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 21
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John Zerbe, (the miller), grantor, March 26, 1788, to Benjamin Zerbe, Tulpehocken Township (B. 10, p. 332) ; John Zerbe, Sr., Pinegrove Township, grantor, June II, 1788. (B. II, p. 20.)
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MARGARETEA AUERBACH
Jate Zerk
1729
in Pennsylvanm
cleparked 21 1907
STON BLIC LIBRARY
TOMBSTONE OF MARIA MARGARETHA ZERBEY ILES, WIFE
OF MISSIONARY TO ANTIGUA, WEST INDIES.
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Michael Kuntz, grantor, to Benjamin Zerbe, Pinegrove Township, (B. 12, p. 246.)
Part of this tract of 1000 acres in Pinegrove Township was taken up by John George3 Zerbe (George3 Peter.)
Benjamin Zerbe was a taxpayer in Pinegrove Township, 1772 .- (Revolutionary War Record.)
SECOND GENERATION
There were two Peters of the second generation.
Peter3 Zerbe (Lorentz1), b. 1724; wf. Anna Elizabeth Emerich ; bap., da. Anna Elizabeth, March 16, 1748. Magar and Elizabeth Emerich, sponsors .- (Stoever's records,) and George2 Peter (Martin1.)
THIRD GENERATION
Peter3 Zerbe (John2 the m., Lorentz1), b. 1730, m. Anna Elizabeth, da. of Abraham Loucks, December 20, 1747. Abraham Loucks, in will proven August 15, 1772, (Vol. 2, p. 115, Abstract of Wills, Berks County, Genealogical Society, Philadelphia,) mentions his daughter Elizabeth, married to Peter3 Zerbe, (John2 the m., Lorentz1), and her daughter Elizabeth, also his daughter Christina, married to George2 Peter Zerbe (Martin1). George Peter also had a son Peter.
DR. SAMUEL ISLES, MISSIONARY TO ANTIGUA, DANISH WEST INDIES
The Moravian Church in America owes its existence to Count Zinzendorf, nobleman of Saxony, who in 1722, began to gather together the persecuted Huguenots and espoused their cause. He established a colony on his estate and sent out many missionaries and small colonies to distant parts of the world.
Zinzendorf, the great head of "the Universal Church," was present at the coronation of Christian VI, of Denmark. Some of his domestics became acquainted with a negro who
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told them of the miseries endured by the negro slaves in St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, and Zinzendorf determin- ed to send teachers to them. Leonard and Tobias Leupold left London, 1731, for St. Thomas.
Dr. Samuel Isles followed 1748, spending eight years of active service at Nisky, on that island. In 1756 he went to Antigua, D. W. I. On his arrival he waited on the Governor and showed him the Act passed 1749, by the Danish govern- ment, favoring the work of the Moravian Brethren. The planters patronized him giving him their permission to preach on their plantations. The following year he baptized a negro woman and proposals were made him for building a place of worship. In 1761 a piece of ground, in the town of St. Johns, was bought for a mission and Samuel Isles with his two as- sistants, John Bennet and Wm. Lister, continued to preach and work among the negroes.
Contagious fevers prevailed in the Danish West Indies that were peculiarly fatal to Europeans; it was from one of these fevers that Samuel Isles' first wife died, in 1760, leaving a daughter four years old. Thirty-six negroes were baptized in the small native church and 7,400 from 1756 to 1792 by suc- cessive missionaries. Count Zinzendorf was amazed at the work accomplished and the Government acknowledged the benefit of it. (Sketches of Moravian Missions, 1731-1817, by Rev. John Holmes.) Of the 194 persons employed in the last one hundred years on this Island, forty-six have died of the native fever. (Retrospect of Moravian Missions in Antigua, London Publication, p. 6.)
