(See the previous post for the life of William and Susanna.)

Children of William Howe and Susanna Shoop:1

Elizabeth, b. 1779, d. 1858, m. Henry Frank. In 1850 they were living in Oliver Township with an adopted son George Wright, George’s wife and three children. Henry wrote his will in January 1850, leaving half his estate to his wife Elizabeth, and the other half to George’s children. George was also the executor. It was probated on April 10, 1854.2 Elizabeth died in 1858. She and Henry are buried at the Frank’s Burying Ground, Howe Township.3

Abraham Howe, b. 1781, d. September 25, 1848, m. 1813 Rebecca Werntz.4 They lived in Oliver Township. He wrote his will in May 1845.5 He requested that tombstones worth at least $50 be erected over his grave and that of his wife. His wife Rebecca was to have the house and all the estate for her life, maintaining and educating their daughter Lydia Ann and their adopted daughter Elizabeth Forster. At Rebecca’s death Lydia was to inherit the property and Elizabeth was to have the house in Newport borough. He added a codicil the same day. After his death the house was to be rented out and the proceeds paid to Rebecca. In the fall of 1848 Abraham died, and Rebecca died a week later, on October 1. Abraham and Rebecca are buried at Old Newport Cemetery.6 Lydia later married Philip Bosserman.7

Mary Howe, b. 1783,  d. after 1850, m. Joseph McCollum, lived in Niagara County, New York. Joseph and Mary were living in Niagara County in 1850, where he was a farmer. He wrote his will in 1850, “being desirous of discharging that duty which every man owes to his family of making such disposition of my property as shall be just.” In it he named his wife Mary, making provisions for her comfort, including paying for a “suitable female” to live with her, also eleven children: Johanna (deceased), William, John, Abram, Sarah, Mary Ann, Matilda, Caroline, Catherine, Rebecca, and Amanda “whose husband’s name I do not recollect”.8 He died in 1851 and is buried at North Ridge Cemetery, Niagara County. Mary is not buried there; it is unclear where she lived after he died.

Catharine Howe, b. 1785, d. young.

Susanna Howe, b. 1787, d. 1855, m. Thomas Boyd, r. Perry County. According to family stories he was a weaver and had a fine home and a weaving studio.9 Susanna died in 1855 and was buried at the Gunderman Burial Ground in Bucks Valley, Buffalo Township, Perry County.10 Thomas went to live with children in Iowa, remarried, died there in 1871 in Madison County.11 Known children of Thomas and Susanna were: William, Joseph, Rebecca Ann, Clementine Susanna, Delilah, Mary E., Christiana, and Isaac.12

William Howe, Jr., b. 1789, d. 1860, b. York Co., PA, m. 1817 Catharine Yingst. Their oldest daughter Susannah wrote out the family names and dates.13 William was the most prominent of this generation. In addition to farming, he also owned a sawmill. He served as a director of schools, a commissioner to erect a bridge over the Juniata, a tax collector and president of the school board. In 1846 a frame school house was built on the land of his brother Abraham Howe.14 Howe township was named for him when it was created from part of Buffalo Township. He died in 1860, naming his nine living children in his will (Henry, Abraham, Jerome, Harrison, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Catherine, Susanna, Christiana), plus the heirs of his deceased son William. Catherine had died in 1852. She and William are buried at Old Newport Cemetery.15

John Howe, b. July 29, 1792, d. Aug 14, 1847, m. 1819 Hannah North. Moved to Milford Township, Juniata County before 1840. In addition to farming, he also worked as a plasterer. Two of his sons followed in his trade. John and Hannah had children Elizabeth, Lydia, John, Jesse, Levi, Caroline, and possibly Johanna.16  John died in 1846 and Hannah lived with her children until her death in 1887. John and Hannah are buried at Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown.17

Edward Howe, b. 1794, d. Oct 1, 1863, m. 1823 Catharine Holopeter, moved to Ohio around 1832. In 1850 they were living in Miami County, Ohio with seven children, all born in Ohio except the oldest: Mary, Rebecca, William, Catherine, Elizabeth, Margaret, Adaline. Their neighbor in the census was Simon Hollypeter, probably a relative of Catherine’s.18 In 1860 three of the daughters were still living with them.19 Catharine died in July 1863; Edward died a few months after. They are buried at Beamsville Cemetery, Darke County, Ohio.

Anna Howe, b. 1796, d. Feb 1881, m. James Marshall, moved to Ohio. In 1850 they were in Sandusky County, Ohio, with daughters Letitia and Elizabeth, plus several grandchildren.20 He died in 1870; she died in 1881. They are buried at Beeler Cemetery, Lucas County, Ohio.21

Margaret Howe, b. 1799, d. 1880, m. William Brown, r. Perry County. William served in the War of 1812 and worked on the Juniata Canal, as well as being a farmer.22 They had children Robert, William, Abram, Susannah, and Margaret.23 William died in 1842; Margaret died in 1880. They are buried at Middle Ridge Presbyterian Churchyard, Juniata Township, Perry County.24

Esther Howe, b. 1802, d. 1878, m. David Mitchell. He died late 1849 or early 1850. In the 1850 census Esther was head of the house, in Greenwood Township, with five children living with her. David wrote his will in 1846.25 All his personal property was to go to his wife Esther, at her death to their son George. Esther was to stay in the house unless she remarried. He also named daughters Mary, Hannah, Martha, Susanna, Luisa, Esther and Margaret. Esther died in 1878; she and David are buried at the Mitchell Cemetery, Millerstown, Perry County.26

William Howe appeared in Warrington Township, York County, around 1779, when his name shows up in tax lists. The names of his parents are unknown. Some researchers list William’s father as Abraham Howe who died in 1766 in Menhallen Township, York County. This is a plausible assumption, since William named his eldest son Abraham. The older Abraham left his estate to “all my children”, without naming them. However the evidence seems to rule out William as a son.The Orphans Court records list seven minor children, but there is no William included.1 In addition William’s granddaughter Susanna Howe Humes wrote in 1890 that he was born on October 18, 1735, when Abraham was only fifteen and Abraham’s wife Elizabeth Mummert was not yet born.2 If William was really born in 1735, then he was twenty-five years older than Susanna and he was in his sixties when their last child was born.

Was William English or German? His name could be either one. York County was full of both English and Germans. His township, Warrington, was settled early by English Quakers who established Newberry Friends Meeting House.3  William was not a Quaker. The evidence of his wife’s family suggests that he was German, although Susanna Howe Humes wrote that he was born in England.4

William married Susanna Shoop some time before 1779, when their first child was born. Susanna was born in 1761, probably in York County, the daughter of Andrew Shoup of Warrington Township, York County. In 1790 Andrew died and left a tract of land in Penns Township, Northumberland County to William and Susanna. William was one of the executors of Andrew’s estate.5

William served in the York County militia from 1779 to 1783. He was part of the Fifth Company, First Batallion, and paid a fine of 16 shillings for some infraction, probably for missing drill or guard duty. He continued in the company when it was moved to the Sixth Batallion, and paid further fines. In 1781 he was listed as “infirm” and did not march with the batallion.6

William and Susanna owned 72 acres in York County, where they were taxed for land, two horses and two cows from 1779 through 1795. The property was about a mile north of Rossville, probably on the Old York Road.7 This was far from the largest holding in the township. Mathias Hollepeter, the other executor of Andrew Shoup’s estate, was taxed for 500 acres. By 1783 the township of Warrington had over 1,000 inhabitants. Rossville was a thriving community, with a nearby tannery and eleven mills.8

Land in York County may have become more expensive by the late 1700s. In 1790 William and Susanna moved north to Cumberland County, to a part that later became Perry County. They were probably living on the land inherited from Andrew. He described it as “All my Lands situated in Penns Township in the County of Northumberland Adjoining to the South and East of of Stophel Brunks Land”. Northumberland County had no Penns Township, whereas Cumberland County does. Stophel “Brunt” had 50 acres surveyed for him in Cumberland County in Aug 1755.9 In 1766 Stophel Brunk issued a caveat against a survey of a tract on the north branch of Middle Creek, Cumberland County, alledging that he had a prior warrant.10 All of this suggests that the land was in Cumberland County, probably in present-day Penn Township.

It is possible that William and Susanna moved with their family during the summer of 1790.They were  listed in the 1790 census in Cumberland County  with three males and four females, an accurate count of their family at the time.11, as William Howe.] In the same census they were also listed in Warrington Township, York County, with three males and four females, adjoining Amos Hussey, one of the witnesses of the will of Andrew Shoup.12 The most likely explanation of the two census records is that William and Susanna moved north during that year.13

In 1797 William and his wife sold their 74 acres in York County to Simeon Hutton for 350 pounds. William signed the transaction, while Susanna made her mark.14 They must have journeyed back down the river for this sale.

