SECOND GENERATION (CHILDREN) [BEFORE 1729-1813]

1.1.  Frenee (Gansinger) Kensinger

DOB:              Before 1729 (possibly 1728)

Birthplace:     Germany (possibly Neukirchen, Bayern, Germany)

DOD:              UNKNOWN

Deathplace:    UNKNOWN

Father:           [1] Abraham Gansinger (1703-1749)

Mother:          Anna Barbara (1710- )

Lineage:         Abraham

Spouse:           UNKNOWN

Children:        UNKNOWN

Frenee (Gansinger) Kensinger was born before 1729 in Germany.  One source has him being born about 1728 in Neukirchen, Bayern, Germany.[1]  Frenee emigrated with his father and mother from Germany to America in 1729 aboard the Mortonhouse, captained by James Coultas.  This ship, carrying about one hundred-eighty Palatines and family, sailed from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, stopped in Deal, England, “as by Clearance thence dated 21^st of June”, and the captain presented the passenger list at the Courthouse of Pennsylvania on 19 August 1729.  (See Pennsylvania German Pioneers; See Pennsylvania Foreign Oaths of Allegiance; See Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; See Mortonhouse Passenger List; See Ship Passenger.[2]  He swore his allegiance in Pennsylvania on 19 August 1729.[3]  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.”[4]

+ 1.2.  Abraham Gansinger Kensinger

DOB:              28 October 1730

Birthplace:     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

DOD:              3 November 1813

Deathplace:    Belfast County or Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Father:           [1] Abraham Gansinger (1703-1749)

Mother:          Anna Barbara (1710- )

Lineage:         [1] Abraham

Spouse:           Maria Catherine Schaffer (1739-1808)

Children:       [1.2.1] Esther Kensinger Stahl (1758-1832)

                        [1.2.2] Daniel Kensinger (1770-1855)

                        [1.2.3] Abraham Kensinger (1770-1805)

[1.2.4] Elizabeth Kensinger Byers (1778- )

                        [1.2.5] Magdalene Kensinger Crunkleton (1795- )

Abraham Gansinger Kensinger was born October 28, 1730 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Abraham was the first Kensinger born in America, his parents and brother Frenee having emigrated from Germany aboard the Mortonhouse and landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 19 August 1729.[5]  Cole also suggests the possibility that this Abraham Kensinger, could have been the grandson of Abraham Kensinger, although logic dictates this to be impossible, and that Abraham Gansinger.[6]

Abraham married Maria Catherine Schaffer, daughter of Johan Jacob Schaeffer (b. 7 February 1709, d. 1789) and Maria Barbara Kobel (b. 1712, d. 1789), on 7 September 1766 in Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania.  Maria was born 25 August 1739 in Pennsylvania, and died in 1808 in Dauphin, Pennsylvania, about age 69.

Abraham and Maria had five children: Esther, Daniel, Abraham, Elizabeth, and Magdalene.  The fact that both Daniel and Abraham Kensinger were born in 1770 may indicate that the sons were twins.

He is enumerated as “Abraham Gansinger” in the 1790 U.S. Federal Census on the Franklin, Pennsylvania roll as presiding over a household with two other white males over the age of sixteen (presumably his sons, Abraham and Daniel Kensinger), three other free persons (presumably his wife, Anna Barbara, and daughters Esther and Elizabeth), and one slave.[7]  Although Pennsylvania had passed An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery on 1 March 1780, the institution was not entirely abolished in the state until 1847.  Ironically, the German immigrant group with which Abraham was a part had been among the earliest advocates for the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania.[8]  The possession of a slave in 1790 in Pennsylvania demonstrates that Abraham was likely financially successful.

Abraham owed real estate, which he referred to as a “plantation”,that was sold to John Wolford, although it is unclear when that sale occurred.[9]  He also owned real estate in Antram Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, on Morrison’s Cove and on the Waters of Clover Creek.[10]  Morrison's Cove, originally named "The Great Cove" by a settler from the Conoccocheague valley area of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. [11]  "The cove was famous some years before any settlements were made in any other part of the territory included in Blair county [sic]".[12]  According to legend, Morrison’s Cove was named for a notorious horse thief named Morris who used the area to hide his stolen horses.[13]

 The early settlements here, such as Frankstown as early as 1730, are the oldest in the territory now known as Blair County.[14]  These early settlements were chosen likely because of the water accessible there.[15]  The fertile land and numerous freshwater streams made the territory very attractive to farmers.[16]  Distilleries were established in the area, as were, later, iron works.[17]  "A number of grist mills were built in the Cove prior to 1800."  The first such grist mill, belonging to Jacob Neff at Roaring Spring, was burned down during a 1762 attack by Native Americans.[18]  During this "massacre", "[t]radition says that Neff saw two Indians in that act of hiding behind a fallen tree, he quickly seized his trusty flint-lock and shot one, the other making his escape.  Neff then sought safety at the fort near Saxton, returning and rebuilding prior to the Revolution, on the site where the Indian left the one in ashes."[19]  While "[m]any settlers along with Jacob Neff escaped to the fort... one family living on the David Rice farm, refusing to go [was] all killed."  (Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family). 