John Brucker came to Pennsylvania, 1742. From 1743 to 1745 he was a missionary on St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. In 1746 he became pastor of the Moravian churches in the Tulpehocken. From 1754 to 1764 he was the first resident missionary on St. Juan, D. W. 1. In 1761 he accom- panied Samuel Isles, for a short respite from their work, to Pennsylvania where Samuel Isles married Maria Margaret
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Zerbe, daughter of Lorentz Zerbe and sister of John Zerbe, the miller, Moravian, who helped build the North Heidelberg, Moravian, church, where John Brucker at times preached and assisted Brother Neubert and his wife Elizabeth, in the par- sonage. John Brucker returned and went to St. Crois, where he died, November 8, 1765.
Samuel Isles was accompanied by his wife to Antigua, leaving his daughter in charge of the Moravian sisterhood, to be educated at the school, Bethlehem, Pa. She died at the age of 57, unmarried.
Samuel Isles died in Antigua of fever, in 1765, and was buried there. (Transactions of the Moravians, Vol. 4, p. 268; Vol. 6, p. 184; Vol. 5, p. 189.)
From tombstones in old Moravian cemetery, Bethlehem :
Maria Elizabeth Isles, b. 1756; d. 1813. She was born in the Island of Antigua, D. W. I. her father, Samuel Isles, be- ing the pioneer missionary on that island, who died there. Row IX, unmarried women, Section C.
Maria Margaret Zerbe (da. of Lorentz Zerbe), b. 1729, d. 1807, from the Tulehocken, Pa., was thrice married. First husband, Samuel Isles, missionary to Antigua, D. W. I .; m. November 29, 1761, who died there, 1765. Second husband, Paul Schneider, m. 1767, died same year. Third husband, J. Chr. Auerbach, m. 1769, d. 1792.
Row V for women, section A. Old Moravian cemetery, Bethlehem, Pa.
LEONARD ZERBE
Leonard3 Zerbe, (John2 the m., Lorentz1,) b. July 12; bap. September 28, 1745; d. August 20, 1824; wf. Barbara Wenrich, b. July, 1744; d. December 29, 1819; c., John, b. August 12, 1772; bap. March 3, 1773; d. January 9, 1859. (Christ Church records) ; Christina, b. January 7, 1781 ; bap. December 24; d. September 9, 1854. (Little Tulpehocken church records); Leonard+, bap. June 4, 1783; d. September
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16, 1854; John was baptized same date. John Jacob, b. Octo- ber 25, 1786, (Christ church.) John4 (Leonard3) stood spon- sor for Leonhard's4 son; John S., b. 1817; bap. April 9, d. September 9, 1854. (Revolutionary War Record.)
Leonard4 Zerbe lived in Bernville, where he has numerous descend- ants. Leonard4, (Leonard3), b. June 4, 1783; d. September 16, 1854; m. Susanna Scharff, March 19, 1805, (Christ Church); b. July 8, 1788; d. March 6, 1858. Their children were: John S., b. 1817; Margaret, b. March 30, 1805; wf. Benjamin Marks; Eliza, b. October 4, 1814; wf. of Henry Martin. His will was probated November 8, 1854. (B. 8, p. 37, 57, 157, Berks County C. H.)
In the office of the Department of Internal Affairs, Harrisburg, is a draught of the original survey of 172 acres 76 perches of land in the Township of Tulpehocken, Berks County, to Leonard3 Zerbe, date of warrant August 1, 1793; returned January 20, 1819, by same. Jacob Spangler, Surveyor General.
Israel6 Zerbe, b. October 24, 1840, still living, (John5 Scharf Zerbe, m. to Lydia Kantner; Leonard+ Zerbe, w. St- sanna Scharf, Leonard3, w. Barbara Wenrich ; John2 the mil- ler, Lorentz1), m. Priscilla Barr; c., Adam, wf. Sallie Stoup; Annie, m., one child. Israel Zerbe lives on a fine farm, his son Adam resides on the same place. The business of mar- ket gardening of the former being carried on by the son with Reading as the market place. Situated near Cross Keys P. O.
