In John Harnsberger's will, the name is given as Harrensparger, which is close to the Swiss spelling of Heerensperger. Witnesses to the will were George Samuel Klugg, Michael Thomas, and George Mayer, members of the German community in the Robinson River Valley. John Harnsberger left only one heir, Stephen, and the relationship between the two was strained. The legacy to Stephen was meager in comparison to the legacy to others.
John's statement with regard to Stephen was, "I do forgive to my son Stephen Harrensparger the Debt he owes me. Likewise I give to him, for his Portion of the Heritage, the Brandy Still, about 15 Pounds worth, which he fetched from my house and I desire that he should be content with this Portion." John's legacies to his grandchildren by Stephen's first marriage to Agnes were ample, but he made no mention of the five grandchildren of Stephen's second marriage to Ursula Scheitle. This may have been a basis of disagreement between them.
The inventory of John's estate indicated he had done well as a farmer. There were livestock, furniture, books, beehives, brandy and cider.
Stephen married Agnes about 1740, when he was perhaps about 24 years old. Her maiden name is unknown. Agnes died some time before 1750, for near that date Stephen married Ursula Scheitle. Stephen was a chain carrier for a survey for Henry Souther in 1748 along with Daniel Crisler. Chain carriers were often related directly or through their wives to the survey owner, but in this case no information is shed. By 1752, Stephen was living in the Shenandoah Valley, because he appears on a road crew there. Over the decade following, he acquired land by purchase and patent in the Valley.
A court case in 1766 in Augusta Co. sheds light on the history of Ursula, Steven's wife. Ursula's father died in Germany. The widow and young children left for America. In America, the mother married John Fotch who took possession of the remains of the Scheitle estate, which it was contended, amounted to almost one hundred pounds. After Ursula and her sisters were married, their husbands appealed to John Fotch for the girl's share of their father's estate. They received some money but Fotch contended that the balance of the estate was used in their support. Testimony was taken in the case but no decision appears in the records perhaps indicating that the case was dropped.
In 1775 Stephen wrote his will in the presence of John Zimmerman, George Zimmerman, Adam Carpenter, Jacob Miller, and Conrad Zimmerman. Though all of these names are Germanna names, the individuals themselves are believed to have sources other than Germanna. The will was proved in 1776 in Augusta County. Only the wife Ursula and sons, Adam, Henry, Stephen, Conrad, and Robert are mentioned.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.