USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks county in Pennsylvania > Part 12
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"FIRST FAMILIES."
"In the several quarters mentioned, east, south, west, and north, the descendants of many of the first settlers are still flourishing in numbers, in industry, in wealth, and in social, religious, and political influence. In taking a hasty glance over its broad territory, I can mention in the east- ern district, along the Manatawny and its tributaries, tbe Baums, Bertolets, Boones, De Turcks, Egles, Griesemers, Guldins, Hartmans, Herbeins, Hochs, Hunters, Kauffmans, Keims, Knabbs, Lees, Leinbachs, Lesbers, Levans, Lin- colns, Lobachs, Ludwigs, Peters, Pottses, Reiffs, Rhoadses, Ritters, Schneiders, Spangs, Van Reeds, Yocums, Yoders, Weavers, and Witmans; and. on the border along the head- waters of the Perkiomen, the Bauers, Bechtels, Boyers, Clemmers, Ehsts, Funcks, Gabels, Rushes, Sassamans, Schalls, Schultzes, and Stauffers ; in the southern district,
1 Guizot's " History of France," vol. iv, p. 334.
2 "Ency. Brit.," vol. ix. p. 510, France; and see Macau- lay's " Hist. of Eng.," vol. ii, p. 11, 12.
68
HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
In the representative positions, secured to the people by our Constitution, our officials have been mostly Germans, excepting in one partic- ular, the office of president judge. They were in Congress without interruption from 1789 till 1847 ; and in the State Senate till 1856, except- ing one term, 1817-20.
ENGLISH .- The English entered this terri- tory and took up lands shortly before 1720. They were, accordingly, the third class of set- tlers, the first having been the Swedes, and the second the Germans. Their first families were the Boones, Ellises, Lees and Lincolns. They
along the Allegheny, Hay Creek, Little Conestoga and Wy- omi-sing, the Blaads, Evanses, Geigers, Harrisons, Huyetts, Joneses, Mohns, Moores, Morgans, Planks, Redcays, Robe- sons, Scarlets and Ziemers; in the westera district, along the Tulpehocken and its tributaries, and the Little Swa- tara, the Adamses, Althouses, Batdorfs, Bergers, Boeshores, Bordners, Brechts, Conrads, Eckerts, Eplers, Deppens, Duudores, Ermentrouts, Fishers, Fitlers, Frantzes, Groffs, Hains, Hiesters, Keysers, Kissingers, Klingers, Kurrs, Liv- ingoods, Millers, Newcomets, Obolds, Potteigers, Reeds, Rebers, Rehrers, Riesers, Riegels, Scharfs, Seiberts, Selt- zers, Schaeffers, Speichers, Spohns, Tryons, Umbenhauers, Walboras, Weisers, Wenrichs, Wilhelms, Womelsdorfs, and Zerbes; and, in the northern district, along the Maiden Creek and its tributaries, the Brobsts, Davises, Dreibel- bises, Gernants, Greenawalds, Grims, Hahas, Heffners, Heinlys, Hottensteins, Kauffmans, Kaerchers, Kellers, Kemps, Kiefers, Kirbys, Kuizes, Leibys, Levans, Merkels, Mertzes, Parvios, Penroses, Piersons, Prices, Rothenberg- ers, Rothermels, Saylors, Schaffers, Shalters, Starrs. Trex- lers, Wanners, Weilers, Wileye and Zachariases. Others could be mentioned. These, however, stand out promi- nently in the development of the county from the first set- tlements of the several districts to the present time. The great majority of the descendants have continued persis- tently engaged in agriculture upon or in the vicinity of the original settlements. Some moved to other districts of the county ; others to Reading. Many sons and daughters mi- grated to the West, and settled particularly in Ohio, Iadi- ana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Colorado. Some of the eons turned to the professions-divinity, law, and medicine-in which they shone with more or less dis- tinction ; others to trades and manufactures, in which they realized rich rewards for their industry and well-directed energy. In tracing down all the pursuits of life carried on in the county, it is only occasionally that a complete stran- ger appears and identifies himself with her onward move- meats for any considerable length of time. This is espe- cially the case in our politics. The names of the old fami- lies are continually on the surface. Not particularly demonstrative, they are like expert swimmers in deep water. They float on ward majestically in the great stream of time ; their heads are always visible ; their endurance prevails."
settled in Oley,-the Ellises and Lees in the eastern section, along the Manatawny, and the Boones and Lincolns in the central and western sections, along the Monocacy and the Schuyl- kill. Within ten years after their permanent settlement, they established a meeting-house for religious worship. This was about 1726, at a point where the present Exeter meeting- house stands, in an elevated position near the northwestern limit of the Swedes' tracts, then called Amity township.
