Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Montgomery County

ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF PERKIOMEN

PEW HOLDERS IN 1790: THEIR PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

An amazing large hand printed chart of the Pew Holders of
St. James Episcopal Church, "Perkiomen" of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
listing the ancestry and children of many of the Pew Holders and their spouses.

 

A valuable guide to tracing St. James families in the absence
of extant early St. James marriage and Christening records.

Donated to the

Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

by Jesse Davis in 1935

Sketch of St. James' Church in service 1790

Photo from Yorke Family Collection of Mary Parker Beaman, contributed by Rita Gerardine.

Revised 2005

With Additions and Corrections

from the personal research of St. James Family descendants,

including Associated Families

Rita Gerardine - Newberry/Skeen/Yorke

Gene Rooks - Adams/Casselberry/Lane/Couch/Bean/Hallman

Joe Patterson - DeHaven Association, Pawling/Davis

Barbara Wentz - Davis/Koplin/Rambo/Umstead Family Research Team

Eleanor Mayfarth - Evans/Davis/Adams/Umstead Family Research Team

Our thanks to Barbara Bateman, Archivist of St. James Church,

Patricia Caster, Archives Coordinator for the Castor Assoc. of America (CAOA),

and the staff of the Historical Society of Montgomery County Library

for their assistance in this project.

We welcome further Additions and Corrections citing Primary

sources (Wills [original or from Will Books], Land Records, Bibles etc.)

St. James Address:
Archivist, St. James Church, 3768 Germantown Pike, Collegeville, PA 19426

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GUIDE TO USING THE ST. JAMES PEW HOLDERS CHART, 1790

The Pew holder Chart names were taken from the Pew List on the 1790 page of the St. James Vestry Book. As some of the 20 pews were shared, there are 36 pew holders. The original Pew Chart at the Historical Society of Montgomery County was done in 2 parts, each about 28" X 14".
A copy is also on LDS film #0021602, item 8, filmed 1948 at HSMC.

The upper half of the original 1935 Pew Chart may be viewed here. The graphic is about 400k.

 

The chart is divided into vertical columns of Pew Holders with horizontal columns listing information on the families of the 36 Pew Holders as known:

Pew # / Name of Pew Holder / (V) / 1790 census info / Died / Burial / Parents / Grandparents / Married / Died / Burial Place / Parents / Grandparents / Children and spouses.

 

No references are cited for the family information given on the chart. The text information of Additions and Corrections in this revision are below the original information on the chart, and follows the form of the chart, as to its columns, plus cited references for each and a complete surname index.

 

Symbols used on chart:

 

(V) = Vestryman... After Pew holder name = 1790 Vestry.

 

(    ) = name unknown

 

? By name of Pew Holder's child = perhaps a child of this family;
   Pre surname child's spouse=1^st name unknown.




SC = stepchild

 

SJ after children's marriages = married at St. James

 

(1790 Census)

m. = man (over 16), b. = boy, f. = females, o.f. = other freemen, s. = slaves.

 

The following symbols have been added in this revision:

 

¹ thru ⁴ = Additions to and Corrections of original Pew information.

⁵ thru ³³ = Endnote # for Bibliography below.

 

m. = married

d. = died

 

(V) Within text = Vestryman at earlier date but not in 1790 from source ⁵

 

(SJ) after death date in revised text = buried at St. James from source ⁶

       after marriage date in revised text = married at St. James from source ⁷

 

HSMC = Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

 

PA. AR. = Pennsylvania Archives (See ⁷ NOTE)

 

DATES in will citings = Year written is shown when pertinent to 1790 generation.






 

St. James Church was established on the Land Tract of Edward Lane pre 1710, and it is still at this original location, in what is today the village of Evansburg, Lower Providence Twp., Montgomery Co., PA. It has always served primarily the families that lived in the area that was to become Providence, Skippack/Perkiomen, Worcester and Limerick Townships. Although St. James has celebrated its 300^th Anniversary, there are no extant marriage records prior to 1788, and no Christening/Baptism records until even later. A pre reading of the NOTES on the Bibliography listings of the Vestry Minutes ⁵ and Rev. Muhlenberg's Journal¹² will aid in your understanding as you read the information on the Pew Chart.

