Blue book of Schuylkill County : who was who and why, in interior eastern Pennsylvania, in Colonial days, the Huguenots and Palatines, their service in Queen Anne's French and Indian, and Revolutionary Wars : history of the Zerbey, Schwalm, Miller, Merkle, Minnich, Staudt, and many other representative families, Part 10

Author: Elliott, Ella Zerbey
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Pottsville, Pa. : Pottsville, Pa. "Republican", Joseph Zerbey, proprietor
Number of Pages: 516


USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Blue book of Schuylkill County : who was who and why, in interior eastern Pennsylvania, in Colonial days, the Huguenots and Palatines, their service in Queen Anne's French and Indian, and Revolutionary Wars : history of the Zerbey, Schwalm, Miller, Merkle, Minnich, Staudt, and many other representative families > Part 10


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34


I34


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


phin County, where he engaged in the mercantile business. He was elected to the Legislature, 1806, and twice re-elected. He was Prothonotary of Lebanon County for eight years, from 1813 and in 1821 was again elected to the Legislature. In 1822 he was a Senator from Dauphin County and was elected Governor of Pennsylvania and served from Decem- ber 15, 1823, to December 15, 1829. Governor Schulze signed the charter erecting Pottsville, Schuylkill County, into a bor- oughi, March II, 1828.


NOT ALL GOVERNORS


When word came that John Andrew Schulze had been elected Governor of Pennsylvania-so the story goes-several friends of his called at the family home to offer their con- gratulations. The household were at the supper table and the mother was busy waiting upon her clamorous young brood that they might satisfy their vociferous and healthy appetites without interruption. Hearing the conversation, one of the boys said, in the reigning vernacular :


"Mom, if Pop is Governor, will we all be Governors, too?"


When the good dame replied: "Nay! Yuscht ich und der Daddy sin Governors." ("No, only father and I are Gover- nors.")


Berks County furnished three governors for the Common- wealth: Joseph Hiester, from December 19, 1820, to Decem- ber 16, 1823; Governor Schulze and Francis R. Shunk, who served from January 21, 1845, to July 9, 1848, when he re- signed. Joseph Hiester was a son of John Hiester, who emi- grated 1732 from Elsof, Westphalia, Germany. He was a Captain in the Revolutionary war and was governor when the capital was removed from Lancaster to Harrisburg. The cap- ital was removed from Philadelphia, 1799, and remained at Lancaster until I821. Governor Hiester left an estate of $468,000.1


(Note 1-Smull's Hand Book.)


4


I35


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY The Early Settlers


BALTZAR GEHR


Those of the carly justices who served from 1752 to 1776, on the Berks County Judiciary and were identified with the early development of Schuylkill County were: Conrad Weiser, Francis Parvin, James Boone, Jacob Levan, Jacob Morgan, George Douglass, Jonathan Potts and Baltzar Gehr.


Baltzar Gehr was born of German extraction at Ger- mantown, January 22, 1740. He removed to Amity Town- ship, Berks County, and married Catharine Hunter, in Oley, 1767, where he was employed as gunsmith. In 1771 he bought a large plantation in Bern, near the Blue Mountain and represented that part of Berks County and what is now Schuylkill County, in the Pennsylvania Associators. He was active in the militia, 1775-1776, and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Revolutionary War in the campaign about New York. He was judge in the county courts, 1775-1784, and a member in the General Assembly, 1782-'86-'92-'99. He died June 19, 1801, and is buried on a farm in Maxatawny Township, near Kutztown, to which he removed from Bern. His two sons and two daughters died soon after and having left no will, his large estate was involved in a costly litigation covering a period of fifteen years.


Baltzar Gehr owned a saw mill at the mouth of the Norwegian Creek where it empties into the Schuylkill River, Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It was operated by a man named John Neyman, who with his family lived on the hill slightly in the rear of the site of the Pottsville Hospital. Col. Val. Eckert reported to the Council, August 30, 1780, that "John Neyman, who lived at a saw mill on the road from Reading to Shamokin, three miles above Conrad Minnich's, thirty-three miles from Reading, was, with his wife and three young children, barbarously murdered by the Indians."1


(Note 1-Penna. Archives, Vol. 8, pp. 529-571.)


