Schuylkill County PA Archives Misc: Blue Book Of Schuylkill County By Mrs. Ella Zerbey Elliott:
Allied Families 361-409
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Book Title: Blue Book Of Schuylkill County By Mrs. Ella Zerbey Elliott
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
361
Allied Families
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DESCENDANTS OF DANIEL BARTOLET
Daniel Bartolet, Sr. , b. October 11, 1792, d. November 16, 1864.
Catharine Merkel (first wife), b. September 8, 1798, d. 1822; children:
Abraham, Daniel, Jr.
Sara Merkel (second wife), b. July 7, 1807, d. April 18, 1887. The
wives were sisters and daughters of Michael Merkel. Children: Susan,
Charles, Elizabeth, Carolina, Elias, Amos, Lewis, Richard, Sarah, Emma
Rebecca, Catherine, John, Louisa, Joseph, Benjamin.
Abraham Bartolet, b. January 4, 1819; wf., Mary Weaver, d. March
17, 1897. Children: Albert (shot in battle of Cold Harbor, Civil War.)
William, unmarried, railroad watchman; Catharine, married George Berk-
heiser, resides in Schuylkill Haven; Emma, d., married Christ From-
knecht; Sarah, unmarried, d.; Franklin, d., married Mary Sowers; Mary,
married Alexander Smith, of Orwigsburg; Elizabeth, unmarried, Cres-
sona; Wallace, single, engineman, Cressona.
Daniel Bartolet, Jr., b. May 22, 1821, d. November 1, 1885; wf., Ella-
mina Luckenbill. Children: Henry, d.; Franklin Adam, freight train con-
ductor, Harrisburg, Pa.; Louisa, Schuylkill Haven; Daniel, d.; Eliza, d.;
Mary, Reading, Pa.
Susan Bartolet, b. September 23, 1824; m. Wm. Kantner; both d.;
Susan died February 11, 1901. Children: Tamson, d.; Rebecca Sterner,
Cressona; Phoebe Simon, d.; Lillian Barton, Phila.; Albert, machinist,
Pottsville; Caroline Berger, Schuylkill Haven.
Elizabeth Bartolet, b. December 20, 1825; m. Louis Schaeffer, d.;
Elizabeth died April 13, 1882. Children: Emma Aulenbach, Middletown,
Pa.; Kate Boyer, d.; William, engineman, Cressona; Annie Bretz; Caro-
line Minnig, d.
Elias Bartolet, b. October 24, 1828; d. February 13, 1904; m.
Elizabeth
Dengler. Children: Ellen Robbins, Phila.; Cecelia Reiger, d.; Anna
Scheetz, d.; Roxanna Wehr, Mahanoy City; Edward, engineman, Mahanoy
City; George, engineman, Sioux City, Iowa.
Lewis Bartolet, b. October 11, 1830; d. April 26, 1908; m. Rebecca
Minnig. Children: Five deceased; William, weaver, Manayunk, Pa.; Harry,
confection clerk, Manayunk, Pa.; Edward, postman, Manayunk, Pa.; Iola
Virginia, Kendler, Phila.
Sarah Bartolet, b. November 2, 1832; d. February 11, 1901; m. George
Fessler, d. Children: Catherine Sherry, Pottsville; George, engineman,
Pal Alto; Susan Wagner, Cressona; Mary Moyer, d.; Phoebe Fessler,
Cressona; Esther Hillibish, Palo Alto; Elizabeth Sterner, Pottsville;
Michael, Cressona; Samuel, Cressona; John d.; Sallie, Cressona.
Catherine Bartolet, b. June 30, 1834; d. January 25, 1911; m. John
Fegan, d., Lyons, Iowa. Children: Daniel B., engineman, Lyons, Iowa;
Joseph, machinist, St. Paul, Minn.; John, machinist, Missouri Valley,
Iowa; Caroline Johnstone, Lyons, Iowa; Thomas, telegrapher, Dallas,
Texas.
Louisa Bartolet, b. January 7, 1836; d. November 25, 1913; unmar-
ried.
Charles Bartolet, b. December 12, 1837; d. October 24, 1905; m.
Chris-
tiana Neuer, of Harrisburg, Pa., d. Children: George W., inspector,
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362 BLUE BOOK OF
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Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Sara Margaret Wagner, Trenton, N. J.;
Wilhelmina Catherine, teacher in public schools, Cressona; Anna Eliza-
beth Breininger, Cressona; Herndon Lewis, High Springs, Fla.
Caroline Bartolet, b. November 17, 1839; m. Samuel A. Mertz; resides
in Lehighton, Pa.; no children. Adopted Charles A. Snyder, a great-
nephew. He keeps a general store.
Amos Bartolet, b. February 10, 1842; assessor and supervisor; m.
Rebecca Berger, d.; resides in Cressona, Pa. Children: Beata Davis,
Cressona; Bard Bartolet, Cressona, clerk in C. & I. Co. office, Pottsville.
Richard Bartolet, b. December 1, 1843, Jersey City, N. J.; engine-
man; married Martha Wiggan. Children: Roberta, stenographer, etc.,
Jersey City; Howard, clerk for P. R. R. Co., Jersey City.
Emma Rebecca Bartolet, b. August 31, 1845; d. April 16, 1911; m.
Jeremiah J. Kline, d.; resided in Ashley, Pa. Children: Charles Daniel,
expressman, Ashley, Pa.; Harry Benjamin, d.
John Bartolet, b. May 5, 1847; d. January 8, 1911; engineman, Sioux
City, Iowa; first wife, Ellen Forrer, d., Cressona; second wife, Josephine
Heffner, Mitchell, Dakota. Children: four deceased, Ida Moyer, Or-
wigsburg, Pa.
Daniel Bartolet and his two wives, Catharine and Sarah, daughters
of Michael and Elizabeth Merkle, had 17 children, all living to maturity.
1816, January 20, Daniel Bartolet, m. Catherine Merkle, Rev. George
Mennig. 1823, December 25, Daniel Bartolet m. Sarah Merkle, Rev.
Phillip Meyer. Daniel Bartolet and wives are buried in New Jerusalem
cemetery, Spring Garden.
Joseph Bartolet, b. March 10, 1849; engineman in Mexico, now in
San Antonio, Texas; unmarried.
Benjamin Bartolet, b. October 28, 1851; engineman L. V. R. R., Lehigh-
ton; m. Francis Shuman, of Mainville, Pa. Children: Sara, clerk, Lehigh-
ton, Pa.; Clay, d.; Howard, Prof. of Mathematics in Collegiate Institute,
York, Pa.; Rena, stenographer, Lehighton; Florence, stenographer, Le-
highton.
Isaac Strauch, secretary of the New Jerusalem church, had
possession of the records when the split occurred, and which
were never found. He kept the toll gate when the turnpike ran
to the left side from Schuylkill Haven through a covered
bridge and thence on the lower road through Mt. Carbon
to Pottsville. When the Reading railway was built, the
bridge was removed and the turnpike kept on the right side
of the river and canal.
Michael Merkle, of Minersville, (Phillip, Michael and
Elizabeth), b. near Cressona, 1823. He began life eary as
a driver on the old horse railway, of the Mine Hill Railway,
to Schuylkill Haven, subsequently becoming stationary en-
gineer for Richard Kear, Wolf Creek mines. He was one of
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 363
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a quartette of Minersville men who operated the mines upon
the lands of the Forrest Improvement Company. In 1868,
under the firm name of Lawrence, Merkle and Company, they
leased coal lands at Mahanoy Plane and Frackville, now
leased by the Madeira, Hill Company, which were very pro-
ductive for a time. Mr. Merkle was engaged in the coal bus-
iness up to his death, which occurred from an accidental dis-
charge of a pistol. Mr. Merkle was a self made man and one
of the foremost citizens of Minersville. Adam Confehr, mar-
ried to a sister of his, was engaged with him in the Forest
Coal Company.
Michael Merkle was twice married. First wife, Ann Bender, of
Chester County. Their children were: Phillip, wf. Eliza Hadesty, sister
of George Hadesty, division superintendent of the Reading C. & I. Co.; one
son killed on railroad; Phillip, a soldier in the Civil War, is spending
his declining years at the Erie Soldiers' Home.
Emma, m. Praull Boyer, brother of Col. Zaccur Praull Boyer, both
deceased; lived in Port Carbon. One son, Claude, m.; several children.
Clara, d., m. George Ellis, druggist. Children: Madge, m. Will.
Harris, plumber; Sadie, bookkeeper in the office of Oak Hill colliery, Min-
ersville. One in the West.
J. Harry Merkle, the eldest, wf., Margaret E. Lewis. They had seven
children, of whom three are living, George A., a rising young physician,
of Minersville, and May and Blanche, at home. Mr. Markle was a mer-
chant of Frackville, but removed to Minersville about twenty-five years
ago, where he has since been in the same business. Dr. George Merkle,
m. E. K. Balliet, of Minersville.
George F. Merkle, wf., Annie, da. of the late Henry and Sarah
Graeff Hammer, for many years in charge of the Thomas Shollenberger
store, of Minersville. Mr. Merkle is the manager of the Frank Law-
rence general store of Minersville. Their children were: one daughter,
m. Will. Flail, blacksmith at Reading shops, Pottsville. One son, Louis,
a very promising young man, mechanical engineer, d. at the age of
twenty-six years, of typhoid pneumonia.
Michael Merkle's second wf. was Margaret Heilner, with whom he
had three children: Horace, a physician, m., died in Montana, no
children. William, single, died in Jefferson Hospital, Phila.; Ida, d.,
single, in Norristown. Mrs. Mary Brady, Norristown.
Gideon Merkle, d., lumber merchant, Minersville; came from near
Hamburg; da's, Mrs. Mary Bedford and Mrs. Sue Ansty. Gideon Merkle
was a descendant of the Merkles of the Trappe, Montgomery Co.
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364 BLUE BOOK OF
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HISTORY OF THE MUENCHS
The name Münch, as originally spelled means monk or
friar. It was derived from an estate, purchased from an order
of Monks in France.
(The diaeresis or "umlaud" over the name Münch has
the effect of u e. Muench.) The name since has been vari-
ously spelled Minch, Minck, Minnich, Minick, Minnick,
Ming, Mennegh, Mennig, Mynich, Minock, etc., but it is from
the same origin.
Penna. Archives, 2d Series, Vol. XVII, and Rupp's 30,000 Immigrants
have the following as settling in Penna. Ship Lists:
John Christopher Meng, August 24, 1728.
John Adam Meng, August 15, 1750.
Michael Meng, October 20, 1752.
John Minck (sick) and Christ. Ludwig Muebch, November 3, 1752.
John Minnich (sick), November 7, 1754.
John Philip Menick, October 6, 1767.
Peter Meng, on November 15, 1802.
Hans Heinrich Muench, September 15, 1752.
Hans George "Manig", October 2, 1749.
Lorentz, "Manig," August 27, 1739, aged 40.
Wendel "Manig," September 5, 1751.
Conrad Muench, see pasport on another page.
Phillip Muench, October 26, 1768.
Tobias Manich (Rupp's, p. 22), October 17, 1749.
Simon Minch, November 3, 1750.
The early Münchs were Catholics. During the reign of
Luis XIV, in France, a Baron Münch, who had embraced
the Calvanistic religion and was a powerful factor in the
Huguenot political party, was stripped of all his possessions,
his chateau burned and he was among those massacred. His
kinsmen, after the dissolution of the title, fled to Germany
after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685. Some of
the younger men joined the armies at war with France and
others, when the opportunity opened later, united with the
Palatines and came to America, with their families.
(Dr. Julius F. Sache, Librarian, Masonic Library, Masonic Temple,
Philadelphia, has the illustration and its heraldic emblazonment of the
Muench coat of arms, a little figure of a monk with the superscription
"der Muench" above it.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 365
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One of the first Münchs to arrive in America was Hans
"Minigh," on the ship Thistle, of Glasgow, Calvin Dunlap,
master, from Rotterdam, August 29, 1730.1 He is described
as a "newcomer from Holland, whose children are all at servi-
tude," doubtless to pay his and their passage.
February 7, 1755, administration was granted George Lambert, of
Albany Township, Berks County; Michael Brobst, Linn Township, North-
ampton County, friends of this John Minnich, late of Albany Township.
(B. 21, p. 401.)
A Johannes Minnich settled in Pinegrove Township, Berks County,
1754, where his son Johannes was born, August 8, 1757. Leonard, brother
of Johannes, came to this township from Bern Township, 1767. (State
and Proprietary Tax Lists, 1779 to 1785.) He had surveyed 200 to 250
acres of land.
Johannes2, d., April 27, 1823. Johannes and Leonard, with their
wives, Christina and Magdelena, are on Jacob's church records as having
communed there, November, 1799. Adam and Berbhard, their sons, bap-
tized children in this church. A daughter, Magdelena, m. Jacob Heim.
Letters of administration for Leonard Muench, Pinegrove Township, were
taken out by Baltzer Hautz, 1802.