VALENTINE ZERBE
There were three Valentines of the third generation and one of the fourth.
Valentine3 (John2 the m., Lorentz1.) He went early to Lancaster County, (B. R. 46, p. 52, that county, records), Valentine Zerbe, Grantor to John Zerbe (his son), July 10, 1793, and July 27, 1793. Real and personal estate. Will proved July 22, 1795. Their children were Jonathan, Mich- ael, Peter, Mary Hillman and Elizabeth Meanser. Jonathan4 Zerbe died about May 6, 1790, in Leacock Township; wf. Christina. "His estate to go to his brother Michael's wife on their death. Adam Miller, executor."-(W. B. Lancaster C. H.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Of the Zerbeys
(Note)-There are many Zerbes in Leacock and Cocalico Townships, some of whose ancestors had settled early beyond the line that (1752) divided Berks from Lancaster. They had taken land there before Berks was erected and remained. Peter Zerbe, doubtless the Peter, son of Valentine, had 80 acres of land surveyed, July 2, 1790; he warranted it, March 14, 1817 .- (Records, Lancaster County C. H.)
CHRISTIAN ZERBE
Christian3 Zerbe, (John2 the m., Lorentz1), b. November 16, 1750; d. August 6, 1809; wf., Sophia Elizabeth, Eva Maria Liecken; m. August 26, 1774; b. December 17, 1752; d. Au- gust 11, 1818. (Little Tulpehocken cemetery tombstone.) Their children were: Christian, Jacob and John. The will of Christian Zerbe was probated February 27, 1809, with his sons, Jacob and Christian as executors. (Will Book, Vol. 5, p. 244. Berks County C. H.) (See map of Pioneer Home- steads for land.) Christian Zerbe lived in Tulpehocken Town- ship during his lifetime.
Christian4 Zerbe, Jr., (Christian3), b. 1776; m. Catharine Deado; their children were: Elias, b. June 8, 1814; Levi, b. October 18, 1815; Eneas, b. October 24, 1822.
Elias5 Zerbe, (Christian4, Jr., Christian3, John2 the m., Lorentz1); m. Rebecca, (da. of John Zerbe and granddaughter of Christian, Sr.) Their children were: Sarah C., b. August 11, 1839; Annie R., b. October 12, 1841; James E., b. April 11, 1844, Lebanon; John A., b. June 9, 1847, single; d. August, 1913, buried at Rehersburg; Sue E., b. May 17, 1852; Clara H., b. March 27, 1856. This family lived at Rehersburg, Berks County, but removed to Ford County, Kansas, with their six children and their families. Elias Zerbe and wife are buried in Kansas. Several of the children returned to Lebanon, Pa.
Sarah C. Zerbe, m. Charles F. Sippel; da. Annie, b. January 17, 1866; Samuel Topley, 2d h .; Annie Sippel m. Wm. J. Fitzgerald; children: Wm. Russell, Charles Eustace.
Annie R. Zerbe, m. Wilson H. Strickler, no children.
James E. Zerbe m. Evaline Schriver; no children.
Sue E. Zerbe, m. Harry B. Karch; children: Zerbe E., b. April 1, 1884; Mary R., b. January, 1887; Irene, b. August, 1888. Clara H. Zerbe m. Samuel R. Gingrich, d .; children: James W., b. July 3, 1866; John, b. April, 1888. Annie R., b. December 15, 1889; Eva C., b. January 21, 1892.
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James E. Zerbe, Lebanon, says: His grandfather, Christian4 is buried at Shiremanstown, Cumberland County, where the family had removed. His wife, Catharine4, a born Zerbe, and son Levis, father of Benton6 H. Zerbe are buried at Harrisburg.
(Dr. D. W. C. Laverty, Middletown, Pa., and Anna Priscilla Erving, Newburgh, N. Y., are indirect descendants of Christian4 Zerbe.)