In 1800 they were living in Buffalo Township, Cumberland County, with ten people in the household.15 Because of township name changes it is hard to certain whether this is the land inherited from Andrew Shoup, but most likely it is further north, in an area that later became Perry County.16 They lived on the north side of the Juniata, on Bucks Valley Road.17 This area had been settled around 1762. There were three early ferries across the Juniata, plus taverns to accommodate travelers.18

By 1810 William and Susanna may have been living with one of their children, as they do not appear in the census.19 William died in 1814 in Buffalo Township.20 Their son Abraham was the administrator. In December 1816 he came into the Cumberland County Orphans Court at Carlisle to produce his account, showing a balance of $1414.44 in his hands, to be distributed according to law.21 The heirs were the widow Susanna and ten children: Abraham, William, John, Edward, Elizabeth married to Henry Frank, Mary married to Joseph McCollum, Susanna married to Thomas Boyd, Ann, Margaret and Esther. Earlier that year the three youngest daughters, Ann, Margaret, and Esther, had come into the same court to request a guardian for their affairs. The court appointed John Holopeter.22

At the time of his death William owned two adjoining tracts of land along the Juniata. Abraham came into Orphans Court in September 1816 and asked the court to make an inquest of the land and whether it could be divided for the heirs, for “separate enjoyment by them”.23 The court did so, and in mid-1817 each of the four brothers came into court to request confirmation on his share. The record sho. Cumberland County, Orphan’s Court Dockets 1815-1825, Vol. 6-7, page 230, image 142, September 10, 1816ws the acreage each one received, with the valuation, and the amount each had to pay yearly to their mother Susanna and their sisters. Strangely enough the four shares were nowhere near equal. Abraham got 104 acres, William 180, John 146, and Edward 88. But these lands, although adjoining, were valued at a range from over $17 per acre to only 77 cents per acre. So William’s share was worth $3189, John’s $1552, Abraham’s $432, and Edward’s only $68.24 Edward’s land fronted on the Juniata, so it would seem to have some value; perhaps his land was poor for farming.

Susanna lived for ten years after William. She wrote her will in November 1818, signed it by mark. In it she left her “household and kitchen furniture, my bed and my cow” to be divided among her three daughters Anna, Margaret and Esther.25 The interest due for her for her dower (one-third share of William’s estate), which her four sons had been paying to her, she left to them. Abraham and William were to be the executors. Several years later she added a bequest. Her son William and a man named George Frank came before the county register to depose that they were at the house of Susanna on the preceding December 18, during her last sickness, when she said that she wanted her son Edward to have her grey mare and the bell cow “for his trouble”.26 The will was probated on January 19, 1824.

She is buried with William in an old graveyard known as the Freeland-Long Graveyard.27 It lies in present-day Howe Township, off Red Hill Road and Gypsy Hollow Road, and close to Howe Run.28 According to Harry Focht, dean of the Perry County Historians, their house was nearby, further up the valley on Bucks Valley Road.29

In 1830 the four sons adjoin each other in the census, all in Buffalo Township. This would not last. Edward moved his family to Ohio before 1832, and the other sons and daughters gradually moved away.

(See the next post for more information on the next generation.)

Joshua North was born in 1745 in Providence Twp, Montgomery County, the third son of Roger North and Ann Rambo. Roger was a tanner and miller and Joshua would also become a tanner. In 1776 Joshua married Rebecca Cloyd, daughter of James Cloyd and Margaret Wilson of Charlestown, Chester County.1 Joshua and Rebecca settled on Wildcat Creek in Greenwood Township. The creek starts in Raccoon Valley, meanders through Wild Cat Valley and empties into the Juniata opposite Millerstown.2 Joshua’s land appears on an atlas of 1863 in Greenwood Township, on Wildcat Creek right where it flows into the Juniata.3 There Joshua and his brother Caleb built a tannery, in Millerstown, just north of the creek.4  Joshua operated it for sixteen years, then in 1816 sold it to Isaac McCord. Several owners later, it was bought by Charles Ripmann. The secret oak-bark recipe for tanning leather won several prizes for the Ripmann family.5 Joshua and Caleb also bought the island known as North Island, at the Rope Ferry Dam.6 There was a dam there, powered by a waterwheel and a rope ferry.7 The road there is still called Old Ferry Road.

From 1780 to 1782 Joshua served in Capt. David Boal’s second battalion, Col. James Purdy’s regiment of Cumberland County militia. Joshua came from a patriotic family with a tradition of military service; he would not have shirked this responsibility. This does not necessarily mean that he saw active duty in the Revolution, as several of his brothers did. Membership in the militia was compulsory for all able-bodied men of the right age, but only a few militia men were called for active duty.8

Joshua and Rebecca had four children together, born between 1777 and 1785. Rebecca died some time after 1785, and in February of 1796 Joshua married Mary Murray or Murphy in Mifflintown. Her family background is unknown.9 She was still having children in 1812, so she was considerably younger than Joshua. He was 67 when the youngest was born in 1812. Joshua and Mary had six children together before his death.

In his will, written in 1813 and proved in 1822, Joshua named his wife Mary and nine children, and referred to his first wife Rebecca. He directed that the farm and other property should be sold and the proceeds be divided into three equal parts: one part for Mary and two parts to pay for the other legacies. The three oldest sons—James, Caleb, and Joshua—were to inherit her third after her death. He left $70 to James, $210 to Caleb, and $10 to Joshua, $20 to his daughter Rebecca Doty, one dollar to Frederick, $100 to Hannah, $100 to John, $100 to Hiel, and $50 to Rodger. The uneven amounts probably show that they had already received part of their inheritance. The money for John and Hiel was to be held in trust until they turned twenty-one. The money for Rodger was to be used for “the most benefit of the said infant”. Roger and his wives were probably buried in the family burial ground off present-day Rt. 322-22. The old stones are gone now.10

Children of Joshua and Rebecca:11

James, b. 1777, d. 1828, m. 1) in 1800, Euphemia Davis, m. 2) in 1808, Rachel Jordan, dau. of Francis Jordan.12 Operated the tannery with Caleb and Joshua at Millerstown, Perry County13.  Children with Euphemia: Thomas, Lewis. Children with Rachel: Caleb, Sarah, Euphemia, Hannah, James, Amos, Rebecca, Elizabeth.

Caleb, b. 1779, d. 1825 in Millerstown, m. Abigail Lewis. In 1820 he was the Justice of the Peace for Perry  County.14 Children: William, Rebecca.

Joshua, b. 1782, m. — Van Camp; served in the War of 181215

Rebecca, b. 27 Mar 1785, d. 2 Feb 1855, m. 1) Daniel Lewis, 2) in 1811 Ezra Doty. All of her children were with Doty: Ann, Edmund, James, Horace. It is said that Ezra Doty, a young doctor from Connecticut, visited the area around 1790, was called upon to attend a patient, and decided to settle in the area.16 Rebecca is buried at Westminster Presbyterian cemetery with Ezra, who died in 1828.

Children of Joshua and Mary:

Frederick, alive in 1813 when Joshua wrote his will. No further record.

Hannah, b. 1796, d. 1887, m. 1819 John Howe, son of William & Susannah. In 1840 they moved from Perry County to Milford Township, Juniata County. John was a farmer and a plasterer. He died in 1847 and Hannah went to live with one of her children. She outlived John by 40 years. They are buried together at Westminster Cemetery in Mifflintown.17 Children: Elizabeth, Lydia, John, Jesse, Levi, Caroline.

John, b. ab. 1799, d. 1872, m. Jane Houston McAllister, r. McAllisterville; taxed in Fayette Township from 1842 to 1850 as a landowner and storekeeper; in the census in 1870 as an inn keeper. He kept the “brick house on the upper side of the square” as a hotel.18 Jane was the daughter of Hugh McAlister and granddaughter of another Hugh McAlister, a major in the Revolution.19 John and Jane are buried at Lost Creek Presbyterian.20 Children: C.B., Hugh, Thomas, Amelia, Samuel, Adolphus, Edmund, Eliza, Jenny, John, Alice.21

Hiel, b. ab. 1801, moved to Illinois, married Sarah Hutchinson or Hutchman in 1843 and had daughters Ann, Mary, Hannah.22 A farmer in the 1850 census in Northern District, Jackson County, Illinois, age 49.  He is said to have died in 1864, possibly in California.23

Ann, b. 1803, probably died young, not in Joshua’s will.

