Eisenhart Family Groups

Unknown Origin

While we are the beneficiaries of a wealth of research data delineating the ancestral origins of a number of family groups within the Eisenhart and related surname umbrella, there are other clans whose origins have yet to be unraveled.

In families where the document evidence is lacking, the DNA Project has been helpful in some cases, but less so in others. Possible explanations for these unlinked family groups include: (1) there were additional unrelated immigrants for whom immigration and other documentation is lacking (2) there were adoptions into an Eisenhart family group, possibly due to the desire to continue the male line or because a child was orphaned and was raised by friends or female relatives (3) there was the possibility that some early families remained out of range of the official information gatherers of the time for whatever reason. We continue to search for clues about these families.

Christopher Eisenhart

The earliest known Eisenhart surname individual in the American Colonies was a man named Christopher Eisenhart, who lived with his family in Rye Twp Westchester Co. NY. Records indicate that he was born c. 1710, and was living in New York before 1750 as a blacksmith and farmer. There is nothing to indicate whether he was an immigrant or was himself born in the colonies. According to the New York Historical Society Abstract of Wills, he died in 1783. His wife’s name was Sarah, and additional records indicate that the couple had at least 4 children, Christopher Jr., Charity, Sarah, and Anna.

Christopher Jr. was born between 1740 and 1750, and likely is the Christopher Eisenhart who was a Captain in the New York Militia in the Revolutionary War. According to census records, Christopher Jr. continued to live in Rye Twp Westchester Co. in 1790 and 1800. There were no young males in his household in either census, so it appears that his children were all daughters. In 1810, he was listed in New York City, Ward 10, again the only male in his household, so the direct Eisenhart line in this family group appeared to end with Christopher Jr.

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