USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > School history of Berks County in Pennsylvania : by Morton L. Montgomery > Part 2
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
settled along streams and formed towns and villages. A number of these were in the county, situated along the prominent streams. They made no per- manent improvements, but lived in huts which were generally constructed of poles fixed in the ground and tied together at the top, leaving a hole for ventilation. The outer cover- ing was the bark of trees. Beds and seats were made of animal skins.
Manners .- The In- dians were great hunt- ers and fishers, and subsisted mostly on wild game and fish. In the use of the spear they were expert and successful. They car- ried on agriculture to. a limited extent in raising maize, beans, and pumpkins, but the labor was performed entirely by women.
They believed in the "Great Spirit," and pos- sessed a high idea of personal honor and integrity. They had no domestic virtues, for they treated their wives with cruelty and their children with indiffer- ence. They were of a brave nature, and permitted no outward sign of pain. Painting of their bodies was a universal custom, which was regarded as their heraldry. They also carried plumes of feathers on their heads, especially the chiefs and grand sachems.
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INDIANS.
Their weapons consisted of the tomahawk, knife, club, bow and arrow; and they were extreinely dexterous in their use. When the Dutch intro- duced the gun to them they became expert marks- inen. They conducted warfare in a peculiar and stealthy manner-mostly in small squads-and were extremely revengeful. They declared war by send- ing to the offending party a slave with a hatchet whose handle was painted red.
Each tribe was governed by an elected chief and council. In matters of great importance all the warriors were consulted. In their deliberations, questions were decided by the consent of all, not by a majority. Their assemblies were conducted with great formality, and their debates were carried on by set speeches, which abounded in bold figures and bursts of impassioned eloquence. The oldest chief always commenced the discussion of a question. The young men were permitted to attend, but not to speak.
Departure .- The Indians were obliged by the Eng- lish and German settlers to depart from this section to the West, whence they had come. In 1718 they sold their rights to all the lands in Pennsylvania, south of the South Mountain, to William Penn for a consideration consisting of useful articles ; and in 1732 they sold to Penn's sons all that portion lying between the South Mountain and Blue Mountain. Then they departed. In 1789 they were settled in Ohio; in 1818 in Missouri; and in 1866 in Indian Territory, where they accepted land with an abso- lute title from the National government. A notion
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
prevails that their number has been much reduced, but this is erroneous. In 1880 they numbered in the United States, according to the census, 303, 248. It is not known how many lived in Berks County before 1732, but all the clans taken together did not number a thousand.
Relics .- Numerous Indian stone relics have been found in the county and collected by various parties. The most prominent and numerous collection has been inade by Prof. David B. Brunner. The speci- mens consist of spear-heads, arrow-heads, axes, hammers, knives, mortars, pestles, beads and shells, pottery, etc., etc.
These relics are the only evidence which we have to remind us that this peculiar people, -commonly known as the American or Red Race,-existed here for a time. They were found mostly at places where, it is supposed, villages had been located and clans had lived. The Indians occupied and roamed over the entire area of the county, but they pre- ferred certain sections ; as, for instance, along the Manatawny about Pleasantville, along the Ontelaunee about Moselem, along the Tulpe- hocken about Womelsdorf, and along the Schuyl- kill about Navesink and Flying-Hill; all of which were apparently well selected by reason of their admirable situation. In these several localities the greatest number of relics were found by farmers in turning over the soil, who either kept them as mementoes or presented them to persons interested in the subject. No marks of permanent improvements have as yet been discovered-no
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INDIANS.
foundations, no artificial mounds, no earth-works of any kind; and excepting these relics it will appear that, when the Indians left this section of country, they carried everything with them.
Glossary-All the prominent streams in the county have been given Indian names; also four townships, and one hill. The following list of words is presented with their meaning :
Allegheny-Fair water.
Ganshowehanne-Roaring or tumbling stream. This is now known as the Schuylkill. In old deeds it is called Manaiunk, the signification of which word was a mother of streams.
