Hubler history W. R. Hubler, Jr., M. D

Dedication

This disquisition is dedicated to the girls in my life—my wife, Sherron Elaine Forrester HUBLER, and my daughter, Holly Michelle HUBLER. When I was a child, my mother told me that I should guard my health because as long as I had my health, I could find happiness, success and could reach “for the stars,” and then her voice would trail off. She must have been clairvoyant. Her advice and the axiom were mostly true, but she failed to tell me how to “guard my health.” Now, often incommunicative and always immobile, I grap frustratingly for my ebbing health, but it escapes my grasp—it is like trying to capture a stream of water between my forefinger and opposing thumb. However, after reflection, I have had a very happy and successful life, and it was mostly because of the unwavering support of my family. Even now, when I have a bad spell, Sherron and Holly rally to my side to comfort and sustain me and plead for me to advise them on how to help me; and even though I do not know how to respond to them, just their care, companionship and love give me insurmountable succor. Much of my effort to collect the information in this genealogical tome was as a legacy to my daughter, Holly Michelle HUBLER, who I hope someday will enjoy reviewing her heritage and remember that the “HUBLER” genes, good and bad, flow in her blood and fill her body and mind, and those of her offspring. I am very grateful that my wife, Sherron Elaine Forrester, has supported my efforts. Although I tend to be happy as a solitary man, Sherron is a gregarious being; but without complaint, she has withstood the dust of libraries filled with moldy manuscripts, foreboding graveyards, tours of obscure pieces of land, and many hours alone as I pecked on the computer keyboard. She has said that I am not happy unless there are ruins are in my vacation. I love both girls.

I met many very helpful HUBLER descendents while working on this book. I could not name them all or thank them enough for their encouragement. A few have passed on during the dozen years that I have been collecting information, but they have not been forgotten, and I want to name three. When I started, my only source was my father who was an only child, who had Alzheimer’s disease and could not recall any information about the HUBLER family and who had no family mementos; so, I was stuck--at the beginning. Then, I found my first cousin (once removed), Helen Shaw, who despite her advanced age had an encyclopedic knowledge of the HUBLERs in the 1900s and encouraged my genealogical quest. Helen died in 2001 at the age of 98. As I traced the HUBLER family back in time to 18^th century Pennsylvania, I discovered Charles Sandwick, Sr. who had written a book, Jacobsburg, about the original HUBLER immigrant’s homestead, and Charles lived near the site in Pennsylvania. For years, we corresponded and shared ideas and information. He died in 1996 at age 91. Finally, a second cousin (once removed), John W. HUBLER, who knew little genealogy but filled in some gaps, peregrinated through cemeteries with camera in-hand and encouraged me to pursue the project. He died in 2000 at the age of 92. These nifty novagenarians demonstrated that genealogy might be a study of time but is not limited by age.

A special “thank you” goes to my long time-email buddies and distant (and living) cousins, Sue Collins and Garry Hamor, who have stuck with me and helped track down data, and my friend Don Pedicini who is an intrepid family historian, who has the untenable position of living near Youngstown and has tirelessly and without complaint performed the cognition and legwork to help sort out the HUBLERs in Ohio, and who has graciously applied his artistry to create the cover of this book.

Prologue

When I began to write this exposition, it was a cynosure, egocentric project because of the self-gratifying pleasure that genealogy can give, but it became altruistic as I wanted to spread the joy to my HUBLER family, and it also became self-instructional as the study provided an understanding of my finite position in the vast present and past constellation of history. At first, I wanted to compile the data and publish it in a hard backed, pristine, complete and condensed book; however, it also became obvious that there were only a few HUBLERs left in my line, and so the ultimate impact of this book would only produce an infinitesimal ripple on the lake of life. Thus, instead of promulgating an arrant, polished HUBLER history, I tried to devise the project as a workbook for others to finalize. So I interspersed the factual events with an suppositions, assumptions and theories; I emphasized my direct family tree by marking the names of those select individuals in bold; I indicted the family connections of some of my correspondents with an arrow ; I shuffled in some regional, state, county and local histories; I inserted some explanations on dead and dying diseases (e.g., smallpox and typhus), far-gone and failing occupations (e.g., puddling and weaving) and restoring and resurrecting religions (e.g., Lutheranism and Moravianism), and I even placed some blank pages at the back for notes.

Parts of this account are brutally honest; some would just call it “brutal,” but I would emphasize instead the word “honest,” and I would also admit that the viewpoint is mine and might not coincide with others. Perhaps, such candidness should not be published. Clearly, such candor is not politically correct. However, this treatise will be distributed mostly to close family members, many of whom participated in the events described in this tome, and all of whom would be interested in my views. Thus, the “honesty” is not a matter of “exposing dirty laundry,” but it is just meant to reveal reasons for the actions. That is the fun of genealogy. I am not a trained psychologist, these are complex cognitions, and I do not mean to trivialize the issues. Many of the activities and vignettes in this report are compressed, abridged, selected and taken out of context, so they are not meant to be inclusive, just insightful, entertaining or both.

