Saturday, January 3, 2015

Jacob Sommer - Carriage Maker

I'm seeing more and more family trees where there is great mixing of different Sommer's families. I wish there was an official place to register our family lines so this mixing-up wouldn't happen because I think the mixing-up is a damaging thing to all of us. Sigh. All I can do is try to share my research and perspective and hope that other serious researchers will care as much as I do about getting it right. Let's put our heads together and see if we can untangle things!

Meanwhile, here's an article I wrote with more specifics about the particular question of which Jacob Sommer descended from Freistett, Germany and lived in colonial Philadelphia - Jacob, the Judge, 1758-1827, or Jacob, the Carriage-Maker, 1749-1817?

Update: As it turns out, both of the Jacob Sommer's mentioned here lived in the Philadelphia area and both served in the Revolution. Jacob Sommer of Germantown was the carriage maker, and Jacob Sommer of Moreland was the one taken prisoner by the British, and who later served as PA State Senator. See my article Jacob Sommer of Moreland PA in the American Revolution, as well as the later footnote added to this blog about Jacob Sommer of Moreland.