Lewis Fisher (Ludwig Fischer) married Anna Barbara Blankenbaker. She was not on the list of headrights used by Col. Spotswood, so presumably she was not yet born in 1717, though her father, Bathalsar Blankenbaker, appeared to be married in 1717. When one analyzes the children and grandchildren of Lewis and Anna Barbara, it appears that a very reasonable birth date for their eldest child, Stephen, was 1736 as the Garr Genealogy gives.
The origins of Lewis Fisher are obscure, meaning they are unknown. It has been suggested that he was the son of Sebastian Fischer of Tulpehocken, Pennsylvania. Sebastian was one of the "tar makers" who were settled along the Hudson River in 1710. There are several reasons that I do not believe this.
Sebastian had a son Lorentz but no son Ludwig. To say that these two are the same is the same as saying that Lawrence is another name for Lewis. Aside from starting with the same letter, the two names are quite distinct.
The last name, Fisher, is quite common. Therefore, the claim that Lewis of Virginia is the son of Sebastian in Pennsylvania needs good evidence. I have never seen any evidence that supports the idea. Hank Jones says there were many other Fischers near Tulpehocken whose connection, if any, to Sebastian is unknown. My citation of this is to establish that the name is not unusual.
The area in Germany from whence Sebastian came is known, and it is not near the the area from whence the members of the Second Germanna Colony came. At Tulpehocken, PA, the Fisher family was living with people who came from the same German neighborhood as Sebastian.
In the church history of the Second Colony in Germany, there is a Lewis Fisher who was a baptismal sponsor for the Zimmerman family. Though this individual was not the Lewis who married Anna Barbara Blankenbaker, it does establish that the name Ludwig Fischer does occur in Germany in connection with members of the Second Colony; however, this is in a different geographical area than where Sebastian lived.
At one time I was intrigued by the thought that Lewis' father was Sebastian. This would have put some of my ancestors in the same locality (Tulpehocken, PA) as some of my wife's ancestors. But the more I looked at this question, the more I became convinced that Sebastian was not the father of Lewis. This was before Jones' "The Palatine Families of New York 1710", and the research there only strengthened my beliefs.
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.