Shortly after 1730 they settled along and about Hay Creek and Allegheny Creek, to the west of the Schuylkill, and also farther north, along and about the Maiden Creek, immediately after the Indians had released their rights to the territory. The first families1 in the for- mer settlements were the Embrees, Lewises, Humphreys, Scarlets, Harrys, Prices, Webbs, Hughes, Moores, Williamses and Thomases ; and in the latter settlements the Parvins, Light- foots, Huttons, Starrs, Davises, Penroses, Pear- sons, Wileys, Wrights, Willits, Harveys and Reeds, and these respective families also estab- lished meeting-houses in the midst of their set- tlements, about the year 1736,-the one at the cross-roads, near the centre of Robeson town- ship, and the other near the centre of Maiden- creek township.
All these families were connected with the Friends. They exerted a strong influence in these three sections of the county. The numer- ous English names, given to the townships east of the Schuylkill, were suggested by them.
George Boone was particularly prominent in the lower section, and Benjamin Lightfoot in the upper section, in respect to proceedings for setting apart new townships. They were sur- veyors and men of more than ordinary ability. And just as these two men were prominent. in their branch of service, Anthony Lee and Jacob Parvin were equally, if not more, prominent in these respective sections as justices of the sev- eral courts of the county. Indeed, for a time,2
1 The Robesons have been classed with the English or Friends ; but they were Swedes, having been connected with the Swedish Church at Molatton.
2 Till the Revolution. They were at the head of affairs from forty to fifty years.
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NATIONALITIES.
through the influence of the provincial govern- ment, the Friends exerted the most influence in the direction of our political affairs, notwith- standing their number was far less than the Germans. But during the Revolution, and immediately afterward, the natural energy of the Germans carried them forward in political matters, just as it had carried them forward in agriculture and manufactures before the Revo- lution. Independence elevated them into po- litical rights, the exercise of which placed them in power. So the Friends lost their position in the community, and with it their public influ- ence. Before the Revolution, their number was strong and their religious meetings were active and successful. But since that time they have gradually decreased decade after de- cade till now. Indeed, they have become so weak that they can hardly carry on their meet- ings. This is a matter to be regretted ; for, whilst in influence and power, they conducted themselves with justice and ability. Their best men were always elevated to positions of re- sponsibility. The early county records are dis- tinguished for neatness and legibility, this of itself indicating their carefulness and attention to business. This cannot be said of their suc- cessors.
In looking over the lists of men who have held representative offices for the county since the Revolution, we find only a few who are distinctively English, especially of the families mentioned. The Germans have been our rep- resentative men almost entirely.1 It is safe to assert that this would not have been the case if the Revolution had not terminated success- fully.
During this trying period the Friends here were mostly, if not entirely, Tories. They were opposed to the war; but the Gerinans were extreme Revolutionists, and they encour- aged the War for Independence to the utmost of their ability. Their conduct was admirable. When the struggle closed, with the acquisition of increased power to the people, they naturally asserted their rights and presumed to take posi- tions and power unto themselves.
I cannot omit to add that there were English people here besides the Friends. At first, be- fore the erection of the county, they were in the southern and southeastern portions of the county. They manifested themselves in a religious way about the same time-between 1735 and 1740 -the one body in Caernarvon township 1 and the other in Amity township.2 They were members of the Established Church of England, called Episcopalians.3 Afterward, when the county was erected, they also appeared in Read- ing, though without sufficient strength to cause the erection of a church for themselves till 1824.
WELSH .- Just as the Swedes settled in the county on the eastern bank of the Schuylkill, so the Welsh settled in the county to the west of this river. They migrated through Chester County lands till they crossed the South Moun - tain, and, though some of them reached a point beyond the mountain before the purchase of the territory from the Indians in 1732, yet the most of them entered this district immediately afterward. The Swedes did not have a town- ship named after any of their places in their distant home across the wide ocean. But the Welsh were more impressive ; they named three townships-Caernarvon, Cumru and Breck- nock.
