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

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

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Just like most of the colonial states, Pennsylvania is a mish-mash of counties whose existence and borders change as populations increase and shift. The kaleidoscope is an ever-evolving map of frustration to genealogists who search for tax and land records in the appropriate county courthouses. Philadelphia County was the landing site of HUBLER progenitor, Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789); but he soon claimed a niche in northeast Pennsylvania, Bucks County. Then, he never moved, although his address did.

In 1752, Northampton County was formed from part of Bucks County, one of the original three counties of Pennsylvania as established by William Penn. It was named for Northampton, England. The county seat is Easton. The original inhabitants were the Lenni-Lenape Amerindians (a Delaware tribe of Native Americans) who had a peaceful relationship with the early European settlers because of William Penn. After he received the Pennsylvania grant from England, William Penn respected the Native Americans’ claim to tribal lands and purchased the rest of Pennsylvania from them. However, Penn’s heirs (his sons) were not as far-sighted or fair with the Native Americans. The peaceful relationship deteriorated when Penn's two sons orchestrated the notorious Walking Purchase. [According to Lenape history, the story of the "Walking Purchase" took place in 1737 (the year that Jacob HUBLER immigrated). To convince the Lenape to part with their land, the Penns falsely presented an old, incomplete draft of a deed as a legal contract. They told the Lenape that fifty years earlier their ancestors had signed the document which stated that the land to be deeded was as much as could be covered in a day-and-a-half's walk. Believing that their forefathers had made such an agreement, the Lenape leaders agreed to let the Penns have this area walked off. The Indians expected the whites to leisurely walk down an Indian path along the Delaware River. Instead, the Penns hired three fast runners and had a straight path for the “’walk” cleared. Only one of the “walkers” was able to complete the “walk,” but he went fifty-five miles! Thus, the Penns acquired 1,200 square miles of Lenape land in Pennsylvania (an area about the size of Rhode Island). The Lenape people cried fowl; nonetheless, the Lenape felt honor-bound and began their movement westward. That migration took 130 years, and they permanently settled in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) after the Americans repeatedly broke their agreements to provide a home for the displaced natives. The rendition may be a little naïve and sympathetic to the Indian, but it is basically true, and it is another black mark for the Anglo American-Native American relationship.] As a result, tragic Ameri-Indian raids occurred in both Northampton and Lehigh counties and culminated in Sullivan's march from Easton to northeast Pennsylvania and New York State. The Indian threat was finally eliminated, and the settlement of the area accelerated. Moravians, the religious sect from Germany, were prominent among the early settlers of Northampton County. They founded Bethlehem [begun in 1741 and is known as the home of Moravian College (founded 1742) and Lehigh University (founded 1865)] and Nazareth [started in 1740] and maintained many missionary diaries describing their observations of the Lenni Lenape and the early settlers.

Only a few miles from the home of Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789), Nazareth played a pivotal role in the settlement of the Jacobsburg area on Northampton Co. Nazareth, PA seems to be not only a neighbor (and the largest town of the area), but also an integral part and interlinking place of the HUBLER history. Nazareth was Moravian, not owned nor populated by a salmagundi of setters, as was most of the state. Because of its resemblance to enclaves around a baronial fiefdom in Midlevel Europe, the close-knit village of Nazareth became known as “The Barony.” The original tract of five thousand acres was part of the feudal estate owned by the family of William Penn. The tax on this land was one red rose, so it came to be known as “the Barony of the Rose.” An English evangelist, George Whitefield, purchased the Barony in 1740, and he planned to establish a school and hired a group of Moravians to organize the project. In 1740, the Moravians began construction, but because of financial problems, Whitfield had to sell his Nazareth property, and the Moravians purchased the entire parcel in 1741. Nazareth and the accompanying farming communities continued as a privately owned Moravian community until 1858.¹⁰⁰ A census of Nazareth taken in 1753 counted 264 residents (not counting the 37 pupils at Nazareth Hall).¹⁰¹ One of the many HUBLER-Nazareth connections was through the Henry family. William Henry II, the son of pioneer gun maker Wm Henry I of Lancaster,¹⁰² opened a gun shop on Main Street in Nazareth 1782, and relocated his business to Jacobsburg on the Bushkill Creek in 1792, ¹⁰³ just after the death of Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789) [see the following].

The region is known for coal, railroads, steel, slate, education and canals. The county became industrialized with the advent of the Lehigh Canal (1829) and the formation of the Saucona Iron Company (1857), which later transformed into the Bethlehem Steel Corporation (1904). In 1996, the population was over 257,000.

