John Lenhart, ca. 1783-1843, of Washington Twp., York Co., PA, appears to be identical to the John Lenhart, born in Germany, who arrived in Virginia in 1804 and came to Pennsylvania ca. 1809.

NATURALIZATION RECORD - YORK CO., PA. Summary of three entries, each signed by John Lenhart in November 1819: John Lenhart, "a native of the German Empire" landed at Norfolk in Virginia, in November 1804. He is thirty-six years of age and "was born under the allegiance of the Duke of [Hesse Cassels] . . .." He has "resided in the State of Pennsylvania ten years" and has been a "resident in the United States fourteen years . . .." [The 1880 Census record of his son David states father born Wurtemberg.]

CENSUS RECORDS. John is in the Washington Twp. Census in 1820, 1830, and 1840; he and his wife died before the 1850 census. Based on the census data there may have been eight children (the below names are explained in the next two sections):

Male and/or Female 1811-1815 and/or 1810-1820 [conflict in census data]
Female 1816-1820 }- one of these may be Elizabeth m. [Berget sp?]
Female 1816-1820 }
Male 1821-1825 - may be John m. Elizabeth [Bushey]
Female 1821-1825 }
Female 1821-1825 } - one of these is Catharine, age 18-21 in 1845
Female 1826-1830 }
Male 1826-1830 - David born 1819

YORK COUNTY ORPHANS' COURT RECORDS. Three key entries are summarized below; several other entries relate to land sale (delays, etc.).

Aug 1843 - John Lenhart of Washington Twp., deceased. David Pentz, administrator, to sell land and pay off debts owed to Wolford, Pentz. [There are many debts to Pentz; it's my guess he is an in-law or other relative.]

Jan 1845 - Catherine Lenhart, between age 18-21, minor child of John Lenhart, late of Washington Twp. Michael Kniseley guardian.

Jan 1845 - David Lenhart, age 14, minor child of John Lenhart, late of Washington Twp. Mathias Detter guardian. [Note: David (1829-1893) settled in Latimore Twp., Adams Co., PA, but is buried in Franklin Twp., York, PA, as are his parents.]

OTHER POSSIBLE CHILDREN/RELATIVES. Names mentioned above in the York Co., PA, orphans' court records may be clues to the married name of other daughters and/or names of other relatives.

One of the daughters could be Elizabeth b. ca. 1820, who is in the household (wife?) of Jacob [Berget sp?] of Franklin Twp., York Co. in the 1850 Census. David Lenhart, shoemaker, (her brother?) is in this household; the two [Berget sp?] children are named John and Catherine.

I also think it likely that one of the sons is John Lenhart, 1824-1880, of Washington Twp. (according to grave and census records), who married Elizabeth [probably Bushey].

Note: Disregard my earlier write-ups suggesting other possible children. Names mentioned earlier have either been assigned to other families and/or now appear unlikely to link to John of Washington Twp.

CEMETERY RECORDS. John and Catharine Lenhart are buried together in the Franklin Cemetery, Franklin Twp., York Co. PA. This is confirmed by two sources, although there is some variation as to the information on the stones. At my request, York County researcher Blake Stough visited the Franklin cemetery in March 2000 and made these notes: 

On the other hand, a York County Heritage Trust (formerly Historical Society of York County) 3x5 card lists:

It is puzzling that the 3x5 card data indicate stones with death dates and ages whereas the stones Blake saw in the cemetery list birth and death dates and no ages. Perhaps, at some point, the stones were replaced. My computer program came up with a birth date for Catharine of July 31, 1789, a one day difference, when I used her age on the 3x5 card with Blake's death date. Perhaps the 1844 year on the 3x5 card was a stone misread when data was gathered or a typo when the cards were prepared. John's birth date in Blake's info is only a few days different than the computer calculation; John's death date is the same on both sources. (I decided to use Blake's info in my database.)

 There are other graves in this cemetery associated with this family (details not included here).

NOT A DESCENDANT OF JOHAN PETER LENHART (JPL). John of Washington Twp., York Co., PA, was born ca. 1783 in Germany and arrived in America in 1804. Hence it seems safe to assume he is not a direct descendant of Johan Peter Lenhart of York Co., PA, who came to America in 1748.

John of Washington Twp. should not be confused with John of Dover (1782-1862, unmarried), who is a descendant of JPL.

David, of Latimore Twp., York Co., married Heiges. This son of John of Washington Twp. should not be confused with David of Dover Twp., York Co., (1819-1895, married Boose), who is a descendant of JPL.

OTHER REMARKS. Immigration records would be a good place to start if descendants wish to pursue this further; it is possible John arrived with other family members. In the 1820 Census in John's household, there is an unknown male over age 45 (hence born before 1775) and one mark under "Foreigners not naturalized." Perhaps this is John's father.

In early 2000, John Alexander "Sandy" Lenhart, a descendant of David (married Heiges), contacted the Lenhart list at listbot.com (now extinct); he is not an active researcher and does not participate on the current Lenhart list at RootsWeb. I have a small amount of additional information about David and a few of his descendants in my database. I am not a descendant of John of Washington Twp. I researched this line while looking for my York Co., PA, Lenhart connection.

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