THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XXVII, MILFORD, 1734. from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M., 1876 and 1905* editions.. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Donna Bluemink. dbluemink@cox.net USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Transcriber's note: Liberty has been taken with numbering footnotes so as to include all footnotes from both the 1876 and 1905 editions, plus any additional text and pictures in the 1905 edition. All 1905 material will be noted with an asterisk. Note: Where names differ, the 1905 edition spelling is applied. ___________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER XXVII MILFORD 1734 Concluding group. -Early names. -First township settled by Germans. -Ask naturalization. -Their language. -Mum. -Change of names. -Germans aggressive. -Churches and schools. -Upper and Lower Milford. -Early settlers. -Jacob Shelly. -Petition for township. -Names of land-owners. -Township allowed. -Jacob Beidler.* -Name desired. -George Wonsidler. -Michael Musselman. -Old stone house. -Land turtle. -German names in 1749. -Ulrich Spinner. -The Zollners.* -The Hubers. -Opening of roads, -"Milford rebellion." -John Fries. -Henry Simmons. -Effort to annex Milford to Lehigh. -Spinnersville, Trumbauersville et al. -Lower Milford church. -[Scheetz's*] Lutheran church. -Mennonites* and Mennonite churches. -Strickler's graveyard. -Taverns.* -Fine land. -Population. Milford is the first township of our last and concluding group which includes all the remaining townships in Bucks, and those of Northampton and Lehigh organized prior to 1752. Settlers were on our northwest border in Philadelphia, now Montgomery , county before 1730, finding their way into this distant wilderness up the valley of the Perkiomen. Among the land-holders in Hanover township, Montgomery county, in 1734 were those bearing the names of: Melchoir Hoch Samuel Musselman John Linderman Peter Lauer Balthazer Huth (1) Andrew Kepler Jacob Hoch Jacob Bechtel Ludwig Bitting, or Pitting Jacob Heistandt Philip Knecht Henry Bitting Barnabas Tothero George Roudenbush Conrad Kolb Jacob Schweitzer Adam Ochs Nicholas Jost, now Yost Jacob Jost Bastian Reifschneider John George Jacob Schaefer John Schneider Anthony Hinkle Anthony Ruth, Nichlas Haldeman and Henry Funk owned land, and probably lived, in Salford township, and Herman Godshalk in Towamencin, Montgomery county. As these are all Bucks county names, probably the ancestors of those bearing them here came from over the border. Before 1739 George Grouer [Gruver*]built a grist-mill in the Perkiomen valley, about five miles above Sumneytown, and in 1742 Samuel Shuler built one on East Swamp creek, one mile above the same place, the walls of which were standing and some of the machinery remaining [a few years ago*]. In 1748 Shuler built a dwelling near the mill, which is still in use. About the same time Jacob Graff built a large grist-mill on the Perkiomen creek, on the site of Perkiomenville. It was in use about 100 years, and is now occupied by the three-story grist-mill [lately*] owned by Mr. Hiestand. The next mill built in the valley is about half-way between Green Lane and Perkiomenville, which is still standing. Among the earliest settlers in this part of Montgomery county were Frederick Hillegass, of Upper Hanover, Jacob Wissler, Johannes Huls, Philip Labar, George Shenk, Ludwig Christian Sprogel, Henry Roder, Ludwig Bitting and Peter Walstein. Immigrants were not tardy in crossing the line into Bucks county. (1) Probably Ruth* Milford is the first township into which the Germans came in any considerable numbers. From their first advent into the province a few of this race found homes in Bucks, but they were too few to make any impression upon the English population. The heaviest German immigration took place between 1725 and 1740, and during this period a large number settled in the upper end of this county, and what is now Northampton and Lehigh. By 1775 they numbered about one half the population of Pennsylvania . Our early German settlers followed the track of those which had preceded them up the valley of the Perkiomen, and planting themselves in the northwest corner of the county, they gradually spread across to the Lehigh and Delaware, and southward to meet and check the upward current of English immigration. In time they became the dominant race in several townships originally settled by English speaking people. The early Germans came with a fair share of common school learning, and there were but few who could not read and write. They early established schools to educate their children; and it was a feature with the German settlers that they were hardly seated in their new homes before they began to organize congregations and build churches. Among them were men of education, and to the Moravians especially are we indebted for the introduction of a high degree of cultivation into the wilderness on the Lehigh. The third newspaper published in Pennsylvania was in German, in 1739. Christian Sowr, of Germantown, had printed several editions of the Bible in German years before the first English Bible was printed in America, which issued from the press of Robert Aitken, Philadelphia, 1780. As a class the Germans excelled the other races that settled this county in music, and they were the first to introduce it into our churches. At first the Proprietary government was prejudiced against them, but such was not the case with William Penn, and it was not until 1742 that the Assembly passed an act for their naturalization. Shortly afterward an act was passed that applied to Dunkards, Moravians, Mennonites, and all other Protestants, except Friends, who refused to take an oath. But this boon was not granted without the asking, and then it took years to get the law passed. A petition was presented to the legislature in 1734 from "inhabitants of Bucks county," which stated that the petitioners were from Germany, and having purchased