. Resided in Perkiomen, Skippack, and Limerick, PA. Buried Herstein (Herstine) Mennonite Church Cemetery, Neiffer Road, Limerick, PA.

      This is an excerpt from Rev. N.B. Grubb's A Genealogical History of the Gottshall Family, pub. 1924.

      page 111-12

      "Abraham Hunsberger was a great singer. During the Revolutionary War, while the British under General Howe were in possession of Philadelphia, they tried to prevent the farmers from bringing their produce to market in order to starve the Americans who sympathized with the struggle for American liberty or else to compel them to surrender. Yet the farmers needed the market, and so many watched their opportunity to sneak into the city and supply their customers with the usual amount of the necessaries of life. It was at a great risk that this was done and sometimes the farmers were caught and imprisoned.

      Thus it was that Abraham Hunsberger, the father of Magdalena, wife of William Z. Gottshall, undertook to supply his customers when he was caught by the British and was locked up. His prospects were anything but bright for freedom. He was a sweet singer, and gifted with musical talent and had a "faith that would not shrink on the brink of any woe, tho pressed by every foe." He was of cheerful spirit, and instead of showing fear and discouragement he sang all through the night and so charmed and entertained his guards with the sweet strains of music. They were so delighted with his jovial disposition that the next morning they left him go on his way rejoicing. This appropriate weapon was so forcefully used by this non-resistant Mennonite, and was more effective in conquering the British than the American musket. Truly, music has charms.

      The compiler of this work has a copy of a manuscript music book of which Abraham Hunsberger was the author and bears his signature under date of August 31, 1815. The contents are written in German.

      Abraham Hunsberger (1755-1816) - Find a Grave... (no date) Find a Grave. Available at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14589162/abraham-hunsberger (Accessed: 21 January 2024).

  • Sources 
    1. [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 811.

    2. [S10] Book - Vol II A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 543.

    3. [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14589162/abraham-hunsberger.

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 4 Oct 1755 - , Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 23 Feb 1816 - Limerick, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mennonite Church Cemetery, Neiffer, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth