George Sebastian Unruh was born in 1738 in Ober Lustadt, a small village in southwest Germany, near the Rhine.1 When he was fourteen, he emigrated with his parents Johann and Apollonia and his older brother George Nicholas, sailing on the ship Brothers out of Rotterdam, stopping at Cowes, England on the way.2 They left no record of their travels, but their experience was probably typical of the many immigrants from the Palatinate at the time. They needed to get a passport from their local officials, travel downstream on the Rhine until they reached Rotterdam in the Netherlands, then switch to a crowded ship for the Atlantic crossing. The Unruh family arrived safely in Philadelphia in September 1752, when the father Johannes took the oath of allegiance at the State House, in front of justice Edward Shippen.3 Johannes could not sign his name, and signed with a mark.

There are no records of the Unruh family for the next six years. They probably lived in Bristol township, adjoining Germantown, working as farmers, either renting land or working for someone else. The two teenage sons were part of the labor force. There would be little time for them to attend school, although they must have gone to school in Germany, since Sebastian was able to sign his name to documents.4 They probably went to the Reformed church in Germantown for services, but some of their family events, such as the marriage of George Nicholas, were at St. Michael’s Lutheran.

In September 1760 Johannes bought a stone house and an acre of land on the Germantown road from Jacob and Elizabeth Dietrich for £200. The land was described as in his actual possession at the time, but he was also described as John Unruh of Bristol.5 In 1761 George Nicholas married Catharine Frank at St. Michael’s Church and settled in Germantown.6 Three years later George Sebastian married Catharine Simon, daughter of Michael Simon of Germantown. Michael Simon was a hatter who had immigrated in 1741, settled in the Cresheim neighborhood of Germantown, and had a large family. He died in 1758.7

George Sebastian and his wife Catherine lived in Bristol, probably with his parents on the 97-acre tract that Johannes had bought from Justus Rubicam in 1764.8 Ten years later Johannes sold the farm to Sebastian, but Johannes and Apollonia probably lived out their lives there. She died in 1776, two days short of her seventy-sixth birthday. Sebastian had reserved a small corner of the tract as a burying ground for his descendants, and his parents were probably buried there as well.9

In 1776 the Unruh family, like many around Philadelphia, were swept up into the chaos of the Revolution. That December, many expected the British to invade the city and thousands of people fled to the west.10 “Everybody but Quakers were removing their families and effects”.11 Many of them must have traveled up the Germantown road. The crisis passed and many refugees returned, but the respite was temporary. In September 1777, the British marched into the city and settled in to occupy it.  They were willing to pay for grain in hard currency, and many farmers chose to sell to them rather than to the Revolutionary forces.12 It is possible that the Unruhs, no matter where their real sympathies lay, sold their grain for British cash. General Howe set up his headquarters at Stenton, formerly James Logan’s country house. A fine brick mansion, it lay five miles north of the center of the city, and just one mile south of the market square in Germantown. Here Howe positioned his army and waited for Washington to attempt to regain the city.13 The land of Nicholas Unruh stretched in a long strip between Chew and Stenton Streets, just north of Vernon and south of Gorgas Lane. The land of his brother George Sebastian was further north, across Stenton Avenue. Both of them were within two miles of the British lines.14 They must have waited anxiously for the battle. Finally on October 4^th the American forces advanced. Fighting raged up and down in the town. Wounded men were carried from the field of battle and some of them were taken to Nicholas Unruh’s house.15 The English soldiers occupied one of his houses, perhaps while the battle raged around Clivenden.16 “Back in the field [off] Gorgas Lane…is the old Unruh homestead. The house is still roofed with earthen tiles under the later covering of tin. After the Battle, wounded soldiers were quartered here. It is not known when the old house was built…On the opposite side of the railroad is another old homestead, with a pond near the house and barn. The tradition is that the retreating soldiers threw their muskets into the water to save them from being captured.”17 The battle ended with a defeat for the Americans and the British still in possession of the city. Two years later the brothers Sebastian and Nicholas served in the army, according to the lists in the Pennsylvania Archives, though it is unlikely that they saw active service.18

The Unruhs went on with their lives, paying taxes on their properties, attending church, adding to their families.19 They appeared in the first national census.20 They witnessed the signing of wills and served as executors for friends’ estates.21 In September 1776 Sebastian and Catherine buried a son Sebastian, just one year old. In 1783, some of Sebastian and Catherine’s children were growing up. With six living sons to provide for, he needed more land. He bought a two-story house on Germantown Avenue, a seven-acre tract in Bristol, three more lots east of the Chew house, and a stone house and 67 acres in Bristol.22 In 1804 Sebastian was growing old. To settle his affairs, he and Catherine made a series of gifts to their sons.23 They gave a stone house and two lots in Germantown to Abraham, and a house and 62 acres to Philip.24 At the same time they gave a house and 97 acres in Bristol to Philip as part of an agreement that he would take care of them.25 They were to stay in the “new room and dwelling” with use of the garret, kitchen and cellar and outbuildings. He was to pasture their cows and provide a yearly annuity.

On October 6, 1806, the next generation was shaken by a tragic accident.26

On a militia training day after the mustering had been answered and the companies dismissed, two Unruh brothers, William and John, sons of Sebastian Unruh, and Sebastian, a son of John, having charge of the cannon, on their way home with the gun halted on Church Street (then called Bone Lane), at the rear of St. Michael’s Lutheran churchyard, to fire a parting salute, one of them remarking in a jestingly way, it was said, that ‘now we will raise the dead.’ While ramming home the cartridge, the vent became so hot that the thumb of the holder was taken therefrom and a premature discharge of the cannon resulted. William’s left arm was blown off, John lost his right arm and Sebastian was killed outright, his head having been blown off.27

The United States Gazette reported the accident five days later.28

We are told that on Monday last, the Artillery of Germantown, being out to exercise agreeable to law, one of the pieces went off in the action of ramming the cartridge, whereby three persons of one family were injured, viz: the father had his two hands shattered in such a manner, that one of them was amputated on the field, one of his sons was killed on the spot, and one other so much wounded that his life is despaired of.

Later that month two of the sons of Sebastian Unruh went to the Orphans’ Court in Philadelphia with a petition, stating that they were above the age of 14 years but not yet 21, and that they had no guardian to care for their estates. They petitioned the court to choose a guardian for them, and the court chose John Unruh.29 A petition like this to the court would normally be done after the father’s death, but George Sebastian was still alive.30 Had he been incapacitated, perhaps by a stroke? Was this connected to the accident earlier in the month? As the two youngest brothers and the only ones yet unmarried, they would not have received their portion of their father’s estate. The court action may have been to safeguard this.

George Sebastian died in 1813 at age 74.31 By then he had been living with his son Philip for eight years, while Philip and his wife Barbara had their children in the same household. Sebastian was probably buried in the family burying ground on the 97-acre tract in Bristol. He did not leave a will. Catherine died in 1818, at age 72. They lived to see six of their children married, and numerous grandchildren.

Children of George Sebastian and Catharina Simon:32

John, born 1765, married about 1785 a woman named Elizabeth.33 He sold 240 acres of land in Pennsylvania, and took his family west to Warren County, Ohio in 1816, perhaps to leave memories of Germantown behind after the cannon accident.34 The farm was not successful, and his son Joseph later returned to Germantown.35 Children: Sebastian, Elizabeth, Catherine, Susanna, John, Joseph, Maria, Ellen, Sarah. John and Elizabeth died in Warren County, Ohio.36

Philip, born 1769, died 1835, married about 1794 a woman named Barbara. She may have been the daughter of Jacob and Barbara Meyer.37 They lived in Bristol on land given to him in 1805. He was a farmer. His parents lived in a room in the house and privileges of the garden and outbuildings. Children: John, Catherine, Maria, Jacob, Anna.38

Elizabeth, born 1772, died 1846, married William Hergesheimer in 1795. They lived in Germantown, where William died in 1840. Elizabeth died in 1846. They had nine children, including a son Samuel who administered the estate.

A child, born Jan 1773, died in infancy

Sebastian, born 1775, died in infancy

Michael, born 1780, died in 1804, unmarried, named five brothers and a sister in his will.39

George, born 1782, died 1825. He married in 1804 Margaret Rohrer, daughter of John and Margaret, and had children with her.40  After he death he married in 1817 Maria Castor, and had more children. Both marriages were at Germantown Reformed Church. He died intestate.41  Children of George and Margaret: Samuel, Mary, Charles, George, Edward, William.42 Children of George and Maria: Hannah, Lewis, John, Eli.

William, born April 1785, died 1823, married Esther Rohrer in 1807, daughter of John and Margaret. They lived in Germantown. Esther was still there in 1860, as a widow with her daughter Emeline. William and Esther were buried at Ivy Hill. Children: Harriet, Adaliza, Margaret, William, Maria, John, Emeline, Esther.

Abraham, born 1788, died 1872, married in 1811 Catharina Fisher.43 They lived in Germantown. He sold a tract of 78 acres in Germantown to his brother Philip in May 1821.44 They were still in Germantown in 1830 when a son George Washington Unruh was baptized at St. Michael’s Lutheran. In 1870 Abraham was living with his son Abraham in Kankakee Township, LaPorte County.45 He and Catherine were buried at Rolling Prairie, LaPorte County.46 Children: Jacob, Mary Ann, Catherine, Abraham, John, William, George.47

Philip Unruh was born into a prosperous family of Germantown farmers. His father and uncle between them owned great swaths of land in upper Germantown. They had large families and baptized their children at the Reformed Church, and occasionally the Lutheran church, in Germantown. Philip was born in 1769, the second son of  Sebastian Unruh and Catherine Simon.1 He was a young boy during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777 and the Battle of Germantown that October. The British headquarters of General Howe was just a few miles south of Philip’s home, and the battle raged around the house and lands of Philip’s uncle Nicholas. Wounded men were carried from the field of battle and some of them were taken to Nicholas Unruh’s house.2 The battle ended in a defeat for the Americans and the British still in possession of the city. Two years later both Sebastian and Nicholas enrolled in the militia, although they were not known to be in active service.3

About 1794 Philip married a woman named Barbara.4 Her last name is not known.5 They started their family and had a son John born the next year, to be followed by at least six more children. In 1804, Sebastian and Catherine gave Philip a tract of 97 acres in Bristol Township, in return for an annuity of $26 to be paid to them every year while they lived, and one-time payments of $233 to Philip’s brother William and $1200 to them.  Sebastian and Catherine were to have free use of the “new room and dwelling” they were living in, plus half of the garret, use of the kitchen and cellar in the old house, the spring, the bake oven, and stabling for two cows.6 The house had been built by the Rubicam family before they sold the property in 1764 to Johannes Unruh, Sebastian’s father, who in turn sold it to Sebastian.7 Philip’s brother George owned an adjoining tract of 62 acres, and in 1805 George bought a small piece of seven acres from Philip, probably to get access to a road.8 Philip signed the deed in German style; Barbara signed by mark. In 1821 Philip bought from his brother Abraham a tract of 78 acres with a house in Germantown, on the road to Livezey’s mill.9 In 1833 Philip was listed in the Philadelphia directory in Bristol Township, one mile east of Germantown, back of Eight-mile Lane.10

On October 6, 1806, a tragic accident took the life of Philip’s cousin Sebastian and maimed Philip’s brother John.11

On a militia training day after the mustering had been answered and the companies dismissed, two Unruh brothers, William and John, sons of Sebastian Unruh, and Sebastian, a son of John, having charge of the cannon, on their way home with the gun halted on Church Street (then called Bone Lane), at the rear of St. Michael’s Lutheran churchyard, to fire a parting salute, one of them remarking in a jestingly way, it was said, that ‘now we will raise the dead.’ While ramming home the cartridge, the vent became so hot that the thumb of the holder was taken therefrom and a premature discharge of the cannon resulted. William’s left arm was blown off, John lost his right arm and Sebastian was killed outright, his head having been blown off.12

Later that month Philip’s two youngest brothers, William and Abraham, went to the Orphans’ Court in Philadelphia with a petition, stating that they were above the age of 14 years but not yet 21, and that they had no guardian to care for their estates. They petitioned the court to choose a guardian for them, and the court chose John Unruh.13 A petition like this to the court would normally be done after the father’s death, but George Sebastian would not die for another seven years.14 Had he been incapacitated, perhaps by a stroke? In any case he and Catherine presumably lived with Philip and Barbara the entire time while Philip and Barbara had their seven children. George Sebastian died in 1813 at age 74.15 He was probably buried in the family burying ground on Philip’s land. Catherine died in 1818, at age 72.

Philip wrote his will in November 1835, one week before he died.16 He left the farm and house to his son Samuel, with the understanding that Barbara would stay in a room in the house, with privileges of using the kitchen, as much firewood as she needed, and a yearly annuity.17 The farm in Germantown was left to the son Jacob and a farm on the Montgomery-Philadelphia County line was left to the son Abraham.18 Philip’s son John had died before him, so Philip left a cash legacy to John’s son Philip and Henry when they reached the age of 21. The six living children were to share the remainder of Philip’s estate. After he died, the inventory was taken, showing the goods of a prosperous farmer, with an estate valued at $4167. The sons Samuel and Abraham were the executors.19 Samuel inherited the farm, and his mother Barbara probably stayed there, as she had been for thirty years. She died in 1842, survived by six of her children.20 She made a will, leaving her clothing and bedding to her three daughters, and the remainder of her estate to all six children.21 The inventory included furniture for one room, plus $959 in bonds and cash on hand. She and Philip were buried at Ivy Hill.22

Children of Philip and Barbara:23

John, born 1795, died 1833, married in 1820 at Germantown Reformed Church, Mary Benner, daughter of Henry Benner and Maria Magdalena Unruh.24 After John died Mary married John Kerper in 1834. Children: Philip, Caroline, Henry, Mary Ann25.

Catharine, born 1797, died 1881, married George Kerper in 1816 at Germantown Reformed Church26; buried at Boehm’s Church in Blue Bell. In 1850 they were living in Whitpain Twp, Montgomery County, where George was farming.27 He died in 1879; she died two years later. They were buried at Boehm Cemetery in Blue Bell.28  Children: Abraham, Barbara, Maria, George, Mary Ann, Catherine, Hiram, Willamina, Charles.

Maria, born 1799, died 1875, married Henry Campbell in 1819 at Germantown Reformed Church. He was a farmer in Springfield, Montgomery County.29 Maria died in 1875; Henry died 1876. They were buried at Ivy Hill. Children: Henry, Isaiah, Jonathan, Ann.30

Jacob, born 1801, died 1879, married Elizabeth Harper in 1827 at Germantown Reformed Church. He was a farmer in Germantown.31 Elizabeth died in 1870; Jacob died in 1879.32 They are buried at Market Square Cemetery (formerly German Reformed, later Presbyterian). Children: Jacob, George, Samuel, Ann, Sarah, Willamina, Jennetta.33

Anna, born 1804, died 1877, married Peter Maust. He was a farmer in Springfield Township. Peter died in 1853. Anna died in 1877 in Philadelphia. They were buried at Ivy Hill. Children: Anna, Barbara, Joseph, George, Samuel, Peter, John, Maria.

Samuel, born 1807, died 1860, married in 1830 Harriet Burns. He was a farmer in Bristol township.34 He died in October 1860; she died in 1875. They were buried at Ivy Hill. Children: Barbara, Samuel, Phebe, Susan, John, Hannah, Harriet, Maria, Mary.

Abraham, born 1809, died 1878, married Margaret Unruh. She was his first cousin, the daughter of Philip’s brother William and his wife Esther. Abraham was a farmer in Springfield, Montgomery County. He died in 1878. Margaret died 1900. They were buried at Ivy Hill. Children: Esther, Charles, William, Emeline, Sarah, Abraham.

Michael Simon was baptized in May 1703 in the Lutheran Church at Horn in the Hunsrück district of the Rhineland, the son of Johann Zacharias and Anna Barbara.1 Johann Zacharias had been baptized in August 1676 in nearby Pleizenhauser, the son of Johannes.2 Zacharias and Anna Barbara were married in November 1700 at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Horn. The towns where the Simons lived are a few miles west of the Rhine, in a flat area, with low mountains to the north and south setting the area apart.

In April 1731 Michael married Anna Elizabeth Cloessing, at the Evangelical Church in Sargenroth, ten miles south of Horn.3 Holzbach, where their son Johann Barthel was baptized in 1736, is a few miles north of Sargenroth, on the road to Horn. Michael and Anna Elizabeth had three more children baptized in Hunsrück.4

In 1741 Michael and his wife and children made a momentous change, immigrating to Pennsylvania.5 They sailed first to Rotterdam, then boarded the ship Molly, captained by Thomas Olive. The ship stopped in Deal to load provisions, then started across the Atlantic.6 The sea voyage could be dangerous in the 1700s. “Many who had never sailed before crowded the small vessels with poor sailors and rotten accommodations. They lived for six to eight weeks in cramped space on board, holding fast to the trunks, chests or baggage which contained all their worldly wealth.”7 Disease and starvation were always a threat. If winds were unfavorable, the voyage might take much longer than the usual six weeks. Judging from the list of 76 men who took the oath of allegiance with Michael after they landed, the Molly did not lose many passengers.8 They landed in Philadelphia, where Michael and his shipmates took the oath of allegiance on October 17 at the courthouse.

With no known relatives in Pennsylvania, the first few months of their stay might have been difficult. Perhaps they found a house to rent. In any case, they settled in Cresheim, in the northwest end of Germantown. Michael bought a small lot from Anthony Tunis in 1755, but soon sold that lot and moved closer to Germantown.9 They went to the Reformed Church there and added six more children to their family. Michael worked as a hatter

It is not clear from the records how many times Michael married, but it may have been three times.10 His first wife Anna Elizabeth was named as the mother in the baptisms of his children in Germany. (They had been married in 1731). In Aug 1758, the records of Germantown Reformed Church reported that Elizabeth Barbara, wife of Michael Simon, died, age 48. Born about 1710, this woman was too old to be the wife of Michael’s son Michael. When Michael made his will in 1773, he was married to a woman named Anna Margaretta. In 1776 they sponsored a baptism together.11

Michael wrote his will in 1773, twelve years before he died. In it he called himself a hatter of Creesham. He left the best bed and its furnishings to his wife Anna Margaretta, plus one-third of the personal estate and an annuity to be paid out of the rent of the house and lot. The implication is that she would not be living there.12 The remainder of his personal goods were to be sold and the proceeds divided among the children. After Anna Margaretta died, the house and lot were to be sold and the proceeds divided as well. The eight living children were Zacharias, John Bartle, Henry, Michael, Peter, Catherine, Barbara, and Elizabeth. Sebastian Unruh was the executor.13 The will was proved in May 1785 and the inventory taken.14 The household goods were scanty, and the total came to only £287.19.6. After the debts were paid, £257.9.8 remained to be shared among the heirs.15

Children of Michael:

Anna Catharina, baptized 1732, no further records, may have died young.

Johann Zacharias, baptized 1734, no marriage record found for him, died in Germantown in 179116

Johann Bartel, baptized 1736, alive in 1773.17 In his father’s will of 1773, he was called John Bartle (the only one of the five sons to be doubly-named). In the 1785 account of Michael’s estate, a John Simon had claims against the estate.18

Philippina Maria, baptized 1739, no further records, may have died young.

Henry, born about 1743, married Elizabeth Schaefer in Feb 1765 at Germantown Reformed Church, in the tax list in Germantown in 1782 as a hatter, later as a stocking weaver.19 In January 1766 their daughter Anna Margaret was baptized at St. Michael’s Church in Germantown. Michael and Anna Margaret were the sponsors.

Catharina, born about 1746, married in 1764 George Sebastian Unruh, son of Johann and Apollonia, lived in Bristol Township, Philadelphia County, where he was a prosperous farmer. Sebastian died in 1813; Catharine died in 1818. Children: John, Philip, Elizabeth, Sebastian, Michael, George, William, Abraham.

Barbara, born about 1748, married John Batt at Germantown Reformed Church in May 1767.20 Barbara was named in her father’s will in 1773.

Elizabeth, born 1749, alive in 1773, no marriage records found.

Michael, born 1752, married Anna Rubincam in 1773 at the Germantown Reformed Church, had a son John Michael born June 1774, baptized at the same church.21 In 1785 administration of the estate of Michael Simon was granted to Ann Simon. This is unlikely to be Michael’s father, in spite of the coincidence of names, since the older Michael left a will and a different executor. Perhaps Michael died the same year as his father.

Peter, born 1754, married Elizabeth Bocklin in 1776 at Germantown Reformed Church. She might have been a Bockius, a known Germantown family.22 They lived in Germantown. Peter was a cordwainer, taxed there in 1779 through 1782, and probably still there in 1809, on the tax list.23 No administration has been found for Peter. Known children: Henry, Charles.

Johannes Unruh was from Ober Lustadt, a small village in the Palatinate between Speyer and Landau. About 1737 he married a woman named Anna Apollonia.1 They had four children baptized in Ober Lustadt, two sons and two daughters. The daughters both died young.2 Johannes and Apollonia were members of the Reformed Church, where the records of their children appear, including two sons who traveled with them to Pennsylvania.