One of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence, George Taylor, was from Easton, PA. Generals Lafayette and George Washington were visitors in the county. Northampton County originally encompassed the areas now covered by Northampton, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne Counties (in northeast Pennsylvania). Northampton County is bounded on the northwest by the Blue Mountain, on the east by New Jersey (the Delaware River is the border), and the Lehigh River on the southwest. Easton is the county seat. The hilly terrain rises to Blue Mountain, along which runs the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Bushkill Creek runs through Jacobsburg State Park.

Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789) purchased bits of land and added to his holdings at various times in the village of Jacobsburg. By the time Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789) died, Jacobsburg measured about 430 acres and contained the thriving, profitable Jacobsburg Inn. After Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789) was buried at Jacobsburg and all of his children were grown and gone (most had their own families), there was little left for Barbara (Unknown) HUBLER, his widow, at Jacobsburg. She probably moved into the house of her son, Abraham HUBLER (1761-1838), in the nearby township of Lower Mount Bethel in Northampton County. The land at Jacobsburg and Jacobsburg Inn were left to his sons (who sold them soon after his death).

The eldest son, Jacob HUBLER, Jr. (1742-1811), of Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789) married and moved to his own home in Plainfield Twp about 1771 and probably worked on his father's farm. He did not own land. Jacob HUBLER, Jr. (1742-1811) moved his family to Moore Twp about 1790 (soon after his father died). Moore Township was hillier and less fertile than his father's estate at Plainfield, but two fine, full creeks supported five mills there. Jacob HUBLER, Jr. (1742-1811) prospered in Moore Township. In 1790, Moore Twp. had 733 residents (no slaves).¹⁰⁴

The grandson of Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789) via his eldest son, Jacob HUBLER, Jr. (1742-1811), who was the progenitor of my HUBLER line was Abraham HUBLER (1779-??) who moved from his family home in Moore Township to settle (temporarily) in Hanover Township, Northampton County. The infamous “walking treaty” with Native Americans involves the land that became Hanover Twp.¹⁰⁵ Although some inhabitants began to settle in the area as early as 1743, Hanover Twp. was not settled until long after most of the other townships in the county were colonized because 23,000 acres were not available for public settlement until June 25, 1795. ¹⁰⁶ An agreement on that date allowed the land to be surveyed and divided for settlement. An acre of the land cost the settlers about $1.75 an acre. Hanover Township was well watered and had several paper mills and woolen mills along the Lehigh River that separated the township from Allentown. So, Abraham NUBLER (b 1779) was one of the first settlers of Hanover Twp., but he apparently was not a landowner. Hanover Twp. was part of Allen Twp. until 1798. The population of Hanover Township when Abraham HUBLER (1779-??) lived there about 1800 was less than 400. [In 1812, (after Abraham HUBLER had moved west), Lehigh County was formed from Northampton Co, and Hanover Township became part of Lehigh County.]

The Moravian community and its effect on the HUBLER family is discussed in an interspersed fashion throughout the text of Jacob HUBLER (1710-1789), but an additional note is apropos. It is best to remember that the Moravians were indeed a community of like-minded and similar-acting people who formed a vast network of cooperation for their fellow Moravians. They deserved to be called “the Brethren” by their peers—a denotation of a commonality of deeds, as well as, philosophy. Their mutual help was legend. While non-parishioners suffered immigration hardships, including the final threat of selling themselves into indentured slavery (see following), Moravians immigrated from their Swiss or German homelands on Moravian owned vessels, were guided by fellow Moravians and were supplied at every stop by Moravian brothers who shared their shelters, as well as, food; and when they finally arrived in Pennsylvania, they were greeted by settlers with like ideas and goals and ushered to their final destination as friends (not indentured servants). All in all, their journeys were comfortable. ¹⁰⁷ A basic part of their goal of spreading their beliefs was also to educate. While most religious orders of the day fought to separate piety from secular learning, the Moravians promulgated that mixture. As a result, many institutes of higher leaning benefited from the tenet, and other churches followed the Moravian lead. Even today, many universities have a church affiliation.