The risk of Native American attacks, mostly the Lenni Lenape (or “Original People”) who are also known as the Delaware and Monsey/Work tribes, continued.[20]  The Shawnee tribe moved into the area under the protection of the Lenni Lenape, and may have been the more aggressive of the native people towards the white settlers.  In 1790, "the wife and children of John Martin [the first Bishop of the drunkard or Brethren Church (Yellow Creek branch) before the Revolution] were captured by the Indians."[21]  "Martinsburg was named after Jacob Martin, the surrounding vicinity having been settled prior to the Revolution."[22]  "The early towns of the cove were Williamsburg, Martinsburg and Woodbury."[23]

Most of the early settlers of the Morrison's Cove area were German-speakers from the Conococheague valley area of Franklin County, Pennsylvania.[24]   Others came directly from Germany.[25]  "They were a thirty people and very hospitable," and, according to a Clover Creek historian, conducted church services in houses and barns each Sunday, "as there were 17 houses in the circuit they had preaching at home every seventeen weeks."[26]  “On the whole they were a home-loving, industrious, honest people, and their sturdy ways are to be seen in their descendants.”[27]  "Love-feasts were conducted in the barns.  Ministers traveled on foot and horseback for many miles across the mountains, infested by wild animals, and through the monotonous, lonely plain [sic], to their missionary work."[28]  Subscription schools and log school houses were founded “very early in the history of” Blair County.[29]

Abraham moved to the Morrison’s Cove area of Pennsylvania with a Brethern group, possibly as early as 1755.[30]  This would make him one of the first settlers to the area, which was originally organized as part of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.[31]  A tax record lists Abraham Gansinger as owning 200 acres in Woodbury Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1789.[32]  A warrant for this property, measuring 202 ¾ acres in size, was obtained on 29 October 1784.[33]  This warrant was mentioned in a land deed, dated 22 June 1815, granting title to the land to son Daniel Kensinger in accordance with the provisions of Abraham’s will.[34] 

Wolford[35]

According to Darryl L. Cole’s research, Abraham’s holdings in Antrim Township, Cumberland County in 1773 were “greatly increasing in value from 211 to 2000” and “[t]ax records of Antrim Township show that Abraham paid taxes in 1769” but “is not listed as having paid any tax between 1770 and 1778.”[36]  Abraham (named as “Abraham Gansinger”) is listed as possessing two (2) horses, two (2) cows, and five (5) horses in 1769 in Cumberland County.[37]  In 1779, he is listed as owning one hundred (100) acres, together with two (2) horses and three (3) cows for a total tax of $472.00.[38]  In 1780, he is listed as owning one hundred (100) acres, together with three (3) horses and three (3) cows for a total tax of $4,430.00.[39]  In 1781, he is listed as owning one hundred (100) acres, together with two (2) horses and three (3) cows for a total tax of $442.00.[40]  In 1782, he is listed as owning one hundred (100) acres, together with three (3) horses and three (3) cows for a total tax of $446.10.[41]  In 1782, he is listed as owning ninety (90) acres, together with two (2) horses, four (4) cows, and five (5) sheep for a total tax of $431.00.[42]

He was a Private in the inactive duty militia, 1st County Battalion, 2nd Class, Cumberland Lieutenancy, on August 5, 1780.[43]  His unit was led by Captain William Berryhill in 1780 through 1782.[44]  He also appeared on the 26 January 1789 roll of Martin Loy subject to military duty.[45]

On 7 May 1773, the following individuals were assigned by Joseph Volames to Abraham Kensinger (listed as “Abraham Kensing”): Jeremiah Merryfield, William Hartley, John Bragg, John Davis, and William Vaghorne.[46]  Cole speculates that the “Philadelphia residence could have been a primary residence for him while he developed and enlarged his wealth in Cumberland County”, although no reason is given to presume that those servants and apprentices were restricted to any Philadelphia residence at all.[47]

Abraham died November 3, 1813 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, at age 83.

