Johannes George Harter ^204,470,471

  General Notes:

I originally had the parents of Johannes George as Andreas Harter and Anna Catharine Zahner

Here follows a discussion on this possiblity



From "Harter" on Ancestry.com comes this note ( I have not checked this out at all as of Aug 2007)
All of the following is unsourced and has not been checked out by me and is given as clues to be followed up.
There is a book "Harter History" that deals with Andreas, by Mary Harter, I have not seen it as of yet.

From user "Harter" Redway Calif.
Andreas Harter b.1699 who married Anna Catharine Zahner and that arrived here in 1750 on the ship Osgood, list 157;
and Martin Harter arrived on the ship Phoenix in 1751, list 173 and married Madgalena unknown last name. They settled in what is now Lehigh Co., Penn. The 1750 Harters had Catharine, Johannas, Anna Maria, Dorothea, Matthaus, Andreas, and Jacob while in Germany. Peter who is closely associated with Matthaus and Johannas Was born after leaving Germany. The Johannas George has been confused with Andreas's son Johannas, however Johannas's children were mostly born in Berks Co., Penn., and are documented by a probated will that names his wife Anna Mary last name unknown, and the children John, Anna Maria, Jacob, Anna Catharine, Andrew, and Matthaus Harter...

From John J. Harter (jjitharter@aol.com)
My best information is that Andreas was born in Ballingen in 1699 and married Anna Catharina Zahner on July 25 at Oberdigisheim. Johannes Georg was born in Oberdigisheim in 1727, we think. One report says Andreas Herter (sic) landed at Philadelphia on the ship Osgood on September 29 1750; another that Andreas Harter came on the ship Robert and Alice in 1742. It's my theory (contrary to Mary Harter) that these were one and the same person: that he came to reconnoiter in 1742 and found it attractive and returned for his family. This fits with Mary's report that family lore had the family wandering in the late 1740s. (Mary also mistakenly had some of Johannes Georg's children as Andreas's children.) I would welcome any corrections and/or additions you may have to this;

From Robert Harter (no email address)
What you have generally agrees with information I have , with the exception that I cannot find evidence that J. Georg is son of Andraes. It is my understanding that the Oberdigisheim church records list the following children for Andraes and Anna Catharina (the cross indicates that the child died soon after birth):
1) Catharina 13 Oct 1724
2) Johannes 27 Dec 1725 +
3) Johannes 1 Jan 1727
4) Johann Adam 12 Jul 1728+
5) Johann Adam 9 Oct 1729 +
6) Anna Maria 26 Dec 1730
7) Andreas 13 Oct 1732 +
8) Anna 18 Jan 1734 +
9) Dorothea 14 FEb 1735
10) Barbara 9 June 1736+
11) Matthaus 5 Jun 1737
12) Andreas 8 Feb 1739
13) Simon 28 Oct 1740 +
14) Johann Peter 9 Sep 1742 +
15) Peter 9 Nov 1743 +
16) Jacob 16 May 1745

Number 3 is the only candidate, but he is known to have married a woman named Anna Maria, and to have died 1807 in Lancaster Co., PA. J. George married Anna Eva Mikesell and died circa 1800 in Franklin Co., VA. We believe that his birthdate was 1729, although I have seen it listed as late as 1733 - I believe that the 1727 date comes from confusion with number 3, above. Since he cannot be number 3, as you see there simply is no "room" for him to be a member of this family. ..... Thus the frustration!