I36


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


It is related of Baltzar Gehr that he attended a levee given by President Washington, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, in company with others from Reading. In that day cards were not commonly used but the names of the guests were announc- ed upon their arrival. Entering the hall door he gave his name, upon request, to the usher, who called it out to another usher at the first landing of the stairway, who in turn called it out again to another at the door of the Assembly room. Not having been acquainted with the custom this public use of his name excited Mr. Gehr, so, that, he exclaimed in a loud tone of voice, "Yes, yes, I'm coming, give me time," to the great amusement of the other guests.1


JACOB MORGAN


Jacob Morgan was born in Wales, 1716, and emigrated with his father, Thomas Morgan, to Caernarvon Township, Berks County, 1730. He was prominent in the French and Indian War and commanded a company of men who were stationed at Fort Lebanon, Schuylkill County. He was a judge and a justice of Berks County and represented it at the Provincial Council of 1776, and in the convention for framing the Constitution, the same year. He was Colonel of a bat- talion of Associators and held the command of all the troops raised in the county. In 1777 and 1778 he was a member of the executive council of the state and of the council of safety, in 1777. He held the appointment of assistant forage master. He died November 11, 1792, aged 76 years and is buried at Morgantown, which was named for him and which he laid out in 1770. (Colonel Jacob Morgan was the great grand- father of the Misses Douglass, of Orwigsburg, and the great great grandfather of George, Frank and Clement Rose- berry, of Pottsville. Miss Holt, teacher in the public schools, Pottsville, and others are also descendants.)


(Note 1-Daniel Rupp's History of Berks County, p. 229.)


I37


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY The Early Settlers


THE DOUGLASS FAMILY


Belonging to Lotz's battalion for the "Flying Camp" was a company commanded by George Douglass, Amity Town- ship, Berks County, 1776. George Douglass was married to Mary Piersol Morgan, by whom he had six children, Richard, Andrew, George, Elizabeth, married to John Jenkins ; Rebecca, to Mordecai Piersol: Bridget, to James May; Andrew, the second son, to Rachael Morgan, daughter of Colonel Jacob Morgan. Andrew2 Douglass was the father of George3 Douglass, of Douglassville, Montgomery County, and later of Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County. He was educated for a physician, but having ample private means, never en- tered the active practice of his profession. George3 Doug- lass was married to a sister of Attorney John R. Bannan, of Pottsville, by whom he had eight children, three sons, de- ceased, and five daughters, one of whom, deceased, married Attorney John W. Roseberry, of the Schuylkill County Bar, and three others at this writing, 1915, are still living in the old homestead, and one in Pottsville.


One of the earliest settlers in that part of Berks County, now Schuylkill, was Jacob Frederick Kuemmerlin (Kemmer- ling), who took up a tract of two hundred acres of land in Panther Valley, about 1750, (now the Fessler tract). Rev. John Caspar Stoever's records note a son of the above, John Michael Kuemmerlin, baptized by him, July 1, 1753, "across the Blue Mountains." A son of Jacob Frederick Kemmerling settled in West Brunswick Township, near the Kimmel meet- ing house, about 1811, where the stone house he built is still one of the substantial homes in that vicinity. The descend- ants of Jacob Frederick still live in the southern part of the county, some having moved to the West.


(Note-The figures 1, 2, 3 refer to the number of the generation.)


138


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


GENERAL HUGH MERCER'S SWORD PRESENTED TO ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY


The writer is indebted to Miss Rachael Douglass for the following correspondence from the "Pennsylvanian," of Feb- ruary 13, 1841, John W. Forney's newspaper, published at Harrisburg.


The letter from Philadelphia to the "Pennsylvanian," dated February 6, 1841, states in gist, that, "Mrs. George W. Morgan, of Philadelphia, presented to the St. Andrew's So- ciety, of that city, January 28th, a sword of General Hugh Mercer. The latter was a Scotch soldier who brought to the aid of General Washington and the Colonial forces a sterling devotion and rare strategic ability, in the War of the Revo- lution.


After the battle of Trenton, General Washington formed his troops into three divisions to cross the Delaware, at dif- ferent points, hoping to surprise the British after the Christ- mas festivities. If this masterly stroke had succeeded the result would have been to sweep away the British from all their posts and thus establish a firm footing in the Jerseys. The surrender of eight hundred and eighty-six of the Hes- sians to the Colonial army inspired new hope in the American forces. The battle of Trenton was re-fought January 2, 1777.