Abraham’s will, dated 1 May 1812, was probated on 3 November 1813, with his grandsons Henry Stall and Jacob Stall, Sr. as its executors.[48]  The will was witnessed by Frances Welch and Nathaniel Hart.[49]  A more expansive will, apparently found by Gale Edwin Spintler Honeyman, is included in by Daryl L. Cole in his Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania.

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[1] See Ancestry.com Family Tree “Dougherty, Gordon”

[2] Lists to Pennsylvania: Miscellaneous Ships; See The Palatine Project – Reconstructed Passenger Lists.

[3] See Pennsylvania Foreign Oaths of Allegiance.

[4] See Pennsylvania Foreign Oaths of Allegiance.

[5] See Pennsylvania German Pioneers.

[6] Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 10.

[7] See 1790 U.S. Federal Census record.

[8] Wikipedia, “The history of slavery in Pennsylvania”.

[9] See see American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania [sic] Chambersburg, Pa.: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter, c1944, 295 pgs, Penna. Arch. 5^th Ser. Vol. 6, p. 79, 101, 123.

[10] See Will of Abraham Gansinger of Belfast Twp., Bedford co.; American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania [sic] Chambersburg, Pa.: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter, c1944, 295 pgs, Penna. Arch. 5^th Ser. Vol. 6, p. 79, 101, 123.

[11] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[12] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[13] Bedford County Genealogy Project <http://www.pa-roots.com/~bedford/; citing Historical Sketches of Morrison’s Cove, Rev, C.W. Karns, Mirror Press, 1933 pp. 7, 9.

[14] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[15] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[16] Bedford County Genealogy Project <http://www.pa-roots.com/~bedford/; citing Historical Sketches of Morrison’s Cove, Rev, C.W. Karns, Mirror Press, 1933 pp. 7, 9.

[17] A History of Blair County, Pennsylvania, 1896.

[18] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family; A History of Blair County, Pennsylvania, 1896.

[19] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[20] A History of Blair County, Pennsylvania, 1896.

[21] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[22] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[23] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[24] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[25] Bedford County Genealogy Project <http://www.pa-roots.com/~bedford/; citing Historical Sketches of Morrison’s Cove, Rev, C.W. Karns, Mirror Press, 1933 pp. 7, 9.

[26] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[27] Bedford County Genealogy Project <http://www.pa-roots.com/~bedford/; citing Historical Sketches of Morrison’s Cove, Rev, C.W. Karns, Mirror Press, 1933 pp. 7, 9.

[28] Herald Newspaper Story on the History of the Burget Family.

[29] A History of Blair County, Pennsylvania, 1896.

[30] See http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/BRETHREN/2006-07/1153486131.

[31] A History of Blair County, Pennsylvania, 1896.

[32] See Bedford County Pennsylvania Tax Records With Recorded Ages.

[33] http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/BRETHREN/2006-07/1153486131.

[34] Land Deed dated 22 June 1815, included in Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 6; see also see American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania [sic] Chambersburg, Pa.: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter, c1944, 295 pgs, Penna. Arch. 5^th Ser. Vol. 6, p. 79, 101, 123.

[35] http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/BRETHREN/2006-07/1153486131

[36] Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 7.

[37] “Tax Rate Book Cumberland County Year-1769 page 205,” included in Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[38] “RG-4 Records of the Comptroller General Tax and Exeroneration Lists 1762-1801”, Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[39] “RG-4 Records of the Comptroller General Tax and Exeroneration Lists 1762-1801”, Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[40] “RG-4 Records of the Comptroller General Tax and Exeroneration Lists 1762-1801”, Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[41] “RG-4 Records of the Comptroller General Tax and Exeroneration Lists 1762-1801”, Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[42] “RG-4 Records of the Comptroller General Tax and Exeroneration Lists 1762-1801”, Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[43] Militia Record enclosed.

[44] See American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania [sic] Chambersburg, Pa.: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter, c1944, 295 pgs, Penna. Arch. 5^th Ser. Vol. 6, p. 79, 101, 123.

[45] See  http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/BRETHREN/2006-07/1153486131.

[46] “Record of Servants and Apprentices Bound and Assigned Before the Honorable John Gibson, May of Philadelphia, December 5, 1772-May 21, 1773,” included in Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 7.

[47] Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 7.

[48] See Will of Abraham Gansinger; see also American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania [sic] Chambersburg, Pa.: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter, c1944, 295 pgs, Penna. Arch. 5^th Ser. Vol. 6, p. 79, 101, 123.; http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/BRETHREN/2006-07/1153486131); text of Will of Abraham Gansinger also included in Kensinger Families of Central Pennsylvania (Blair County Genealogical Society, 1987), 8.

[49] See Will of Abraham Gansinger.