Benjamin Stauffer Hershey

432. Benjamin Hershey, born 1696; died July 29, 1789. He was the son of Christian Hershey and Mrs. Hershey. He married 433. Mary Abt. 1716.

433. Mary, born 1696.

Notes for Benjamin Hershey:

"In the western end of the Mennonite settlement during the life of Hans Herr was Bishop BENJAMIN HERSHEY, who with his brother Andrew, also a preacher, lived with their father on 500 acres of land, most of which are now occupied by Herr's ice plant, Maple Grove swimming pool and mill, and Abbyville farms. There are two places on this farm where there are remains of old tombstones. Tradition has it that the bishop is interred in the one just south of the Abbyville barns, on a beautiful slope facing south, and that the old meetinghouse was near his tomb, which is unmarked. The plow has gone over the hallowed spot, and rich crops have been harvested by successive farmers, all ignorant of what has transpired here under the care of the first white owner who came into an unbroken forest to make a home for himself and his family." (Taken from Mennonites of Lancaster Conference, by Martin G. Weaver, 1931, pp.40-41; available from the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society for $19.)

"The first bishop for this area was BENJAMIN HERSHEY, son of immigrant Christian Hershey. Benjamin was born about 1696 and thus was about 21 years old when the family came to America in 1717. He seems to have had a better education for that time than those who were born in this country. He is reported to have been a great help to his people in writing skills. He is thought to have been the writer of what was known as the Declaration of Peace, a message of appreciation sent to the Pennsylvania state legislature after the Revolutionary War. He died on July 29, 1789, at the age of 92, after being bedfast for 5 years. He was buried in the cemetery along the Abbeyville Road where the first Mennonite meetinghouse in Lancaster County was built. In 1791 the location for worship was moved to the site along the Rohrerstown Road where the cemetery is now located. The cemetery along the Abbeyville Road was destroyed when the building development took place." (Taken from "The Brubakers and Their Lands in East Hempfield Township" by Landis H. Brubaker, in Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, April 1982.)