Leroy J. Miller wrote: > > John Light-Monterey,CA wrote: > > > > I believe I have found some of the elusive stones from the old > > Light/Licht Family burial plot once located in east Lebanon aka "The > > East Lebanon Cemetery", on the farm of Johannes Licht, 1725/26. > > > > I do not know if this is a new theory or not. I have not found > > anyone, nor any new documents to propose other theories, > > aside from the information compiled from P. C. Croll in 1894 and J.G. > > Francis prior to 1958. As those in the know are aware, Francis' work > > was finally published and edited in 1990 by Betty M. Light Behr; > > however, I do not believe Betty added any comments to those of Francis > > or his son Willard on this issue. > > > > I recently returned from visiting Ebenezer cemetery in North Lebanon. > > After speaking with two very helpful, but equally stumped, caretakers > > (one for the Covenant yard, and the other for the Greenwood yard), I > > finally took to searching the yards stone by stone hoping to find the > > one (or two) that belonged to John Light 1725/26 m. Anna Landis 1730. > > This would be II John Light (b. 2/21/26, d. 3/11/1806), the oldest son > of I John Light, "The Immigrant". > > > The Convenant caretaker's workhouse had a very old and deteriorated map > > of the cemetery on its wall. However, it was unreadable, and I had > > nothing else to go on. (Has anyone requested help from or found > > information through the Covenant church?) > > > > I found a stone that appears to be inscribed "Johannes Lic . . ." > > Nothing much else readable, and with evidence of excessive rubbing > > (!), and other stones to the left and right of it completely worn, one > > completely broken off or missing, and on the other side of the worn > > stone on the right, one belonging to "Johan Licht", 1767-1814. > > This would be III John Light (b. 12/29/1767, d. 1/10/1814), the seventh > son of II Martin Light. > > An > > American flag and Revolutionary War (SAR?) medallion sits between the > > two stones on the right. > > > > The cemetery engraving/marker index I found at LCHS does list a > > "Johannes Licht" with the dates in agreement with JG Francis' II John > > Light. In the index it is immediately followed with reference to the > > stone of "Johan Licht", the dates agree with Francis as Johan Licht of > > 1767-1814. The inscription on the larger stone (this is the one I > > suggest belongs to II John Light) is now completely worn. It was > > partially worn when the index was compiled, but readable when > > transcribed by Croll in 1894. > > > > These stones sit just southwest of the (old Ebenezer?) entrance where > > the road circles round an area with the largest trees of the yards, > > between the two yards. According to Croll, and as quoted by > > Francis, John's and Anna's graves/stones were moved to Ebenezer in 1894, > > but others had been moved earlier on according to other accounts. (1876, > > 1886-88). > > > > However, the "Johan Licht" stone that sits here would not be their > > child, nor their grandchild, but their nephew (son of II Martin, pgs 13, > > 250 in Francis), "Martin, 1726" according to Daniel Wenger's online > > database that is closely based on Francis. (I DO NOT have > > Francis'/Behr's "Pioneers" book, btw, so I am having difficulty piecing > > this together.) > > Rev. Francis says on p. 340 of the book edited by Betty Light Behr: "III > John Light, p. 250, son of II Martin, m. Mary Light, doubtless the dau. > of II John Light, p. 15, for III John calls Abraham Light, doubtless II > John's son, his brother-in-law. II Martin conveys his home farm, the > Mt. Leb. Cemetery Farm, to his son John (III John herewith) Mar. 2, > 1798, and here John resided. He made his will Jan. 9, 1814, mentioning > his wife Mary, his sons Abraham & David his daughter Mary who receives > 1000 pounds. III John died rather young, age 46 years. His wife is not > buried beside him. She may have remarried. He is buried beside his > Uncle II John in Ebenezer Cemetery & was doubtless previously buried in > the same cemetery with him at 3rd and Lehman Sts. He (III John > herewith) had buried a son here and not unlikely his father II Martin > was also buried here and the marker destroyed." > > This "Johan Licht" is too young to be (one of) the > > revolutionary soldiers John Light. > > > > An online essay on these stones with photographs in html format can be > > found at: > > http://www.redshift.com/~jblight/Licht.htm > > > > My queries here now are for those who have the Francis book or > > additional knowledge or would like to help me figure this one out. I am > > seeking translation of the Old German script inscriptions as recorded by > > Croll (and included on the web pages). Anyone, please forward this > > message to those who might be working on the line of II John Light > > 1725/26-1806, and please refer to the web pages. I keep hearing rumor > > that others are working on these early generations, but who(?), and why > > is the research such "top secret" ;-) > > > > Croll discusses three or four stones (two belonging to John and/or Anna > > Light 1725/26, as they agree in family description) but another he > > describes as red sandstone belongs to Johannes Licht b. 1720. Does > > this Johannes Licht 1720 appear in Francis' book? Does anyone have > > additional theory on how he connects to the family? Is this stone the > > source for the name Maria that