A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Elizabeth Hepler
I think her name at birth was Elisabeth Häbler. For the last name, see the notes for her father, George Hepler. For the first name, a number of early sources spell her name Elisabeth. For example, that is the spelling in the church records discussed below, on the birth certificate of Josiah Snyder (Josia Schneider) and also the spelling of her signature in the probate papers for husband Henry Faus (written as Elisabeth Fahs). Some family trees spell her last name Kepler or Hefler.
A page from the family bible of William Kanouse and Elizabeth Snyder gives the birth date for "Elizabeth Snyder nee Hepler" as 23 May 1785 in Pa. However, her gravestone is shown on Find A Grave, and it looks like it says ELIZABETH, wife of JOHN A SNYDER, 1784 - 1859. It is very hard to read, but the birth year of 1784 is pretty clear. Birth in 1785 fits with the age of 74 at death in the obituary below, but birth in 1784 would fit with an age of 17 at confirmation in 1801 in the church records mentioned above. For now, I still think the date from the bible record is the best information.
Marilyn Riehl told me of some interesting church records: "Christ Lutheran and Reformed Church, Shoenersville, Pa.: Evangelical Lutheran Congregation", transcribed by Laura Shoener (1937; obtained from Ancestry.com, “Pennsylvania and New Jersey U.S. Church and Town Records 1669-2013”). The church is in Hanover Township, which is right next to Whitehall Township. Elizabeth is mentioned in several places:
p. 22: birth record for Thomas Faas (14 Nov 1803). Parents listed as Heinrich and Elisabeth Faas.
p. 70: Confirmation and attendance at the Lord's Supper on Rogate Sunday (I believe this was 10 May 1801; Rogate Sunday is the fifth Sunday after Easter, and Easter was on April 5 in 1801). Listed as Elisabeth Hebler, age 17. Also listed is Salome Hebler, age 16, presumed to be her sister.
p. 71: Attendance at Lord's Supper on 24 Oct 1801. Listed as Elisabeth Hubler. Also Salome Hubler.
p. 73: Attendance at Lord's Supper on Easter (10 Apr 1803). Listed as Elisabeth Fasz -- so her marriage with Henry was sometime before this. Also Salme Hebler.
p. 74: Attendance at Lord's Supper on 6 May 1804. Listed as Elisabeth Faus. Also Salome Hubler.
p. 75: Attendance at Lord's Supper on 5 May 1805. Listed as Elisabeth Faas. Also Salome Hubler and Maria Hebler.
p. 76: Attendance at Lord's Supper on Easter (6 Apr 1806). Listed as Elisabeth Faas. Also Magd Hebler.
I did not find Elisabeth listed after this, though it's always possible I missed something. It appears they moved, because daughter Elisabeth's birth is listed in records of a different church (May 1808).
From the biography of Frank Faus in "Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania" (J. H. Beers & Co., 1915; obtained from Google Books), Volume II p. 849:
Henry Faus ... married Elizabeth Hepler, who after his death came with her children to Columbia county, and still later moved to Michigan, where she died. For her second husband she married a Mr. Krisher, and after his death she took as her third husband Joseph Snyder.
There are so many variant spellings of Hepler and of Elizabeth's husbands' names, that it is hard to be certain that the families shown on this web site are correct. However, I am reasonably confident that the three husbands are right. Aside from the Frank Faus biography above, there is additional evidence about two of her husbands: The probate papers for Henry Faus (see the Documents section of this web site) give his widow's name as Elizabeth or Elisabeth and say that her father was George Hepler. And the birth certificate for Josiah Snyder (Josia Schneider) lists his parents as Johann Adam Schneider and Elisabeth Hepler. In addition, I will note that I am listed as DNA matches to descendants of all three husbands on Ancestry DNA. Some of the matches are quite weak, but that is to be expected since Elizabeth is six or seven generations back for most of us. There is more on this in a separate document, ElizabethHepler.pdf (in the Reports section of my web site).
According to the 1860 census mortality schedule for Branch Co., MI, she was sick for two years and died of dropsy.
From the Evangelical Messenger, a weekly publication of the Evangelical Association, 12 Jan 1860, p. 8, obtained from the Allen County Public Library (there is an index of Evangelical Messenger obituaries at http://www.genealogycenter.info/search_evanmessenger.php). After the notice for her husband is the following:
Also, Elizabeth, consort of the above Adam Snyder, died in Branch co., Michigan, Sept. 1, 1859, aged 74 years. She lived and died a Christian. Funeral discourse by Rev. Martin.
[The notice was written by H. Longbraer (sp.?).]
The above information and more is in ElizabethHepler.pdf (in the Reports section of my web site).
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 14 September 2024