Sketch of the Zumwalt Family, St. Charles County, Missouri

>From "A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with numerous
sketches, anecdotes, adventures, etc., relating to Early Days in 
Missouri" by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, Published by Bryan,
Brand & Co., St. Louis Missouri, 1876.
**********************************************************************

Jacob Zumwalt, of Germany, emigrated to America, and settled first in
Pennsylvania, where the town of Little York now stands.  He purchased
the land upon which the town was subsequently built, and erected a
cabin upon it.  Being afflicted with a cancer, he removed to Virginia,
where he could obtain medical aid, and settled on the Potomac, not far
from Georgetown.  But he grew worse instead of better, and soon died.
In the meantime the deed to his land in Pennsylvania had been destroy-
ed, and his children lost what would have been a princely fortune to
them.  This valuable paper was lost in a rather singular manner.  One
of the girls, while hunting about the house for a piece of pasteboard
to stiffen her new sun bonnet, found the deed, and, being unable to
read, she supposed it was some useless piece of old paper, and used it
in her bonnet.  The deed had never been recorded, and therefore could
not be restored, and the heirs to the property never succeeded in es-
tablishing their title.  Mr. Zumwalt was married twice.  By his first
wife he had: Henry, George, Dolly and Lizzie; and by his second wife
he had: Christopher, Jacob, John, Adam, Andrew and Catharine.  Chris-
topher and Jacob settled in St. Charles County, on Peruque Creek, in
1796, and in 1798 Jacob built the first hewed log house that was ever
erected on the north side of the Missouri River.  It is still standing
on land owned by Mr. D. Heald, about one and a half miles northwest of
O'Fallon Station, on the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railway.
The house was used as a fort during the Indian War, and often as many
as ten families found shelter within its walls at the same time.  The
first Methodist sacrament in Missouri was administered in this house,
by Rev. Jesse Walker, in 1807.  The wine was made by Mrs. Zumwalt and
Mrs. Col. David Bailey, from the juice of polk berries, sweetened with
maple sugar; and for bread they used the crusts of corn bread.  Adam
Zumwalt came to Missouri in 1797.  He placed his family and $800 worth
of goods, with his stock, consisting of 30 head of cattle, 11 sheep,
and 12 horses, on board a flat-boat, and came down the Ohio and up the
Mississippi River to St. Charles County with his clumsy craft.  He
settled near the present town of Flint Hill, where he erected two still
houses and made whisky to sell to the Indians, who were camped near his
place.  The great chief Black Hawk made his home at Mr. Zumwalts for
sometime, and was a regular and frequent visitor until after the comm-
encement of hostilities between the whites and the Indians.  He often
danced with Mr. Zumwalt's daughters, and was so fond of his whisky that
he frequently became very drunk; but he never caused any disturbance or
acted in an ungentlemanly manner.  In very cold weather the whisky 
would freeze and become solid ice, in which state it was sold to the
Indians by the cake and they often bought as much as $100 worth in a
single day.  Mr. Zumwalt was a friend of the preachers, and whenever
they came into the neighborhood they held services in his house.  Rev.
Jesse Walker and a German minister named Hostetter preached there as
early as 1800.  During the Indian War, Mr. Zumwalt's family took shel-
ter in Pond Fort, while he and his son Jonathan remained at home to 
protect the property and prevent the Indians from destroying it.  Jon-
athan had learned to use his gun when only five years of age, and was
as quick and accurate a marksman as could be found in the country. 
When he was six years old he killed a large buck, which plunged about 
so in its death agonies that he became frightened and ran home, and
lost his gun in the woods.  On one occasion the Indians crossed the
Mississippi River on the ice, and murdered an entire family of twelve
persons, who lived near Mr. Zumwalt's place.  He assisted in burying
them.  The bodies were wrapped in quilts and buried under the house,
in a place that had been used as a cellar.  The Indians burned the
house soon after, and the bodies were devoured by the flames.  On one
other occasion an Indian Chief died at Mr. Zumwalt's house, and was 
buried with a loaf of bread in one hand and a butcher knife in the
other, and his dog was killed and buried at his feet.  These prepara-
tions were made in order that when he reached the happy hunting grounds
he would have something to eat, and a dog to find game for him.  The
names of Mr. Zumwalt's children were: John, Elizabeth, Andrew, Rachel,
Mary, Catharine, Jonathan and Solomon.  John Zumwalt, a brother of Adam,
settled in Darst's Bottom, in St. Charles County, in 1806.  The names
of his children were: George, John, Barbara, Mary, Elizabeth, Adam,
Andrew, Jacob, Henry and William.  Andrew Zumwalt was a devoted Metho-
dist, but his three daughters joined the Baptist Church, and their
mother said she was glad of it.  But the old gentleman was very angry,
and said he hoped, now that his family was divided among the churches,
that some of them would find the right one and get to heaven, and be
contented when they got there, and not want to go somewhere else. There
were five Jacobs in the different Zumwalt families, and they were dis-
tinguished as Big Jake, Little Jake, Calico Jake, St. Charles Jake and
Lying Jake.	

====================================================================
     USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing
         free information on the Internet, data may be used by
         non-commercial entities, as long as this message
         remains on all copied material. These electronic
         pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit
         or for presentation by other persons or organizations.

         Persons or organizations desiring to use this material
         for purposes other than stated above must obtain the
         written consent of the file contributor.

         This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
         Archives by: Penny Harrell <Incog3678@aol.com>

====================================================================