The Hochstetler Attack: Life on the Eastern Pennsylvania Frontier

One of the most well-known anecdotes in Amish and Mennonite history is the story of Jacob Hochstetler (1712–1776) and the tragedy his family underwent in the wee hours of 19 September 1757–20 September 1757 at the Northkill Settlement in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Though shortlived, Northkill was the first major Amish settlement in America, and it played an important role in furthering Amish immigration. Toward the end of this history, we list some of the many family connections between Jacob's family and Sharon (née Weaver) Vitter, the co-host of this website, along with photos of our recent visit to the site in April 2024.
The elements of the Hochstetler story remain timely, as the story intermingles several social factors still in play today: the practice of non-violence, religious persecution, forced relocation of Native Americans, and war.
The Hochstetler name can be traced back to 1290 A.D. in Germany and Austria, where there were people of that name who were prosperous merchants and businessmen. The root of the name means "high place." In Switzerland, the family name is associated with the Bern canton. There are farms and hamlets there called "Hostet" and "Hostett," and in the 15th century when family names were widely adopted, those coming from those regions were called Hochstetler or Hostetler. Originally Catholic, many Hochstetlers joined the Anabaptist movement in the 1600s, and as described in the history on Sharon's family's Mennonite roots, they were persecuted for their religious beliefs.
Jacob Hochstetler was born in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mains (known as Markirch in German) in the Alsace region of what is now France. In 1738 he and his wife Anna Barbara Bürki of Lorentz and their young family emigrated from Switzerland via the Netherlands to Pennsylvania on the ship Charming Nancy to escape religious persecution. He established a homestead in the Northkill settlement in Berks County, Pennsylvania on former Native American land. Not surprisingly, the displaced tribes allied with the French against the British, who oversaw the settlements, in the French and Indian War that took place during 1754–1763.
The following account of the tragedy that ensued comes from the Jacob Hochstetler Family Association, a group formed to study the genealogy of Jacob's roughly 1 million descendants:
On the evening of 19 September 1757, the young people of the neighborhood gathered at the home of Jacob Hochstetler to assist in paring and slicing apples for drying. It was the custom of the young people to have a "social" to frolic after the work was done and sometimes it continued well into the night.
Depiction of the tragic "Hochstetler Attack" (often called "Hochstetler Massacre" in the popular literature) during the night of 19 September 1757 and following morning. (Click the photo for more info on the Northkill Settlement.)
After the folks departed and the family had retired, their dog made an unusual noise which woke up the son Joseph, who opened the door and received a shot in the leg. He realized in a moment that they were being attacked by Indians and managed to lock the door before the Indians could enter. In an instant the family were on their feet. The Indians, seven to 10 in number with three French scouts, were seen standing near the outdoor bake oven in consultation. There was no moon that night and since there was no light in the house, those inside could not be seen.
There were several guns and plenty of ammunition at hand. The two sons, Joseph and Christian, picked up their guns to defend the family. Two or three could be shot and the guns reloaded before the Indians could enter; but their father, firmly believing in the doctrine of nonresistance and remaining faithful in his hour of sorest trial, could not give his consent for defense.
In vain his family begged him but he continued to tell them it was not right to take the life of another even to save one's own life. What a night of horror this God fearing family must have spent the last hours …. At daybreak the birds began singing their songs of peace but for the Jacob Hochstetler family there was no peace.
Afterwards Joseph claimed the family could have been saved had his father given consent, as he and his brother were both good marksmen (their father was also) and the Indians never stood fire unless under cover.
At daybreak the house was set afire and the family fled to the cellar throwing cider on the burning spots. Finally, the Indians left one by one and the family felt that they could no longer remain in the smoke filled cellar. They quietly proceeded to climb out through a small window, but one warrior, Tom Lions, who had stayed behind eating some peaches saw the mother, who was a fleshy woman, having difficulty getting out and he sounded the alarm. The others quickly returned to find that he had stabbed her in the back with a butcher knife. Besides killing and scalping the mother, they killed her daughter and her son Jacob Jr. and captured Joseph, Christian, and Jacob Sr.
Rumor has it that the Native Americans bore a special animosity to Jacob's wife because she reportedly refused them food during an earlier encounter, which may have contributed to the way she was killed.