In 1752 Johannes, Apollonia and the two sons traveled to Pennsylvania on the ship Brothers, William Muir captain. They sailed from Rotterdam, having stopped at Cowes, England on the way.3 They left no record of their travels, but the outlines of the immigration from the Palatinate are well known: the need to obtain a passport from their locality, the tortuous trip down the Rhine past many toll stations, the rigors of the Atlantic passage. They arrived safely in Philadelphia, where on September 22 Johannes took the oath of allegiance at the State House in front of Edward Shippen.4 He could not sign his name, and signed with a mark. This was a customary rite of passage for immigrants from continental Europe, based on laws passed by the Provincial Council. There were two oaths: one of allegiance to the British crown and one of fidelity to the laws of the province.5 In April 1763, after being in the country for ten years, John was naturalized at the Supreme Court in Philadelphia, before Justices William Allen and William Coleman.6

There are no records of their lives for the next six years. They undoubtedly lived in Germantown or adjoining Bristol township, working as farmers, either renting land or working for someone else. The two teenage sons were surely welcome labor. They may have attended school (or perhaps they had already attended in Germany), since Sebastian at least was able to sign his name.7

In September 1760 John bought a stone house and an acre of land on the Germantown road from Jacob and Elizabeth Dietrich for 200 pounds. The land was described as in his actual possession at the time, but he was also described as John Unruh of Bristol. In any case, an acre of land was not sufficient for farming; perhaps he bought the house and lot for his son George Nicholas, who would marry Catharine Frank the following year.8

In 1764 John made a larger real estate purchase, buying a farm of 97 acres from Justus William Rubencam. He paid £700 for the land in Bristol, adoining Anthony Williams, John Shoemaker, Daniel Berndollar, other land of Rubencam, John Clever, and Ezekiel Potts. One corner of the tract was set aside for a school, granted by Justus and his wife Susanna for the service of the neighborhood. This land would later go to Sebastian, the younger son, and in turn to his son Philip.9 The house on the tract still stands, known as the Rubencam-Unruh house; it has been greatly expanded and was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1960.10

In 1762 John and Apollonia were sponsors, as grandparents, of the baptism of Apollonia, daughter of their son George (Sebastian) and Catherine. She was baptized on December 12 at the Germantown Reformed Church.11 Founded in the 1730s, it was probably the home church for John and Apollonia, as both of their sons baptized children there. The alternative would have been St. Michael’s Lutheran Church where George Nicholas and his wife Catharine were buried. In 1765 John and Apollonia were sponsors for the baptism of their grandson John in October at the Reformed Church, the second child of George Sebastian and Catherine.12

In 1764 the families of Germantown subscribed for the cost of a fire engine. John Unruh (as Unrue) and his son George signed up.13 In 1769 John and Sebastian were both taxed in Bristol Township. John still owned the 97 acres, with two horses and six cows. Sebastian was not taxed for any land, so he was probably living with his parents.14 In 1774 John and Apollonia sold their farm to Sebastian, but they probably retained the privilege of living on it for the rest of their lives. The usual formula for such arrangements was for the older generation to have the privilege of a room, plus use of the kitchen and cellar, pasturage for a few animals such as a cow and a horse, delivery of firewood, and a cash annuity.15

Apollonia died in 1776, a few days before her 76^th birthday. Her death was recorded by St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, and the record stated that she was buried there. There was no record of John’s death.16 He did not leave a will. Since the farm had gone to Sebastian, the younger son, it is probable that John had already provided for George Nicholas, either by a cash grant, or by requiring Sebastian to pay Nicholas (although this is not specified in the sale to Sebastian).

Children of Johannes and Apollonia:17

George Nicholas, born or baptised 1 Sept 1738, died 1807, usually known as Nicholas18

George Sebastian, born or baptised 10 November 1739, d. 1813, known as George or Sebastian

Mary Margaretha, born or baptised 1742, died March 1745

Anna Apollonia, born or baptised 1744, died March 1746

Peter Stone was a German who lived in Upper Bucks County in the second half of the 1700s. He was probably born in Germany around 1730. Since he is not associated with other men named Stein or Stone, he probably immigrated along as a young man. One Peter Stein arrived in late October 1754 on the ship Friendship and took the oath of allegiance on the 21^st. The oath was required of all non-English immigrants. The list of those on the Friendship on that trip show no other Stein except for Peter.1 This would be a plausible time for Peter to arrive, find a place to work as a farm laborer, and accumulate enough money to marry and support a family.2

On 20 March 1759 Peter married Margaret Dieman at Tohickon Reformed Church.3 Margaret’s parents are not known. There were no other families named Dieman in the area at the time, but there were people named Deemer. Michael and Elizabeth Deemer had a large family of children in Nockamixon, including a daughter Margaret, but she was a full generation younger than the woman who married Peter Stein. Could Margaret have been a sister of Michael Deemer?4

Peter and Margaret lived in Nockamixon, surrounded by other German families, both Reformed and Lutheran. With their distinctive culture, different from that of the Quakers of Lower Bucks County, the Germans carved out a life for themselves and generally prospered. Peter worked as a farmer and as a weaver. In 1782 and 1784 he was taxed for 50 acres of land in Nockamixon.5 In 1791 he bought 100 acres from Michael and Sarah Walter, and four years later he bought another 50 acres.6 By the time of his death he owned 100 acres in Nockamixon and 174 in Tinicum.7

Peter and Margaret had four known children, born in the 1760s and 1770s.8 During the same time they sponsored baptisms of other children: for a son of Conrad Klein, for a son of John Schick, a daughter of Henry Kalb.9 At the baptism of Peter and Margaret’s own daughter Margaret in May 1761, John Schick and his wife were the sponsors.10

Peter died in 1795 or 1796. He did not leave a will, and the family went to Orphans’ Court to settle his affairs. Margaret was still alive, along with four children, one under age. The court appointed a guardian for the affairs of the youngest child, Frederick, who was 19 years old.11 For some reason, perhaps having to do with selling the land, the estate was not settled until 1807. At that time two of the heirs, Philip Rapp and George Maust, gave a power of attorney to another heir, Henry Calf, to enter satisfaction of bonds with the court.12

Children of Peter and Margaret:13

Margaret, born 1761, married Philip Rapp. By 1807 they were living in Alexandria Township, Hunterdon County, NJ.14 Philip died in 1831 and is buried at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Nockamixon.15 He left a will, but there was a caveat against it, and letters of administration were granted to George Rapp and Philip Rapp, probably sons. Other heirs were Frederick Rapp and George Hager.16

Eve, alive in 1823, married by 1792 Henry Calf. They lived in Tinicum, where Henry made his will in 1823. He named Eve, and six children.17 He left a tract of 174 acres, which may be the same tract that Peter Stone owned in Tinicum. Children: John, Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Sarah, Nancy.

Mary, married about 1793 George Maust, son of Jacob and Catherine. They lived in Tinicum, went to Lutheran churches. Mary died in 1840; George died in 1849. He did not leave a will, and the estate was administered by his son Peter and son-in-law Joseph Myers. Children: Sarah, Magdalene, Jacob, Susanna, George, Samuel, Peter, Maria, Catherine, Elizabeth.

