Christian Blickensderfer, Jr
BIRTH 6 Oct 1753
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA
DEATH 8 Mar 1820 (aged 66)
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, USA
BURIAL
Sharon Moravian Cemetery
Tuscarawas, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, USA
From The History of the Blickensderfer Family in America, by Jacob Blickensderfer (1816 - 1899):
Christian was born in the city of Philadelphia, October 6, 1753, just one week after his parents landed in America. He married Barbara Born, who was born July 1, 1760, and resided on a farm near Lititz until the spring of 1812, when he removed with his entire family, his brother-in-law, Casper Henry Van Lehu, and several of his nephews to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he had previously purchased nearly twelve hundred acres of land. Here he lived the remainder of his life. He died March 8, 1820, and lies buried at Sharon, Tuscarawas county, Ohio. His wife died April, 1823, and is also buried at Sharon.
More info about Christian:
He and his family lived in the Moravian village of Lititz, Pennsylvania when he was a boy. His father was a teamster who in 1761 built a large brick building that housed the first business establishment in Lititz, and contained living quarters for the family upstairs. That building, now known as the Rauch house after a baker who owned it in the 1800s, still stands at 69 Main Street in downtown Lititz, though its roofline has been altered drastically from its original shape.
During the Revolutionary War, Christian's family quartered an army doctor in their home when General Washington commandeered a building in the town for use as a military hospital, and Christian served in the Continental Army himself between 1778 and 1783 - a fitting job for the first member of his family born in America. Because the Moravian religion was pacifist, these two things might have caused some conflict for Christian and his family in the community. Christian's mother and one of his brothers died of an ailment known as camp fever, as did a lot of the soldiers
Christian's name is engraved on the Revolutionary War Veterans' Memorial in the Gnadenhutten Cemetery in honor of his service.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85863293/christian-blickensderfer