Gokhosing-Place of owls ; now Cocoosing.
Kau-ta-tin-chunk-Endless (applied formerly, now changed, to Blue Mountain).
Lechauweki-Place of Forks; now Lehigh. South Moun- tain was previously known by this name.
Machksithanne-Bear's-path Creek ; now Maxatawny.
Maschilamehanne-Trout Stream ; now Moselem.
Manakesse-Stream with large beds ; now Monocacy.
Menhaltanink-Where we drank liquor ; now Manatawny
Navesink-Place of fishing ; now Neversink.
Olink-Hole, cavern, or cell; also a cove or tract of land encompassed by hills ; now Oley.
Ontelaunee-Little maiden ; now Maiden Creek.
Pakihmomink-Place of cranberries ; now Perkiomen.
Sakunk-Place of outlet, where a smaller stream empties into a larger ; now Sacony also Saucon.
Sinne-hanne-Stony Stream ; now Stony Creek.
Sipuas-hanne-A plum stream ; now Plum Creek.
Tamaque-hanne-Beaver Stream-a stream across which the beaver throws a dam; now Beaver Creek ; also changed to Little Schuylkill.
Tulpewihaki-Land of Turtles ; now Tulpehocken.
Wyomissing-Place of flats.
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLERS.
WHAT was all this grand country a thousand years ago? Where are the records to give us to know who inhabited these mountains and hills, these valleys and streams ? Were wild animals here alone and undisturbed? Was the eagle soar- ing aloft with wings outspread watching the sparkling ripples in meandering streams, or the gambols of the deer and fawn laving here and slak- ing their thirst? Were men and women and chil- dren here struggling for subsistence as they now are? Were buildings and temples and peace and prosperity here? No paper, no parchinent, no papyrus is here to inform us what civilization ex- isted; the ploughshare has turned up no ornamented and finely-chiseled stones with hieroglyphic in- scriptions ; no famous Bayeux tapestry has been handed down from generation to generation to tell us that here, too, as in Britain, a William reigned.
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Even five hundred years ago our whole country was unknown-so it is supposed-and one hundred years farther down in the course of time Columbus was only concluding that a country must be here where we now are, and begging for aid to help him realize the grand venture of his life ; one hundred
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EARLY SETTLERS.
years more, settlements were only begun along tlie Atlantic coast, and the first ideas of government were only introduced in this benighted land ; fifty years more, the Swedes only began their settlements on the Delaware and Schuylkill; and fifty more, Penn only landed here with his great charter from King Charles the Second for the government of Pennsylvania.
Only ? This seeins like trifling with time. We speak of centuries then as years now. And well we can; for, what transpired along the Schuylkill, the Tulpehocken, the Manatawny, and the Onte- launee before 1680? In England, the noblemen trace back their ancestry and government for cen- turies ; in Germany, they go still farther back ; and the Maharajah of Jeypore a thousand years. Think of it! Two hundred years ago our people here were only in reality beginning to live and under- stand free civil government. Then the great- grandsires of our forefathers were only developing the ideas of independent thought and religious tol- eration in France and Germany. Then the Mon -. ceys, the most warlike tribe of the Lenâpé Indians, were roving at liberty over these mountains and valleys with no one to molest them, no one to in- terfere; and then they traded peacefully with the English at and about the mouth of the Schuylkill.
The early settlers of the county, while the In- dians were still occupying the territory, were the Swedes, Germans, English, and Welsh; and they came here in the order named.