Lord Cornwallis, who was on the eve of sailing for England on this display of fresh courage on the part of the Continentals, returned and resumed his command of the British forces. Generals Mifflin, Cadwalader and Hugh Mer- cer were Washington's supports, the latter was severely wounded in this engagement and died in the arms of his de- voted friend, Brigadier General Jacob Morgan, to whom be- fore expiring he handed his sword. This sword was pre- sented to and accepted by the St. Andrew's Society, Philadel- phia.


I39


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY The Early Settlers


A copy of the resolutions passed on the presentation, thanking Mrs. Morgan, was sent her and is still in possession of the family. They were signed by: Quintin Campbell, Pres. ; R. Glendinning, Sec. ; John Struthers, John K. Mitchell, James Ronaldson.


Jolin K. Mitchell was the father of Dr. S. Wier Mitchell, deceased, the latter of whom referred to the presentation of this sword at a banquet, given in the Clover room, Bellevue- Stratford, at the one hundred and thirty-seventh anniversary of the Society, December 5, 1906.


ABRAHAM LINCOLN, DANIEL BOONE


"Arnold's Life of Abraham Lincoln" says, Mordecai Lin- coln, great grandfather of President Lincoln, lived at the Quaker settlement, in Oley, before 1735. He came there from Massachusetts, having lived a short time in New Jersey. He died May, 1736, and is buried there. He devised a tract of land to his three sons, Mordecai, Thomas and Abraham. The family went to Kentucky. President Lincoln was a descendant of Thomas Lincoln, son of Abraham. Mordecai Lincoln sold his part of the tract of land to Michael Zerbe.1


Ellis Hughes, who had a saw mill near Pottsville, lived in Amity, in 1736, and was a trustee of the Friends' Meeting House, on the Oley line.


Daniel Boone, the famous hunter, was born in Exeter, on Monocacy Creek, October 22, 1733. He was a son of George Boone, who took up a tract there, 1718, and subse- quently removed to North Carolina, then to Kentucky. Some of the carliest residents of this township were the Esterlys, Daniel, Jacob and Bernhard, from whom the Esterlys of Reading and of Pottsville are direct descendants. They took up land in 1740.


(Note 1-Mordecai Lincoln, Grantor, to Michael Zerbe, Grantee, April 30, 1789, tract of land in Exeter Township, B. 146, p. 504, Berks County Courts.)


140


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


Isaac Levan lived in this township before 1770. He was the progenitor of the Schuylkill Haven and Minersville Le- vans. The name originally was spelled Le Van.


September 5, 1720, a petition was presented to court at Philadelphia for the erection of a new township, but it was not till twenty years later that Oley was formed. Isaac DeTurck and Jonathan Herbein were among the signers, both of whom settled there in 1717. Isaac DeTurck came from northern France to Dutchess County, New York, 1709, and to Oley in 1717. (Samuel DeTurck, d., of Friedensburg, and J. H. Herbein, of Pottsville, are descendants of the above.) Samuel Saul, Peter Bertolette, George Boone, Yost Yoder and Isaac Levan were among the signers-their descendants are well represented in Schuylkill County.


Jean Bertolette, a native of Picardie, France, near the English Channel, was a Huguenot and came to this country with the Palatines, 1726, the Berks County branch retained the original spelling, but the Bartolets, of Cressona, Schuyl- kill County, anglicized it although they claim descent from the same head.


John Keim came to Oley Township in 1718, where his son, Nicholas Keim, was born April 2, 1719. His first wife was Magdalena Hoch, twin sister of Maria Hoch, who married John Pott. He removed to Reading, 1755, and 1769 bought the old "White Store," Penn Street, where he carried on a general hardware business, and which was in possession of the family one hundred and thirty years. He was the first judge of the Berks County courts, from 1752 to 1760. He was married twice, his second wife was Susanna, daughter of Dr. George De Benneville, for whom George De B. Keim, de- ceased, who located in Pottsville, was named. Mr. Keim was appointed general solicitor for the Reading Railway Com- pany, 1875, and in 1883 was elected vice president. He died


9


COUNTY


NORTH UNION Erected 1861, from Union Zion S Grove P.O.


LUZERNE


NORTHUMBERLAND


Rough& Ready TO. O


MAHANON


ASHEART


UPPER MAHANTONGO


Leil P.O.


