Joseph Shirk (abt. 1700 - 1763)

Born about 1700 in Basle, Switzerland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1763 at about age 63 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

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Biography

These might be all the same man, or 2 men who are 2nd cousins:
Joseph Schurch-98
Joseph Shirk-78
Joseph Shirk-36
Joseph Schorg-4

To help sort this out, look at this possible family tree:^[1]

A 2nd cousin of his, also named Joseph (Shirk-36), married Catherine Forry:
Catherine Forry-1

Joseph Shirk is of Swiss descent

Joseph Shirk was a Pennsylvanian.

There was more than one Joseph Schurch/Shirk in Pennsylvania but so far no one has been able to untangle them sufficiently.
These might be all the same man or maybe they were 2nd cousins:
Joseph Schurch-98 (the one on this page, son of Ulrich Schurch & Barbara Grundbacher)
Joseph Shirk-78, definitely a duplicate
Joseph Shirk-36, son of Caspar Schurch & Verena Burkhart
Joseph Schorg-4

Then there is a Joseph who is probably a 2nd cousin:
Joseph Shirk-36 -- b about 1710, s/o Casper Schurch and Verena Burkhart; he is probably the Joseph who married 2nd Catherine Forry/Furry. He lived in West Hempfield near to John Furree and Reinhardt Jung (the father of his 1st wife, who died on the 1727 voyage ad was buried at sea.) He arrived on the ship, James Goodwill in Sep. 1727; his parents, Caspar Schürch and Verena Burkhart came later
Catherine Forry-1

Joseph was likely born in Basel or Sumiswald, Canton Bern, Switzerland about 1700. His parents (probably Ulrich Schurch Sr & Barbara Grudbacher) were Mennonites and were removed from Sumiswald in 1710-11 to Holland. Then they came to America in 1728.
Ulrich brings with him his grown sons Ulrich Jr and Johannes (or Valentin, depending on the listing). He maybe had an older son Joseph who was not with them. So, it's possible that Joseph came the year before, 1727 (on the ship James Goodwill), perhaps with a wife, then his parents and siblings followed the next year. ^[2]

If Joseph was a son of Ulrich, then it seems he would have come to America with his parents on the Mortonhouse, Aug 24, 1728; landing at Philadelphia. The passenger list does not list children, but there were 2 other Schurchs on board who could have been Ulrich's sons: Ulrich (was b 1704) and Johann (was b 1706). Each of these sons would have been old enough to be counted as an adult in 1728. But there is no Joseph (who would have been 28). It's also possible that an older son came earlier. There is a Joseph Schurgh on the ship "James Goodwill" in 1727^[3]

Ulrich's first cousin, Caspar, also had a son, Joseph, b 1710, who may be this man instead.
Joseph (son of Ulrich) and Joseph (son of Caspar) at this moment are hopelessly confused. We need new resources to untangle. (Caspar and Ulrich were probably first cousins).

Joseph owned land in Paradise twp, York Co, Pa. Part of the reason we think John (husband of Barbara Huber) was the son of Joseph is because after John's marriage he moved to Paradise twp. in York Co, PA. But another site has John's father as the son of Caspar.

This source below ties Joseph Shirk of Mount Joy, Hempfield twp, Lancaster Co, PA to Ulrich Schürch of the 1728 ship Mortenhouse.

