BIO: Benjamin Haverstick, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm ______________________________________________________________________ PART II. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER XXXIX. BOROUGH OF MECHANICSBURG. 415 BOROUGH OF MECHANICSBURG. BENJAMIN HAVERSTICK, retired farmer, Mechanicsburg, was born on the Connostogo River within three miles of Lancaster City, Lancaster Co., Penn., March 2, 1801, son of Michael and Eve (Bender) Haverstick, natives of Lancaster County. Their parents came from Germany. They were members of the German Reformed Church. They had five children - three sons and two daughters: Michael, George, Maria (wife of Socrates Myers), Nancy (wife of Adam Kindig) and Benjamin. The subject of our sketch, the youngest, remained on the farm with his father until his marriage, November 28, 1824, with Miss Lydia Meylin, who was born four miles south of Lancaster, Penn., March 8, 1807, daughter of Abraham and Anna (Shank) Meylin, also natives of Lancaster County, and members of the old Mennonite Church. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Haverstick moved to Cocalico Township, Lancaster Co., Penn., and engaged in farming until April, 1834, when they settled on a farm one mile west of Mechanicsburg, in Silver Spring Township, this county, and there followed agricultural pursuits until 1875, when the farm was rented. They have since resided in Mechanicsburg. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the ten children born to this couple, six survive: Anna M., born November 3, 1825, was married, December 29, 1846, to John A. Hensel, since deceased; Hiram A., born November 10, 1828, was married July 4, 1855, to Miss Nancy J. Johnson, and is a farmer in Marion County, Ind.; Benjamin, who married Mary L. Snavely, was a member of a Pennsylvania volunteer regiment under Col. Rush, was wounded and captured by the rebels, and died June 15, 1868, from exposure while in service; Martin M., married Miss Sarah Jane Wonderly, and residing on a farm in Vernon County, Mo.; Lydia R., married, April 7, 1857, to Dr. William H. Longsdorf, ex-county treasurer, and major of a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment from Cumberland County; Barbara Eve, born June 22, 1838, died December 30, 1839; Levi M., married to Miss Emma E. Frantz January 4, 1870, was captain of an infantry company under Col. H. I. Zinn, and was wounded at the battle of Antietam and at Fredericksburg, where his colonel was killed - his widow resides at Rock Island, Ill.; Mary E., married November 28, 1866, to John A. Longsdorf, resides in Mechanicsburg, Penn.; Fannie and Carrie (twins), the former, married to Edward Weibly, died September 30, 1882, aged thirty-six years, four months and four days; the latter, married to William Williamson October 14, 1869, resides in Mechanicsburg, Penn. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Haverstick have been married sixty-one years, and enjoy good health. They stand high in the estimation of all, and are among the few old settlers who have lived to see this county undergo so many interesting changes.