His baptism was documented in the records of the Moselem Church in Berks County to Jacob and Elisabetha.

Joseph A Meiser is the one who C A Fisher in “Early Pennsylvania Births” cites: “Benjamin Hummel born 11/17/1788 son of John Jacob and Maria Elizabeth Kelchner at Moselem Church, Berks County”. I have seen this birth date elsewhere so we have variously 7, 14 and 17 Nov 1788 as his date of birth.

A 1937 transcription of Riverview tombstones by Heber Gearhart says he was born 14 Nov 1788 and died 30 Jan 1869 age 80. I found his death on 30 Jan 1869 recorded by Ancestry.com among the records of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, said to be in Sunbury. That seems very strange and I wonder if Ancestry mistakenly is referring to the Northumberland Lutheran Church.

Meiser listed eight children for Benjamin and Catherine, but I don’t believe it, I think there were but four, possibly five. Here are Meiser’s eight:

1. Johannes (1808-1875) who married Mary. Meiser doesn't explain how that birth date can be reconciled with the fact that Catherine Hilbish would only have been 13 years old in 1808. I have considered that perhaps Benjamin had been married prior to Catherine but can find absolutely no evidence of it whatsoever. But the real proof that Johannes was not his son is that Benjamin had another son of the same name -- he would not have had two.

Nonetheless Johannes is of great interest to me since he was the first Hummel in Northumberland Borough, was buried in Riverview and had several sons who also lived in or near the borough and were also buried in Riverview. Johannes’ occupation in the 1850 Census was said to be boat builder. The early Hummels always were in river-related businesses and I have a strong suspicion that Johannes is related to our line of Hummels but I have not been able to figure out how he fits in. In my database, I have placed him as the son of Captain John Jacob, brother of Benjamin. But I have no proof of that, no one else who has studied the Hummels has ever suggested it to be true, and so really it is just a place holder spot for him until I learn more.

2. Daughter born 1811-1815. There is an extra young daughter in early Censuses in Benjamin’s household and I think that is what is being reflected here. If he had this daughter, I think she died young. Meiser said nothing more about her.

3. John Benjamin (1817-1896) who married Hannah Delbert. Indeed, this man was Benjamin’s son, it’s just that there is no evidence whatsoever that he had the middle name Benjamin. His name was John Hummel. It is his existence, in my opinion, that proves there was not another son John born when his mother would have been 13.

4. Henry (1819-1861). Correct.
5. Amelia (1823-1880). Correct. (Our ancestor.)
6. Mary (1827-1898). Meiser says she married George Beidelspach. It was actually Isaac, but Mary was a daughter of Benjamin and Catherine.

7. Susan. No.
8. James. No. I have no idea where Meiser got the idea that Susan and James were children of Benjamin. I think he had no other idea who they belonged to. They did not die young, they survived to adulthood, but Benjamin and Catherine were not their parents.

From Benjamin’s will and land records, I think it is proven that Benjamin had four children who survived to adulthood -- the ones I have listed for him.

Benjamin came as a young boy with his parents from Berks County to Hummels Wharf. I believe he moved again, late in life, to Northumberland to be near his daughters, who had moved there with their husbands years earlier.

Census Listings. He can be accounted for in his father’s household in Windsor Township in 1790, and in Penns Township in 1800 and 1810. From 1820-1860, he is found as head of household in what is now Snyder County. In 1850, his neighbors include his son Henry and his daughter Mary Ann Biddlespach and her husband Isaac. Son John Hummel is also in Penns Twp. Only daughter Amelia Mertz lives elsewhere.

So from Census we would conclude he lived the adult portion of his life entirely in Snyder County, but we know he was buried in Riverview nearby his daughter and son-in-law. He was active in land dealings too in Northumberland County including in 1853 he sold the land that became Riverview Cemetery to the Northumberland Cemetery Company -- land he had bought at public auction the year before.

Benjamin Hummel's will dated 17 Jun 1868 leaves portion of his estate to "my two daughters, Amelia intermarried with George P Mertz and Mary Ann intermarried with Isaac Bidelspach." He was a resident of Point Township. His wife had recently died and is not mentioned. He also mentions the children of his son Henry (apparently deceased): Benjamin Theodore, Ellen and Robert. And he mentions son John.

From Northumberland County deed books. On June 3, 1853, Benjamin Hummel of Penns Twp, Union Co and wife Catharine deeded over four contiguous outlots totally about 20 acres in Northumberland Borough to Northumberland Cemetery Company for the consideration of $1100. Two of the boundaries of the land were Orange Street and Seventh Street, so this is clearly the main land for what would become Riverview Cemetery. Benjamin had acquired this land at public sale on 24 Apr 1852.

On 7 Jun 1825, Jacob Hummel of Penns Twp and wife Elizabeth sold Benjamin Hummel for $2000 138 acres of land in Penns Twp on the River Susquehanna part of 422 acres which had been sold to Jacob Hummel on 1 Apr 1797 and had been part of a tract called Roxbury.