 

 

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Bibliography and Notes

 

5 "The Minutes of the Vestry of St. James' P.E. Church, Perkiomen, 1738-1859", Addams McAllister, The Perkiomen Region, Vol. XIII, #1, Jan. 1935, pp. 2-32.

 

NOTE: The earliest history of the St. James Vestry, as recorded in the Original Book, had deteriorated completely prior to 1894, at which time it was in the archives of the Historical Society of PA. By Sept. 6, 1934, a photoplate had been made of the extant pages, and McAllister was given permission to print it. At that time 1738 was the first readable year, and only portions of some of the pages for 1738-40 were extant. No minutes are included for many of the years prior to 1786. Years included 1738-1786 are: 1738-40, "undated minutes", 1743, 1750, 1752, 1754, 1757, 1760-61, 1763-64, 1766, 1768, 1770-1776, 1780. The Photoplate is currently in the Archives of St. James' Church. Another source for early members is a 1736 petition listing the names of the members of St. James who signed. (See Source #8 below.)

 

6 "Pennsylvania Gravestone Inscriptions", "St. James's Perkiomen.", Copied by Addams S. McAllister Ph D., Pennsylvania Vital Records, The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine of History and Biography, 3 Volumes, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1983, Vol. III, pp. 315-335.

 

7 Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. IX, "Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810, Vol II", (1880)  pp. 165-179: "St. James Church". Marriages listed are 1788-1810.
Also available as 1898 reprinting at Family History Library, Salt Lake City, US/CAN, 974.9, A39p, Ser. 2, V. 9 pp. 169-183 (or same pages on microfilm of book LDS#0908829, item 1, filmed 16 Apr, 1973).
[Note: Second Series Vol VIII, is subtitled Vol I PA Marriages Prior to 1810. Vol IX is subtitled Vol II PA Marriages Prior to 1810. [also has Provincial Officers] Because of the discrepancy in page numbers between printings no exact page numbers will be given in citings for PA. AR., Second and Third Series.] Other churches listed in Vol. IX, Vol. II which also carry the endnote #7 include: First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia;   Abington Presbyterian Church;  St. Michael's and Zion Church, Philadelphia;   Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia;  "Other People Married in Philadelphia by Heinrich Muhlenberg, 1761 to 1764". Other Churches listed in Vol. VIII, Vol. I, which carry the endnote #7 include: Christ Episcopal Church of Philadelphia, [some of these marriages were performed while Christ Church ministers were periodically serving also the St. James families, but registered at Christ Church];  Reformed, Faulkner Swamp;  German Reformed Church;  New Hanover Lutheran Church; Old Swede's Church (Gloria Dei), Philadelphia [Marriages listed at this Church do not necessarily reflect the location where the marriage was performed.]

 

8 Williams, L. C., "St. James' Church, Perkiomen, Evansburg," Historical Sketches: A collection of papers prepared for the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Vol. V, 1925, pp. 356-365.

 

A list of names on a petition that was forwarded to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G.) in London, dated August 1, 1736 by "sundry members of the congregation" requesting that a new minister be assigned to St. James'. Williams cites source of list as The Archives of the S.P.G. Names included (not in order) are:

Wm. and Abraham Adams; John, Thomas, Wm., and Richard Bull; Paul Castleberry; John and Enoch Davis; George Evans; Nicholas Hicks; Thos. Kenworthy; Samuel Lane; John Newberry; Henry Pawling and Henry Pawling; David Phillips; Peter Rambo; John and Robert Shannon; Stephen Boyis; John Shain, Rodger Worth; Wm. Moore; Edward Nicholas; Thos. Howe; Thos. Turner; John Simonds; Philip King; Morrice Lewis; Henry Holstein; John Edwards; Thomas James; Arnswell Beailly; John Jordain; Henry Barnard; John and Daniel Morris.