REVOLUTIONARY WAR RECORD
Christian Serfass, Vol. 4. p. 664; Vol 8, p. 203. Same from Northamp- ton County, Vol. 8, 493.
Christian Zerbe., Capt. Phillip Filbert's Co., Berks County, Vol. 6, p. 322.
Both Christians were in the Revolutionary War, Part 1, the latter is the head of this line.
Eni5 Zerbe, (Christian4, Christian3 Jr., John the m., Lorentz1); b. October 24, 1822; m. Lizzie, da. of Wm. H. Bradford. Their children were: Mary E., b. January 14, 1845; Lydia A., b. April 11, 1846; William A., b. August 11, 1851; James V., b. March 25, 1853; Mina A., b. April 9, 1855; Ida R., b. October 27, 1857; Edward M., b. March 10, 1860; Robert H., b. May 13, 1862; Ellen W., b. May 13, 1864; Estelle M., b. January 23, 1866.
Mary m. George Free; c .: George, b. November 5, 1866; Mary E., Robert.
Lydia m. George Drawbauch; c .: Elmer, b. 1870; Cora, b. 1872; Myr- tle, b. 1874; William W., b. 1876; George B., b. 1878; Ralph A., b. 1880; Edna M., b. 1882; John B., b. 1884; Beuhla, b. 1887; Hazel, b. 1889.
William Zerbe m. Annie Gruber; c .: William, Raymond, Sophia, Edna, Harry.
James V. Zerbe m. Jennie Taylor; c .: Ralph, b. February 14, 1879; Wilson B., b. September 22, 1880; Leon R., b. January 7, 1895; Cecil L., b. April 1, 1899; Esther E., b. August 21, 1901; Dorothy, b. June 10, 1904; Emily R., b. 1908; Lawrence, b. October 27, 1911.
Mina A. m. W. W. Winne; c .; Mabel, b. 1876; Arthur, b. 1879.
Ida R. m. John Miller, son Donald; Edward, d. December 24, 1874. Robert, m. Priscilla; son Robert.
Levis Zerbe, (Christian4, Christian3, John2 the m., Lorentz1); b. Oc- tober, 1816; m. Mary Reber, Lebanon. Their children were: Benton H .; Annie P .; William K .; Lina; Marion. Annie m. John Irving; da. Dolly. Wilkins not heard from since close of the Civil War. Lina m. Alfred Morey, d. Marion m .- -
BENTON H. ZERBE
Benton“ H. Zerbe, (Levi", Christian4, Christian2, Jolin2 the m., Lorentz1), b. in Lebanon, 1840, where he received his early education in the public schools. His father destined him for the legal profession but he disliked the close appli- cation to study and when but little more than fourteen years
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Of the Zerbeys
of age he ran away from home and shipped from New York on a sailing vessel as shipmaster's apprentice, for the East Indies.
He was shipwrecked several times and was once, with several companions, cast on a desert island in the South Seas, where they were compelled to remain for several months until they were, at length, picked up by a passing vessel. Shipping again and re-shipping on different vessels, in the trading lines, he sailed all over the world, meeting with the most thrilling experiences, with the aborigines, in distant parts, and encountering the severest hardships in the Simoons and tropical storms of the equatorial and South Sea regions and being given up, many times, as dead by his friends.
After about seven years of this rigorous life, he settled in New Orleans, to which port he had last sailed, to and fro, in a fruit and cotton trading vessel, from Jamaica. Engag- ing in a shipping branch of the above line, he was prospering. when the Civil War broke out in 1861. He was conscripted into the Confederate army and belonged to the famous "Louisiana Tigers."
