My Genealogy Hound

HENRY G. HUNSICKER, a successful farmer of Skippack township, was born near Creamery, where he still lives, February 16, 1855. Mr. Hunsicker was reared on a farm. He is the son of Isaac C. and Mary (Garges) Hunsicker.

Isaac C. Hunsicker (father) was born October 3, 1819, on the old homestead. He was a farmer by occupation, and followed it very successfully, becoming a prosperous and prominent citizen. He was a man of sound judgment, and possessed the confidence of his neighbors. He was a member of the Mennonite church, and liberal in his contribution to its support. In politics he was a Republican, although he never aspired to political preferment. In the latter years of his life he retired from farm work, renting his farm, but still made his home on a portion of the property until the death of his wife, when he went to live with a son at Souderton, where he died in 1896, at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife died in 1890. She was a daughter of a well-known farmer of Upper Salford whose wife was a Miss Zink. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Hunsicker were William; John, of Norristown; Sarah (Mrs. Boyer); Phebe (Mrs. Keyser); Mrs. Heist; Mrs. Brey. The Garges family were members of the Reformed church. The children of Isaac C. and Mary (Garges) Hunsicker: James, born January 7, 1846 (deceased); Isaac, born January 7, 1848 (deceased); Anna, born February 26, 1852 (deceased); Henry G., the subject of this sketch; John G., a merchant of Souderton, born June 4, 1850.

Isaac Hunsicker (grandfather) was a life-long farmer. His first wife was a Cassel, and after her death he married a Miss Stauffer. He was the father of the following children: John, a farmer; Sallie (Mrs. H. Johnson); Katie, married Rev. Mr. Kulp, a prominent and well-known Mennonite preacher; Barbara, died unmarried; Isaac (father). Isaac Hunsicker (great-grandfather) was a native of this county. He was the father of thirteen children. The family are descendants of Valentine Hunsicker, who came from Germany in 1717, and settled in Skippack township. His descendants are very numerous in this and adjoining counties.

Henry G. Hunsicker received a good education, mostly in the schools of the neighborhood. He remained with his parents until his marriage. Since his marriage he has followed farming and kept a dairy, selling milk at the creamery. He is a practical and successful farmer. In politics he is a Republican, taking an active interest in all public questions. He has been judge of elections and assessor, filling these positions in a very creditable and satisfactory manner. He never aspired to public office, however, but in every instance it has been a case of the office seeking the man. Mr. Hunsicker is an active member of the Reformed church, as is his wife, who was Miss Elizabeth Croll, born in Upper Salford township, January 10, 1856.

Mrs. Hunsicker is a lady of very superior intelligence, being a daughter of Michael and Mary H. (Geisinger) Croll. Her father was a son of Frank and Elizabeth Croll, of Upper Salford. Frank was a son of Jacob Croll, a prominent business man and hotel keeper who at one time was the proprietor of the hotel at Skippack. Frank Croll (grandfather) kept a hotel at Trappe. For five generations the family were hotel keepers, and the occupation descends to the present generation, Henry C. Croll being a hotel proprietor at Skippack. Frank Croll died at Salfordville. In politics he was a strong Democrat. He was widely known and highly respected. His children: Jacob, died in Washington territory, leaving three children: Michael, father of Mrs. Hunsicker; Sophia, Mrs. Horning of Wisconsin, where her mother died. Michael Croll was born at Salfordville in 1824 and was reared on the farm, rendering his father such assistance as he could about the hotel. Later he learned the saddlery trade, which he followed a number of years, farming at intervals, and about 1856 engaged in hotel keeping at Lederachville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Later he went to Norristown, where he was proprietor of the Rambo House, remaining there two years. He then bought a hotel at Skippack, where he continued until 1890, having been engaged in the business thirty years, when he retired from it and turned its management over to his son, Henry G. Croll. He died on August 13, 1892. He was a man of steady and industrious habits, and was very successful in his vocation. He was a member of the Reformed church, and politically a strong Democrat. On October 26, 1846, Michael Croll married Mary Geisinger, born February 17, 1826. She was the daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Hiltebeitel) Geisinger. Samuel Geisinger was the son of Philip, who was a widely-known miller of Berks county, Pennsylvania. The Hiltebeitels, like the Crolls, are a very old family of Upper Montgomery and Berks county. Samuel Geisinger abandoned the milling business and engaged in hotel keeping. Still later in life he became a farmer. He was a prominent and influential citizen, highly respected by all who knew him. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Reformed church, as was his wife. Both died at Salfordville. The children of Samuel and Mary Geisinger: Mary (mother of Mrs. Hunsicker); Hannah (Mrs. G. Raudenbush); Leah Ann (Mrs. Jacob Gearhaupt); Caroline (Mrs. A. Ziegler); Amanda (Mrs. N. Heavey). The children of Michael and Mary Croll: Amelia (Mrs. A. Barnaman), who died in 1884, leaving three children; Jesse, a painter by trade who lives in Philadelphia; Samuel, a carpenter in Philadelphia; Hannah E. (Mrs. Halderman); Henry G., a hotel keeper in Skippack; Mary A. (Mrs. A. Halderman); Caroline (Mrs. E. Gottshalk), died leaving no children; Wallace, a business man of Souderton, Montgomery county. Mrs. Mary Croll is still living at the age of seventy-seven years, having been born in 1830, and lives with her son Henry G., at Skippack. She belongs to the Reformed church.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Hunsicker have no children.