Dad always said that some part of our early family owned ”5 miles” of river frontage. This family clearly was the Hummels. They did own hundreds of acres in the Hummels Wharf/Rolling Green/Selinsgrove area. They also owned land on the Sunbury side of the river too, as J L Floyd refers to 73 acres located on the Hollowing Run Road between Fisher’s Ferry and Trevorton owned then by Adam Treon, part of a tract that was previously a Hummel homestead.

The 1850 Census gave for each landholder an estimated value of his land holdings. Typical entries were in the range $500 to a few thousand dollars; Benjamin Hummels lands were valued at $53,000, an astounding amount.

I do not know his marriage date. That his wife was Catherine is verified by Census records and that she was Catherine Hilbish is as stated by all the many sources on Northumberland people including Floyd and Meiser.

I find it interesting that even in the 1860 Census, Benjamin and Catherine were still in Snyder County but by the time she died in 1868 and he in 1869, they may have moved to Northumberland, presumably to be closer to their daughters after they retired. I can’t think of other examples in these early days where a person retired to a different place. Perhaps, though, they simply were brought there for burial.

In 1852, while living in Snyder County, Ben acquired some land in Northumberland at public sale which in 1853 he sold to the Northumberland Cemetery Company -- this land became Riverview Cemetery.

J A Meiser in his ”Hummel Trilogy” about various Hummel families wrote: ”On June 7, 1826 Benjamin’s father deeded him 138 acres of land in Penns Township. He lived at Hummels Eddy and was in the raft purchasing business. In 1832 he built a hotel to accommodate the boatmen and raftmen.”

BENJAMIN & CATHERINE HUMMEL AND GEORGE PETER & AMELIA AMANDA MERTZ TOMBSTONES
When I first got interested in genealogy I made it a point to try to find the tombstone of every ancestor I could. Mary and I walked Riverview cemetery especially knowing I had about 15 or so ancestors there. At the time we did it, we had come to know what an old tombstone looked like as we had already been to several Snyder County cemeteries. We were able to find almost all of my Riverview ancestors with the glaring exceptions of Benjamin Hummel and George Peter Mertz and their wives. Riverview is big but not impossibly so and though we looked at every small, old tombstone there, there just was no sign of them.

As I got further into genealogy though I realized my error. Benjamin Hummel was a very prominent and wealthy man. George Peter Mertz, while not the earliest Mertz in Northumberland Borough or Point Township, truly was the founder of the now extant Mertz family of Northumberland -- descendants of the earlier lines having moved on. For those reasons, both Benjamin Hummel and George Peter Mertz have large, substantial monuments erected to honor their lives. And they are virtually side-by-side. It had not occurred to me to look for large monuments. So subsequently, as I've been in contact with my second and third cousins interested in genealogy, I've sent them looking in Riverview and in all cases they've reported back that those tombstones are so prominent, you can't miss them. And indeed, I have since found them myself, right at the main entrance to the cemetery. The third large obelisk in the plot is that of Isaac Bidlespach, Ben’s son-in-law, George’s brother-in-law.

I think the obituary in the Public Press of Mary A Biddlespach who died 19 Mar 1898 is definitive on the matter. It says she was born 18 Nov 1827 in Shamokin Dam, the youngest child of Benjamin Hummel. “one sister, Mrs. George Mertz, and two brothers, John and Harry, predeceased her”. No other siblings are mentioned.

I am a DNA cousin to someone who descends from Benjamin’s son John who married Hannah Deibert and their daughter Emma married John Cooper.

Also 3 more DNA cousins descend from Benjamin’s daughter Mary Ann who married Isaac Bidelspach.

But then there are 5 more cousins who seem to descend from Kezziah Hummel though none know enough about her for me to figure out if they really do and who she was. There are some trees that do identify her. She was born in 1804 (supposedly in Augusta Township), she married Daniel Reeser and supposedly her parents were Benjamin Hummel and Catherine (Kiehl) Hummel. She died in Illinois. My theory would be that her father has something to do with the Shamokin Township Hummels who I believe may be descendants of Johannes Hummel, son of the immigrant Jacob. That would make our connection 6G GF Jacob Hummel and Anna Maria Streich.

The trees that cover Kezziah, though, point to my Benjamin Hummel as her ancestor and one even suggests Kezziah might have been born out of wedlock. But she was bon in January 1804 when Benjamin was barely 15 years of age. There must be some Illinois record naming Benjamin Hummel as her father but I wonder if that is in error, as I can find no evidence of any Benjamin Hummel of the Shamokin family who might be a candidate. Nor can I find any evidence of Catherine Kiehl and any known Hummel which might prove that theory.

Her father Peter's will mentioned his daughter, Mrs. Benj Hummel.

Census Listings 1800-1860. She can be accounted for with her father in 1800 and 1810 and her husband in 1820-1860.

Jack Mertz, Meiser and J L Floyd all say that Catherine Hilbish was the wife of Benjamin Hummel and generally agree on her birth and death years; Meiser had the specific dates. The will of Peter Hilbish confirms the relationships.