Benton Zerbe's sympathies, however, were with the North and he permitted himself to be taken prisoner, by U. S. troops, at Gettysburg. He was imprisoned at Fort Mifflin, on the Delaware, where he took the oath of allegiance. He at once entered actively, with others, in the raising of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment of Cavalry, recruited for the U. S. army and was made a Captain of one of the companies, with which he served until the close of the war. The men of this regiment were known as the "New Jersey Butterflies," owing to their blue capes, lined with bright yellow. The service they performed in the War of the Rebellion is a matter of history.
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With the close of the Civil War, 1865, Benton Zerbe be- came foreign sales agent for the Armstrong and Whitney Firearms and War Supplies Company, of New York, and sailed at once for Europe.
Already an accomplished linguist, through foreign travel, in coming in contact with the military heads of the different European governments, in pursuance of the business with which he was connected, it became second nature with him to study up the nomenclature of the countries he visited and thus pursue and trace up the records and history of his fam- ily name.
Benton H. Zerbe married Miss Jeanette Scott, of South Shields, England, 1868. Two children were born them, Harold and Ethel. The former is an electrical engineer in the English Navy. When last heard from both were un- married. Mr. Zerbe resided at New Castle, on the Tyne, England, where he died in 1899.
(The author is indebted to James E. Zerbe, of Lebanon, uncle of Benton Zerbe, for the use of his brief and terse letters from abroad, from which facts have been gleaned of the history of the Zerbe family, in Europe, and carefully compiled.)
JOHN ZERBE'S LAW SUIT
John4 Zerbe, the second miller, (Christian3, John2 the m., Lorentz1), was a unique character. He lived at the old mill of John Zerbe the m., but built the stone mill a half mile down the creek now owned and operated by Jacob D. Sunday (Sontag). There was a small mill at this point prior to this date. A record in the Berks County D. B. says : "Jacob Zerbe and wife Catharine, together deeded the mill to John Zerbe, the miller, wf. Vilibina Gruber." The location of Christian Zerbe's land is shown upon the map of the Homesteads, (1723), upon another page. This land was di- vided between his sons, Jacob, Christian and John.
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Of the Zerbeys
Jacob Zerbe, (Christian, John the m., Lorentz), lived on a tract of land adjoining Albrecht Strauss', between John Zerbe, the miller's, and that of his cousin, George Peter Zerbe's, at Hosts.
Jolın4 Zerbe, second miller, got into an altercation with a neighbor as to who owned a certain field, the dividing line between their plantations and a law suit followed which was bitterly fought in the Berks County courts, and lasted fifty years and even now no title is given to the land which has been sold and resold for the taxes and in which litigation the different owners of the mill were drawn. John Zerbe is said to have lost thirteen thousand dollars through this suit and died a comparatively poor man as the result. Jacob Wilhelm and three sons sold the mill to J. D. Sunday, who enjoys a prosperous business as the result of his energetic methods of conducting it.
George Schaffner, son of Daniel Schaffner, who bought the property at Hosts from the George Peter Zerbe heirs, built the Cross Keys Hotel, 1844. His father the same year built an oil mill near where "Sharva's Run" empties into the Tulpehocken, between the old and new mills.
John4 Zerbe, (Christian), the second miller of North Hei- delberg Township, b. June 24, 1783, d. December 21, 1857. Wife, Susanna Philipina Gruber, da. of Albrecht and Su- sanna Knobb Gruber, b. September 22, 1790, d. December 24, 1869. Both are buried in the Little Tulpehocken church cem- etery, one and a half miles west of Bernville. They had six- teen children, seven sons and six daughters, three died in in- fancy. Their children were:
Andrew Zerbe, born July 23, 1807; d. April 18, 1805; wf., Susanna Ulrich, b. November 4, 1787; da. of Valentine Ulrich and Rosina Berger, of Pinegrove Township. A second record gives Andrew as married to Salome Staudt, b. 1809; d. 1887. He may have had two wives, or there may have been another Andrew. A sister, Salome Susanna Staudt, m. John Schaeffer. (They were the maternal grandparents of M. A. Gruber.)
