Benjamin
Heiskell (Hyskel) 1729-1811
Benjamin Heiskell was the son of Benjamin
Heuschkell.
Benjamin [Hyskell]
was born in March 1729 in Amsterdam, Holland, and died 20 March
1811 in Warriors Mark, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.
He married Anna
Margaretha (Margaret) Spessert [Spessard] on 19 November
1764 at Christ Lutheran Church, York, York County, Pennsylvania.
Margaret was born 1 August 1748 in Lohrhaupten,
Germany. She too died in Warriors Mark on 25 August 1831. They
are buried at Burket
Cemetery.

Benjamin
and Margaret Heiskell had seven children.
| 1.
George Hyskill
2.
Catherine Hyskell was born 10 January
1768 in Franklintown, York County, Pennsylvania.
She died 31 August 1861 in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.
She married George W Mattern (b: 30 JAN 1765 in Near Hagerstown,
Maryland) on May 23, 1791.
Their family is mentioned in the
Franklin Township Assessment of 1789 and also in History
of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (1883).
Children of George Mattern and Catherine Hyskell are:
1. Margaret Mattern, born February 07, 1792 in Franklin
Twp., Huntingdon, PA; married Henry Fulton Abt. 1814; born
Aft. 1788.
2. Samuel Mattern, born July 19, 1796 in Franklin Twp -
Huntingdon PA/Huntingdon Co., PA; died March 11, 1882 in
Franklinville, Huntingdon PA. He married Mary Ann Elizabeth
King on November 30, 1820.
3. John MATTERN b: 26 MAR 1794 in Franklin Twp - Huntingdon
PA
4. Mary MATTERN b: 25 JAN 1799 in Franklin Twp., Huntingdon,
PA
5. George P MATTERN b: 30 MAR 1801 in Pennsylvania
6. Catherine MATTERN b: 28 APR 1803 in Pennsylvania
7. Elizabeth MATTERN b: 1805
8. Jacob S. MATTERN b: 25 OCT 1808 in Pennsylvania
3. [Mary]
Polly Hyskell (aka Hyskill) b: MAR
1770 in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland. She married
Peter Gray (1769-1842) in 1796. She died 13 April 1847 in
Patton Twp., Centre Co., PA. Polly is buried in Gray's
Cemetery, Stormstown
Centre County, PA., along with her husband. Peter Gray's
sister, Eve, was married to Polly's brother, George. Polly
and Peter had 9 children: Eliza Gray; Sarah Gray; John L.
Gray b: 26 JAN 1797; Peter B. Gray b: 14 APR 1799; Jacob
Gray b: 07 SEP 1801; George Gray b: 1804; Sarah D. Gray
b: 1807; George Gray b: 1808; and Mary Ann Gray b: 1817.
4.
John Frederick
Hyskell (aka Johan Freidrich Huyscel)
5.
Jane Hyskell
(aka Hyskill) b: 1774 in Hagerstown, Washington County,
Maryland. She married John Stonebraker. They had one known
daughter, Sarah Stonebraker, (born abt. 1806-d. 3/28/1889
at Spruce Creek, PA), who married Nathaniel "Than"
Lytle - (1802-1888) at Spruce Creek (Huntingdon Co.) on
7/6/1826. Her husband was in the saddle and harness trade,
and postmaster at Morris Township (Huntingdon Co.) PA.
6.
Elizabeth Hyskell
(aka Hyskill) b: 1776 in Hagerstown, Washington County,
Maryland. Remained single.
7. Ann
Marie Hyskell
(aka Anna Maria Huyskill) b: 4 MAR 1779 in Hagerstown, Washington
County, Maryland. Christened 14 May 1779. Died January 14,
1858. She married Archibald Hutchison (son of William Hutchinson
of Ireland). He died about 1851. They had eight children.
Their son, Benjamin, was born in 1803, and was killed in
1862 by the bursting of a cylinder of a threshing-machine.
William, the third son, was born in 1805, and is yet a respected
citizen of the
township, living on part of the Addleman tract, near Warrior's
Mark village; John, the youngest son, yet lives on part
of the Hyskell tract, near Warrior's Mark village. The daughters
of Archibald Hutchinson married, — Eliza, Jeremiah
Cunningham, of Hollidaysburg; Margaret, Judge JamesGardner,
of the sameplace; Sarah, John Patterson; and Mary, Samuel
Lemon, both of Warrior's Mark. (History of Huntingdon and
Blair counties, 1883:388)
|
Benjamin Hyskell
THE HYSKELL FAMILY came from Germany and
settled in Philadelphia, but one of the members, Benjamin, subsequently
became a citizen of Dauphin County. From there he moved to Warrior’s
Mark after the Revolution, settling east of the village, and died
in that locality in 1811, aged eighty-two years. He had sons named
George and Frederick, and daughters who married George Mattern
[Catherine], of Spruce Creek; Peter Gray
[Polly], of Half Moon; John Stonebraker [Jane],
of Spruce Creek; Archibald Hutchinson [Anne
Marie], of Warrior’s Mark; and Elizabeth remained
single. George Hyskell, after living some time on the homestead,
moved to Venango County, while Frederick remained in the township
until his death in 1857, at the age of eighty-four years. Of his
ten children, David and John moved to Indiana County; Jacob to
Iowa; Thomas B. occupies the homestead. The daughters married
Henry Funk [Nancy], John Henderson
[Elizabeth], John Mothersbaugh [Mary],
Jacob Rider [Maria], Martin Weston
[Sarah Ann], and Thomas Elway [Susan],
all of Warrior’s Mark township.
Benjamin Hyskell, grandfather of Thomas
B[eakes] Hyskell, was born in Germany in March, 1729, and
in early manhood emigrated with his parents to America, landing
in Norfolk, Va. One of his brothers went to Greenbrier and bought
four thousand acres of land, but never occupied it, as he was
killed by the Indians. Another brother remained in Virginia, where
his descendants still reside, some of them prominent men in State
affairs. Benjamin remained in Virginia until after his marriage
to Miss Margaret Specard, who was born in Germany in August, 1748,
from whence she came with her parents in 1754. Their union was
blessed with two sons and six daughters. About the year 1792 Benjamin
came with his family to Warrior’s Mark township, in Huntingdon
(then Bedford) County, and settled on three hundred acres of land
which his sons Frederick and George had previously purchased and
on part of which Thomas B. Hyskell now resides.
The township of Warrior’s Mark was
then an almost unbroken wilderness, and on their land there was
no buildings, or clearing even. A log house was soon built and
a clearing made, and life in the new home had commenced. They
were Methodists, and lived and died consistent members of that
church. He died March 20, 1811, his wife Aug. 25, 1831. Frederick,
their second son, was born near Hagerstown, Md., Jan. 4, 1773.
He married Miss Catherine Elias, who was born in June, 1779, at
Harper’s Ferry, Va., and was a daughter of Henry Elias,
who served in the Revolutionary war, and at its close, or soon
after, came to the south part of Huntingdon County, where he lived
and died. Before his marriage Frederick had made some improvement
on his land, being the part of the three hundred acres now owned
by his son Thomas B., and had erected a log house on the site
of Thomas B.’s present home. After his marriage the work
of improvement went steadily on, and soon a well-improved farm
took the place of the wilderness. He lived to see the forests
cleared away, and in its stead an old settled country, where the
howling of the wolf and the screams of the panther have given
way to the hum of machinery and the whistle of the steam-engine.
The first church in Warrior’s Mark
was built on his premises, he giving the land and the timber.
It was built of hewn logs, and for that period was a large and
commodious structure, while its members came from the country
for miles around. He died Sept. 27, 1857, his wife Oct. 15, 1861.
To them were born four sons and six daughters, of whom Thomas
B. Hyskell, our subject, was born in Warrior’s Mark township,
Nov. 22, 1818. He grew to manhood on the home farm where he still
resides, and where he expects to end his days. His education was
such as could be obtained by a few months’ attendance during
the winter at the district schools. For his first wife he married,
on the 30th day of November, 1842, Miss Nancy Weston, who was
born, in Warrior’s Mark township in 1821. Their children
were Anna A., William D., and J. Emery. Mrs. Hyskell died in January,
1852. For his second wife he married his first wife’s sister,
Mrs. Mary Orlady, on the 17th of March, 1854. To them have been
born Ada F., Allen W., Mary, Kate T., and Ella B. When twenty
years of age Thomas B. commenced life on his own account, his
first venture being on his father’s farm, which he worked
on shares. This he continued to do until 1854, when he bought
the farm, which he has improved, and on which it can almost be
said every day’s work of his life has been done. For more
than half a century he has been a member of the Methodist Church,
and for forty years a trustee, steward, and class-leader. In politics
a Republican, and as such has been elected to various township
offices. He is an earnest friend of education, and has lived to
see two daughters and one son graduates of good schools.
(Source: History of Huntingdon and
Blair Counties by J. Simpson Africa; Louis H. Everts. J.B.
Lippincott and Co.: Philadelphia, 1883:388-389.)
| Benjamin signed
the Patriot's Oath of Fidelity on 1 March 1778 at Hagerstown,
Washington County, Maryland. |
Little Heiskell

