Notes
on Jacob Arner, of Canada
On the question of who might be the parents of Jacob Arner of Canada,
there are currently five known possibilities:
1.
Ulrich2 Arner (Ulrich1)
and Margaretha ______.
2.
Heinrich2 Arner (Ulrich1)
and Catherine Daubenspeck.
3.
Jacob “Arnert” “of
Heidelberg, [Northampton (now Lehigh), Pennsylvania]” and Catharina Knever “of Macungie”, whose marriage in 1752 appears to
have been recorded in Northampton County and in southern York County,
Pennsylvania. [NOTE: However, this is the only record of this family found so
far.]
4.
Joseph Anner/Arner and Regina _____, who lived in or near
Macungie; Northampton (now Lehigh), Pennsylvania. [The only records of this
family found so far are the birth and christening of one daughter or
grand-daughter, Anna Rosina Anner/Arner 1759 in
Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and Joseph’s death 1771 in Macungie,
Northampton (now Lehigh), Pennsylvania.]
5.
A
so-far undocumented Arner family. [After all of the research that has been done
on the Arner family, this would seem to be pretty unlikely, but we already now
have two other possible Arner families, Jacob Arnert (#3) and Joseph Anner/Arner
(#4), that are documented by only one or two recently discovered records, so
there could well be another one, especially if they moved to the frontier
immediately or shortly after immigrating to America.]
The following additional information on Jacob Arner, of
Canada, was provided by Bill Smy, who is researching
Butler’s Rangers and all of its soldiers. (References are at the bottom of this
page.)
1.
Born in America 1759. (Actually, this was already his commonly accepted birth year, although
I still don’t know if this information has ever been found in a primary source.
This may well be an entirely estimated date of birth introduced later. Even if
Jacob himself ever gave this date, he could easily have been lying about his
age once he found himself in a new land, in order to get all the prerogatives
of an adult. That’s what I would have done.J ) If this year is exactly
correct, which may not be a safe assumption anyway, it would eliminate Heinrich Arner (#2). Even if Heinrich had a son Jacob
(which family tradition says he did), that son could not have born before about
1766. Ulrich Arner (#1) could have had a son Jacob
born about January 1759, but not much later (because his son Johannes was
baptized 07 February 1760, at a place and time when most children were baptized
about one or two months after they were born). Jacob Arnert (#3) could theoretically have had a son Jacob
born in 1759, since he was married in 1752 (and we don’t know when any of his
children, assuming he had any, were born). Joseph
Anner/Arner (#4) probably could not have had a son born 1759 (because he
had a daughter born 25 March 1759, who didn’t have a twin brother baptized at
the same time), but he could possibly have had a son Jacob born 1758 or 1760
(since we don’t know when any of his other children, if any, were born). [NOTE:
Neither this nor any of these other items of information can eliminate
possibility #5, of course.]
2.
Parents born in Germany. If this is correct, it would also eliminate Heinrich Arner (#2). But Ulrich
Arner (#1) was born in Switzerland, and Jacob Arnert (#3) and Joseph Anner/Arner
(#4) most likely were born in Switzerland (or Germany) also. [However, for a
child growing up in a community that spoke and wrote German, would he know (or
even care) whether his father was born in Germany or in America?]
3.
At the outbreak of the Revolution, he was living near Wyoming, on the
Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania. It all depends on what you consider to be “near”, given the
travel conditions in those days. Ulrich Arner (#1)
was living in Towamensing (maybe 25-30 miles away), and Heinrich
Arner (#2) was living in what is now West Penn, Schuylkill County (maybe
30-35 miles away). Both of these families had already demonstrated a propensity
to move on, following the frontier by just a few years and a few miles, and
both continued to do so in the future, so either one could have easily had a son
move to Wyoming, which at the time was on the far northern frontier (of
Pennsylvania). Joseph Anner/Arner (#4) was already
several years deceased, but his widow (if he left a widow) could have remarried
and been living anywhere; or an orphaned son just come of age could have
decided to try his luck on the frontier. Jacob Arnert (#3) could have been living in Wyoming
for all we know, since I haven’t yet found any records of his family after
their marriage in 1752, and we don’t have any idea where they moved to. [NOTE:
Some (or many, depending on which source you believe) families in the Wyoming
area were massacred in the summer of 1778, which could be one possible
explanation for why there seem to be no further records of Jacob Arnert (#3)’s family.]
