Glass //<£ /. Book/ i?o>6 / THE LIFE and TIMES OF COL. JOHN SIEGFRIED BY REV. JOHN BAER STOUDT Prepared at the request of the Col. John Siegfried Memorial Committee and issued in connection with the unveiling of the Monument on the Old Mennonite Cemetery on West Twenty- First Street, Memorial Day, May 30, 1 9 1 4 : : : 19 14 THE CEMENT NEWS PRINT NORTHAMPTON, PA. 5&Q J Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/lifetimesofcoljoOOstou s. INTRODUCTION Presenting this volume without referring to the occasion which made it possible, would be short of ingratitude. The eon- tents, bearing on interesting subjects, appeal to all of us. Surely the compilation of so much historical data was not anticipated save by the author, whose search for things historical brought him information of real value and prompted the preparation of articles for publication in The Cement News in 1912 and 1913. These articles attracted attention and created interest until it ripened into the proposition to erect a tablet to the memory of Col. John Siegfried. The co-operation of the patriotic societies in the borough was sought and obtained and joint efforts and arrangements moulded the sentiment of the community into a movement to not only erect the tablet but to celebrate the occa- sion as well. This celebration is now at hand — Memorial Day — and a volume of this nature is truly as much a part of the celebration as personal participation in the exercises — for these pages will speak to future generations and remind them of the act of our devotion to Revolutionary and Colonial heroes, in a measure that otherwise would be impossible. This introduction can add nothing to the value of this volume but it affords an opportunity to express appreciation to the author for his untiring efforts in presenting ' ' The Life and Times of Col. John Siegfried" in such an interesting manner. The community owes him a debt of gratitude for his labors and commends him for this work of devotion to the task which he assumed with full knowledge of the labor it entailed. E. J. ROYER. Northampton, Pa., May 20, 1914. GENERAL COMMITTEE Rev. John Baer Stoudt, chairman; E. J. Royer, secretary; E. C. Nagle, treasurer ; H. A. Miller, representing the borough at large; W. C. Myers, Jacob Howell and H. F. Schreiber, repre- senting Capt. Theo. H. Howell Camp, No. 48, Sons of Veterans ; T. J. Rupp, H. H. Fetterman and T. E. Hartzell, representing Atlas Council, No. 963, Fraternal Patriotic Americans; Mrs. Ross G-. Lauer, Mrs. Jacob Howell and Mrs. H. S. Knecht, repre- senting Riverside Council, No. 77, Daughters of America ; S. W. Borger, representing the Northampton Board of Education, and Harvey Silfies, representing Town Council. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The committee hereby acknowledges the courtesy of W. J. Heller for the use of the plates of Lappowinzo, the South Side Easton, the Old Chain Bridge; of Bev. N. B. Grubb, for the plates of the Allen Township Menno- nite Church and Costumes of the Mennonites; to The Allen Trust Company for the use of the plate of William Allen; to Eeynold Leibenguth for the plates of the headstones of Col. John Siegfried, Jacob Baer and Jane Eosbrugh, Fort Ealston, the Home of Ex-Gov. Samuel W. Pennypacker, and to Charles E. Eoberts, Capt. Theo. H. Howell and Miss Minnie Laubach for data furnished. THE DELAWARE INDIANS The Delaware or Lenni Lenape Indians were the original owners of the soil of Pennsylvania. According to their own traditions their forefathers many, many moons ago lived in the ■far mountainous western country where, upon being seized by a mighty impulse they determined to migrate toward the rising of the sun. After many journeys they finally reached the banks of the Namaesi Sipu, "the father of waters (the Mississippi river), where they were met and opposed by the Alligewi, whom they finally defeated and drove southward. They pushed eastward until they reached the banks of the Delaware river and made the hills and valleys of its tributaries the place of their abode. ' ' Long before our great grandfathers, Heard the story I now tell you, We were once a nation great, Who from out the west of north came, Through a land of ice and snow. Came unto the great fish river, Where fierce warriors there did meet us And quite vainly did oppose us, In the course we did pursue, When at last we settled firmly, In a country rich with game. ' ' The Delaware Indians were divided into three sub-tribes : (1) the Minsi, "the people of the stony country," lived north of the Lehigh river; (2) the Unami, "the people down the river," lived south of the Lehigh river and the South mountains ; (3) the Unalachtigo, "the people living near the ocean," lived down along the Delaware Bay and had their principal seat on the site of the city of Wilmington, Delaware. They lived in small groups and many of their villages were but temporary places of abode, especially during the fishing and hunting seasons. They, however, did not entirely depend for their subsistance upon the "chase and the catch," but in their more fixed places of abode practiced the peaceful art of hus- bandry, raising in particular corn, tobacco, vegetables and in some instances cultivated fruit. It is said that when the Scotch- Irish first came to Allen township they found apple trees, near the site of Weaversville, bearing fruit. These no doubt belonged to the more "permanent Indian town of Hokendauqua, which was situated not far from the mouth of the creek, bearing the same name and flowing through the borough of Northampton. The face in the rock on the southeast side of the Main street bridge across the creek, no doubt, is the work of some Indian and perhaps marks the height of the water during some freshet. "I have traveled o'er the country that once was our domain, Saw the rivers and the mountains, the broad and fertile plain, Where the Indian chased the buffalo, the antelope and deer, "When the smoke from Indian wigwams arose from far and near ; Saw the lovely Delaware, where our council fire would burn, And all the tribes and warriors would gather there to learn The wise teachings of our chieftains and their traditions old, And to tell it to their children as to them it had been told. ' ' Richard C. Adams, a lineal descendant of the Delawares. THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF HOKENDAUQUA The beautiful meadow in front of the home of our fellow townsman, John Smith, and the busy scene of the Atlas Portland Cement mills were once the site of a quiet and peaceful Indian village or plantation of Hockyondocquay (Hokendauqua). This 6 village was at the time of the ' ' Walking Purchase, ' ' the home of the famous orator and "honest old Indian," Chief Lappowinzo, and of Tisheohan, the chief "who never blackened his face." Combush, one of the participants in the walk to determine the purchase left the party at the end of the first day's walk and attended a canticoy here. The representatives of the Penn's lodged for the night in the woods near the present site of Howertown from which place they heard the shoutings of the Indians in their wierd dances. The next morning brought dull and rainy weather. The Indians, not appearing, Benjamin East- burn, Nicholas Scull, and another person, went early in the morning to the Indian town where Lappowinzo and Tisheohan lived, and desired Lappowinzo to send some other Indians to ac- company them, when he replied that they had got "all the best of the land and they might go to the devil for the bad and that he would send no Indians with them." However, Combush re- turned with two other Indians, and accompanied them for about ten miles, when, the rain increasing, he said he would proceed no farther. "On the return" (from the walk), relates Thomas Furniss, "we came through this Indian town (Hockyondocquay) or plan- tation, Timothy Smith and myself riding forty yards, more or less, before the company ; and as we approached within about one hundred and fifty paces of the town, the woods being open, we saw an Indian take a gun in his hand, and advancing towards us some distance, placed himself behind a log that laid by our way. I think Smith was surprised, as I well remember I was through a consciousness that the Indians were dissatisfied with the walk, a thing the whole company seemed to be sensible of; and upon the way in our return home frequently expressed them- selves to that purpose. ' ' Edward Marshall states in his testimony "that about eight weeks after the performing of the walk, happened to be in com- pany with the Indian Chief Lappawinzo at the Indian town Hockyondocquay, with Tishecunk (Tishcahon) and some other Indians. He then heard Lappawinzo say that they were dissatis- fied with the walk. ' ' Preston Berger, of this place, who possesses many fine speci- mens of Indian workmanship, told the writer how as a young man he used to find implements on the site of this village. It was this clue that led finally to the identification of this village with that of Hockyondocquay, referred to in our Colonial annals. LAPPOWINZO At the treaty meeting at Pennsburg, May 9, 1735, at which John and Thomas Penn were present, this chief distinguished himself as the principal orator. On this occasion Nutimus, Tish- cohan, Lesbeconk and others were present. Another meeting was agreed upon in Philadelphia, which was accordingly held on the 24th and 25th of August, 1737, in the presence of Thomas Penn, and on the latter day Lappowinzo, Manawhyhickon, Tish- cohan and Nutimus signed the release for the Walking Purchase, witnessed by fourteen whites and twelve Indians. Barefoot Brinston acted as interpreter. The portraits of Lappowinzo and Tishcohan were painted by order of John Penn during the Pennsbury meeting by Hessel- ius, a Swedish artist. Lappowinzo is represented as a stout In- dian of about forty years of age. A few black marks are painted on his forehead and cheeks. His hair is long and brought to the back part of his head, with a blue blanket thrown around him and a pouch on his breast fastened to his neck. From Edward Marshall's testimony, we learn that on the night of the first day's Walk they lodged near an Indian town called Hockyondocquay, and that early next morning Nicholas Scull, Benjamin Eastburn and another person went to said settle- 8 LAPPOWINZO One of the only two Colonial Indian Chiefs whose portraits are known to have been painted nient and spoke with Lappowinzo, who lived there, to send some other Indians to accompany the walkers for the remaining distance, when he replied "that they had got all the best of the land and they might go to the Devil for the bad and that he would send no Indians with them." He further stated that about eight weeks after the Walk he was again at the Indian town when the same chief said that, "they were dissatisfied with the Walk, and that they would go down to Philadelphia the next May with every one a buckskin to repay the proprietor for what they had received from him and take their land again." should not go the course fixed on by the proprietors, but should have gone along the Delaware, or by the nearest Indian path, as the proper direction. Alexander Brown, in his evidence, corroborated the foregoing. It was to Lappowinzo that Moses Marshall had reference in his reminiscences taken down by John Watson, Jr., in a visit in 1822, in which he relates how ' ' An old Indian said ' no set down to smoke, no shoot squirrel, but lun, lun, lun all day long. ' ' ' By this it would appear he had been pretty well up in years. Hecke- welder says that his name signifies going away to gather food. He appears to have been chiefly instrumental in the selection of John Combush, Neepaheilomon alias Joe Tuneam, who could speak English, and his brother-in-law, Tom, the three young men ap- pointed on the side of the Indians to be present as deputies to see that the Walk was fairly performed. James LeTort, an Indian trader, mentions dealings with Lappowinzo in 1704, if not some- what earlier. James Logan, in 1741, mentions him "as an honest old Indian. ' ' TISHCOHAN William Allen, one of the owners of Durham Iron Works, while on his visits there, personally became acquainted with "Tishecunk," who was reputed to be an "honest, upright man," and with "Nutimus had always been esteemed to be the chief original owners of the land in and about the Forks of Delaware and adjacent lands above Tohicon." By appointment, Tishcohan and Nutimus, in October, 1734, 9 had met John and Thomas Penn at Durham in relation to a treaty and sale of lands, and also in May, 1735, at Pennsbury, but no particular business was accomplished, except to have the Trial Walk secretly made in order to have things in readiness for the signing of the release for the Walking Purchase, which was duly concluded in Philadelphia in the presence of Thomas Penn, William Allen, James Logan and others, August 25, 1737, and to which Tishcohan, Nutimus and two other Delaware chiefs affixed their marks. From the testimony of Ephraim Goodwin, who was present at the Walk, we learn that Tishcohan was then an aged man, and lived at the Indian village called Hocken- docqua, near which the walkers and company stayed over night on their first day's journey. Like nearly all Indian names, it has been variously spelled or called, as Teshakomen, Tiscoquam and Captain John Tishekunk, perhaps according to the fancy of the several writers. In this portrait, which is nearly life size, he is represented with a Roman nose, a large mouth and several deep wrinkles reaching nearly across his forehead. He appears of a stout, muscular frame, about forty-five or fifty years of age, and what is singular for an Indian, a bunch of hair is growing from his under lip and chin. He has a blue blanket around him, and a squirrel skin pouch hanging on his breast in which there is a plaster of Paris pipe, thus proving it to be his tobacco pouch and that he was a consumer of "the weed." His hair is so long as to be gathered together on the back of his head. According to Heckewelder, Tishcohan means in the Delaware language "He who never blackens himself." In referring to the portrait, we find the truth of this definition. For there is an absence of daubs of paint with which many of the Indians were in the habit of disfiguring themselves. Tishcohan seems to have moved to the West, and was met by Frederick Post on his first missionary journey to the Indians on the Ohio river in July, 1758. THE WALKING PURCHASE ' ' The Walking Purchase, according to Edward Marshall, a participant, has not heretofore been published, and we shall therefore now present it as 10 copied from the original document. We regret to say that owing to certain parts of it having become either purposely defaced, or obliterated through time, we are obliged to make a slight abridgement, which we suppose does not exceed one-sixteenth part of the whole. We have no doubt that, par- ticularly near its beginning, some important information has thus become lost." ' ' The examination of Edward Marshall of Mount Bethel township, Northampton county, husbandman, aged forty-two years, taken the first day of March, 1757, who being of the people called Quakers, on his solemn affirmation accordingly saith: that on the twelfth day of Sep- tember in the year 1737, as this affirmant believes, he was employed by Timothy Smith pursuant to a purchase and began the said walk at six o 'clock in the morning from a Chestnut tree in the line of John Chapman in Wrightstown, Bucks county: that they kept the great Durham road from Wrightstown which they were directed to go, about north northwest and continued walking by the said great road to Gallows Hill, and from thence by a lesser road till twelve o'clock noon and then halted at the Widow Wilson's plantation on a branch of Scook 's creek in order to dine and stayed there fifteen minutes, and then set off again, continuing about the same course by an old beaten Indian path, and crossing Saucon and the Lehigh, where Bethlehem now stands; continued the walk by the same old Indian path till fifteen minutes past six o'clock in the evening, when they halted near an Indian town called Hockyondocqna and there stayed all night: saith that the reason of their continuing their walk fifteen minutes after six up in their halting at noon as aforesaid. The next morning some of the company 's horses having strayed away, they went about two hours in looking for them, and then returned to the station where they had fixt and left the staves in the evening before. They began the walk again, without any Indians with them, at eight o'clock, from where they left off and continued it by the said old Indian path for about one hour, until they came to Pokopoghcunck, then continued their walk through the woods north northwest by a compass which this affirmant then carried in his hand, but had not used before; and pur- suing that course all the time and the said Yates having given out and stayed at Tobyhanna creek, this affirmant continued the walk in company with Alexander Brown, who carried the watch, and Enoch Pearson, being both on horses, until two o'clock in the afternoon and then stopped, in order to close and determine said walk on the north side of Pokono Mountain, where they marked five Chestnut oaks by putting stones in the forks of them. This affirmant saith that the reason of his continuing to walk two hours after twelve o'clock noon was to make up for the same time which they had lost in the morning seeking the strayed horses as aforesaid. That the said affirmant did not run all of said time of going said eighteen hours' walk from beginning to the end thereof. The affirmant being asked why the Indians who were with them the first day did not continue the second half day, replied that the 11 Indians who had set out with them in the morning of the first half day left them the next morning. Nicholas Scull, Benjamin Eastburn, and another person whose name he has forgotten, went early the next morning to the Indian town half a mile distant, where the Delaware chief Lappawinso then lived, to desire he would send some other Indians to accompany the walkers for the rest of the walk, but they returned with the following answer from the said chief, which was that the said walkers had got all the best of the land and that they might go to the Devil for the bad, and that he would send no Indians with them. Being further asked if he had ever heard any of the Indians express any uneasiness about the said walk, saith that about eight weeks after performing said walk he happened to be in company with Lappawinso at the said Indian town of Hockyondocqua with Tishacunch and some other Indians, being the first time he had seen them after said walk, he then heard the said Lappawinso say that they were dissatisfied with the said walk and that they would go down to Philadelphia next May with every one a buckskin to repay the Proprietor for what they had received from him and take their land again, and complained that the said walk was not fairly performed nor the courses run as they should have been. That he has heard said Lappawinso and other Delaware Indians frequently say that the said walk should not go the course agreed on between them, the Indians and the Proprietors, for that they should have gone along the courses of the Delaware. This affirmant further saith, that the place where the said walk ended at the said Five Chestnut Oaks as aforesaid was as he believes twenty miles or thereabouts beyond or to the northward of the Kittatinny Hills. Subscribed and affirmed to by Edward Marshall, 2d March, 1757, before William Denny. The time set for the walk was September 12th, but it was postponed until the 19th, which accounts for the discrepancy in dates. — W. J. Buck in Walking Purchase. THE INDIAN BURIAL GROUND Where the Lehigh & Susquehanna railroad, now the Central Railroad of New Jersey, was built in 1866, workingmen discov- ered an Indian burial place. It is said that toward the close of the month of August, about two thousand feet above the Siegfried depot, in digging, they came upon a skeleton, and that a few days later several more were unearthed, and that on or about Septem- ber first, quite a number more, nineteen all told, were uncovered. William Miller, Jr., who at the time was in the employ of the railway company, in a letter dated Siegfried's Bridge, Nov. 5, 1879, relates how one of the graves, under an old apple tree, was 12 much larger and the skeleton of unusual size, which led them to believe that they had unearthed the remains of a chief, and that they were further strengthened in this belief by the fact that they found along with the bones and ashes a large number of pearls, mostly white, and that about two dozen of them, some of which were blue in color, were the size of sour cherries. Also that they found in this same grave a copper coin on which only the date (1724) was legible, a pipe, a tomahawk, arrow heads and other implements of war. He further states that in each of the nineteen graves a pipe of white clay, several pearls and a number of arrow heads were found. Their bones were not rein- terred because upon being exposed to the air they soon crumbled. This in all probability was the burial place for the Indian village of Hokendauqua, for not infrequently were Indian burial places located several miles away from the villages. The above is a reproduction (2-3 size) of a fine specimen of an Indian Arrow Head, found in digging for the foundation for the monument 13 THE INDIAN MASSACRE OF 1763 On October 8th, 1763, just one hundred and fifty years ago, Allen and Whitehall townships were the scene of a brutal Indian massacre. The following quotation (from an account of the Indian Nations, p. 332, by Rev. Heckwelder, for many years a missionary to the Indians) clearly shows that the savages were provoked to this murderous deed by the inhuman treatment af- forded them by some of the settlers. But as it often happens, innocent parties had to pay dearly for the folly of a few. "In the summer of the year 1763, some friendly Indians from a distant place came to Bethlehem to dispose of their peltry for manu- factured goods and necessary implements of husbandry. Eeturning home well satisfied, they put up the first night at a tavern, eight miles distant from Bethlehem. The landlord not being at home, his wife took the liberty of encouraging the people who frequented her house for the sake of drinking, to abuse those Indians, adding, 'that she would freely give a gallon of rum to any one of them that would kill one of these black devils. ' Other white people from the neighborhood came in during the night, who also drank freely, made a great deal of noise, and increased the fears of those poor Indians, who, — for the greatest part understood English, — could not but suspect something bad was intended against their persons. They were, however, not otherwise disturbed; but in the morning, when, after a restless night, they were preparing to set off, they found themselves robbed of some of the most valuable articles they had purchased, and on mentioning this to a man who appeared to be the bar-keeper, they were ordered to leave the house. Not being willing to lose so much property, they retired to some distance into the woods, when, some of them remaining with what was left them, the others returned to Bethlehem and lodged their complaint with a justice of the peace. The magistrate gave them a letter to the landlord, pressing him without delay to restore to the Indians the goods that had been taken from them. But, behold! when they delivered that letter to the people of the inn, they were told in answer, that if they set any value on their lives they must make off with themselves im- mediately. They well understood that they had no other alternative and prudently departed without having received back any of their goods. Arrived at Nescopeck, on the Susquehanna, they fell in with other Delaware Indians, who had been treated much in the same manner, one of them having his rifle stolen from him. Here the two parties agreed to take revenge in their own way for those insults and robberies for which they could obtain no redress, and this they determined to do as f-oon as war should be again declared by their nation against the English." 14 In another place, about fourteen miles distant from Sten- ton's, another outrage was committed, of which the following account is given in Loskiel's History of the Missions of the In- dians in America : "In August, 1763, Zachary and his wife, who had left the congre- gation in Wechquetank (where they had belonged, but left some time previous), came on a visit, and did all in their power to disquiet the minds of the brethren respecting the intentions of the white people. A woman called Zippora was persuaded to follow them. On their return they stayed at the Buchkabuchka over night, where Captain Wet- terholt lay with a company of soldiers and went unconcerned to sleep in a hayloft. But in the night they were surprised by the soldiers. Zippora was thrown down upon the threshing-floor and killed; Zachary escaped out of the house, but was pursued, and with his wife and little child, put to the sword, although the mother begged for their lives upon her knees. ' ' These were friendly Indians, who were on their way from Shamokin to Bethlehem. Jacob Warner, a soldier in Nicholaus Wetterholt's company, made the following statement, September 9th: — that he and Dodge were searching for a lost gun, when, about two miles above Fort Allen (Weissport), they saw three Indians painted black. Dodge fired upon them and killed one; Warner also fired upon them, and thinks he wounded another ; but two escaped ; and, on the 24th, Dodge sent Warner with the scalp to a person in Philadelphia, who gave him eight dollars for it. These were also friendly Indians. On the 7th of October, Captain Jacob Wetterholt, with a few soldiers from Bethlehem, were on their way to Fort Allen. They arrived in the evening and lodged at the house of John Stenton, who kept a store and tavern, in the then Irish settle- ment, about a mile north of Howertown in Allen township, North- ampton County. Against this house the Indians burned with revenge, on account of injuries received there. At daybreak on Saturday morning, October 8, 1763, as the Indians were making their way stealthily towards Stenton 's Tavern, they met Mrs. James Horner, who was on her way to a neighboring house ' ' to borrow fire, ' ' and tomahawked her. Her 15 husband later found the body and carried it to the settlement meeting house (Presbyterian) where he sat alone with the corpse of his wife the whole night. The following day her body was interred on the adjoining cemetery. A tombstone containing the following epitaph marks the resting place of her ashes : "In memory of Jane, wife of James Horner, who suffered death by the hands of the savage Indians, October Eighth, Seventeen Hundred and Sixty-three, aged fifty years. ' ' The Indians approached the house, which was unguarded, unperceived and undiscovered, during the night, and when the door was opened before day, on the morning of the memorable 8th of October, by the servant of Captain Wetterholt, he was shot at and instantly killed. Captain Wetterholt and Sergeant McGuire were also shot at and dangerously wounded. John Stenton was shot dead. The wounded were taken to Bethlehem, where Captain Wetterholt died the next day. Lieutenant Dodge sent the following letter to Timothy Horsfield : ' ' John Stentons, Oct. the 8, 1763. Mr. Horsfield, Sir, Pray send me help for all my men are killed But one, and Captn Wetterholt ij amost Dead, he is shot through the Body, for god sake send me help. These from me to serve my country and king so long as i live. Send me help or I am a Dead man this from me Ljnt Dodge Sargt mequire is shot through the body — Pray send up the Doctor for god sake." ) Timothy Horsfield sent an express to Daniel Hunsicker, Lieutenant in Captain Jacob Wetterholt 's company, with the following letter : 16 * ' Bethlehem, Oct. 8, 1763. Sir: — This morning at about break of day a number of Indians at- tacked the inhabitants of Allen's Town (Allen Township); have killed several, and wounded many more. Your Captain who was here yester- day, lays at the house of John Stenton, at Allen's Town, wounded. Several of the soldiers have been killed. I send to Simon Heller, and request him to send a safe hand with it, that you may receive it as quick as possible. Now is the time for you and the men to exert your- selves in defence of the frontier, which I doubt not you will do. I expect to hear from you when you have any news of importance. Send one of your worst men: as it will be dangerous in the day time, send him in the night. The enclosed letter to Mr. Grube I desire you send as soon as possible. I am &c, TIMOTHY HORSFIELD. To LIEUTENANT HUNSICKEE, Lower Smithfield." A detailed account of the different murders was sent by- Timothy Horsfield, with a messenger, to the Governor, at Phila- delphia. It was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette of October 13th, 1763, printed by Benjamin Franklin : "On Sunday night last an express arrived from Northampton County, with the following melancholy account, viz: — That on Saturday morning, the 8th inst., the house of John Stenton, about eight miles from Bethlehem, was attacked by Indians, as follows: Captain Wetter- holt with a party belonging to Fort Allen, being at that house, and intending to set out early for the fort, ordered a servant to get his horse ready, who was immediately shot down by the enemy; upon which the Captain, going to the door, was also fired at, and mortally wounded ; that then a sergeant attempted to pull in the Captain and to shut the door, but he was likewise dangerously wounded, that the Lieutenant next advanced, when an Indian jumped upon the bodies of the two others and presented a pistol to his breast, which he put a little aside, and it went off over his shoulder, whereby he got the Indian out of the house and shut the door; that the Indians after this went round to a window, and as Stenton was getting out of bed shot him, but not dead, and he, breaking out of the house, ran about a mile, when he dropped and died; that his wife and two children ran down into the cellar, where they were shot at three times, but escaped; that Captain Wetterholt, finding himself growing very weak, crawled to a window, and shot an Indian dead, it was thought, as he was in the act of setting fire to the house with a match, and that upon this the other Indians carried him away with them and went off. Captain Wetter- holt died soon after." "In a letter from the same county, of the 10th instant, the num- ber killed is said to be twenty-three, besides a great many dangerously 17 wounded; that the inhabitants are in the utmost distress and con- fusion, flying from their places, some of them with hardly sufficient to cover themselves, and that it was to be feared there were many houses, &c, burned, and lives lost that were not then known. And by a gentleman from the same quarter we are informed, that it was re- ported, when he came away, that Jost's mill (Jost Dreisbaeh), about eleven miles from Bethlehem, was destroyed, and all the people that belonged to it, excepting a young man, are cut off. ' ' After the deplorable disaster at Stenton's house, the Indians plundered James Allen's house, a short distance after which they attacked Andrew Hazlet 's house, half a mile from Allen 's, where they shot and scalped a man. Hazlet attempted to fire on the Indians, but missed, and he was shot himself, which his wife, some distance off, saw. She ran off with two children, but was pursued and overtaken by the Indians, who caught and toma- hawked her and the children in a dreadful manner ; yet she and one of the children lived until four days after, and the other child recovered. Hazlet 's house was plundered. About a quarter of a mile from there, the Indians burned down Kratzer's house, probably after having plundered it. Then a party of Indians proceeded to a place on the Lehigh, a short distance above Siegfried 's Bridge, often referred to as " Indian Falls " or "In- dian Rapids, ' ' where twelve Indians were seen wading across the river by Ulrich Showalter, who was at that time working on the roof of a building. The site of which being considerably elevated above the river Lehigh, he had a good opportunity to count them. It is not known that they were seen by any one but Showalter, until they reached the farm of John Jacob Mickley, where they encountered three of his children, two boys and a girl, in a field under a chestnut tree, gathering chestnuts. The chil- dren 's ages were : Peter, eleven ; Henry, nine, and Barbary, seven ; who, on seeing the Indians, began to run away. The little girl was overtaken not far from the tree by an Indian, who knocked her down with a tomahawk. Henry had reached the fence, and, while in the act of climbing it, an Indian threw a tomahawk at his back, which, it is supposed, instantly killed him. Both of these children were scalped. The little girl, in an in- sensible state, lived until the following morning. Peter, having reached the woods, hid himself between two large trees which were standing near together, and, surrounded by brushwood, he remained quietly concealed there until he was sure that the 18 Indians had left. When he heard the screams of the Schneider family he knew that the Indians were at that place. He ran with all his might, by way of Adam Deshler's, to his brother, John Jacob Mickley, to whom he communicated the melancholy intelli- gence. He often said that the Mickley family owned at that time a very large and ferocious dog, which had a particular antipathy to Indians, and it was believed by the family, that it was owing to the dog the Indians did not make an attack on their house. John Jacob Mickley and Ulrich Flickinger, then on their way to Stenton's, being attracted by the screams of the Schneiders, hastened to the place and found the horribly mangled bodies of the dead and wounded, and the houses of Marks and Schneider in flames. The dead were buried on Schneider 's farm. The Mickley and Schneider families suffered innocently. Heckewelder says: "The Indians, after leaving this house (Stenton's), murdered by accident an innocent family, having mistaken the house they meant to attack, after which they re- turned to their homes." It is said that they had intended to massacre the Paul Balliet family. Extract of a letter from Bethlehem, October 9th, from the same paper: — ' ' Early this morning came Nicholas Marks, of Whitehall Township, and brought the following account, viz: That yesterday, just after dinner, as he opened his door, he saw an Indian standing about two poles from the house, who endeavored to shoot at him; but, Marks shutting the door immediately, the fellow slipped into a cellar close to the house. After this, said Marks went out of the house, with his wife and an apprentice boy, in order to make their escape, and saw another Indian standing behind a tree, who tried to shoot at them, but his gun missed fire. They then saw the third Indian running through the orchard; upon which they made the best of their way, about two miles off, to Adam Deshler's place, where twenty men in arms were assembled, who went first to the house of John Jacob Mickley, where they found a boy and a girl lying dead, and the girl scalped. From thence they went to Hans Schneider's and said Marks' planta- tions, and found both houses on fire, and a horse tied to the bushes. They also found said Schneider, his wife and three children, dead in the field, the man and woman scalped; and, on going farther, they found two others wounded, one of whom was scalped. After this they returned with the two wounded girls to Adam Deshler's and saw a woman, Jacob Alleman's wife, with a child, lying dead in the road, and scalped. The number of Indians, they think, was about fifteen or 19 twenty. I cannot describe the deplorable condition this poor country is in; most of the inhabitants of Allen's Town and other places are fled from their inhabitants. Many are in Bethlehem, and other places of the Brethren, and others farther down the country. I cannot ascertain the number killed, but think.it exceeds twenty. The People of Nazareth, and other places belonging to the Brethren, have put themselves in the best posture of defence they can; they keep a strong watch every night, and hope, by the blessing of God, if they are attacked, to make a good stand." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 20 THE IRISH SETTLEMENT The first permanent settlement in what is now Northampton County was made on the banks of the Hokendauqua (searching for land) and Catasauqua (the land is dry) creeks by a sturdy band of Scotch Irish, in 1728. The center of this settlement was at Weaversville. Their leader was James Craig, a kinsman of William Allen, hence it is sometimes called the ' ' Craig Settle- ment. ' ' Tradition has it that when the first settlers arrived one of them asked for a drink, whereupon an Indian squaw said, "Give me a gourd and I will fetch you some," and that she disappeared and soon returned with the gourd full of cool, sparkling water. This led to the discovery of the fine spring. The finding of this spring led them to select the place for their future homes. The names of the first settlers were : James Craig, Thomas Craig, Hugh Wilson and his three sons, Thomas, Sam- uel and Charles; Thomas Armstrong, Robert Gregg, James King, John McNair, John and Robert Walker, James Ralston, John Hays, Arthur Lattimore, James Horner and James Kerr. Several years later other families followed. They were all staunch Presbyterians, and soon after their arrival erected a small log church in the meadow of James Craig. Here that man of God, David Brainerd, occasionally preached to the settlers and also to the Indians. On October 9, 1744, he writes in his diary : "God was gracious to me and I was much assisted in preaching (in the settlement). I know not that ever God helped me to preach in a more close and distinguished manner, for the trial of men's state. Through the infinite goodness of God, I felt what I spoke and was enabled to treat the truth with uncommon clearness. ' ' It is recorded that after Brainerd preached, the people would retire to pray among the hazel bushes which grew all around, and then he would come and comfort them. Mrs. King, 21 whose husband, James, died in 1745, and who was the first whose remains were laid in the Settlement Cemetery, often with a child in her arms, would ride on horse back in company with others of the settlers twenty miles to Mount Bethel to hear Brainerd preach. In his journal he speaks of his labors and success among the Indians in the Forks as ' ' the wonders of God in the wilderness. ' ' Both in times of peace and in war, in matters of church and state, this litle group of pioneers wielded an influence all out of proportion according to their numbers. Gen. Thomas Craig was the first officer to offer his services to the Continental Congress of which James Ealston was a member. John Craig, Captain of the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment of Light Dragoons, was pro- nounced by Gen. Washington the best horseman in the Con- tinental army. Practically every able-bodied male member of the congregation served in the cause of Independence. Dr. Mathew McHenry was Surgeon to the Provincial ship Mont- gomery. ' ' The church of Allen Township is a monument of that grand work of our early days, which had such a vast influence upon the whole destiny of our Presbyterianism. The first great settlement of the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians was in the "Forks of the Delaware," and that region may therefore be considered as the old home of our church. Even such an important colony as that of the Cumberland Valley can look back to that locality as the birth of many of its most important families. Our own Presbytery of the Neshaminy received thence many of the founders of its churches. Throughout our whole church some of the greatest and best members trace the lines of their ancestry to that 22 FORT RALSTON A place of refuge during Indian Uprisings favored spot." Thomas Murphy, D. D., in the Presbytery of the Log. College, p. 374. They were, however, poor farmers as compared with their more industrious and frugal German neighbors, who gradually acquired their farms, and they drifted to the towns and cities and became merchants, professional men, etc. EARLY MAIL SERVICE The following paper establishes the fact that there was a post route from Philadelphia to Allen Township in 1775: "We, the subscribers, inhabitants of Allen township, in the county of Northampton, and Province of Pennsylvania, do promise each man for himself respectively, to pay the sums to our names affixed, unto the post rider for his trouble and pains in carrying each of our newspapers from Philadelphia to John Hay's, Jr., or Neigel Gray's in said township, once each week, for the space or term of twelve months, from the date hereof ; but if the said post-rider shall neglect to carry said papers and lodge them as aforesaid (extremity of weather excepted), he shall not be en- titled to this subscription. And for the confirmation of the above agreement, the said parties have hereunto set their hands, the second day of October, 1775. JNO. ROSBRUGH, JOHN RALSTON, JAMES ALLISON, WM. CARRUTHBRS, JOHN HAYS, JOHN WALKER, NEIGEL GRAY, ROBERT LATTIMORE." 