The Welsh had purchased from Penn, in England, before 1700, a large body of land aggregating forty thousand acres, to be selected in Pennsylvania ; and these acres they selected to the west of the Schuylkill. They settled the country so numerously that, before 1698, they had named six townships in the county of Ches- ter.
Rowland Ellis was a prominent Welshman who induced a large Welsh emigration from Wales to this country. After having induced Thomas Owen and his family to emigrate and settle in Chester County, he, in 1686, embarked with one hundred Welshmen for this province. Some of the settlers were named Thomas Evans, Robert Evans, Owen Evans, Cadwallader Evans,
1 See "Political Hand-Book of Berks County," pp. 10-20.
1 Where Morgantown now is.
2 At Molattou, now Douglassville. .
" In the former locality .I can mention especially the Mor- gans, and in the latter the Birds and Brookes.
70
HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
William Jones, Robert Jones, Hugh Griffith, Edward Foulke, John Humphrey.
The district of territory which lay to the south of the South Mountain and west of the Schuylkill was gradually settled by these Welsh people, and they migrated farther and farther up the river during the next fifty years.
Before 1740 several hundred of them had settled in the district beyond this mountain. The following persons were some of the tax- ables :
John Bowen.
Thomas Jones.
Edward Davis.
James Jones.
Hugh Davies.
William Jones.
Gabriel Davies.
Watkin Jones.
John Davies.
John Jenkin.
Davis Davies.
Thomas Jenkin.
James David. John David.
George Lewis, Sr.
George Lewis, Jr.
Alton David.
James Lewis.
Thomas David.
John Lewis.
Morgan Evans.
Evan Lloyd.
David Evans.
Thomas Lloyd.
Nathan Evans.
John Lloyd.
Eleazer Evans.
Thomas Nicholas.
David Edward.
John Persall.
James Edward.
Edward Price.
Robert Ellis.
Evan Price.
William Griffith.
Griffith Rees.
Henry Harry.
William Rettew.
Hugh Hughes.
David Thomas.
William Hughes.
William Thomas.
Evan Hugh.
John Thomas.
Francis Hughes.
John Treeby.
Morgan John.
Johu Treeby, Jr.
David Jones.
.
They were adherents of the Baptist denomi- nation. Their lands were taken up mostly along and in the vicinity of the Wyomissing and Cacoosing Creeks, and there they were most thickly settled. In their midst they caused a meeting-house to be erected. They took up many tracts of land, aggregating twenty thousand acres, before 1752. They were enter- prising, having a grist-mill along the Wyomis- sing before 1740. This flowing stream was ap- preciated by them for its superior water-power, and they accordingly erected different factories along its banks for the manufacture of gun-bar- rels, files, etc, Agriculture was their principal employment. Like the Swedes, they remained in their first settlement, southwardly of the
Schuylkill and Cacoosing. And they did not enter politics. They attended strictly to their personal affairs. They co-operated earnestly with the Germans in obtaining a new county out of the upper sections of Lancaster and Philadel- phia Counties.
IRISH .- Persons of Irish nativity did not settle in Pennsylvania for nearly forty years after Penn had obtained the province. During this time persons of other nationalities, espec- ially Germans and English, had been encour- aged to locate in Pennsylvania. Penn visited Germany in this behalf, kindling a strong interest for the province in his own country. But it would seem that he did not care for the Scotch or Irish, not having encouraged them to emigrate to his province; and, accordingly, neither of these came till after his death ; and when they did arrive, they settled that portion of the prov- ince which lay mostly along the southern borders adjoining Maryland. Though some of them followed the course of the Susquehanna and settled in Lancaster County, the great body of them migrated into the conntry which lay west of the river. Very few, if any, proceeded up the Schuylkill Valley.
Doubtless, the German element in this direc- tion, which composed the greater part of the pop- ulation, was not agreeable to them. Hence, they directed their way to the westward from Philadelphia, immediately after landing, rather than to the northward. No settlement was effected by them in any of the districts which are now included in Berks County. Possibly, single individuals or families of them came at a time and located within the county, but I have not been able to find any data worthy of special mention.
HEBREWS .- And the same must be said of the Hebrews in this respect. Indeed, their im- migration into the country has been so limited and so quiet that no notice has been taken of them. They have made no impression at all as a class of people. They have not tilled the soil ; they have not built any shops ; they have simply traded. Some of them have been in the county for many years, almost entirely, how- ever, at Reading. But they did not show en- ergy or devotion enough in this time to acquire
71
NATIONALITIES.
even a church for religious worship till 1885. Their number was too small to associate to- gether successfully for such a purpose.
