Abraham Wenger

Abraham was the son of Johannes Wenger (1705- abt 1772)- who was the son of Hans and Hannah Wenger of Canton Bern; and Anna Shirk (abt 1705-1771)- who was the daughter of Casper Sherk/Scherch and Verena Burkhard. Hans was persecuted and presumed to have died of his torturous injuries in Switzerland years before the family sailed to Phialdelphia. Hannah arrived in Pennsylvania with her two sons, Christian and Michael, on September 9, 1749 aboard the ship 'St. Andrew'.

Johannes 'Hans Jr.' and Anna lived in Zweibrucken and had eight children before coming to Pennsylvania. They received 170 acres of land from Casper Scherch in 1749. The Wenger Meeting House and Cemetery are on the northwest corner of that parcel of land.

Abraham immigrated on the ship 'Patience' at age 8 and arrived in Philadelphia on Sept 15, 1848 with his parents and 7 siblings-

1-Stephan (1728-1786) 2-Christian (1730-1774) 3-Hans (1731/2- 1806) 4-Judith (1732-1811) may have been twins 5-Maria (1735-1775) 6-Henry (abt 1737- ?) 7-Martin (1742- 1815)

Abraham was married to Anna Groe/Groh (born abt 1740), daughter of Johannes Groh and Maria Groff. Anna was previously believed to be a native American named ' Anna Eroe' but it was a misreading of her surname. Anna and Abraham settled a few miles west of his father's homestead on Big Swatara Creek. He was a friend of the native Americans in this area and acted as an interpreter. He was also a hat maker. Only his two youngest children Martin and Mary remained in the area. The others went to western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Canada. Abraham died in Bethel township.

His known children were:

1-John Wenger 2-Abraham Wenger 3-Isaac Wenger 4-Jacob Wenger 5-Henry Wenger 6-Mary Wenger 7-Martin Wenger (1780-Dec 1855), married Maria Schenk (1775-1843), daughter of Martin & Anna Schenk. Martin was born and died on the ancestral farm near Jonestown. His son Martin Wenger Jr. added a 'T' to the family surname. His wife was Anna 'Nancy' Herr. Nancy's 4th great grandparents were Bishop Hans Herr and Elizabeth Mylin Kendig.

GEDCOM Source

@R1300748235@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=113982238&pi... https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHFL-GMD https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132012011/abraham-wenger