Oliver Rodger, b. 1812, moved to Illinois, d. unmarried in 1907 in St. Clair County.

Roger North was born about 1704, in Westmeath, Ireland, the son of Caleb North.1  The family was apparently well off, since the story was passed down that Roger had been educated for the ministry. He instead proposed to go to Pennsylvania, and his father replied, “If you are determined upon that, Roger, we will all go.”2 A receipt for their passage, for 38 guineas, was saved in the family. It was dated May 1, 1729, from Cork, Ireland. They arrived in Philadelphia on July 20. The receipt covered eleven people, which would include Caleb and his wife (whose name may have been Jane), Roger, and his seven younger brothers and sisters, and one other unknown.3

Either Caleb or Roger bought 69 acres from the Penn family at Gilbert Manor, Montgomery County, and settled there.4 The tax list of Philadephia County for 1734 shows the 69 acres in Providence (part of Gilbert Manor) as owned by Roger North. There was no land in Caleb’s name in 1734. Perhaps Caleb died soon after their arrival. If so, Roger supported the family until his brothers and sisters married and left home.

In 1732 Roger married Ann Rambo, daughter of Peter and Magdalena. The Rambos were a well-known Swedish family, founded in Pennsylvania by Peter Gunnarson Rambo in 1640. Roger was an immigrant, while Ann was the third generation of her family born in Pennsylvania. Roger and Ann are said to have lived at the mouth of Mingo Creek, in Providence Township, Montgomery County, where Roger was a miller and a tanner.5 Present-day Mingo Creek flows into the Schuylkill further south, nowhere near Providence Township. Perhaps one of the smaller creeks in Upper Providence Township was formerly known as Mingo Creek.

Roger and Ann were members of St. James Episcopal Church at Perkiomen. Founded before 1710, it served families of the Skippack, Perkiomen and Limerick areas. In 1736 a group of the parishioners sent a petition to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in London requesting that a minister be sent to them. The list of signers included Peter Rambo and Rodger Worth (probably an error for Roger North).6

In 1748 Roger was a lieutenant in the provincial militia. Years later, when the Revolution began, Roger made a patriotic speech at the Trappe Inn supporting it. He is reported to have said that “although disabled himself by age and infirmity to engage in the struggle for human rights, his sons belonged to his country in the day of her need and not to himself, and the liberty of the colonies must and should be defended.”7

Roger and Ann had thirteen children together, including eight sons who may have served in the Revolution.  After the war the sons obtained land bounties and moved to Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and upstate New York. Several of them had already moved northwest to central Pennsylvania.

In the tax list of Philadelphia County in 1769, Roger was listed as a miller, with 220 acres, five horses and four cows, plus a grist mill. By 1774, he had 180 acres and no mill.8 By the time he wrote his will in 1784, he had only 70 acres. He must have been selling his land gradually.9 Some of his sons lived in Montgomery County initially, but none of them stayed there.

Roger died in 1785. In his will, written on August 27, 1784, he left all the household goods to Ann except for his writing desk, which was to go to his son George. She was to have the middle room in the house, where she would be living with their son Thomas. If she wanted to live elsewhere, Thomas was to pay her £15 yearly for maintenance. He left cash legacies to each of the sons, except Samuel, who had already received his portion. Thomas was to pay the others out of the proceeds from the estate. Thomas received the land (70 acres), the house, the livestock and implements. The daughters were not mentioned in the will; they must have already received their portions. They were presumably already married by 1784.10 The inventory showed a comfortable household, with furniture including a tea table, livestock, farm implements, tools, and a shad seine.11 After his death Ann presumably lived with Thomas in Providence Township.12 She wrote her will on December 18, 1797. Most of the household goods were to go to her daughter Sophia, with other special legacies such as three pewter plates to granddaughter Hannah Humphries, 6£ to grandson Samuel Davis, and the large margin Bible to son Joshua. The bulk of her estate, in the form of cash, bonds, and notes, was to be divided among her four daughters: Sophia, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Ann. If any of the heirs, especially George McElhaney, brought any charges against the estate, then those charges were to be deducted from their one-fourth portion. She signed it by mark. She must have died in the spring of 1798, since the inventory of her estate was taken on March 3. It showed the contents of a comfortable room, with a tea table, tea kettle, and two tea pots, plus £103 in cash and notes.13

All of the sons of Roger and Ann served in the military during the Revolution, either in the regulars or the militia. Eliza Keyes, widow of George North, was still alive in 1857 and she passed on a story about the fighting North brothers.  “Captain North inherited from an older brother, Col. Caleb North, his sword, a pair of pistols used by a progenitor at the Boyne water about 1690, and a black charger which had borne him at the head of his troop on many a hard fought field, especially at Monmouth, in which battle it is supposed that seven of the brothers participated, and concerning which it is said that there is in the family an autograph letter of compliments from Washington himself.”14 She may have confused this with a known letter from Washington to Caleb North complimenting him on taking a French ship from the British, and instructing him on how to deal with the cargo.15

Children of Roger and Ann:16

Sophia, b. 1734, m. 1) Isaac Davis in 1756 at Trappe Church, 2) George McElhaney in 1766, lived in Charlestown, Chester County. George died in 1802. Sophia left a will, proved in June 1819, naming her six surviving children: Lewellin, Roger, Hannah, Elizabeth, Sophie, George.17 Other children had already died.18

Samuel, b. Sept 8, 1735, supposedly d. 177819, had at least three known children (Joseph, Mary, Ann). He fought in the Revolution.20 The name of his wife or wives is in question. Stipes said he married a woman named Adams; the Rambo Tree adds a second marriage to  Barbara Hagermood; however his brother Roger was also supposed to have married Barbara Hagermood.21  Samuel probably lived in Perry County at some point, as his son Joseph married his cousin there. Joseph’s sister Ann married Samuel Harvey, who lived in Chester County, on the Juniata, Harper’s Ferry and Germantown at various times. Harvey became president of the Bank of Germantown.22

Sarah, b. 1737, m. Elisha Davis in 1759 at Trappe Church; he may have been the brother of her sister Sophia’s husband Isaac. The tradition was passed down that Elisha was lost at sea.23 Sarah died June 18, 1813 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Children: Roger, Sarah.24

Elizabeth, b. Nov 2, 1740, d. 1813, m. George Evans in 1764 in Mifflintown, Juniata County. George was a surveyor. She died Feb. 24, 1813 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Children: Frederick,  Lewis, Caleb, Lydia, William.25 Frederick helped build Fort McHenry, was second-in-command during the bombardment, wrote a vivid account of the shells falling.26

John, b. Oct 5, 1743, d. 1799, m. Catherine Borce or Boyce in 1767, bought land in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1792. Dexter North said that he died in Hocking County, Ohio, but his wife Katherine advertised in a Pennsylvania paper for payments of debts owed the estate on Dec  4, 1799, and a year later advertised “for let” a plantation of 310 acres on the Juniata River, Greenwood Township, Cumberland County, late the estate of John North, adjoining Joshua North.27 Perhaps she moved back to Cumberland County after John died, to sell property he still owned there.28 Children: Sophia, Ann (Nancy), Elizabeth, Catherine, Euphemia, Sarah, Hannah, Abigail, Caleb, John. A family Bible was passed down to descendents with dates. Catherine died in 1816.

Joshua, b. Nov 3, 1745, d. 1822, m. 1) 1776 Rebecca Cloyd, 2) 1796 Mary Murray, lived in Cumberland County (later Perry County). He served in the militia in 1780 to 1782. He started a tannery with his brother Caleb in Greenwood Township. They also owned an island in the Juniata River, known as North’s Island, near the old Rope Ferry Dam. They built the dam and a rope ferry there.29  Joshua wrote a will, proved in 1822 in Perry County, named his wife Mary and children from both wives. Children with Rebecca: James, Caleb, Joshua, Rebecca. Children with Mary: Frederick, Hannah, John, Hiel, Roger.30

William, b. 1747, d. 1834, m. 1778 Catherine Elizabeth Jordan, moved to Greenwood Township, Juniata County after the Revolution. Children: Rachel, Abigail, Catherine, and Wilhelmina.31 He is sometimes confused with his nephew William, son of Caleb.