A number of them settled along the head- waters of the Tulpehocken, at or in the vi- cinity of Myerstown. Single individuals of this class wandered to Womelsdorf and even to Reading. In 1836 there were eight Hebrews at Reading-Abraham Speier, John Siegel, Mayer Siegel, Mayer Arnold, Alexander Hey- man, - Spiegel, Bernard Dreifoos, - De Young.
The Jews1 have been engaged almost exclu- sively in trading. They have used the Ger- man language entirely amongst themselves. Through their children and English education, the English language has made some progress with them.
In 1864, the following Hebrews were in Reading : B. Dreifoos, Sol. Hirsch, Abr. Speier, Mayer Einstein, Aaron Henlein, Sol. Weil, Marcus Lyons, Henry Loeb, Isaac Mann, Isaac Hirschland, Joseph Loeb, Jacob Levy, R. Aus- trian, Abr'm Arnold, Aaron Einstein, Isaac Schwerin.
NEGROES .- The negro is worthy of special mention in the history of this county. Though living under political disability till a score of years ago, his labor, his patience and his integ- rity require respectful treatment. He has had, indeed, a great struggle with destiny in this vast country for nearly two centuries and a half. It is rather surprising that two great elements should have entered the country about the same time-the one a sentiment, the other a fact, the one moved by religious enthusiasm, the other by selfishness, the one for freedom, the other for slavery-and traveled through our wonderful history in direct antagonism to each other.
Slavery existed to a very limited extent in Berks County. The slaves of which I found any notice were owned almost entirely by iron- masters. But they were few in number. This condition of servitude was incompatible with the notions of our early settlers; hence it was not en- couraged. The farmers had no slaves.
Pennsylvania instituted an early movement
for the gradual abolition of slavery. This was in 1780, during the progress of the Revolution. An act of Assembly2 was passed on March 1, 1780, to this end. In the preamble, the Act set forth, among other things,-
" We esteem it a peculiar blessing granted to us that we are enabled this day to add one more step to uni- versal civilization, by removing as much as possible the sorrows of those who have lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the assumed authority of the Kings of Great Britain, no effectual relief could be obtained. Weaned by a long course of experience from those narrow prejudices and partialities we have imbibed, we find our hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence toward men of all conditions and nations, and we perceive ourselves at this particular period extraordinarily called upon, by the blessings which we have received, to manifest the sincerity of our profession, to give substantial proof of our grat- itude."
And then it enacted "That all persons, as well negroes and Mulattoes as others, who shall be born in this State from and after the passage of this Act, shall not be deemed and considered as servants for life or slaves ; and that all servi- tude for life or slavery of children in conse- quence of the slavery of their mothers, in the case of all children born within this State from and after the passing of this Act, shall be and hereby is utterly taken away, extinguished and forever abolished ;" with the condition that such child should be a servant till the age of twenty- eight years, after the manner of indentured servants.
The Act required the owner of slaves to file a statement in the Quarter Sessions' office, giving age, surname, etc., of each slave. I could not find a statement of this kind in the office of our county.
There were some colored people in the county at an early period. They were in the service of iron men ; and they were at Reading soon after it was founded. It was not, however, till after 1830 that they became sufficiently strong to form a society for religious purposes, and thence till now they have grown in number and influ- ence. In 1860 it would seem that they reached their highest number, four hundred and
1 They are commonly so known and called.
2 See Egle's " History of Lebanon County," pp. 50, 51 in which a complete copy of the Act is published.
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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
ninety-seven ; for in 1870 it was four hundred and twenty-four, and in 1880 four hundred and forty-nine. These were almost entirely at Reading, if not entirely. Some of them owned real estate here before 1800. As a class, long before their enfranchisement, in 1863, they were orderly, industrious and progressive.
CHAPTER V.
ERECTION OF COUNTY.
General Situation of Territory-Petitions for County-Act erecting County-Districts-Names of Townships and Towns-Reductions of Territory, Northumberland County and Schuylkill County-New Counties Proposed.
