Note that Henry's years of birth & death are estimated.

Henry Sprenkle was the son of William (Wilhelm) Sprenkel (Sprengel, Sprenckel) & Anna Catharina "Catharina" Ehrhard (also various spellings) .

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will notice memorials on Find A Grave for Henry's parents William and Catharina. Keep in mind, we do not know when William and Catharina died or where they are buried. We only know when William's will was written and probated. There is a Catherine Springle enumerated in York Borough on the 1790 census; this may be the widowed Catharina.

More importantly, we have no documentation to prove the names of William's parents, which you will see on many trees on the internet and on Find A Grave. Do NOT add any generations beyond William to your family tree.

Henry's father William's will lists the following children in this order and with these spellings: "William Sprenckel, Henry Sprenckel, Peter Sprenckel, Jacob Sprenckel, Daniel Sprenckel, Margaret, the Wife of Tobias Hendricks, Elizabeth Wife of John Bushong, Catharine, Wife of George Long, Sharlotte, Wife of Nicholas Zin, Anna Sprenckel, Eva, Wife of Abraham Immel and Mary the Wife of Martin Schröder ."

Of all of William's sons, Henry is the most mysterious. While his brothers served in the Revolutionary War, there is no evidence that Henry participated.

The best documentation we have located for Henry is in the VA personal propery tax records. He first appears in Berkeley Co. in 1782, then 1783-1786 in Frederick Co., VA, and then in Winchester Town in 1787. He is included in the Shenandoah Co. personal property tax records from 1788 through 1813.

Then in 1814, Mary appears in his place. We assume he died 1813-1814, which meshes with his youngest child's birth in Apr 1814. Mary continued to be taxed in Shenandoah Co. through 1816. Son Absalom's death notice in "The Highland Weekly News" stated that the family moved from Virginia to Highland Co. , OH in 1816. In 1820, Mary is enumerated as head of household in Highland Co., OH. The only census Henry appears on by name is the 1810 census in Shenandoah Co. The tallies for the children on that census mesh with Henry & Mary's children who were born by that time.

We know that Henry was earlier married to a Catharina, as there are baptismal records for children in York Co., PA. Her maiden name may have been Immel or Imler, but we cannot prove that. Family legend is that Henry married 3 times and was the father of 21 children. As we can account for 18 children, that's certainly possible. We have found no marriage records.

We can identify Henry & Mary's children, as they all lived in Highland, Adams , and Fayette counties in OH and their descendants remained in contact through the generations.

We cannot determine the mother(s) of all of Henry's older children, but we have "assigned" them to Catharina. Mary's gravestone includes that she is the daughter of Henry Sprinkle. Peter is with Henry on the 1793 tax list. Catharina and Henry's baptismal records shows they are children of Henry & Catharina. Henry is also with Henry on the 1789 tax list. When Elizabeth married, her sister Mary's husband was the bondsman. William's children were in close contact with George's children and one of William's sons shared a patent for a milk churn with one of George's sons. When Jacob married, Henry gave his consent.

Thus, we have the following tentative list of children for Henry; some (perhaps all) are Catharina's children:

(1) Mary (Walper, Engel)

(2) Peter

(3) Catharina

(4) Henry "Henry of Wythe Co."

(5) Elizabeth (Darnhafer, Chambers)

(6) William

(7) Jacob "The Silver Dollar Man"

(8) George W. "George of Cass Co."

Henry & Mary's children are:

(1) Mary "Polly" (Stults)

(2) Absolom

(3) Solomon

(4) Sarah (Hiestand)

(5) Susannah (Hampshire)

(6) Samuel

(7) Elizabeth (Wirt)

(8) David

(9) Jesse

(10)Lydia (Larkins)