The impact of indentured workers on life in colonial America and 18^th Century Europe is not emphasized in history class. An outstanding treatise could be written about indentured servitude. Few references give descriptions of the system in colonial America.¹⁰⁸,¹⁰⁹, ¹¹⁰, ¹¹¹ One-half to two-thirds of all European immigrants to America in the 17^th and 18^th centuries were indentured. Many motivations (some good, some bad) can explain the action. Economic woes (the dismal outlook for employment in Europe because of crop failures in agrarian economies, the overpopulation of workers and the growing disparity between the rich and poor with the shrinking of the middle class) were the driving factors. Some emigrants left Europe because of religious persecution to find freedom of their beliefs; a few convicts escaped incarceration in European prisons to find freedom in America; sundry adults were shanghaied and children were kidnapped to become New World workers; but most immigrants just sought to better themselves economically. Colonial America needed workers and settlers. Most indentured workers went to the southern states where the farming economies were labor intensive (few African slaves were found in early 18^th century America; and later, when black slaves filled the need for labor, the indenture servitude system disappeared). Europe was glad to get rid of malcontents, vagabonds, convicts, religious zealots and unemployed. So, both sides of the Atlantic Ocean benefited from indenture; however, the system was not easy on indentured workers.

A thriving industry of people collectors began called “spirits.” The groups would promise, cajole, lie, and kidnap—whatever was necessary to sell indentured workers to waiting rapacious ship captains or Pennsylvania farmers. German-speaking immigrants named them “menshcen Diebe” (robber men), and while they were domiciled in Holland, they employed agents who scoured the countryside of Weurtemberg and Switzerland to convince persons to emigrate. ¹¹² Sometimes, these traders crafted secret deals with the captains to carry the immigrants to ports other than Philadelphia where they could get a higher head price; often, the conmen would convince the unwitting wayfarers to give them their funds, only to spend the money spent on themselves, and at times, the runners would offer to transport any personal letters back to the immigrants’ hometown, but they would surreptitiously destroy the correspondence to prevent word of their nefarious schemes from disrupting their future plots. ¹¹³ Swiss and German immigrants often found that after the trip down the Rhine to Rotterdam, they did not have the financial solvency to pay for the voyage abroad and had to arrange indenture, and what little remained was soon lost to unscrupulous robbers.

The trip to Rotterdam from Switzerland was not cheap or easy. The usual route was by boat down the Rhine River. The waterway was placid and became crowded as it snaked through Germany and became bloated with immigrants to the New World from Wuertemberg. It took 4-6 weeks with stops at least 36 German customhouses with tolls totaling more than 3 pounds. ¹¹⁴ Many, independent German city-states lined the Rhine River and claimed control of the waterway, and these lucky fiefdoms took advantage of their serendipity by building checkpoints with the sole purpose of extracting passage fees from hapless emigrants. It is loosely analogous to the speed traps along interstate freeways in modern America. Furthermore, Holland tired of Swiss and German emigrants who depleted the Dutch state resources for indigent support, appointed a single agent to control the situation. That monopoly was graft-ridden and extorted outlandish duties from poor emigrants and licensed agents to recruit groups of emigrants for indenture for a price.¹¹⁵ For the lucky, the delay in Rotterdam often was five or six weeks, a time span that often depleted any immigrant’s residual savings, ¹¹⁶ but for the unfortunate emigrant, he might have to work at menial jobs for years to earn enough money to pay his debts and provide supplies for his journey.

A deal was struck for passage to America. The ship’s captain, who occasionally owned wholly or partly his own vessel or was the broker for one or more investors who actually owned the ship, would accept the passage funds from the few immigrants who could afford passage, but more often, the captain would accept the immigrant for transport with the expectation that he would recoup his expenses and gain a profit by “selling” workers in America. Such people were called “indentured servants,” and those paying for the passage were called ‘redemptioners.” Written contracts with the captains were not penned—the final terms were to be made upon arrival in Philadelphia. The ship was readied, and the hold was packed with 400-600 poor immigrants. ¹¹⁷

The next stop was Cowes, England. With favorable winds, the transit took about eight days, but then the immigrants had to wait one to two weeks while supplies were loaded and paperwork was finalized. Often, any of the passengers’ residual funds were depleted during the stay.¹¹⁸ The ship captain took their remaining money for a partial payment of the passage.

Finally, they were off on the longest and most treacherous leg of their journey, the transatlantic voyage. Conditions were awful. Thirty-two percent would die. The food was often rancid, contaminated with worms and spiders, and black. The water was vile. Space was non-existent. Contagious disease decimated the wayfarers. The transit time was usually fifty days, and the landlubber immigrants cursed their conditions and cried to return home. ¹¹⁹

When the ship landed in Philadelphia, more hardship awaited most immigrants. A day after the ship’s arrival, all male immigrants over fifteen disembarked and were transported to the State house to swear an oath of allegiance to Great Britain. Those lucky few who were able to pay for their passage scampering for dry land, but most returned on the ship to make final financial arrangements for their passage. The next chapter in the their lives was also ugly and especially demeaning for free men, but the immigrants were willing to pay the price for a chance for a better life. They were free men, not slaves.