Swedes .- The Swedes effected the first perma-
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
nent settlement in Pennsylvania along the Dela- ware River in 1638. After William Penn had come to take possession of his province, he encour- aged them to move towards the interior; and shortly before 1700, a number of them considered the propriety of accepting his offers, when they moved up the Schuylkill and viewed the adjoining country. In 1701 a small colony, under the lead- ership of a Lutheran minister, found suitable land along the eastern bank of the river, several miles above the mouth of the Manatawny Creek, and presented their petition to Penn for a grant of 10,000 acres. Immediately afterward, tracts of land were surveyed and laid off for them. They numbered, with their families, altogether about fifty persons. They made permanent settlements. Descendants of some of them are still in the county, notably the Joneses and Yocums. This was the only colony of them which came into the county, and the only section of the county in which they took up lands. A building, erected in 1716, by one of their number, Mounce Jones, is still standing near the bank of the Schuylkill in a good 1716 state . of preservation. It is the oldest building in the county.
They were the first · settlers who erected a building for religious worship in this county. They were members of the Lutheran denomina-
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EARLY SETTLERS.
tion, and possessed admirable characteristics to take up and develop a new country. They re- mained more immediately together than any other subsequent class of settlers in this territory. The Indians appreciated their virtues in permitting them to remain unmolested before the land was re- leased. The name of the township indicates the pleasant relation which prevailed between them and the Indians. There was amity between them, and so the township came to be nained in 1719. They pursued the vocation of farming.
Germans .- The German immigrants were the second settlers to enter this section of territory. The first settlement was effected by them in 1712, in Oley, in the Manatawny section, along the Manatawny Creek. Many arrived within the next decade. To the east of the Schuylkill, they pro- ceeded northwardly from Philadelphia. To the west, however, the first colony of Germans, before 1730, entered from the west, proceeding from New York southwardly and from the Susquehanna River eastwardly into Tulpehocken section, and settling in the vicinity of Womelsdorf. The total number of Germans, who settled in the county previous to 1752, cannot be estimated, but they were more numerous than all the other nationalities taken to- gether.
Many of these German immigrants were redemp- tioners, or persons who had bound themselves or one or more of their children, to the masters of ves- sels upon their arrival, for a term of years, to pay for their passage across the ocean. The usual terms
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
of sale depended upon the age, strength, and health of the persons sold. Boys and girls generally served from five to ten years, until they attained the age of twenty-one years. Many parents were compelled to sell the service of their own children in order to satisfy their passage-money, so that they might be released from the vessel upon which they were brought to this country. Children under five years of age could not be sold to service. They were dis- posed of gratuitously to persons who agreed to raise them and give them their freedom when they attained the age of twenty-one years. In this manner the redemptioners came to occupy a very humble posi- tion; but from this class there sprang some of the most reputable and wealthy inhabitants.
Prior to 1727, most of the German immigrants brought with them considerable means. But after- ward, many of them were poor and they came to be redemptioners on that account. The years in which these arrived were 1728, 1729, 1737, 1741, 1750, and 1751. The major part of them were farmers; but many were mechanics, who had a knowledge of those arts which are necessary and useful in all countries, comprising weavers, tailors, tanners, shoemakers, combmakers, smiths of all kinds, butchers, paper- makers, clock-makers, and bakers. They became perfect mechanics and workingmen through a cus- tom of "Peregrination," which, as young men, just after the close of their apprenticeship, they carried on for one or inore years, in order to make them- selves more proficient in their several trades. This was required of young mechanics before they were
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EARLY SETTLERS.
permitted to set up for themselves. By this course, they were afforded opportunities of acquiring much useful general knowledge which books could not supply, besides proficiency in their trades. They were called " Traveling Journeymen." The inten- tion of this custom was to enable them to gain ex- perience, learn methods practiced in other countries besides their own, and acquire also a knowledge of the world.
Many of the earlier immigrants were Huguenots, who had been encouraged by Penn and the English government to emigrate to Pennsylvania and New York. In France, this name was used as a term of reproach for those who aimed at a reform of religion according to the principles enunciated by Calvin. The name attached itself to these reformers when they broke off all connection with Lutheranismn, and began to organize themselves both as a church and as a political body. Their churches sprang up with wonderful quickness during the middle of the six- teenth century ; but they became unpopular-bit- terly disliked by the court and by a majority of the French people.