23 THE WILSON MILL AND BLOCK HOUSE The oldest building in the borough of Northampton is the octagonal block house, standing amid the busy scenes of the Atlas Cement plant, on the western bank of the Hokendauqua creek, near Howell's mill, another of the town's old landmarks. This miniature fort is thought to have been erected by Thomas Wilson soon after his return to his home from Bethlehem, whitherto he had fled with his family in "the runaway" from Lehigh, Allen and neighboring townships, which followed the brutal massacre, by the French ally Indians, of eleven persons, at Gnaden Huetten on the Mahoning, now Weissport, November 24, 1755. The following day couriers rode through the above named townships, ' ' announcing the savage massacre and warning all to abandon their homes and seek safety from the red butchers as best they could. ' ' The result was that practically the whole of western Northampton county was abandoned, all fleeing to Beth- lehem for safety. The provincial government immediately took steps to protect its frontier, by the erection of a chain of forts and block houses, and commissioned Col. Benjamin Franklin to take charge of the work. Before Franklin reached the scene several additional atrocities had been committed by the blood thirsty savages. On the 14th day of January, 1756, as Col. Franklin ap- proached Bethlehem, he found everything in a state of confusion. In a letter to Governor Morris he thus informs him of the state of affairs : ' ' Governor Morris : Sir: — As we drew near this place, we met a number of wagons, and many people moving off with their effects and families, from the Irish settlement and Lehigh township, being terrified by the defeat of Hays' company and the burnings and murders committed in the townships on New Year's Day. We found this place filled with refugees, the workmen's shops and even cellars, being crowded with wo- men and children; and we learned that Lehigh township is almost entirely abandoned by the inhabitants. Soon after my arrival here, the principal people from the Irish settle- 24 WILSON BLOCK HOUSE ment — as Wilson, Elder Craig, etc. — came to me, and de- manded an addition of thirty men to Craig's company, or threatening they would immediately, one and all, leave their country to the enemy. Hays' company was reduced to eighteen men (and those without shoes, stockings, blankets and arms), partly by the loss of Gnaden Huetten, and partly desertion. Trump and Aston had made slow progress in building the first fort, complaining for want of tools, which, it was thought, the people in those parts might have supplied them with. "Wayne's company we found posted at Nazareth, agreeable to your Honor's orders, I ordered Hays to com- plete his company, and he went down to Bucks with Mr. (Rev.) Beatty, who promised to assist him in recruiting. His lieutenant lies here lame, with frozen feet, and unfit for action; but the ensign, with eighteen men, is posted among the present frontier inhabitants, to give some satisfaction to the settlement people, as I refused to increase Craig's com- pany. On my return, I have threatened to disband or re- move the companies already posted, for the security of par- ticular townships, if the people would not stay on their places, behave like men, do something for themselves, and assist the province soldiers. ' ' On the 16th day of January, Franklin escorted by Foulk's company of forty-six men; McLaughlin's detachment of twenty and Wayne 's command of fifty-five and seven wagons laden with provisions and stores, set out for Gnaden Huetten. Upon his arrival there he immediately began the erection of a fort, which he named Fort Allen in honor of his "old friend," William Allen. Other block-houses, forts and stockades were speedily erected on the frontier at strategic points, so that in a short time there was to be found a chain of such buildings to the number of forty, stretching from the Delaware Water Gap to and beyond Sunbury on the Susquehanna River. With the frontier guarded and at the direct command of Benjamin Franklin, the settlers again returned to their homes, among them no doutb Thomas Wilson, for surely his presence was needed in the community, since he owned and operated the 25 only grist mill then, far and wide. It was upon this mill and the mill at Howersville, owned and operated by Jost Dreisbach, who was one of the first commissioners of Northampton County and who in 1756 gave his excuse for non-attendance at court, "I must grind wheat for the forts," that the settlers and the soldiers on the frontier depended for flour. No doubt for the protection of himself and family and for the mill upon which the settlers de- pended, the block-house was erected. It is a small eight-cornered stone building ; the wall is two feet thick. It had no windows, but seven small port holes and a door on the southern side ; it is still in its original condition. When the Atlas company acquired the mill property from Captain Theodore Howell, they, through Mr. Seaman, the superintendent, gave their word of honor to pre- serve it. The retaining wall, which has been built around it and other repairs recently made, indicate how jealously they guard their trust, and how reverently they harken to the great preacher Solomon, who saith, "Remove not the old landmarks which thy fathers have set. ' ' The exact date of the erection of the old Wilson mill, like that of the erection of the Mennonite meeting house, is not defi- nitely shown, and we must again depend on contemporary records and documents. On August 20, 1739, William Allen obtained from the Penns, whose creditor he was, a ground of 1345 acres of land east of the Lehigh River, on the Hokendauqua Creek, em- bracing most of what is now the borough of Northampton. Two days later he sold of this grant 400 acres to Hugh Wilson. In the deed Mr. Wilson is given the right and privilege to use the water, construct a dam and water courses for the erection and operation of a mill. This clearly indicates that the purchase was made with the view of erecting a mill thereupon. Hugh Wilson and his three sons, Thomas, Samuel and Charles, were among the pioneers of the Irish Settlement. In 1752, Hugh Wilson conveyed the mill, together with a number of acres of land and all the water rights and courses to his son Thomas, for "five shillings and natural love and affection." After the mill passed out of the Wilson family, it changed ownership fre- quently until it came in the possession of the Howell family, about seventy-five years ago. In 1837 Joseph Howell razed the old mill, which was said to have stood for almost a century and erected another, at the time considered a modern mill. This 26 building, though no longer used, is still standing. In 1844 Joseph sold a half interest to his brother John and in 1856 the other half. From John Howell the ownership passed to his son, Captain Theodore Howell, and from him to the Atlas Cement Company. Though its walls are still standing, the water wheel is gone, and the life of the old mill has departed. As one stands in the shadow of the old walls and reflects that when that very spot for a century and a half, the golden grain that grew on the neighbor- ing hills, was ground into flour, and then beholds those very hills being shattered, broken up and ground into powder, to be transported to another clime and used in the welding together of two oceans, he feels force of the poet 's lamentation, ' ' Change and decay in all around I see. ' ' And a feeling somewhat akin to that expressed in the tender lines of George B. Marquart, possesses one 's soul. Down by the old mill I wander again, Where I played when I was a boy, I gazed on the scenes of the long ago, When life was a pean of joy. I gaze on the scenes of the long ago, And my heart beats low, as it yearns, For the mill is gone and the millers sleep And the wheel no longer turns. Yes, the mill is gone, and the millers sleep In quiet and peaceful repose, And the wheel stands still and no longer turns While the stream still onward flows. Yes, the wheel stands still and no longer turns, For the millers have fallen asleep. But the boys who played about the old mill, Are left, for the millers to weep. And the boys who played around the old mill, And for the miller's twain do weep, Are growing quite old, and wrinkled and gray, And soon with the millers shall sleep. 27 LAUBACH'S MILLS In 1771, Balthaser Beil, of Upper Saucon township, pur- chased from Archibald Laird, who the previous year had removed to Monmouth County, New Jersey, the plantation which he (Mr. Laird) had purchased from William Allen June 6, 1761, and which included the lower part of the borough of Northampton. In 1796 Henry Beil, son of Balthaser, having obtained the old homestead, erected a grist mill near the mouth of the creek. This mill was for many years owned and operated by members of the Laubach family and now forms a part of the chain of mills of the Mauser Milling Company. On account of the many mills formerly operated along the Hokendauqua Creek it was frequentlly called the Mill Creek. PAPER MILL North of Twenty-first Street, along this same stream, the LeVan family for many years owned and operated a paper mill. 28 MENNONITE SETTLEMENT The true history of any state, town or community must begin with its first centers of worship, its venerable churches and well filled graveyards. These were not only the first venerated and sacred places in the early settlements, but have always been the centers to which the deepest and most earnest thought of men have tended, and from which have gone out those benign and moulding influences which have made individuals, families, communities and states, as wealthy, worthy, prosperous and peaceful as they are. Such a center of influence, and in all prob- ability the nucleus for the town of Siegfried, is to be found in the old Mennonite meeting house, which stood in a grove on what is now West Twenty-first Street, opposite their cemetery, now generally known as the Siegfried burial ground. The Mennonites are an outgrowth of the Anabaptist move- ment of the German Reformation, though their origin may be traced back to the Waldenses of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They originated chiefly in Northern Germany, but soon found many converts among the peasant class of the lands bor- dering on the Lower Rhine, and take their name from Menno Simon, one of their leaders, who was born in 1496, four years af- ter the discovery of America. They were bitterly persecuted in the Fatherland, which caused many of them to emigrate to the land of William Penn, who in 1677 made a trip up the Rhine river, spoke at some of their meetings and later invited them to settle in his colony. The Mennonites have sometimes been char- acterized as the German Quakers, because they resemble the Quakers in dress, custom and manner of life, unlike them they have retained the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, to which they have added feet washing as having equal biblical authority with the two sacraments. It would however be his- torically more correct to designate the Quakers as English Men- nonites, for the Mennonites anticipated the Quakers by a century in the doctrine of ' ' universal divine light ' ' and in the ' ' unchris- tian character of war and oaths." They maintained that true religion and undefiled consisted not in forms, ceremonies of a hierarchy, nor in magnificent cathedrals built by man's hand, I 29 but in bearing in heart and soul the image of the Master. They were opposed to any form of union between church and state, and to compulsion in matters of faith. Their motto, says Oscar Kuhns, in the German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania, was, "Believe and let be- lieve. If anyone could persuade them out of the Bible, they were MENNONITE COSTUMES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY willing to hear him ; but neither persecution, fire, sword, prison nor exile could bend their will, or make them recant what they believed to be the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Not only were they steadfast in their faith, but they rejoiced in dying the death of martyrs. ' ' Ex-Gov. S. W. Pennypacker, in a recent address, said: "In many respects the Menonites are the most interesting of all the emigrants who came to America. Certainly their history was the most tragic. Their fathers trace their ancestry back to some fore- father, who was either beheaded or burned at the stake. ' ' Under the leadership of Francis Daniel Pastorius, a few Menonite families from Kriegsheim and Crefeld founded Ger- mantown in 1683, which became an open door for many of their persecuted brethren, to an asylum in Pennsylvania. 30 i Mennonite Church in Allen Township "Meek-hearted Woolman and that brother band, The sorrowing exiles from their Fatherland, Leaving their home in Kriesheim 's bowers of vine, And the blue beauty of their glorious Rhine, To seek amidst our solemn depths of wood, Freedom from man and holy peace with God." They settled chiefly in the fertile valley of Lancaster county, where many of their descendants live to-day, though quite ex- tensive settlements were made in the counties of Lebanon, York, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Lehigh, and small and scattered groups were to be found, up to the time of the Revolutionary War, in practically all of the southern and eastern counties of the state. No definite data as to the settlement of the Menonites in Whitehall and Allen townships has been handed down to us, and the names of some of them are entirely forgotten, nor is the year of their arrival definitely known. That the Sho waiter's, Basler's, Funk's, Zeigler's, Heistand's, Siegfried's and Landis' are of Menonite extraction, is however a known fact, and these, no doubt, were the founders of the congregation, and the people worshiped in the meeting house, which stood on West Twenty- first street. Jacob Sehowalter, Sr., of Whitehall township, ap- pears to have been one of the leaders of the congregation. In 1759 he sold to William Allen, his farm of 450 acres, including the "undivided half" belonging to John Moore, the high sheriff of Northampton county, situated between the Lehigh river and the Deshler, Kern and Koehler plantations, and the Indian Falls in the Lehigh river and the Schreiber plantation. In the same year Allen sold the same again in four tracts, viz: 150 acres to Joseph Showalter; 100 acres to John Showalter, Sr., and 100 acres to Peter Bassler. These four families as stated above were Menonites and probably the nucleus of the congregation. This was apparently only a paper transaction, for the purpose of giving the occupants a clear title and deed to their already established homes. Having obtained a lawful title to their possessions, they, no doubt, if not already built, determined to erect a house of worship. "What sought they thus afar ? Bright jewels of the mine ? 31 The wealth of seas ? The spoils of war ? No, 'twas a faith 's pure shrine, Yes, call that holy ground the soil, Which first their brave feet trod, They left unstained, what here they found, — Freedom to worship God." It is therefore probable that their meeting house was erected in 1760, or possibly a few years prior. Surely not later than 1761, for on an old land draft of that year the church is already designated. Tradition describes it as a small log building, rudely constructed, and also tells us that the early worshippers were frequently disturbed in their services by the Indians. During the summer and when the building became insecure, services were held in the woods adjoining. In 1771 Joseph Showalter sold his farm to Conrad Leisenring, John Showalter to Christopher Kern and Jacob Showalter, Jr., to George Koehler, and removed to Lancaster county, to dwell among their fellow members in the faith. A few years later Peter Bassler sold his property to Philip Jacob Schreiber and joined his former neighbors in their new homes. He is said to have been the last of the Menonites in Whitehall township. Through removal and death the congre- gation gradually declined and the building became insecure and was finally abandoned. The Old Mennonite Cemetery on West 21st street, generally spoken of as "the Siegfried burial plot," on which the proposed Siegfried monument is to be erected, is one of Northampton's few really old landmarks, and all that is left to remind the pres- ent generation that the town was once the center of a peace loving and God fearing Mennonite settlement. In it are said to repose the ashes of almost a hundred of the early settlers. Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Bach in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. The cemetery originally comprised one acre. It was con- veyed March 10, 1770, "by Daniel Chambers to Joseph Showalter, Henry Funk, Peter Fried and Jacob Baer, in trust and for the Mennonist congregation of Whitehall and Allen Townships." When in 1802, the new meeting house along the road from 32 Weaversville to Kreidersville was erected and the cemetery opened, few interments, if any, were made on the old plot. By a special Act of Assembly, May 8, 1829, Jacob Funk, a surviving member of the old congregation, was given permission to sell the unoccupied part of the cemetery and use the proceeds to ^rect a stone fence around the part containing burials. On the 28th day of the same month, the unused part was conveyed to Daniel Siegfried, a son of Col. John Siegfried. A stone wall, three feet high and sixteen inches wide, was subsequently erected. This wall was removed in 1885 and the present iron fence erected. The money for which was raised by popular subscription through the efforts of Rev. Tilghman Seiple, a grandson of Henry Funk. It was subscribed chiefly by descendants of Mennonite families, several members of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a few public spirited citizens. After the fence was erected, the ceme- tery was rededicated on a Sunday afternoon in the presence of a large concourse of people. When 21st street was raised, the cemetery was also filled in to bring it up to the level of the street and all the little mounds were covered over and even the headstones, with the exception of those of John Siegfried and Jacob Baer, both of Revolutionary Fame. Until quite recently, it was run over with weeds and briers, a neglected and in the minds of some even a haunted spot. It has however of late years been well kept by several descend- ants of Adam Laubach, members of the Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution. A neat tablet recounts its history and some of the patriotic services of Col. John Siegfried, the friend of Wash- ington. A flag pole has also been erected, from which there floats on the breeze an American Flag. The inscription on the head-stone of Col. John Siegfried's grave is unique in that the inscription is in both English and German. 33 Zum Gedaechtnis von JOHANNES SIEGFRIED welcher gestorben den 27 ten November — 1793 Seinrs Alter war 48 Jahr und 1 Monath In Memory of JOHN SIEGFRIED who departed this Life November the 27th, 1793, aged 48 years and 1 month The head stone of Jacob Baer contains this simple inscrip- tion JACOB BAER Starb d. 23 Sept. 1827 Alter 74 Jahre Here in the little cemetery, for many years a neglected spot, sleep those early settlers, who for freedom to worship God, shrunk not from the terrors of an unknown sea or even a savage wilder- ness, and of their sons, who repeated the sacrifice of their fathers, to add to liberty of conscience, political freedom. "They dared all, braved all, and suffered all for the privileges we now enjoy." In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed, Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside them, Thousands of throbbing hearts, where their 's are at rest for ever, Thousands of aching brains, where their 's no longer are busy, Thousnds of toiling hands, where their 's have ceased from their labors, Thousands of weary feet, where their 's have completed their journey ! What a fitting place to erect a memorial around which shall cluster the history and traditions of our town ! 34 Home of former Governor S. W. Pennypacker, Schwenksville, Pa. About this house Washington and his army camped, Sept. I 777 Memorial to Jane Rosbrugh Wife of Chaplin John Rosbrugh, in the Presbyteiian Cemetery in Allen Township 3utr? jfrgrftir&rtjVrt^? fn 31o^fwCct-T793 In Memory of }OHN SIEGFRIED .who ijeparted fhislifeAW/w ■ arxffMonth. The Col. John Siegfried and Jacob Baer Headstones The only marked graves on the Mennonite Cemetery In 1802 a new meeting house was erected along the King's Highway, leading from Howertown to Kreidersville, on a plot of ground given by Thomas Horner and his good wife by a deed, dated February 11th, 1802, "to Jacob Baer, Jacob Hiestand, John Ziegler and Samuel Landis, in trust and for the Mennonite con- gregation of Whitehall and Allen townships and in trust for church purposes or for schools under the yearly quit. " At a con- gregational meeting held soon after the passing of the deed, it was decided to immediately proceed to the erection of a frame build- ing, 30x26 ft., and John Ziegler and Samuel Funk were ap- pointed a building committee. Twenty-eight persons subscribed to the building fund of 84 pounds and four shillings, in sums varying from 3 S. 4 d. to 12 pounds. There are no records of the congregational life and activ- ities of the worshippers in this church. No doubt, in former years there were regular preaching services. The names of those who ministered regularly to these people are not known. Through death the congregation, which was never large, gradually de- clined. Frequently the building was used for school purposes, and Rev. Cyrus J. Becker at one time taught in it. During the last decade a Sunday School was held in the meeting house, and also an occasional service. In later years there were occasional services, among those preaching being Levi Young, Tilghman Seiple, C. J. Becker, Samuel Landis and J. Y. Schultz. The late Moses Gottshall related how he was greatly annoyed by wasps on one occasion when conducting a preaching service in the church. The descendants of members of the congregation, to-day, with a few exceptions, are members of the neighboring Reformed con- gregations, their nearest kin in faith and practice. On July 14, 1908, William Landis, trustee appointed by the court, sold the meeting house to the Allen township school district for the con- sideration of five hundred dollars, which sum is held in trust by William Landis, as trustee "for beautifying and keeping in re- pair the cemetery adjoining the old church." The school district has again sold the building and it is now used as a dwelling. On the stones in the cemetery adjoining, which is well kept, are found the names of leading pioneers among the Mennonites. Bear, Eva, nee Ziegler, wife of Jacob Bear, b. 4-25-1771, d. 11-11-1888,(^0 aged 87 y, 6 m, 21 d. 35 II? -pg On «n "* O CN Ajnp ioj }g juasajj SO «*"* £? m iO m — C* 131SBUH3UBI1Q _ _ _ — _ juBjnfpv _ — — — — — — uSisug u-> co co -q- N- — >n }UBU3jrt3I' - [ 00 00 O vO "^ ^ o m w [ d w fc}~ , CN CO — io(BJ^[ _ P UO I°D - QQ CQ oj — : •a o in J No. 1 return of L. Col. Balliot's battalion was from the camp in Limrick Township, Philadelphia County, Sept. 23, 1777. No. 2, from camp at Trappe, Providence Township, Philadelphia County, Sept. 29, 1777. No. 3, from camp at Trappe, Oct. 1, 1777. No. 4, from camp at Pawling 's Mill, Oct. 7, 1777. 45 The return from camp in Towamensing Township, Oct. 13, 1777, has the following note : — "N_ b. . — l. Col. Balliot's Battalion, consisting of 150 rank and file were yesterday discharged. ' ■ After the Battle of Germantown Col. Siegfried returned home to attend to affairs in the county. While at home Washing- ton wrote the following letter to him : "Sir: — By virtue of the power and authority given to me, by the honorable congress, I hereby request and authorize you to appoint such, and so many persons as you shall fee fit, to collect, for the use of the Continental army, all such blankets, shoes, stockings, and other articles of clothing, as can possibly be spared from the inhabitants of your section of country; giving receipts therefor, to be paid by the clothier- general. Obtaining these things from the Quakers and dissatisfied in- habitants, is recommended, but at all events, to get them. Given under my hand and seal, Philadelphia County, 6th of October, 1777. GEOEGE WASHINGTON. To Colonel John Siegfried. ' ' According to local tradition a large amount of blankets, clothing and provisions were collected at Siegfried's tavern and from there forwarded to the army at Valley Forge. The following summer Gen. Clinton, who had succeeded Howe, alarmed by the coming of the French to aid the cause of freedom in America, evacuated Philadelphia and hurried to New York City. Washington followed, overtook and defeated him at Monmouth, New Jersey. According to his diary, Siegfried also took part in this campaign which ended in Clinton shutting him- self up in New York and Washington watching him from the Highlands. After the brutal massacre, by a band of Tories and Indians in the Wyoming Valley in July, 1778, companies of soldiers were constantly stationed along the frontier guarding against similar attacks. These men were known as Frontier Rangers. Accord- ing to the "pay roll of Northampton County militia," Col. John Siegfried and Capt. William Meyers received pay for services rendered, beginning Aug. 4, 1779, and ending Oct. 4, 1779. This apparently was for guarding the frontier. On June 4, 1781, in compliance with the Militia Act of the Assembly, asking that a company of Light Horse be formed in each county, six men 46 from the Third Battalion volunteered by making the following declaration : ' ' Therefore we, the subscriber, do sine our name to serve as Light Horses for Northampton County ' ' Jost Dreasbouk, Junr, John Birsban, Abraham Wotring, Jno. McMair, Lawrence Erb, John Siegfried." GREAT MEETING In the year 1779, continental money was rapidly depre- ciating in value, and various efforts were made to keep it on par with gold. Meetings were held in the larger cities and in the more populous counties. Such a meeting was held at the home of Col. Siegfried. The following is the call for the meeting : — "Allen Township, July 5th, 1779. Sir: — Notwithstanding the unhappy depredations committed on our frontiers, and the alarming situation that our defenceless inhabi- tants are exposed to, we must invite you cordially to take into considera- tion the case on which our inveterate enemies, the instigators of our present contest with Britain, are endeavoring to accomplish, viz: The separation of our councils; the urging of the weak and less informed in the situation of our affairs, to have and entertain an aversion to our just contest, and, by every means in their power, either to discourage or cause them totally to