Peter Münch and Simon Münch came to America on the
ship Samuel, Hugh Percy, Master, from Rotterdam, qualified
at Philadelphia, August 30, 1737.1
They located in Tulpehocken Township, lancaster
County afterward Berks County. Peter was 39 years and
Simon 37 years of age.
The two men were brothers, and Gottfried Munch, of
Mechtersheim, near Speyer, in the Kingdom of Bacaria, was
doubtless a brother and a third of a son, or direct kins-
man of the Huguenot Baron of France. The two lines, the
Berks County contingent and the descendants of the Phila-
delphia line are unknown to each other and claim no rela-
tionship; yet their ancestral traditions are identical. The
same family names occur with little variation through the
first and second generations in this country. The letters,
too, which follow tell of a misunderstanding between two
branches of the Munchs in this country; whether this refers
__________
(Note 1-Penna. Archives, 2d Series, Vol. 17, p. 20.)
(Note 1-Penna. Archives, Second Series, Vol. 17, p. 133.)
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366 BLUE BOOK OF
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to Gottfried and Conrad, brothers, of Phila., and sons of Gott-
fried, of Mechtersheim, or as between them and their uncles,
(supposedly) Peter and Simon, of Berks County, is not clear;
but the two lines were close connections, the proof of it is
unquestionable.
(Note--Cut of original patent found elsewhere in this
issue.)
Peter Münch settled in Bethel Township, then Lancas-
ter County, now in Lebanon, Berks and Dauphin, where he
took up a tract of land. Peter's grandson, Simon, son of Si-
mon, afterward purchased this tract. March 23, 1750, Peter
Minnich took up 300 acres of land in Pinegrove Township,
Lancaster County, afterward Berks, now Schuylkill County.
The tract included land on both sides of the Schuylkill river,
and, as a fac simile of the original patent in our possession,
found elsewhere, shows, was the original site of the "Seven
Stars" hotel in Manheim Twonship, Schuylkill County, where
he built a log house afterward burned by the Indians.1
Peter Münch was twice married. First wife, Christina
Barbara, by whom he had the following children:
Simon, York County, Pa., yeoman, b. August 25, 1728, d. 1795.
Jacob, York County, Pa., yeoman.
Henry, wife of Catharine, Botecourt (Bashtourt County, Va., yeoman.)
John Michael, Dauphin County, Pa., yeoman; b. January 2, 1738; bap-
tized January 24, sponsors, John Michael Becker and wf. (Stoever's R.)
Another child, name not given (probably Peter), and
John Conrad Muench, b. November 28, 1740; bap., January 21, 1741,
sponsors, Conrad Scharff and wf. Appolonia, Little Tulpehocken church,
(Stoever's records.)
Peter Münch's second wife, with whom he had no issue,
was Eva Catharine, widow of John Ritzman. Münch was a
taxable in Pinegrove Township, Berks County, in 1754, and
in Maxatawny Township, 1759. An old map of Governor
Mifflin's time shows "Peter's mountain," "Minnich's Gap"
and "Minnich's Mill"; and the Rehersburg church records
show him to have stood sponsor, with his wife Catharine, for
__________
(Note 1-D. B. 4, p. 298, Berks Co. C. H.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 367
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children, from 1748 to '51, of prominent parents in that
locality; one of these God-children, John Peter Filbert, was
afterward the first Mayor of Reading.
August 18, 1751, da. of Albrecht Strauss (Northkill);
March 6, 1748, da. of Philip Heiliger (Northkill);
August 31, 1746, and May 28, 1749, for a son and da. of Samuel Fil-
bert (Northkill);
December 9, 1750, da. of George Schaetterle (Tuplehocken);
March 8, 1751, for son of Dr. John George Trippner and wife Anna
Elizabeth (Tulpehocken);
August 25, 1754, for da. of George Muench, Bern.
Among the Warrantees of Land, Lancaster County, Pa., published in
Vol. XXIV, 3d Series, Penna. Archives, there is shown a warrant for 50
acres to Peter Menig, dated March 23, 1750, but there is no record of a
survey having been returned on that warrant.
Peter Münch m. Eva Maria Ritzman, May 30, 1756. He
died 1766. His widow, from Atolhoe, near Rehersburg, tak-
ing out letters of administration; she being described as "the
widow of Peter Minnich, late of the part of Berks County,
which lies over the Blue Mountains, in Pinegrove Township.1
The first four sons, October 15, 1787, disposed of their
interest in the tract in Bethel Township to Simon, grandson
of Peter Münch and son Simon. The other two childern
are not mentioned in the document. The signatures were
proven October 25, 1790, by George and Peter Minnich and
two others. The one child, probably a daughter, may have
taken her share and John Conrad Minnich having taken out
a warrant for 100 acres of the land, in Pinegrove Township,
on both sides of the Schuylkill River, settled by his father in
1750. (See map accompanying deed.) The patent shows that
he paid the interest and quit rent on this tract from March
7, 1760, acquiring title subsequently, by purchase, to most of
the original parent of 300 acres in that vicinity and to lands
adjoining it. Just when
CAPTAIN CONRAD MINNICH
settled permanently on the site of the Seven Stars Hotel,
Manheim Township, Schuylkill County, is not definite, but
___________
(Note 1-Vol. 2, p. 148.)
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368 BLUE BOOK OF
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it was not later than 1768, the year he was married. He may
have come there and taken possession, 1760, when he took
up the original patent for 100 acres of the land, signed by
John Penn and upon which his father settled and the family
lived, 1751, being driven from there as the patent states "by
the burning of their log house and other buildings by the
Indians," and then returned to Heidelberg Township, where
he appears on the tax lists as "Yeoman," 1767 and 1768.
Francis Parvin took up by warrant, 56 acres of land,
June 1, 1751, His executors sold this land to Ellis Hughs,
October 9. Neither lived upon the tract but Ellis Hughs,
who lived in Exeter Township, operated a saw mill upon it.
He granted three tracts of land to John Gerber, August 1,
1771.
The 174 acre tract was surveyed by warrant, April 12,
1770, granted to George Gardner, who, February 5, 1762,
granted the same to Isaiah Willets, who, September 15, 1766,
granted the same to Ellis Hughes. On this tract stood the
saw mill. The 174 acre tract was surveyed in pursuance of
Thomas Hughes' application, who by his deed dated Decem-
ber 10, 1767, granted the same to Ellis Hughes, who conveyed
it, August 1, 1771, to John Garber, miller of Cumru Township.
Conrad Minnich, it appears from the following, lived
upon part of this land during these transfers.
The Berks County Deed Book says: "John Gerber, of
Cumru Township, sold August 18, 1775, to Conrad Minnich,
of Brunswick Township, for 600 pounds, a certain messsuage
water saw mill and three tracts of land, now in the said Con-
rad Minnich's actual possession, being situated adjoining
land late of Francis Parvin and Balthazer Neyfung and thence
up the Schuylkill River, containing 174 acres; one other of
them, adjoining land now or late of Ellis Hughes and Joseph
Berger, in the forks of the Schuylkill, containing 114 acres
and the other of them bounded on the northeast by the east
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 369
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branch of the Schuylkill River and on the southeast by land
of James Boone and on the southwest and northwest now
vacant, containing 56 acres."
A reasonable conclusion to arrive at, is that as Ellis
Hughes was a non-resident, Conrad Minnich ran his saw
mill for him and boarded the men at the road house (as in
the case of Neyman, who operated Baltzer Gehr's saw mill
on the site of Pottsville), and afterward came into full pos-
session of the tract upon which he lived with his father's
family, 1750.
Christopher Stump patented a tract of 200 acres of land
February 25, 1755; 100 acres of this land he and his wife
Margaret granted to Nicholas Miller, March 25, 1755. Au-
gust 30, 1778, Christopher Balti and Susanna, his wife, sold
to Conrad Minnich and Henry Deckert, of Brunswig Town-
ship, for 580 pounds, 100 acres and allowances of land, ad-
joining Adam Miller's and part of the land of the aforesaid
Christopher Stump.
Nicholas Miller and Eva Catharine, his wife, sold the
said 100 acres to Peter Merkle and Catharine, his wife, April
17, 1765. Peter Merkle, April 4, 1778, granted the same to
Christopher Balti. (Book 9, p. 121.)
Nicholas Miller removed to Shamokin Township, North-
umberland County, where he is noted on the tax list, 1788, and
also appears on the tax list of Augusta Township, 1771.
September 5, 1782, Henry Deckert and Elizabeth granted
their half in this tract to Conrad Minnich. (Book 9, p. 123.)
Peter Filbert, Sheriff of Berks County, sold to Conrad
Minnich, September 5, 1785, 230 acres of land, the property
of Jacob Gemmerling (Kemmerling), Brunswick Township,
adjoining lands of Henry Dieter, Martin Dreibelbis and oth-
ers, (Book 9, p. 400.)
November 1, 1791, Conrad Minnich and Elizabeth, his
wife, of Manheim Township, sold to Asa Jones, 200 acres of
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370 BLUE BOOK OF
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land, "at the mouth of Tumbling Run, over the Blue Moun-
tain," late in Manheim Township. (B. 12, p. 431.) Bought it
from Paul Ferger, February 14, 1782. (B. 12, p. 437.)
"Mortgage by Asa Jones, Manheim Township, to John
Moyer, Hamburg, November 22, 1791, for eleven pounds, in
gold or silver, on the two hereinafter named tracts of land:
The one thereof situate on Tumbling Run, including the
mouth thereof, containing about 200 acres. It being the same
tract which Conrad Minnich and Elizabeth, his wife, did,
on November 1, 1791, grant unto Asas Jones. The other tract
of 176 acres, on the other side of the Schuylkill from the first
tract." Conrad Minnich and Peter Minnich were the wit-
nesses to the mortgage. (Book 9, p. 154.) This land was af-
terward located as in Norwegian Township. The above Peter
Minnich is doubtless the Peter who settled in Northumber-
land County with Conrad, Jr. He was a son of Simon.
Thouron's addition to Pottsville, (Norwegian Town-
ship,) was laid out on land patented to Conrad Minnich and
Jacob Zoll, July 10, 1792-September 5, 1794.1-2
(See Fisher's, 1831 Map, Schuylkill County, Commis-
sioners' office.)
Conrad Minnich, as aforesaid, came with his father, Pe-
ter, 1750, when ten years of age, to Pinegrove, Manheim
Township, returning to Bethel, 1755, and again returning
north about 1760-1768, where he lived during his lifetime
upon the same land, although the name of the Township
changed several times during his occupancy.
In these transfers of land, noted above, Conrad Min-
nich is mentioned as "Yeoman," "Miller" and as "Church
Warden," of Zion's Lutheran church, (Red church), of
Brunswick Township. He at one time having bought land
and holding the deed in trust for the church. His wife is
__________
(Note 1-One of the original tracts constituting the boundaries of
Pottsville, so described in Deed Book, Schuylkill Co. C. H.)
(Note 2-James Wilson, signer of Declaration of Independence, bought
part of a tract of land adjoining the above, 1790, from Jacob Zoll.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 371
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named in the deeds as Elisabeth, daughter of George Peter
Zerbe, late of Tulpehocken Township. He was a taxpayer,
Pinegrove Township, Berks County, 1772, and the first col-
lector of taxes in Manheim Township, 1791. The Proprie-
tary State Tax Lists, Berks County, show Conrad Minnich
to have paid taxes on a saw and grist mill from 300 to
500 acres; from 1779 to 1784 his family consisted of eight
persons.
CONRAD MINNICH'S HOTEL
now known as the "Seven Stars," was the first public house
in (Schuylkill) this county. When rebuilt after its destruc-
tion by the Indians, 1755, it was partially constructed of
stone; these walls in the rear are still standing, but the front
was a low log building. Ellis Hughes' saw mill stool sev-
eral hundred yards south of the hostelry, which was sur-
rounded by a dense pine forest and as a road house on the
state road, laid out 1770, afforded entertainment and lodg-
ing for the patrons of the stage coach from Philadelphia and
Reading to Fort Augusta (Sunbury) and the few wood cut-
ters and wayfarers thereabouts. It is mentioned as, "Capt.
Conrad Minnich's, Brunswick Township, near the Schuyl-
kill, several miles south of the Sharp Mountain," and as,
"being then the 'Frontier' ", August 27, 1777.1
Conrad Minnich was a captain of the second company
in the third battalion of Berks County militia, May 16,
1777, in the Revolutionary War. One of the three com-
panies partially organized from this side of the Blue Moun-
tains, in the part of Berks County, now included in Schuyl-
kill County.2 (For military history see Berks and Schuyl-
kill in the Revolutionary War on previous page.)
There is no record of Conrad Minnich's marriage to
Elizabeth, daughter of George Peter Zerbe, of Tulpehocken
__________
(Note 1-Penna. Archives, 3d Series, Vol. 14, p. 265, Indian Forts,
Vol. 1.)