lands, they desire naturalization that they may hold the same and transmit them to their children. It was signed by John Blyler, John Yoder, Sr., Christian Clemmer, John Jacob Clemmer, Abraham Shelly, Jacob Musselman, Henry Tetter, Peter Tetter, Leonard Button, Peter Wolbert, Owen Resear, John Resear, Felix Pruner, Lawrence Earp, Joseph Everheart, Michael Everheart, Jacob Wetsel, Michael Tilinger, Baltzer Caring, Joseph Zemmerman, John Rinck, Jacob Coller, John Lauder, Peter Chuck, John Brecht, Henry Schneider, Felty Kizer, Adam Wanner, Martin Piting, John Landes, George Sayres, Abraham Heystandt, Christian Newcome, Felty Young, Henry Weaver, John Weaver, Jacob Gangwer, Francis Bloom, Frederick Schall, Henry Rincker, Lawrence Mirkle, Leonard Cooper, John Yoder, Jr., Adam Shearer, Felty Barnard, John Reed. The earliest record of an alien of Bucks county being naturalized by the Assembly is that of Johannes Blecker [and others in petition of Francis Daniel Pastorius*], September 28, 1709. In 1730-31 Jacob Klemmer, of Richland, Jacob Sander, Philip Keisinger, George Bachman and John Drissel petitioned the Assembly to be naturalized. The descendants of the German immigrants of this county have retained, to a considerable degree, the manners and customs of their fathers. The every-day language of at least one-third of the population is German, or "Pennsylvania Dutch," as it is popularly called. In so far as this is a language at all, it is mosaic in its character, and was the result of circumstances. The early immigrants from the German principalities and Switzerland became welded into one mass by intermarriage, similarity of religion, customs and language. This, with subsequent admixture with the English-speaking portion of the population, gradually gave rise to a newly-spoken, and to some extent, a newly-written, dialect, known as "Pennsylvania Dutch," which is used, to a considerable extent, throughout eastern Pennsylvania. (2) The advent of the Germans introduced a new drink, called Mum, from Mumma, the name of the inventor, who first brewed it at Brunswick, in 1492. It was a malt liquor, brewed from wheat, and at first was considered a medicine. It was nauseous, but was made potable by being fermented at sea. Ash defines it to be a beer brewed from wheat, while a dictionary of 1770 says it was "a kind of physical beer made with the husks of walnuts infused." Tiswick, in the "Notes and Queries," says: "Mum is a sort of sweet, malt liquor, brewed with barley and hops, and a small mixture of wheat, very thick, scarce drinkable till purified at sea." Pope turned his verse upon it, and says: "The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum, Till all, turned equal, sound a general hum." It sold at Bethlehem in 1757, at a shilling a pint; but we doubt whether the Germans of the present day have any knowledge of the beverage that regaled their ancestors a century ago. (2) The influence of the public schools, wherein English alone is taught, is gradually doing away with German as a spoken and written language in Bucks county. * A noticeable feature in connection with the Germans of this county is the great change that has taken place in the spelling of family names. In some instances the German original is almost lost in the present name, and the identity can only be traced with difficulty. Who but one versed in such lore would expect to find the original of Beans in Beihn, Brown in Braun, or Fox from Fuchs, and yet there are greater changes than these. Mr. William J. Buck, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, kindly prepared for us the following list of changes in the names of German families in this county: Swope from Schwab Bartholomew from Barteleme Miller from Muller Fox from Fuchs Smith from Schmidt Meyers from Meyer or Moyer Shank from Schenck Kindy from Kindigh Overholt from Oberholtzer Shoemaker from Schmuacher Cassel from Kassel Everhart from Eberhardt Black and Swartz from Schwartz Wolf from Wolff Calf from Kolb Keyser from Keiser Snyder from Schneider Knight from Knecht Shearer from Scherer Overpeck from Oberbeck Wise from Weiss Buck from Bock Weaver from Weber Stoneback from Steinbach Harwick from Harwich Amey from Emig or Emich Fisher from Fischer Root from Ruth Funk from Funck Rodrock from Rothrock Brown from Braun Fraley from Froehlich Deal from Diehl High from Hoch More or Moore from Mohr Beans from Beihn Strawsnyder from Strohschneider King from Konig Young from Jung Stover from Stauffer Steeley or Staley from Stahle Frankenfield from Franckenfeldt Fulmer from Folmer Bishop from Bischoff Arnold from Arnoldt Heck from Hecht Emery from Emrich Umstead from Umstadt Nonamaker from Nonnemacher Gruver from Gruber Kline from Klein Hinkle from Hinckle Vanfossen from Vanfussen Godshalk from Gotschalk Singmaster from Singmeister Allem from Ahlum Mickley from Michele Heaney from Heinich Applebach from Afflerbach Leidy from Leidigh Clymer, or Clemmer from Klemmer Lock from Loch [Taylor from Schneider*] Wireback from Wierbach [Weierbach*] The Germans have been exceeding aggressive since they settled in Bucks county. Seating themselves in the extreme northwest corner of the county, they have overrun the upper townships, and in some of them they have nearly rooted out the descendants of the English race. Like their ancestors, which swept down from the north on the fair plains of Italy, they have been coming down county for a century and a half with a slow, but steady tread. Forty [sixty*] years ago there were comparatively few Germans in Plumstead, new Britain, Doylestown and Warrington (3), but now they predominate in the first, and are numerous in the other three. Among twenty-two names to a petition for a road in Hilltown, in 1734, but three were German, and it is now considered a German township. They have already made considerable inroad into Solebury, Buckingham and Warwick, and still the current is setting down county. As a class, they are money-getting and saving, they add acre to acre, and farm to farm, their sons and daughters inherit their land, and they go on repeating the process. They have large families of children, and but few immigrate, but marry about home and stay there. With a persistent, clannish race like the Germans, this system of accumulation will, in course of time, enable them to root out others who have less attachment for the soil. Where this advancing Teutonic column is to halt is a question to be answered in the future, for it has its picket here and there, in all the townships, down to the mouth of the Poquessing. (3) There are a seaport and borough in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and a village and parish in England of this name.