Frederick, born 1777, died in 1847, buried at St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Nockamixon.18 About 1800, he married Anna Margaret Boyer, who died in 1859 and is buried with him. Children: Mary, Peter, Frederick, Jacob, John, William, Daniel.19

Johann Philip Schmeyer and Maria Salome Stephan met and married in the Saarland, a region of hills and forests in southwestern Germany.1 He was the son of Hans Franz Schmeyer and Anna Elizabeth Bungert of Nohfelden.2 She was the daughter of Michael Stephan and Anna Margretha Kunz, who were married in 1694 in Wolferweiler. All of the little towns where these families lived formed a cluster at the northern edge of Saarland, where it met the Rheinland-Palatinate.3

In 1733 Philip and Maria immigrated to Pennsylvania with their two surviving children, Johann Jacob and the infant Elisabetha Catharine.4 They first traveled up the Rhine to Rotterdam, then boarded the Pennsylvania Merchant, sailing from Rotterdam with a stop in Plymouth to load supplies. The trans-Atlantic voyage of the time could be dangerous, if disease spread on the crowded ship, or if contrary winds kept them at sea too long and the food ran low. But the Pennsylvania Merchant seemed to fare well, since 67 men took the oath of allegiance along with Philip on September 13 in Philadelphia.

The fertile land close to Philadelphia had long since been taken up by Quaker farmers. By 1733 German immigrants were spreading out into northern Bucks County, Philadelphia County and even farther, but not yet across the Allegheny Mountains. Philip went to the extreme northern end of Bucks County, to Macungie Township, which would be pulled into Lehigh County in 1752. As an early settler there he presumably had his choice of the land, choosing a place where the soil was fertile and a permanent spring flowed.5 He settled on 200 acres, for which he got a warrant in 1735.

The [first] step would be to erect or find some kind of temporary shelter… When the settlers’ immediate needs were taken care of, they would begin to clear a small tract of land to plant a garden and to build a house …The garden would be fenced off. Part of the clearing was used for vegetables and the remainder planted with fruit trees. Gradually, over time, more land was cleared for farming. The pioneer family’s first house was usually built of logs… Their homes were generally one and a half stories high. The first floors were usually hard-packed dirt which would later be covered with rough boards. The roof was usually quite steep and consisted of straw thatching laid on wooden lath which was placed across hand-hewn wooden rafters… The interiors were quite primitive. There were usually three rooms on the first floor, a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom. In the wall between the kitchen and the living room there generally was a fireplace which was used for cooking and for heat. …Above the first floor was a loft reached by steep stairs or a ladder. This area was used by the children for a bedroom.6

Philip and Maria had five more children. They attended one of the many Lutheran Churches that dotted the area, probably Jordan Lutherthan Church in South Whitehall.7

When Philip was naturalized in 1743, he was listed as a miller. He died about 1750.8 A few years later the family faced a crisis. The Lenni Lenape had been angered by the Walking Purchase in 1737, when Penn’s sons bent the rules of an agreement in order to seize more land than the natives had agreed on. In 1755, encouraged by the French, the natives attacked settlements in Berks County. Many families fled east into Bucks County and stayed with fellow members of their church. Maria and her children probably fled as part of this movement. There is no record of their going, but the daughter Elizabeth Catharine, twenty-two years old at the time, stayed in central Bucks County after the others were back in Macungie, twenty-five miles to the west. She married Jacob Maust and had a large family.9

After Philip’s death, Maria married William Fegley; she died in 1759.

Children of Philip and Maria:

Johann Jacob, born 1728, died 1791, married Walborga Fegley. They lived in Macungie Township, where Jacob wrote his will, proved in April 1791.10 In it he named Walborga and eight living children. The children shared his personal estate, except for the sons Jacob and Philip who had already bought the land from their father. Children: Jacob, Susanna, Grate (Gertrude? Margaretta?), Regina, John, Daniel, Ann Elizabeth, Philip.11

Johann Nicklaus, born 1730, died in infancy.

Elisabeth Catharine, born 1733, died 1803, married Jacob Maust about 1755. They lived in Bedminster, Bucks County, where Jacob was a farmer. He died in 1807, leaving a will. In it he named four sons Jacob, John, George, and Frederick and daughters Magdalen, Mary and Elizabeth. His daughter Kathren had died before him. His wife Catherine was also dead.12

John Peter, baptized 1735, no further records.

Daniel, born 1738, died 1812, lived in Macungie, a blacksmith, married and Elizabeth Scherer and Catherine Keyser, served in the Militia during the Revolution.13 He died in 1812, leaving a will in which he referred to his wife and named his living children. Children of Daniel and Elizabeth: Daniel, Philip. Children of Daniel and Catherine: Maria Catherine, John, Peter, Elizabeth, Solomon, Sarah, Susannah, Benjamin, Joshua, James.14

Anna Margretha, born 1743, no further records.

Michael, born 1745, served in the Revolution, opposed the 1798 tax and joined the Fries Rebellion, died in prison where he died of yellow fever. Married Maria Magdalena Kuchel, lived in Macungie. Died in 1800; buried at Zion Lutheran, Alburtis, with his wife. Children: Gertrude, Catherine, Elizabeth, Maria Lavina, Johann Jacob, Magdalena, Abraham, Rachel.15

John Philip, born 1748, died 1819 in Adams County, Pennsylvania. He married Maria Magdalena Seitz and had six children with her. Children: Catherine Barbara, Johann Wilhelm, Johann, Lorenz, Salome, Catherine.16

Peter Maust was born in 1803, the son of George and Magdalena Maust of Tinicum, Bucks County. Peter grew up in a family of nine children, surrounded by other German farming families, attending the local Lutheran church. Most of his siblings, and most of the cousins in his extended family, stayed in upper Bucks County, but Peter was different. Some time around 1830, he left Tinicum and moved down toward Philadelphia. On the 27^th of October 1833 he married Anna Unruh, from a family of prosperous farmers, who owned land around Germantown. Anna’s grandfather Sebastian had immigrated with his parents and his brother Nicholas in 1752; the two brothers Sebastian and Nicholas owned large tracts of land in Germantown. Peter and Anna were married at the old Whitpain (Boehm’s) Reformed Church in Montgomery County.1 She was the daughter of Philip and Barbara Unruh of Springfield, just east of Germantown. Philip and Barbara were married about 1794, lived on a farm in Springfield, and had seven children.

Peter and Anna settled in Germantown and started their family. It must have been a change for Peter to move from the German-dominated townships where he grew up, to Germantown, which had become diverse by 1840. 2 Peter and Anna were living near people with non-English names like Peacock and Gowan, and some of their children married into non-German families like the McVaughs.3 In 1850 Peter and Anna were living close to Anna’s cousin George Unruh.4 Peter died in January 1853, when letters of administration were granted to Anna. The inventory of Peter’s estate was taken by Ann Maust and Abraham Unruh.5 It showed a comfortable life, with much bedding, looking glasses, mahogany tables, a sewing stand, an eight-day clock, and a silver watch, as well as six milch cows, a horse and colt, two heifers, and six shoat. Peter and Anna could travel into town in their Dearborn wagon, a covered wagon sometimes called the “station wagon of its day”. The total of the estate was over $10,000.6 Much of the value was from the sale of the farm to Charles Heibner. A few years later, as an officer of the Chestnut Hill Water Works, Heibner and his partners built a tower with machinery for pumping water out of a well, storing it, and supplying it to local residents.7 This was probably not on Peter’s land, but a few blocks west, toward Germantown Avenue.