I have not indexed this volume, simply because I did not have time; however, I am giving everyone a CD copy of the tome that can be copied, modified or searched. The CD version is a Microsoft Word document with a .doc format. The endnotes are a mess. I believe that the documentation of sources is essential to any treatise, but the form of footnotes has not been established and is debated by many, diverse authors. The endnotes in this tome are filled with a mixture of book titles, magazine appellations, Internet web pages, e-mail addresses and physical locations. For my own purposes to be able to retrieve data, the source of many references is indicated, such as, “in personal library” or “obtained through interlibrary loan system.” It is an imprecise, imperfect system.

So, ulltimately, it will be left to the reader to realize, appreciate and extrapolate his own significance and fallibility in the context of the vastness of time. An excellent analogy equates the history of the earth to a 24-hour clock cycle, and an understanding of mankind’s importance is evident when one sees than the entire history of man’s tenure takes up only seconds of the clock’s cycle. Imagine what span (and significance) an individual life takes.

A genealogical treatise is analogous to the study of the world globe. The basic spherical structure is unchanging; however, the geography is in continuous flux. The surface of the globe is always moving as countries rearrange their borders; sporadically the world’s topography mutates as Teutonic plates clash, volcanoes erupt or meteors strike, and rarely even magma migrates. Similarly, genealogical roots are constant; however, the labyrinthine family trees constantly evolve as chains are elucidated; occasionally, newly discovered information or a fresh look at “brick walls” allow them to be traversed to open new vistas, and once in a blue moon, a chance discovery can alter the whole terrain. Soon, technology will make genealogy a more infallible science as DNA studies link individuals together in the world, and we are likely to find how close we are all tied—possibly everything will depend on the position or existence of only a few sub-microscopic atoms in one gene.

When I was taking a graduate course in college on the ancient history of England, my favorite examination was given. The test was take-home with a one-week time limit, and it consisted of one question, “Who killed Robert…..?” The test entailed searching, collating and evaluating the contemporaneous literature to solve the murder mystery and to support the answer. In fact, there was no known answer. The final grade depended on the method of research and the presentation of the answer. It was a complex, multifaceted project. For example, a contemporaneous report might be misleading because the author might have had a hidden agenda to implicate (and convict) a certain individual, and thus, each student had to know the politics and social events of the time, as well as, demonstrate logic and interpretation. Such a conundrum parallels genealogy. The WHYs often have to depend on such enlightened interpretation. Living requires such logic.

The HUBLER history is a tale of turmoil, tolerance and turbulence. The reality is stark and includes treachery, hardship, indenture, religious and ethnic cleansing, war, and death; but the immigrants survived and prospered in the face of overwhelming adversity. To anyone researching the immigrants, the ultimate message is clear—the strength of a unified family and extended family is one way to overcome the challenges and rigors of life. That strength of familial unity is a prevalent power in many situations throughout the history and success of mankind. Family cohesiveness is not only omnipresent and omnipotent, but also empowering. A recent example is the death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. The Kennedy Family has survived and prospered during times of tragedy partly because of the family cohesiveness. I like to depict it with a less eloquent analogy—a boa constrictor snake!!!! The puissance of the constrictor is greatest if the snake keeps the tip of its tail wrapped around a tree limb, because the fulcrum is such that with the fixed location, the distil noose tightens harder. Thus, these snakes learn the trick of torque without a single college course of physics; the knowledge is instinctual, a gift of inheritance (and thus quite apropos for a genealogical discourse). Anyway, I figure that it is best that each of us reaches out individually as far as possible to widen our spheres of influence, but our strength is always rooted to the support that we keep in our family.

This text contains genealogical data; however, reviewing trees of relatives (close and distant) is boring. Most of the fun in genealogy involves finding an individual connection to the tree or a missing fact and figuring the WHYS and HOWS for their actions. For that reason, I have interjected short histories, land descriptions and suppositions to view or imagine the time and place. These short inserts would need volumes to fully explore the information, but that is beyond this text.

A genealogical treatise is never complete, and the intersecting lines produce a labyrinthine family tree. I agree with those who fear that some information can be used to perfidiously dehumanize and defraud. Thus, I have tried to limit the data to living individuals, e.g., those with birth dates before 1900, groups who don’t mind and those who believe that genealogical data will be valued more by future HUBLER generations more than any possible embarrassment by current ones. Always, I have tried to avoid any potential discomfort and have always tried to be accurate.

