Johann Abraham
(Abraham)
Kessler
Born about in Kirschroth, Kreuznach, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich
Ancestors 
Son of Johann Peter Kessler
and Anna Magdalena Unknown
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Maria Magdalena (Unknown) Holtzinger
— married
about 1762 (to 1768) [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Catharine (Kessler) Becht, Elizabeth (Kessler) Gable, Michael Kessler, Magdalena (Kessler) Koch, John Kessler, Henry Kessler and Abraham Kessler
Died before
before about age 47
in Heidelberg Township, Berks, Pennsylvania
Profile managers:
Palatine Migration WikiTree 
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[send private message], Greg Meland [send private message], Gary Kreigh [send private message], and Gerri Eversole [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 6 Feb 2012
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| Abraham Kessler was a Palatine Migrant. Join: Palatine Migration Project Discuss: palatine_migration |
Contents |
Biography
Birth and Baptism
Abraham was born in Kirschroth, Electoral Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire in about September 1720 to Peter, a shepherd, and Magdalena Kessler. He was baptized 27 September 1720 in neighboring Meddersheim in the Evangelisch church there.[1]
Transcription of Baptism Record
D. 27 ejusdem hatt Johann Peter Keßler der Hirt zu Kirschroth, Und seine Haußfrau Magdalena ein Söhnlein zur h. Tauff vortragen und Johann Abraham nennen lassen. Gevattern waren Abraham Schöffer der Kuhirt alhier und seine Haußfrau Anna Margaretha. Philips Weißgerber und Schlarpffen Tochter N
English Translation of Baptism Record
On the 27th of the same month [1], Johann Peter Keßler, a herdsman from Kirschroth, and his housewife Magdalena had a son baptized and named him Johann Abraham. The godparents were Abraham Schöffer, a cowherd of here, and his housewife, Anna Margaretha; Philip Weißgerber and Schlarpfen’s daughter N [2].
[1] September
[2] The „N“ could be part of “N.N.” nomen nescio = name unknown
Transcription and translation originally completed by Sean Kessler and enhanced by Theresa Berns of Theresa Berns Translations.
Early Life
Abraham's parents were married in nearby Gebroth in 1717. Judging by the date of their marriage and the date of Abraham's birth, Abraham may have an undocumented older sibling.
Abraham's mother most likely died when he was an infant as his father remarried in 1721. Abraham had at least five half-siblings from his father's second marriage.
Arrival in the American Colonies
Abraham arrived at Wiccacoa in Philadelphia on the ship Lydia on 29 September 1741. He was listed as being 21 years old; based on the assumption that he was born within a couple weeks before his baptism, he would have turned 21 during the voyage to the American Colonies.[2]
Marriage and Children
No marriage record for Abraham and what appears to be his second wife Maria/Mary Magdalena has been found. Based on Mary Magdalena's will, in which she only names Peter, Anna Mary, John, and Abraham as her children (Conrad had died in 1791 before she wrote the will in 1805), they probably married sometime in the early 1760s. There is no known record of Abraham's first wife. There is a decent chance that her first name was Elizabeth, as Abraham's eldest daughter named her first daughter Elizabeth, and Abraham named his second daughter Elizabeth.