After Peter’s death, Anna went to live with her daughter Maria, still in Springfield Township. She was still there in 1870.8 Most of her other children lived close by, some in Springfield; the farthest away was the daughter Anna Tyson ten miles north in Horsham. The older Anna lived on until 1877.9 She is buried with Peter at Ivy Hill Cemetery.10

Children of Peter and Anna:11

Anna, born 23 Sep 1834, died 1915, married Ephraim Tyson, son of Rynear and Eleanor. They lived on a farm in Horsham, Montgomery County.12 Ephraim was a shoemaker and farmer. He died in 1897. After his death Anna lived with her unmarried son John until she died in 1915. She and Ephraim were buried at Hatboro. Children: Ida, Edmund, Samuel, Robert, William J, John, Thomas, Albert, Anna, Hannah, Charles.13

Barbara, born about 1837.14 She married Henry Fisher in 1857 in Germantown as his third wife. They lived in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia County, where Henry was a carpenter, and had six children together before Henry’s death in 1877. He was buried at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Montgomery County with his first wife. Barbara died in 1923 and was buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia County.15 Children: Henry, Elizabeth, Charles, Samuel, Ella, Laura.16

Joseph, born 1838, died 1840 of scarlet fever, buried at St. Michael’s, Germantown.

George Unruh, born 1840, died 1912, married Amanda McVaugh; later moved to Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, where he was a farmer. She died in 1903. They are buried at Ivy Hill. Children: George, Samuel, William, John, Anna, Joseph, Daniel, Lillie.17

Samuel, born about 1843. In 1880 he was unmarried, living with his sister Maria and her husband. In 1890 he married a widow named Clara, twenty years younger than Samuel. They lived in Germantown, where he owned or managed a meat market.18 Clara’s divorced daughter Laura and her two children were living with them.19 Samuel and Clara have not been found in the 1920 census.20

Peter, born 1844, died 1917, married Ann Pierson Kulp. They lived in Springfield, Montgomery County, where Peter was a farmer. In 1880 they were had three children living with them.21 Peter died in 1917, and was buried at Ivy Hill with Ann and their children. She died in 1894. Children: George, Sarah, Henry, Levi, Clinton.22

John, born 1845, died 1894.23 He returned from the Civil War and in 1873 married Hermina Wolff at the Salem-Zion United Church of Christ in Philadelphia.24 They lived in Montgomery County, where he was a farmer. He died in 1894; she died in 1923. They were buried at St Thomas Church, Whitemarsh. Children: John, Mary, Peter, Louisa.

Maria, born 1847, died 1937, married William Engard in 1869, lived in Springfield, Montgomery County. In 1880 they were still there with four children.25 He died in 1927; she died ten years later. They were buried at Ivy Hill. Children: Anna, Samuel, Frederick, Susan Wilhelmina, Ida, Grover C.26

George Maust, was born in 1767, one of eight children of Jacob and Catherine Maust. He grew up in Bedminster, northern Bucks County, surrounded by other German farming families like his own.1 George married Maria Magdalena Stein about 1793, the daughter of Peter Stein and Margaret Deemer.2 The next year George bought a tract of land in Tinicum from George and Charity Bennet.3 In 1801 George and Magdalena granted a corner of this land, 80 perches (about half an acre), to the trustees of the Tinicum burying ground, to be used for both congregations, Reformed and Lutheran.4 George and Magdalena themselves were members of Keller’s Lutheran, later at Tohickon Lutheran, judging from the baptisms of their children.

In 1798 they were living on 160 acres in Tinicum, in a stone and log house, 25 feet by 17 feet, one story, plus a large log barn.5 Nine years later, George’s father Jacob died. George was one of the executors of the will and shared in the estate, along with his seven siblings.6 George and Magdalena raised a large family, with children still at home through 1830.7

Magdalena died in 1840. George died in June 1849. He did not leave a will, and his estate was administered by his son Peter Maust and Joseph Meyers.8 The inventory was taken on June 18. It showed the goods of a prosperous farmer, including the usual farm and household goods.9 While George was making the cider and winnowing rye with the winnowing mill, his wife was making clothes from flannel, linen, and linsey. George could consult a silver watch and wind an eight-day clock. After the debts were paid, the administrators had $465 to distribute to the heirs.10 Magdalena and George were buried together at Lower Tinicum Union Cemetery, probably on land they had donated to the trustees years before.11

Children of George and Maria Magdalena: 12

Sarah, born January 26, 1794, died 1880.13 She married John Smetzer. They lived in Springfield Township, Bucks County, where John was a farmer. They had three children by 1840.14 The children were still there in 1850 and 1860.15 John died in 1863.16 Sarah died in 1880. Children: Israel, Malinda, John.17

Magdalene, born June 17,  1795, d. 1876.18 She married George Swope.19 He was a farmer. In 1850 they were living in Tinicum.20 In 1859 he made an agreement with his son Tobias to provide care for his wife Magdalene. George died in 1861. He left a will, written in 1859, proved in September 1861, naming his wife and seven children.21 Magdalene died in 1876. They are buried together at Lower Tinicum.22 Children: George, Tobias, Peter, Mary Ann, Susanna, Catherine, Elizabeth.

Jacob,  born December 11, 1796.23 Either he did not marry or his wife died early; in either case he had no children. In 1850 he was living with his widowed sister-in-law Barbara, and in 1860 with the family of his nephew George Swope. Jacob died in 1864. His heirs were his six living sisters and the children of his three brothers, all deceased.24 He was buried at Lower Tinicum Union with the same tombstone style as his parents.25

Susanna, born 179926, died 1879, married 1825 Samuel Trauger, son of John Frederick and Magdalena. In April 1836, Samuel and Susannah and their children moved by wagon 600 miles west to Richland County, Ohio. They built a log cabin and cleared land for a farm. The farm won a prize at three county contests as the best farm in Richland county.27 They were in Plymouth Township, Richland County in 1860 and 1870.28 In 1860 they had two children at home: Henry and Sevila. In 1870, only Samuel was living with them; son Tobias was next door with his family. Samuel died in 1879; Susanna died in 1879. They were buried at Greenlawn Cemetery, Plymouth Township.29 Children: Jonas, Tobias, Henry, Franklin, Samuel, Salona, Lucy, Sevilla, Lovina.

Elizabeth, born about 1800, died after 1864, married Joseph Meyers. In the census of 1850 through 1870 they were living in Nockamixon, where he owned a farm. They had no children living at home.30

George, born 1801, died 1847, married Mary Ann Lear, daughter of Joseph and Mary Elizabeth. He owned 53 acres in Nockamixon. He died in 1847 and did not leave a will. George’s estate was not sufficient to pay his debts when he died and his creditors had to accept partial payment.31 Children Jonas, Ann Elizabeth, Sally, Maria.32

Peter, born Oct 1803, died 1853, married Anna Unruh, daughter of Philip and Barbara of Springfield Township, Philadelphia County.33 They lived in Germantown, then settled in adjoining Springfield Twp Peter died in 1853 intestate. He and Anna were buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia County. Children: Barbara, Anna, Joseph, George, Samuel, Peter, John, Maria, James.34

Samuel, born 1806, died 1850, married Barbara White. Samuel was a stage coach driver and later postmaster for Pt. Pleasant. He died in an accident in May 1850 in Tinicum.35 He was buried at Lower Tinicum. In 1852, Michael Worman administered his estate. The land he had bought in 1848 from Abraham and Barbara Worman had to be sold to pay his debts; it was sold to Jacob Maust for $38.50 per acre.36 Barbara later married Jeremiah Worman and lived to be 97.37 Children: Aaron, Lydia.38