Roger, b. 1749, m. 1) Elizabeth Todd (her brother was the grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln), 2) (supposedly) Barbara Hagermood (see the bio of Roger’s brother Samuel). Roger moved to Charlestown, Chester County, was in West Nantmeal for the 1790 and 1800 census, and was buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery there in 1831.32 His wife Elizabeth died in 1803.33 There is no consensus on the names of his children, possibly four by his second marriage.  Roger received an annuity in 1825 for his Revolutionary War service.34

Nancy, b. 1750, d. 1826, m. John Humphreys in 1772, moved to Charlestown Township, Chester County where John bought the homestead of his parents, later moved to Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Children: John, Hannah, David, George W, Roger, Ann, Abigail.35 He died there in 1796; Nancy died in 1826 at the home of her son George Washington Humphreys.36

Caleb, b. 1753, d. 1840, m. Abigail Hockley in 1782, Lydia Lewis in 1795; had a distinguished career in the Revolution, fought at the Battles of Brandywine, Paoli, and Monmouth.  In the charge up the hill at Monmouth, the officer on one side of him was killed and the officer on the other side had two horses shot under him.37 He settled in Coventry, Chester County and was later made High Sheriff of Pennsylvania.38 Child with Abigail: Francis. Children with Lydia: Ann, Sarah, Caleb, Emmeline, George W, Maria, Edwin, Louisa, Ella Harriet. Caleb left a will, written in 1837, proved in 1840 in Chester County, naming his wife Lydia and eight of his children. Francis was dead, leaving a widow. There was no mention of Louisa.39

George, b. ab. 175440, d. 1814, m. Sarah Evans in Jan 12, 1786 at First Baptist Church, Phila, married Eliza Keyes in 1794. He first moved to Chester County, then moved to Keep Tryste Furnace near Harpers Ferry about 1790. Sarah died there in 1793, and he married Eliza the following year. George ended up in Fairfax County, Virginia, and died in Alexandria in December 1814. Children with Sarah: Ann, Lydia, Mary (or Sarah), William41; Children with Eliza: Mary, Sarah, William, Thomas, Eliza, Aurelia, Emily, Nathaniel, George. Eliza was granted a pension in 1851 for his Revolutionary service; she died in 1859.42

Thomas, b. 28 Aug 1757, d. 1815, m. 1783 Naomi Davis in central Pennsylvania, moved to Ludlowville, New York by 1799. Naomi survived him by thirty years, dying in 1844. Possible children: Mary Ann, Joshua, Eliza, Jemiah, Joseph, Rodger.

Hannah, b. 1761, d. 1785, m. James Parker; she died in Kentucky; he was said to be killed by Indians in Kentucky.43 They left a son North Parker, born about 1783 in Kentucky.44

Caleb North was from Westmeath, in the Irish midlands. The North family of Westmeath is supposed to be related to the distinguished English North family, which included the prime minister under King George III, various barons of Guilford, and other notables. The prevalence of the given name Roger in both lines and the similarity in the coat of arms may have led to the tradition of a relationship.1

Caleb is supposed to be the son of Roger, who was in turn the son of John.2 The story is that John North, called “the Cromwellian”, went to Ireland in 1650 with Cromwell and stayed there. Although there is no direct evidence to place him in the English family, he could have been an illegitimate son or a scion of a minor branch.3

John North was part of a group of Cromwell’s officers who got land in Westmeath. According to John McCormack: “In the division of the lands of the Irish chiefs forty nine Cromwellian officers got no land – they rebelled and some of them later got land in Fartullagh. One of them was Mr. John North… The Norths lived in Newcastle until around 1780. They were very industrious and with the help of money from the English branch of the family they developed their land and soon there were Norths in Tyrrellspass, Clonfad, Whitewell and Guilford… They had large families and soon they were  too numerous for the available land. Many of them emigrated to the United States in the 18^th century.”4

McCormack added that the Barony of Fartullagh, Westmeath, was known as “Tyrrell’s country”, after the descendants of the Norman barons who owned it since 1173.5 The culmination of their power was in 1650, when they had five castles, at Newcastle, Kilbride, Gaybrook, Tyrrellspass and Castlelost. Because they were Irish chiefs who opposed Cromwell, all of these were seized by Cromwell after the war. All were destroyed except Tyrrellspass, which may have been spared because one of the Tyrrells supported Cromwell. Some of the North family lived at Kilbride Castle, probably in a house there, since the castle was in ruins.6 These places form a cluster, about ten miles across, centered on Kilbride. Tyrrellspass is south of it, as is Castlelost. Gaybrook is north.7 The civil parish was Newcastle. The barony (a larger subdivision) was Fartullagh. Trim, further northeast, where Roger North’s will was proved in 1701, was the former county town of Meath, later supplanted by Navan.

Little is known about John North except that he lived in Kilbride about 1660 and had two sons, Roger and John.8 The sons both married about 1680, but there are no surviving church records for them. Most of the family were Protestants, and many Church of Ireland records were lost in the 1922 fire in the Public Records Office in Dublin.

John’s son Roger “of Newcastle, West Meath”, married and had six known children. His will was proved in 1701 at Trim.9

Children of Roger and an unknown wife:10

Joseph, m. Mary Emor in 1705, will probated Aug 1729, children: Roger, Richard, Philip, Susanna, Emor, Joseph, Sarah, Mary, William, Michael, John, Anne.

Caleb of Newcastle, m. ?Jane, went to Pennsylvania, children: Roger, Caleb, Joshua, Ann, Catherine, Elizabeth, Sarah, Joseph. All of the children were born in Ireland, between 1704 and 1721.11

Elizabeth, immigrated to Maine, married there, Francis Cooper, died 1740.

Roger of Kilbride Castle12, died 1766, m. 1704 Mary Wade, children: William, Joseph13

Susanna, m. 28 Nov 1733 William Smith of County Wicklow

Mary North, ?died before 1748, m.  ab. 1710 Caleb Emerson. He died 1748 in Philadelphia.14 Children: Elizabeth, Joshua, Ann. Elizabeth and Ann went to Pennsylvania, while Joshua stayed in Ireland.15

Some of this generation are named in a three-lives lease in 1726.16 This was a lease from Joseph and Mary North of Newcastle, Westmeath, to Roger North of Dublin, gentleman, for land in Newcastle, for the lives of Richard, Mary, and Caleb North. Since Joseph’s father Roger supposedly died in 1701, this could not have been him. It was most likely Joseph’s son Roger. Richard was Roger’s brother. Mary and Caleb were his aunt and uncle.17 It is interesting that Joseph and Roger are both described as gentlemen in the lease, and that Roger was living in the city of Dublin. In 1736 his marriage settlement from his father-in-law described Roger as of Newcastle.18

Caleb North was born about 1678. He is said to have married Jane Eckersley, supposedly the daughter of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but this is almost certainly a fraud. It was based on a genealogy by Harriet Bainbridge who made fraudulent claims for her American clients, sometimes involving faked noble ancestry.19 The tree that Bainbridge drew for her client James North of Augusta, Maine, seems to be accurate in the main, but suspect in this detail. The story passed down in the Pennsylvania North family is that Caleb eloped with his wife, making a runaway marriage.20 The Bomford site suggested that she may have been Jane Berkeley. John Berkeley was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for two years starting in 1670, but there is no sign of a daughter Jane in his known children.21 It is possible that Bainbridge simply invented the relationship.

In 1730 Caleb and Jane (if that was her name) moved to Pennsylvania with their children. The story was passed down that Caleb’s son Roger had been educated for the ministry but instead proposed to go to Pennsylvania. His father replied, “If you are determined upon that, Roger, we will all go.”22 A receipt for their passage, for 38 guineas, was saved in the family. It was dated May 1, 1729, from Cork, Ireland.23

They bought 69 acres from the Penn family at Gilbert Manor, Montgomery County, and settled there.24 The tax list of Philadephia County for 1734 shows the 69 acres in Providence (part of Gilbert Manor) as owned by Roger North. Perhaps Caleb died soon after their arrival. He apparently did not leave a will.

Children of Caleb and Jane: (all born in Ireland)

Roger, b. 1704, d. 1785, m. 1732 Ann Rambo, daughter of Peter and Magdalin. They lived in Providence Township, where Roger was a miller and tanner. Children: Sophie, Samuel, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, Joshua, William, Roger, Nancy, George, Caleb, Thomas, Hannah. The story is that eight of the sons served in the Revolution. Ann died in 1798.25

Caleb, did not marry.26

Joshua, m. Susanna Empson in 1754 at Old Swedes Church, Philadelphia.27

Ann, m. — Jansen

Catherine, m. 1731 James Snowden (b. 1711) at First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, had at least seven children.28

Elizabeth, m. 1749 George Plymm at Christ Church, Philadelphia. A George Plim died in 1773 leaving a wife Elizabeth and son George.29

Sarah, no further record

Joseph, b. 1721, d. 1810, m. Lydia Price; lived in Philadelphia, a tanner.

