Catherine "Caty" (Heisin/Hiestand) Hershberger (1764-after 1850)
Catherine “Caty” (Heisin/Heistand) Hershberger (1764 – aft. 1850) Catherine “Caty” Heisin entered the world on 22 March 1764 in Page County, Virginia, in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her birth came during a turbulent moment in colonial America – just over a decade before the Revolution. She was born to Abraham Hiestand and Magdeline Boehm, a family whose roots lay in the German-speaking communities that had settled the Shenandoah Valley earlier in the century. These families brought with them traditions of hard work, tight-knit kinship, and deep religious conviction. From her earliest years, Caty grew up in a region shaped by frontier life. The Shenandoah Valley was still a patchwork of small farms, scattered homesteads, and immigrant communities. As she grew, the world around her changed rapidly. By the time she was a small girl, co...