(Note 2-Penna. Archives, 5th Series, Vol. 5, pp. 128-135-190-201.)
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372 BLUE BOOK OF
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Township, Berks County. The records of Christ Lutheran
church, Stouchsburg, Marion Township, Berks County, for
which her father, George Peter Zerbe, was a singer, 1743,
are well kept and in remarkable state of preservation from
1748 to 1760, under the various pastors, when Rev. John
Nicholas Kurtz and his brother, William Kurtz, took charge.
They had charges at St. Michael's, Germantown, Phila., and
were itinerants, serving the Red church and others, in that
part of Berks, now Schuylkill County, and serving privately
the offices of the church to many individuals and families dur-
ing the ten years of their itinerancy. To these men is at-
tributed, more than to any others, the difficulty experienced
by genealogists in this locality, of obtaining, of obtaining official regis-
trations of family records. There are no marriages recorded
in Christ Church, from 1760 to 1771. Nor are their records
to be found in the church archives, as the following attests:
Krauth Memorial Library, Lutheran Theological Semi-
nary, Mt. Airy, Phila.
Rev. Luther D. Reed, Director.
September 8, 1913
Dear Madam: - After consultation with the Dean of the
Seminary, I regret to inform you that the Kurtz records and
papers are not in our possession, nor have we any informa-
tion in regard to them.
Yours truly,
M. E. KAIGHN, Librarian.
Elizabeth Zerbe, b. 1740; confirmed, 1760; da. of George
Peter Zerbe, 19 years and 6 months. (Christ church records.)
Conrad Minnich and Elizabeth Zerbe were married
about 1768.
1761, September 21, Conrad Minnich and Elizabeth Zerbe,
sponsors for Anna Elizabeth, da. of George Minnich. (Reh-
ersburg church records); and June 19, 1768, sponsors for a
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 373
Allied Families
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son, Conrad, of George Yeakley, Conrad Minnich and wife.
(Daniel's Corner church records, Robesonia.)
October 22, 1783, Conrad Minnich, et al., grantor to
Peter Zerby, Jr., son of George Peter Zerbe, deceased, tract
of land in Tulpebocken Township. (Recorder's office, B. 8,
V. 1, p. 103.) The heirs sold their interests to Peter, Jr., and
signed their names, spelled, Zerbe.
The first census, 1790, gives Conrad Minnich as having
two sons over sixteen years, two under sixteen and four
daughters. The baptismal records of the Red church, of
which he was Warden, gives only two of these children, the
others doubtless being among the Kurtz records.
Conrad Münch and wf. Elizabeth - Christina, b. May 16,
1779.
May Susanna, da. of Conrad and Elizabeth Munch, b.
April, bap. 1781.
The other children were: Conrad, Jacob, Joseph, Fred-
eric, Elizabeth; one died in infancy.
CONRAD MINNICH, SECOND
Conrad3 Minnich (Conrad2, Peter1), b. 1770; d. in Sun-
bury, Northumberland County, 1809; will, 1809; issue: Henry
and Elizabeth, wife of Adam and Christina Sunday. The
latter removed to Centre County, 1800, where Adam Sunday
died at George's Valley, April 24, 1855, the widow surviving.
The warrantees for Northumberland County give Adam Son-
tag, Conrad Minnich and Henry, Benjamin and Peter Min-
nich as having taken up 400 acres of land each, November 18,
1793. Conrad2 Minnich was a taxable in Manheim Township,
Berks County, 1802, later Norwegian Township, Schuylkill
County, and is mentioned in land transactions, also, at what
is now West Woods, Schuylkill County. The land of Adam
Sontag and Conrad Minnich is now included in Mifflin and
Catawissa Townships, Columbia County.
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374 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
Henry Münch (Benjamin3 Munch, Christopher2, Simon1),
of Heidelberg Township, married Catharine Reed, of the Tul-
pehocken, December 16, 1765.
Elizabeth2 Minnich (Conrad1) was m. twice, to Isaac
Phillips and to a man named Rudy. She lived in Beaver
Valley, Pinegrove Township, and left numerous descend-
ants. She was known to everybody thereabouts as Aunt
Betsy Phillips and with husbands is buried in St. Pe-
ter's cemetery, near Cressona.
Two daughters died without issue.
Jacob, second son of Conrad1 Minnich, married Mary
Pott, daughter of John Pott, the founder of Pottsville. A
sampler of homespun linen worked in colored silk by Mrs.
Minnich, in possession of a descendant of the family, gives
the following dates of birth: "Jacob Minnich, b. 1771; Mary
Pott Miinnich, b. June 18, 1797; Jeremiah Minnich, b. June
26, 1820; William Minnich, b. April 14, 1822; Maria Minnich,
b. May 28, 1824; Catharine Minnich, b. December 25, 1826;
Emma Rebecca, b. March 6, 1833."
Jacob Minnich has been variously referred to as "Fred-
eric" and "Joseph." He may have had a double name, but is
in the court house records as Jacob and so remembered by
his grandson, Edwin J. Minnich. The latter has in his pos-
session a Masonic Macassar cloth, or Spitalsfields silk hand-
kerchief, such as members of that organization sometimes
wore about the neck as a muffler. It was made in Spitals-
field, England, by Huguenot silk weavers and belonged to
his grandfather, Jacob Minnich. "Joseph Minnich lived in
Bristol, Pa., in 1820, and belonged to the Masonic order, of
that place, but there is no other record of an early Minnich in
the Masonic archives, " (Dr. Julius Sachse, Librarian, Phila.)
Captain Conrad Minnich d. 1796. Letters of administra-
tion were granted to Jacob Brickley, April 6, 1796, his widow
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 375
Allied Families
_________________________________________________
Elizabeth renouncing.1 Elizabeth, his wife, died 1799. Both
are buried in St. Peter's cemetery, 1 1/2 miles north of Cres-
sona. Their graves were recently identified by their great
grandson, Edwin J. Minnich, of St. Clair. A Revolutionary
War headstone obtained from the government was placed at
the head of the old soldier's grave and a suitable marker
installed at the head of that of his wife's, this work having
been a tribute of descendants of the George Peter Zerbe fam-
ily.
The following is self explanatory:
"St. Bonifacius Rectory, St. Clair, Penna.
This is to certify that Mr. Edwin J. Minnich has been in
my employ for the past one and a half years and in that of
my predecessor's employ for the space of at least three years,
and has filled his position in every way satisfactorily. I have
found him always a man of veracity and upon such testi-
monials I have kept him in employ myself.
Jos. A. Scheafer,
Rector St. Bonifacius Church,
April 10, 1913 St. Clair, Pa."
______
"Trinity Church Rectory, Pottsville, Penna.
To whom it may concern:-
I have known Mr. Edwin J. Minnich in connection with
the church, very well for a long time - twenty years or more.
I regard him as a straight, honest, truthful man; and would
not hesitate to take his word deliberately given, to be the
truth to the best of his knowledge and belief.
James F. Powes,
April 10, 1913. Rector Emeritus Trinity Church."
__________
(Note 1-Berks County Court Book, and Abstract of Wills, Penna. His-
torical Society, Phila.)
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376 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
"St. Clair, Schuylkill Co., Penna., April 9, 1913
I, Edwin Minnich, do hereby certify that the unmarked
grave in the northwest corner of old St. Peter's Lutheran
and Reformed burying ground, laid out about 1780, one and
a quarter miles west of Cressona, Schuylkill County, is that
of my great grandfather, Capt. Conrad Minnich, who lived at
the present site of the Seven Stars Hotel, Manheim Township,
Schuylkill County, Penna. He died 1796 and his wife, Eliza-
beth Zerbe, of Heidelberg Township, Berks County, died
about 1799, and they were buried beside each other in the
above designated cemetery; when a boy I frequently visited
this spot with my great aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Phillips, daugh-
ter of Conrad and Elizabeth Minnich, who lived nearby, and
whom I assisted in fixing up the graves of her parents. I
identify the grave by its proximity to the fence and a large
tree, since hewn down, the stump of which is still standing,
and also by a tombstone adjoining their headstones which
were of sand stone and have long since been destroyed by the
elements.
Edwin J. Minnich."
Sworn to and subscribed before
me this 10th day of April, 1913.
Frank Little,
Notary Public
GRAVES OF "MEN OF 1776" MARKED
The work of erecting the Revolutionary War tombstones of Capt.
Conrad Minnich and George Zerbe, early settlers of this locality, was
completed early this week.
Conrad Minnich is interred in St. Peter's cemetery, an old burying
ground layed out 1780-'90, in Beaver Valley, (Schnickle Creek Dahl),
one and a quarter miles west of Cressona; and George Zerbe is buried
in St. John's Union cemetery, Friedensburg.
Conrad Minnich's wife, Elizabeth Zerbe, for whom a tombstone was
also erected, was a sister of George Zerbe. Another sister, Anna Maria
Zerbe, was the wife of Leonard Rieth (Reed), Wagon Master in General
Washington's army at Trenton and Valley Forge, a rank corresponding
to that of Colonel, in the battalions of militia of that period. St. Jacob's
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 377
Allied Families
_________________________________________________
church records, next to the Red church, below Orwigsburg, the oldest in
Schuylkill County, show him and his wife to have been buried in that
cemetery, several miles below Pinegrove, but his grave has not as yet
been fully identified.
These graves, with the exception of one, all had red sandstone tomb-
stones, which long since succumbed to the ravages of time and the
weather.
Gowen Post, G. A. R. furnished the Grand Army markers for the
graves, and the P. O. S. of A. and Washington Camp, of Friedensburg,
and Dentzer Post, G. A. R., assisted by W. C. No. 73 and the I. O. I. A.
of Cressona, will assume the responsibility of decorating the graves on
Memorial Day.
Three of these tombstones were obtained from the U. S. War Depart-
ment, Quartermasters Corps, U. S. Army, D. C., by Mrs. Ella Zerbe
Elliot, who supervised their erection. The work at Friedensburg was
done by the sextons of the church and that of Capt. Conrad Minnich's
and wife, Elizabeth Zerbe, was performed by Edwin J. Minnich, of St.
Clair, a lineal descendant.
(Conrad and Elizabeth Zerbe Minnich's son, Jacob Minnich, married
Maria Pott, daughter of John and Maria Lesher Pott, and sister of Ben-
jamin Pott, who were the great grandparents of the above.) - Pottsville
"Republican."
(J. H. Zerbey, editor of the "Republican," furnished the tombstone for
Mrs. Minnich and made the work possible.)
The property of Conrad Minnich was sold to Martin
Dreibelbis, who left it by will to his son George, who con-
ducted the hotel when it was bought by Benjamin Pott, who
transferred it to his sister Mary, wife of Jacob Minnich. The
family lived in a farm house in the rear of the hotel which
was partially destroyed by fire several times. The farm house
was washed away in the freshet and flood of 1852. Catharine
died from the effects of the exposure to that disaster and with
one exception the remainder of the children died without
issue. After the destruction of the farm house the Jacob
Minnich family lived in the house south of and adjoining the
hotel. The parents were buried in the old cemetery, Potts-
ville, on the site of the Grammar School, North Centre St.,
from which all bodies were removed to the Presbyterian cem-
etery, on the transfer of the cemetery to the school board,
1896. Some of the Minnich family were re-buried at the
Jerusalem church cemetery, Schuylkill Haven.
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378 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
William3 Minnich, b. April 14, 1822, (Jacob2, Conrad1) m. Catharine
Knoll, who on his death m. John T. Mayer, (who was lame.) They kept the
Seven Stars hotel, 1860, the front of which had been rebuilt by George
Dreibelbis, and was again improved at that date. The children of Wil-
liam Minnich: Mary, William, Caroline, Catharine, Jeremiah, died without
issue,
Edwin4 J. Minnich (William3, Jacob2, Conrad1), wf. Elizabeth Hoff-
man, d. One son, Peter Roy Minnich, wf. Louise Bixler; c., Edwin, Helen,
Elizabeth and an infant.
Peter1 Muench, born 1698, d. 1766, married twice (see previous page.)
John2 Michael (Peter1), b. January 2, 1738, (Stoever's records), d. 1800;
wf. Maria Christina Ludige, d. Shrewsbury Township, York Co., 1800;
issue: Michael, Jonathan, George, Joseph, Elizabeth, wf. of Jacob Glad-
felter. Their descendants in Dallastown and in York County are numer-
ous.
(Matthias Muench, on Lindemuth's Map, was known in
the land transactions as Michael.)
John Michael Minnich was a Lieutenant in 4th Co. 1st
Bat. Col. P. L. Greenawalt, Capt. George Nuoll, Lancaster
County, that part afterward included in Dauphin and then
Lebanon County, in the Revolutionary War.1
He took the oath of allegiance, October12, 1777. The
roster of this company has never been found. Egle's History,
Dauphin and Lebanon Counties, says, p. 38: "1775 a battalion
with the following officers was formed, Capt. Geo. Null's
company, first organized. Were in active service, 1776, and
in the retreat of Gen. Washington, in New Jersey, (p. 52)
and at the battle of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Ger-
mantown, and at the surrender of Fort Washington, No-
vember 16, 1776 (p. 341).