* Our present German population is well up to the descendants of the English speaking settlers in the spirit of progress. Their schools are numerous and well attended, and they give the common school system a generous support. Churches are found in every neighborhood, and all denominations are administered to by clergymen of their own choice. The church edifices, as a whole, are superior to those in the English portion of the county, cost more money, and are constructed in better architectural taste. In addition, there is hardly a German church that does not contain a pipe organ, some of which are large and expensive. They pay considerable attention to music, and some good performers are found in the rural districts. During the Revolutionary war the Germans were universally loyal to the American cause. The great majority of them had left the land of their birth to seek liberty in the new world, and they came with too cordial a hatred of tyranny to assist the English king to enslave the land of their adoption. Many Germans of this county served in the ranks in Washington's army, and a number bore commissions. No portion of our population excel the Germans in those qualities that go to make good citizens, kind neighbors, and fast friends. Our knowledge of the early settlement of Milford is neither extensive nor as accurate as we could desire, for we have found it exceedingly difficult to obtain information of this and other German townships. Originally the territory, included in this township and Upper Milford in Lehigh, was one district for municipal purposes, but was never embraced in one organized township. These divisions bore the distinctive name of Upper and Lower Milford down to the close of the last century. The new county line of Northampton, in 1752, ran through the middle of this district, or thereabouts, leaving each county to fall heir to a Milford township. Its first settlers were Germans, who came over the border from Philadelphia county, having found their way up the valley of the Perkoimen. It is not known who was the first land-holder, but Joseph Growden owned a large tract there at an early day. Martin Morris, who was there among the first, took up 500 acres, which he conveyed to Jacob Shelly, May 5, 1725, part of which is now owned by Joseph S. Shelly. In 1749 Abraham Shelly was a petitioner for a road. William Allen likewise owned land in Milford among the first. November 17, 1724, Nicholas Austin of Abington, Philadelphia county, purchased 270 acres of Joseph Growden, the patent for which was not issued by the Penns until 1739. It passed through two generations of Austins to John Haldeman, the ancestor of the Haldemans of New Britain. [The Beidlers were early settlers in Milford, but just when they came is unknown. They are descended from Jacob Beitler, a redemptioner, who is credited with arriving early in the eighteenth century; settled first in Chester county, then removed to Lower Milford, Bucks, where he married Anna, daughter of Hans Meyer, or Moyer, a recent immigrant. After this the family history is known. In 1753-60 Henry Beidler patented 120 acres, became a farmer, and died 1810, at the age of 101, his will being probated May 10. He had seven children: Anna, who married Henry Oberholtzer Barbara married John Newcomer Elizabeth married Christian Swartz John Abraham Jacob Christian. Of the sons of Jacob Beidler, John spent his life in Chester county, leaving many descendants there and elsewhere, Judge Abraham M. Beidler of the Court of Common Pleas being one; Abraham settled in his native township, had one daughter, Mary, who inherited her father's estate, married John Stahr, who became the ancestress of the Rev. John S. Stahr, D. D., a distinguished clergyman of the Reformed church, and president of Franklin-Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. He died 1800, his will being probated November 25; Jacob, the third son of Jacob, the immigrant, settled in Hilltown, married Annie Leiderach, (4) had three children, Henry, Jacob and Annie and died, comparatively young, 1781. His will directs, that after his children are well educated they shall be "put to trades." Of his children, Henry, born 1778, removed to Lancaster, Pa., dying there, 1852. Jacob, born October 5, 1776, and dying February 8, 1866, married Susanna Kraut, and was the father of nine children, Annie, who married Samuel Stover, Aaron, Elizabeth married Isaac Kratz, Henry, Nathan, Jacob, the millionaire lumber merchant, who died at Chicago, March 15, 1898, Christian, Susanna, widow of Jacob Fretz, and Joseph, residing near Plumsteadville; all are dead except the last two named. Annie Beidler, daughter of Jacob and Annie (Leiderach) Beidler, married Henry Licey and died 1837, without issue. Christian Beidler, the youngest son of the immigrant, who died 1827, inherited the homestead, Lower Milford, married Mary Shelly, daughter of Jacob Shelly.