The 1883 History of Lancaster County, PA^[4] gives the 6 sons of Ulrich and what happened to each:
"In 1732 Ulrich Shirk [Sr.] with 6 sons and 2 daughters came from Switzerland… [from Sumiswald, Switz by way of a few years in Holland] They went to Lancaster for a year. [They actually arrived on the ship Mortenhouse in 1728. Perhaps his oldest son, Joseph came the year before, 1727 since he is not listed on the ship’s passenger list.]
In 1733 three of the sons, Ulrich (Jr), Casper, and John, with their father, Ulrich, settled in the vicinity of Schoeneck, taking about 1500 acres. [In Cocalico township, this is about 6 miles NE of the center of Lancaster, PA]
The other 3 sons, Michael, Joseph and Peter, one settled near New Holland [Peter - About 2 miles south of Schoeneck, east of Lancaster], one along the Conestoga [Michael - This river runs through Cocalico twp and into Lancaster] and the other near Mount Joy Joseph.
Ulrich [Jr] Shirk reared a family of 3 sons and 7 daughters:
1. Ulrich [III], born May 16, 1751, died May 14, 1842, married Maria Eberly
2. David, married Barbara Erb
3. Michael, born May 26, 1758, died Apr 4, 1827, married Barbara Flickinger
In 1780 we find that Ulrich [III], David, and Michael, sons of the orginal Ulrich [Jr] Shirk, were the only Shirks then living in the township of Cocalico, which proves that [their uncles] Casper and John had already sold their property and left for other parts...."

Joseph died 1770, Lancaster Co, Pa. (though his second cousin, son of Caspar, is also listed as dying in 1770). Joseph’s will^[5] lists executors as his son, Joseph & son-in-law, Martin Huber.

Sources

1. ↑ Tree - http://rfmin.net/mjgen/leathers/schurch-shirk.html
2. ↑ Schurch Family Association - https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=schurch122615&id=I3009
3. ↑ James Goodwill passenger list - https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/palship14.shtml
4. ↑ History of Lancaster Co, PA, pg 719-720 (pub 1883) -- https://books.google.com/books?id=WsQxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA720&dq=shirk+lancaster+county,+pa&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWyKH-x6vjAhXJZs0KHWfeDb0Q6AEIUTAI#v=onepage&q=shirk%20lancaster%20county%2C%20pa&f=false
5. ↑ Lancaster Co., Pa. Will Book C, Vol 1, p 89

• Schurch Family Association -- https://www.schurchfamilyassociation.net/
• Schurch Family Tree chart -- http://rfmin.net/mjgen/leathers/schurch-shirk.html

1770 Will of Joseph Sherck Lancaster, Pennsylvania Wills

Joseph Sherck of the Township of Hempfield, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, yeoman - aged and sickly

Says he has Eight children (but only names 4 plus a son-in-law))

Deceased daughter: Barbara, wife of Christian Martin

Deceased daughter: Magdalena, wife of Jacob Strickler

Son Jacob Sherk

Executors: Son Joseph Sherk and Son-in-Law Martin Huber

Will written: 30th June 1770

Will proven: 4 August 1770

This might be a different Joseph Shirk:

1770 Death Joseph Schurch-Sherck

Birth: 1712 in Sumiswald, Verwaltungskreis Emmental, Bern, Switzerland

Death: 1770 (aged 57–58) in Hempfield, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA

Burial: Sherk Cemetery, Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA

Memorial ID 137059827

aka: Scherch, Schurch, Sherck, Sherk, Sherrick etc

Joseph was a Swiss Palatine Immigrant

Father, Mennonite Minister Ulrich Shirk I, and family arrived Aug 24,1728 in Philadelphia on ship "Motonhouse"

Married to Catherine Furry (dau of John Furry-Swiss Immigrant)

Joseph settled in West Hempfield Twp, Lancaster County PA

*Children of Joseph & Catherine:

Joseph 1734-1807

Jacob 1735-1788

Maria 1737-1814 (m.Christian Erb)

John 1738-ca.1783

Magdalena 1740-1765(m.Jacob Strickler)

Barbara 1742-1770 (m.Christian Martin)

poss Catherine b.1739

Find a Grave

• To help sort this out, look at this possible [family tree]

• Shirk Family History AND Genealogy FROM 1665 TO 1914 BY HENRY YOCOM SHIRK LAPAZ, INDIANA, published in ELKHART, INDIANA by MENNONITE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 1914

Acknowledgements

• This person was created through the import of NESTRA~1.GED on 13 December 2010.
• Thanks to Tom Horner for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Tom and others.