William James (Andrew), b. 1837.
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Zerbe, Rebecca-b. November 26, 1810; m. Elias5 Zerbe, son of Christian4, Jr.
Zerbe, Henry-b. June 13, 1814; d. February 18, 1854; m. Maria Bittle. Zerbe, Sarah-b. March 31, 1816; d. October 8, 1881; m. Daniel Keller. Zerbe, John-b. July 24, 1819; d. October 8, 1881; m. Elizabeth Lengle. Zerbe, Daniel-m. Catharine Spangler.
Zerbe, Mary-m. Augusta Yeager.
Zerbe, Rachael-m. Isaac Noecker.
Zerbe, Sophia-m. John Biddle, Friedensburg, Schuylkill County. Children: Isaac, Lewis, Washington, Jacob, Sarah; most of whom are settled in the Long Run Valley, Schuylkill County, Pa. Mrs. Sophia Bid- dle, who lived with her children at Friedensburg, d., 1912, aged 82 years. Zerbe, Nathan-First wf., Mary Scholl; second wf., Polly Achenbach. Children: Leando, John, Mary, Sarah, Elmer, Edward, Morris and Nathan, (Christ Church). Some of these reside at Lebanon and Reading, others live in the West.
Zerbe, Isaac-m. Caroline Livengood. Children: Agnes, Samuel, Pamilla, Isaac, Alice. Isaac Zerbe was a shoemaker by trade. He lived at Mt. Aetna, Berks County, where he acted as school teacher and organist at the Rehersburg church. He removed with his family early to the West. His children were: Henry Zerbe, d., a General in the Civil War, Herring, Ohio, resided with his niece, Mrs. Sarah Silverling, 891 Belmont Ave., West Philadelphia; Abraham, Red Run, Pa .; Isaac and John, Stevens, Pa .; William, Bowmansville, Lancaster Co .; Samuel, Swartsville, Pa.
Zerbe, Julia-m. John Anthony; children: Amelia, Rebecca.
Zerbe, Percival-First wife, Caroline Schriver; second, Anna Blatt. Children: Nathaniel, Henry, John.
The children of Sarah and Daniel Keller were: William, Maria, Levi, Daniel, Henry, John, Savilla, Amelia.
Nathaniel6 Zerbe, wf. Annie, a born Zerbe, (Henrys wf. Elmira Lengle; Percival4, John the second miller, Christian, John? the m., Lorentz1.),
Rebecca Zerbe, daughter of John5, married Daniel Trout- man, and still lives in the house built by her father, where both he and his father, John4 died, and where she cared for them both during their last illness and from which house they were buried.
Henry6 Zerbe, assisted by his son Francis, is the organist of the Berville Reformed and Lutheran church.
Thomas7 J. Zerbe, (William6, Daniel5, John+ the second miller, Christian3, John2 the m., Lorentz1). Justice of the Peace and school teacher. His father, William E., was a sol- dier in the Civil War.
The Berks County court records show Jacob Zerbe and wife, grantors, to John Zerbe, May 1, 1820, Heidelberg, (B.
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Of the Zerbeys
1-50, 553.) Christian Zerbe, grantor, to Jacob, grantce, May 1, 1820, Power of Attorney. (Vol. 1, 33, 307.) This refers to the transfer of the land of John the miller, through Christian and Jacob, his sons, to his grandson, John the second miller.
(Many of John' Zerbe's (b. June 24, 1783.) descendants live in Reading and others went West.)
Daniel5 Zerbe, (John!); wf., Kate Spangler; children: Mary, Ephraim and James. Mary m. , lives in Strausstown, Berks County. Ephraim died at Mt. Pleasant. Son, Harry, lives at Seranton, piano tuner, has adult children.
James Zerbe, b. April 19, 1837, d. January, 1915; wf., Ellen E. Miller, d., b. 1840; e .: Reilly, Harry. James Zerbe lived for years in Stouchsburg, Berks County, where he founded the cigar manufacturing business and was successful in it, but subsequently retired and removed to Palmyra.