*] (4) Editorial note: Present day spelling is Lederach. DB. No doubt the agitation for a township organization in Richland, whose inhabitants were moving in this direction, stimulated the people of Milford to set up for themselves. On June 13, 1734, those living between the county line and the section then about to be laid out as Richland, petitioned the court to erect the country they inhabit into a township, with the boundaries they specify. They state in the petition that heretofore they had been united with Richland for municipal purposes, but now wish to be separated, because the territory is so large that the constable and collector cannot attend to their duties. That section of the county must have been pretty well peopled at this early day, for the petition has 62 names upon it, nearly all German, among which we find those of Cline, Clymer, Musselman, Jamison, Nixon, Jones, Lawer, Wies, Ditter, Hoene, Sane, and other equally well-known at this day. The court doubtless granted the prayer of the petitioners, for the township was laid out and established soon after. It was twice surveyed, both times by John Chapman, the second survey only differing from the first on it southeast boundary. The first was returned into court September 13, 1734, and the last was made October 22nd. On the first plat of survey are given the names of the following real estate owners: Robert Gould Michael Atkinson John Edwards Thomas Roberts David Jenkins Edwin Phillips Peter Evins Michael Lightfoot Arthur Jones Morris Morris John Lander Jacob Musselman John Yoder Peter Lock Abraham Heston John Dodsel and "Joseph Growden's great tract, sold mostly to Dutchmen." On the back of the draft is endorsed "Bulla," the name the petitioners desired their township called. Whether it was ever called by this name we are unable to say, but however this may be, it was soon after changed to Lower Milford, and afterward to Milford. The survey fixes the area at 15,646 acres. Some of the landowners did not live in the township, but only owned land as an investment. In the session's docket, 1734, we find the following entry: "Ordered that some part of the township of Richland, now and for the future to be called Balla [Bala*] (or Bulla) be recorded according to a certain draft of the said township, now brought into court." This has reference to the formation of Milford. Among those who came into the township after it had been organized was George Wonsidler, (5) the ancestor of the family of this name. He immigrated from Germany in 1743 [1744*], at the age of 22, and settled in Milford, where he spent his life, and died in 1805, at 84. He left two sons, George and John Adam. George remained in Milford, where he died in 1858, at the age of 84, leaving three sons and one daughter, John, George and Jacob, and the daughter's name not known. John died in 1869, at the age of 77, leaving three daughters. George lives in Milford, at the age of 80, and Jacob in Springfield, who have sons and daughters married, with families; there are only seven descendants of the second George living. John Adam, the second son of George Wonsidler, born in 1770, and died in 1854, after 84 years, settled in Hanover township, Montgomery county, where he passed his life. He had eight sons and two daughters, and 14 of his descendants, bearing his name, are now living. The name is but seldom met with, and probably all who bear it in this section of the United States can trace their descent back to the Milford immigrant of 1743 [1744*]. Charles H. Wonsidler, of Trumbauersville, is a descendant of George, eldest son of the first George. (5) He landed at Philadelphia, from the Phoenix, October 20, 1744. The great-grandfather of Michael Musselman came into the township with a son, 15 year old, in 1743, and bought land of William Allen, on which he built a log house, still standing, and used as a dwelling, near the Mennonite meeting-house, not far from the Milford and Steinsburg turnpike. The great-grandson, Michael Musselman, over 80 years of age, now lives in the old house where, probably, three generations of the family were born. An adjoining tract then owned by William Roberts, now belongs to Jacob W. Shelly. Probably the oldest stone house, in the northwest section of the county, stands in the southeast corner of Milford, a mile from Trumbauersville, near the road from Bunker Hill to Sumneytown. It was built in 1740 or 1742, by Thomas Roberts, and now belongs to the estate of John Wonsidler. The stone house of Daniel H. Kline was built in 1756. Among the early inhabitants of Milford and remembered by some of the present generation, was a land turtle, who was there probably as early as 1750. It was picked up in May 1821 and found to be marked "J. B. 1769," and "Ditlow, 1814." As it was found between, and within a mile of the dwellings of J. Bleyser, and Mr. Ditlow, it was probably marked by them. It had been a known inhabitant of that vicinity for 52 years, (6) but how much longer no one can tell. (6) 1905 edition only says "for years." DB Before 1750 Milford had practically become a German township. Of 49 names signed to a petition for a road in 1749, every one is German, and many of them are familiar names of residents of this and adjoining townships at this time, viz: Abraham Zaln John Drissell Johannes Funk George Clark Paul Samsel Ludwig Cutting Philip Hager Christian Cassel Ulrich Wimmer William Labar Christian Willcox Adam Schneider Andrew Wichschuttz David Mueckley Heinrich Hitz Michael Eberhart Philip Liber Henry Bach Rudi Frick Kasper Hayser Christian Sitzmar Jacob Hecock George Ackermann Peter Kreiling Jacob Zweifuss Nickol Mumbauer Andreas Trumbauer Theobold Branchlar Jacob Beittler John Stell Heinrich Huber Johannes Frick Lorentz Esbach Charolus Olinger Rudolph Reigert Abraham Shelly, Jr. Abraham Dittlo Johannes Huber Jacob Martin Jacob Musselman Samuel Lauder Abraham Kreider Andreas Hochbein Johannes Wombol Johannes Reb George Rodi Johannes Clymer John Peter Kreider Michael Schenk. Ulrich Spinner, (7) or Spinor, the great-grandfather of Edwin D. Spinner, of Milford, immigrated from Basle, in Switzerland, in 1739. His wife, Ursula Frick, came from the same place, and probably he was married at his arrival. He settled in Milford the same year. In 1753 he bought 203 acres in the "Great swamp," lying about Spinnerstown, in the western part of Milford, and died