forsake it, by representing us entirely therefor, on account of not having men or money requisite for war. You are well acquainted with the unhappy proceedings of too many of even our Whig neighbors, whose love of money has prompted them to demand, or even to receive double, if not six-fold, the value of many of the necessary articles of life. That our currency may be brought to its just value as a medium of trade, and the base designs of our enemies frustrated, a number of the most respectable inhabitants of Philadelphia, having assembled for the purpose of giving it its proper value, reducing such extravagant prices as were demanded for all the necessaries or conveniences of life, having in some measure answered the valuable purpose of their meeting, it appearing unto us necessary that their laudable example be copied after. We request you to send at least those of your members as a com- mittee, to consult on such mode of proceeding, in the present state of affairs, as may co-operate with our brethren in the different counties, which committee are requested to meet the different committees of each battalion of this county, at the house of Colonel John Siegfried, on Thursday, the 29th instant, at ten o'clock, in the forenoon. By notifying the different captains in each township, the inhab- 47 itants thereof may be informed on what day they may choose their committee — the sooner the better — that they may be in readiness to attend the place appointed. Your most obedient servants, ' ' JOHN SIEGFEIED, STEP. BALLIET. MATTHEW McHENEY, PETEE BUEKHOLDEE, CONEAD KBEIDEE, J. KOHLEE, EOBT. LATTIMOEE, PETEE BIESSAL. JNO. BEISBON, To Abm. Berlin, Esq., Easton. " The meeting was held, agreeably to the call, at the house of Washington's friend, Colonel John Siegfried, and was presided over by Colonel Henry Geiger, the secretary of the meeting being Eobert Traill. If the exhibition of the most fervent patriotism on the part of its members, or if the passage of the strongest resolutions setting forth to the people their duty and the import- ance of performing it, could have accomplished the object for which they met, it would have been well ; but all was unavailing. Even to those who, without hesitation, hazarded their lives, and the lives of their sons, on the battle-field in defence of liberty, the consideration of avarice was overshadowing; their property was dearer than life, and all efforts to uphold the paper currency were vain, for the British agents would pay as high a price in gold as was paid by our commissaries, in depreciated paper money. In the spring of 1781, Gen. Washington sent an officer to Easton to confer with Col. Siegfried, who was in command of a detachment of militia at that place, in reference to sending a quota to the army. This extravagant continental officer spent 667 dollars in this trip according to the following bill. "Easton, March 17th, 1781. To a nip of Toddy. ... 10 dollars To 1 Bowl of Punch 30 dollars To cash 8 dollars To 21 Quarts of Oats 62 dollars To cash 12 dollars To Hay 90 dollars To 1 Grog 8 dollars To 12 meal victuals.. 260 dollars To Washing 49 dollars To Lodging 40 dollars To 1 Bowl of Punch 30 dollars 667 dollars To 1 Grog 8 dollars Eeceived the contents of the above, JACOB OPP, Innkeeper. ' ' Col. John Siegfried died November 27, 1793, and was buried 48 in the old Mennonite cemetery. Shortly before his death he, together with Michael Beaver and Abraham Levan, conveyed one hundred and twenty-three and a half perches to Henry Biel and Peter Butz in trust for a school. The school house was built of logs and was known as Levan 's School. Col. Siegfried served as High Sheriff of the County for one year, 1781 to 1782. John Siegfried was survived by his widow, Mary, and seven children, viz: Daniel, Mary, intermarried with John Jones, Susanna, intermarried with Christian Hagenbuch, Catharine-, Elizabeth, Jacob and Isaac. He was possessed of 219 acres and 60 perches of land in Allen Township along the Lehigh River. Also 131 acres. 96 perches in Penn Township, along the Blue Mts., and also a one- eighth interest in 150 acres in Lehigh Township, along the Blue Mountains. After his death a petition was presented to the Court of Northampton County, asking for partition of the real estate. Judges were Peter Rhoads and Robert Traill. The Court appointed a jury to partition and if the lands could not be par- titioned, then to appraise. The jury reported that the land could not be partitioned equitably and they valued the land at 2016 pounds, 7 shillings and 11 pence. At an Orphans' Court held in April, 1798, the oldest son, Daniel, accepted all the real estate at the appraised value and it was ordered by the Court that he pay the interest of 666 pounds, 15 shillings and 5 pence to his mother, annually until her death, as her dower right. The interest amounted to 40 pounds. The balance of the estate was divided equally among the seven children and two, Jacob and Isaac, being under the age of 21, had guardians appointed to receive their portion of the estate. The widow and Joseph Siegfried acted as administrators in the adjustment of the estate. 49 A RETURN OF .THE OFFICERS OF THE 4TH BATTALION OF MILI- TIA IN THE COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTON WITH THE RANK OF THE COMPANIES "Colonel, John Sigfrit, Major, James Boyd, Lieut. Colonel, Nicholas Kern, Adjutant, Abraham Levan. FIRST COMPANY. Captain — John Gregory, 1st Lieut. — Nicholas Happle, 2nd Lieut. — Henry Siglin, Ensign — George Hood. SECOND COMPANY. Captain — George Edelman, 1st Lieut. — Robert Hayes, 2nd Lieut. — Paul Knows, Ensign — Nicholas Hauer. THIRD COMPANY. Captain — Henry Bowman, 1st Lieut.; — Bernhart Bowman, 2nd Lieut. — Bernhart Kline. Ensign — Henry Matthias. FOURTH COMPANY. Captain — William Kromer, 1st Lieut. — John Deeter, 2nd Lieut. — Valentine Waltman, Ensign — Lewis Erb. FIFTH COMPANY. Captain — Frederick Coons, 1st Lieut. — George Coons, 2nd Lieut. — Henry Bast, Ensign — Adam Coons. SIXTH COMPANY. Captain — John Balstone, 1st Lieut. — Adam Clendenin, 2nd. Lieut. — Joseph Brown, Ensign — William Kerns. SEVENTH COMPANY. Captain — George Rondebush, 1st Lieut. — Peter Shelp, 2nd Lieut. — Vandle Hower, Ensign — Robert Young EIGHTH COMPANY 7 . Captain — Paul Flick, 1st Lieut. — Joseph Larash, 2nd Lieut. — Adam Brackhonser, Ensign — Nicholas Silvus. A return of the Officers of the 4th Battalion of Militia in the County of Northampton with the rank of the Companies : I do certify the above to be a True Return of the Officers of the 4th Battalion of Militia in the County of Northampton with their Rank. Witness my hand June 18th, 1777. JOHN WETZEL, Lieut. Dated Twenty-first of May. ' ' A GENERAL MUSTER ROLL OF THE FOURTH BATTALION OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY MILITIA, MAY 14th, 1778 FIELD OFFICERS. Colonel, John Sigfried, Major, James Boyd, Lieut. Colonel, Nicholas Kern, Adjutant, Abraham Levan. FIRST COMPANY. Captain — John Gregory, Lieutenants — Nicholas Happle, Henry Sigline, Ensign — George Hood, Court Martial Men, George Downing, Lawrence Fisher, Clerk — John Surfass, Serjeants — Adam Engler, Jesse Whasborn, Peter Franse, Rodger Downing, Corporals — Levy Frivel, Samuel Bond, Abraham Smith, Jr., Frederick Serf as, Drum and Fife — Philip Shup, Nicholas Carroll. 1ST CLASS. Dell Bower, 50 Henry Shup, George Teats, Godfred Greenswegs, Valentine Mackes, Samuel Green, Joseph Van Buskerk. 2ND CLASS. Christian Serfass, Abraham Smith, Sen'r Henry France, George Kuncle, Peter Horpack, Andrew Buskerk, Jacob Bondenbach. 3ED CTASS. Conrad Baker, Casper Neff, Henry Borger, Christopher Barlip. 4TH CLASS. Jesse Whasborn, William Mansfield, Mosses Frevel, Nicholas Borger, John Smith, Peter Hofsmith, Abraham Bachman. 5TH CLASS. John Meyer, Christian Arndt, George Hack, Conard Hack, John Lester, John Bodehback. 6TH CLASS Jacob Heepe, Abraham Shup, William Serfass, John Mieksel, Jacob France, Thomas Careheart, Samuel Bidelman. 7TH CLASH Henry Arndt, Nicholas Altomas, Henry Serves, Peter Smeall, Christopher Clinedop, Joseph Green, Lawrence Van Buskerk Levey Boker. 8TH CLASS. John Sharpentey, Henry Greenswig Jacob Heepler, George France, Christopher Christmas, Joseph Watkins, John Silkert. SECOND COMPANY. Captain — George Edlemai 1st Lieut. — Robert Hayes, 2nd Lieut. — Paul Knows, Ensign — Nicholas Hauer. 1ST CLASS. Frederick Klebinger, Simon Drisebach, Peter Laback, John Wetzel, Jacob Kratzer. 2ND CLASS Henry Boyl, George Hess, Henry Coal, John Bear, Henry Steiner. 3ED CLASS Conard Holestein, Joseph Drissell, Henry Kirts, Jacob Herring, 4TH CLASP Henry Snider, Michael Gressler, George Jaeobey, / Ulrich Showalter, S John Drissell. 5TH CLASS John Snider. George Beeh, Conard Labach, * George Biss. Frederick Hower, Frederick Propper, Jacob Bear. 6TH CLASS. John Diefenderfer, Christian Heilman, Jacob Frack, Henry Bartholomew, Sen Henry Bartholomew, Jun 7TH CLASS. John Larch, Peter Bartholomew, Adam Frang, Jacob Musselman, George Frederick, John Mosser. 8TH CLASS Robert Beard, John Allison, 51 Frederick Kreatzer, Andrew Lilly, Henry Kelbenger, Faltree Onewalt, Lawrence Erb, George Bastian. THIED COMPANY. Captain — Henry Bowman, 1st Lieut. — Barnhart Bowman. 2nd Lieut. — Barnhart Kline- Ensign — Henry Matthias. 1ST CLASS. Adam Foggleman, Daniel Shullet, Sen'r., Daniel Shullet, Jun'r., Michael Sacks, Andrews Lowine, John Dun, Jacob Lorich. 2ND CLASS. Jacob Ritz, Frederick Boyer, Henry Strowl. 3ED CLASS. Henry Blows. 4TH CLASS. Daniel Strowl, Christopher Seiberling, Balser Hoack, Henry Davis, Jun'r. 5TH CLASS. Deitruck Warner, Benedick Snidder, Frederick Goultner. 6TH CLASS. George Anthony, Michael Strowl, Ulrieh Arndt, Barnet Eeib. 7TH CLASS. Henry Boyer, Nicholas Bucks, Jacob Antnor, Martin Earntt. 8TH CLASS. John Kline, Robert Dunn, Michael Wetzel, Henry Davis, Sen'r. FOURTH COMPANY. Captain — William Kromer, 1st Lieut. — John Deiter, 2nd Lieut. — Valentine Waltman, Ensign, Lewis Erb, Court Martial Men- — Henry Strouse, Nicholas Millenberg, Serjeants — D a v i d Blackley, George Kohl, John Stewart, Christian Warmkessel, Corporals — Christian Ruffner, Frederick App, Simon Gaue 1 *, Conard Baehman. 1ST CLASS. Jacob Miller, Jacob Neiss, Martin Kaster, -Yost Dreisbach, Jun'r., George Dreisbach. 2ND CLASS. Frederick Baushman, Peter Waldman, John Dreasbaugh, Michael App. 3RD CLASS. Michael Musselman, Matthew Humble, Valentine Mush, George Brown. 4TH CLASS. Samuel Oblinger, Lewis Kleppinger. 5TH CLASS. Samuel Musselman, Christian Humble, Michael Swarts. 6TH CLASS. John Sherrer, f Peter Master, Andrew Foot, John Knapthender, ' David Marsh, Jun'r. 7TH CLASS. Benjamin Kratzer, John Haffelfanger, Conard Geary, Adam Helker. 8TH CLASS. John Falstick, John Beigele, John Musselman, Jacob Sholl. FIFTH COMPANY. Captain — Frederick Coons, 1st Lieut. — George Coons, 2nd Lieut. — Henry Bast, Ensign — Adam Coons, Court Martial Men, George Liv- engood, John Bullart, Serjeants — Peter Glass, Henry 52 CJ LJ £ 3t £ U Snider, George Harman, Jacob Harman, Corporals — Theobald Shaffer, Jacob Heisley, Nicholas An- thony, John Leonbueher. 1ST CLASS. Peter Miffley, John Seacher, Ludwiek Anthony, George Shanbercher, Peter Coons, John Bootner. 2ND CLASS. Jacob Eudde, Valentine Starce, Abraham Linebeager, Jacob Gruber, Isaac Oblunger, Philip Reiffner. 3RD CLASS. Amos Bierr, Philip Baker, George Osterday, Isaac Reib, John Sleaeher, Conrard Harman. 4TH CLASS. Adam Bierr, Conard Silvess, Frederick Eberhart, Jim 'r.j John Shuiddy, Nicholas Oblinger, Jacob Bouchman. 5TH CLASS. Dovault Gorringer, Henry Wanmacher, Peter Kesster,, Leonard Heizzel, Nicholas Snidder, Conard Snidder. 6TH CLASS. John Ready, Jacob Baker, William Boack, Michael Holestein, Charles Creass, Andrew Mayer, 7TH CLASS. Jacob Roat, Peter Anthony, Sen'r., Godlep Andrews, Frederick Mooal, John Remeley. 8TH CLASS. John Beirr, John Beattee, Jacob Gasster, Nicholas Dermoyer, Frederick Eberhart, Sen'r. SIXTH COMPANY. Captain — John Ralstone, 1st Lieut. — Adam Clendeniii 2nd Lieut. — Joseph Brown, Ensign — William Kerns. 1ST CLASS. Andrew Himphill, Christian Hagenbaugh, Samuel Willson, James Hemphill, Robert Craig, David Jolly. 2ND CLASS. Peter Beisel, Sen'r. Thomas Wilson, Hugh Horner, William Young, Charles Richard, John Sterling. 3RD CLASS. William Cartty, Peter Beisel, Jun'r., James Homer, John Weaver, Samuel Ralston, Mark Stillinger. 4TH CLASS. Jacob Hagenbaugh, James Lukens, Mosses Hemphill, , George Hoack, James Kerr, George Wolf, James Brown. 5TH CLASS. Thomas Horner, James Cloyd, Robert Doak, Thomas Herron, Uriah Tippe, William Haslet, John Walker, James Doak. 6TH CLASS. Robert Lattimore, John McNair, Jacob Beisel, William McNair, James Boyd, George Gray, Benjamin Stuart, Peter Overheimer. 53 7TH CLASS. John Hays, John McCartney, Daniel McMullon, Alexander Beard, Joseph Likins, William Heart, William Kerr, John Brisban. 8TH CLASS. John Humes, Moses Campbell, John Clyd, James Lattimore, Michael McLoy, Abraham Levan, James Collins, William Kongelton, John Horner. SEVENTH COMPANY Captain — George Eoudebush, 1st Lieut. — Peter Phelp, 2nd Lieut. — Vandle Hower, Ensign — Eobert Young, Court Martial Men — Benjamin McCartty, Henry Faust, Serjeants — George Fanss, Nich- olas Ott, George Neighart, Casper Sterner, Corporals — Philip Stuber, Val- entine Terstsinger, Andrew Hower, Daniel Yeount, Drum and Fife — Jacob Fauss. 1ST CLASS. Leonard Knause, Andrews Creadler, John Hartzel, Joseph Kitt, William Daniel, Peter Glass. .2ND CLASS. Bernhart Arndt, Conard Gesse, Jacob Swarts, John Sterner, John Keiper, Rudolph Cauffman. 3RD CLASS. William Smith, Henry Emeach, Nicholas Young, John Frederick, Jacob Weaver, 4TH CLASS Frederick Paul, John Neighart, John Merkell, Ludwick Keipper, John Hanshew, Ifcnry Retter. 