keeps popping up as the wife of John > > Light the Immigrant? However, these same accounts don't seem to place > > this Johannes Licht as a first son to the senior immigrants. > > ************************************************************ John, First I must admit that the first time I replied to your message I was so excited that I had not checked out your web site. I have done that now and discovered several fascinating puzzles there, but the one that I found most absorbing was the identity of the Johannes Licht born in 1720, which you mention directly above. It absorbed several hours of my time in the middle of the night last night. The tombstone in question you identify on your web site as "4. Johannes Licht 1720-1798" You also equate this with Croll's facsimile stone No. 1, which has the inscription: "Hier Ruhet Johannes Licht, ist gebohren den 6 december 1720. Er is ein Sohn des Johannes und Maria Licht, is gestorben 6ten abril 1798. Sein alder war 7 Jahr 4 monat." Translation: "Here rests John Light, is [was] born December 6, 1720. He is a son of John and Maria Light, died the 6th of April 1798. His age was 7 years 4 months." On the web page you asked the question, "Included by Francis?, Croll: an elder brother or cousin of John Light II?" The first remarkable thing about the inscription as recorded by Croll is that it is internally inconsistent. If the dates of his birth and death were correct, he would have lived to an age of 77 years 4 months. Did Croll miss a 7? I think not. First, there is no mention of a wife; but of course, he might not have been married, although this would have been unusual. Perhaps he was an imbecile who the family kept hidden, and that's why we never heard of him! Only his parents are mentioned, however, just as would be expected of a child. At this point I recalled the appearance of the numbers 2 and 9 in German script. Often the loop is not closed on the 9, and often the loop of the 2 looks much the same. The only distinguishing difference is the horizontal tail on the 2. Could Croll have mistaken a 2 for a 9, or a 9 for a 2? Consider the possibility that the 1798 was actually 1728. You suggested that this Johannes Licht might have been an older brother of our II John Light. Indeed, it was not unusual to name a second child after a previously deceased child, but this person was still alive when our II John Light was born, so that hypothesis does not hold water. You also suggest that he might have been a cousin of our II John Light (although we never heard of such a cousin before.) However, if this were the case, and if the inscription is correct in saying his father was John Light, that our I John Light (the Immigrant) would have had to have a brother also named John Light. Not likely at all! Moreover, if he died in 1728, he would have been dead before our I John Light settled in Lebanon County, since Rev. Francis says he bought his land on Dec. 29, 1738 (Francis, p. 10). He bought the land from Casper Wistar, who had patented it on Mar. 28, 1737. Was Rev. Brane right in saying John Light had come in 1719 (Francis, p. 10)? I doubt very much that anyone had settled in Lebanon in 1728 (any comments, anyone?) (My wife's ancestors settled along the Tulpehocken Creek in 1723, about 15 to 20 miles east of Lebanon between what is now Stouchsburg and Womelsdorf, and at that time William Penn's treaty with the Indians had given him the rights to settle only up to the east side of the Tulpehocken.) Since a death date of 1728 seems improbable, how about the other possible error---that he was born in 1790 and died in 1798? If this was the case, our II John Light was too old to be his father. How about the several III John Lights? II John Light's son, III John Light of Bethel, married Mary Dohner. The name Mary was often a translation of Maria, so this fit the inscription; and they had a son IV John Light, but he was probably born in the early 1770s, and he grew to adulthood and had 6 children of his own (Francis, pp. 18, 20). No fit here. II Jacob Light had a son III John Light, but he married Veronica Light, and their son IV John Light was born Dec. 19, 1782, and died Nov. 20, 1844 (Francis, p. 413). These data do not fit the inscription. II Henry Light had a son III John Light, who is thought to have had two wives, first Anna____ and then Magdaline Bachman; neither of these names fit the name of the mother on the inscription. Little is known about their children (p. 496). This leaves II Martin Light, who had a son III John Light. This III John Light married Mary Light, whose name can be equated with the Maria of the inscription; and guess what? They had a son IV John Light who was born Dec. 6, 1790, and died Apr. 6, 1798 (Francis, p. 340)! These dates fit the inscription precisely, once we change the birth year from 1720 to 1790. Case closed. Now, if you re-examine the quotation that I previously cited (see above) from p. 340 of Rev. Francis' book, you will see that: "III John Light, p. 250, son of II Martin, m. Mary Light...... III John died rather young, age 46 years......He is buried beside his Uncle II John in Ebenezer Cemetery & was doubtless previously buried in the same cemetery with him at 3rd and Lehman Sts. He (III John herewith) had buried a son here---". This son was the Johannes Licht, also called IV John Light by Rev. Francis, whose tombstone you found. I enjoyed this mystery, but I missed my sleep. Leroy Miller