Honorable John Jacob Bucher ^{1 3 4 5 6 7}

   Another name for John was Johan Jacob Bucher.⁸

  Christening Notes:

Spnosors were James Verdier and Sybilla Maria Ripple.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Fact: Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA. Researchers of this Bucher should note there is a special file at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Manuscript Group 382 to be explored, described as follows:

Papers of John Conrad Bucher and his descendants and of the related Frederick Hummel family of nearby Hummelstown. A veteran of both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, John Conrad Bucher, 1730-1780, was a minister of the German Reformed Church, Harrisburg. His son, John Jacob Bucher, 1764-1827, was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, 1803-1808, 1814-1816, and John Jacob's son, John Conrad Bucher, 1792-1851, was a member of the United States Congress 1831-1833. Frederick Hummel, 1728-1779, was the founder of Hummelstown.

The Papers consist of correspondence, receipts, business and legal documents, engravings, photographs and miscellaneous items pertaining to the careers of The Rev. John Conrad Bucher, John Jacob Bucher and Representative John Conrad Bucher. The Bucher/Hummel Family Papers are divided in to five parts: papers of The Rev. John Conrad Bucher (1730-1780); 2) papers of his son John Jacob Bucher (1764-1827); 3) papers of Jacob's son Representative John C. Bucher (1792-1851); 4) papers of other descendants, which include the records of Eliza Bucher Hummel and related family; and 5) a large collection of genealogical notes spanning two generations.

The papers of Rev. John Conrad Bucher (1730-1780) include French and Indian War muster rolls and returns for Lieutenant Colonel Asher Clayton's 2nd Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment, 1764 (some signed by Conrad Bucher, Adjutant) and military orders (1759-1771), correspondence (1761-1777) (some in German, at least one with a translation), sermon notes (1734-1755), almanacs (1768 & 1771), and a print of Bucher's sister Mary Elisabeth. There are also a few letters to Mary (Hook/Hoch) Bucher, wife of J. Conrad (1788-1790). The papers of John Jacob Bucher (1764-1827) include business records (1799-1825), correspondence (1784-1827), a diary (1785-1790), a pass to travel to Switzerland 1789 (with seal), trip notes (1789), and a will and an estate inventory (1827-1840). The inventory for Susan (Horter/Hurter) wife of J. Jacob (1839), also will of her father John Horter (1823). There are also miscellaneous documents concerning the children.

The papers of John Conrad Bucher (1792-1851) include letters of appointment and election (1825-1850), correspondence (1813-1848), personal and travel journals (1811, 1818-1827), cash account books (1853-1867), legal documents (1839-1847), a seating diagram of Congress with names (undated), and an invitation from the President (unsigned). Also present are Ellen (Isett) Bucher personal papers (1825-1881), and books of remembrance for her daughters, one with a booklet of hair samples.

Other papers include legal documents, handwritten wills, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia for descendants (1850-1948), focusing on the line of Eliza Bucher Hummel, the daughter of John Conrad Bucher, her daughter Elizabeth Hummel Fendrich, and her granddaughter Eliza (Fendrich) MacDonald and their descendants.

The genealogical information includes letters from various relatives regarding the Bucher and Hummel families, along with Horter, Hook and other families. A Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) form is included that takes the Bucher family back five generations. Several unidentified pictures are included and a more recent negative which appears to have been made for Mrs. Ralph Wilson. Subject files are arranged alphabetically, with individual records in chronological order. See box list for details.

2. Court: on 4 Jul 1789 in , Dauphin, PA. ¹⁰ At an Orphans Court holding at Lebanon in and for the County of Dauphin the 4th day of July AD 1789 Before John Gloninger, Henry Sheffer and Thomas Clark Esquires Justices of the Same Court.

Elizabeth Bucher and Conrad Bucher minor children of the Reverend Conrad Bucher late of the Township of Lebanon Minister of the Gospel deceased, being above the age of fourteen years appear in Court and chose Jacob Bucher of Lebanon Township guardian over their estate during their respective minorities and the court approved and appoints the said Jacob Bucher their guardian accordingly.

3. In 1792 in Harrisburg: Salem Reformed Church, Dauphin, PA.

4. Book: Notes and Queries relating to Pennsylvania, 1794, Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA. ¹¹
"The Harrisburg Library Company was first organized in 1794, as the "Mechanical Society of Harrisburg," which held weekly meetings, its objects being "mental improvements and the promotion of the arts and sciences." These meetings were generally held at some one of the taverns in the borough. Among its early members we find the names of Stacy Potts, Henry Beader, Jacob Bucher, Jacob Reitzell and Samuel Hill."