Catharine, born 1810, married a man named Bean.39 She was probably the  Mary Catherine who married John Bean about 1832. Catherine Bean, wife of John Bean, was buried in 1838.40 John married again, to Anna Mary Trauger, who died in 1849. He married finally a woman named Elizabeth, who died in 1887. The three wives are buried with John at Nockamixon Union Cemetery.41 Children of John: Sarah Charles, Jonas, Tobias, and Mary.42

Maria43, born 1813, died 1869, married Henry Krout. In 1850 they were in Bedminster with children Isaac, Reuben, Sofia, and Amos. By 1860 they added three more children.44 Maria died in 1869; Henry died in 1893. They are buried at Lower Tinicum Cemetery.45 Children: Isaac, Reuben, Sofia, Amos, Lucinda, Saloma, Samuel.46

Jacob Maust appeared in Bedminster, Bucks County, as a young man, part of a tide of Germans who settled in upper Bucks County.1 They dominated the northern townships—Bedminster, Haycock, Tinicum, Nockamixon—townships dotted with their churches.2 From there they spread out into other nearby areas. This hilly country was still the frontier at the time, thinly settled compared to the dense Quaker townships to the south. As latecomers to the county the Germans had to take what land they could afford; they formed a buffer between the pacifist Quakers and the unsettled region further north and west.

In 1755 global politics touched the lives of the Germans in upper Bucks County. The battle for empire between France and England reached Pennsylvania when the French used the native Lenni Lenape people as allies. The Lenni Lenape had been angered by the Walking Purchase in 1737, when Penn’s sons bent the rules of an agreement in order to seize more land than the natives had agreed on. Encouraged by the French, the natives attacked settlements in Berks County. Families fled south and east into Bucks County and stayed with fellow members of their church until the crisis was over.

One such family was that of Johann Philip Schmeyer and Maria Salome Stephan. They had immigrated with two young children in 1733, sailing on the brigantine Pennsylvania.3 They settled in Lower Macungie Township, Berks County, where Philip got a grant of 200 acres in 1735.4 There they added more children to the family before Philip’s death around 1750. In 1755, there are no records to show where the surviving family went during the violence, but the daughter Catherine met and married Jacob Maust, who lived 25 miles east of her family. She stayed behind while the rest of the family went on with their lives in Lower Macungie.5 Jacob and Catherine spent their lives in Bedminster and neighboring Nockamixon, and had eight known children.6

They were probably Lutherans. It was common at the time for Lutheran and Reformed Churches to share a building. Tohickon Union Church was such a shared building. It is believed that Jacob and Catherine were buried there. It lies on the extreme western corner of the township, three miles from the other Lutheran Church there, Keller’s Lutheran, “standing upon a prominence along the Ridge road with the Tohickon creek winding along its base.”7

In 1773 Jacob bought 150 acres of land in Bedminster from John and Nancy Boaz. He paid taxes regularly on that land at least through 1785. By the 1780s the children of Jacob and Catherine were grown and beginning to marry and form their own families. In 1794 he sold the 150 acres to his son-in-law Michael Young, married to Jacob’s daughter Elizabeth.8 In 1800 Jacob and Catherine were still in Bedminster.9 Six of the children were living nearby: George in Tinicum with four young children, and John in Tinicum, also with four young children. Two of the daughters lived in Bedminster, while the others were in Nockamixon and Tinicum. Frederick and Jacob were in Lower Saucon, Northampton County, just over the northern border of Bucks County.

Catherine died in 1803 and was buried at Tohickon Cemetery as old Mrs. Mast.10 By the time Jacob made his will in September 1807, he was living in Nockamixon, perhaps with one of his children.11 The will was written in September 1807 and proved a month later.12  In it Jacob named four sons Jacob, John, George, and Frederick and daughters Magdalen, Mary and Elizabeth.13 His daughter “Kathren”, wife of Michael Young, was deceased, so he designated her share to her children. The executors were George Maust and Stophel Trauger (Magdalen’s husband).

Most of the children of Jacob and Catherine stayed in northern Bucks County or neighboring counties. The exception was the youngest, John Frederick. Perhaps because he was the youngest, he had the best opportunity to cross the mountains and settle one hundred miles to the west, in Sunbury on the Susquehanna River. This was the frontier until after the Revolution, and settlers were under constant threat of attack by the native Americans.

Children of Jacob and Catherine:  This family followed one of the German naming patterns, giving the sons the first name of John.

Catharine Elizabeth, born about 1756, died before 1807, married about 1778 Michael Young.14 They had at least five children, baptized at Tohickon Lutheran and Kellers Lutheran.15 They lived in Bedminster, where Michael was taxed in 1778. Catherine died before 1807, when her father’s will named her as deceased. Michael moved to the Northern Liberties and died there in 1822, leaving a will.16 George Maust and Stophel Trauger assisted in settling his estate.17 Children: William, Mary, Margaret, George, Christian, Barbara, Elizabeth.18

Jacob, born 1758, married before December 1788 Anna Maria Reifschneider, daughter of Philip. In 1793 Jacob bought land from Philip Reifschneider in Lower Saucon Township, Northampton County, about fifteen miles north of Nockamixon Township. In the deed Jacob was described as a weaver. In 1803 William Reifschneider of Berks County, only surviving son of Philip, granted a release indenture to Jacob Mast of Lower Saucon, as co-heirs of Philip’s estate. Jacob was in Lower Saucon for the 1800 census, with six children, but back in Nockamixon by 1810 with two sons and three daughters, all over 26.19 Known children of Jacob and Anna Maria: Anna Maria, Jacob20

Magdalen, born 1760, died 1828, married about 1780 Christopher Trauger, known as Stoffel, son of Christian and Anna Barbara. Stoffel and Magdalene owned two tracts of land in Nockamixon and a tract of timber land in Durham. Stoffel died in 1844. He left a will, naming eight children.21 He and Magdalen were buried at St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.22 Children: Jacob, John, Christian, Elizabeth, Solomon, Sarah, Catherine, Joseph.23

Mary Margaret, born 1764, died 1842, married in 1783 William Keeler. They lived in Bedminster. She died in 1842; William died a year later.24 They are buried at Keely’s Church Cemetery in Schwenksville, Montgomery County. Children: Catherine, Susanna, Elizabeth, John, Henry.