The Germans, who settled the country along the Schuylkill and its tributaries, having been experi- enced hands in various employments, were a valua- ble acquisition to Penn and his sons in the develop- ment of their province. They were just what a new country needed to start it in the march of material progress. Their labor, their economy, their perse- verance, and their stability added great and increas- ing wealth to the country, decade after decade.
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
They prepared the way for the erection of a new county; and having fitted the settlements for a . separate political organization, they proceeded ear- nestly in behalf of its establishment. Though largely in the majority, they did not have their in- fluence to appear by the name that was given to the county. Possibly they could not have secured a German name if they had desired to. In the sec- tions of territory which they inhabited, only three townships were named with German names, -Hei- delberg, Bern, and Alsace.
Before this event, the Germans had done much for the territory in improving its soil, in erecting build- ings, in laying out roads. They were along every stream, excepting the Wyomissing, Allegheny, and Hay Creek in the Schuylkill section. They were in the valleys and on the hills, rather than along the Schuylkill. This singular selection of locality was not accidental. They found the best quality of land away from the Schuylkill. Our best farms in productiveness and in appearance are in the lo- calities where they settled, along the Manatawny, Ontelaunee, and Tulpehocken Creeks; and in these several sections they caused the erection of churches at an early date.
In the representative positions, secured to the people by our Constitution, the officials of the county have been mostly Germans, excepting in one particular, the office of president judge. They were in Congress without interruption from 1789 until 1847. They were extreme Revolutionists, and they encouraged the War for Independence to the
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EARLY SETTLERS.
utmost of their ability. Their conduct was admira- ble. When the struggle closed, with the acquisi- tion of increased power to the people, they naturally asserted their rights and presumed to take positions and power unto themselves.
In all the sections of the county, the descendants of many of the first German settlers are still flour- ishing in numbers, in industry, in wealtlı, and in social, religious, and political influence; and the great majority of them have continued persistently engaged in agriculture upon or in the vicinity of the original settlements. Their names are so numerous that they cannot well be mentioned. Some inoved to different districts of the county; others to Reading. Many sons and daughters mi- grated to the West, and settled particularly in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Col- orado. Some of the sons turned to the professions -divinity, law, and medicine-in which they shone with more or less distinction; 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 stranger appears and identifies himself with her on- ward movements for any considerable length of time. This is especially the case in politics. The names of the old families are continually on the sur- face. Not particularly demonstrative, they are like expert swimmers in deep water. They float onward majestically in the great stream of time ; their heads are always visible; their endurance prevails.
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
English .- The English entered this territory and took up lands shortly before 1720. They were, accordingly, the third class of settlers. Their first families were the Boones, Ellises, Lees, and Lin- colns. They settled in the Manatawny section- the Ellises and Lees in the central portion along the Manatawny Creek, and the Boones and Lincolns in the western portion along the Monocacy Creek and the Schuylkill. Within ten years after their permanent settlements, they established a meeting- house for religious worship, this being about 1726, at a point where the present Exeter meeting- house stands; and in 1727 they obtained a promi- nent public road.
Shortly after 1730, they settled in the Schuylkill section, along and about Hay Creek and Allegheny Creek to the west of the Schuylkill; and also farther north, in the Ontelaunee section, along and about the Maiden Creek, immediately after the Indians had released their rights to the territory: The first families in the former settlements were the Embrees, Lewises, Humphreys, Scarlets, Harrys, Prices, Webbs, Moores, and Williamses ; and in the latter settlements, the Parvins, Lightfoots, Huttons, Starrs, Davises, Penroses, Pearsons, Wileys, Wrights, Wil- lits, Harveys, and Reeds. And these respective
families also established meeting-houses in the midst of their settlements, about the year 1736- the one at the cross-roads near the centre of Robe- son township, and the other near the centre of Maiden-creek township.