Abraham's children are as follows:
With unknown first wife:
- Catharine, born about 1751
- Elizabeth, born about 1753
- Henry, born about 1755
- Philip, born about 1757
- Michael, born about 1759
- Magdalena, born about 1761
With Mary Magdalena, widow of Heinrich Bossert:
- Peter, born about 1763
- Anna Mary, born about 1764
- John, born about 1768
- Abraham, born about 1769
- Conrad, born about 1769
In the earliest probate documents recorded a month after Abraham the elder's death (a petition by Mary Magdalena for guardians for her children under the age of 14), Abraham the younger and Conrad are not mentioned. However, ten years later, in 1778, their mother petitioned the Orphans' Court for guardians for them. One possible explanation for this is that at the time of Abraham the elder's death, Mary Magdalena was pregnant with both of them, i.e., they were twins. Abraham the younger's Find A Grave record states that his birth date was 21 March 1769, which would line up well with this theory, however the picture of his headstone does not show the birth date clearly.[3]
Land Purchase
Abraham purchased about 70 acres of land in Heidelberg Township from John Douterich on 10 April 1760 through an unrecorded deed.[4]
Naturalization
Abraham naturalized as a British citizen on 7 April 1765.[5][6]
Death
Abraham died in 1768 in Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. His probate documents that begin in July 1768 state that he resided in Heidelberg Township.[3]
Probate Events
All events from source [3]
19 July 1768 - Wife, Henry Fisher, and Casper Durst were bonded to Abraham's estate for 150 pounds
13 August 1768 - (1) Daughters Catharine and Elizabeth petitioned the Orphans Court for a guardian; Michael Keyser of Heidelberg Township appointed; (2) wife petitioned Orphans Court for guardians for children Henry, Philip, Michael, Magdalena, Peter, Anna Mary, and John; Adam Housholder of Cumru Township and Christian Merckel of Reading appointed
29 August 1768 - Inventory filed; 68 pounds, 6 pence
8 May 1773 - Account filed; Balance: 9 pounds, 10 shillings, 10 3/4 pence
19 September 1778 - Wife and her husband petitioned the Orphans Court for guardians for sons Conrad and Abraham; Michael Miller of Heidelberg Township appointed
29 September 1778 - Son Henry petitioned the Orphans Court to have real estate appraised
4 October 1778 - Inquest to appraise real estate ordered by Orphans Court
13 November 1778 - Writ of valuation filed by sheriff
19 December 1778 - Real estate proceeds (350 pounds) distributed among heirs
26 December 1778 - Son Henry and Frederick and John Hain bonded to Michael Miller guardian of Abraham and Conrad Kessler
Proof Statement for connection between Pennsylvania Abraham Kessler and Kirschroth Abraham Kessler
1. The name and date on the baptism record match perfectly with what we know about Abraham from the record of his arrival at Wiccacoa in 1741 and later records in Pennsylvania.
2. Meddersheim is in The Palatinate, which was a hotbed for German immigration to the British colonies at the time.
3. The name of the father in the baptism record is Peter, and Abraham named a son Peter.
4. Other supposed (although there are records of Schwenks in the Meddersheim church books) but unverified residents of the Meddersheim area (namely Michael and Jacob Schwenk) traveled to Pennsylvania on the same voyage (Lydia in 1741). Another supposed but unverified resident of the Meddersheim area, Nicholas Gebhart, landed in Philadelphia three days before Abraham on a ship called the St. Mark.
5. There are no further records in Meddersheim of Abraham. Abraham would have turned 21 on the boat while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, so it is not surprising that he was not yet married. But the absence of a marriage or death record in Meddersheim bolsters the case that he left for the American colonies.
Sources
- ↑ Page 78, Meddersheim Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1694-1798. Ancestry.com. Rhineland, Prussia, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1533-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1533-1950. Evangelische Kirchenbuchamt Hannover, Hannover, Deutschland. Ancestry.com
- ↑ Page 302, Ralph Strassburger, Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, Vol. I, Ancestry.com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Abraham Kessler Estate File, Estate Files, 1752-1915; Author: Berks County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Berks, Pennsylvania. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Pennsylvania County, District and Probate Courts. Ancestry.com
- ↑ Pages 521-522, Book B3, Berks County Deeds
- ↑ Ancestry.com. Naturalizations in America and the West Indies, 1740-1782 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1998. Original data: Giuseppi, M.S., ed.. Naturalizations of Foreign Protestants in the American and West Indian Colonies. London, England: Huguenot Society Publishing, 1921. Ancestry.com
- ↑ Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania Naturalizations, 1740-73 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Persons Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania [1740-1773]. Harrisburg, PA, USA: 1876. Ancestry.com
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Abraham by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Abraham by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:
- Sean Kessler
:
Family Tree DNA Y-DNA Test 700 markers, haplogroup G-M201, FTDNA kit #B43367
-
~0.78%
Mark Johnson :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch RH2230577 [compare], Ancestry member MarkAJohnson_1
-
~0.39%
Sue (Davis) Lord :
23andMe
-
~0.39%
Sean Kessler :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A153673 [compare], Ancestry member seankessler7
-
~0.39%
Rebecca (Phelps) Vodochodsky :
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member vodochodskyr
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
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I went so far in years past to research other people on the voyage of the Lydia in 1741 to see if there was a large block of them from a specific place, as can tend to happen, with no luck. I moved the question to the back burner, but made it a point to search through recently digitized and indexed German church records when I had a reason to revisit the research.