in 1782, at the age of 65, leaving two sons and two daughters. The youngest son, David, received the real estate, the other children getting their share in money. The eldest son settled in Salisbury, Lehigh county, and the daughters married a Mumbauer and a Deal, Mrs. Reuben F. Scheetz, of Doylestown, being a descendant of the latter. David Spinner, the son, died on the homestead in 1811, at the age of 53, following the trade of potter, besides conducting his large farm, to his death. He was Justice of the Peace, and held other local offices, among them collector of taxes, about the close of the war of independence. He advanced the entire amount on his duplicate to the county in gold, which was afterward paid in, in Continental money, by which he lost a large sum. He left two children, the late David Spinner, who died about 1867, at the age of 76, and one daughter, who married a Weaver, and had one child. David Spinner's widow [survived her husband many years.*] The latter left two children, Edwin D., who married, and has one child, also married, and a daughter Elvina, who married Doctor Dickenshied, and has one son. The homestead is still in the hands of the family. The widow of the late David Spinner is the only daughter of John Eckel, of Bedminster. (7) Ulrich Spinner arrived at Philadelphia December 11, 1739, in the Lydia, and was 23 years old at the time. With him came Ludwig, Johannes and Casper Frick, probably relatives of his wife. Rupp gives the name as Ulrich "Steiner," an error in copying or translation. The original list gives the name Ulrich "Spinder." David Spinner, youngest son of Ulrich, died 1811, was the uncle of F. E. Spinner, Treasurer of the United States, 1861-75, and his curious signature to the greenback is not forgotten.* [The Zollners or Zellners (8) were in the Province by the middle of the eighteenth century, Conrad, Christian and John Zollners, relatives, if not brothers, settling in Milford township. Conrad who came in the Phoenix, was naturalized August 28, 1750. He was a Lutheran and became a member of St. Peter's Church. In 1756 we find him a soldier in the Provincial service, called out to defend the frontier from the Indians. He married Margaretha Camerer, or Kemerer, and their son John, born September 12, 1747, and died in Lehigh county, January 20, 1824, was a soldier in the Revolution. He married Maria Elizabeth Woll, and was the father of four sons and four daughters, two sons and two daughters living to maturity. The sons were John and Peter Zollner. Christian Zollner, the supposed brother of Conrad, married Susanna Stahl and was living in Milford, 1761. One of his sons was a lieutenant in the Northampton regiment, probably in the Whiskey Insurrection, 1794, and his descendants are still living in the neighborhood of Dillingersville, Lehigh county. John Zollner, the third of the three brothers, born December 3, 1743, and died May 26, 1834, married Susannah, daughter of George and Magdalina Magle Getman, and were the parents of ten children, among them Aaron, a Mennonite minister of Michigan. Hannah, who married Benjamin F. Brown, Philadelphia, and Sophia, who married the late Charles Hamilton, Doylestown, April 2, 1845, and Peter a soldier of the war of 1812-15 with England. He married Elizabeth ---- and their seven children bear the name of Zollner, Hendly, Rittenhouse, Philadelphia, and others elsewhere. John Zollner was an elder in the Schlicterville Lutheran church. Charles Hamilton, who married Sophia Zollner, was born in the North of Ireland, November 1812, and came to America when a young man. He was a farmer in Doylestown township for many years, but moved into the borough in his later years. He had considerable local prominence and served several years in the borough council. He made a visit to Ireland a few years before his death, dying at Doylestown, February 11, 1884. George Getman, a leading man in the Fries Rebellion, 1798-99, married Magdalena Magle, Haycock township, and had three daughters, Susannah, who married John Zollner, Mary married George Trumbauer and Hannah married George Solliday. The latter was a farmer and Justice of the Peace of Montgomeryville, Montgomery county and among his children were the late Benjamin Solliday, Doylestown.*] (8) The name which is German means toll, or tax collector, was variously corrupted in the early records into Zeller, Sellner and Sealner. The Hubers immigrated from Switzerland between 1750 and 1760, and settled in Milford. The father's name we do not know, but the mother's was Ann, born in 1722, died in 1775, and was buried in the Trumbauersville church. They had a family of eight children, of which Henry was born in 1756, and John Jacob in 1758. The former made powder for the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety in 1776, at a mill he built on Swamp creek, on the road from Trumbauersville to Sumneytown, the remains of which are still to be seen. Part of the property is in the possession of Jesse Wonsidler. The children of the first settler married into the families of Hillig, Trumbauer, Weidner, Hartzel, James, and others. There are said to have been several powder-mills on Swamp creek, below Dannehower's mill, during the Revolution, and that one was in operation 80 years ago [many years later.