Jacob Bicher

   Other names for Jacob were Jacob Beesher, Johan Jacob Bicher, John Jacob Bicher, Johan Jacob Bicker, Jacob Biecher, Johan Jacob Biecher, John Jacob Biecher and John Jacob Bucher.

  Christening Notes:

Sponsors were John Beck and wife. (Note: This is probably Hans Peter Beck who married his sister Elizabeth Bucher.)

  Burial Notes:

The old Salem Lutheran Church yard cemetery was just behind the Salem Lutheran Church on the corner of 8th and Willow Streets and set apart for burial purposes in 1765.

Unfortunately, when the cemetery land was needed by the church for new chapel and parking lot, the old cemetery graves were reinterred to Mount Lebanon Cemetery and no tombstones were erected at the new location. The church notes for the graves show some of the tombstone inscriptions were unreadable. Luckily, the tombstone inscription was described years earlier in Egle's History of Lebanon County published in 1883. The tombstones read according to Egle:

Jacob Bicker b. Dec 1, 1758 d. Feb 23, 1842
Johan Jacob Bicker b. Dec 18, 1782 d. 1812
Maria Catharina Bicker Sep 25, 1747 Dec 8, 1830

In addition the church records show this tombstone existed:
Maria Magdalena Bicher Jan 27, 1780 Aug 8, 1812

Note that Egle listed the names as Bicker whereas the church records record them as Bicher, which is consistent with the church christening records.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alt. Birth, 18 Dec 1782, Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA. ³ Egle's History of Lebanon County reports his tombstone inscription as 18 Dec 1782 for his birth date, a conflict with the church records from Salem Lutheran Church which list 18 Oct 1782. [Egle did report tombstones were worn and hard to read many years later.]

• Newspaper: Der Freymuthige Libanoner, 20 Apr 1808, Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA. Marriage notices: Mr. Jacob Biecher with the lovely Maria Meikel, both of this city. Married by the Rev. Mr. Lochman, on Sunday evening last.

• Alt. Name, Abt 1809. The Salem Lutheran Church record for his christening has his name appearing as Jacob Buche, a misspelling or mistyping of Bucher. But when his children are christened there starting in 1809, their name is always spelled Bicher, as is their father, Jacob Bicher. Church records for his brother, William, also show up as Bicher thereafter. It appears by 1809 the Bicher name was adopted over Bücher, which in German would be pronounced like Bicher.

• Cause of Death, Jun 1812. ^{1 6} The records of the Salem Lutheran Church in Lebanon carry these notes about his death: Bicher, Jacob, died June 1812, aged 29 years, 9 months, 20 days. Son of Jacob Bicher and wife Catarina. Born Oct. 18, 1782. Baptized and confirmed. 4 years ago he married Mary Michal. They had 2 children. He died from a wound self-inflicted with a sickle.

Jacob married Mary Michal on 17 Apr 1808 in Lebanon: Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA.¹ (Mary Michal was born on 11 Apr 1781 in , , Pennsylvania, USA,^{7 8} died on 18 Apr 1861 in Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA ⁸ and was buried in Lebanon: Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA ¹.)

  Marriage Notes:

Witnesses were Jacob Bicher Sr. and wife. ²