- Greetings! I am Harry C. Fockler, born in Lima, Ohio, in 1923.
- I have been doing research on the Fackler/Fockler families in America since 1972, and have considerable data and documentation on the various Fackler and Fockler branches in the U.S., Canada, and Germany. I have verified that many, if not all, of us with the Fockler spelling of our name are descended from common Fackler ancestors. I have also discovered such variant spellings as: Falkler, Faulkler, Faulkner, Falkner, Foelkler, Faulknor, Fochter, etc., in various census records.
- My own branch of the family is descended from Johann Wendel Fackler, born about 1746, and who arrived on board the ship "Chance" in Philadelphia, November 1, 1763. The ship's manifest lists all passengers as "from the Pfalz" (the Palatine area of Germany).
- In 1997, I received information via the Internet from Dr. Anne Shifflet of Frederick, MD, author of "Pennsylvania German Ancestors of Hiram and Irene Frysinger Family" (pub. 1999). In her book she details the life of Johann Wendel Fackler and his family with well-researched, accurate documentation.
- As a result of her research, for which I will be eternally grateful, I discovered that my ggg-grandfather was Johann (John)George Fackler (b. 27 Feb 1767, or 5 Apr 1767, chr 20 Apr 1767), the first child of Johann Wendel Fackler and Anna Christina Ranck Fackler (daughter of John Michael Ranck).
- They had ten children: Johann George (1767); Barbara (bet 1668 and 1772);Elizabeth (26 Jun 1772); Eve (15 Dec 1773); Christina (21 Oct 1775); Abraham (21 Mar 1776); Samuel (2 Jul 1778); Wendel (Jr) (22 Apr 1782); Mary Margretha (13 Oct 1784); and Catherine (21 Aug 1787).
- Many researchers have assumed that a Valentine was the son of Wendel. Valentine was the son of John George, Wendel's oldest son. He was Wendel's grandson. I have documented proof of this.
- Just recently (2006) we have discovered positive data that Hans Jacob Fackler and his wife, Maria Magdalena Beltzhuber and their children, Adam and Barbara, emigrated from the Lochgau-Metterzimmer-Neckarkreis-Wurttemburg, Germany in 1737 and settled in York, Pa. We cannot prove at this time that he was related to Johann Wendel Fackler and his two older brothers - Hans Adam who arrived in 1749, and Han(s) George who arrived in 1750. These three, Adam, George and Wendel, settled very near to one another in the Paxton Twp. area of Dauphin Co., Pa.
- The information about Hans Jacob and his wife was provided by D. Brown, a researcher of the Beltzhuber line. Extensive information on them is documented in the records of the Lutheran Church in Metterzimmer, Germany.
- Also some Fackler genealogists now believe that Johann Wendel Fackler did not fight in the Revolution. He was on the Militia lists of Lancaster County from 1777 to 1783, but he was also on the fines lists for the same period. These fines lists were for non-associators.
- Dr. Anne Shifflet points out that although these Military lists contained the names of ALL able-bodied men in a particular jurisdiction, that did not necessarily mean that All men listed actually participated in military action. In fact Joh. Wendel was listed as a "non-associator" and as such was on the fines lists. Any non-participation by Joh. Wendel would have been in keeping with the religious beliefs of the German Baptist Brethren, a non-violent sect to which a number of his children belonged.
- If you have any documentation that would prove or disprove the above data, please contact me. It's about time that we clear up some of the misinformation spread over the Internet.
- Harry Fockler, a 7th Generation Fackler/Fockler
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The Fackler/Fockler Families in America