Administration papers were granted the sons of John
Michael Münch, April 15, 1800. Michael, Jonathan and
George. His land was sold to his son Joseph and son-in-
law, Jacob Gladfelter, for 405 pounds.
George3 (Michael2, Peter1), b. 1770; d. Wrightsville, Pa., 1820; m.
1795; wf. Salome JaneFrank, d. 1833; c., Maria Catharine, Elizabeth,
George, Daniel, Michael, John G., Salome.
_____________
(Note 1 - Penna. Archives, 5th Series, Vol. 13, pp. 352, 410, 2 Series,
Vol. 13, p. 352.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 379
Allied Families
___________________________________________________
John4 G. Minnich (George3, Michael2, Peter1), b. 1811; d. 1892, Bed-
ford, Pa., m. October 3, 1843; wf. Maria Catharine Reed, b. 1819, d. 1900,
da. of Michael Reed (of the Rieths of Tulpehocken); c., John George,
b. 1844, d. 1894, single, dentist; Michael Reed, b. 1846; Luther Weiser, b.
1849, d. 1904, druggist; Jacob Frank, b. 1852, d. 1890, attorney; Salome
Jane, b. 1855, wf. of F. W. Jordan, druggist, Bedford, Pa.; Harry Schell, b.
1860.
Michael5 Reed Minnich, (John4 G., George3, Michael2, Peter1), m. Oc-
tober 1, 1873; wf. Mary Emeline Lovell, b. 1852, d. 1911; issue: Elmer L.,
b. 1874, d. 1875; George W., b. 1876, d. 1889; Marie L., wife of Wm. L.
Keplinger; Clara F., single; Charles H., wf. Lillian Snape. Two sons died
in infancy. Keplinger issue: two sons, Wm. Lincoln, Jr., and Arthur F.
Mrs. Minnich, da. of Emer Smith Lovell and Mary Cook Lee, was a lineal
descendant of Lovell, Borden, Feuner and Le Valley families of Rhode
Island and Massachusetts.
Michael Reed Minnich, City Missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church, Philadelphia, an A. B.; A. M.; Gettysburg College, is an author-
ity on Theology in church publications and an author of Historical and
Biographical sketches, Penna. Ger. Soc., Vol. 5, p. 164.
Simon Münch, of the Ship Lists, 1737, b. July 21, 1700,
d. February 17, 1782. His wife, Catharine, b. January, 1700,
d. December 12, 1773, both buried in the Little Tulpehocken
cemetery (one and a half miles southwest of Bernville.)
Simon Munch was one of six trustees to organize this church,
November 20, 1747, to whom was patented a tract of land as
surveyed by warrant, May 17, 1774, of thirty acres.
They had four sons and five daughters: John George,
Michael, Christopher, Simon, George, and Maria Appolonia,
m. to Jacob Wagner.
A tract of land, situated in Bern Township, now in Penn
Township, which was formed from Bern and Upper Bern
Townships, in 1841, Upper Bern having been taken from Bern
in 1789, was first surveyed to Michael Ketner (Kedner), on
warrant dated January 12, 1737. Survey returned to Simon
"Munich," in a warrant, November 10, 1749. Simon Munich,
by deed dated January 13, 1763, conveyed this tract to his son
John George Michael Munich. The tract contained 156 acres
and the adjoiners were Albrecht Strauss, Hans Cibber, John
Kedner and Jacob Pyler.
__________
(Note 1 - Patent Book A, A, Vol.4, p. 404, Dept. of Internal Affairs,
Harrisburg.)
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380 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
August 25, 1806, there was patented to Francis Deator,
a tract of land of 269 acres, 19 perches, in Pinegrove Town-
ship, now in Schuylkill County. The tract was near the Sec-
ond Mountain and was known as "Wheatfields"; the adjoin-
ers were: Adam Gebhart, John Spicker, d., Peter Bressler,
Peter Scholl, and Henry Kephart. In the conveyance of the
rights vested in Deator, there were three warrants, one of
which, dated May 23, 1750, was granted to Simon "Minig,"
the Simon mentioned aforesaid.
George2 Minnig (Simon1), settled in Hanover Township,
Lancaster County, now Dauphin, where he is on the State
Tax Lists of Lancaster County, from 1779 to 1782, and is
credited with 100 and later with 145 acres of land. This
township was included in Dauphin County, March 4, 1785.1
George Minnig died April, 1784. His will, (Dr. W. H.
Egle's Notes and Queries, Vol. 1, Third Series, from which
other Minnich wills are quoted) gives his heirs as: wife,
Catharine. Children:
Simon, b. March 20, 1753; Catharine, b. June 5, 1754, m. Jacob Kramer;
Margaret, b. May 24, 1758, m. John Zimmern; Susanna, m. Jacob Sichily;
Elizabeth, m. Adam Weaver; Christina, George, Catharine Elizabeth,
John2 George Michael Munch (Simon1), m. Mary Mag-
dalena Wagner, March 20, 1760.
George Michael Münch and Mary Magdalena, his wife,
sold property, April 12, 1793, in Bern Township, Berks
County.2
George Michael Minich was a member of Captain Sebastion Emrich's
Company, Bern Township, 3rd Battalion Berks County Militia; and George
Minich was a member of Captain John Soder's Company, Bern Township,
3rd Battalion Berks County Militia, as shown in the Accounts of the
Lieutenants of Berks County with regard to the excise fines received
from the several companies for the years 1777 to 1780. - (Vol. VI, 3d Ser-
ies, Pennsylvania Archives.)
Simon2 Münch (Simon1). Of this man little is known.
May 6, 1753, he and his wife appear as sponsors for Simon3,
son of George2 Munch, at the Little Tulpehocken church. His
__________
(Note 1 - Penna. Archives, Vol. XVII, 3d Series.)
(Note 2 - Deed B. 13-15, p. 418.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 381
Allied Families
_________________________________________________
name does not appear on the tax lists of Bern Township.
He may have dispossessed himself of his property early or
migrated to Northampton County. He had numerous de-
scendants.
Maria2 Appolonia Münch (Simon1), b. August 15, 1742,
d. January 29, 1815; buried in Christ church cemetery,
Stouchsburg. Children:
Susanna Catharine, b. May, 1761, bap. May 24,; John Phillip, b. No-
vember 1, 1768, bap. November 21; Maria Margaret, b. November 8, 1762,
bap. November 21.
Maria Appolonia was married to Jacob Wagner, June 29, 1760. -
(Christ Church records.)
John Jacob Wagner, b. November 22, 1762; bap. December 12.
John Wagner, b. October 23, 1764; bap. December 9.
They had five sons and five daughters, two baptized at Little Tulpe-
hocken church.
The graveyard of the Lutheran church, Chambersburg, Pa., tomb-
stone inscriptions show:
Barbara Ann Minick, b. November 20, 1768; d. June 9, 1833; wife of
Simon Minick.
Michael Minnich, d. October 28, 1852, aged 80 years, 10 months, 28
days; and wife Catharine, b. June 10, 1772, d. January 10, 1882.
Michael Minnich, d. December 15, 1842, aged 40 years, 8 months, 3
days; and wife Elizabeth, b. August 16, 1803; d. November 22, 1856.
Tombstone inscriptions in the graveyard of the old Lutheran church,
Rehrersburg, Berks County, Pa.:
Catharine Minich, b. June 17, 1809; d. December 31, 1884; wife of
Michael Potteiger, b. November 28, 1806; d. December 1, 1887.
George2 Münch (Simon1), m. Catharine Margaret Guth-
man (Goodman), January 5, 1752. Two of his children, men-
tioned in will, were baptized in the Little Tulpehocken church,
Simon3, b. March 20, 1753; Catharine Margaret, b. June 5,
1754.
A George Menig, cordwainer, on the tax lists, of Bern
Township, from 1779 to 1784. His family consisted of four
persons in 1784. Another George is also noted as a weaver.
Letters of administration were granted Catharine, relict of
George Minnich, of Manheim Township, weaver, May 4,
1805.1
__________
(Note 1 - B. 6, p. 190.)
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382 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
_________________________________________________
Rev. George3 P. Minnich (George2, Simon1) was born in
Lancaster County August 12, 1773; d. April 7, 1851, wf. Eliza-
beth Goepfert, b. Lancaster Co., June 10, 1774, d. February
27, 1849. He was a Lutheran preacher, serving the early
Lutheran churches in what is now Schuylkill County, in
East Brunswick, the Red church, St. Jacob's, near Pinegrove,
and St. John's, at Friedensburg. He also preached in Min-
ersville and in the log school house near where Joyce's hot
house stands, Pottsville, in the early days of the 19th cen-
tury. His tombstone says: "He preached 1633 sermons, con-
firmed 1733 and baptized 1631 persons." He owned a farm
at Friedensburg where the family lived until his retirement,
when he sold the farm and removed to Bernville, where he
and his wife are buried. His children were: Rev. William
Mennig, Jacob Mennig, Margaret Mennig, b. April 17, 1809,
d. August 20, 1836, m. Isaac Christ; Maria Mennig, b. July
31, 1802, d. June 3, 1850, m. Jacob Ditzler; parents of Rev.
J. M. Deitzler, George Minnich respelled his name several
times, finally adopting "Mennig."
A path across the Blue Mountains, which Mr. Minnig
used during his itinerancy in the early Berks County
churches and which he followed on horseback, is still known
as "Minnich's Path."
Edward Mennig, painter, of Pottsville, aged 70, and a
soldier in the Civil War, and member of Gowen Post, is a
grandson of Jacob Mennig, (War of 1812), of Friedensburg,
and g. g. son of Rev. George Mennig.
Jacob, of Friedensburg, was a soldier of the War of
1812 (Military History on previous page). From Jacob Men-
nig and Rev. George Mennig are descended the Schuylkilll
Haven branch, among them W. H. Mennig, one of the pub-
lishers of the Schuylkill Haven "Call." John Simon Muench,
b. July 21, d. February 17, 1782, is buried at Bernville; wife
Catharine, b. January, 1700, d. December 12, 1773, is also
buried there.
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 383
Allied Familes
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The Robesonia branch and many Minnichs of Reading,
Allentown, and other cities in Penna., are descendants of
Simon Muench, of near Bernville, spelling the name variously.
Christopher2 Minnich (Simon1), of Bernville. Will pro-
bated 1806 (Book A, p. 515). Son. Benjamin, executor, d.
1832. (Will Book 7, p. 60.)
John George Michael, b. February 6, 1758; John Philip, b. Novem-
ber 1, 1759; Maria Margaret, b. November 8, 1762.
Christpher2 Minnich (Simon1), b. about 1737; d. 1806; his will be-
ing probated in that year. He m. Anna Barbara Holder, of Bern, March
6, 1757; c., Benjamin, Jonathan, Christopher (Stoever's Records), and sev-
eral daughters.
Christopher3, (Christopher2, Simon1), wf. Sarah.
Susanna Schoepler was the wf. of Benjamin Minnig, son of Christo-
pher. - (Daniel's Corner church records), where are also recorded the fol-
lowing children of John George Muench:
Maria Catharine, b. April 28, 1768; Maria Elizabeth, b. June 18,
1772.
Elizabeth Muennich, b. January 8, 1771; d. June 9, 1842; m. October
27, 1792, Matthias Jaeckle (Yeakley), b. June 13, 1769; d. November 2,
1852.
Tombstone inscriptions in graveyard adjoining Zion's Union church,
(Lutheran & Reformed), Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pa., show a Maria
Barbara Minnig, b. March 6, 1765, d. April 25, 1845, and m. John Ben-
nethun, b. March 15, 1765; d. December 22, 1828. She was a sister of
Benjamin and Jonathan Minnig, and a daughter of Christopher.
Christopher Minnich, on the Company Lists as Chris-
tian, was a Sergeant in Captain Ferdinand Ritter's Com-
pany, Lieut. Col. Joseph Hiester's 6th Battalion, Berks
County Militia, in service, Revolutionary War, from August
10 to September 9, 1780.1
The first child of Christopher and Anna Munch was
John George Michael, b. February 6, 1758; bap. March 5.
Sponsors, John George Michael Munch (Simon) and ____
Strauss (Bern church).
From the records of Bern Church, Bern Township, 1739
to 1835, Genealogical Society, Philadelphia:
Children of Stophel (Christopher) Muench: Anna Mary, bap. No-
vember 20, 1774; John Adam, bap. November 17, 1776.
Children of Jost Muench: Elizabeth, bap. December 25, 1778.
____________
(Note 1 - Penna. Archives, 3rd Series, Vol. VI.)
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384 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Famies
__________________________________________________
Children of Jacob Muench: Catharine, b. January 31, 1785; bap.
March 6, 1785. Sponsors, Stophel Muench and his wife Sarah.
