Col. John Pennebacker

John (Johannes) Pennebacker was born August 27, 1713 in Providence Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, now Montgomery County. His father was Hendrich Pannebacker, one of the most prominent men in Pennsylvania at the time. His father was a well-educated surveyor, attorney, skilled mathematician, and owner of many books who had come to America in 1698 from Germany. John’s mother was Eve Umstat who had come to America from Germany in 1685 with her parents.

John married Anneke (Annette) Keyser, daughter of Peter Dirck Keyser, 1676-1724, and Margaret Souplis, 1682-1744, on March 25, 1736, in Van Bebber’s Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Anneke had been born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on May 23, 1716. Their children were:

(Capt.) Dirck Pennybacker, 1737-1802, married Hannah DeHaven, 9 children

Henry Pennybacker, 1738-1739, died at 1 year of age

Margaret Pennybacker, 1741-1808, married 1st Samuel Eyster, 4 children, married 2nd Henry Acker, 1 child

Elizabeth Pennybacker, 1743-1809, married Anthony Vanderslice, 4 children

Jacob Pennybacker, 1746-1824, married Ann Pawling, 2 children

Catherine Pennybacker, 1751-1812, no record of marriage or children

Hannah Pennybacker, born 1754, married Michael Reiser/Razor/Rezor/Raysor, 5 children

Samuel Pennybacker, 1760-1824, married Susanna Plunck, 4 children

John became a prosperous farmer in Trappe, at the upper end of Providence Township, Pennsylvania.

John’s military rank is often listed as Colonel, although it is unclear where the designation originated. He did not serve in the Revolutionary War, as he was 63 years old when the war started. Perhaps the title was an honorary one, or he may have been an officer in his local militia at an earlier time. He was probably a Mennonite or of a similar religious preference, and they generally did not join military units.

According to Samuel W. Pennypacker’s book about Henrick Pannebecker (John's father), during the Revolutionary War John was a member of a committee that helped deliver food and clothing to the families of soldiers.

Over the years, John's relatives belonged to many different religions, including Mennonites, Quakers, Reformed Dutch, Lutheran, and others. John is believed to have been a Separatist in his later years, meaning he advocated religious separation from the larger group, which in his case was the Lutheran church.

John died at age 70, on June 14, 1784 in Trappe. Although John's burial records could not be located, an interesting entry, which almost certainly refers to John, was found in The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Muhlenberg was the minister at Augustus Evangelical Lutheran Church in Trappe, Pennsylvania, where John Pennebacker resided. John was not a member of the Lutheran church but had been mentioned previously in Muhlenberg's journals as a neighbor and someone with whom Muhlenberg had done business.

The entry reads as follows:

“June 16 [1784]—I was obliged, at the request of his relatives, to creep laboriously to Augustus Church to bury a 71-year-old native who was a Separatist. Since I have been feeling unfit and weak in mind and expected a large congregation of all sorts of people and persuasions, I prayed the all-gracious Lord and Savior to vouchsafe me a word according to His heart and mind which would hit the mark and be guided by His spirit to the conscience of the hearers and not come back altogether void...with divine aid I delivered an address...the hearers were quiet and attentive.”

Since John died June 14, 1784, it is unlikely Rev. Muhlenberg buried anyone else of John's age who was not a Lutheran on June 16.

John Pennebacker's birth and death dates are documented in the Pennebacker family bible:

“The 27th Day of August 1713 John Pennebacker Bornd about 3 oclock in the afternoon.”

“June 14th 1784 Then Departed the life of John Pennebacker Aged 70-8-2-4.’