The syntax and punctuation of this worksheet is awful. I foresee that this epistle will be a “jumping board” for those beginning or amplifying the family’s genealogy; rather than a polished, finished document. Therefore, to squeeze in as much data as possible, the booklet is replete with brackets and parentheses with salient information inside. Because the given names Jacob, John, Abraham, etc. are replete in this family, it is difficult to decipher the HUBLER lineage. Various numbering systems have been developed to clarify a family tree, but I enclosed the life dates of each individual to pinpoint the person, which means more parentheses. Some would call me a sesquipedalian; however, such ponderous, polysyllabic bombast is just my effort to put more information in the text. Ex-teachers, please be lenient with red ink.

Internet access is giving genealogy a dramatic boost. When I began The HUBLER History in 1985, gathering and categorizing was dependant on library, courthouse and graveyard searches, but by 2001, Internet information abounds, and CD-ROM copies of vital statistics for personal computers can be purchased at reasonable rates. Predictably, the genealogical field has become swamped with sloppy, ineffectual researchers (or worse) who take Internet data and promote the same information (or misinformation) as truth without any confirmation with primary sources. (It is often called “repackaging”). Ten years ago, those interested in family histories were few and were a dedicated, close cadre of individuals who happily shared data with fellow researchers via snail mail. Now, copyright laws and publishing infringements often become paramount to the amateur genealogists. In short, Internet information often has errors of omission and commission, but still it is a great start. However, confirmation of data from the Internet has to be achieved through historically conventional methods.

This report is not for sale. It is designed to enhance the database of amateur family historians who want to learn more about the HUBLER history. Because this is a non-commercial venture, I have taken some liberties, such as, copying maps or photographs. The following is best thought of as an evolving worksheet—although the book focuses on the past, new discoveries of old documents constantly change genealogical data. The loose-leaf format of this report facilitates adding or correcting data, although re-pagination might be needed. A companion piece is The HUBLER HISTORY Appendix (inserted at the end of this text). At first, I planned to intersperce the illustrations with the text, but found a separate section to be the most efficient method of printing the material. In addition, I have interspersed some family group sheets to amplify or repeat genealogical material.

I have tried to be accurate, but nothing in life (or past lives) is absolute. If anyone finds errors or additional information, please let me know (with references, if possible). I have also added endnotes, which are designed to help me find a source, such as, “in personal library” or “CC.” Other family histories published or in pre-publication by W.R. Hubler, Jr. include The Arceneaux Adventure, The Weber Way, The Straley Story, The Seale Saga, and The Fontenot Family. Some of the texts amplify, dovetail or intersect with The Hubler History.

Many numbering systems have been devised, modified and used by many different authors to organize the vast intertwing and repetitious names in various family trees. However, none are perfect. I have tied to specify each family member with his or her life dates. The following is an incomplete worksheet, and the complete package probably will never happen, since new information and sequential maternal lines create an ever-expanding pattern. This outline is just a small stone thrown into a still lake—an enlarging circular pattern of rings envelops the origin, and more thrown rocks results in more rings, which often intersect. The Twann portion of the “worksheet” is presumptuous. The European lineage of Hans Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789), the immigrant to America, is not established. Twann as the Swiss origin of Jacob HUBLER (110-1789) is clear, but beyond that is less lucid. Apparently years ago, a professional genealogist from Switzerland was employed by an American family to search the records in Twann, Switzerland. The research involved many families there. Subsequently, much of the data was published by the Church of the Later Day Saints (Mormon) on microfiche in the International Genealogy Index (IGI) available in Family Historical Centers (FHC) in many Mormon Churches. A compilation of the HUBLER name (and associated surnames) gives sketchy data on which the following missive is based. However, although not all individuals might be included, and the possible lineage is often based on the most likely scenario considering the age and location of the individual, while the exact family listing may not be correct. Three years ago, I hired a professional genealogical researcher (Ancestry, Inc.) to search for data in Twann, but I subsequently was told that they had no data but that a family who had hired a European to do on-site research in Twann would supply me a copy, if I paid several hundred dollars. I asked what data was included and the exact cost, but the genealogical firm never returned my call. I even tried a follow-up call several months later with no response. I guess the firm saw no profit in the role as intermediary, so they dropped the issue. I was never given the name of the family with the data. Years later, an Internet correspondent that I met on-line and a HUBLER descendent, gave me some material about HUBLERs in Twann. I do not know if he was the American HUBLER, and I have lost contact with him. However, I also independently corresponded with several historians who did some searching for me in Twann, and I have included what they found as corroborative evidence. The “Old World” is still fallow soil for HUBLER research.