EYSTER, John George, of Berks Co PA

John George Eyster was born 1 Mar 1703, in Michelbach am Heuchelberg, Wurttemberg,[1] the son of Jacob and Catharina [possibly Wurterich] Eyster, and died Aug 1787 in Berks Co PA.[2]

            It is assumed by family researchers that Catherine Arentz was his second wife and not the mother of his children.[3] Nothing is known about the first wife, except that they were probably married before 1730 in Pennsylvania. Jacob Arentz, the son of John George Eyster’s wife Catherine, is mentioned in the latter’s will.  If in fact, Catherine was not the mother of any of John George’s children, the first wife must have died after 1753. Catherine (–?–) (Arentz) Eyster predeceased her husband.

            The Eyster family immigrated to Pennsylvania from Wurttemberg in 1717, when Jacob, age 52, his wife Catherine (née Wurterich) and at least three daughters and two sons joined a colony of Palatine Lutherans emigrating to America under the leadership of Rev. Anthony Jacob Henkel.[4] The Eysters settled in New Hanover, then Philadelphia Co PA, now Montgomery County.

            Both the father John Jacob Eyster and his son John George were naturalized in 1739.[5] John George Eyster signed a petition for protection against the Indians in 1728. His signature is always John Oyster or Eyster, but his will identifies him by both given names.

            The children of John George Eyster, probably with an unknown first wife, were:

1. Elizabeth Catherine EYSTER was born on 23 Dec 1730 in Berks Co PA and died there on 14 Jan 1812. In 1747, she married Johannes YODER, son of Jost YODER & Elizabeth KUHLWEIN. Born on 24 Mar 1718 in PA, Johannes died in Berks Co PA, on 7 Apr 1812. They had the following children:

                        i.            John (ca1748-)

                        ii.            Mary (1748-1827)

                        iii.            Jacob (ca1750-)

                        iv.            Elizabeth (1751-1790)

                        v.            Catherine (ca1753-)

                        vi.            Esther (ca1755-ca1816)

                        vii.            Samuel (ca1757-<1812)

2. George EYSTER was born in 1732 in PA. George died in Codorus, York Co PA, on 5 Sep 1795. On 13 Mar 1759, he married Hannah MOYER in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co PA. They had the following children:

                        i.            Susanna (1760-)

                        ii.            George (1762-1848)

                        iii.            Catharine (1768-1846)

                        iv.            Hannah (1770-)

                        v.            John (1772-)

                        vi.            Elisabeth (1774-1854)

                        vii.            Daniel (1777-1844)

                        viii.            Samuel Franklin (Died as Child) (1780-)

3. Samuel EYSTER was born in 1734 in PA. He died in 1767. Samuel married Margaret PENNEPACKER, who worn on 11 Jan 1741. They had the following children:

                        i.            Hannah (1753-)

                        ii.            John (1755-1844)

                        iii.            Anna (ca1762-)

                        iv.            Daniel (1766-1845)

4. Jacob EYSTER was born in 1736 in PA. Jacob probably died in MD in 1780. Jacob married Magdalena BURKHOUSE, and they had the following children:

                        i.            Jacob (1752-1827)

                        ii.            Peter (1760-)

                        iii.            Abraham (1775-1846)

                        iv.            George (1777-1846)

5. Barbara Hannah EYSTER was born in 1741 in PA and died in York Co PA, on 21 May 1819. On 14 Apr 1761, she married Peter KEPLINGER in PA. Born in 1736, Peter died in Manheim Twp, York Co PA, on 16 Sep 1795. They had the following children:

                        i.            Peter

                        ii.            Catherine

                        iii.            Elizabeth

                        iv.            Daniel

                        v.            Anamary

                        vi.            Samuel

6. Daniel EYSTER was born on 18 Aug 1743 in Berks Co PA. Daniel died in Hanover, York Co PA, on 14 Sep 1798. In 1770, he married Elizabeth REIFF, daughter of Peter REIFF & Margaretta SMITH, in PA. Born on 22 Mar 1747 in PA, Elizabeth died in Hanover PA, on 21 Aug 1835. They had the following children:

                        i.            Hannah (1771-1852)

                        ii.            Samuel (1772-1795)

                        iii.            Catherine (1773-1795)

                        iv.            Elizabeth (1774-1774)

                        v.            Elizabeth (1775-1790)

                        vi.            Esther (1777-1845)

                        vii.            Daniel (1778-1840)

                        viii.            Williamina (1779-1780)

                        ix.            Anna Maria (1780-1845)

                        x.            William (1783-1854)

                        xi.            Magdalena (1785-)

                        xii.            Susanna (1787-1865)

                        xiii.            Jacob (1789-1839)

7. Magdalena Susannah EYSTER was born on 30 Jul 1745 in District Twp, Berks Co PA. In 1767, she married Richard ADDAMS. They had the following children:

                        i.            Mary (1768-)

                        ii.            Samuel (Died as Child) (1769-)

                        iii.            Anna (1771-)

                        iv.            Margaret (1773-)

                        v.            Susanna (1775-)

                        vi.            Magdalena (1778-1869)

                        vii.            Catharine (1781-1781)

                        viii.            William (Died as Child) (1783-)

                        ix.            Catharine (1785-)

                        x.            Elisabeth (1789-)

8. Maria Margaretha EYSTER was born on 5 May 1753 in PA and died on 23 Dec 1833. In 1773, she married Daniel YODER in PA. Born in 1748, Daniel died in 1820. They had the following children:

                        i.            Hannah (1775-1825)

                        ii.            Daniel (1777-1826)

                        iii.            Martin (1780-1837)

                        iv.            Catharine (1783-1882)

                        v.            Maria (1786-1864)

                        vi.            John (1788-1868)

                        vii.            Margaret (1790-)

                        viii.            Samuel (1793-)

                        ix.            David (1795-1881)

© 2008, Kathy Alvis Patterson

---

[1] The Church Book of the Evangelical Parish of the Zaberfeld, an affiliate Michelbach am Heuchelberg, Heilbronn county, Baden/Wurttemberg, West Germany: Hans Jerg, born 1 Mar 1703, baptized 1 Mar 1703, parents Hans Jacob Eigster, wife Catherina, Sponsors Hans Jerg Wuterich, wife Catherina, Anna Maria Wolf, Hans Caspar Taxis.

[2] Will: Berks Co PA, Will Bk B-262, 1789, signed John Oyster; inventory for Georg Oyster; within labeled “Estate of John Georg Oyster.”

[3] See for example, Anita L. Eyster, The Eyster Genealogy. James A. Eyster, ed. Tucson: no date. Also her articles “The Eyster Family,” Historical Review of Berks County (PA) (October 1935), 22-24; and “The Pioneer Ancestor of the Oyster-Eyster Family,” Historical Review of Berks County (PA) (April 1941), 87-90.

[4] From an ancestral history composed by Rev. Nelson R. Sulouff between 1980 and 2004. Location of this document unknown to this writer. “The Lutherans of New Hanover were able to secure a donation of about fifty acres from J. H. Sprogle, of the Frankfort Company for the use of the congregation. A new log church was built on this land. The survey of the new site notes that the church property adjoined farmland of ‘Jacob Oyster.’ From this we conclude that within a few years after his arrival in America, ‘Oyster’ had become an alternate spelling used for the immigrant’s surname.”

[5] Record in Division of Archives & Manuscripts, Pa. Historical Museum Commission, Archives Building, Harrisburg PA.

Advertisement