 

9 Hildeburn, Charles R., ed., "Baptisms and Burials From the Records of Christ Church, Philadelphia, 1709-1760", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Philadelphia, 1877-1893.

 

10 Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery Co., PA, Vol. III, October 1942 - April 1943, "Records from Bibles in the Possession of the Historical Society of Montgomery County", "Lane/Shannon Bible", Lane-Evans Families, pp. 157-159, Shannon Family, pp. 160-162.

 

11 Leach, Joseph Granville, "Some Account of the Pawling Family of New York and Pennsylvania", Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Volume VII, March 1918, No. 1, pp. 1-25. Another source of material by Leach is Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families: from The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine with an introduction by Don Yoder, Genealogical Pub. Co., Baltimore, 1982. Pawlings Section: "Some Account of the Pawling Family of New York and Pennsylvania", contributed by Josiah Granville Leach. pp. 542-51.

 

12 Tappert, Theodore G. and John W. Doberstein, trans., The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, in Three Volumes; Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States, Philadelphia, 1942-1958.

 

NOTE: Prior to 1788 there were very few times that St. James' Church had a "resident" minister. Rev. Currie (1754-1776) resided in Chester County during most of his ministry. Rev. Muhlenberg from 1742, however, resided in nearby Trappe, as minister of Augustus Lutheran Church. He was a friend and neighbor of the St. James' families, and considered himself their "Pastor in Residence", performing marriages for them and ministering to them in illness. He refers to them as his "Friends and neighbors", and sometimes adds, "of the English Church". The ones that he married are sometimes in the Augustus Lutheran Church Records, (or other Churches he also served), but more often they are listed only in his Journals. 1776-1784 St. James' Church had no minister and 1784-88 only a visiting minister. During that period, Rev. Muhlenberg also performed baptisms for some of the children of St. James' families, and many of the families attended his Church, especially on the Sundays, "When I was preaching in English".

 

13 Pennsylvania German Church Records of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, Etc. From the Pennsylvania German Society Proceedings and Addresses, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore.

 

14 Muster Fines, 1780, Item 6- Abraham Skeen: "Father testified for him", "Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File", series #13.50, Digital Archives (ARIAS), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Website.

 

This 2003 addition to information on the Skeen family is a very important clue in the research of the family of James and Barbara Skeen. As the Skeen family that included James Skeen is the only Skeen family found in records of the Perkiomen Region that was to become Mont. Co., and James was the only member of his family living in the area after 1770, this identifies him as the father of Abraham. That Abraham, Samuel, Peter, James ["carpenter"], Joseph, and Benjamin share a common father is seen in the Time Line of Skeen Family of Providence Township, and their participation in the Rev. War in St. James Families - Rev. War.

 

15 The Perkiomen Region, Past and Present, Henry S. Dotterer, Editor, (republished 1994), Adams Apple Press, Bedminster, PA.

 

16 Banning, Norton A., History of Knox County Ohio from 1779-1862, Inclusive, published by Richard Nevins, Columbus, OH, 1862.

 

17 Lessig, O.B. & J.J. Kline, compilation of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Pottstown, 1777-1872, Manuscript, HSMC.

 

18 Philadelphia County Orphans Court Index, 1719-1852, LDS Microfilm #1289402, Spruance Library, Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, PA.

 

19 Church record of the Germantown Reformed Church, now Market Square Presbyterian Church, Germantown, 1753-1856. Transcribed by William John Hinke, Ph.D., DD, LDS Microfilm, #0020347, item 5, filmed 1936/7 at the Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA .

 

20 Wright, Frederick Edward 18th Century Records of the Germantown Reformed Church of Pennsylvania, Publ. Family Line Publications, Westminster, MD, 1994.