John, born about 1766, married Maria Magdalena —. Maria’s last name is not known; it might have been Schumann.25 In 1794 their son Jacob was baptized at Tinicum Union Reformed Church. In the same year John bought a tract of land in Haycock Township.26 He and his wife were living in Tinicum in 1800 with four children.27 He was named in his father’s will in 1807.28 Maria probably died in 1823 and was buried at Tohickon Cemetery.29 It is probable that John is buried there also, but a record of his death or probate have not been found.30  Children: Jacob, Elizabeth, John, Catherine. 31

George, born 1767, died June 1849, married about 1793 Maria Magdalena Stein, daughter of Peter Stein and Margaret Deemer.32 Their son Peter was probably named for his grandfather Peter. George and Magdalene were members of Keller’s Lutheran, later at Tohickon Lutheran. In 1807 they were living in Tinicum. George died there in 1849. He did not leave a will. The inventory was taken on June 18. It showed the goods of a prosperous farmer, including the usual farm and household goods.33 Maria had died before him, in 1840 and is buried at Lower Tinicum Union Cemetery, Tinicum Township.34 Children: Sarah, Mary Magdalene, Jacob, Susan, George, Samuel, Peter, Mary, Catharine, Elizabeth. 35

Elizabeth, born 1771, died 1851, married about 1792 John Jacob Wildonger. They lived in Lower Tinicum. Jacob died in 1834. He left a will, naming his wife Elizabeth and five living children, plus one deceased, a son John.36 The next year the heirs signed a receipt acknowledging payment of the estate by the executors.37 From the inventory of his estate, he was a prosperous farmer, with  bountiful livestock. Children: John, Jacob, David, Abraham, Moses, Catherine.38

Frederick, born 1773, baptized in 1774 at Keller’s Lutheran, died in 1815 in Sunbury, Northumberland County. He married Sarah McHose and had seven children with her, before his early death.

William Jeanes Tyson was born in 1866, one of eleven children of Ephraim Tyson and Anna Maust.1 Ephraim was a farmer in Hatboro, where William grew up.  On 20 February 1889 he married Catherine Rinker, daughter of Francis Rinker and Catherine Pownall. Francis had been a shoemaker and then a policeman in Germantown, Pennsylvania, but retired to a farm in Montgomery County in 1885. William and Catherine lived in Horsham, at the corner of Easton and Dresher Roads, right across from the Horsham Friends Meeting House, and raised their family of eight children there.2 They would remain there for the rest of their lives together. According to William J. Tyson II, the grandson and namesake of William, their house was still standing, at least in 1993.3

By 1900 Catherine Rinker, William’s mother-in-law was living with them, after her husband Francis died in 1892. She probably stayed with them until her own death in 1909. In 1910 five of the children were still at home.4 Through the 1920s and 1930s they stayed on the farm, with some of the children living there temporarily until they were married.5 Since none of the sons wanted to take over the farm, William sold fertilizer for M. L. Shoemaker.6 As each of the children married, he gave them a piece of the farm. As William J. Tyson II put it, “At one time my Aunt Mildred lived across the street from us and next to her, Uncle Willie and his wife… Next door to us my Uncle Ralph… My Uncle Earl and his family… lived in back of our property. It was a wonderful idea on Grandpop and Grandmom Tyson’s part—to keep their family together, but it didn’t last all that long. Eventually everyone except Uncle Earl moved away.”7 William and Catherine also owned a beach house in Ocean City, New Jersey, where they gathered the family. Their thirteen-year old grandson Howard made a dramatic rescue there in 1925, swimming to save a woman who was drowning in Great Egg Harbor Bay.8 He saw her struggling and calling for help, swam to her, and pulled her by the arm to shallow water. “He was nearly exhausted and was unable to go father when his feet touched bottom.” Howard was there with his parents at the cottage of his grandmother Catherine Tyson. After After Catherine died in 1950 she left the house in Ocean City to her son Raymond.9 William died on March 24, 1947.10 Catherine died on June 25, 1950.11 They are buried in Hatboro Cemetery. As their grandson remembered, “They led a very simple, good life.”

Children of William and Catherine:12

William Francis, born Dec 1889, died 1980. In 1910 he was living at home with his parents, working as a house carpenter. In 1911 he married Elsie Woodroffe with a Delaware marriage license. He was 21; she was 18.13 She was the daughter of James and Harriet Woodroffe.14 She lived in Germantown, where her father James was a policeman. This could be a coincidence, since Catherine Rinker’s father Francis was also a policeman in Germantown. Perhaps that is how Elsie and William met. They had two children, Howard and Gladys.15 Elsie and William lived in Horsham, where he was a builder.

In 1932, Elsie divorced William on the grounds of cruel treatment.16 Elsie told the court a dramatic story. “After acting as clerk for her husband following their marriage, and thus engaged for several years, everything went well until the wife decided that housekeeping was enough to keep her busy, and decided to give up the clerical job. The husband consented, according to the wife, and soon he engaged another girl, became much devoted to the new clerk, and neglected his wife… Mrs. Tyson said her husband admitted taking the girl out. She said that when she remonstrated with her husband about the girl he threatened to strike her with an electric heater.” By 1940, William was remarried, living next door to his parents in Horsham, with his second wife Kathryn Mather and a newborn son Ronald.17 They later moved to Fort Lauderdale, where he worked as a building contractor and died in 1980.18 Kathryn died in 1987. They are buried at Lauderdale Memorial Park.

Ralph Steward, born in 1892, died 1965, married Nora Schabinger in Sept 1912. They had four children: Ralph, Pearl, Laura and Arthur.19 Arthur was born in 1920, but by then Ralph was gone, living with a young woman named Florence in East Cleveland, Ohio.20 Nora divorced him and went back to live with her father Charles, taking the three surviving children with her.21 By 1930 Ralph and Florence were in Grand Junction, Colorado, with four children. By 1940 they were in Horsham, living in the same house as Raymond and his family; Ralph was working as a towerman for the railroad. Children: Evora, Constance, Twilla, Cloyd, Willa Mae.22

Raymond LeRoy, born in 1895, died 1959, married 1919 Helen Worthington, daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth.23 They were married in 1919, after he returned from serving in World War I.24 Raymond worked as a ticket agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad, based in Hatboro or Horsham. Helen worked for the state of Pennsylvania as a tax collector. They had three children who survived infancy. After Raymond died suddenly in 1959, Helen remarried twice, and survived all three of her husbands.25 She eventually moved into an assisted living facility in Quakertown, and died there in 1987. He is buried at Hatboro Cemetery; her ashes were sprinkled in the lagoon in Ocean City, New Jersey, where she had a summer house for many years. Children: Raymond, Dorothy, Robert E, Janet E, William Jeanes II.

Harry Edwin, born 8 Oct 1897, died Oct 11, 1918, in the flu pandemic of “croupous pneumonia”. He was not married. A machinist, he was just 21 when he died.26 When he registered for the draft for the Second World War on 12 Sep 1918, he was living at 461 Winona Ave in Germantown, with Rinker relatives, working for Frank H. Rinker as an automobile mechanic on 416 Coulter Street.27 Frank was Harry’s uncle, a son of Francis and Catherine.

Katie and Anna, born 1899, died within two hours of birth.

Mildred Evelyn, born in 1900, died 1973, married William Barlow. William was a salesman. They lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania, later in Johnstown. They retired to Florida, where Mildren died in 1973 in Sarasota. William died in 1996; They are buried together in Port Charlotte. Child: Gail.

Earl Jeanes, born in 1909, died in 2001. After graduating from Abington High School in 1927, Earl went to work for the post office in Horsham, and in 1953 was the postmaster there.28 He married Thelma Gaykenheimer or Gegenheimer in 1934 in Philadelphia. They had six children together.29 Thelma died in 1975 in Ft. Lauderdale. Earl married Mary McDonald in 1978 in Broward County, Florida, and in 1998 married Louise Wells Friday. He died in November 2001, in a retirement home in Quarryville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, survived by his wife Louise, five children and three stepchildren. He had 23 great grandchildren at his death.30 Children of Earl and Thelma: Thomas, Nancy, David, Daniel, John, Richard. Two of the sons, Thomas and Richard, became ministers.