Hans Peter Umstead, the emigrant, was born about 1650, probably in Kriegsheim, in the Rheinland.1 He was the son of Nicholas Umstat, who lived in Kreigsheim. The father Nicholas was born about 1625. His name was on a register of inhabitants of Kriegsheim in 1661, with no religion listed. The same list included Peter Schuhmacher, Görg Schuhmacher, Gilles Cassel, and Arnold Schuhmacher, all described as Menists (Mennonites).2 Kriegsheim is a small town near Monsheim and Worms, about four miles west of the Rhine.3

A Bible was given to Nicholas in 1652 by his brother-in-law Matthias Wasselet or Wohlvelet, probably from Hohen-Sülzen, a small town near Kriegsheim.4 The exact relationship of Nicholas to Matthias is not known. There are hand-written notations in the Bible, some written by Nicholas and some by his son Hans Peter who inherited it after Nicholas’ death.

One notation said (in translation): “December 16, 1680, the comet star with a long tail was seen the first time.” This was the Great Comet of 1680, bright enough to be visible in the daytime and one of the brightest of the seventeenth century.5 Another said, “In the year 1658 the cold was so great that even the Rhine was frozen up. On the 31st of January so great a snow fell that it continued four days.”6

Other notations gave information about the family. “October 4, 1682, about 4 o’clock in the morning, our father Nicholas Umstat died.” He was about 57 years old. This was clearly written by Hans Peter. Unfortunately Nicholas did not record the births of his children in the Bible. Nicholas probably had another son, Johannes Nicolaus, born about 1647 to 1648. He was confirmed in the Monsheim Lutheran church on June 7, 1663 at age 15.7 Also Hans Peter did not record the death of his mother in the Bible, suggesting that she had died before he inherited it. Her name is unknown.

Hans Peter married a woman named Barbara around 1670. Her last name is not known. They had three known children, born between about 1670 to 1675. The religious affiliation of Nicholas and Hans Peter is unclear; they are “conspicuous by their absence” in the list of Mennonites of Kriegsheim.8 Although it has been suggested that Hans Peter became a Quaker, he does not appear in early Quaker records. Chris Hueneke speculated that “Han’s Peter’s wife Barbara was either a Quaker or a Mennonite and it is because of her religion that they left Kriegsheim.”9 A Mennonite historian assumes that Hans Peter Umstat was a Mennonite, along with the Van Bebbers, Peter Schumacher, Gerhard Hendricks, and others.10

Herr Schmal, a local official, wrote to his superiors about the Mennonites and Quakers; three of his letters have been preserved.11

The first one was sent in July 1684.

There are in Griesheim five households of Quakers who, not just in this town, as is well known, give much aggravation, but also cause much unrest and bother … not to mention that they now and then have given out some little tracts, printed in Holland and England, introducing their sect, and have also tried to teach their poison to others …

… they respect no authority, and throughout (your) gracious reign, have been unwilling to pay any protection money, or to pay tithes to the high-domed cathedral in Worms or to recognize the town pastors’ authority …

… it is difficult to get them to pay the Turkish War tax and they refuse to stand duty as night watchmen as do others in the community, and above all this, when [the authorities] confiscate some livestock or wine or fruit for back taxes or other unavoidable reasons, and sell them, they are not afraid to say that the goods were stolen from them or to accuse those who buy them of buying stolen property …

… then, here in this town, these goods are desirable and can’t [otherwise or normally] be bought with money …

… but these people, who own the most and the best, might better have listened to higher instructions, … that it might have been cheaper to instruct these people to be subject, like other faithful [citizens], or else to sell their belongings and leave the country.12

The next month Schmal wrote again, complaining that they refuse “to pay the assessment, the Turkish war tax, the protection money, the large and small tithes, or the church and school tax…They are a type of people who irritate many, and who respect and serve no one but themselves; therefore, for these reasons and many more, it is wished that they would trade their belongings to other people, those things being desirable in this town, and which can not be purchased with money, (and) that they would follow our desire and leave the area.”13

In another letter, in November 1684, Schmal listed some of the peculiarities of the sect: they were not willing to swear an oath or bear arms; they did not baptise children as infants; and they choose one of themselves to act as “Reminder” and remind the others to do good deeds. He admitted that their faith is similar to his, and that their catechism was based on the Heidelberg Catechism.

In the summer of 1685 Hans Peter and Barbara sought to immigrate to Pennsylvania. Along with Gerhard Hendricks and Peter Schumacher, Hans Peter submitted a request for passports.14

“We the undersigned, with this make it known to the office at Hochheim, under which jurisdiction we reside, as far as it can be allowed by the Amtsschaffner, and is not hindered by God, (our desire) to transport ourselves, along with our households, to Holland, and therefore it is our request of the official, that he grant us an attestation, that we might pass through customs unhindered; then, with a farewell from our neighbors and acquaintances, we would gladly leave. We also earnestly hope that we have good standing with them and them with us, that no one therefore would have any grievances, and we hope that this might be granted to us.” Kriegsheim 8 May 1685

They made their arrangements and probably sold their houses, but heard nothing, since they submitted a similar request in June. They probably received permission eventually, since it would have been difficult to travel without passports for the many border and customs checkpoints along the Rhine. In August they travelled down the Rhine to Rotterdam, where they met with Dirck Sipman to buy land.15 Dirck Sipman was a merchant of Krefeld who bought 5000 acres in 1682, subject to settling families on it. He sold land to Hendricks, Umstat and Schumacher, giving each one an identical deed for 200 acres and a lot in Germantown, to be laid out by Herman Isacks op den Graeff. They would make payment of two Rix dollars to Sipman as ground rent. The condition was they were to settle on the land with their families. He paid for their passage and they left with the “first good wind” for Pennsylvania.16 The next leg of the trip would take them to London, where they sailed on the Francis and Dorothy under the command of Richard Bridgeman.17 They arrived in Pennsylvania in October.

Hans Peter and Barbara sailed with their children John, Anna Margaretta and Eve.18 They settled in Germantown, where they would spend the rest of their lives. Hans Peter worked as a farmer and possibly as a wagon maker.19

In 1691 Hans Peter was naturalized in 1691. (His son Johannes was too young.) In 1692 Hans Peter bought more land in Germantown from Abraham op den Graeff and others.20 The same year he signed the petition against the tax bill, along with many Germantown residents.21 In second month 1692, when Henry Frey married Anna Catherine Levering,  many Germantown residents attended, including Hans Peter and Johannes Umstat. They signed the witness list, Johannes by mark. Hans Peter was evidently successful, as he paid one of the highest taxes in 1693 in Germantown.22 In 1694 Hans Peter transferred 25 acres of his Germantown land to Johannes. If Johannes was actually born in 1673, then this would be his coming-of-age portion.

In 1695 Hans Peter was fined, along with Peter Cleaver, for failing to appear as fence viewers. Johannes refused to serve the following year, claiming that he did not know the fences in his Quarter.23 Mennonites often refused to serve as fence viewers, feeling that it could lead to conflicts with their neighbors.

In 1696 Hans Peter made an entry in his Bible. “February 10, 1696, my daughter Anna Margaretta died.” The absence of a marriage record suggests that she died unmarried, at about 20 to 24 years of age. About 1697 Johannes married a woman named Mary. Once again the absence of a marriage record strongly suggests that they were Mennonite.

In 1699 Eve married Hendrick Pannebecker. An emigrant from the Rhineland, he had arrived in Germantown in September 1698. He was probably Reformed, not Mennonite, and since he and Eve would have most of their children baptized in Reformed Churches, it is clear that she followed his faith. They lived in Germantown at first, then moved up to Bebber’s Township, where Hendrick was a landowner, farmer, and surveyor.

Johannes, son of Hans Peter, married a woman named Mary. They were living in Germantown in 1701 when he served on a coroner’s jury. The verdict of the jury, in 4^th month 1701, was that the “cart and lime killed the man, the wheel wounded him and it killed him”.24 In 1704 he was on another jury. Abraham op den Graeff sued David Sherkes for slander after Sherkes said that no honest man would be in Abraham’s company. The jury found for Sherkes.25 By 1708 Johannes was in Bebber Township, further north in Philadelphia County, along with his brother-in-law Hendrick Pannebecker.26 Pennypacker suggested that Hendrick and  Johannes Umstat had a prior understanding with Matthias Van Bebber to settle on his land. It was fertile and well-watered, but far from Philadelphia.27

In 1702 Hans Peter made a final record in his Bible, “August 12, 1702, my wife Barbara died.”28 It is not known when Hans Peter died. In October 1710 he signed a deed conveying 50 acres in Germantown to George Adam Hogermood.29 Perhaps he went to live with one of his children after that.