John Jacob, b. January 16, 1787; bap. March 11. Sponsors, Jona-
than Muench and Eva Lerch.
Rev. Wm.4 G. Minnich (Rev. George3 P. Munch, George,2
Simon1), b. February 16, 1811, at Annville, Lebanon County.
He grew up at the family home on a farm near Friedensburg,
Schuylkill County, his father being pastor of Jacob's, St. Pe-
ter's, Hetzel's, Summer Hill, Zion's and St. John's Friedens-
burg, Lutheran congregations. Wm. Minnich, as he then
spelled his name having changed it from Muench, as he
sometimes signed it, was licensed to the Lutheran Ministeri-
um of Pennsylvania, 1836, and assisted his father in that
field. In 1836 he moved to Pottsville, a Lutheran congrega-
tion having been formed here, 1834. They united with the
German Reformed people and built a small frame church on
the site, North Third Street, upon which stands the present
handsome edifice, Trinity Lutheran church, Dr. J. H. Um-
benhen, pastor. The corner stone was laid June 18, 1837.
Mr. Mennig labored in Pottsville until 1859, gradually relin-
quishing the county congregations and concentrating his
work on the churches, in Schuylkill Haven, Spring Garden,
Minersville and other towns which he founded, there now
being twenty odd German and English Lutheran congrega-
tions in the field he once filled. About twenty-five years' ser-
vice he accepted a call from St. Paul's church, Allentown, and
removed to that city.
He was thrice married. His first wife, Rebecca Seiler,
died, 1858. Issue: four children deceased, and two sons,
Luther, d. August, 1914, and Augusta W., Allentown, and
two daughters, Mrs. A. F. Barber, d., and Mrs. Thos. D.
Wilcox, of Freeport, Ill. Second wife, Mrs. Sarah A.
Weaver, m. 1861, d. 1875. Third wife, Amanda Bachman,
who survived him. William G. Minnich died July 15, 1877,
at Allentown, after forty-one years of active service in the
ministry. He was in many respects a remarkable man and a
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 385
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
most zealous advocate of the religious cause and principles
he espoused. His labors partook of the nature of those of a
missionary. He opposed formalism in worship and was a
promoter of piety in the Lutheran churches of which he had
charge. Largely self-educated, he was richly endowed with
spirituality and his discourses were conceived and endowed
with poetic imagery and original theories that drew to
him hearers, in Pottsville, fifty years ago, that were mem-
bers of other orthodox denominations, but like others, loved
him for his kindliness of heart and for the fervor of the love
of God and the church that burned within him.
(George, Augustus and Luther, the latter for four years,
were all soldiers in the Civil War.)
Jonathan3 Minnig, (Christopher2, Simon1), b. February
24, 1764, d. April 24, 1844, married twice; m. Susanna Lasch,
b. April 21, 1771, d. March 10, 1838; no children. His first
wife was a sister of Anna Maria Lasch, b. 1769 d. 1829, wife
of John Gruber, b. 1769; d. 1840. Tombstones Daniel's
Corner Church, Robesonia.
Benjamin3 Minnig, (Christopher2, Simon1), b. March 17,
1776, d. September 23, 1832; wf. Susanna Schoepler, m. 1791,
b. October 4, 1775, d. September 23, 1832. Issue, five sons
and five daughters; Jacob, b. February 18, 1806, d. June 14,
1878; m. Elizabeth Potteiger, b. March 12, 1812, d. May 31,
1880; c., Adam and Elenora, who married Jonathan L. Klopp.
Jacob4 Minnig, (Benjamin3, Christopher2, Simon1), his
first wife was Isabella, a. of Daniel Klopp. (Daniel Klopp,
of Berks County, was an early settler of Pottsville. He had
a butcher's stall in the first market house, and kept a shop
in the building now used as an office by Dr. G. R. Corson.
He weighed over three hundred pounds and was a very dig-
nified man acting as chief burgess of the town for a time. In
his shop he wore a tall silk hat while cutting meat and serving
__________________________________________________
386 BLUE BOOK OF
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___________________________________________________
customers.) Jacob's second wife was Margaret Leiss, b. in
Heidelberg Township, January 29, 1836, m. November 1,
1856.
Adam5 Minnig (Jacob4, Benjamin3, Christopher2, Simon1),
b. October 11, 1834, d. December 16, 1904. He was married
to Isabella Henrietta Klopp, b. January 29, 1836, d. January
12, 1898. Their children were Deborah, wf. of Rev. A. John-
son Long, d., for a number of years in charge of the Bethany
Orphans' Home of the Reformed church at Womelsdorf.
Children, Laura, m. to Harry Stauffer, Middletown; Mabel, m.
to Joseph Kalbach, Chambersburg; Anna, m. John Yerger,
Shillington. Mrs. Long lives at Robesonia and at Chambers-
burg with her daughters.
Charles6 Oscar Minnig (Adam5, Jacob4, Benjamin3,
Christpher2, Simon1), Robesonia, b. September 26, 1860, m.
Emmeline A. Kalbach, August 27, 1881, b. August 19, 1865;
c., Lloyd, Constance, Salome, Eugene, Willis, James, living
and five deceased. Salome m. Calvin C. Master; Eugene m.
Annie Kreider. Mr. Minnig is a cement contractor and paver
living at Robesonia.
(The author is indebted to him and to his son for data of the Chris-
topher Minnich line, of which he has a collection of baptismal and mar-
raige records.)
The tombstone inscriptions in the new cemetery at Hummelstown,
Dauphin County, Pa., show the following:
Wendel Minnich, b. September 25, 1725, d. September 5, 1781.
Wife of Wendel Minnich, b. February 25, 1731; d. 1783.
Barbara Minnich, da. of Wendell, b. 1768; d. March 11, 1823.
Wendel Minnich, Jr., b. 1755; d. February 14, 1820.
Wendel Manig, of the Ship Lists, September 5, 1751, is
shown on the State Tax Lists and Census of Derry Township,
Dauphin County, with 10 to 40 acres of land, March 4, 1785,
with two male persons above 16 years and two under sixteen
years and two females, the name is spelled Menich. Wendel
Minnich, of Derry, died 1781. His sons, according to the cen-
sus, were George and Wendle Minnich, of Derry.
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SCHUYLKILL 387
Allied Families
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Constantine Menach is shown as a taxable in Strasburg
Township, Lancaster County, from 1779 to 1782.
Among the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line in the Revolutionary
War, who were entitled to "Donation Lands" in the northwestern part of
Pennsylvania, provided by an Act of the General Assembly, of the State,
of December 12, 1783, and the Purchase of 1784, as published in Vol. III,
3rd Series, Pennsylvania Archives, under "Return of the Pennsylvania
Line, Entitled to Donation Lands Reported by the Late Comptroller" there
is shown (page 704):
Peter Minick, Private, Hughes Company, 200 acres of land.
This Peter Minnich was doubtless the Peter of the 1790 census, as of
Allen Township, Northampton County. The tombstone inscriptions in the
old Egypt Church graveyard, at Eygpt, Lehigh County (Northampton prior
to March 6, 1812), Pa., show the children of Peter Minnich to have been:
John Minnich, b. September 4, 1778; d. October 4, 1863; son of Peter
and Sybilla Minnich.
Susanna Minnich (wife of John), b. February 26, 1777; d. January 16,
1854; 9 children.
Maria Minnich, (Braun), b. March 31, 1805; d. December 9, 1847;
wife of Michael Minnich; 9 children.
Lutheran church record, Campbelltown, Lebanon County,
(Dauphin prior to February 16, 1813), names a John Muench
who had a son Samuel born in August, 1801. John was doubt-
less the son of Peter.
The early Proprietary and State Tax Lists and the first
census report taken in Pennsylvania, 1790, contain many
more Minnich names.
______________
PHILADELPHIA BRANCH OF MUENCHS
______
PASSPORT OF CONRAD MINNICH, OF PHILA.
The passport of Conrad Münch, in possession of J. F.
Mynich, Lynbrook, Long Island, N. Y., divested of its tech-
nical form, states that: "Conrad Münch, of Mechtersheimer,
near Speyer, his wife and his brother Gottfreid Munch do
intend to settle in the New England (U. S.)" Then follows
the usual form that should be permitted to "pass with-
out hinderance." The passport is signed by the "Burgermeis-
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388 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
ter" in the name of the "Rath (Town Council) of the free
city of Speyer, of the Holy Roman Empire," April 25, 1765,
(Speyer, under the old division of Germany, was near Ba-
varia.) He arrived August 24, 1765, ship Polly, Robert Por-
ter, master, from Rotterdam.1
Conrad Mynich (as this branch spells it), died 1798. A
bill of sale dated February 9, 1799, shows that he died pos-
sessed of two houses in North Liberties, Philadelphia, which
were sold at auction. Jacob Mynich, his son, was the admin-
istrator2. No other children named; wife, Margaret.
A notice served on Jacob Mynich to attend a meeting
March 4, 1818, shows that he was an active member of a so-
ciety, connected with the Dutch Reformed Church then lo-
cated at Fifth and Cherry St., Philadelphia, and buried in the
burial ground near Tenth and Race, from which the bodies
were removed on the sale of the ground and re-interred else-
where. Conrad Munch died in Philadelphia, and his body
and that of his son Jacob and others of the family were re-
moved from the above and re-interred in Laurel Hill ceme-
tery.
There is a tradition in the Mynich family that their grand-
father served in the Revolutionary War. He is doubtless the
Conrad "Minnig," private of the Continental Line. Depre-
ciation pay.3
Of this branch of the Munchs are those of that name at
Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Ind., the Minnichs of Gettysburg
and others of that name, variously spelled, in Philadelphia,
Reading and elsewhere.
August 24, 1728, there landed at Philadelphia, John
Christopher Meng. According to the Pennsylvania Magazine
of History and Biography, 1882, Vol. VI, pages 398-401, he
was born in Manheim, Germany, in 1697, and married on June
__________
(Note 1 - Penna. Archives, 2d Series, Vol. 17, p. 471.)
(Note 2 - Will Book "H," p. 357.)
Note 3 - Fifth Series, Penna. Archives, Vol. IV, p. 264.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 389
Allied Families
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29, 1723, Anna Dorothea Baumann. He settled and lived in
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Among his children were
Melchior Meng, given in the Census of Pennsylvania, who
died October 13, 1812, in the 82nd year of his age; and John
Meng, a portrait painter of more than ordinary promise, who
died at the age of 20 years, having been born February 6, 1734.
The name Meng may, however, have no connection with the
name Muench; but the brief sketch of the Mengs in the maga-
zine referred to is interesting reading.
J4. F. Mynich, b. August 20, 1833, (Daniel3, Jacob2, Con-
rad1, m. October, 1895); m. twice, second wife, Mrs. Frances
Price, son Walter, issue of first marriage. Mr. Mynich was
born in Philadelphia, the family subsequently removing to
Wilmington, Del., where he was raised. He was a master
painter and decorator and was employed as such by the Bal-
timore Central, W. C. and Phila., Mexican Central and Mexi-
can National Railways, and also at the Brooklyn U. S. Navy
Yard. During the Civil War he was Engineer Yeoman, of
the Wyalusing U. S. North Atlantic squadron. Mr. Mynich
is a 32d deg. Mason and in the year 1876 visited Europe as a
special representative of the Grand Master of Masons, to the
Grand Lodges of England, Scotland and Ireland. His home
is in Brooklyn, N. Y.; he is at present, at the age of 79 years,
living at Lynbrook, Long Island, N. Y. His wife, too, is still
living.
Jacob2 Mynich, (Conrad1), m. Barbara Epis; c., Joseph
and Daniel. Jacob2 Mynich and Joseph, his son, were sol-
diers in the War of 1812-'15. The latter died from a disease
contracted from exposure in that war. Jacob2 Mynich died
1830. Church records, Dutch Reformed Church, 5th and
Cherry Sts., Philadelphia.
Joseph Mynich's children, Jacob and Julianna, both died
unmarried. Jacob is buried in Laurel Hill cemetery, Phila-
delphia.
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390 BLUE BOOK OF
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Daniel Mynich m. Ann Crawford Woodcock; c., Eliza,
who died at the age of 83, unmarried; William died in in-
fancy; Emma Julianna m. Willis S. Holden, a first cousin,
son of her mother's sister; Eliza d. 1911; issue: Cora C., d.,
and William W. Holden, of Wilmington, Del.
Jacob4 F. Mynich (Joseph3, Jacob2, Conrad1), m. Laura
Ophelia Meyers, December 24, 1854, d. April 20, 1855. He
m. Sarah E. Martin, January, 1862; d. 1893; c., Howard N.,
b. 1863, of Reading; Clara Ada May, m. Charles Hoxie,
Fairville, Chester Co.; Gen. L. Z. Manager, New York, sin-
gle; Leila Annie, m. John McBride, Richardson Park, New
Castle Co., Del.; C. Frank Mynich, postal clerk, m., Richard-
son Park, New Castle Co., Wilmington, Del.