Ancestry must have recently completed indexing of a church book from Meddersheim, just southwest of Bad Kreuznach. Sure enough, when I did a basic search using Abraham's information recently, it was the first record that came back: a Johann Abraham Kessler, baptized 27 Sep 1720 to Peter and Magdalena Kessler (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61131/images/0493214-00058). Here are a few reasons why I believe with a high degree of confidence that this is Abraham's baptism record:
1. The name and date match perfectly with what we know about Abraham from the record of his arrival at Wiccacoa in 1741 and later records in Pennsylvania, and Meddersheim is smack dab in the middle of an area that was a hotbed for German immigration to the British colonies at the time.
2. The name of the father in the record is Peter, and Abraham named a son Peter.
3. Other residents of the Meddersheim area (namely Michael and Jacob Schwenk) traveled to Pennsylvania on the same voyage (Lydia in 1741). Another resident of the Meddersheim area, Nicholas Gebhart, landed in Philadelphia three days before Abraham on a ship called the St Mark.
4. There are no further records in Meddersheim of Abraham. Abraham would have turned 21 on the boat while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, so it is not surprising that he was not yet married. But the absence of a marriage or death record in Meddersheim slightly bolsters the case that he left for the American colonies.
Below is my best attempt at transcription, followed by a translation:
27 ejusdem hatt Johann Peter Kessler der Hirt zu Kirschroth und seine Hausfrau Magdalena ein Söhnlein zur Taufe Vortrag und Johann Abraham nennen lassen. Gevatter war Abraham Schäffer der Kühirt alhier und seine Hausfrau Anna Margaretha. Philipp Weißgerber und Schlarben tochter[?]
27 September [ejusdem is Latin for "of the same", and what the pastor meant was that the month was the same as the record before] Johann Peter Kessler, the shepherd who lives in Kirschroth, and his wife Magdalena baptized a son and named him Johann Abraham. The godfather was Abraham Schäffer, the cowherd from this place, and his wife Anna Margaretha. Philipp Weißgerber and Schlarben [in other records, in this area, the pastor is usually listing witnesses to the baptism as far as I can tell; the last word looks like possibly Tochter which means daughter, but I am not sure what he would have meant by this; I found another record with this word written in the same place, and in that case it is seemingly more obvious that he was saying that the woman before was this man's daughter, but I am confused by the fact that he lists two last names for this man Philipp; it's possible he was saying that the other two witnesses were daughters of Philipp Weißgerber and Philipp Schlarben.]
There is also what looks like a capital N at the end of the record. I am not sure what this means or if there is any significance, nor did I find any other records with this notation.
I also found a marriage record from Gebroth which is just to the north. In it, Peter Kessler marries Anna Magdalena Hirt according to the indexing, however, it appears the indexer may have confused Peter's occupation with Anna Magdalena's maiden name, so I don't want to assume her maiden name was Hirt.
Please go ahead and make the corrections and edits on this profile. I've removed the unsourced connection that showed Kessler-2090 as his father.
Does anyone have any evidence for maiden name? Or should merges proceed into Unknown-385096?