*] We know but little of the opening of roads in Milford, but there were but few of them for several years, and the inhabitants appear to have been disinclined to increasing the number. In 1749, when there was a movement for a new road, the inhabitants complained that there were four highroads in the township already to be kept in repair, and they opposed the opening of the fifth, because to repair it would be such a charge upon them. The "Milford [Fries*] rebellion," as it was known in history, an insurrectionary movement against the house-tax of 1798, and other direct taxes, broke out in this township in the fall of that year. The head and front of it were John Fries, Frederick Heany and John Getman, all residents of Milford. Fries was born in Hatfield township, Montgomery county, about 1750, married Mary Brunner, of Whitemarsh, at 20, and five years afterward removed to Milford, where he built a house on land of Joseph Galloway, at Boggy creek. At the time of the outbreak he lived in a log house on a lot that belonged to William Edwards, on the Sumneytown road, two miles from Trumbauersville. He was a man of good mind, but had received only the rudiments of an education; he talked well, and possessed a rude eloquence that swayed the multitude. His character was good, and he was popular among his neighbors. He learned the cooper's trade, but followed the occupation of vendue-crier, traversing the country, attended by a little dog, named "Whiskey," to which he was much attached. Heany and Getman were Fries's two most active lieutenants. The former, born at Stover's mill, in Rockhill, and at one time kept the tavern at Hagersville, died in Northampton county. Getman is supposed to have been born in the same township, but this is not certain, and his brother George died near Sellersville in 1855, at the age of 92. The opposition of Fries and his friends to the tax prevented all assessments in that township, and they were given up. It also extended into Northampton county, where several of the insurgents were arrested and confined in the Sun tavern, at Bethlehem, in March 1799. Fries headed about 140 of the malcontents in Milford, including two companies in martial array, and marched to Bethlehem, where he took possession of the tavern, and by threats and intimidation obliged the officers to surrender the prisoners to him. The President sent an armed force to put down the "rebellion," and in April 1799 Fries was captured in a swamp near Bunker Hill, on the farm of John Keichline, betrayed by his little dog. (9) He was tried, convicted, sentenced to be hanged, but was pardoned by President Adams. Heany and Getman were likewise tried and convicted, but received much lighter sentences. After his pardon John Fries returned to his humble home in Milford, and pursued his former occupation, he and his little dog "Whiskey" traversing the upper end of the county attending vendues as before. He died about 1820. Fries was a patriot during the Revolutionary struggle, and was twice in the military service. On one occasion, while the British held Philadelphia, he headed a party of his neighbors, gave pursuit to the light-horse that were driving stolen cattle to the city, and rescued them about the Spring house tavern. (9) The armed force President Adams put into the field to quell the "Fries Rebellion" consisted of the disposable troops the government had to spare. They were commanded by Brigadier-General William McPherson, who was born at Philadelphia, 1756, and died there November 5, 1813. He was appointed an ensign in the 16th regiment foot, British Army, 1769, in which he served as ensign, lieutenant and adjutant until 1779, when the Congress appointed him brevet-major in the army of the United States, serving through the war and was aide-de-camp to Lafayette and General St. Clair. He was appointed surveyor of the Port of Philadelphia by Washington, March 8, 1792; subsequently filling a number of political and other appointments, including delegate to the Pennsylvania convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States. He was an original member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati, and vice-president to his death. He married Margaret Stout, daughter of Lieut. Joseph Stout, R. N., born, 1764, and died December 25, 1797. His elder brother, Capt. John McPherson, was aid-de-camp to General Montgomery, and killed at Quebec, December 31, 1775.* Among the authors of Bucks county birth, was John Simmons, son of Henry Simmons, born on his father's farm in Milford. He commenced life as a school teacher, and removed to Horsham where he taught. He first published the "Pennsylvania Primer" in 1794, but subsequently went to Philadelphia, where he published "A Treatise on Farriery," and died there in 1843. Within the past [75*] years efforts were made to annex Milford township to Lehigh county, the last attempt of the kind in January 1823 when petitions were presented to the legislature. The proposition, of course, was not favorably entertained. What the cause of complaint was we have not been able to learn. The villages of Milford township are Trumbauersville, Spinnersville, near the Lehigh county line, Steinsburg, and Milford Square. (10) The largest and most populous is Trumbauersville, formerly called Charlestown, a place of [over*] 60 families, built half a mile along both sides of the road from Philadelphia to Allentown. Half a century ago it contained about a dozen houses. The Eagle hotel, which claims to be the patriarch house of the village, has stood [125*] years, but from appearances, [the one formerly occupied by*] George Wonsidler is nearly as old. Several of the dwellings are at least 50 years old. For several years Trumbauersville has been the seat of extensive cigar manufacturing, turning out two millions of cigars a year; a single maker, Mr. Croman, employing 37 hands, and making [1,500,000*] annually. [There are 10 shops and 60 hands engaged in this work. In the village there are two stores and the customary mechanics. The oldest inhabitants, in 1874, were George Heist, 83, Frederick Heist and John Jacob Smith, of about the same age, and Joseph Reiter, 75, all of whom had lived there half a century.] There is but little room for diversity of political opinion, even if allowed, for the inhabitants all vote the same ticket. Trumbauersville has a handsome union church, built of stone, at a cost of $15,000. The datestone tells us that it was "founded 1769; rebuilt 1805; rebuilt 1868." The ceiling of the audience chamber is handsomely painted in frescoe; a fine pipe organ stands in the gallery, and a shapely spire points heavenward. The size of the building is 62x46, and it was originally called the Lower Milford church. (10) On the farm of Irvin Shantz, between Milford Square and Spinnerstown, stands a large chestnut tree, one of the very largest in the state. By the measurement of State Forestry Commissioner Rothrock it is 54 feet high, and 27 feet 6 inches in circumference, four feet above the ground, and 36 feet 4 inches at the base.