The eldest son John lived nearby and saw the attack from afar. His two younger brothers Joseph and Christian, along with their father Jacob, were captured by the Native Americans. The captives were taken on a 17-day, 300-mile trek diagonally across the state to the Native American settlement in Northwest Pennsylvania. Upon arrival, quick thinking by Jacob enabled them to avoid the dangerous fate of "running the gauntlet": Jacob gained the good favor of the Native American chief by offering him some of the food they had brought with them.
The family was assimilated into the Native American community, and the boys were essentially brought up as Native American. Jacob was allowed wide latitude during captivity, including carrying a gun to hunt, and one day about eight months after capture, he decided to escape and journeyed several days back to his family settlement.
Altogether roughly 200 settlers were killed in Native American raids in Berks County. Hostilities finally ended by treaty on 8 May 1765, and Jacob's sons were released. When Christian arrived back at Northkill, he wasn't recognized and was thought to be Native American. Even his father Jacob didn't recognize him; after all, it was seven years after Jacob himself had escaped. Christian was given food but felt uncomfortable to sit inside the house and instead ate outside. He finally told the family in broken German that he was in fact the son Christian, and a great celebration ensued!
Christian and Joseph went on to be stalwart members of the Amish community, but still spent much time during the remainder of their lives with their Native American brethren.

Here's our connection to the story: Jacob Hochstetler was related to this website's co-host Sharon (née Weaver) Vitter in multiple ways (and we mean multiple ways !). Here are a few of Jacob's genealogical connections to Sharon:
- 2nd great grandfather of Sharon's great granduncle Lt. Samuel S. Yoder.
- 3rd great grandfather of Sharon's great granduncle Jacob Mast.
- 3rd great grandfather and 4th great grandfather of Sharon's great grandaunt Catherine Ann (née Miller) Weaver.
- Great grandfather of Sharon's 3rd great grandaunt Elizabeth N. (née Keim) Weaver.
- Great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 4x removed and 1st cousin 5x removed John Stutzman Jr..
- 4th great grandfather of Sharon's great grandaunt Alice K. (née Kauffman) Weaver.
- Father of Sharon's 1st cousin 6x removed Joseph Hochstetler.
- 3rd great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 3x removed Magdalena Weaver.
- 2nd great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 4x removed Rebecca (née Schwartzentruber) Weaver.
- 4th great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 2x removed Henry Samuel Miller.
- 2nd great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 4x removed Eli D. Mast.
- Great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 5x removed Christian Hostetler.
- Great grandfather of Sharon's 1st cousin 4x removed and 1st cousin 5x removed Michael Stutzman.
And the list of connections goes on and on! Here is a link to a graphical display of several of the connections linking Sharon to Jacob Hochstetler. Each of the connections listed above involved an in-law. That is, the various uncles, aunts, and cousins highlighted above were not blood-related to Sharon (as far as we know!), but were married to a blood relative of Sharon's. For example, in the first case, Samuel S. Yoder was the husband of Sharon's (blood-related) great grandaunt Minerva Ellen Maxwell. There are at least 36 connections from Sharon to Jacob Hochstetler that involve one in-law like those above, plus another 28 connections that each involve two marriage links, bringing the grand total of connections to at least 64! Needless to say, there were many marriages linking the various families in the Mennonite community, such as siblings from one family marrying siblings or cousins from another family.
During the excursion at April 2024 annual meeting of the Swiss Anabaptist Geneological Association (SAGA), we had the good fortune to tour several Amish sites in Berks County. And best of all was the tour of the Hochstetler site, given by current owner Kevin Schlappich, who has lived at the site for last 40 years. Below is a video of Kevin showing the SAGA 2024 attendees the grounds of the site, including the location of the outside oven structure, monument to the 1757 incident, and original stone cellar and dripstone for a former kitchen drain. The video concludes at the back of the stone cellar and dripstone near the cellar window where many believe Jacob Hochstetler's wife Anna Bürki got stuck trying to escape and subsequently was stabbed and scalped. Her son Jacob Jr. and young daughter Veronica were also killed that morning. The two photos further below, also from the SAGS 2024 tour, show the cellar window (now sealed up) and Sharon (née Weaver) Vitter (co-host of this website) and her sister Kate at the site of the monument.

