Individual Details
Hans "Patriarch" Herr Junior
( - )
Allan Garber believes if most likely that Hans immigrated in 1717, with his son Abraham.
Theodore Herr wrote, page ix, "... [I]n 1709 Hans Herr, John R. Bundley, Hans Mylin, Martin Kendig, Jacob Miller, Hans Funk, Martin Oberholtzer, Wendel Bowman and others bought 10,000 acres of land on the south side of Pequea Creek [from William Penn]." The land was surveyed in 1710, and families came. Those joining the purchasers in 1710 included "John Houser, John Bachman, Hans Tshantz, Jacob Weaver, Henry Funk and others...."
Steve Friesen believes that I. Daniel Rupp's version that Hans Herr settled in Conestogo in 1710 is the most accurate as it is based on oral history; and has not been disproved. If so, Friesen adds a few adjustments. While Hans Herr most likely arrived in Philadelphia on 23 September 1710 aboard the ship Mary Hope, it seems that they stayed in Germantown over the winter and moved to their newly purchased land in the summer of 1711.
In all of the version, Hans Herr is of Swiss origin, but lived in the German Palatinate before coming to Pennsylvania, and settling in what is now Lancaster County.
Hans Herr's original home, built in 1719 by Hans' son Christian, is now a historical museum. The address is 1849 Hans Herr Drive, Willow Street, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit http://www.hansherr.org/.
Events
| Marriage | Aargau, Baden, , - Elsbeth Lotscher |  | |||
| Birth | , , Switzerland | |  | ||
| Death | Lampeter, Lancaster, PA | | | ||
| Burial | Willow Street Mennonite Church Cemetery, Willow Street, Lancaster, PA |
Families
| Spouse | Elsbeth Lotscher (1650 - ) |
| Child | Abraham Herr Senior ( - 1725) |
| Child | Christian Herr Senior (1680 - 1749) |
| Child | Hans "Land Agent" Herr III (1675 - 1756) |
| Child | Emanuel Herr (1689 - 1740) |
| Child | Isaac Herr (1690 - 1747) |
| Father | Hans Herr Senior (1608 - ) |
| Sibling | Chrsiten Herr (1642 - ) |
Notes
Marriage
Elsbeth Lotcher and Hans Herr may have had six sons, no daughters. Five sons are certain, and one son additional son is possible: Hans George Herr, who was living a Palatinate living in London in 1717. His name was on a list of Palatinates willing to return to Germany.Birth
Hans Herr, Jr. was born on 17 September 1639 in Zurich, Switzerland, according to Theodore Herr and the Hans Herr memorial in Willow Street Mennonite Cemetery, but in 1650/1652 in Blumenstein, Bern, Switzerland, according to Hanspeter Jecker.Death
Hans Herr died 11 October 1725, according to his memorial in the Willow Street Mennonite Cemetery. However, Allan Garber notes that the source of this date is unknown.Endnotes
1. Herr, Theodore W., Genealogical Record of Reverend Hans Herr and His Direct Lineal Descendants: From His Birth A. D. 1639 to the Present Time, Containing the Names, Etc. of 13,223 Persons. (Lancaster, PA: Examiner Printing House, 1908. Reprinted Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, 1994), ix.
2. Jecker, Hanspeter, "The Swiss Origins of Pioneer Settler Hans Herr in Pennsylvania: Myths, Legends, and New Insighrts," Pennyslvania Mennonite Heritage, Volume 42, Number 3 (July 2019): 81.
3. Allan A. Garber, To God Alone The Honor: The Pioneer Mennonite Families of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Morgantown, PA: Mastof Press, 2017), 249.
4. Herr, Theodore W., Genealogical Record of Reverend Hans Herr and His Direct Lineal Descendants: From His Birth A. D. 1639 to the Present Time, Containing the Names, Etc. of 13,223 Persons. (Lancaster, PA: Examiner Printing House, 1908. Reprinted Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, 1994), 787.