Historical Association of Tobyhanna Township

The Eschenbach Family Story

Andrew Eschenbach Jr., born on December 25, 1745, to Andreas Eschenbach and Johanna Catharina Muntz, was one of the first permanent settlers in Tobyhanna Township. He and his wife, Susan Fink, moved to Tobyhanna Township in 1809. They had 10 children between 1780 and 1810, and had a large enough family that a cemetery became a necessity, as the infrastructure of the township was not sufficiently developed.

It is possible that the location of the Eschenbach Cemetery was determined by an existing gravesite. The Battle of Locust Ridge took place on August 2, 1784, as part of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars between Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Jacob Everett of Pennsylvania was the only person to lose his life in the battle. Although lacking firm documentation, lore handed down through generations suggests he is buried in what later became the Eschenbach Cemetery.

The Eschenbach Cemetery headstones are local field stone and slate, which means the etchings have long ago worn away from natural weathering. While the location of who is buried at what gravesite may forever be a mystery, it is known that the cemetery was the final resting place for Andrew and Susan.

History of the Eschenbachs

Andreas Eschenbach (1710-1763)

Andreas Eschenbach was born on June 10, 1710 in Naumburg, Saxony in Germany. He arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Friendship on September 23, 1740 as a Moravian missionary sent by Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf (a bishop of the reformed Moravian Church) at the request of Reverend George Whitefield.

Count Zinzendorf held a series of conferences designed to unify different German religions. The third such conference on February 10-12 1742, called the Oley Conference, was located at the DeTurk Farm at current day Historic Ln, Oley, PA 19547. It was here that Zinzendorf ordained Eschenbach into an “undenominations” church.

Soon after the Oley Conference, 16 acres of land were donated to build a school and church. Andreas vehemently advocated for a 42’ by 42’ two-story brick building, similar to the construction of the current Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, PA, until he’d so harangued his congregation that Count Zinzendorf replaced him.

Andreas married Johanna Catharina Muntz on July 7, 1742. They had three children together: Maria Margaretha (1743-1808), Johanna Elizabeth (1744-1803), and Andreas (Andrew) Jr. (1745-1833). After Johanna died in 1747, he remarried Anna Maria Bossert on June 10, 1747 and withdrew from the Moravian community to become a farmer. They had ten children together: John, Elizabeth, Rachel, Anna, David (d. 1823), Maria (1754-1818), Martha (1757-1839), Christina (1760-1829), Nathaniel, and Salome (1762-1829). Andreas died in 1763 in Oley, PA.

Andrew (Andreas) Eschenbach, Jr. (1745-1833)

Andrew Eschenbach Jr. was born on December 25, 1745, to Andrew Eschenbach and Johanna Catharina Muniz, and was the youngest of three children. He grew up in Philadelphia and married Susan Fink, with whom he had 10 children. At age 64 in 1809, he and Susan moved to Tobyhanna Township. Of their nine sons, four settled in Tobyhanna Township: David, Nathaniel, Andrew, and Samuel Greenleaf. Their one daughter, Hannah, married Andrew Berry and moved to Wisconsin.

The Eschenbach family’s primary occupations were lumbering, making shingles and wood products with a sawmill, farming as the land was cleared of trees, and running boarding houses. Andrew passed in 1833, and Susan survived him 27 years until her passing in 1860.

David Eschenbach Jr. (1794-1867)

David Eschenbach was the fifth child of Andrew Eschenbach Jr. and Susan Fink. He married Christina Gower and they had five children together: Elias (b. 1835), Jacob (1839-1862), Benjamin (1844-1908), Mariah (b. 1847), and Rachel (b. 1849 or 1850). David died in Butler, Pa., in 1867.

Jacob (1839 – September 17, 1862) joined the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company K, as a private on August 14, 1862. He was killed in action at the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War.

Benjamin (September 17, 1844 – November 9, 1908) also joined and fought in the Civil War. He mustered in on March 21, 1864 and mustered out on July 14, 1865 as a private in the Pennsylvania 67th Regiment Volunteers, Company G. After the war, he married Marietta R. (1837-1916) and they had three children together: Eva (b. 1868), Jesse Warren (b. May 1874), and C.A. (b. 1879). Marietta and Benjamin are both buried in Pocono Lake Cemetery.

Nathaniel Eschenbach (b. 1796)

Nathaniel Eschenbach was the sixth child of Andrew Eschenbach Jr. and Susan Fink. Nathaniel married Ellen Scott. They had 10 children together: John W., Albert, Sarah, Lydia, James, Mary, George, Eliza, Thomas, and Elizabeth.

Andrew Eschenbach, III (1802-1886)

Andrew Eschenbach III, was the eighth child of Andrew Eschenbach Jr. and Susan Fink. He married Lydia Ann Bond (b. 1811). They had four children: Samuel A. (September 6, 1832 – September 30, 1923), Sarah Ann (b. 1835), Martha (1839-1876), and Henry (September 10, 1843 – January 2, 1925).

Samuel A. Eschenbach is buried at the Blakeslee United Methodist Church cemetery, and his wife, Elizabeth Warner Eschenbach (1835 – March 8, 1897), is buried in Stoddartsville Cemetery.

Samuel Greenleaf Eschenbach (May 14, 1810 – August 22, 1896)

Samuel Greenleaf Eschenbach was the tenth and final child of Andrew Eschenbach Jr. and Susan Fink. He married Asenith Lefler, and they had 11 children. He became an influential member of the community — the governor of Pennsylvania appointed him a justice of the peace in 1836, and he served five terms. In 1863 at age 53, he began his first term as a Tobyhanna Township supervisor. He also served as a member of the local school board, and was heavily involved in his church.