An Overview
Someone has said, "We simply cannot appreciate where we are today, or understand where we are going tomorrow unless we understand where as a culture we've been in the past." This book should contribute to that understanding. It is hoped that through the eyes of this Swiss-German family the reader will feel the sweep of history over the last three centuries. Our ancestors have participated in every war that has been fought. They have experienced the ups and downs of our economic system. They migrated from Lancaster (now York) County, Pennsylvania, to every state in the union. They helped build a nation from its beginning, thus giving the descendants a better understanding of the struggles, hopes, and aspirations of their ancestors as the generations have come and gone.
This is the story of the Jager family that came to Philadelphia from the village of Olsberg, in the Canton of Basel—land, Switzerland, in 1740. They lived in the Little Codorus area in Lancaster (now York) County, Pennsylvania, and then Frederirk County, Maryland. until they moved to Augusta County (now Rockingham County) Virginia, for a decade. By 1781 the German name Jager/Yeager, meaning hunter in German, was changed to Hunter. Early in the 1780
*s they moved to Washington County, Tennessee. From here the John Hunter family of ten children scattered all over the United States. By 1797 Henry, John*s fourth child, had settled on Davis Creek in Speedwell, Claiborne County, Tennessee.Most of Henry
*s children settled elsewhere, while two, Joseph and Malinda, remained in Claiborne County and reared their families. As many of Joseph*s descendants as could be found have been listed. Chapter 1 begins with Heinrich Jager, Sr., and some of the factors that may have contributed to his decision to migrate to America. Heini, Sr., brought with him his two children, Anna and Heini Jr. Chapter 2 tdls what we know about Heini Jager, Sr. His son, Heini Jager, Jr., is the subject of chapter 3. His descendants are numerous. His first son, Johann Jager/ John Hunter, as the subject of chapter 4. What is known about Johann*s extended family is recorded in chapters 1,2 and 3. Chapter 4 outlines how John got to Washington County, Tennessee, from Pennsylvania. His children and some of his grandchildren are listed. Chapter 5 details the family of John Hunter*s fourth son, Henry. The rest of the book outlines some of the descendants of Henry*s first son, Joseph, who reared his family at Speedwell in Claiborne County, Tennessee.As the chapters progress through the generations that which has been garnered from family members, court house records, family Bibles, letters, books, family artifacts, and other people researching the same family has been recorded. The research in this book is primarily the work of Patricia F. Hunter, Joy Edwards Davis, Viola Hunter Hess and William J. Hunter. Because of the lapse of time and the blurring of sources of information it is not always possible to separate the exact research of any one individual. Exact credit has been given when that information was known. All the information in this book is PUBLIC information and all the research quoted herein can be duplicated by using the sources cited. The reader needs to be aware that as in all printed works unintended mistakes are made. In spite of possible errors in a printed work it is important to publish family information so that more family members and others can have access to it. Future information that is published in printed form or made available in any other form will be subject to the same scrutiny.
In retrospect, the compiling of this book has been an amazing journey, starting about 1630 with the christening of Johann "Hans" Jager, father of Ham Jager, Sr., in Olsberg, Switzerland and continuing on through the three and one-half centuries to the year 2000 when the family will place a memorial marker on the grave of John and Barbara (Bowman) Hunter in Jonesborough, Tennessee where John Hunter finally settled.
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