In the last post, you many have noted that several Hons had the middle name Hoffstetter. This is a variation of Hofstetter Hochstetter or Hochstetler and similar surnames. They are common surnames of Anabaptists such as the Amish and Mennonites.
Matthew M. Hon had two brothers with that middle name. He and his family all are directly descended from a very famous man of Anabaptist faith named Christian Hochstetter. Christian, his brother Joseph, their sister, their father, Jacob, his wife, and other relatives sailed to America in 1836 from England, but were originally probably German and spoke Swiss. This makes sense because there were a lot of Anabaptists in Germany, Switzerland, and that area of Europe.
By 1757 they had a farm in Berks County, PA. One summer day they noticed Indians in their orchard. The boys wanted to shoot them, but the father, obeying Anabaptist belief in the literal interpretation of Thou shalt not kill, refused to allow them to defend themselves. The Indians set fire to their house. The family hid in the basement and survived the fire. While trying to get out of the basement, the mom got stuck in a window or opening, which attracted the Indians' attention. They then killed Mrs. J H, her daughter, and a niece who was visiting. The Indians took Jacob, Joseph and Christian captives. Other relatives and neighbors saw what happened but could not help as they were not sufficiently armed or had enough men to defend themselves. Later, the boys were split from their father and lived for a number of years with different groups of Indians. The father made it back to Berks County first, then Joseph, then, finally Christian, who had a more difficult time re-entering the white world than his brother. Both brothers and I believe the father later re/married and had families.
Grandpa Carl F. Hon was a direct descendant of Christian Hochstetter. The Anabaptists are very big on genealogy and document it well. In the late 1970s, following a Hon reunion in Indiana in the earlier 1970s, during which mom's cousin Francis Johnson told us all about our Hochstetter connections, my Mom ordered a huge fat book about the descendant of Jacob Hochstetter through inter-library loan. It was at least 6 inches thick. It told the story of their faith and how they were attacked as well as EXTENSIVE genealogical listings of descendants. At the time, without scanning, it was too much to copy. The book is probably online now at Hathitrust. Grandpa was listed as a young, unmarried man so the book was definitely published prior to 1914. There are at least 100s of 1000s of living descendants of these Hochstters now. Many are still of the Amish or Mennonite faith.
This is a very, very famous story which really happened. It is well known in Pennsylvania, especially Berks County, and in Anabaptist communities. There are a number of online sites and books which document the story as well as some which provide transcriptions of later, related copies of deeds and other information about the family. The Berks Co Historical Association has a nice abridged version of the early part of the story online at http://www.berkshistory.org/multimedia/articles/hochstetler-massacre/ Please remember that this story is a product of the period in which it was written so it has certain comments about the Indians, who when you think about it were just defending their turf which our ancestors did not comprehend. The Hochstetters just wanted religious freedom and cheap land to live on.
Some of the descendants who married into the Hons or Honns traveled from Pennsylvania into Kentucky with Daniel Boone. Boone made many trips west into Kentucky. They did not go on the first trips, but rather on later trips westward into Kentucky with Boone. From Kentucky some Hons, including a group who preached on the weekends, headed to Indiana, and that is where Grandpa Carl F. Hon was born and where his immediate family were living by 1850.
I'm not going into more detail about this branch of the family now. I hope that you will take the time and effort to look it up and be amazed about it. So, in this one branch of our family we have been in the US since 1736. Part of our family predates the American Revolution! Think about that. Is that cool or what? They came to the US seeking freedom to worship as they wished, even though that cost them dearly.
In the next blog, I will begin with the children of Carl F. and Rosalia Mannheim Hon.
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