(The author is indebted to J. F. Mynich, Brooklyn, N. Y., for the
above data and for the use of the manuscript and letters which follow
that establish the facts. The letters were translated from the German
by "Herr" August Knecht, of Pottsville, former editor and publisher of
the "Amerikanischer Republikaner.")
______
Philadelphia, March 15, 1784
Our friendly greeting to our dear father, Gottfried Muench, and to
our dear mother and to our dear brothers, Simon and Jacob, and to our
dear sister, Catherina, and to Margaretha Elisabetha and to our dear
brother-in-laws, Jacob Detrich and Christophel Adolf and to our dear
sister, Eva Margaretha. We send you all a thousand greetings.
We cannot fail at this good opportunity to write you and we hope
that these few lines will reach you in good health, the knowledge of which
would afford us sincere pleasure. As regards us, we are, thanks to God,
getting along very well. Now, we beg of you, that you inform us, through
this opportunity, how it is with you, which we heartily desire to know,
when so far apart, friends are glad to hear from one another.
We are all living in the city of Philadelphia and can amply support
ourselves. Now, we beg of you, dear brothers and sisters, to write to us,
as we have not heard anything from you, and you nothing from us, and
we hope that it affords you as much pleasure to hear from us as it will
us to hear from you. We have nothing further to write this time. We
commend you all to the protection of God the most High.
Herewith we remain your faithful brothers unto death.
Conrad Muench,
Gottfreid Muench.
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 391
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
Waldorf, June 11, 1790
Both brothers-in-law and their families, our friendliest greeting!
This opportunity1 which we have through the presence of the Ameri-
can, Mr. Peter Ulrich, a native of this place, to send a letter to our
esteemed friends in America, in the city of Philadelphia, is in part our
greatest pleasure and would become complete if this would reach our
dearest friends in good health, as we sincerely wish.
As to ourselves, we enjoy, thank God, good health. My family con-
sists of four children, to wit: three sons and one daughter, the latter
being married to the son of a citizen of this place by the name of Adam
Abel and they are living happily together which is a source of pleasure
to all parents to have their children entered into such peaceful matri-
mony. The three sons are still single, the eldest of them having firmly
resolved to emigrate to America with the said Mr. Peter Ulrich, which
we would have permitted him to do, if we could feel assured that he
would make his journey in safety, he having no doubt about his welcome
reception by his esteemed friends. He is an expert in the profession
which he learned, so that he can succeed in it. If, therefore, through the
said Mr. Ulrich, who contemplates, within a few years to return from
America to his native land, we should receive a communication from our
friends, informing us of their well-being, it would afford us great pleas-
ure and honor. We would beg them to inform us especially what the
transportation across the ocean costs and whether they would advise
us to let one of our sons make the journey to America.
We know of nothing further to communicate but this, that our
dear brother-in-law, Deneig, on the Mechlersheimerhof, has passed from
time into eternity.
In conclusion we wish you, wider repeated, most friendly greet-
ings, continuous good health and happiness and commend you to the
protection of the Most High.
Margaretha Elisabeth,
Christophel Adolf.
___
Mechtersheim, August 4, 1810.
Dear sister and the rest of the dear friends!
This letter which you will receive through Mr. Ulrich, of Waldorf,
we sincerely hope will reach you all in good health, which will give us
all great pleasure. With sorrow we have heard through him of the death
of our two brothers (Conrad and Gottfried) in America, leaving my wife
(Margaretha Elisabetha) the only one of the Muench brothers and sisters
to survive by the grace of God. Sister Catherina died over thirty years
ago and her son Frederick followed her in death seventeen years ago,
leaving four children to survive him. The daughter, Dorothea, who was
deaf and dumb, died a half year ago, leaving only one of the four chil-
dren, Esther, who is, thank God living happy and contented with her hus-
band. May Providence grant them many years of health and happiness
together. The brother died at Weiller three years ago. We have heard
nothing from Phillip to the present day and do not know whether he is
living or dead.
____________
Note 1 - There were no mail connections between this country and
the old world.)
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392 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
We are, thank God, in pretty good health, as good as you can expect
from old age, as old people are afflicted with many kinds of ailments.
We have yet two sons and one daughter living, all married and are get-
ting along pretty well. We wish and hope that the two families (Conrad
and Gottfried's) that had a disagreement, have again become united and
remain good friends, it being best when brethren and the brethren's
children live in friendship together and forget old animosities.
You have doubtless heard of the great revolution which has affected
nearly all Europe. We also suffered through the war but the country
about here has nearly recovered from the devastation and we are living
happy under the French government. If you should honor us with an-
other letter, write under my address at Mechtersheim.
Finally, you will accept friendly greetings, those of my family, wife
and children. I commend you to the protection of God, and remain as
ever your sincere friend and brother-in-law.
Christoph Adolph,
Margaretha Elisabetha
Muench.
_______
Mechtersheim, bei Speier, in the Palatina, Kingdom of Bavaria on the
Rhine, March 7, 1822.
Unknown but nevertheless dear relatives and friends:
I give many greetings dearly beloved cousin, Jacob Minnich, I hope
my letter will find you still hale and hearty and among the living. I
have no news to report, but that my mother died, January 14, 1822, she
having come into the world, April 18, 1739.
Concerning myself and family, I can say we are all in good health.
It was well for my mother that I was living. I was with her, I and
my wife, for three weeks day and night, we did all in our power for her.
She said, "if she could only live long enough to hear again from our
friends in America," but it was "Thy will not my will be done."
My dear son, Jacob Adolph: - I had to attend to the draft for you
and at the inspection when your name was called, I stepped up. The com-
missioner said: "Are you the father of Jacob Adolph? I answered "yes."
Then some one said "write to him." Mr. Thierman gave me your number
215 with "soldier" on it. Jacob Moser, Daniel Aot, Frederic Vant and
your cousin Christophel are all soldiers.
Grain is very cheap but you would not believe that money is scarce.
It is my desire that you write soon, that I may hear how my son looks,
whether he is obedient or not, whether he follows his profession or how he
sustains himself. It may easily be that he is better off than in our coun-
try, because there is nothing here neither in the professions or in agri-
culture.
One thing I beg of you, cousin Jacob Minnich, when you write again,
let me know how it is with the youngest brother, Gottfreid Muench, and
his family and tell them they should write a few lines to us. I and my
family long to hear from all the freundschaft.
My mother's brothers and sisters are all dead except her stepsister,
Dorothea Muench, who is a widow, in Grossasen and she is also anxious
to hear from the family in America. This is the second letter I have
_________________________________________________
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 393
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
written to you within a year. Mr. Fux from Speier, came to me and said,
I should not close this letter as he would like to send one with it for Mr.
Gund.
I have been sorry for this, for Fux acted cruelly and I am afraid
because the Gunds here said they would write to their cousin in America
and Fux said, "he would write a letter, too, to Mr. Gund, that he would
not place in the window."
I beg of you, much beloved cousins, that you will take care of my
son, John Jacob Adolph. I must banish it from my mind but he was
always so thoughtful for his father. It hurts me to my heart, when you
raise up children and then have no support in your old age. If he does
not like it in America, I beg of you, dear cousins, that you will assist him
to return, but he should consider it well first. It is his fate and "What
God does is well done. His will remains just." I commend you all to
Kind Providence. So much from your unknown friend and cousin.
Frederick Adolph.
(Two Minnich genealogists having confessed their ina-
bility to "unravel the tangled skein" of the two Conrad
Muenchs and the numerous Jacobs, the author takes a par-
donable pride and pleasure in presenting the above history
as the true solution of the generic difference.)
_______________
THE STAUDTS, STOUDTS, STOUTS
_____
Allied With the Miller, Filbert, Kerschner, Lerch, Ebling,
Snyder, Mauer, Wagner, and Other Early
Pennsylvania Families
Tradition among family connections in Germany traces
the Staudt family in Pennsylvania back to 1380, but unfortu-
nately the full documentary evidence is lacking. The three
Staudts, ubiquitous in the history of so many early families
of this Commonwealth, John Michael, John and Mathias
Staudt, came from the Chur Pfalz, in the Palatinate, Ger-
many, September 15, 1733.1
___________
(Note 1 - Ship Lists, History of the Filberts, Montgomery's New
History, gives John Jacob Stoudt and Johannes Stoudt as having, with
Samuel Filbert, Peter and Simon Minnich come over on the Ship Samuel,
Hugh Percy, Master, from Rotterdam, qualified August 30th, 1737.
_________________________________________________
394 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
John Michael Stout took the oath of allegiance to the
British government, April 10, 1761. Stout's Hill, located at
the great bend of the Schuylkill river, about six miles north
of Reading, was named after this man.
(Note - Scull's or Sculp's Hill, near Schuylkill Haven, was named for
Nicholas Scull, the surveyor.)
John Michael Staut, b. 1712, d. May 13, 1776; wf., Bar-
bara; c., John, Jacob, Michael, George Wilhelm, John George,
Jost, Anna Barbara, Catherine, Apolonia, Catherine, Elisa-
beth.
Johannes2 (John1 Michael), b. 1737; d. 1826; wf. , Maria Catharine
Kerscher; c., George, Catharine, m. Henry Rudy; Barbara, m. George
Snyder; Elisabeth, m. Daniel Maurer; John, Daniel, Samuel.
Jacob, b. 1738; d. 1802; wf., Margaret; c., John Adam, Adam, John
Henry, Barbara, Mary, Catharine Elizabeth, wf. of William Ebling.
Michael Stout, b. 1742; d. 1807; wf., Elisabeth Brown, b. 1758; d.
1820, at Homestead, Bern. Four sons and five daughters.
George William Staudt, b. 1748; d. 1820; wf., Christina Weidenham-
mer, b. 1752, d. 1820, Maidencreek; c., George, Margaret, Madelina wf. of
George Stoudt, of Rehersburg (son of Johannes), Daniel, Maria, Adam,
Jacob, Catherine.
John George Stoudt, wf. Anna Margaret, d. 1818. (W. B. Vol. 8, pp.
197-170). Lived in Tulpehocken Twp.
Jost Stoudt, wf. Mary Elizabeth, Bern Twp. C., Jacob, Margretha,
Catherine, Anna Barbara, Magdelena.
Anna Barbara, m. Baltzer Lerch, Berne; seven children: Catharine,
m. Christopher Lerch, Heidelberg; Appolonia, m. Daniel Aurand, Buffalo
Valley; Catherine Elisabeth, m. Peter Weise, Berne.
Johannes Stoudt, the second of the immigrants (1733),
d. 1773. He was a taxable in Pinegrove Twp., Berks County,
1759. His estate was settled 1777 and '78,1 and shows that he
left four children, namely John, of age, Daniel and Jacob, over
fourteen; Anna Margaret, under fourteen. Their guardians
were from Maiden Creek.
John and Daniel Stoudt were taxpayers in Manheim,
1801-'09. John Stoudt, Jr., settled on a tract of land of one
hundred acres, referred to in the deed book as being in Bruns-
wick Township, and is doubtless the same tract warranted to
__________
(Note 1 - Berks County Court Record, B. 2, pp. 222, 224.)
_________________________________________________
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 395
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
his father and upon which he paid taxes, 1759. This land
adjoined that of Heinrich and Andrew Miller, Sr., (Bear Ridge,
between Auburn and Jefferson.)
(The division of Brunswick was confirmed, 1791, Manheim being erect-
ed 1789.)
Mathias Stout, of the Township of Bern, in the County
of Berks, Yeoman, "cousin," and principal creditor to John
Stoudt, Sr., late of Brunswick Township, Berks County, had
letters granted him, August 13, 1773,1 and as above shown, it
was not settled until 1777.
Mathias Stoudt, the third of the immigrants (1733), b.
1725, d. 1795; wf. Anna Maria Schrader, b. October 13, 1728;
d. May 22, 1797; c., John, Abraham, Mathias, Catharine, Maria,
Anna Elisabeth, wf. of Andrew Miller.
(Note - There is a tradition in the family that Mathias and John
Michael were brothers and that their father died at sea, Mathias being five
years old, and that John Stoudt, Sr., was a cousin, which is corroborated
above.)
Abraham2 (Mathias1), b. 1757, d. November 24, 1824; wf.,
Mary Magdelena Hartzell; c., Mathias, John, Jacob and Elis-
abeth; wf. of Conrad Christ, Bern Township.
Mathias Stout's will states that his wife, Anna Margaret,
should be amply provided for during her life. His plantation,
grist, saw and hemp mill, partly in Bern and Heidelberg
Townships, adjoining lands of John Dundore, Anthony Bickle
and Joseph Obold, on the Tulpehocken, thirty-six acres,
charging John Stout, his eldest son, nine hundred and fifty
pounds. To Mathias, Jr., he gave 135 acres of land, partly in
Bern and Heidelberg. Abraham got four hundred pounds;
Catharine, wife of Thomas Umbenhauer, founder of Bernville,
the same, and Elizabeth, four hundred pounds. The balance
to be divided between the above; no other heirs are mentioned
in the will, they probably having been provided for prior to
that date. This John Stoudt was an ensign and afterward
captain in the Revolutionary War, from Bern Township.