4.
Forced into the rebel army, deserted. It’s entirely possible that Jacob was Loyalist all
along; many other families had sons on both sides of the war. However, you also
have to keep in mind that these documents were written by Loyalists. When your
side does it, it’s “drafting a patriot”; when the enemy does it, it’s “forcing”
people into their army.J Butler’s Rangers were themselves
notorious (rightfully or otherwise) for forcing men and boys to join their
forces. And even if Butler’s Rangers didn’t commit (or even condone) all of the
atrocities that they’ve been accused of, they were certainly present and didn’t
make any great effort to stop them. If an 18 or 19-year-old (or even younger)
youth were given the choice of changing sides or being turned over to Butler’s
indian allies, he may well have chosen the service. And doing so would
immediately make him a deserter, of course, regardless of the circumstances.
This information doesn’t add much to the discussion at hand, however, except
for the information that Jacob did serve in the American army first, which could
have put him in service at Wyoming (after the Wyoming Massacre, which occurred
in July 1778), whether he or his family actually lived there or not. [NOTE: Heinrich Arner (#2)’s unit was one of those that
marched to Wyoming that summer.]
Also, several companies of
Pennsylvania militia were decimated or destroyed in the Wyoming area during the
summer of 1778, just a few weeks before Jacob appears on the pay list of
Butler’s Rangers. But most or all of those militia companies were locally
raised, some on the spur of the moment, in response to the indian raids and
Butler’s impending invasion; so if Jacob served in one of those units, that
would still appear to place him and/or his family somewhere along the North
Fork of the Susquehanna River, if not in Wyoming itself. And since these units
were mostly composed of those who were ineligible for service in the regular
units (the elderly, the young, and the infirm), this possibility would also
bolster the chance that Jacob was actually much younger than 19 (or, in other
words, born well after 1759).
[Additional NOTES: One reason why
the Wyoming region was so ill-prepared for that situation to begin with was
because most of their able-bodied men were already in service elsewhere with
the Continental Army; and were refused permission to return home. If Jacob was
serving in a regular unit, that in itself might be a reason for a young man to
desert and head for home; but, in that case, you wouldn’t expect him to join
the enemy forces; he must have been captured.]
5.
Married Barbara Arnold, a Dunkard from Redstone, Pennsylvania [NOTE: presumably vicinity of Redstone
Old Fort in Menallen, Westmoreland (now Brownsville, Fayette), Pennsylvania].
It is known that this Arnold family were members of the Brethren (“German
Dunkard”) Church, probably of a congregation in Frederick County, Maryland. If
they ever lived near Redstone Old Fort, it must have been a stay of short
duration (or, possibly it means they came from now Redstone Township,
Fayette, Pennsylvania, which wasn’t formed until December 1797, more than ten
years after the Arnolds had arrived in Canada).
The Arnolds were Loyalists and,
despite their pacifist upbringing, Barbara’s brother John also served in
Butler’s Rangers, and was granted Lot 27 in the First Concession (the same lot
which was later granted to Jacob Arner). This appears to be the most likely reason
for Jacob’s connection to the Arnold family.
In summary: My opinion is that Ulrich Arner
(#1) is the leading candidate. However, it’s still not possible to completely
rule out any of the other possibilities.
Bill Smy provided these references,
but without specifying which information might have come from which source.
1.
The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of The American
Loyalists of Upper Canada, by William D. Reid, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1973.
2.
“Frontier
Vengeance: Connecticut Yankees vs Pennsylvania Pennammites in the Wyoming Valley”, by Ann M. Ousterhoot, Pennsylvania History, Issue 62 (Summer,
1995).
3.
The Windsor Border Region, by Ernest J. Lajeunesse, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, 1960.
4.
The Loyalists of the New Settlement, by Mona Gibson, Leamington, Ontario, Canada, 1997.
[Miscellaneous NOTE: the list of Butler’s Rangers on the Niagara
Genealogy website shows both a Jacob Arner and a John Arner as
Privates. This appears to be a transcription error for John Arnold, who is
otherwise not listed on this one site.]
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