Freetod 1811, from Berks Co


ELDRED


CREEK


GordonPO.


PO


' rected 18'19 from Rush


HUBLEY


S!Nicholas P.O.


1


Lower Mahantomjo


Weishample PO.


MAHANDY CITY


o+ Valley View HeginsVille Po


FOSTER


Erected 1855 Ja un liess, Buller & Barry HughesPAS


GlenCarbon Pod TehschervillePo


NEW CASTLE


UnIKONON


RYAN Erected 1866,


Barnesville PO. 1814


Erected 1853from Lower Mahantonyo Fountain


front ahiluuun' & Ruslt


Tower CityPO. PORTER Joueur FRAILEY Erected 18', from


Mahunlogo Branch Barry &


Porivr


BrancfualePO.


BLYTHE Erected 1846. from Schuylkill


SCHUYLKILLErred


TAM


RAHN Coaldale Po?


TREMONTI


4


REILLY


Liewentvni BRANCH


. Erected 1860, T'rom West Penn -


TREMONT


Erected 1857. front\ Erected 1338.from Brituth & Cass


YORKVILLE


OHT YPORT CARBON


PHILADELPHIA


OPORY


Erected 1878from Schuylkill


MOUNT CARBON


NORTH MANHEIM


ReynoldsPOP


Erected 1845,from Muuheim


PENN


DeTurksville P.O.


FriedensburgP.O.


CRES


PINE GROVE


Heckin PO


MifflinPO.


PINE


WASHINGTON Erected 1856 from Wayne & PineGrove


WAYNE Erected 1827, from Manherm & PineGrov


ngville P.O.


West Penn P.O.


EAST BRUNSWICK


RockP.0


Pinedale P.o.


SummitPO:


Drehersville P.O.


Erected 1845,from Manheim


AUBURN


B


E


RIVER


Y


R


K


S


C


0


U


ORT LITTOM


OLD SCHUYLKILL COUNTY MAP SHOWING DATES OF ERECTION OF TOWNSHIPS.


COUNTY


PRARY


'UBLIC


BOSTON


SOUTH MANHEIM


WEST BRUNSWICK JUY


Erected 1768 from Brunswick


LEHIGH


COUNTY


WEST 1752


ORWIGS -


ON P.O.


SCHUYLKILL HAVEN P.O.


GROVE


BURG AffKeansburgP.O.O


PO NEW ORINOOLD BORO.


Erected 181. from Berks Co


NEW


PUTTU


WALKER


Erected 18418, from Pine Grove.


Norwegian


VILLE


PO


PALO ALTO


FAST NORWEGIAN


LA.


SwataraP.O.


P.O.


CARBON


Delano P.O.


Erected 1853.from


BARRYEreded 18!1. from Norwegian & chuyfiant Mabel PO


BUTLER Erected 1848. from Barry


FRACKVILLE


'1110.4+


.


SHEMANOOW


Erected 187%, from Rush


Erected 1849. from Upper Mahantonio


INTY /ASD.2BUMBIA


Ringtown !. O. UNION Erected 1818 from Columbia & Luzerne Counties


EAST UNION


Brandonville P.O.


O


Erected 1861, from Union Rush &. Mahan oy Torbert P.O.


WlingerstownP.O.


O Pitman P.O.


RavenRimPop Lost CreefP.00


MAHANOY


SilverBrook KLEIN &


MAHANOY


GIRARMILLE


18 71.


ALBERTO


Sargemenio P.O.


TamanendP.O. RUSH Ererled 1752 from Northampton (n)


HEGINS


CASS


Broad FountainP.O. .


Erected 18'i8 trom, Brandi


"DonaldsonPO


AGUA


OrwinP.D


JUNERS NORVEGIAN BOO


E'reci. d I&H. from


VILLE Burlesco


Erected 1848, from


DAUPHIN CO.


Hlepier po, Line Mountain P.O.


ORO'


Barry P.O.o


Helfenstein PO


COUNTY


LITTLE


T


NorthPenn P.O.


LEBANON CO.


141


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY The Early Settlers


December 18, 1893, at Reading. He was married to Elizabeth Cocke Trezevant, the only child of Judge of the Supreme Court, Trezevant, of South Carolina.


