Second Generation


2. Hans Adam2 Fackler (Abraham1) was born in Palatinate region in Germany. He married Anna Barbara Finck 02 Jun 1749 in Germany, daughter of Conrad Finck.

Notes for Hans Adam Fackler:
According to the source from Henry Z. Jones, "More Palatine Families: Some Immigrants to the Middle Colonies 1717-1776 and their European Origins" (Universal City, CA, 1991) p. 516 gives the origin of Johann Adam Fackler who arrived five days earlier than Johann Christoph Fackler on October 2, 1749 and settled in Earl Twp., Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Although there is no documentation to prove it, Adam may be a nephew of Johann Jacob Fackler.

Johann Adam Fackler married Anna Barbara Finck, daughter of the late Conrad Finck, on 2 June 1749 and then came to America arriving in Philadelphia aboard the ship Jacob on 2 October 1749.

According to Ken Fockler, his research states,"The Foreigners whose names are underwritten imported on the Ship Jacob, Capt. Adolf DeGrove from Amsterdam but late from Shields in England fro Swabia, Wertemberg & Darmstad did this day take the usual oaths to the Government. By the list of 107 persons."

Johann Adam Fackler came from Fahrenbach in the Pfaltz in Oberamts Mosbach and was the son of Abraham Fackler who was a woodcutter there. Anna Barbara came from Strmpfelbrunn in the Pfaltz in Oberamts, Mosbach. They had a son, Michael, born 24 Feb 1754.

Both Hans Adam and his brother, Hans George Fackler, were on the tax rolls of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania at the time and lived close to one another. The Pennsylvania Archives show that both Hans George Fakler and John Adam supplied bushels of corn and wheat to the Continental Army.

Child of Hans Fackler and Anna Finck is:

    5 i. Michael3 Fackler, born 24 Feb 1754.


3. Hans George2 Fackler (Abraham1)was born 08 Nov 1732 in Palatinate region in Germany, and died 29 Nov 1809 in Progress, Daughin County, Pennsylvania. He married Susannah unknown. She was born Bet. 09 Feb 1738 - 1739, and died 17 Jan 1806 in Progress, Daughin County, Pennsylvania.

Notes for Hans George Fackler:
Johann George Fackler was also called Hans George Fakler as Hans is the German dimunitive for Johann. He arrived in September 29th 1750 aboard the ship "Osgood' in the Port of Philadelphia. Captain William Wilkie came from Rotterdam, last from Cowes with 480 passengers. Hans George is Johann Wendel Fackler's older brother. Hans George's son, Abraham, was mentioned in Johann Wendel Fackler's will as his nephew.

The Pennsylvania Archives cited that George Fakler lost his musket in the battle of Fort Washington which was located in the northern end of Manhattan Island and was the site of an early battle of the Revolution and one of many lost by George Washington. This George Fakler sued the Continental Congress for the amount of two pounds for his loss. The Continentals had retreated in complete disarray from this engagement and left New York to the British for several years. No record shows as to whether George was ever reimbursed.

Children of Hans Fackler and Susannah unknown are:

    6 i. Sarah3 Fackler.

    7 ii. Barbara Fackler, born 25 Feb 1762; died 1837. She married John Beck.

    + 8 iii. Abraham Fackler, born 04 Jul 1768 in Pennsylvania; died 12 Mar 1834 in Progress, Daughin County, Pennsylvania.

    9 iv. John Fackler, born 10 Feb 1769. He married Elizabeth Crall; born 28 Feb 1816 in Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania; died 03 Aug 1898 in Tolono Twp, Champaign Co., Illinois.

    + 10 v. Rachel Fackler, born 25 Feb 1779; died 04 Sep 1865.


4. Johann Wendel2 Fackler (Abraham1) was born Abt. 1746 in Palatinate region in Germany, and died Abt. 1823 in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin, Pennsylvania. He married (1) Anna Christina Ranck 1770 in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, daughter of John Ranck and Anna Schwab. She was born 21 May 1745 in Bethel, East Earl Twp., Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and died 1805 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He married (2) Catherine Ziegler 1806. She was born Abt. 1785 in Switzerland.

Notes for Johann Wendel Fackler:
Johann Wendel Fackler is believed to be the younger brother to Hans Adam Fackler and Hans George Fakler. Johann is also a direct descendant who arrived on November 1, 1763 in the Port of Philadelphia around the age of seventeen on the ship 'Chance'. Captain Charles Smith from Rotterdam, last from Cowes, came with 97 passengers aboard and 193 whole Freight.

According to a descendant, Harry C. Fockler, Jr. the passenger manifest for the ship stated that all the passengers listed were from the Palatinate (Pfalz). The Palatinate is located in southern Germany in the Rhine valley near Strasburgh and the Swiss border.

Over the centuries, this area was in constant military and religious contention between the French Catholics and the German Lutherans. The great migration of Germans from this area to Pennsylvania, Maryland, North and South Carolina and Georgia in America was due in large part to these religious and territorial wars as well as active recruiting of German settlers by men like William Penn in Pennsylvania and George Oglethorpe in Georgia.

Johann Wendel Fackler settled near his brothers living in Paxtang Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.He purchased a tract of land in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and made a home on a farm for himself and wife, Anna Christina Ranck, where they raised ten children.

Wendel and his brothers, Hans Adam and Hans George, took part in the liberation of the colonies from the domination of the British Government known as the American Revolution.