All these families were connected with the
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EARLY SETTLERS.
Friends. They exerted a strong influence in these three sections of the county. The numerous Eng- lish names, given to the townships east of the Schuylkill, were suggested by them. The English influence is apparent. The previous . counties, excepting Philadelphia, were given English names -Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, York, and Cumber- land. The proprietary government was English, and an English name for the new county was to be expected ; and the Penns having been at the head of provincial affairs, the name of their own shire naturally stood out with prominence as a proper name for the new organization.
George Boone was particularly prominent in the Manatawny section, and Benjamin Lightfoot in the Ontelaunee section, in respect to proceedings for setting apart new townships. They were survey- ors and men of more than ordinary ability. And just as these two men were prominent in their branch of service, Anthony Lee and Francis Parvin were equally, if not more, prominent in these respective sections as justices of the several courts of the county. Until the Revolution, through the recognition of the provincial government, the Friends exerted the most influence in directing political affairs in the county, notwithstanding their number was far less than the Germans. But during the Revolution, and immediately afterward, the natural energy of the Germans carried them for- ward in political matters, just as it had carried them forward in agriculture and manufactures before the Revolution. Independence elevated them into
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34 SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
political rights, the exercise of which placed them in power. So the Friends lost their position in the community, and with it their public influence. Before the Revolution their number was strong, and their religious meetings were active and suc- cessful. But since that time they have gradually decreased, decade after decade, until now. Whilst in influence and power, they conducted themselves with justice and ability. Their best men were always elevated to positions of responsibility. The early county records are distinguished for neatness and legibility, this of itself indicating their careful- ness and attention to business.
Since the Revolution, only a few of the represen- tative officers have been distinctively English, especially of the families mentioned. The Ger- mans have been our representative men almost entirely. It is safe to assert that this would not have been the case if the Revolution had not ter- minated successfully. During that trying period, the Friends here were mostly, if not entirely, Tories; and therefore they were opposed to the war.
There were English people here besides the Friends. At first, before 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 and the other in Amity township. They were members of the Established Church of England, called Episcopalians. Afterward, when the county
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EARLY SETTLERS.
was erected, they also appeared in Reading, but not with sufficient strength to cause the erection of a church for themselves until 1825.
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 the river. They migrated through Chester County lands until they crossed the South Mountain; and, though some of them reached a point beyond the mountain before the purchase of the territory from the Indians in 1732, the most of them entered this district immediately afterward. The Swedes did not have a township named after any of their places in their distant home across the wide ocean; but the Welsh were more impressive, they having named three townships-Caernarvon, Cumru, and Brecknock.
The Welsh had purchased from Penn in Eng- land, before 1700, a large body of land, aggregating 40,000 acres, to be selected in Pennsylvania ; and these acres they selected to the west of the Schuyl- kill. They settled the country so numerously that, before 1698, they had named six townships in the county of Chester. Rowland Ellis was a promi- nent Welshman who induced a large Welsh emi- gration from Wales to this country. In 1686, he himself embarked with 100 Welshmen. The dis- trict 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
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SCHOOL HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY.
them had settled in the Schuylkill section beyond this mountain.
The first families were the Davises, Evanses, Hughes, Joneses, Lewises, Lloyds, Rettews, and Thomases. They were adherents of the Baptist denomination. 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 20,000 acres before 1752. They were enterprising, and had a grist-mill along the Wyomissing before 1740. This flowing stream was appreciated by them for its superior water-power, and they accordingly erected different factories along its banks for the manufacture of gun-barrels, files, etc. Agriculture was their principal employ- ment. Like the Swedes, they remained in their first settlement, southward of the Schuylkill and Cacoosing. They did not enter politics, but at- tended strictly to their personal affairs. They co- operated earnestly with the Germans in obtaining a new county out of the upper sections of Lancas- ter and Philadelphia Counties.
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