Individual Details

Martin Hauser

(11 Nov 1696 - 12 Jun 1761)



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Martin Hauser was born in 1696 in Reichenweier (now Riquewihr), Alsace.His parents were Hans Georg Hauser and Susanna Burckhardt. Martin Hauser was married in 1722 in Woerth, Alsace to Maria Margaretha Schaefer. She was born in 1702 in Lampertsloch, Alsace and was the daughter of Michel Schaefer and Maria Barbara Geiger.

Martin Hauser and his wife Maria Margaretha left Alsace (today in eastern France on the border with Germany) and went to America. They arrived in Philadelphia aboard the ship Molly on 30 September 1727. Their first child, an infant son named Martin, died on the voyage across the Atlantic. After arriving in Pennsylvania, Martin and Maria Margaretha first settled near Conshohocken, in present-day Montgomery County. Their son Georg was born at Conshohocken in 1730.

They then moved to near the Berkiana River, Pennsylvania, where another son Michael Hauser was born in 1731. Twins sons Martin and Jacob were born in 1733 at Skippack (now in Montgomery County). After seven years,they moved again to Conewago (now in York County, Pennsylvania), where they remained for six more years. Two more sons were born there, Georg Peter in 1740 and Daniel in 1744. (A daughter Barbara was probably born between 1733 and 1740.) Around 1746, the Hauser family moved a few miles south into Maryland.

In 1751, the two oldest Hauser sons, Georg and Michael, started out in search of new land in western Carolina. They reached the Yadkin River (on the western boundary of present-day Forsyth County, North Carolina), where Michael purchased land along the Yadkin River.

In October 1752, Georg and Michael began their journey back to Maryland (just two months before a party of Moravians arrived in North Carolina to begin their settlement of Wachovia in what was to become Forsyth County). In October 1753, Georg and Michael returned to North Carolina with the rest of the Hauser family and settled first on Michael's land. They lived near the Moravian settlers for the next several years. By 1759, the pressures of the frontier and the French and Indian Wars convinced Martin Hauser and most of his family to join the Moravians in building a new town that was to be called Bethania. Martin, his son Georg, and Georg's wife Margaretha were among the first outsiders received into the church. Martin Hauser died in Bethania in 1761, followed by his wife 14 years later. Many of today's residents of that part of North Carolina can trace their ancestry to this Hauser family.

Father: Hans Geörg HAÚßER b: 25 Jan 1657 in Colmar, Elsaß, France
Mother: Susanna BURCKHARDT b: Abt 1666 in Reichenweier, Muempelgard District, Colmar, Elsaß, Germany

Last Will and Testament of Martin Hauser,
In the name of God, Amen.
Because I, the signer at the end, have been laid upon the sick bed
through God's all-wise authority, by which opportunity I deliberated of
my own accord and thought how that all men are mortal and perhaps also
that it will soon be my turn; because I have already laid aside a fairly
great part of my lifetime; thus, in this my last sickness but with good
understanding and sound [memory] , I have made my last will and testament
in the year of our Lord one thousand, seven hundred, and sixty-one and in
the 65th year of my age, and to be sure in the following manner --
First: I commend my soul into my Redeemer's hands, and when I shall
have gone home, I commit my body to be buried and laid to rest honorably,
and then --
Second: I bequeath to my son Peter Hauser my plantation together with
the 240 acres of land therein belonging to it on the so-called Ellises
Creek, together with all the rights belonging thereto.
Third: The [said] Peter Hauser, should take care of and maintain
my wife, Margareth Hauserin, as long as she lives, [whether] or not she
wants to live with him.
Fourth: I bequeath to my wife, Margareth Hauserin all of her cattle
that is mine as also the oxen stock and swine, however with the
stipulation that the [said] Peter Hauser should have it for his profit
and use so long as his mother lives.
Fifth: I bequeath to my wife Margareth Hauserin all of the money that
is still there, as also the distilling kettles, as also the dishes and
household effects, and what is moveable that she wants to have taken. It
is intended, however, with the stipulation that Peter Hauser should have
it (the household effects) for use so long as his mother lives; and after
her death everything that she leaves over should be divided to all the
children in equal parts---
Sixth: I bequeath to my son Peter Hauser my loom together with all the
things belonging to it, upon the condition that the [said] Peter Hauser
should [allow] his mother to weave her linen and what she has to weave
without payment as long as she lives.
Seventh: I bequeath to my son George Hauser all the smithworks that he
has, provided that George Hauser should be indebted to my son Peter
Hauser to sharpen and repair all the tools belonging to his plantation so
long as his mother lives; but what new things Peter Hauser has made for
himself, he should pay for himself, separately ---
Eighth: It is my will that any one of my children who has already
received money should have it subtracted from his inheritance after the
death of their mother.
To the true confirmation of this my last will and testament, I have
myself signed in my own hand beside this my seal in the presence of the
undersigned witnesses in the year one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-one in Bethania this 23rd day of May, 1761 [sic].
Martin Hauser (Seal)
Sealed and signed in the presence of us:
Heinrich Schor
Johannes Strub
Heinrich Spehnhauer

Martin is buried in the Moravian Cemetery, Bethania, now Forsyth Co, NC

Children
1. Johann Martin HAUSER b: 30 Dec 1725 in Reichenweiler, Haut-Rhine, Lampertsloch, Elsaß, Germany
2. Johann Geörg HAUSER b: 8 Feb 1730 in Near Conshohocken, Montgomery Co., Pennsylvannia, USA
3. Michael HAUSER b: 29 Sep 1731 in Near Berkiana River, Shippec, TwP., Lancaster County, Pennsylvannia, USA
4. Jacob Joseph HAUSER b: 16 Oct 1733 in Perquiomen, Shippack Twp, Montgomery Co., PA, USA
5. Martin HAUSER b: 16 Oct 1733 in Perquiomen, Skippack Twp, Montgomery Co., PA, USA
6. Barbara HAUSER b: 1736 in Conewago , York Co., Pennsylvannia, USA/York Co., ME
7. George Peter HAUSER b: 30 May 1740 in Conewago , Lancaster (York) Co., Pennsylvannia, USA
8. Daniel HAUSER b: 11 Mar 1744 in Conewago River, York County, Pennsylvannia, USA

Events

Birth11 Nov 1696Alsace, Germany
Marriage3 Feb 1722Alsace, Germany - Maria Margaretha Schaffer
Death12 Jun 1761Bethania, Rowan County, North Carolina

Families

SpouseMaria Margaretha Schaffer (1702 - 1775)
ChildJacob Hauser (1733 - 1806)