Children of Hans and Barbara:

Anna Margaretta, b. ab. 1672, d. 1696, m. (?) Gerhard Rettinghaus. This marriage is widely cited, but there is no primary evidence for it. Anna Margaretta’s death in 1696 is noted in the Bible of her father Hans Peter, but he did not give a marriage record for her.30 Gerhard Rettinghaus was widowed about 1696, but the name of his wife is not known.

Johannes, b. about 1673, d. 1747, m. Mary, lived in Germantown, then in Bebber’s Township. It is often claimed that his wife was Mary Pannebaker, sister of Heinrich, but there is no primary evidence for this.31 One researcher suggested that Mary might be the daughter of Herman Bon, an early settler of Germantown, whose lot was close to the Umstead’s.32 They lived in Germantown at first, sold land there in 1704, then moved to Skippack. Johannes died in late 1747, leaving no will. On January 5, 1747/8 Mary renounced her right to administer.  Later that year Mary and the other heirs conveyed land to Henry Umstead, one of the heirs.33 Children: John, Peter, Henry, Jacob, Herman.

Eve, b. 1674, d. 1764, m. Heinrich Pannebecker, the 1698 emigrant. They lived in Germantown, then moved to Bebber’s Township on the Skippack around 1702. Heinrich became the largest landowner there and worked as surveyor. Children: Martha, Catherine, Oliffe, Peter, John, Barbara, Jacob, Henry.

Andreas Souplis is a bit of a mystery. It is often repeated that he was born in 1634, a native of Alsace, a Huguenot and an officer in the French army, that he left France in 1682 for Germany and married a German woman named Gertrude Stressinger.1 Unfortunately it appears that most, if not all, of this is false. Andreas was probably born at least twenty years after 1634, was almost certainly not an army officer, and was probably not even a Huguenot. The fact that his name is often written as Supplee is probably what suggested the French ancestry, but there is some evidence that he was Dutch.

The earliest known records for Andreas are from New York. In September 1685 he was admitted as a burger and citizen of New York, with freedom to buy land and to trade.2 An ambiguous record in New York at the same time suggests that he was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church there, if in fact it refers to him. A record in the membership list for December 1684 said, “Andries Souplÿ, j.m. met attestatie van Amsterd” (young man with a certificate from Amsterdam). In the margin was added, “afgevallen en Quaeckers geworden daar na gestorven.” A footnote gave the translation, “Fell off from the faith and became a Quaker, and afterwards died.”3 This very interesting record gives several pieces of information: that this Andries Souply arrived from Amsterdam, that he came with a certificate from a Reformed church there, that he became a Quaker, and “afterwards died”. If this is the Andres Souplis who appeared soon after in Germantown, we have to assume that the recorder of the Dutch church could not tell the difference between a Quaker and a member of another sect such as a Mennonite, and that Souplis did not actually die but simply left the colony of New York.4 The designation of Souply as a “j.m.” (young man) is problematic, since this would usually refer to an unmarried man and by December 1684 Andreas was married.5

On Sept 20, 1684, a baptism record at the Dutch church of New York shows a baptism of a son Bartholomew to parents Annetie Bartholomeus and Andries. Andries’ last name was not given. The sponsors were Marten Clock and his wife Lysbeth Abrahams.6 This is interesting for three reasons: the timing is right for Andreas Souplis’ known children; his wife’s name was known to be Anneke (a variant of Annetje); Andreas and Anneke named their first son Bartholomew. Marten and Lysbeth are not known to be related. It certainly falls within the time when Andreas is believed to be in New York.

Some time before 1682 Andreas married Anneke. Her last name is unknown. They could have married in Holland or in New York. In 1686 they bought 50 acres in Germantown from William and Maricke Streepers. Andries was naturalized there in 1691 and acted as sheriff of Germantown.7 His service as sheriff in Germantown does not imply, as some have suggested, that he was “held in high esteem” by William Penn. At the time Germantown was a self-governing borough and many of the adult men served as one of the many officers, such as burgess, sheriff, road viewer, or fence overseer. In 1693 Andreas was taxed in Germantown for his 50-acre holding.8  He worked as a weaver, like many early Germantown residents.9 In 1692 Garrett Hendricks apprenticed his son Lambert to Andrew, presumably to learn the weaver’s trade.10 The same year Andrew and “Anneckie” Supplee were witnesses at the marriage of Henry Fry and Anna Levering in Germantown. She signed by mark.11  Also in 1692 Andreas signed a petition (as Andrew Seeply) against a tax bill, along with many of his Germantown neighbors.12

Anneke died between 1692 and 1697. After Anneke’s death Andreas sold the Germantown land with its “three story stone messuage” and moved, with his unmarried children, to Kingsessing, Philadelphia County.13 He bought land there from Peter Petersson Yocum.14 By 1697 he was married to Gertrude Enochson. She was probably the daughter of Hans Månsson , who deeded land around 1673 to Garret Enochson, her first husband, with whom she had two children. After Garret’s death she married his brother Harman. He died about 1702 and she married Lasse Bartleson (also known as Lasse Parker), a Finn.15 After his death she married Andreas Souplis, as her fourth husband.16

Andreas died in March 1727 in “Kingsess”, leaving his wife Gertra and five children. In his will he named them all, along with two of his sons-in-law. He signed the will as “Andris Souplis”, in a clear hand. His “well beloved wife Gertra” was to have a third of his goods, along with the house and land for her lifetime. After her death it was to be sold and the proceeds divided among his children, along with the other two-thirds of the personal estate.17 The inventory of his estate was taken on the first day of March 1726/27. It included the usual household goods and farm implements, plus 22 sheep, which must have provided the wool for his weaving.18

Gertrude was assessed in 1734 for forty acres in Kingsessing. She died there in 1738. In her will she asked to be buried at Wiccoco Church (the Swedish church) with her late husband, presumably Andreas. She named several of her own children (David, Henry and Catherine) and several grandchildren.19 Her inventory was taken on December 14, 1738 by Nathan Gibson and her neighbor John Bartram. It included the usual furniture, household and farm implements, plus a weaving loom with gears and thirty sheep.20

The land that Andreas and Gertra owned in Kingsessing had a later history of its own. After Gertra died, her stepson Andrew sold the tract to the botanist John Bartram.21 It became part of his holdings on the Schuylkill, and is preserved as the “south meadow” there, part of the oldest botanical garden in the country.22

Children of Andries and Anneke:23

Margaret, b. ab. 1682, died after February 1744 in Germantown24, m. 1) in 1700 Peter Keyser, 2) Michael Eccard of Germantown. She first married Peter Keyser, who had emigrated with his father from Amsterdam. They lived in Germantown and had ten children: Dirck, Andries, Peter Dirck, Jacob, Abraham, Elizabeth, Anneke, Catelyntje, Johannes, Margaret. Peter died in 1724, leaving most of the children under age, and Margaret married Michael Eccard, who owned a small farm in the “back part” of Germantown. Eccard was a generous man, in his will of 1763 leaving £50 to the Lutheran Church in Germantown, and £20 for a hospital for the poor.25

Bartholomew, alive in 1724, possibly died about 1744, lived in Blockley Township26. There is no evidence that he married or left children.

Andrew, b. 1688, d. 1747, lived in Upper Merion, a maltster and merchant, m. Deborah Thomas.27 Buried at Norris City Cemetery, Norristown.28 His will, written and proved in 1747, named his wife Deborah, and his children Hance, Jonas, Andrew, John, Catherine, Sarah, Susannah.29

Ann, died in 1755, m. before 1724 Claes (Charles) Yocum.

Jacob, m. Elizabeth Enoch in 1720 at First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.30 Born Elizabeth Vansant, she was the widow of John Enoch, Gertrude Enoch’s grandson. Jacob was named in Gertrude’s will as Jacob Supplee.31 They lived in Upper Merion.

Peter Dirck Keyser was born in 1676 in Amsterdam and came to Pennsylvania with his father as a young boy.  He attended the evening school in Germantown. On Sept 4, 1700 he married Margaret Souplis, daughter of Andreas Souplis and his wife Anneke. Peter wrote in his Bible, “This is to certifiy that on the 4th of September, 1700, I married Margareth Sieplie, aged eighteen years. May the Lord grant us his blessing, and all which will be necessary for us in this world and in the world to come, and we will praise his holy name, now and forever. Amen.”1

Peter was a shoemaker. In 1705 he bought a three-acre tract in Germantown from Cornelis Clausen for £24 10s.2 In 1716 he bought 100 acres of land on the Skippack from John Roeloff van der Werfe in 1716, but he and Margaret and their family stayed in Germantown.  Peter was naturalized in 1709.3 (He had been too young for the 1691 naturalization.)