No one was allowed to disembark until the captain got his due. The ship was a floating prison and became an auction block. If the passenger survived the voyage, he was given two weeks to find a benefactor (sometimes family members or friends who had already immigrated) to pay the remaining bill. After 14 days, the ship’s captain would allow masters to board, “buy” the worker, and pay the passage. Prospective masters were drawn to the port by advertisements in the local newspapers. ¹²⁰ Many American men who needed workers traveled to the port for as long as forty hours just to purchase workers. Usually, thousands of immigrants left Holland in the spring, and the harbor of Philadelphia was crowded with twenty to thirty ships filled with workers each fall. The potential masters boarded each ship and examined each immigrant. The prospective servants were cleaned up for the “show,” and then were lined up for review by the captain. Each was evaluated––physical, psychological, linguistic and familial status were all considered. The masters would feel muscles to gauge their strengths, converse to assess their intelligence and review groupings to calculate their family arrangements. The whole affair was like a cattle or horse auction. Then, each potential master would barter with each immigrant until an accord was reached. The term of indenture, the job, the familial status, the location and the contract completion reward were all considered. Bids were let. Deals were consummated. In the end, a deal was signed and sealed by written contract. Usually, the term of servitude was three to six years. At the successful completion of indenture, each man received a horse; each woman earned a cow and each child was dressed in new free man’s clothes; however, the reward varied and was often greater. Unfortunately, many contracts have been lost because there was no single, official repository. Sometimes, the contractual signors and terms were listed in local newspapers.

There were losers in the indenture barter. If a spouse died in transit, the surviving spouse had to pay his or her passage by indenture. If both died, their surviving children paid the price. Always, the captain got his fare—travel was business, not charity. Able-bodied adults often won favorable contacts, but minors served terms of ten to fifteen years (until they reached the age of majority), and children younger than five years could not be indentured and had to be “given” away. Parents often extended their children’s’ terms of indenture to allow them to be released free. Usually, parents were split from their children forever. The toll of transit affected the immigrants’ physical appeal, and if any sick servant candidate remained on board, their illness became a major impediment to obtaining a good contract.

Immigration was not cheap. The cost for the transatlantic voyage was 10 pounds (60 florins), while the fare for a child was half that. The total cost from Switzerland or Germany to Philadelphia was approximately 35 pounds (250+ florins) and took 4-5 months. ¹²¹

Europeans accepted indenture easily. For centuries, apprenticeship was a way of life. Young men would work for an artisan for a pre-determined time with the understanding that the apprentice would join the workforce when his learning period was completed. The apprentice maintained his freedom and social life and paid for his training by work. (In modern Europe and America, a modified apprenticeship system is still in place.) So, the idea of working for a specified period for the promise of future independence, prosperity and success was an accepted process. In the early 16^th century, written contracts for indentured workers were not common, and the indentured became slaves with dependence of workers on the whims of masters in America. However, the warning to have written contracts spread rapidly among the probable pool of workers, so that by the middle of the 16^th century, contracts were usual. The contracts are rarely found today, and the covenants varied, but the basic provisions are known. For a set number of years (usually 3-6) of work, the indentured would have their passage, room, board, clothing and medical attention provided by the master. At the end of the indenture period, the worker was free to seek his fortune. Sometimes, a completion reward (land, a horse, a cow, a gun or clothes) was outlined in the contract to give the worker a “jump-start.” Unlike apprentices, indentured servants had no social or personal freedom (i.e., they could not marry or become “involved,” or they would face a fine of 5 pounds for each year of unserved servitude) and could not leave prior to the completion of the indenture contract. The indenture contract was usually negotiated with the master upon the worker’s arrival in America, or prior to the voyage if an agent arranged for the passage and work. Needless to say, convicts, children, the kidnapped or the drunk did not pre-arrange contracts. For the desperately poor worker with little to lose, it seemed to be salvation, but it was not a cakewalk.

An account of a trip of an indentured servant from Rotterdam to Philadelphia in 1754 documents the harshness of the trip. It was no pleasure cruise. Four to six hundred “souls” [indentured servants] were packed on a ship laden with implements, provisions, water barrels, etc., so that each person was allotted a 2.5-foot space. The trip from Holland to England usually took two to four weeks (8 days if the wind was good). Unloading for custom inspections kept the ships at anchor in English waters for 8 to 14 days.