5. Book: Notes and Queries relating to Pennsylvania, 10 May 1797. ¹²
Street Regulators - On the 10th of May, 1797, William Glass, Jacob Bucher, and Samuel Berryhill were appointed Regulators of the Streets, Lanes, and Alleys of the Borough [Harrisburg[. Waht wre the duties of these municipal officers? X.Y.Z.

6. Fact: 21 Oct 1825, , Dauphin, PA. ¹³ When stock was sold to build a canal and locks on the Susquehanna River, on the list of purchasers were: Jacob Bucher, 5 shares; John C. Bucher, 10 shares; George H. Bucher, 10 shares.

7. He signed a will in 1827 in , Dauphin, PA. His will mentions:
Wife, Susanna; brother Conrad
Children: John C.; Mary Elizabeth married William Ayres; George H.; Maria married Joseph Lawrence; Eleanor; and Susanna.

8. Book: Commemorative biographical encyclopedia of Dauphin County; also same text included in Pennsylvania Genealogies, 1896. ^{5 9}

Bucher, John Jacob, son of the Rev. John Conrad Bucher, a noted early divine as well as an officer during the French and Indian war, was born January 1, 1764, in Carlisle, Pa. In 1790, located in Harrisburg as a hatter and furrier; in 1796, elected coroner of Dauphin county; in 1798, appointed justice of the peace by Governor Mifflin, and represented Dauphin county in the Pennsylvania Legislature, sitting at Lancaster, nine successive terms from 1803.

In 1810 he was appointed by Governor Snyder one of the commissioners for the erection of the public buildings at Harrisburg. In 1818, appointed by Governor Findlay an associate judge for the county of Dauphin, filling the office, honorably, until his death, October 16, 1827.

Endowed with great wisdom and sagacity, and of unimpeachable integrity and honesty, he was called upon to fill many public and private trusts of honor and responsibility. His remains now lie in the Harrisburg cemetery.

Judge Bucher married, March 27, 1792, Susanna Margaret Hortter, one of the five daughters of John Valentine Hortter, of Spires, Bavaria, who settled in Harrisburg in 1785. She was born in Germantown September 24, 1774; died in Harrisburg, December 30, 1838. She was three years old when the battle of Germantown was fought, October 4, 1777, and remembered the experience of the family who were confined in the cellar of the residence, which was on the route of the battle.

9. Book: Pennsylvania Genealogies, Mainly Scotch Irish And German, 1896. ⁶
JOHN JACOB BUCHER, (John-Conrad,7 John-Jacob,6 John-Jacob,5 John,4 John,3 John,2 Claus,1) b. January 1, 1764, in Carlisle, Pa. In 1790, located in Harrisburg as a hatter and furrier ; in 1796, elected coroner of Dauphin county ; in 1798, appointed justice of the peace by Governor Mifflin ; and represented Dauphin county in the Pennsylvania Legislature, sitting at Lancaster, nine successive terms from 1803. In 1810, he was appointed by Governor Snyder one of the commissioners for the erection of the public buildings at Harrisburg. In 1818, appointed by Governor Findlay an associate judge for the county of Dauphin. Endowed with great wisdom and sagacity, and of unimpeachable integrity and honesty, he was called upon to fill many public and private trust of honor and responsibility. He d. October 16, 1827, and his remains now lie in the Harrisburg cemetery. Judge Bucher m. March 27, 1792, SUSANNAH MARGARET HORTTER, one of the five daughters of John Valentine Hortter, of Spires, Bavaria, who settled in Harrisburg in 1785. She was born in Germantown September 24, 1774 ; d. in Harrisburg, December 30, 1838.

10. Book: The Pennsylvania German, Vol IV, Lebanon, PA, July 1903, No. 3, 1903. ³
John Jacob made his residence in Harrisburg, and was one of the first and foremost citizens of the place. He was coroner of Dauphin county in 1796, a justice in 1798, a member of the Legislature from 1803 to 1808, a Commissioner to erect the State Capitol in 1810. In the Legislature from 1814 to 1816, and Associate Judge from 1818 to his death in 1827.

11. Book: History of Dauphin County, 1907. ¹⁴

July 3, 1818, the German Reformed Salem Church of Harrisburg was incorporated by the following persons: …Members…John Horter… Jacob Bucher…Samuel Wiestling…
[note: other names left out. Horter and Wiestling families included since they married into Bucher family. See books for full text.]
.

John married Susanna Margaret Horter, daughter of John Valentine Horter and Magdalena Reis, on 27 Mar 1792 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA.^{1 2} (Susanna Margaret Horter was born on 24 Sep 1774 in Germantown, Philadelphia, PA,^{2 9} died on 30 Dec 1838 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA ^{2 9} and was buried in Harrisburg: Harrisburg Cemetery, Dauphin, PA ¹⁵.)