FIRST
GENERATION [1703-1749]
+ 1. Abraham Kensinger
DOB:
July 1703
Birthplace:
Neukirchen, Altotting, Bayern, Germany
DOD:
1749
Deathplace:
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Father:
Christian Kensinger Gansinger (1668-?)
Mother:
UNKNOWN
Spouse:
Anna Barbara [UNKNOWN] (1710-?)
Children:
[1.1] Frenee Kensinger (bef. 1729-?)
[1.2] Abraham Gansinger Kensinger
(1730-1813)
John Kensinger (maybe) (1725?-1813?)
Abraham Kensinger was born July 1703 in Neukirchen, Altotting, Bayern, Germany. One source asserts that Abraham was the son of Christian Kensinger Gansinger, who was born in 1668 in Neukirchen, Altotting, Bayern, Germany, which is also where he died.[1] According to John Schunk, “[r]ecords Neukirchen reveal a Christian KINSINGER with sons Abrahama and Johannes in 1724; and records in Frankenstein reveal a Johannes KINSINGER in 1743 and a Jacob KINSINGER and two Johannes KINSINGERS in 1753 and 1759. These villages are located just to the west of Weisenheim am Berg, but there is no proof of the whereabouts of Joannes of Weisenheim am Berg prior to 1760.”[2]
Abraham married Anna Barbara [maiden name UNKNOWN] in 1723
in Bayern, Germany. Anna Barbara was born in 1710 in Neukirchen,
Altotting, Bayern, Germany. Abraham and
Anna had at least two children: Frenee Kensinger, who was born before 1729 in
Germany, and Abraham Gansinger Kensinger, born October 28, 1730 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At least one source states that an older son
of Abraham and Anna Barbara stayed in Germany, and also referred to Frenee Kensinger
as a daughter.[3]
Other sources assert that Abraham and Anna Barbara had a son, John, who was
born in Pennsylvania on 28 October of an UNKNOWN year, and died on 25 September
1813.[4] According to Daryl L. Cole, the family Bible
belonging to John Deeter and Susanna Ulrich Deeter, and to their son Abraham
Deeter and wife Elizabeth Rench Deeter, contains an entry stating “John
Kensinger, born 28 October 1825 and died 25 September 1813”; this entry, Cole
writes, is “a complete mystery”, particularly in light of the presumably
misstated “1825” date instead of “1725” and the wording of this entry in
English where all other entries in the Bible were made in German.[5] Cole also notes that a record indicates that
a John Kensinger served in Captain John Cook’s Company, Lancaster County, 4th
Batallion, 4th A, 2nd Class on May 6, 1784, that another
John Kensinger served in the same unit on 21 October 1784, and that John
Kensinger married Mary Wyven on 9 May 1765.[6] It is highly probable that none of these
records refer to a son of Abraham Gansinger, in light of the fact the Mortonhouse passenger lists mention only
one child traveling from Germany to Philadelphia with Abraham and Anna Barbara.
Cole also suggests the possibility that this John Kensinger, could have been the
grandson of Abraham Kensinger, although logic dictates this to be impossible.[7]
Abraham emigrated with Anna and son Frenee from Germany to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 17 August 1729 aboard the Mortonhouse, captained by James Coultas.
He and son Frenee swore oaths of allegiance in Pennsylvania on 19 August 1729, but no records indicate that the same was administered to Anna Barbara.[12] This oath and declaration was required of all males over the age of sixteen years, to be taken as soon as possible after their immigration to Pennsylvania. “Taking an oath of allegiance was a process undergone during early colonial emigration. In this oath, immigrants declared they would be faithful to King George II.”[13] Abraham is listed in these documents as “Abraham Kensinger”, which is the name his descendents use in America.[14]
Abraham Gansinger died in 1749 in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, about age 46.
[1]
See Moyer Family Tree.
[2]
Schunk, John, “Descendants of Joahnnes KINSINGER (ca 1735-1788),
http://skcensus.com/genealogy/kinsinger/aqwn01.htm.
[3]http://mjgen.com/leathers/1leathers.html.
[4]
See Moyer Family Tree;
http://genforum.genealogy.com/kensinger/messages/9.html;http://genforum.genealogy.com/kensinger/messages/9.html.
[5]
Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical
Society, 1987), 10.
[6]
Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical
Society, 1987), 10.
[7]
Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical
Society, 1987), 10.
[8]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wappen_Landkreis_Altoetting.png.
[9]
http://mjgen.com/leathers/1leathers.html.
[10]
See Pennsylvania German Pioneers; See Pennsylvania Foreign Oaths of Allegiance;
Passenger and Immigrations Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; Ship Passenger Lists to
Pennsylvania: Miscellaneous Ships; Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of
Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania, 1727-1775; Immigration
Record Pennsylvania Oath of Allegiance; Mortonhouse Passenger List; Immigrants
in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776; Namen von Einwanderern in Pennsylvanien aus
Deutschland, der Schweiz, Holland, Frankreich u. a. St. von 1727 bis 1776
[Names of immigrants in Pennsylvania from Germany, Switzerland, Holland, France
and other countries from 1727 to 1776]; see also Index to Pennsylvania’s
Colonial Records Series record for an ancestor; see also Pennsylvania German
Pioneers; see also A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German,
Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776
record for an ancestor; see also Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of
the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808,
Vol. I record for an ancestor.
[11]
http://www.thewarlicks.com/History.html.
[12]
See Pennsylvania Foreign Oaths of Allegiance; See Mortonhouse ship registry;
See List of Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 1727-1775; See Name of Foreigners Who
Took the Oath of Allegiance, 1727-1775.
[13]
See Pennsylvania Foreign Oaths of Allegiance.
[14]
See also Genealogy of the Brumbach families: including those using the
following variations of the original name, Brumbaugh, Brumbach, record for an
ancestor; see also Colonial records of Pennsylvania record for an ancestor.