From Robert Harter

There is a lot of confusion here, because someone in the past hypothesized that the parent of Johann Georg Harter's children was an Andraes Harter. As a result when this correction was made Johann Georg was assumed to be the son of Andraes. I cannot say one way or another whether this is the name of J. Georg's father, because I have not been able to find any information on his background - parents, date of immigration, nothing. This I can say, however, J. Georg Harter IS NOT the son of Andraes and Anna Catharina (Zahner) Harter from Oberdigisheim. Yes, they had a son by the name of Johannes, but he has been researched and is known to have married someone else (Anna Mary ____) - and his ofspring migrated through PA, rather than going to MD and VA before heading west. (One of J. Georg's sons, Jacob, stayed in MD and so far I have very little information on his descendants.) I have not seen Mary Harter's book, but I have been given data from it which lists all Andraes' children from the Oberdigisheim church records. Johann Georg is not there, and there is no room for him. They were birthing children at a rate of one every 12 to 15 months during the time that he was supposedly born. Another source of confusion for us is the name. Johannes and Johann were both used, but entirely differently. Johannes was the equivalent of our present day John. However, Johann was a christening name, sometimes given to all the boys in a family. Anyone with this name would have gone by what we consider the middle name. All evidence points to my ancestor having used the name George, so it is my opinion that his name would have been Johann Georg (Gorg?) Harter. Unfortunately, once speculative erroneous information such as this gets out into the mainstream it is virtually impossible to stop it - which I have been doing my best to try. One of the problems is that if someone submits it to the Latter Day Saints general file it is not purged for any reason - even if proven erroneous without a question. They also have a researched file which will not publish anything without solid documented proof. (I don't recall right now the names of the two files) The existence of the two files leads many astray, assuming that anything in the Latter Day Saints files is accurate. This is only true of one file. The other can contain any amount of spurious information and should serve only as a potential starting point - everything there must be proven by the researcher.

As to where else to look, In addition to Johann Georg and Andraes, there is one other Harter line that seems to be well researched, and which is the subject of many Forum submissions. This is a group originating in the Mohawk Valley of New York. Beyond this there were several other Harters who immigrated to PA in the mid-1700's, and I suspect some of the unknowns may originate with them. In addition, there were several Harters in the mid 1800's German migration. They seem to have settled primarily in the plains states.

I am now 95 to 99 percent sure that Johann George Harter was NOT the son of Andraes and Anna Catharina (Zahner) Harter as assumed by Byron Harter when he put together "A Harter Journal". He just does not fit into that family and I have found no evidence that he should. I wish I knew Byron's justification in putting him there, but, alas, he departed this life shortly after putting together the Journal.

To alarm you just a bit more, I have now established with no question that Joh. Georg Harter's wife was NOT Anna Eva Meixel(Mikesell). I have found documentation that she married a Jonas Adam and subsequent to his death in 1790 she married a Phillip Sehler in 1792. All I know for certain now is that Georg's wife was named Eva. I have found nothing more.
I wish I knew! I have been working on that with no success. I now believe that Joh. Georg Harter came to the US on his own, so finding his parents will require going back to Germany - not an easy task. I believe Georg arrived in Philadelphia 15 Sept 1749 aboard the Phoenix. I have found what appears to be a family tradition indicating that Georg was from the Frankfort area, and another indication that he may have come from a wealthy family. I would be glad to communicate with you further on this if you wish. Contact me privately at:
rharter at myexcel.com

Johannes married Eva Mikesell, daughter of Andreas Mikesell and Anne Maria Schwab, about 1753 in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania ²⁰⁴.^,470 (Eva Mikesell was born on Apr 14, 1730 in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania ⁴⁷⁰ and died about 1800 in Virginia ⁴⁷².)

  Marriage Notes:

Per Robert D. Harter

This marriage is based on circumstantial evidence, and has never been proven. Eva is known to have married Jonas Adam (verified) 26 September 1748, Lebanon Co, Pennsylvania. No further record. It is felt that Jonas died and Eva subsequently married J. George Harter. One item of circumstantial evidence for this is as follows:
______________________________________________________
The Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church (Formerly St. Peter's) - Frederick Co., MD parish register 1767-1889 shows the following.
Maria Catharine Herter, B. 29 May 1771; Bapt. 29 July 1771; parents Georg. & Eva; sponsors Andreas Meixel and Catharina. (Andreas and Catharina would have been Eva's oldest brother and his wife)
______________________________________________________