Alta was the daughter of Abram Engle Hershey and Mary Risser Horst.
She was the sister of Arden.
Alta died of Tay-Sachs disease (which requires a gene from each parent) when she was 8 years old. She was cared for at home even though doctors thought she should be sent away to make it easier on her mother. Alta died at home. The doctor that cared for her the last two years of her life was J. L. Christian .
Abram and Mary were distantly related through the Hershey family. Mary descended from at least six lines of the Hershey family. Interestingly, the Mennonite Hersche/Hershey family of Switzerland carried the story that their name came from Jews driven out of Palestine during the crusades or earlier. Hershey is the anglicized version of the Ashkenazic Jewish name Hirsch. Mennonite immigrants to Pennsylvania still spelled it Hersche when they arrived in America in the 1700's. These Old Order Mennonites were for over 150 years a closed society, although some married Amish and vice versa. The incidence of Tay-Sachs is now almost as high among Amish (and possibly other Pennsylvania Dutch descendants) as it is among Ashkenazic Jews.
Interesting update~ It may instead be the Nissley family carrying the gene. Mary and Abe were also both Nissleys. Recent DNA information confirms that the Nissley family is actually of middle eastern descent. A few descendants of the Pennsylvania Mennonite Hersheys were found to be of the usual Swiss haplogroup. Perhaps it was the Nissley family driven into the Swiss Alps during the Crusades, not the Hersche family. Further research is needed.
2021-Now my DNA report from 23 and Me has been modified to no longer state that Martin Nissley was descended from an Ashkenazi Jew! My report previously said he was 100% Ashkenazi Jewish DNA, which seemed strange. But I have information from a Mennonite historian claiming the Metzger Mennonite family was of middle eastern origin. That must have been further back in the Nissley and Hershey family than I can research. Some ancestor that both Mary Horst and her husband Abram Hershey descend from definitely carried the gene. Martin N. Risser is their closet common ancestor. I realized It had to be in my great grandmother's genealogy (Ella Horst Risser Horst, daughter of Martin Nissley Risser and Maria Brubaker Horst.
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~Thanks to Zina for sponsoring this memorial so there will never be any advertising. Zina thoughtfully creates memorials for victims of disaster and also of children. See the name link to her contributor profile at the very bottom of this page.~
**********************************
She was the sister of Arden.
Alta died of Tay-Sachs disease (which requires a gene from each parent) when she was 8 years old. She was cared for at home even though doctors thought she should be sent away to make it easier on her mother. Alta died at home. The doctor that cared for her the last two years of her life was J. L. Christian .
Abram and Mary were distantly related through the Hershey family. Mary descended from at least six lines of the Hershey family. Interestingly, the Mennonite Hersche/Hershey family of Switzerland carried the story that their name came from Jews driven out of Palestine during the crusades or earlier. Hershey is the anglicized version of the Ashkenazic Jewish name Hirsch. Mennonite immigrants to Pennsylvania still spelled it Hersche when they arrived in America in the 1700's. These Old Order Mennonites were for over 150 years a closed society, although some married Amish and vice versa. The incidence of Tay-Sachs is now almost as high among Amish (and possibly other Pennsylvania Dutch descendants) as it is among Ashkenazic Jews.
Interesting update~ It may instead be the Nissley family carrying the gene. Mary and Abe were also both Nissleys. Recent DNA information confirms that the Nissley family is actually of middle eastern descent. A few descendants of the Pennsylvania Mennonite Hersheys were found to be of the usual Swiss haplogroup. Perhaps it was the Nissley family driven into the Swiss Alps during the Crusades, not the Hersche family. Further research is needed.
2021-Now my DNA report from 23 and Me has been modified to no longer state that Martin Nissley was descended from an Ashkenazi Jew! My report previously said he was 100% Ashkenazi Jewish DNA, which seemed strange. But I have information from a Mennonite historian claiming the Metzger Mennonite family was of middle eastern origin. That must have been further back in the Nissley and Hershey family than I can research. Some ancestor that both Mary Horst and her husband Abram Hershey descend from definitely carried the gene. Martin N. Risser is their closet common ancestor. I realized It had to be in my great grandmother's genealogy (Ella Horst Risser Horst, daughter of Martin Nissley Risser and Maria Brubaker Horst.
**********************************
~Thanks to Zina for sponsoring this memorial so there will never be any advertising. Zina thoughtfully creates memorials for victims of disaster and also of children. See the name link to her contributor profile at the very bottom of this page.~
**********************************
Alta was the daughter of Abram Engle Hershey and Mary Risser Horst.