Mr. Keim left one child, Julia. Mrs. George De B. Keim endowed the Pottsville Hospital with a perpetual annuity in memoriam of her husband, and that institution is otherwise receiving benefits through her generosity, at the present time.


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY ERECTED FROM BERKS


Schuylkill County was created in 18II and contains an area of eight hundred and forty square miles ; its population, 1910, was 207,894. It contains thirty-one townships and twenty-nine boroughs, with Pottsville, the county seat, a third class city.1


In 1775 there were only eleven counties in Pennsylva- nia. In 1776 the resident taxables north of the Blue Moun- tains, who were also subject to military duty, numbered one hundred and fifty, and the whole population in what is now Schuylkill County was six hundred.


The entire area, except one-sixth, since added, of Schuyl- kill County was known as Berks County and prior to 1752, as Lancaster, and before 1729, as Chester County.


In 1776 the total population of Berks County was about twenty thousand, the taxables were about four thousand and this number between the ages of eighteen and fifty-three were subject to military duty. The population of Pennsyl- vania was three hundred thousand white and two thousand colored. The number of inhabitants in that part of Berks which was included in Schuylkill County, in 1811, was six thousand.


The Township of Bethel occupied the northwestern cor- ner of Berks County, from the top of the Blue Mountain to


(Note 1-Commissioners' office, court house, and Smull's Hand Book.)


142


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


Swatara Creek. To the east and south lay the Tulpehocken Manor, which was in Chester County, until 1729, when it be- came part of Lancaster. In 1738-'9, Bethel, Tulpehocken, Heidelberg and Bern were the townships in the northwest and centre. The taxables in 1775 were: In Tulpehocken three hundred and four; Pine Grove, ninety ; Heidelberg, two hundred and eighteen; Brunswick, one hundred and twenty- seven ; Bern, two hundred and sixty-nine.


Bern was erected in 1738 and extended over the Blue Mountain into what is now Schuylkill County, including the territory between the Blue and Sharp Mountains. This part of Bern was included in Pinegrove Township, 1771.


(Bern, Upper Bern, Penn and Centre Townships, Berks County, were all erected out of Bern, 1841-1849.)


An interesting locality, historically, is the manor of two thousand acres set apart for the use of Thomas Penn, 1732. It was known as "Allemaengle (All Wants), prior to 1752. From it was formed Albany, Windsor and Greenwich Town- ships, the two former being the boundary line between Berks and Schuylkill Counties, in the northeast corner of the former and forming a triangle, sometimes known as "Die Ecke." There were many refugees from Schuylkill in Allemaengle during the Indian troubles, 1755-'80.


(The borough of Port Clinton is in Schuylkill County, but its railway centre and railway depot are located in Windsor Township, Berks County.)


Conrad Weiser gave his son-in-law, Rev. Melchoir Muh- lenberg, a tract of fifty acres of land upon which was erected, 1776, the Allemaengle Church. This church was a contem- porary of the Red or Zion's Church, of Schuylkill County, built 1752, and like the Red Church had a log building for worship before the above was built, the Red Church ante- dating it in date. (The first churches were all built of logs.)


143


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY The Early Settlers


Immediately after the purchases from the Indians, 1741 and 1749, settlers took these lands on both sides of the Schuylkill River, and Brunswick Township, on the north side of the mountain (now in Schuylkill County) was known as such long before it was legally created.


Berks County tax lists show the names of taxables in "Brunswick" as early as 1754 (the first tax list). The town- ship was erected 1768, the year following it had forty-six resident taxpayers, thirty-six married and ten single men. Among these were: Heinrich, Nicholas and Johannes Miller, Peter Conrad, Michael Deibert, Joseph Fisher, Paul Heim, Godfried Orwig, Valentine Tress, Henry Ketner, Jacob Kant- ner and Adam Heiser. The road, known as the "King's Highway," from Reading to Fort Augusta ran through this township.


Pine Grove Township was erected in 1771, its area in- cluded the land west of the Schuylkill River, between the Blue and Sharp Mountains; the line extending from the top of the mountain and including that part of Bern Township that lay north of that division and on the north side of the mountain. In the first assessment of taxes, 1771, there were fifty-five taxpayers, among whom were: Michael Forrer, Hans and Frederick Weiser, Michael Bretz, George Bressler, Michael Folmer, Henry Gebhart, Leonard and Philip Rieth, Mathias and Jacob Miller, Conrad Minnich, Benjamin, Dan- iel and Phillip Zerbe. (Conrad Minnich was the first tax col- lector of Pinegrove Township.)


