Our Kistler Cousins

Jacob and Christina (Hagenbuch) Kistler Gravestone
Grave marker for Jacob and Christina (Hagenbuch) Kistler. Credit: Findagrave.com/nutmeggenealogy

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10 Responses

  1. Bruce Kistler says:

    Thank you for the great article. Elaine Schwar dubbed the convoluted early history of the Kistlers the “Kistler Confusion.” She (and others) discovered that much of the information on the John George Kistler grave marker is incorrect. I relate this story in my book Across the Blue Mountain, A Pennsylvania Family Saga and Memoir. (Amazon)

    • Nadine says:

      Hi Bruce let me ask you a question on one of the kistler’s i’m stumped on. My Jacob Kistler married a Christina (assuming but not 100% sure Everitt). His children’s baptism records show that the sponsors were Jacob Sr and Catherine (yes oddly Sr was used) and he himself is listed as “Jr”. That particular daughter was Judith born in 1906. Literally hundred’s of people on ancestry have Jacob being deceased at the same date, but I found a will that lists him (known for a fact because his daughter Judith and an earlier husband’s last name is listed as well) as passing away in 1827. Nobody can seem to help because they don’t have the same info as me and I’m just truly stuck. please help!!:)

      • Bruce Kistler says:

        Nadine. I found your Jacob. Unfortunately I have no date of death for him. I have dates for children Judith, Louisa, Maria Barbara, Jonas and Maria Anna. Let me know if you need particulars. I have a note for Jacob: “Lived at Levan Tannery.” My data is apparently from Russell Baver and/or Raymond Hollenbach. I have a note in the file: “Children mixed with others, taken out. Jonathan, Jacob, Judith”

        • Nadine says:

          Hi Bruce! Yes I got That as well, (and Judith, I meant 1806 not 1906 as I typed). She is my 4th great grandma. It just baffles me how so many can have so many errors and those carry on. But yes, his death I have as 1827 for a fact. I’m wondering what his wife’s last name was, and if she remarried…and where he may be buried at. I may have to go walk the church…again. Lol. I wonder what your note in the file, children mixed with others taken out, Jonathan, Jacob and Judith” means. My sources are the same for the other stuff, baver and hollenbach. By the way, I just got your book, it’s a good read so far! Thnx!!

  2. Liad Pernock says:

    Hello! Are the Kistlers in your family related to the Kistler Vineyards family in Sonoma County, CA? I am doing some research about Rosemont College. Thank you.

    • Mark Hagenbuch says:

      Liad….I don’t know if they are related or not. Kistler is not an uncommon name but if one does the research back to where the Kistler Vineyards Family came from, they may have started in Pennsylvania someplace.

  3. Bruce Kistler says:

    I emailed them several years ago to see if I could establish a connection but got no reply.

  4. Willard Kistler Jr. says:

    Johannas George and his wife Dorethea came with 3 children ( think it was 3) on a British ship called the Townsend. They fled as Lutherans, as many did, from the Palinate region of Germany. The were not indentured servants. They left for PA from Holland. Ironically my brother in law’s Gary Frantz (now deceased) had his 7th generation grandfather Ludwig and his wife on the same ship. They arrived in what is Philadelphia in Oct 1737. I want to say the 17th. They settled in Faulkner Swamp which was just east of Valley Forge. Not long after that they moved to Berks County, Albany Township. The Kistler Homestead remains there in Kistler’s Valley. Johannas served under Captain Clark who served under Colonel George Washington. He drove the War Wagon. Five of his sons , including my 6th generation Grandfather served in the Muhlenberg Militia during the Rev War. After the war, one Kistler moved to Ohio. The GM plant in Lordstown was the Kistler farm of that descendant. The family sold the land to GM in the 1930s. I met a Darlene Kistler when at Youngstown State University. She was local and I met with her parents (1980) and discussed their side of the tree. Another Kistler followed many German and Dutch Americans down the Wilderness Road and into North Carolina. That Kistler married a Cherokee woman. Most of the Kistlers in the Chattoonga area are of his and her lineage. In North Carolina there also is a Kistler Valley, near Boone… many Kistlers live in that area. During the Civil War those Kistlers were in the NC Confederate Army. The army regiments of NC and AL teamed up to fight the Union army PA 52nd. This at Antietam and Gettysburg. The 52nd was at Cold Harbor too. But at Gettysburg they took more casulties then any other unit of either side. My maternal great grandfather Peter Haas was in the 52nd.

    Side note: the first President of the Bern Republic (Switzerland) was Peter Kistler

    In Switzerland, one Kistler became a cardinal in the Catholic Church. The Kistlers were also Swiss Guards and Knights. They went on the Crusades against the Muslim invasion of the Holy Land. The name Kistler was coined around 800 AD. In German/Swiss, “ler” means maker of… Kist or Kess meant fine chest or treasure chest. Chances are like many Swiss /German men back then they were skilled in woodcrafts. For sure many brought that skill to the colonies. Philly was always known for their wood crafts by German immigrants ( think Germantown,PA). Hope that helps?

  5. Bruce Kistler says:

    In many years of researching Kistler family history, I have never seen any documentation that Johannes George (“John George”) Kistler lived at Faulkner Swamp or that he fought in the Revolution. If he had three children when he arrived in 1737 he was probably at the very least 20 years old. Thus, he would have been almost 60 when the Revolution began. If anyone can produce primary or secondary source documentation, I would love to see it.

    There is circumstantial evidence that John George was not the man who arrived in 1737 but more likely his son, in other words one of the three children. Likewise there is circumstantial evidence that John George was an indentured servant and that he settled initially near New Jerusalem before coming to Albany Township. I outline this in my book Across the Blue Mountain (Amazon.)

  6. Joan Maring says:

    I am interested in the Kistler woman who married Michael Happes, b 1781. I find her name listed as either Christina, Mary, Maria, or Magdalena b. 1787. Michael is buried at Zion’s Stone Church in West Penn Twp., PA. There is some indication that his wife is buried there, too. However, she does not have a tombstone. Do you have any insights to her correct name and death date?

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