Peter died in 1724, at a relatively young age, leaving nine children, only two of whom were of age. He wrote his will in August 1724; it was proved in October of that year.4 He left to his “dear and loving wife Margaret” all his estate, unless she remarried, in which case she would get only one-third and the remaining two-thirds would be divided among the surviving children. He specified that if his son Peter “hath a mind to settle on the tract of land at Sippack”, he could have it, making yearly payments to Margaret in produce. Peter was the third son; the two oldest ones may have already had an inheritance portion.

In an interesting stipulation, Peter requested that his wife “shall take all possible care for my old mother-in-law Elizabeth, if she shall be helpless or want some assistance”. Peter’s mother Elizabeth and stepmother Johanna were both dead. Margaret’s mother Anneke was dead by then and her father had married a woman named Gertrude. This is one of the pieces of evidence that Peter’s father Dirck had entered a previously unknown marriage, with a woman named Elizabeth, after his arrival in Pennsylvania as a widower.

The executors were Margaret and her brother Andrew Souplis and Dirck, son of Peter and Margaret. In fact she did marry again, to Michael Eccard of Germantown, and outlived Peter by twenty years. The inventory of Peter’s estate shows that he was a farmer and shoemaker (or cordwainer). This trade was passed down to at least two of his sons. As Wolf put it, in her study of Germantown, “Some of the best established families in certain crafts did maintain themselves through, perhaps, one son. There is usually a … Keyser cordwainer to be found in the records. Yet, by the third generation there are also Keysers, for example, who are masons, house carpenters, yeomen, and just plain ‘laborers’.”5

The inventory included “Books and Book Dets, 10 pounds”, cash, clothes, furniture and kitchen ware , livestock, shoemaker’s and carpenter’s tools, farm implements, a plantation at Scheepack [Skippack], and one hundred acres of land in Germantown with a house on it.  The total came to £375, including £70 for the land in Skippack, £90 for his house and lot in Germantown, £110 for another 100 acres in Germantown.

Children of Peter and Margaret:6

Dirck, b. Sept 26, 1701, d. Jan 8, 1756, m. Alice Neus. Dirck was a cordwainer and tanner like his father. His estate included 370 hides, tanned and untanned, 17 dozen calf skins, and 19 dozen sheepskins.7 Children (named in his will): Alice, Hannah, Elizabeth, John, Peter, Dirck, Michael.8

Andrew, b. July 22, 1703, d. 1776, m. Hannah Lücken.9 He was a blacksmith. They lived in Germantown.10  Children: Jacob, Matthias, William, Mary.11

Peter Dirck, b. July 9, 1705, d. 1756, m. a woman named Susanna12. He was a tanner13. Children (named in his will): Peter, Andrew, Derick, Margaret, Hannah.14 In his will of 1756 he named his wife Susanna and five children.15

Jacob, b. July 1707, m. Margaret, he was a cordwainer. They lived in Germantown. Children: Jacob, Benjamin, Joseph, John.16 Jacob and Margaret were on a list of Mennonites 1770 to 1775.17 He apparently did not leave a will.

Johannes, b. June 25, 1709, d. 1711

Abraham, b. May 26, 1711, d. Dec 30, 1717

Elizabeth, b.  January 20, 1713/14,  d. 1796, m. 1733 Peter Pennepacker, son of Heinrich and Eve. According to Peter Dirck’s entry in the family Bible, she was named for his mother, grandmother, and grandmother-in-law.18 Peter was a miller and farmer; he and Elizabeth owned the property on the Skippack Creek now known as Pennypacker Mills. Children (named in his will): John, Henry, Jacob, William, Margaret, Catherine, Samuel, Elizabeth, Barbara.

Anneke, b. May 23, 1716, d. March 14, 1807, m. John Pennepacker, son of Heinrich and Eve. They lived in Providence township, where John was a miller. Children: Dirck, Henry, Margaret, Elizabeth, Jacob, Catherine, Hannah, Samuel.

Cateleynte, b. Oct 25, 1718, d. 1799, m. Ludovick Horning. They lived in Skippack township. Ludwig died in 1802, leaving a will naming his wife Catherine and eight children.19 Two of the sons, Peter and John, were Loyalists and moved to Ontario.20 Children (named in his will): Peter, Michael, Barbara, Elizabeth, Margaret, John, Elias, Jacob.

John, b. July 25, 1721, m. Barbara Funk; Children: John, Christian, Michael, Charles.21 He was a mason of Germantown.

Margaret, b. Oct 4, 1723, d. after 1744, m. Cornelius Conrads of Cresheim; he was a weaver.

Dirck Keyser was born in Amsterdam about 1635. He was the son of Dirck Gerritz Keyser and Cornelia van den Wyngaert. The father Dirck Gerritz was a morocco leather manufacturer, possibly a tanner or glover. Cornelia was the daughter of Tobias Govertz van den Wyngaert, a noted Flemish Mennonite who lived from 1587 to 1667. 1 Dirck had a sister and four brothers. All of them lived and died in Amsterdam: Anneken, Gerrit, Tobias, and another brother who was buried in 1655.2 It is possible that they were all Mennonites, given the strong tradition from their mother’s family.

Dirck, the oldest son, was a manufacturer of silk on the Printzen Graght.3 He first married in 1668, Elizabeth ter Himpel, daughter of Pieter ter Himpel Sr and Elizabeth van Singhel. The wedding intention said that they were married “in the church at Buicksloot, declared…the 22d day of November, 1668.”4 Pieter ter Himpel, was a woolen draper of Amsterdam; he died December 10, 1680. The mother Elizabeth van Singhel died in 1656; she had brothers Pieter Jr. and Aernaut.5

Dirck and Elizabeth had a daughter Elizabeth and two sons, Peter and Dirck. Elizabeth (the mother) died in May 1681, and the daughter Elizabeth died just a month later. Dirck married Johanna Harperts Snoeck in November 1682, again at Buiksloot, in the northern part of Amsterdam. The record said, “Dirk Keyser and Joanna Snoeck, upon their desire after three Sundays having been published at Amsterdam in all the churches, on the undersigned date in the church at Buiksloot, lawfully and in presence of the Lord’s congregation are married, declare I, the undersigned Secretary at Buiksloot, the 22d November, 1683.” It was signed by B. Vredenhuis, Secretary.6

Dirck and Johanna had a daughter Johanna together before the older Johanna died in 1686. As her funeral invitation said, “Johanna Harperts Snoeck, on Thursday, the 29th of August, 1686, was buried from his residence on the Printzen Graght in the Wester Kerk, in the thirty-eight year of her age.”7 Dirck left Amsterdam and traveled to New York in 1688, with his children Peter, Dirck Jr, and Johanna. From there they traveled overland to Philadelphia. Johanna died on the trip and was buried somewhere between New York and Philadelphia.8

Dirck settled in Germantown and bought land there. He had bought twenty-five acres from Cornelius Seivers (Soierts) in March 1688, before immigrating. He later bought another twenty-five acres in September 1689, from Dirck Sipman, through Sipman’s attorney Herman up de Graff.9 In 1693 Dirck was taxed in Germantown for 60 acres.10 He built a house on the main street in Germantown, at present-day 6205 Germantown Avenue. It is now gone but drawings show a two-story stone house, with a third gabled story and an addition behind.11 The initials D.K. were cut in a stone in front.12

As Charles Keyser said, “It seems to have been composed of two rooms front with a kitchen containing a bake-oven and smoke-house on the read end… on the first floor, with some sleeping-rooms above in the second story. The pent roof extending over the door and windows is still there… This house was a large one in its day, and appeared to be large enough for Dirck Keyser and his son Pieter, a boy of 12 years of age, and no doubt a housekeeper… A curious arrangement is that there are three cellars under the house without any communication with each other. With only one is there any direct communication to the upper floor, and this is by a set of solid stone steps going down from the entry … Alongside of this cellar the old well is found and is in most excellent order. It serves not only to give good water but to keep this part so cold that everything is preserved in summer without ice.”13

Dirck was a leader of the Germantown Mennonite congregation. A Dutch Reformed minister named Rudolph Varick travelled from Long Island to Germantown in 1690 and reported that “I then came to a Dutch village, near Philadelphia where, among others, I heard Jacob Telner, a Dutch Quaker, preach…The Lutherans, Mennonites and Papists, all of whom are much opposed to the Quakers, meet lovingly every Sunday, when a Mennonite, Dirck Keyser from Amsterdam, reads a sermon from a book by Joost Harmensen”.14 The Mennonite met in the house of Tunis Kunders until they built a log meeting house in 1708.15 The early congregation included the Keysers, William Rittenhouse and his wife, John Gorgas, the Kuster family, and the van Bebbers.16 Rittenhouse became the first official minister. 17 After Rittenhouse died suddenly in 1708, Dirck may have taken over the duties temporarily. In May 1710 he performed the marriage for Jacob Kolb and Sarah Van Sintern in the log meeting house.18

