Anna Maria Catherine Hamman ⁶

   Other names for Anna were Maria Catharina Bicher,¹⁰ Anna Maria Catharine Haman,^{5 8} Anna Maria Catarina Hamann,³ Catherine Hamman, Maria Catarina Hamman ^{2 11} and Catharina Heckendorn.

   FamilySearch ID: KJ5S-BDT.

  General Notes:

When Catherine married her first husband Johannes Heckendorn on Aug 21, 1770, her name was spelled as Hammann, not Haman, in the marriage records of Rev. John Casper Stoever.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Alt. Name:,. ¹² Her maiden name appears as Haman in some records, and her father's name is Hamman on land warrants, but when Catherine married her first husband Johannes Heckendorn on Aug 21, 1770, her name was spelled as Hammann, not Haman, in the marriage records of Rev. John Casper Stoever. In her death record at Salem Lutheran Church, her maiden name is spelled Haman.

2. Census in 1790 in Lebanon, Dauphin, PA. ¹³ In the 1790 census Jacob Beacherd is listed in Lebanon township, Lancaster County, with this household:
Males under 16 (born 1775-1790) = 2 (sons Jacob and William)
Males 16 and over (born <=1774) = 1 (father Jacob)
Females = 2 (daughter Magdalena and mother Catherine).

3. Census in 1800 in Lebanon, Dauphin, PA. ¹⁴ Jacob Becher is listed in the 1800 census in Lebanon boro, Dauphin County (today's Lebanon County) with this household:
Males (born)
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 (son Jacob or William)
45 & over (<=1755) = 1 (father Jacob)
Females (born)
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 (?)
45 & over (<=1755) = 1 (mother Catherine)
.

4. Census in 1810 in Lebanon Twp., Dauphin Co, , PA. ¹⁵ Jacob Beker is listed in Lebanon Township in Dauphin County with this household:
Males (born)
16-25 (1785-1794) = 1 (either son Jacob or William)
45 & over (<=1765) = 1 (father Jacob)
Females (born)
Under 10 (1801-1810) =
10-15 (1795-1800) = 1 (daughter Magdalena)
45 & over (<=1765) = 1 (mother Catherine).

5. Census in 1820 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹⁶ In the 1820 census Jacob is indexed as Jacob Beesher (FamilySearch.org) or Jacob Busher (Ancestry.com) in Lebanon in Lebanon County. In 1820 Jacob Bicher Sr. (b.1758) would be 62 and his wife Catherine 73. His son, John Jacob Jr. b.1782 would be 38 except he died in 1812, so Jacob Sr. raised his son's children, who by 1820 would have these ages: Lydia 11, William 9, and Jacob 8. All of these fit perfectly into the Census record found which shows:

Males (born)
Under 10 (1811-1820) = 2 (grandsons Jacob 8 and William 9)
26-44 (1776-1794) = 1 (Jacob's son J. William b. 1785?)
45 & over (<=1775) = 2 (father Jacob and ?)
It is not known who the other male aged 45+ was, perhaps a butler, worker or brother-in-law?
Females (born)
Under 10 (1811-1820) = 1 (J. William's daughter?)
10-15 (1805-1810) = 1 (granddaughter Lydia 11)
45 & over (<=1775) = 1 (wife Catherine).

6. Census in 1830 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ¹⁷ Jacob Beicher is listed in Lebanon Borough on page 35 in the 1830 Census with this household:
Males (born)
Under 5 (1826-1830) = 2 (?)
15-19 (1811-1815) = 1 (grandson William or Jacob)
70-79 (1751-1760) = 1 (father Jacob)
Females (born)
40-49 (1781-1790) = 1 (Mary Michael or a maid?)
80-89 (1741-1750) = 1 (wife Catherine)
The female 40-49 could be Mary Bicher (nee Michael), wife of John Jacob (born 1782), since her husband died in 1812, or perhaps a maid. This lady is likely the mother of the 2 very young children?

This appears to be the household of Jacob Bucher born 1758. His age would be 72 in 1830, and his wife Catherine 83, explaining the two elderly household heads perfectly.

Since his son, John Jacob (born 1782 who would be 48 in 1830) had died of an accident with a sickle, the 15-19 year old male could be either grandson Jacob (born 1812) or William (born 1811). Likely the older William age 19 was already off living on his own, as was Lydia age 21, and this is Jacob.

The female 40-49 could be Mary Bicher (nee Michael), wife of John Jacob (born 1782), since her husband died in 1812, or a live-in maid taking care of the elderly Jacob and Catherine.

7. Church: 8 Dec 1830, Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. ⁵ The burial records of the Salem Lutheran Church record the following: Bicher, Mrs. Anna Maria Catherine Heckedorn (nee Haman). Buried December 10, 1830, died December 8, 1830. Age 83 years, 2 months, 13 days. Born Sept. 25, 1747. Parents Balsar Haman and wife Margt. Baptized and confirmed. Married Joh. Heckedorn who died in 1778. April 11, 1779 she was married the second time to Jacob Bicher. She had 3 children. She was sick a very long time. She was buried near her husband and daughter.

8. She has conflicting burial information of Graves moved to Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Nov 1898 and Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. Jacob Bicher Sr., his wife Maria Catharina, and their son Jacob Jr. were all buried in the old Salem Lutheran Church yard cemetery that was behind the Salem Lutheran Church on the corner of 8th and Willow Streets and set apart for burial purposes in 1765.

Unfortunately, when the cemetery land was needed by the church for a new Memorial Chapel and parking lot, the old cemetery graves were reinterred in September-November 1898 to Mount Lebanon Cemetery in a single vault with no identification. The church notes for the graves show some of the tombstone inscriptions were unreadable. Luckily, the tombstone inscription was described years earlier in Egle's History of Lebanon County published in 1883. The tombstones read according to Egle:

Jacob Bicker b. Dec 1, 1758 d. Feb 23, 1842
Johan Jacob Bicker b. Dec 18, 1782 d. 1812
Maria Catharina Bicker Sep 25, 1747 Dec 8, 1830

In addition the church records show this tombstone existed:
Maria Magdalena Bicher Jan 27, 1780 Aug 8, 1812.

Note that Egle listed the names as Bicker whereas the church records record them as Bicher, which is consistent with the church christening records. Obviously the worn "h" on old tombstones looked like "k" to Egle.

Another list of burials is in Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church; Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania; burial records, 1773-1876 by Frederick Weiser, published in 1969.

9. Book: The Heckendorn-Heckathorn family in America, 1736-1982, 1985. ¹¹
Daniel's oldest son, John (Johannes), married Maria Catherine Hamman on 21 August 1770 in Lebanon. John died in 1778 and his will mentions no children. His widow, Catherine, married Johan Jacob Bicher on 11 April 1779. When she died in 1830 her obituary noted that she had three children.

Anna married Johannes Heckendorn, son of Daniel Heckendorn and Maria Catharina Dennen, on 21 Aug 1770 in North Annville Twp.: Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lebanon, PA.^{1 2} (Johannes Heckendorn was born on 12 Nov 1744 in York, York, PA and died in Apr 1778 in , Lebanon, PA ^{5 11}.)

Anna next married Jacob Bicher Sr., son of Johann Engel Buecher and Elizabeth Catharina, on 11 Apr 1779 in Stouchsburg: Christ Lutheran Church, Berks, PA.^{3 4 5} (Jacob Bicher Sr. was born on 1 Dec 1758 in , Lancaster, PA,⁷ died on 23 Feb 1842 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA ^{7 18} and was buried on 26 Feb 1842 in Lebanon: Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lebanon, PA ⁷.)