* The congregation was probably organized several years before the first church was erected, for we find that Adam Rudolph and wife presented it with a Bible, June 24, 1762, and a communion service was presented by George Seibert, September 30, 1769. The Rev. Philip Henry Kapp [Rapp*] (11) took charge in 1769, and Christian Robrecht was Reformed pastor about this time, although we are told that the church was wholly Lutheran until 1805. The first child baptised was George Peter, son of George Michael and Anna Eve Koll, January 23, 1770. Running through six years we find the following among the name of the baptised: Lohaus Heist Miller Zangmeister (Singmaster) Schuetz (Scheetz) Sax Maurer Cugler Weber Schantz Leister Bartholomew Stachr [Stacher*] Frederick. Christian Espick was pastor in 1792, who was succeeded by Frederick W. Geisenhaimer in 1793, George Roeller in 1798, Frederick Waage in 1822, who, after a successful pastorate of 44 years, was succeeded by his son, Oswin R. Waage, the present pastor, in 1864. In 1809 there was great prosperity in the church, and 43 persons were confirmed. Abraham R. Smith led the singing in 1815, and filled the office for 17 years at $5 a year, but the Swamp church paid him $40 for the same service. There was a lottery for the benefit of the church in 1818. We know but little of the Reformed pastors. Mr. Senn was there in 1823, and served many years for a salary of $98 a year. Rev. F. A. Strassberger was also Reformed pastor, but we do not know his length of service. The oldest stone in the graveyard bears date 1769, and the next oldest, that of Anna Huber, born 1722, died November 1773. Among those who preached in the church at Trumbauersville was Rev. John Theobold Taber [Faber*], Jr., of Montgomery county, in 1773, but we do not know whether he was Lutheran or Reformed. He was an excellent man, and died suddenly, in 1788, from an apoplectic stroke while preaching in the New Goshenhoppen church. He was succeeded by his son, who died of the same disease, while preaching a funeral sermon in the same pulpit. (11) He was the ancestor of the Rapp family of Durham and Nockamixon.* There is nothing worthy of special note to be said of the other three villages of Milford township. They consist of a few dwellings each, Spinnersville having a tavern and a store, and Milford Square a printing office, where the organ of the Mennonite denomination is published. Schuetz's Lutheran church, known as Saint John's, is on the road from Spinnersville to Pennsburg, in the northwest part of the township. It has been the site of a church for over a century [and a quarter*], and the new building erected in 1874, and the third house, faces south and overlooks the valley of Molasses creek. The oldest stone in the graveyard bears date 1759, but the inscription is effaced. Head and foot stones of primitive rock, without inscription, show that persons were buried there at an early day. (1876 Edition) The Mennonites, the most numerous religious denomination in Milford, have three churches. The "war of the schools" has divided then, and two of the churches are known as the New School and one as the Old. The earliest church was built in 1735, but some years afterward the congregation divided by mutual consent, and a new church was erected. There have been four buildings on the site of the first church, the last erected in 1873, 60x45 feet, at a cost of $7,000, and will seat 450 persons, and three on the site of the second church, one having been destroyed by fire. The present building was erected in 1850. In 1847 there was another division in the society, the Old schoolites in the two congregations withdrawing and building a new church. Two of the churches are brick and one of stone. The first Mennonite minister in the township was Valentine Clemmer, and after him we find the names of Nold, Blien, three Musselmans, father, son, and grandson - the latter dying in 1847 at the age of 90 - Zetty, and father H. Oberholtzer, a bishop, still living in Philadelphia. The Rev. A. B. Shelly has been pastor of churches known as numbers one and two, or New School, for several years. He organized the first Mennonite Sunday school, in 1857, which now numbers 150 scholars. Two of these churches have large pipe organs, and the congregations are noted for the general prevalence of music, both vocal and instrumental, among the members. They have a denominational newspaper, the "Mennonitische Friedensbote," published semi-monthly at Milford Square, and edited by Mr. Shelly, who has lately published a new Mennonite hymn book. [1905 Edition. The Mennonites, so named from Menno Simons, a prominent reformer of Friesland, Germany, born, 1492, (11A) and died in Holland, 1559, were among the first settlers in Upper Bucks. They were mostly from the Palatinate, whither religious persecution had driven then from Switzerland and Alsace. They were poor but industrious and frugal, and soon provided homes for themselves and families. There are few indigent among then, and no one in food standing will accept public alms. They settled in the north-eastern corner of Milford about 1715. The first minister in the county of this denomination was Valentine Clemmer, as early as 1717, and attended the first Mennonite conference in America, held at Skippack or Franconia, 1724. He represented the church at the "Great Swamp."