Dirck was active in the Germantown community. He served as a fence-viewer, was a witness in court, and subscribed to the school in Germantown.19 In 1691 he was an inspector of the roads, along with Peter Schumacher.20 He signed the petition against the tax bill in 1692. In 1691 he was naturalized as a citizen in 1691, along with his son Dirck Jr.21 A story has been passed down about Dirck and his neighbors. “He had been a silk merchant, and after he arrived here he wore a silk coat, which caused his neighbors some disgust. Some of the brethren calling to talk over his worldliness, found him in his garden. As he advanced to meet them he wiped his hands on his coat. They concluded on seeing this, that he did not value it unduly and so said nothing of the object of their visit.”22

In 1704 he was a witness, along with his son Dirck Jr, in a case of slander. The case was Abraham op den Graeff against David Sherkes for slander. (This was not the first time Abraham had been in trouble of this sort.) Sherkes said that no honest man would be in Abraham’s company. Dirck Keyser senior had put up bond for Sherkes. The witnesses were Dirck Keyser senior, Dirck Keyser junior, Arnold Van Vosen and Herman Dors. The jury found for the defendant (Sherkes). Abraham wanted to appeal, but when told that he must pay the charges of the court and give bond to prosecute, he did not.23 The same year, Dirck acted as fence viewer, and presented as insufficient the fences of Johannes Umstat and others. His son Peter was a viewer for his section, but was “removed”. Perhaps he resigned; some Mennonites refused to take an office that might pit them against their neighbors.24

Dirck married again, for the third time, to a woman named Elizabeth. There is no record of this marriage, but two pieces of evidence support it, both from probate records. When Dirck’s estate was probated on August 1, 1716, the bond was posted by Elizabeth Keyser of Germantown, widow, Peter Keyser of Germantown, cordwainer, and Ludowick Christian Sprogell of Philadelphia, dyer.25 Also, when the son Peter made his own will in 1724 he asked his wife Margaret to take care of his “old mother-in-law Elizabeth”. Peter’s mother Elizabeth was dead, as was Margaret’s mother Anneke. The only possibility is that he meant his stepmother, a previously unknown third marriage for his father Dirck. It is interesting that Dirck and his son Dirck Jr seem to have died in the same month, perhaps of some contagious disease.26 The inventory of the estate of Dirck Sr. was taken August 17, 1716 by Dirck Jansen and Anthony Klincken. It included his wearing apparel, beds and bedding, kitchen wares, spinning wheels, other furniture, low Dutch books, tobacco pipes, two cows and a heifer, two ewes and four lambs, fifty acres of land with a house and barn, for a total of £81.19.6. His wive Elizabeth survived him, and was still alive in 1724.

Dirck had five known children with his first two wives, only two of whom lived to marry: Dirck Jr and Peter Dirck. Peter Dirck had eleven children, but Dirck Jr was childless.

Children of Dirck and Elizabeth:

Dirck Jr, d. August 171627, naturalized in 1691, married a woman named Deborah. She is said to have been Deborah Op den Graeff, the widow of Herman Isaacs, but it is difficult to find proof of this.28 Dirck died without issue. His will, written in “Manahattwana”, Philadelphia County, named his wife Deborah and brother Peter.   Written in April 16, 1714, it was proved on  August 6, 1716.29 Manahattwana cannot be identified as a place; it may have been the name of his plantation or a small local settlement.  He was a cordwainer. His inventory included household goods, farm implements, tannery tools, twenty green hides, and “one mare in the woods if found”.30 It came to £57.

Elizabeth, b. 1673, d. June 1681, a month after the death of her mother Elizabeth and her aunt Anneken.

Peter Dirck, b. November 1676 in Amsterdam, d. September 1724 in Germantown, m. in 1700 Margaret Souplis, daughter of Andreas and Anneke. He was a shoemaker. Children: Dirck, Andries, Peter Dirck, Jacob, Abraham, Elizabeth, Anneke, Catelintje, Johannes, Margaret. Peter wrote his will a month before he died, left his “dear and loving wife” Margaret, all the estate, except one-third only if she remarried. Most of the children were under age. Margaret did remarry, to Michael Eccard. She died after February 1744, when she was named in a deed release.

Children of Dirck and Johanna:

Johanna, b. September 1683, d. September 1688 in New Jersey (between New York and Philadelphia)

Cornelia, b. April 1685, d. October 1686 in Amsterdam

Johan Henrich was born 1714 in Freinsheim, Germany, the son of Hieronymus and Christina. Although he was their only known child, he grew up with two older stepbrothers, Nicholas and Valentine, Christina’s sons from her first marriage to Alexander Krause.  Years later he may have named his first son after his stepbrother Valentine.

When Johan Henrich was not yet an adult, his family immigrated from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania, and settled in northern Montgomery County, where his father owned 250 acres in Limerick Township.

Henrich married a woman named Anna Elizabeth about 1739. Their first child, Johan Valentine, was born in 1740. They would go on to have seven known children, three of whom married into the Pannebecker family.

Johan Henrich was naturalized in 1740, along with his father. He was a member of the Trappe Lutheran Church, of which his father Hieronymus was an elder.

Henrich wrote his will in December 1750. It was written in German. His wife Anna Elizabeth was to have the entire real and personal estate, to maintain the children and to bring them up as Lutherans. If she remarried, then she was to have the estate only until the oldest child Johann Valentine was 21 (which would be around 1761). After that she would have only her thirds according to law. Johan Valentine was to have the land, 200 acres, making a payment for it, to be used for dower or shares for the others as they came of age. The Lutheran church at Trappe was to have a legacy of £3.1

He died in early 1750/51, and was buried at Trappe. The inventory was taken February 1751. It showed that he owned 200 acres of land. Since his father Hieronymus was taxed in 1734 for 250 acres, and owned 50 acres at the time his own will was written in 1760, the implication is that Hieronymus gave or sold 200 acres of his tract to his son. The account of Henrich’s estate, made by his executors John Schrack and Joseph Miller, mentions an agreement between Henrich and his father over a debt owed to the father, possibly payment for the land. The inventory included typical farm implements, livestock, and tools. The furniture and kitchenware seemed rather sparse: the family made do with three beds, a chest, a chair and table. The land was appraised at £400.0.0.

Henrich died young, leaving Anna with seven children under the age of ten, including a newborn. In 1757 the children of John “Haus” petitioned the Orphans Court for guardians for their affairs.2 Four of the children, Margaret, Mary, Analis, and Cronomus, were under 14 years, while Valentine, Henry and John  were old enough to choose their own guardians.

After Henrich died, Anna married Peter Puhl. She may have had a child Thomas with him.3 Years before, Henrick and Anna had been sponsors for the birth of Peter’s son Heinrich, and Peter’s wife Elizabeth was a sponsor for Heinrich and Anna’s daughter Anna Elizabeth.4 It is not known when Anna died.

Children of Johan Heinrich and Anna Elizabeth:5

Johan Valentine, b. Sept 6, 1740, m. ab. 1763, Catherine Pannebaker, dau. of Peter and Elizabeth.  Children: Henry, Valentine, Elizabeth Sarah Salome.6

Johan Heinrich, b. Nov 7, 1741, d. 1805, m. 1767 Elizabeth Pannebaker, dau. of Peter and Elizabeth, served in the Revolution,  died in Northumberland County in 1805. Children: Hannah and John Valentine.7

Johan George, b. Aug 6, 1743. He may have married a woman named Barbara and died in 1790.8

Elizabeth Margaretha, b. Apr 3, 1745, no further record

Anna Maria, known as Mary, b. Dec 25, 1746, d. 1800, m. 1767 William Pannebaker, son of Peter and Elizabeth, lived in Skippack, then in Pikeland, Chester County, had children Salome, Susanna, Jonas, Elizabeth, Jesse. Only Jonas, Elizabeth and Jesse lived to marry. Susanna was killed in an accident when she was five, at a time when the soldiers camped on the Perkiomen after the Battle of Germantown.

Anna Elizabeth, b. Oct 20, 1748, sounded like “Analis”, died before she was 21.9

Hieronymus, bapt Dec. 31, 1750, sounded like “Cronomus”, unmarried.10 The grandparents Hieronymus and Christina were sponsors.11