John was born in Rapho Twp. He served in the Revolutionary War, possibly for as long as 7 or 8 years.

It appears that he was married twice, first to Elizabeth Garber and then to Mary Apalonia. Elizabeth is mentioned in a 1775 bill of sale, and then his will names his wife as Mary Apalonia. Although we have only estimates for the birth years of his children, there appears to be an eight year gap between the third and fourth child. This suggests the possibility that Elizabeth died sometime after the birth of their third child (Charlotte) and that John subsequently remarried and had three additional children with his second wife. Accordingly, we've assumed that the mother of the first three children (Peter, Conrad & Charlotte) was Elizabeth Garber and that Mary Apalonia was the mother of the three youngest children (Eve, Christopher & John).

Following the distribution of his father’s estate in January 1796, John purchased 227 acres of land in Washington Co., MD in April 1796. John died a year and a half later, in August of 1797. He was only in his mid 50s. The fact that he made his will in the previous month suggests either a sudden illness, or some type of a serious and debilitating accident.

In his will, he left his land to his two oldest sons, and the rest of his possessions to his wife. He also provided cash payments to his three youngest children, with the provision that they would not get their first payment until they reached the age of 25. Apparently, his daughter Charlotte was unable to care for herself, as he left her no money, but did stipulate that first his widow, and then son Conrad, were to keep her, as long as she lived.

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