Reilly Zerbe, b. January 11, 1860, (James“, Daniel5, John1; Christian3, John2, Lorentz1) ; wf., Mary A. Killmer ; m. Decem- ber 25, 1880. Daughter Ella G. m. Joseph A. Gernert, hotel- keeper at Millersburg, Dauphin County. No children.
Reilly Zerbe, originator of the large cigar manufactory, Stouchsburg, Berks County, employing about seventy hands. He conducted a prosperous business, but has retired to pri- vate life. He owns a beautiful home, a pressed brick man- sion with all the modern improvements, on the main street of the town, of which he is one of the progressive citizens. He is the secretary of Christ Lutheran Church.
Harry7 Zerbe (James6); b. November, 1875; m. Annie Bentz, 1895; baker; lives in Seranton; c .: Elsie, Mary, Joyce, James.
NATHAN ZERBE, RAILROADER, GORDON, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA.
Nathan" Zerbe, (Nathan5). b. February 18, 1848; m. February 26, 1869, Wilhelmina Dunmoyer, of Lebanon County, d. Second wf., Sarah Maurer, of Gordon. Children of first wife: Sarah, wife of Samuel Yarnall, Gordon, two children : Katie, wf. of Lester Resch, no issue, Lynwood, N. J. Children of second wife: Gertrude, m. John Saeger, Ash- land, one son. Three sons: Harry, Albert and Clyde, mar-
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ried and Luther at home, all of Gordon, Schuylkill County. Nathan Zerbe has been in the employ of the Reading Rail- way Company for forty-seven consecutive years as railroader, is hale and hearty and bids fair to reach the age of seventy, in the harness, when he will be retired as a pensioner. He owns a comfortable home and is highly respected in the com- munity.
JOHN ZERBE, OF CUMRU TOWNSHIP
John3 Zerbe, (John2 the m., Lorentz1), b. bet. 1735 and '38; wf., Catharine. He died during 1805, his will being pro- bated April 8, 1805. (There are no death records in the An- gelica church before 1850.) Jolin Zerbe and wf. Catharine and brother Jonathan and sister Susanna, single, came to Cumru Township about 1760 and took up land about eight miles from Reading, on the Lancaster road, several miles from the Lancaster County line, on Allegheny Creek, near the line now dividing Cumru and Brecknock Townships. (It will be noted that there are three millers named, John Zerbe, of the second, third and fourth generations.)
John and Jonathan Zerbe bought land in Cumru Town- ship, March 4, 1764 (Deed Book 7, p. 4, Berks County). April 1, 1777, Jonathan Zerbe deeded 50 acres of land to John Zerbe; March 18, 1777, John and Jonathan Zerbe sold the land, 210 acres and allowances, to George Plankenbiller, (Deed B. 7, p. 5).
George1 Kohl, m. Eva, da. of John Zerbe; he kept the Angelica hotel and here John Zerbe and wife died. John3 Zerbe, a miller, built the old mill, part of which is still stand- ing near the addition built by George2 Kohl.
The children of John and Catharine Zerbe were:
Eva, wf. of George Kohl; Jacob, John, David, Elizabeth, Anna Maria, b. January 12, 1783; Susanna Christina, b. March 25, 1776.
The heirs are mentioned in his will. (Abstract of Berks County Wills, Vol. 2, 1798-1825, Gen. Soc., Phila.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY Of the Zerbeys
Letters testamentary were granted Jacob, his eldest son, and the wife Catharine, to whom he bequeathed "one hundred pounds first money and seven pounds, 10 S. yearly. His children shall account for what they have received and share alike. If his son John is alive or not, his share shall go to his children. His wife had an estate of her own." (B. 4, p. 277, Berks County court house, Vol. 3, p. 170.)
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