According to the Revolutionary War records in the Pennsylvania Archives, Volume 7, p 1003, 1026, 1036, Series V, Wendel was on Inactive Duty in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 4th Batallion, 3rd company under Captain John Rutherford. These two muster records are dated 26 Dec 1778 and 11 Aug 1784. Inbetween these dates a third muster record states that Wendel was a Private in the 4th Company of the 10th Battalion, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Militia under Captain Hugh Robinson on 10 May 1782. All three has his residence as listed at Paxton Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

It is important to note that Militia Muster Rolls were lists of ALL able bodied men under military jurisdiction in a particular area. It did not mean that all the men fought in the Revolution.

Wendel Fackler is shown as a Non-Associator on the Fines Lists for 1777-1783. These were men who did not serve or associate with the militia and as a result were fined for their non-association. In Wendel's case, he may have chosen not to associate because of religious principles. Several of his children married members of the German Baptist Brethren, a sect which does not believe in the swearing of oaths or military service.

Notes for Anna Christina Ranck:
From "The Ranks of the Rancks" by J. Allen Ranck, Sowers Printing Co., Lebanon, PA, as described in "Places Near the Mountains" (1985) by Helen R. Prillaman, reprinted for Clearfield Company Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1995.

J. Allen Ranck points out that the 'Ranck' family spelled their names differently at various times and places: Ranc, Rance, Rank, Ranck, Ranke, Ronk and perhaps Runk. He also says that the story of this family begins in medieval France and Germany, possibly even in Spain.

A further family story places the family as founded by a Rance who was with Columbus in his second voyage, called the Voyage of Discovery, in 1493. The records of this voyage do not show such a person. This Rance lived in southern Spain before moving to France. A very romantic piece of hearsay!

The Ranck ancestry has been traced to Bernadin du Ranc, Baron of Vibrac, which died out in 1829 in Sommieres with Jean Louis du Ranc. The estate of Vibrac had been raised to a Barony in 1520 A.D. M le Baron Jean Louis Rance was the last member of the family to own the Chateau de Vibrac. The Chateau still stands in the Province of Vibrac not far from Montpelier in southern France, near the small village called Durfort.

During the period of turmoil and religious persecution many members of the Ranc family were caught up in the French Protestant Movement with leanings towards the Huguenots. Persecution during this period resulted in violent death for tens of thousands of people and scattered refugees from France and Germany into Holland and many other places of refuge.

Johann Wendel Fackler, our direct ancestor, was married to Anna Christina Ranck whose father was John Michael Ranck. His father was Johann Valentine Ranck, the son of Rev. Jean Valentine Ranck. Rev. Jean Valentine was the leading Huguenot minister of Paris. Supposedly, the Reverend Jean was born in Paris in 1641 and died in Mannheim in 1712.

He, his wife and son, Valentine, were ordered out of France on pain of death by Louis XIV. They fled to the city of Strasburgh on the Rhine, then in German hands. Louis XIV and his armies then conquered Strasburgh and the Ranck family fled farther down the Rhine to Mannheim which was in the area of Germany called Palatinate, where the spelling of the family name became teutonized to Ranck. From this province many immigrants came to America in the 18th century

Johann Valentine Ranck was the only known child of the Reverend Jean Valentine Ranc. Known as Valentine, he was born in 1668 in Paris and died in 1710 in Mannheim, two years before his father.

Mannheim became a Huguenot center. Jean Ranc's son, Valentine, married Margaretha Phillipes here. They had six children: Ann Barbara, John Michael, John Philip, Rosine Katherine, Susanna Margaretha and Johann Valentine. Two of these six children were to come to America.

John Michael Ranck, son of Valentine, was one of two children to come to America. John Philip Ranck arrived later." On June 5, 1728, John Michael and his wife, Anna Barbara Schwab, set sail to America from Rotterdam in an English ship, 'Mortonhouse'. They arrived in Philadelphia August 24, 1728. John Michael and his wife settled in Earl Township, Lancaster County Pennsylvania. They were allotted a tract of land seven to eight hundred acres. John Michael and his wife had ten children. Anna Christina Ranck was the eighth child born to this union. American descendants lived also in Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina and Utah. They include Mormons.

Children of Johann Fackler and Anna Ranck are:

    + 11 i. Johann George3 Fackler, born 27 Feb 1767 in Lower Paxton Twp., Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 07 Aug 1820 in Newton Twp., Miami County, Ohio.

    + 12 ii. Elizabeth Fackler, born 23 Jun 1772 in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 13 Dec 1836 in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

    + 13 iii. Eva Fackler, born 15 Dec 1773 in Londonderry, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 08 Nov 1861 in Hershey, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

    + 14 iv. Christina Mary Fackler, born 15 Jan 1775 in Paxtang Twp., Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 12 Apr 1842 in Hershey, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

    + 15 v. Abraham Wendel Fackler, born 21 Mar 1776 in Paxtang Twp., Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 12 Jan 1866 in Shelby, Richland County, Ohio.

    + 16 vi. Samuel Fackler, born 02 Jul 1778 in Paxtang Twp., Daphin County, Pennsylvania; died 02 Oct 1847 in Halifax Twp., Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

    + 17 vii. Wendel Henry Fackler, born 22 Apr 1782 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; died 25 Mar 1866 in Hanoverdale, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

    18 viii. Barbara Fackler, born Abt. 1784 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 20 Nov 1876. She married George Miller.

    19 ix. Mary Margaretha Fackler, born 13 Oct 1786 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 08 Dec 1862. She married John Brehm; born 25 Dec 1779; died 14 Sep 1852.

    Notes for Mary Margaretha Fackler:
    Mary Margaretha Fackler was buried in Old Fackler Cemetery, Lower Paxont Twp., off Red Top Road in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

    + 20 x. Catharine Fackler, born 21 Aug 1787 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died 02 May 1826 in Halifax, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.