* (11A) Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania [MHEP] Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, Fall 2000, page 8, "Menno Simons was born in the Netherlands in 1496 and joined the Anabaptist movement in 1536." DB. [The earliest services were held in private houses, the first church building not being erected until 1735, built on the land of William Allen. In 1771 a second building was erected for the Swamp church, a mile east of the original one, on a piece of land conveyed by Ulrich Drissell, Abraham Taylor and John Lederach, to Valentine Clemmer, Peter Sager, Christian Beidler and Jacob Clemmer, "Trustees of the Religious Society or Congregation of Mennonites in the Great Swamp." In 1790 the original building was removed to a lot Michael Musselman and wife conveyed to Peter Zetty, Christian Hunsberger and Michael Shelly, "Trustees for a meeting house and burial place." This is half a mile west of the site of the first meeting house and the site of the present West Swamp church. Both the present churches are the third buildings on their respective sites, the one at East Swamp, a brick. Until 1850, that at the West Swamp a two story stone with basement and a seating capacity of 450, 60x40 and cost $7,000. In all there are eight Mennonite church in Bucks county, three of them in Milford township.* [In 1847 the Mennonites became divided, causing a rupture in a number of churches, the organization of new congregations and erection of church buildings. The two section were known as the Old and New schools. While the Mennonites are conservative they have held pace with the times in the various branches of church work, the New school Mennonite being the most progressive. The Mennonites of Bucks took the lead in the introduction of Sunday schools into the denomination, the first one organized being at the West Swamp church the spring of 1858, the Rev. A. B. Shelly, superintendent. He was subsequently called to the Swamp parish, composed of West Swamp, East Swamp and Falkland churches, which he had been serving nearly 35 years. Other Sunday schools followed and at this time nearly every Mennonite church in the county has Sunday schools, both the old school and the new. The majority are kept open the whole year, annual Sunday school conventions are held, and the Sunday schools of the Swamp church hold periodical Sunday school Institutes. In some churches church music receives due attention and all connected with the Eastern Mennonite Conference are supplied with reed or pipe organs. Some of the churches are not behind other denominations in young people's organizations. The Eastern Mennonite conference to which a number of the churches of this county belong has established a "Home for the Aged" at Frederick, Montgomery county. This conference being connected with the General Conference of North America, the churches belonging to it assist actively in its work. This includes missionary work among the Indians, local and general mission work, publication work, etc.*] [Editorial note: The Old Mennonite churches of eastern Pennsylvania, belonging to Franconia Conference, did not use instruments till the latter part of the twentieth century and some churches still prefer to sing a capella. The New Mennonite churches of eastern Pennsylvania belong to the Eastern District Conference and their governing body worldwide is called the General Conference. DB.] In the northwest corner of the township is a burial-ground known as "Sticker's graveyard," established by Henry Sticker about 50 [75*] years ago, where about 20 persons have been buried. Wheeled carriages were in use in this section of the county as early as 1739. In a petition to the court that year, on the subject of repairing a road "leading toward the county line near Joseph Nailer's," it is stated that many of the "back inhabitancy, with wagons, goes down to Shaver's mill on Tohickon creek." In 1758 [1757*] there were two public houses in the northwest corner of Milford, on the old road leading to Philadelphia, one being kept by a Pitting, or Bitting, probably the same who petitioned for naturalization in 1734, and the other by a man named Smith. [One of the earliest public houses in Milford was that kept by George Horlacker (12) and subsequently by Conrad Marks, on the "Magunshey" (Macungie) road, and licensed as early as 1750. Marks, who was a petitioner for a license at the August sessions, 1797, states there had been a tavern kept there for 50 years. His petition was allowed, his sponsors being David Spinner and George Horlacker, the latter doubtless the previous landlord. An hundred years ago it was known as "Conrad Mark's tavern, and a resort of the insurgents" during the "Fries Rebellion." When it went out of license is not known, as the quarter sessions office has no record of it.*] Christian [Christopher*] Clymer was appointed constable for Milford in 1737. (12) George Horlacker, or Horlocker, was a private in the Lower Milford company of Associators, Captain Henry Huber, 1775, and his name will be found in the appendix with proper reference.* Milford is a fine agricultural region, and the careful tillage of the German farmers for a century and a half [175 years*] has brought the land to a high state of cultivation. The majority of the real estate has passed from father to son since its first settlement. It is well-watered by Swamp creek, a branch of the Perkiomen and its numerous tributaries, which enters at the southwest corner and spreads in every direction. The stream affords a number of good mill sites, and mills were erected at an early day. The township is densely populated, and almost exclusively by Germans. In 1784 it contained a population of 861, with 156 dwellings. We have no enumeration from that period down to 1810 [1800*], when it was 1,334 1820, 1,195 1830, 1,970 inhabitants and 402 taxables 1840, 2,203 1850, 2,527 1860, 2,708 1870, 2,900, of which only 64 were foreign-born 1880, 2,975 1890, 2,725 1900, 2,532. Milford has four post-offices, Trumbauersville being the elder, established in 1822, with Joseph Weaver for postmaster. The others are, at Spinnerstown, established in 1825, Henry Haring postmaster, Steinsburgn, 1852, George Steinman, and Milford Square, in 1872, Charles Himmelwright postmaster. End of Chapter XXVII.