 

21 Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Ellwood Roberts, Editor, published T. S. Benham & Co. and Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1904.

 

22 Inscriptions at Montgomery Baptist Church, near Colmar, Montgomery Co., PA, copied 1943, originally owned by Mrs. George C. Lewis, a professional genealogist from Bryn Mawr, Pa., Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jim Stokes.

 

23 Craig, Peter Stebbins, The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware; Family Histories of the Lutheran Church members residing in Pennsylvania, Delaware, West New Jersey, and Cecil County, Maryland, 1638-1693, SAG Publications, Winter Park, FL, 1993.

 

24 Hollenbach, Church Record Manuscripts:

  ^a    Church Record Falkner Swamp Reformed Church New Hanover, Montgomery County, Translated by Reverend Thomas R. Brendle about 1925. A manuscript rearranged 1969 by Raymond E. Hollenbach, Royersford, November 1969. Available in Montgomery County and other Historical Societies.
   ^b    St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church, Douglassville, Berks County, PA. Rearranged and typed November 1980, Raymond E. Hollenbach, Royersford, PA, Lehigh County Hist. Soc., Allentown, PA.
   ^c   Episcopal Churches Morgantown - Caernarvon Area, [including Bangor Episcopal, Churchtown, Caernarvon Twp., Lancaster Co., which borders Caernarvon Twp. in Berks Co.; St. Thomas, Morgantown, Caernarvon Twp. in Berks Co., and St. Mary's, Warwick in Chester Co.], Indexed by B. F. Owen, Esq., Reindexed and Typed by David M. Hollenbach, 1998 , Hist. Soc. Berks Co., CR-B216.

 

25 Benjamin Brooke Pension, "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files" (Record Group 15, Records of the Veteran Administration), Series: M805 Roll: 124 File: R1240 @Heritage Quest Online from ProQuest.

 

26 Barker, Charles R., "Graveyard Inscriptions of Christ Episcopal Church (Old Swedes), Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania", copied by Charles R. Barker, Pennsylvania Vital Records, From the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine and the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, in Three Volumes, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1983, Vol. III, pp. 272-310.

 

27 Martin, John Hill, Esq. Chester (and its Vicinity), Delaware County in Penna. With Original Sketches of Some Old Families, Wm. H. Pile & Sons, Philadelphia, 1877.

 

28 Meier, Judith A., Advertisements and Notices of Interest from Norristown, Pennsylvania Newspapers, 6 Volumes, Clossen Press, Apollo, PA, 1987-1992: First Vol. [not numbered], 1799-1821; Vol. II, 1822-1827; Vol. III, 1828-1832; Vol. IV, 1833-1838; Vol. V, 1839-1843; Vol. VI, 1844-1848.

 

29 Strassburger, Ralph Beaver, The Strassburger Family and Allied Families of Pennsylvania: being the ancestry of Jacob Andrew Strassburger, Esquire, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Gwynedd Valley, Pa.: Printed for private circulation., 1922.

 

30 DuHamel, William, Historical Annals of Christ Church (formally called St. Mary's) Reading, Pa., Berks County, Diocese of Bethlehem, issued in conjunction with their celebration of the centenary of the parish, Douglassville, Pa.: Church Press, 1926.

 

31 Major, Charles, History of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, A Commemorative Address 28 Sepember 1929, including Church Records and Family Histories, Godfrey Library, Online paid subscription.

 

32 Jones, Henry Z. Jr., The Palatine Families of New York, A Study of the German Immigrants Who Arrived in Colonial New York in 1710, Publ. Universal City, CA, 1985.

 

33 Martin, Jacob and John P. Smith, Abstracts of Berks County Wills 1752-1785 based on the Abstracts of Jacob Martin and John P. Smith, Family Line Publications, Westminster, MD, 1993.

 

 

 

1790 Pew Holder's Chart