She was the sister of Arden.
Alta died of Tay-Sachs disease (which requires a gene from each parent) when she was 8 years old. She was cared for at home even though doctors thought she should be sent away to make it easier on her mother. Alta died at home. The doctor that cared for her the last two years of her life was J. L. Christian .
Abram and Mary were distantly related through the Hershey family. Mary descended from at least six lines of the Hershey family. Interestingly, the Mennonite Hersche/Hershey family of Switzerland carried the story that their name came from Jews driven out of Palestine during the crusades or earlier. Hershey is the anglicized version of the Ashkenazic Jewish name Hirsch. Mennonite immigrants to Pennsylvania still spelled it Hersche when they arrived in America in the 1700's. These Old Order Mennonites were for over 150 years a closed society, although some married Amish and vice versa. The incidence of Tay-Sachs is now almost as high among Amish (and possibly other Pennsylvania Dutch descendants) as it is among Ashkenazic Jews.
Interesting update~ It may instead be the Nissley family carrying the gene. Mary and Abe were also both Nissleys. Recent DNA information confirms that the Nissley family is actually of middle eastern descent. A few descendants of the Pennsylvania Mennonite Hersheys were found to be of the usual Swiss haplogroup. Perhaps it was the Nissley family driven into the Swiss Alps during the Crusades, not the Hersche family. Further research is needed.
2021-Now my DNA report from 23 and Me has been modified to no longer state that Martin Nissley was descended from an Ashkenazi Jew! My report previously said he was 100% Ashkenazi Jewish DNA, which seemed strange. But I have information from a Mennonite historian claiming the Metzger Mennonite family was of middle eastern origin. That must have been further back in the Nissley and Hershey family than I can research. Some ancestor that both Mary Horst and her husband Abram Hershey descend from definitely carried the gene. Martin N. Risser is their closet common ancestor. I realized It had to be in my great grandmother's genealogy (Ella Horst Risser Horst, daughter of Martin Nissley Risser and Maria Brubaker Horst.
**********************************
~Thanks to Zina for sponsoring this memorial so there will never be any advertising. Zina thoughtfully creates memorials for victims of disaster and also of children. See the name link to her contributor profile at the very bottom of this page.~
**********************************
She was the sister of Arden.
Alta died of Tay-Sachs disease (which requires a gene from each parent) when she was 8 years old. She was cared for at home even though doctors thought she should be sent away to make it easier on her mother. Alta died at home. The doctor that cared for her the last two years of her life was J. L. Christian .
Abram and Mary were distantly related through the Hershey family. Mary descended from at least six lines of the Hershey family. Interestingly, the Mennonite Hersche/Hershey family of Switzerland carried the story that their name came from Jews driven out of Palestine during the crusades or earlier. Hershey is the anglicized version of the Ashkenazic Jewish name Hirsch. Mennonite immigrants to Pennsylvania still spelled it Hersche when they arrived in America in the 1700's. These Old Order Mennonites were for over 150 years a closed society, although some married Amish and vice versa. The incidence of Tay-Sachs is now almost as high among Amish (and possibly other Pennsylvania Dutch descendants) as it is among Ashkenazic Jews.
Interesting update~ It may instead be the Nissley family carrying the gene. Mary and Abe were also both Nissleys. Recent DNA information confirms that the Nissley family is actually of middle eastern descent. A few descendants of the Pennsylvania Mennonite Hersheys were found to be of the usual Swiss haplogroup. Perhaps it was the Nissley family driven into the Swiss Alps during the Crusades, not the Hersche family. Further research is needed.
2021-Now my DNA report from 23 and Me has been modified to no longer state that Martin Nissley was descended from an Ashkenazi Jew! My report previously said he was 100% Ashkenazi Jewish DNA, which seemed strange. But I have information from a Mennonite historian claiming the Metzger Mennonite family was of middle eastern origin. That must have been further back in the Nissley and Hershey family than I can research. Some ancestor that both Mary Horst and her husband Abram Hershey descend from definitely carried the gene. Martin N. Risser is their closet common ancestor. I realized It had to be in my great grandmother's genealogy (Ella Horst Risser Horst, daughter of Martin Nissley Risser and Maria Brubaker Horst.
**********************************
~Thanks to Zina for sponsoring this memorial so there will never be any advertising. Zina thoughtfully creates memorials for victims of disaster and also of children. See the name link to her contributor profile at the very bottom of this page.~
**********************************
Inscription
Hershey
Arden E.
1921 - 1930
Alta C.
1923 - 1931
Children Of Abram & Mary Hershey