5TH CLASS. Peter Meanneach, Casper Ritter, Tohn Cockhill, , Daniel Swarts, Ri< hard Lawrence, Martin Fry, 6TH CLASS George Cooner, Georgt Richard, Henry Hartzell, Michael Keipper, Jacob Seipp, Henry Forsinger. 7TH CLASS. Joseph Daniel, Michael Mayer, Mekhoeir Roockle, Isaac Groose, William Kreitze, Nicholas Remmill. 8TH CLASS. Barnet Reppelee, Martin Lazerus, George Keipper, Abrahem Grosse, William Mennech, Thomas Stephens. EIGHTH COMPANY. Captain — Paul Fleck, 1st Lieut. — Joseph ( illegible), 2nd Lieut. — Adam Bruckhauser, Ensign — Nicholas Silveas, Court Martial Man — Casper Erb, Jacob Bochart, Serjeants — Adam Ruffner, Si- mon Ruffner, Jacob Ebert, Jacob Erbb, Corporals, Adam Merch, Philip Deamer, Casper Mercn, .John Leichsess, Drum and Fife — John Deutter, Martin Ashbach. 1ST CLASS. Frederick Shenberger., James Reed, George Deal, Philip Wealty, John Walker, Francis Crimting, Joseph Oldhouse, David Blockly. 54 2ND CLASS John Leicks, Jacob Balliet, Andrew Kents, John Selviches, John Snider, George Miller. 3RD CLASS. Abraham Swaeats, John Lentt, George Coal, Christian Spangler, Jun '. George Swarts, John Clepinger, Michael Ash. 4TH CLASS. Christian Billhener, Michael Glass, Conard Sleagle, Martin Rowich, John Klepphart, Jacob Sheack, John Selveches. 5TH CLASS Christian Miller, Peter Teammer, John Miller, John Hyle, Jacob Moots, George Grafft, George Pitts, Joseph Yeattle. 6TH CLASS William Kerr, Henry Fauss, Cassmer Featherman, Casper Flick, George Naugel, Nicholas Neallech. 7TH CLASS. Valentine Snider, Nicholas Shoell, James Williamson, unfit Jonathan Heile, Jacob Brouch, Mannes France, John Cleckner. 8TH CLASS. John Reed, John Reiswich, Michael Heynnech, John Hoouchess, John Lauffer, Jacob Haueh, Christian Speangler. 55 REV. JOHN ROSBRUGH Rev. John Rosbrugh, "the clerical martyr of the Revolu- tion," was born in 1714, shortly before his family left for Scot- land for the North of Ireland from where he and his elder brother, William, came to America. They settled in New Jersey, where John attended Princeton College, graduating in 1761. His first pastorate was that of the Tennent or Brainerd church at Greenwich. His parish consisted of the territory embracing what is now Warren County, New Jersey. On the 3rd day of April, 1769, Rev. Rosbrugh accepted a call from the Allentown (Allen township) congregation in which the congregation asked for two- thirds of his time. He, with the consent of the Presbytery, sup- plied the Allen township congregation in connection with his churches in New Jersey. The following year he removed to Allen township. Doubtless the influences that brought him here was that of his wife 's family, she being a daughter of James Ralston. After the battle of Long Island, Northampton County was in a feverish excitement ; many of its sons had spilled their blood in the cause of liberty. George Taylor had for them signed the Declaration of Independence, and James Ralston represented them in the Continental Congress. Washington and his shattered army were fleeing across New Jersey towards Pennsylvania, and the British with hired assasins in close pursuit, were threatening to invade the County. The Council of Safety of Pennsylvania authorized General Washington to call out all the able bodied men. Washington sent a most urgent appeal to Allen township, where Col. John Siegfried lived. Rev. Rosbrugh having assem- bled the congregation, read to them the call for reinforcement and ascending the pulpit took for his text Judge 5 :23 : " Curse ye Meroz, saith the angel of the Lord ; curse ye bitterly the inhabi- tants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty, ' ' and urged them to en- list and offered to aicompany them as their chaplain. They ac- cepted his challenge but insisted that he accompany them as their commanding officer. He returned home, told his wife, whose brother-in-law was a prisoner of war in the fatal ships at New York, of his intentions, 56 made his will and arranged for his departure on the following day. Practically all of the congregation met the next day and the able bodied men formed a company and immediately, under the leadership of their pastor, marched away, going toward Philadelphia, where they arrived December 24th, 1776. Thus in eight days from the time the call for more troops was issued, Rev. Rosbrugh and his parishioners were ready upon the field for action. As Rev. Rosbrugh 's brother-in-law, John Ralston, was in the city in connection with his duties as a member of the Continental Congress, with him the patriot pastor spent the night of the 24th of December. The next day, Christmas, he wrote the following letter to his Wife : My Dearest Companion: — I gladly embrace ye opportunity of telling you that I am still yours, and also in a tolerable state of health, thro' ye tender mercy of our dear Lord. The important crisis seems to draw near, which I trust may decide the query whether Americans shall be slaves or free men. May God grant ye latter, however dear it may cost. An engagement is expected in a few days. All our com- pany are in Philadelphia in health and in good spirits. They are under the command of General Putnam, and it is expected they will be ordered to ye Jerseys to-morrow or next day. I cannot write much at present, only that we have had some encouraging news form ye Jerseys, but whether true or false we cannot determine. My dearest creature, ye throne of Grace is free and open; I trust you have an interest there; it will be to your interest and happiness to live near ye throne ; you will find ye way of duty ye only way of safety. Farewell for a while. Please to present my compliments to Stephen and Nancy; and to all ye children. Praying that God may pour out his blessing upon you all, this from your truly affectionate husband: JNO. EOSBEUGH. P. S. Last night I lodged with Jno. Ealston, he is well. Philadelphia, December 25th, 1776. On the evening of this day (December 26th), he wrote to his wife with regard to the bushel of salt which he had purchased for sixty dollars, and enclosed the circular relative to the atrocities of the British officers. In this letter he mentions his appointment as Chaplain. "I have received this afternoon a commission sent me by the Council of Safety, to act as Chaplain of Northampton County militia, and am now entered upon the duties of my office. Oh ! that God would enable me to be faithful." 57 In the minutes of the Council of Safety, December 26th, 1776, the following is recorded : ' ' Commission made out for Jno. Rosbrugh, as Chaplain to 3d battalion of Northampton militia. ' ' Thus was he relieved of the command of the company which he mustered and led to the seat of war, and Captain John Hays as- sumed the responsibility of this position. Eev. Rosbrugh 's duties were now those of Chaplain, not simply to the company which he raised, but to all those troops from Northampton County known as the Third Battalion of militia under the command of Col. John Siegfried. On the same day that Rev. Rosbrugh re- ceived his commission as Chaplain, Colonel John Siegfried was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the same battalion. In the meantime General Washington had recrossed the Delaware River, and on Christmas night captured a thousand Hessians and returned safely to the Pennsylvania side. En- couraged by this bold venture he again crossed into New Jersey to engage in an agressive campaign. Chaplain Rosbrugh sent home the following letter : "(Friday) morning, 10 o'clock at Bristol Ferry, Decern [ber 27th, 1776]. I am still yours [but] I haven't a minute to tell yo[u that by God's grace our company] are all well. We are going over to N[ew Jer- se]y. You would think strange to see your Husband, an old man, riding with a French fusee slung on his back. This may be ye la[st let- ter] ye shall receive from your Husband. I have counted myself you[rs and have been en]larged of our mutual love to God. As I am out of doors [I cannot at present] write more. I send my compliments to you, my dear, and children. Friends pray for us. From your loving Husband, JNO. EOSBEUGH. " This letter is addressed on the back : " To Mrs. Jean Ros- brugh, Delawr Forks." "The last letter." The words "The last letter, ' ' are in the handwriting of the bereaved wife. The American forces were being concentrated at Trenton. General Howe, having learned of the capture of the Hessians at Trenton, hastened with all speed across New Jersey and suddenly came upon the American lines at the creek of Assunpink, where occurred one of the most bolody and disastrous short conflicts, to the British army, in the whole war. In this important battle Rev. Rosbrugh was cruelly put to death. Various versions of this sad occurrence have been handed 58 down, but the most trustworthy account is that of Captain Hays, and which has been preserved in Mr. Rosbrugh's family. It is substantially as follows: ' ' There was confusion in the haste with which General Washington withdrew his army to the South side of the creek of Assunpink, when Cornwallis suddenly reached Trenton. In this haste it seems he lingered behind the rest of his comrades. Seemingly not fully conscious of the dangers which surrounded him, he remained too long in the town ere he sought a place of greater safety with the army beyond the Assunpink. He came to the public house which stood upon the site now occupied by the Mechanics National Bank, corner of State and Warren streets, in the city of Trenton. As night was drawing on, he tied his horse under a shed and entered the house to obtain some refreshments. Whilst at the table he was alarmed by hearing ' ' The Hessians are coming. ' ' Hasten- ing out, he found that his horse had been stolen. Hurrying to make his escape by the bridge on Green street, he found that cannon had been posted to sweep it and the guard was instructed to allow no one to pass; beside, those in charge of it were fast breaking it up. He turned his steps down the stream toward the ford where Warren street now crosses. On arriving there he found it impossible to make his escape. He then turned back into a grove of trees, where he was met by a small company of Hessians under the command of a British officer. Seeing that further attempt at escape was useless, he surrendered him- self a prisoner of war. Having done so, he offered to his captors his gold watch and money if they would spare his life for his family's sake. Notwithstanding these were taken, they immediately prepared to put him to death. Seeing this, he knelt down at the foot of a tree and, it is said, prayed for his enemies. Now seventeen bayonet thrusts were made at his body, and one bayonet was left broken off in his quivering frame. Sabre slashes were made at his devoted head, three of which penetrated through the horsehair wig which he wore. So died the ' Clerical Martyr of the Eevolution ' at the age of sixty- three. As the shades of that cold and dreary winter evening settled down upon the sad scene, his lifeless body became rigid in the icy embrace of death. The British officer, at whose command he had been put to death, repaired to the house which Mr. Eosbrugh had so recently left, and there ex- hibited the dead Chaplain's watch, and boasted that he had killed a rebel parson. The woman of the house, having known Mr. Eosbrugh, and recognized the watch, said: 'You have killed that good man, and what a wretched thing you have done for his helpless family this day.' The enraged officer, threatening to kill her if she continued her re- proaches, ran away as if afraid of pursuit. ' ' It was not long until Captain Hays was appraised of the death of his pastor, upon which he hastily wrapped the body in a cloak and buried it where it lay, being under necessity to hurry forward with the rest of the troops in the night march which precipitated the battle of 59 Princeton the next morning." Eosbrugh, a tale of the Bevolutvon. p. 58-59. Sometime afterward, Mr. Duffield, later pastor of the Old Pine Street Presbyterian church, Philadelphia, who was a brother Chaplain in the Continental army, took up the body and reburied it. It is alleged that fresh blood flowed from his body upon its reinterment. Tradition says that his ashes reposed in the burying-ground at the First Presbyterian church in Trenton. Rev. Rosbrugh's descendants, however, are of the opinion that the body was taken to Philadelphia, but where buried they do not claim to know. Within two weeks after the pastor and many of his parish- ioners bade farewell to home and loved ones, the sad news came to the settlement that their pastor had been killed. How this sad news was received in the parsonage, sheltering the wife and five small children, the eldest of whom was but ten, and the youngest less than a year, is too sacred and pathetic to be here recounted. After some delay Mrs. Rosbrugh was given a pension of 355 pounds in continental currency. She died March 27, 1809, and was buried in the cemetery near the church from whence her husband marched away never to return. 