________
(Note 1 - B. 3, p. 102.)
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396 BLUE BOOK OF
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
Capt. John Stout was never married.
(Note - Heidelberg Township, in Berks County, was a part of Heidel-
berg Township, in Lancaster County, before 1752, and remained the same
in Lancaster after the boundaries were made.)
The children of Catharine and Thomas Umbenhauer
were: Catharine, Magdalena, Anna Maria, Susanna. The mul-
tiplicity of Johns and Elizabeths in the Stoudt family will be
noted. The Stoudts occupied prominent positions among the
early settlers and were numerous in the Revolutionary War.
There were about twelve immigrants in the first half of the
eighteenth century and they were said to have all been of the
same origin. The similarity of names among their descend-
ants of the second generation makes it almost impossible to
classify them. The spelling of the name has no primal sig-
nificance. Many are buried at the old church in Bern. The
Staudts were mainly of the Reformed faith.
John3 (John2, John1 Michael), b. 1756, d. 1823. In the
census of 1790 he is credited with one son over sixteen and
several daughters. He was a petitioner for his father's estate
for an inquest, 1777, and the original papers are on file, when
his father's cousin, the principal creditor, was made adminis-
trator.
John Stout, of Manheim Township, Schuylkill County,
died, intestate, August 20, 1823. Heirs, John, Mary, Maria,
Peggy and Elizabeth, Mary, wf. of Henry Werner, who was
administrator, the widow, Anna Maria, renouncing. The es-
tate contained about 190 acres and partition was made among
the heirs. The petitioners refused to accept the land at the
value appraised and it was sold according to law, at Or-
phans'Court, July 31, 1828.1 Elizabeth Stout, a minor, mar-
ried ____ Kemmerling.
John4 Stout, b. December 13, 1786, d. May 21, 1855.
(Zion's church records.) The same records also show his
father, John Stoudt, to have stood sponsor at a baptism, 1779.
__________
(Note 1 - Orphans' Court Book 1, Schuylkill Co. C. H.)
_________________________________________________
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 397
Allied Families
__________________________________________________
Daniel3 Staudt, (Johannes2, John1 Michael), brother of
John3, lived in Manheim Township, near what is now Land-
ingville; wf., Maria Salome. They baptized the following
children: da. ___, b. October 26, 1783, d. 1841; George Wil-
helm, bap. May 5, 1792; Jacob, bap. March 7, 1795; Maria, bap.
July, 1796; Catharine, bap. February 9, 1798; another, Su-
sanna, m. John Schaeffer; Peter, bap. March 30, 1804; Henry,
bap. February, 1806.1
Daniel Staudt gave seven shillings six pence to the
Summer Berg church, 1799.
There was also a Phillip Stoudt living in Pinegrove
Township, near the Lebanon County line, who at the census,
1790, had two sons and six girls living. Daniel Stoudt died
1825.2 Phillip had an Elizabeth among his daughters.
MARRIAGES IN PENNA. ARCHIVES
1775, December 8, Stout, John Henry, to Margaret Calan.
1778, May 1, Stout, Elizabeth, to Elijah Crawford.
1765, September 20, Stout, Sarah, to Abraham Freid.
1772, October 21, Stout, Abraham, to Mary Magdelena Hartzell.
1772, September 3, Stout, Brightwed, to William Nichols.
(2nd Series, Vol. 2. The marriages of about fifty Millers occur in
the same volume.)
LAND WARRANTS IN LANCASTER
Land warrants in Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin, now Lebanon Coun-
ty, are as follows:
1733, March 21, 200 acres, warranted to Charles Stout.
1734, March 30, 200 acres, warranted to Margaret Stout.
1738, September 14, 300 acres, warranted to Charles Stout.
1750, November 1, 60 acres, warranted to John Stout.
1757, April 15, 25 acres, warranted to Michael Stout.
1751, April 15, 60 acres, warranted to George Stout.
Joseph and Samuel, (Jost, son of John Michael, and Samuel, son of
Johannes2), were settlers of Bethel Townships, Lancaster County, now
Lebanon, formerly Dauphin, in 1751.
____________
(Note 1 - Red Church and Summer Berg church records.)
(Note 2 - W. B. , Vol. 9, p. 298.)
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THE MUELLERS (MILLERS)
________
One of the Earliest Families in Schuylkill County
The development of that part of Berks County, of which
all but one-sixth now forms the component parts of Schuyl-
kill County, must be conceded to the influence of the early
German settlers. Brunswick Township was so called when
the land it embraced belonged to Lancaster County and there
were Muellers settled in it as early as 1742. They were An-
dreas, Nicholas, Michael and Johannes. Andrew and
Michael were probably only sojourners and lived in Bern
Township, which then extended on both sides of the Blue
Mountains. Johannes Miller, taxable, Brunswick, 1769;
Peter, John and Adam, who were taxables in Pinegrove
Township, 1754 and 1759, were doubtless sons of the pioneers,
1742. The first mentioned, with Henry, may not have been
brothers but there were congenital relations between them.
Christina Mueller, b. in Brunswick Township, December
11, 1742, d. July 26, 1816;1 was a daughter of one of the above,
either Andreas or Nicholas.
The Red Church records begin 1755. Services were held
there before that date. Johannes Miller baptized children
there from 1766. There are no records kept between 1757 and
1765, the date of the Indian scare and burning of the church.
Johan Gottfried Orwig (Orbich) was born, 1720, in
Nassau Wildburg Dorf, Maren-Weilburg; d. May 26, 1804.
He came to Pennsylvania before 1745 and settled in Bruns-
wick Township about that date. He and his wife, Gloria,
baptized a number of children. Michael Teubert (Deibert),
Paul Heim, Joseph Finscher, Valentine Dress and other
names occur in the early Red Church records, among them;:
__________
(Note 1 - Zion's, Red Church records.)
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Johannes and Magdalena Rickert, who baptized a son John,
July 26, 1781.
(Note - Uncle of George Rickert, father of Col. Thomas Rickert, of
Pottsville.)
Richard Rickert was the father of George Rickert. A Casper Rickert
was a settler in this vicinity, 1754, and John and Richard Rickert were
probably sons of his.
The Red Church is situated in West Brunswick Township, in the
southern part of Schuylkill County, one and one half miles southeast of
Orwigsburg.
November 28, 1758, Michael Miller, Bern Township, administrator,
to wf. Catharine, Berks Co., Vol 1, Abstract of Wills, His. Soc., Phila.)
HENRY MILLER
Heinrich Mueller and wife Magdalena came from the
Rhine Pfalz, Oderscheim, Palatinate, Europe, August 15,
1750, on the ship "Royal Union," Capt. Clement Nicholson,
sailing from Rotterdam.1 He came directly to Eastern
Pennsylvania to relatives in Bern Township, Lancaster
County, going thence to Brunswick Township, in the same
county. He settled in the valley between the Blue and Sec-
ond and Sharp Mountains, on Bear Creek, near Bear Ridge,
between what is now Auburn and Jefferson, Schuylkilll
County. The original tract was not patented until August
12, 1774, and the parts of two other tracts were patented
February 27, 1775, in the name of his son, Andreas Miller, by
patent recorded2. Having transferred the patent rights of his
land to his son Andreas, Heinrich Miller wrote his will, Sep-
tember 22, 1775, which was probated December 15, 1778.
(Abstract of Wills, Berks Co. 1752-1793, Vol. 1, Penna.
His. Soc., Phila. The will directs that Andreas gets every-
thing and shall care for the mother, Magdalena, and that the
daughter (no name mentioned) "must pay Andreas for her
right to anything."
Mrs. L. T. Medlar, Pottsville, a descendant, has in her possession a
flask, of fine workmanship, brought over by the couple from Germany.
___________
(Note 1 - Ship Lists, Penna. Archives, 2nd Series, Vol. XVII, p. 312.)
(Note 2 - Patent Book 53, p. 463, Harrisburg, Office of Interal Af-
fais. Recorded also B, A, A, Vol. 15, p. 110, Berks County C. H.)
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400 BLUE BOOK OF
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There is no other record as to when or where Heinrich
Miller died. He is doubtless buried at Summer Hill
church, where his wife, Magdalena, is interred, his grave
being among the many unnamed, the date of death being
December, 1778.
Magdalena, wife of Heinrich Miller, b. in Oderscheim,
Rhine Pfalz, 1726, d. April 24, 1806.1
St. Paul's church, Summer Berg, South Manheim Township, three
miles from Auburn, on the S. and S. railway, the Protocol says, was built
in 1782. This was the second building, a small log house having stood
on or near the site where now the third building, a handsome edifice is
erected. The church was for the worship of the Reformed and Lutheran
congregations alternately. It gets a complete list of the ministers who
served, among them Rev. Phillip Meyer, Reformed, who officiated forty-
seven years.
At a meeting, March 7, 1780, to raise funds for the erec-
tion, Andrew Miller is credited with having paid 6 shillings 9
pence and subsequently 8 shillings 4 pence toward the build-
ing. (One of the largest subscribers to the fund is crossed
off as not having paid his one pound subscribed.)
(The tax lists of Berks County were made up 1752, but were not en-
forced until 1754. Henrich Miller, taxable, north side of Blue Moun-
tains, 1754.)
There were altogether less than fifty persons east of the
Schuylkill River between the Blue and the Sharp Mountain,
when the Indian purchase, 1749, was made, one authority
says, "only twenty-seven," and when the Indian troubles be-
gan. After beginning their little clearings and erecting their
humble log cabins they united, 1755, in building the first log
church, known as the Zion's Lutheran or Red church, which
was reduced to ashes by the Indians, 1757.
Here were born the two first children of Heinrich and
Magdalena Miller. Andrew, b. February 15, 1756, d. January
23, 1842, tombstone, Reformed (White) church cemetery, Or-
___________
(Note 1 - Summer Hill church records.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 401
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wigsburg, and Johannes, three weeks old, bap. April 21, 1757;
sponsors, Johannes and Barbara Clouser.1
Of this Johannes nothing further is known, but he was
probably killed by the Indians when they attacked the Miller
home, or died from exposure in their flight across the moun-
tains to Bern Township, where their third child, the daughter
mentioned in the will was born.2
Brunswick Township, Lancaster County, was inhabited
as early as 1740, but it was not erected into a township before
1768, when afterward (1810) were taken from it and Pine-
grove Township, the seven townships that, with all but one-
sixth, included all of the part now embraced in Schuylkill
County. When in Lancaster County, Brunswick Township
extended over the Blue Mountain, a small strip protruding
over where Windsor and two other townships formed what
was known as "Die Ecke" (the corner).
The Indian Terror broke out in this locality November
24, 1755. Up to this time the settlers had gone into hiding
in the Block Houses and Forts Franklin and Lebanon and
with friends across the mountain in Windsor and Bern Town-
ships. In the fall of 1757 murder and rapine drove them to
a refuge of safety and the Millers fled to Bern Township.3
They remained south of the Blue Mountains until 1765, when
with a scattered remnant of their neighbors, the first pioneers,
they returned to their homes in Brunswick Township (Braun-
schweig.) After rebuilding their homes, many having re-
turned to plant and harvest their crops in the interim, they
rebuilt the log church, completed 1770, the present being the
fourth church of that name.4
_________
(Note 1 - "Tag Buch," Rev. Daniel Schumacher, Archives Lutheran
Ministerium, Mt. Airy, Phila., Pa.; Schuylkill County Historical Society
Publication, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 225.)
(Note 2 - Indian Forts, Vol. 1; Indian Troubles, Part One.)
(Note 3 - Miller History, Indian Troubles, Part 1.)
(Note 4 - Red Church records, Vol 2, No. 3, p. 236, Schuylkill Co.
His. Soc. Pub.)
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402 BLUE BOOK OF
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James Burd, Commissioner, 1758, directed Jacob Morgan to continue
to patrol between Fort Lebanon and Allemaegle.