When the ships finally weighed anchor, the transatlantic voyage usually took 8 to 12 weeks. The poor passengers suffered from banal discomforts, such as, seasickness, thirst, fatigue, anxiety, stench and hunger and life-endangering aliments, such as, dysentery, boils, scurvy and infections. Their unappetizing food crawled with “red worms” and spiders, and their water was “black...and full of worms.” Hot meals were served only three times a week. Mortality rates were high. Young children (1 to 7 years old) rarely survived the passage. When the ship arrived in Philadelphia, the fate of the living indentured servants was decided. Usually, a person would sign on for passage with the ship’s captain with the understanding that the passenger would arrange for payment of his passage on arrival in America. The passenger would “pay” for the voyage by working for a proprietor in America, and the proprietor in cash or goods would pay the ship’s captain. Sometimes, the indentured would pay part of his passage to the ship’s captain upon setting sail in Holland or arrival in Philadelphia. Rarely would contracts be let before the voyage began. When the ship arrived in port in America, landowners bargained with each passenger about how much time they would serve to pay for the passage. The usual time was 3, 4, 5 or 6 years. Children aged 10 to 15 years served until 21. Families were fragmented as each contracted with different proprietors. Sometimes, families would “sell” their children, which would absolve the debt of passage. Until an agreement was reached, the indentured had to remain on board ship. When a spouse died at sea after half the voyage, the surviving spouse had to pay for the deceased’s passage. When an agreement was reached, a written agreement was penned.¹²²

Almost no indentured servant ran away because the citizen who captured the runaway received a good monetary reward, and the punishment of the runaway was a stringent extension of the work contract—a week for a day away, a month for a week and six months for a month. Indentured men could successfully escape their indenture by joining the British military, a course of action frequently taken. When the indentured successfully completed his term, he or she might be given a new suit of clothes and a horse for a man or a cow for a woman. ¹²³

Paternalism is the term used to describe the master-indentured servant relationship. Although the master and servant worked, ate and slept together, there was never any confusion about their socioeconomic roles. Slavery had an ownership relationship that was different from paternalism, and both systems were distinct from paid labor or apprenticeship. If the indentured servant survived the terrors of the transatlantic voyage and the trials of indentured labor, freedom waited; but so did early death. The mortality rate among the servants was greater than that of the general colonial American population (which was dismal to begin with). Most died before age 40.

Many men contracted to receive land (often 50 acres) at the successful completion of their indenture; however, often the land went unclaimed for years while the free settler worked for wages (often at the same farm at which he was indentured) and saved money to pay court fees to survey and register the land and to buy farm tools and seed. Whenever the landowner settled down, he became a productive member of colonial America.
Naming Practices in 18^th Century Germanic Groups in Pennsylvania
At baptism, usually two names were given to the child—the first given name was a spiritual or saint's name, a practice that originally developed from Roman Catholic tradition and continued by the Protestants; and in the second given name was the secular name, which is the name the person was known by within the family and to this rest of the world. The spiritual name, usually to honor a favorite saint, was usually repeatedly, and often was given to all the children of that family of the same sex. Thus, boys would be Johan Adam Kerchner, Johan George Kerchner, etc., or Philip Peter Kerchner, Philip Jacob Kerchner, etc. Girls would be named Anna Barbara Kerchner, Anna Margaret Kerchner, etc., or Maria Elizabeth Kerchner, Maria Catherine Kerchner, etc. But after baptism, these people would not be known as John, Philip, Anna, or Maria, respectively. They would instead be known by what we now would think of as their middle name, which was their secular name. Thus, these people would be known respectively as Adam, George, Peter, Jacob, Barbara, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Catherine in legal and secular records. For males, the saint's name Johan or John was particularly heavily used by many German families. The child's secular name was really John, if and only if, at baptism he was named only John, usually Johannes, with no second given name.

The term "senior" and "Junior" following a name did not necessarily imply a father and son relationship as it does now. It could have been an uncle and nephew who had the same name and lived near each other. It could be a grandfather and a grandchild living together, where the father has died. It could even be two unrelated individuals with the same name but of different ages who lived near each other. So, to help friends and business associates keep track of who was who in their discussions and records, they added on the "Sr." or "Jr." which merely meant the older and the younger, respectively. The term “cousin” was widely used to mean an extended family, not the specific legal definition we understand it to be today. It was a common practice in some German families to name the first-born son after the child's paternal grandfather and the second born son after the maternal grandfather. The suffix "in" or "en,” added to the end of a name, such as Anna Maria Kerchnerin, denoted female, often an unmarried female. English translations of Germanic names added to the confusion, for example, Jacob = Jacob, James and Johannes = John, Hans, Jack.

Finding maternal surnames is difficult and offers a complex challenge for genealogists. The task in the HUBLER family is no different. The first of the two given names was usually the first name of the mother, and the second given name was usually the name of the godmother, who could be a friend of the parents or a relative of the child.