Manheim Township was erected in 1790, from territory taken from Brunswick. The commissioners appointed to make the division were: George Reber, Philip Shatz, Jacob Shartle, John Shomo, Thomas Wright and Henry Vanderslice. There were one hundred and fifteen taxpayers in the assessment of


I44


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


1791, among whom were: Conrad Kerschner1, Frederick Boyer Michael and Jacob Alspach, Andrew Miller, Wm. Koch, Ja- cob Kepner, Michael and Henry Hummel, Martin Dreibel- beis, Michael and William Deibert, Michael, Peter and Phillip Confer, Jeremiah Reed, Daniel and John Stout, Conrad Min- nich and George Zerbe.


Some of these names occur as taxpayers in Pine Grove and Brunswick Townships and also in those that came later. It should be borne in mind that the names of the townships and not the localities, in which the early pioneers settled, changed and that these townships were then part of Berks County and before 1752 in Lancaster County and prior to 1729 the locality was included in Chester County.


The area of these three original townships embraced the land extending from the Blue Mountains on the south to the Sharp Mountains on the north, and from Windsor Township on the east to Albany Township on the west.


(On the Schuylkill River, near where the west branch empties into the regular channel, almost in the exact centre of these townships and in what was first known as Pinegrove Township, George Zerbe located, 1785, two tracts of land, one on each side of the road, on the west side of the long covered bridge (now in Schuylkill Haven), where he ran a fuling mill and cultivated a farm. Martin Dreibelbeis, 1775. built a stone grist mill on the east bank, opposite.)


The line between Berks and Northumberland Counties was run 1795. On November 4, 1799, three new townships were laid out of the upper half, Schuylkill, Norwegian and Mahantongo, a part of the area of Berks not yet having been


(Note 1-Of the above, Conrad Kerschner, taxpayer in Brunswick and Manheim Townships, it is related of him, by Montgomery, that he walked to Philadelphia to secure a grant of land from the Penns, upon which to build a church and in 1771 secured forty acres, the ground upon which old St. Paul's Church, of Hamburg, stands. He is buried at the Red Church cemetery, West Brunswick Township.)


I45


SCHUYLKILL COUNTY The Early Settlers


included in the townships. Mahantongo joined Pinegrove Township until 1807, when lower and upper Mahantongo were erected. Of these three townships, Berks County col- lected taxes from 1802 till 1811, when, with the addition of Rush and West Penn Townships, from Northampton County, they were, with the three original townships, Brunswick, Pine Grove and Manheim, formed into Schuylkill County, including, as heretofore stated, all but one sixth of its present area. Of this sixth, contiguous parts were added from Lu- zerne, Columbia and Carbon Counties, until it attained its present proportions, attempts having been made several times to slice off portions to aid in forming new counties, but with- out success.


The few Catholics in Brunswick and Pine Grove Town- ships were Germans and French, they attended church south of the Blue Mountain. The earliest Roman Catholic Church in Berks County was erected in Hereford Township, 1743. The Rev. Theodore Schneider, from Bavaria, was granted two patents for land which were taken up 1747 and 1748 by Fathers Neale and Greaton, for one hundred and twenty-one and three hundred and seventy-three acres respectively. Here the early Catholic settlers attended church. The priests were zealous and acted as itinerant missionaries to their scant flocks, visiting them on horse-back to administer the rites of the church to such as were unable to walk any distance. There are a number of early Catholics buried in the old cemetery of the Red Church (one and a half miles below Orwigsburg), among these: Johann Eichman, born June 16, 1727, Alsace, France, died November 15, 1817; James Lyons, born November 2, 1768, in the town of York, Ireland, died February 26, 1819; Michael "McQuire," native of Ireland, died September 24, buried October 6th, aged 55 years. (Red Church records.)


146


BLUE BOOK OF The Early Settlers


TOWNSHIPS AND FIRST SETTLERS


Townships Organized


First Settlers


Barry, 1821-From Lower Mahantongo.


1808-The Yarnalls who came from New Jersey, John Bailey, John Garivey, John Heter, the Shupperts. Three thousand acres of land was owned by Joseph Reed at that time. Blythe. 1846.




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