GENERAL SITUATION OF TERRITORY. -- When the province of Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn by Charles II., King of Great Britain, in 1681, no township or county organi- zations existed in the province. There was no necessity for them. The settlements were lim- ited and they were confined to the immediate vicinity of the Delaware River. And the gov- ernment had no definite character. But the arrival of Penn was the dawn of government, progress and civilization. Within a month after his arrival he cansed three counties to be laid out-Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia. County government then began, and county representation in the Provincial Assembly was inaugurated. During this period thousands of immigrants came into the province and effected permanent settlements ; and each succeeding year found them farther removed from the county-seats of the counties named. They pro- ceeded up the courses of streams mostly. Very few followed the streams from their sources to their outlets. Only one colony came from New York overland, and this was nearly fifty years after the settlements had begun, and the govern- ment had been given a fixed character. Very nearly all landed at Philadelphia; and thence the great majority proceeded towards the inte- rior districts and the head-waters of streams. This is particularly the case with the Schuylkill River and all its tributaries. The settlements
between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers were numerous before 1700. Every decade thereafter found them farther northward from. the Wissahickon to the Perkiomen, from the Per- kiomen to the Manatawny, and from the Mana- tawny to the Maiden Creek. And so they pro- ceeded between the Schuylkill and Susque- hanna Rivers.
Gradually those who had settled in the in- terior districts, toward the mountains, began to feel the inconvenience and expense incident to their location. They were compelled to travel, regardless of roads or weather, to the county- seat far removed from their settlements, and to haul their goods many miles to the market before they could realize any value for the pro- duct of their hard manual labor. Naturally, they felt inclined to improve their condition. A county organization was the first step to- wards accomplishing this object, as well to bring the county-seat into their midst as to create a market near by for the disposition of their produce. But, notwithstanding the nu- merous settlements and the large population in the great district of territory east of the Schuyl- kill and south of the Blue Mountain, no addi- tional counties were erected before 1750. It was different to the west of the Schuylkill. The tide of emigration seems to have been greater in that direction. It pursued the Cones- toga Creek. And the people, if not more ener- getic, were disposed to have local government more convenient. They did not have the natu- ral facilities to enable them to reach their county-seat in Chester County, as the settlers did have in the districts to east of them, which lay in Philadelphia and Bucks Counties. In 1729 they induced the Executive Council to separate them from Chester County and erect their set- tlements into a new county, which they called Lancaster. This county comprised a very large area of territory. Immigration into its rich valleys continued for twenty years. It ex- tended over and beyond the Susquehanna River. Then the settlers petitioned for another county and obtained it under the name of York. This was in 1749; and in 1750, other settlers, lo- cated to the north, also petitioned for and ob- tained a county under the name of Cumberland.
73
ERECTION OF COUNTY.
The territory of both these counties lay west of the Susquehanna River.
During the first quarter of the eighteenth century many immigrants proceeded to the right into Perkiomen Valley along the West Branch, and into Oley Valley along the Manatawny and its tributaries. These were mostly Ger- mans ; some were English and others Swedes. Other immigrants, mostly Welsh, proceeded to the left into Conestoga Valley. The settlements for miles on both sides of the river were mostly confined to the south of the succession of hills commonly called "South Mountain." This was especially the case to the right. In this district of territory the settlements were then known by the names " Amity," " Oley " and " Colebrookdale." But to the left a small set- tlement of Germans had taken place in the Tulpehocken Valley,-the enterprising settlers having come down the Susquehanna River from New York, and migrated eastwardly to the head-waters of the Tulpehocken Creek ; and another settlement of English (commonly called "Friends") and Welsh had taken place along the Allegheny and Wyomissing Creeks. These settlements were known by the names "Tulpe- hocken " and " Robeson." An earlier settlement to the south was called "Caernarvon." Ac- cordingly, during the first quarter of that cen- tury six distinct settlements in this vicinity had come to be formed and recognized.
During the second quarter, the way for settle- ments north of the "South Mountain " was opened by the purchase of the territory from the Indians. The " Friends " were the first to enter the new district to the right of the river. They took up large tracts of land along the Ontelaunee, called by them Maiden Creek. Many Germans followed immediately after- ward. And to the left many Germans, Friends and Welsh were added to the settlements along the Tulpehocken, Wyomissing and Allegheny Creeks. Improvements were carried on with great energy and success throughout the great valleys which lay between the South Mountain and the Kittatinny Mountain (sometimes called "North," but commonly " Blue Ridge "). These valleys extended from the east and from the west and united in the picturesque Schuylkill
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