In 1776 Henry Miller joined Captain Michael Forrer's
company, enlisted in Tulpehocken Township, eight or ten
miles over Blue Mountain, and made up of forty-two men
from the northwestern section of Berks County. Captain
Forrer was a resident of Pinegrove Township. His com-
pany was one of four on duty during August and September,
1776, at South Amboy, N. J., at the mouth of the Raritan
river opposite the southern extremity of Staten Island. They
reinforced the Colonial forces during the battle of Long Is-
land and belonged to the battalion of Col. John Patton. The
captains were John Lesher, Michael Wolff, George Miller
and Michael Forrer. The companies were collected together
at Womelsdorf, Berks County, where they received their
first rations and from there they marched to Perth Amboy,
leaving Womelsdorf, August 11th, 1776, for their destination,
135 miles, arriving on the 22nd.1
The history of the Mueller family is involved in that of
the early churches of what is now Schuylkill County. They
were of the Reformed faith. The first and second Red Church
congregations, with log churches built 1755 and 1765, were
Lutheran. Reformed ministers and teachers visited their
people, baptized their children, taught them and performed
other rites of the church whose records unfortunately were
not preserved. These from 1783 to 1795 were: Revs. Stoy,
Lehman, Hautz, Wagner, Hartzell and others. The Reform-
ed congregation was formally organized, 1795, as Christ Re-
formed church, Brunswick Township. The church was built
a few rods west of Zion's or the Red Church, on the opposite
side of the road near the forks where the road from Landing-
___________
(Note 1 - Penna. Archives, 5th Series, Vol 5. Penna. Archives 2,
p. 249. Montgomery, Berks in the Revolution, p. 107. Penna. Associates,
Vol. 2, pp. 257-276. Tax list, Berks County Court House, Pinegrove
Township, 1771, Michael Forrer.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 403
Allied Families
___________________________________________________
ville joins the turnpike. The two churches united as a Union
church with alterative Sundays for worship, Whit Monday,
June 11, 1832, and has remained as such ever since.
At the organization of Christ Reformed Church, March
19, 1795, the articles upon which it was founded were signed
by fifty-five members among whom were Andreas Miller and
Phillip Alspach.1
(April 16, 1808, Andrew Miller and John Hammer, of Manheim Town-
ship, Berks County, witnessed the will of Phillip Alspach, b. N. Windsor
Township, Berks County, 1733; d. August 26, 1808. - Abstract of Wills,
Berks County, Penna. Historical Soc., Phila.)
(Phillip Alspach (Anspach), Capt. Michael Forrer's Company, Revo-
lutionary War.)
Andrew Miller settled upon the land of his father, Hein-
rich Miller, upon which he was already living. He married
Anna Elizabeth, daughter of Mathias Stout, and sister of
Ensign, afterward Captain John Stout, Revolutionary War,
of Bern Township. No record of the date of this marriage
has yet been discovered, but it occurred about 1782. Andrew
Miller2 stood sponsor with Elizabeth Orbich, 1774, May 8,
for Maria Rebecca, daughter of Peter and Hannah Orbich.3
(Red Church records.)
In 1779, Andrew Miller, of Brunswig Township, Berks
County, signed a remonstrance against revising the Consti-
tution of Pennsylvania (Part 1.) In 1797, April 27, Andrew
Miller and wf. Elizabeth purchased an additional tract of
land from John Graul, Pinegrove Township, Berks County,
and his wf. Julianna, for eight hundred and seventy pounds
in gold and silver. (The name of the township had changed
from Brunswig but not the locality.) This land, 214 acres,
was surveyed July 1, 1784, to John Brown and Michael For-
_________
(Note 1 - Zion Red Church records, Schuylkill Co. His. Soc. Pub.,
Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 214.)
(Note 2 - When a man stood up with a single woman for this rite,
he was generally unmarried.)
(Note 3 - Polly Orwig, Old Schuylkill Tales, pp. 44-46.)
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404 BLUE BOOK OF
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__________________________________________________
rer and was conveyed with houses, barns, meadows and build-
ings. The witnesses were Peter Confehr and Dan Ludwig.1
The children of Andrew and Anna Elizabeth Miller were:
John Peter Miller, wf. Salome or Sophia Schwalm; Susanna,
b. 1786, wf. of George Reber (Reber History); Catharine, b.
January 6, 1792, wf. of Wilhelm Wildermuth; Maria Elis-
beth, wf. of Christian Deibert, probably the eldest daughter,
(Summit Hill church records); John George, bap. July, 1790,
d. in infancy; Maria Magdalena, b. November 15, 1794;
there is no other record and this daughter may have been
one of the first two named about whom there is a discrepancy
as to their surnames, or she may have died young. The
name is also recorded Maria Matilda; Andrew Miller, Jr., b.
1781, d. 1858; Hannah Miller, b. May 8, 1798, d. May 30, 1879;
twice married, to Henry Zerbe and to Andrew Schwalm.
Reformed church (Red) record: bap. Aug. 11; sponsors, Con-
rad and Elizabeth Kerscher.
(Mathias Stout, Elizabeth Miller's father, died 1795; his wife, 1797.)
Andrew Miller, Jr., was married four times. First wife,
Christina Deibert; second, Elizabeth Leiser, of Orwigsburg;
third and fourth wives were western women. He removed
to Wooster, Ohio, 1820, settled near that town. His second
wife died after one year, leaving no issue. He had sons and
daughters in that state, among them John, David, Mary and
Frank. Christina Deibert d. 1811, leaving three children.
Of his first wife, Peter Miller, a country commissioner in
Schuylkill, in the fifties, was a son and Catharine a daughter,
m. to Whiteman. David married a Miesse, related to the
Miesse family, of Pottsville, and became prominent in Ohio.
Mary m. Frank Weise. Left an orphan at age of six
years. Later was raised in the Wm. Wildermuth family,
with whom he learned the trade of carpentering.
_________
(Note 1 - D. B. Berks County C. H., December 7, 1815; the transaction
is again recorded in deed book 2, p. 40, Recorder's office, Schuylkill
County)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 405
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Peter Miller, county commissioner, b. October 5, 1805,
d. March 15, 1883; wf., Catharine Seltzer, b. April 8, 1811, d.
February 21, 1900. Their children were: Amanda, m. Charles
Miller (not a relative); Catharine m. Nathan Kindt; Sarah
m. Samuel Leffler; Sybilla m. L. T. Medlar, d., builder and
contractor of Pottsville; Wesley m., lives at Reading; Emma
m. Abraham Long.
Andrew Miller, Jr., lived for a time on the Deibert farm
(his father-in-law's), below Schuylkill Haven, now known as
the Filbert farm. Here were born to him and his first wife,
Christina Deibert, their three children, Peter, Elizabeth and
Catharine. Peter lived in Orwigsburg on the lower street,
near the Evangelical church, where he followed the furniture
and undertaking business, afterward removing to a fine farm
near Drehersville, which he bought and cultivated until his
death.
Andrew, Jr., father of Peter, grew sick in Ohio, when his
son sent for him, built a small house on his farm and
here he ended his days, having been seized with a stroke
while in the Evangelical church, Drehersville, from the ef-
fects of which he died. His wife returned west to her family.
Andreas Miller, Jr., and wf. Christina bap. da. Elizabeth,
November 6, 1808. The grandparents, Andrew and Elizabeth
were sponsors.
Joseph Seltzer, brother of Catharine, wf. of Peter Miller,
was married to Elizabeth, sister of Peter Miller and daughter
of Andrew Miller, Jr.
Andrew Miller, Sr., signed the call twice for the building
of the Reformed church, March 19, 1795, near Orwigsburg.
He is noted on the Berks County tax lists in Manheim Town-
ship, 1791. On May 23, 1808, Andrew Miller, Sr., and Anna
Elizabeth, his wife, deeded his three tracts of land to his two
sons and one son-in-law as follows: To his son Andrew Mil-
ler, Jr., 151 acres 59 perches for seven hundred pounds in gold
and silver. This included one whole tract which was patented
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406 BLUE BOOK OF
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__________________________________________________
to Andrew Miller, Sr., by patent recorded in Patent Book 53,
page 463, on warrant dated August 12, 1774, in right of Henry
Miller, who also had another tract patented to him February
27, 1775.1
To his son, Peter Miller, 81 acres and 91 perches for
forty-three pounds and sixteen shillings.2
To his son-in-law, George Reber, 41 acres and 100
perches. The warrant to this was issued November 3, 1773,
and patented to Henry Miller as in preceding tract. Andrew
Miller received one hundred and sixty-six pounds for this
tract. This land is recorded in Pinegrove Township and
later in Manheim.
After dispossessing himself of his land, 1808, Andrew
Miller removed to Orwigsburg, where he built the present
Douglass residence, which the family occupied and where
Hannah Miller was married to Henry Zerbe and where her
posthumous son, Henry, was born. The house, a large, roomy
red brick, old Colonial mansion, is the same as when owned
and built by Andrew Miller, Mr. Douglass adding a back
building. The trees planted by the Millers have attained a
mature heighth and the present owners have cultivated a
luxuriant growth of cultured plants and flowers in the box-
bordered garden beds redolent with the beauty, perfume and
luxuriance of the growth of old-fashioned flowers. These
with the well kept lawn and fruit orchard in the rear form a
fitting frame for the gentle, well bred and intelligent inmates
of the home and their Colonial history.
This house was occupied for a time by the father of Mar-
tin Sheafer and also by the Schalls, Andrew Miller vacating
it about 1818. George Douglass bought it 1830.
Miss Rachel Douglass corroborates the above and says,
"Andrew Miller built and owned the Douglass home, erected
__________
(Note 1 - Berks County D. B. A, A, Vol. 15, p. 110.)
(Note 2 - D. B. 28, p. 27.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 407
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1808-'10. My father, George Douglass, bought it from An-
drew Miller."
Wm. Miller, son of Peter and grandson of Andrew Mil-
ler, of Bucyrus, Ohio, visited relatives hereabouts during the
eighties and called upon the Misses Douglas. His father,
John Peter Miller, had frequently spoken of and described
this home to him. He took back with him fruit from an apple
tree, planted by his father, and which had steadily borne the
same luscious pippins for over three quarters of a century.
After the marriage of Hannah Miller Zerbe to Andrew
Schwalm, the old couple lived with their daughter, wife of the
above. Anna Elizabeth Miller, b. 1758, d. 1840, and is buried
in the Evangelical cemetery. There are those living who
point out the locality of her grave, but the tombstone, a
large one, has disappeared. She was eighty-two years of age,
her death resulted from a stroke of apoplexy. A marker to
her memory has been erected near the site of her grave.
Andrew Miller, b. February 15, 1756, d. January 23, 1842.
He made his home until his death with his daughter, Mrs.
Hannah Schwalm; he is buried in the Reformed cemetery,
Orwigsburg.
John Peter Miller, b. 1784, wf. Salome Schwalm,
bap. son William, March 1, 1808; and son, John P. Miller,
March 10, 1809, Wilhelm Wildermuth, brother-in-law, spon-
sor1. the other children were: Peter, Daniel, Francis,
Charles, Phoebe, Eliza and Hannah.
Peter Miller left his farm to his son Daniel and he and
Peter, Jr., who was a cigarmaker, remained in the vicinity of
Orwigsburg, when Peter, Sr., with seven children moved, in
1834, to Ohio. He died in Bucyrus, that State, 1839. His
son, Francis, removed to Missouri and in an argument with
a fire-eating Missourian, in 1865, was shot and killed. John
P. married and removed to Hopkins, Hennepin Co., Minn.
_________
(Note 1 - Christ Reformed church records.)
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408 BLUE BOOK OF
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__________________________________________________
He was living at the age of eighty-four years in 1893.1
He has a son, Charles D., living at the same place. Eliza
Miller, b. 1827, d. 1914, m. daughter Jennie, d., married Au-
gustine Wells. The daughters married and removed to other
states, one living in La Grange, Ind., another in Atchison,
Kan. The sons did likewise.
William4 W. Miller (Peter3, Andrew2, Heinrich1), Bucy-
rus, O.; wf., Christina; c.: Mrs. Maria W. Shonert; Wilson
A., railway trainman; James K., and Mrs. Sarah Jump. Mrs.
Shonert had three sons, one, Edmund M. Shonert, having
great musical talent, was educated in Germany by his grand-
father, William Miller, his mother being a widow. He was
for years concert pianist for Reminiji, the Russian violinist,
having made several foreign concert tours. He is at present
playing at Madison Square Garden, New York.
Daniel Miller had several children, one a son, Charles,
widower, living in Orwigsburg.
The children of Peter Miller, Jr., were: Martha, d., un-
married; Phoebe, wf. of Rufus Boyer, cigar dealer, of St.
Clair, who had a number of daughters, one married _____
Kocher, of Orwigsburg; another, a trained nurse, at Atlantic
City, has a hotel or sanitarium for invalids. A son follows
his father's business in St. Clair.
(Note - Miss Douglass has in her possession some very
interesting Colonial relics. Her great grandfather was Col.
Jacob Morgan. They had a sugar refinery and bonded ware-
house at the southwest corner of Eleventh and Pine Streets,
Philadelphia. This ground was purchased by the city and
on it is erected a school house. It is a perpetual lease and
the ground is entailed. The Misses Douglas draw the rent,
which will be perpetuated in their heirs. They have an old
receipt book of Stephen Girard, which contains a note of
hand, by his clerk, Martin MacDermott, June 15, 1786, for 73
__________
(Note 1 - A letter written him about a year ago remained unanswer-
er.)
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY 409
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_________________________________________________
pounds to be paid in full with 1102 pounds of coffee. Other
receipts from noted Philadelphians who had transactions with
the commission house, followed.)
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