Husband Gov. Joseph Hiester 1 2 3
AKA: Joseph Von Heister 2
Born: 18 Nov 1752 - Bern Twp, Berks Co, PA 1 3
Christened:
Died: 10 Jun 1832 4
Buried:
Father: John Von Heister (Abt 1707-1757) 2
Mother: Mary Barbara Epler (1732-1809) 1
Marriage: 1771 1
• Additional Image: Gov. Joseph Hiester.
• Biographical Sketch: William C. Armor, Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: James K. Simon, 1873).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.
• Biographical Sketch: Morton L. Montgomery, History of Berks County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.
Wife Elizabeth Witman 1
AKA: Elizabeth Whitman 2
Born: Cal 2 Apr 1750
Christened:
Died: 11 Jun 1825 4
Buried:
Father: Adam Witman ( - ) 1
Mother:
Children
1 M John Sylvester Hiester 2 5 6
Born: 28 Jul 1774 - Reading, Berks Co, PA 2 7
Christened:
Died: 7 Mar 1849 7
Buried:
Spouse: [Unk] Fries ( - ) 7
Spouse: Maria Catharine Muhlenberg ( - ) 2 6 7
2 F Catharine Hiester 8
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Hon. John Spayd (1764-1822) 9
3 F Mary Elizabeth Hiester 10 11
Born:
Christened:
Died: 1806 12
Buried:
Spouse: Rev. Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg (1782-1844) 11 13
4 F Rebecca Hiester 11 12
Born:
Christened:
Died: 1841 12
Buried:
Spouse: Rev. Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg (1782-1844) 11 13
5 F Elizabeth Hiester 5 14 15
Born:
Christened:
Died: 27 Jul 1826 - Norristown, Montgomery Co, PA 7 15 16
Buried:
Spouse: Hon. Levi Pawling (1770-1845) 7 15 17
Marr: 14 Oct or 17 Oct 1804 7 14 15
General Notes: Husband - Gov. Joseph Hiester
At the outbreak of the Revolution he raised a regiment in Reading, Pennsylvania, for the Continental army, declining the command, however, as he thought others better fitted to the position. He served as captain in this regiment, rising afterward to the rank of general. In the campaign of Long Island he was opposed to his cousin, General Von Heister, who commanded the Hessian troops. During the war Captain Heister was captured and placed on the "jersey" prison ship. There General Von Heister visited him, offered him much kindness, also offering him a command in the English service if he would desert the American cause. This he refused to do, and was so indignant that he changed the spelling of the name to Hiester and dropped the Von. This spelling was thereafter used by the family. He was a member of the Convention of 1787 to consider and ratify the Constitution of the United States, and was also a member of the convention that framed the Constitution of Pennsylvania. For thirty years he served either as a member of one or other of the legislative houses of Pennsylvania, or in the Congress of the United States, finally resigning his seat in the lower house of the United States Congress, after occupying it for a score of years, to become governor of Pennsylvania, in 1820. An old watch bearing his name, and the date of his military service and governorship, was long in the possession of the family.
He and his wife had one son, and several daughters.