60 CAPTAIN HAY'S COMPANY— 1776 From ' ' An account of money paid by Captain Hay 's ' ' of Northampton County, ' ' to his company in the City of Philadelphia of their monthly wages paid December 27, 1776," we have the following roll of his company: Captain, Eobert Hays Lieutenant, William Caruthers, discharged Jan. 9, 1777 Ensign, Thomas Horner PEIVATES. James Doak William Maffitt Alexander Vanhan John Clyde, discharged Jan. 17, 1777 James Lattimore Benjamin Stuart Moses Campbell, discharged Jan. 17, 1777 John McFadden James Boyd George Gray Moses Cangleton Eev. Mr. John Eossbrugh, dis- charged Jan. 3, 1777 Eobert Lattimore Michael Malloy William Kairns Thomas Herron John Horner John Walker Joseph Likens Daniel MeMullin Eobert Doak John Overshimer John Humes Moses Cronklton John Brisban, discharged Jan. 14, 1777 In addition to the above we have what follows as of importance in this connection. December 25, 1776. An account of money paid for salt to my company, Fifteen bushels, to the undernamed persons at 7s. 6d. bushel and the carriage Is. 6d. from Philadelphia to Allen township. Colonel Sigfried to % bu. Adjutant Boid to % bu. Lieu. Caruthers to % bu. Ensign Horner to % bu. James Doak to % bu. Moses Cangleton to ^ bu. William Kairns to % bu. William Hart to % bu. John Clyd to % bu. Eobert Lattimore to % bu. George Gray to % bu. Thomas Herron to % bu. James Lattimore to % bu. John Walker to % bu. William Maffit to y 2 bu. Benjamin Stuart to % bu. Joseph Likens to % bu. Moses Campbell to % bu. Daniel MeMullin to % bu. Michael Milloy to ^ bu. Eobert Doak to % bu. Patrick Eyan to % bu. John Overshimer to % bu. John McFadden to % bu. William McConnell to % bu. John Horner to % bu. Alexander Beard to % bu. John Humes to % bu. Alexander Vanhan to % bu. 61 Memorandum of the Time that a Part of Colonel Tresspaugh Battalion of Militia under Command of Lieutenant Colonel Siegfried entered the ser- vice. Lieutenant Colonel & all that Division of Said Battalion entered the service the 14th day of December, 1776. Such persons only excepted as is af termentioned. John Humes, the 31st of December, 1776 Alexander Beard, the 6th day of January, 1777 William Morrison, the 16th day of January, 1777 Time of entry of Lieutenant Bobert Hay's Company was January 6, 1776. Pennsylvania Archives — Fifth Series Vol. VIII pages 540-542 62 Ancestry of Col. John Siegfried Reprinted from Cement News, Nov. 13, 1914 The dedication of a monument to Col. John Siegfried on Memorial Day (1914) and the issuing of the brochure "'The Life and Times of Col. John Siegfried" attracted considerable atten- tion, both locally and in historical cir- cles. This widespread interest has lead to the discovery of additional facts, »oth as to his life and ancestry. In the through Pennsylvania and adjoining colonies during the middle decades of the Eighteenth Century. Joseph, one of the sons of Johannes Siegfried, the father of Colonel John Siegfried, was married to Anna Maria Romig, a daughter of John Adam Ro- mig. He spent all his days on the language of the Theological Review j homestead, which he received from his "Col. Siegfried was more than a local father. His home, like that of his ligure". Because of his prominence, father, was a stopping place for the family kinship and local associations, Moravian missionaries and officials on The. 'Cement News believes that its their journeys through Maxatawny to readers will welcome any additional in- ! Tulpenhocken, Lebanon, Litiz, Lancas- formation that will throw light on his j ter, York, etc. Shortly before his death life and character, and, therefore, glad- | which occurred September 3, 1795, he lv adds to its former writings the fol- | was received into the fellowship of the lowing from the pen of Rev. J. B. j Moravian Brethren. The following Stoudt. * ; obituary appears on the Moravian Con- I gregational record at Emails : SIEGFRIED FAMILY "Joseph Siegfried of Maxatawny was Colonel John Siegfried was a grand- ; bor " February 2, 1727. His parents son of Johannes and Elisabeth Sieg- we '" e Johannes and Elizabeth Siegfried fried, who had settled in Oley prior to , and wcr f of Mennomte persuasion On November 14, mg. the date of birth l^. 3 rd > r 745, he entered into Holy of their daughter Catharine, who was I wedlock with Anna Maria Romig, born, according to the Moravian re- which state God blessed with 13 child- cords at Emails, in Olev Township. ' re " (ei * ht sons and five daughters, of Berks County, Pa. When "the territory I w . ,loni SIX sons _ and two daughters sur- north of the South Mountain or Oley \ V ™J and vv,th forty-eight grand- Hills was thrown open. Johannes Sieg- children, of whom seven are dead and fried crossed the hills and settled on a ! wlth three Rreat-grand-children living, large tract of land in Maxatawny town- His sainted parents already loved the ship, in a valley known as Siegfried's ; Saviour and the Brethren (Moravians) 1 )ale. Their daughter Mary Elisabeth, j who in former years ' lodged in their who later married Johannes Rothermel J home. And he too was a good friend and located in Windsor Township, is I to the Brethren and loved our doctrine said to have been the. first white child 1 of Salvation in Jesus Christ. He truly born in the Maxatawny Valley. They j saw that as a sinner, his greatest need were of the Mention ite faith. Some .1 was to be cleansed of his sins by the time before his death. Johannes Sieg-; r Blood of Christ in Holy Baptism. He fried divided the plantation -between "his '! often felt a summons in his heart and two sons Joseph and John. Besides desired to be a sharer in this Grace, but these two sons he had six daughters : \ never brought it to a firm resolution. Catharine, wife of Frederick Romig: j He postponed it from time to time. Susan, wife of Daniel Levan. Mary i During his last illness, when in the Elisabeth, wife of John Rothermel: j previous year he suffered from a stroke, Magdalena, wife of Anthony Fischer: from which he never fully recovered, Anna, wife of Jacob Fischer, and Mar- i this hung more heavilv upon his heart: gareth, wife of Jacob Moss. Their j and he was at his earnest request and home was the stopping place for Mora- j desire cleansed of his sins b> the wash- vian Missionaries, who itinerated i ing of the holy baptism, by his bosom friend, Brother John Ettwein, who vis- ited him and hy Brother George Jung- man of Bethlehem in the presence of about thirty people from the neighbor- hood. At which time he shed many tears, and all who were present, were inwardly moved hy the holy feeling of the presence of God. At the beginning of the month he was seized with convulsions and on the 3rd of September, shortly before 10 o'clock in the forenoon, he expired. He reached the age of 74 years. 6 months and a little over. On the 5th of Sep- tember 1795, at the noon hour, he was buried on the family burial ground in the presence of a large concourse of people. At which time George Miller preached the sermon on God's acre on the Text, Psalm 25-10, 'All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his tes- timonies.' " To Joseph and Anna Maria Siegfried were horn ten children : r. Catharine. 2. Magdalena was married to Abraham Levari. 3. Colonel John, born Novem- ber 27, 1745. 4. Joseph (1740-1825) in 1792 purchased and settled' on a tract of land near Bath. He was the father of five children : Joseph, John, Peter. Mary and Catharine. 5. Henry (April 17, 1752- August 9, 1822) resided in Maxatawnv. He and his wife were buried on the old family cemetery. 6. Jacob was born August 19, 1762, and died March 28, 1829. He was married to Dorothea Levari. Thev had issue : William, Samuel, Benjamin, Jonathan. George and several daughters. 7. Isaac was born September 14, 1763, and on January 9,- 1791, was married to Anna Maria Hochstrasser, a daughter of Ja- cob and Maria (Baumen) Hochstrasser of Ranssellaersville. Albany County. New York. This union was hissed with sixteen children, of whom the follow- ing reached majority: Joshua, Paul. Samuel Elisabeth. Catharine, Mrs. Rev. J. C. Becker and Solomon. 8. Abra- £• ha m was born in 1764. He removed with ITis brother Josenh from Maxa- tawnv to the vicinity of Bath. He was the father of five children : Abraham. Tsaac. Hen 1 — Jacob and Susanna. Q. Daniel was married to Magdalena Kline. To John Siegfried. Jr.. the brother of Joseph, Sr., and his good wife Cath- . arinc were born six children : John, Ja- cob, Peter, Elisabeth, Margaret and Susanna. He died in 1776 and was buried on the family burial ground. COLONEL JOHN SIEGFRIED. Colonel John Siegfried was born in Siegfried's Dale, Maxatawny township, Berks County, November 27, 1745. In 1770 he removed to Allen township and conducted a ferry and tavern, the fa- vorable location of which brought him into conduct with many people and pre- pared the way for his popularity and fame. The family name of his wife is not definitely known, her christian name however is given in the will as Mary. There is a marriage of John Sitfriet (Siegfried) and Mary Levan for Aug. 25, 1769, recorded in Volume II, page 226, Penna. Archives, Second Series. This for a number of reasons, the writer believes is the marriage of our hero. And if this is correct, than Mrs. Sieg- fried came as a bride to Allen town- ship. It was the custom of our fore- fathers not to go, immediately after marriage, to housekeeping, but to wait until the following Spring. Daniel Le- van, of Maxatawnv, who died in 1777, mentions in his will among other child- ren a daughter Mary Siegfried. If the above conjecture is correct, then Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried were first cousins, a condition which frequently occurred during the colonial period in isolated communities, like the Maxatawnv settle- ment, where many of the families were of the same blood. Susan Siesf ried. a daughter of Johannes, the founder of the family, was married to Daniel Le- van, the father of Mary, the wife of Colonel John Siegfried. ROMIG FAMILY Anna Maria Siegfried, nee Romig, the wife of Joseph Siegfried was born in Ittlingen near Heibron in the Pala- tinate June 12, 1724, and came with her parents to the Colony oi Pennsylvania, landing at Philadelphia September 30, 1732. Her parents were John Adam Romig and Agnes Marguerite Bern- hardt. They were married in the vear- 1712 and resided at Ittlingen. John \dam Romig was the son of George Wendel Romich and his wife Margue- rite Herner, and was born at Rueden- stein, in the Palatinate, February 3, 1689. He was baptized by the local Lutheran pastor, his parents both being Lutheran. To Mr. and Mrs. John Adam Romig were born rive sons and four daugh- ters, among whom, were: Frederick, born April, 1713 ; John Martin, Anna Maria, and Johii Henry, born February 15, 1729^ Mrs. Romig died shortly af- ter their arrival in the colony, and in the following year (1723) Mr. Romig married Maria Ursula Warner, which union was blessed with two sons and three daughters, of whom the two sons and one daughter died in infancy. He was an elder in the Lutheran church, but came under Moravian influence in 1758 and 1762 was received into the congregation in Lynn by Rev. Peter Boehler. He died July 11, 1768. and was buried on the Moravian God's Acre in Lynn. He was survived at the time of his death by three sons and six daughters, sixty-six grand-children and twelve great-grand-children. It is re- corded of him that, "he was kind to those in his employ, an honored and beloved father in the congregation and greatly respected in the neighboring townships." Elisabeth Siegfried, daughter of Jo- hannes Siegfried, the emigrant, and sister to Joseph Siegfried, the' father of Colonel John Siegfried, was born in Oley, November ijl, 17 19. ■ and on Christmas 1737 was married to Frede- rick Romig, a son of John Adam Ro- mig. He was born at Tttlingen. near Heilbron, April 24, 1713. They settled in Lynn township, where she was bap- tized by the Moravian pastor Philip Wuster, March 31, 1755, and 'admitted to the holy communion for the first time in 1764. He was received as a member of the Moravian Congregation at Emaus in 1764 and admitted to the holy communion for the first time in 1766. They removed from Lynn to a farm in Macungie. where they passed the remainder of their days and where their ashes repose in a private ceme- tery. He died Julv 6. 178^. and she October 7, T793. At the time of her death Mrs. Romig was survived by one hundred and five errand-children and ten great-grand-children. They were the parents of twelve "children, six sons and six daughters. They were : Johan- nes, born February 26, 1738; Joseph, born March 27, 1740; Adam, born November 26, 1741 ; Elisabeth, born March 8, 1743; Susanna, born July 12, 1745; Frederick, born July 22, 1747 ; Catherine, born October 18, 1748; Mag- dalena, born September 10, 1750, was married to Daniel Peter, of Oley. Hen- rich, born April 1752; Anna Maria, born May 31, 1754, was married to Samuel Blitz of Longswamp; Joseph, born April 15, 1756; Margaretha, born Feb- ruary 2S. 1759- LEVAN FAMILY. The founder of this large and hon- ored American family was Daniel Le- van and his wife, Marie Beau of Am- sterdam, Holland. The ancestorial home of this staunch Huguenot (French Re- formed) family was Picardy in France, whence he fled to Amsterdam, where they were members of the Huguenot Church. In 1715 four of their sons, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, set out for the land of William Penn, ' of whom the last named died at sea. Ab- raham settled in Oley, Isaac in Exter, and Jacob in Maxatawny- township, Berks County. The latter was a promi- nent figure in the colonial period. He took a prominent part in the French and Indian war, served as one of the judges of the county.' and his son. Col- onel Sebastian Levan played an impor- tant role in the struggle for indepen- dence. . In 1729 Daniel Levan followed his brethren to the new world and settled in Maxatawny not far from his brother Jacob and married Susan Seigfried, a daughter of Johannes Siegfried. He was an elder in the Maxatawny. "Re- formed Congregation in 1740 and gave land for a church and school-house. He died in 1777, leaving a wife, Susan, nee Siegfried, and children : Peter, Barba- ra (Reeser), Catharine'. Mary (Sieg- fried). Susan (Kempp), Magdalena. Margaret and Daniel. The latter was admitted to the bar at Reading in 1768 and obtained considerable prominence as an attorney.