In 1768, Jonathan Hager commissioned Benjamin Heiskell, a tinsmith
by trade, to design a weathervane to stand atop the a new market
house, which had been built in the square of Elizabeth Town, later
named Hagerstown. Heiskell constructed the weathervane from two
sheets of 'Welch wrought iron', riveted together to form the silhouette
of a pre-revolutionary, Hessian soldier in his workshop on on
Washington Street. The weathervane is known as "Little
Heiskell", after its maker, and was installed in 1769.
During the Civil War, "Little Heiskell" was wounded
by a Confederate sharpshooter, who shot him through the heart
from the corner of Washington Street and East Avenue. Today you
can still see the hole in its side.
It was moved from the Market House to City Hall in 1824. After
the city hall was built in 1823, the Masonic Order that shared
the building replaced "Little Heiskell" with their own
symbol, but it was soon returned to its rightful place after a
public outcry.
In 1889, another storey was added to the municipal building,
and the weathervane was removed until 1908, when it was restored
after demands from the townspeople. Little Heiskell was damaged
in a severe hailstorm in 1916, and, in 1935, the City Fathers
decided to retire the weathervane after 166 years of service.
The original "Little Heiskell" is currently housed in
the Hager House Museum in the City Park. A copper replica was
installed on the new City Hall.
Isabelle Hurlbutt, former librarian at the Washington County
Free Library, wrote a children's book entitled, Little
Heiskell. "Little Heiskell" is also the emblem
of North Hagerstown High School, whose yearbook is called, The
Heiskellite. Little Heiskell forms the chorus of Hey Little
Heiskell (Little Heiskell and the Ransoming of Hagerstown) by
Jennie
Avila. It has also been made into a bobblehead.

Postcard of the New City Hall with Little Heiskell in Hagerstown
A personal souvenir from the archive of William
King Heiskell
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