THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XXXV, BEDMINSTER, 1742 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 XXXV or CHAPTER V (Vol. II), 1905 ed. BEDMINSTER 1742 Bedminster included in Plumstead. -Location. -William Allen's tract. -John Hough. -Ralph Ashton et al. -Scotch-Irish settlers. -Founding of Deep Run church. -Early tombstones. -Francis McHenry. -Charles McHenry at Paoli. -The Greirs. -Humphrey and John Orr and descendants. -James L. Orr. -The Darrahs. -William D. Kelley. -William Armstrong and descendants. -Henry Stauffer.* -Jacob Wismer, Samuel Ayres, F. A. Comly. -Township organized. -The Fretzes.* -Names of petitioners. -German settlers. -Mennonite church founded. -The ministers and deacons. -The old church. -Peter Mickley.* -John Eckel. -Tohickon church. -Pastors and graveyard. -Kellers church. -The Keichlines. -George Piper. -The Sollidays.* -Roads. -The Scheetzes. -The Troughs.* -Mills. -Old schoolhouse. -Peaches. -Pigeons. -Villages. -Population. -Decease of aged persons. -Map of upper end. Bedminster, which was included in Plumstead from its first settlement down to the date of its organization as a township, lies wedged in between Plumstead, Hilltown, Rockhill, Haycock, and Nockamixon, having the tortuous Tohickon for its north and northeast boundary. All the surrounding townships, except Haycock, were organized prior to Bedminster, and afterward this township was formed of part of Plumstead. William Allen, of Philadelphia, was one of the largest landowners in this section of the county, and his possessions lay in several townships. When settlers began to enter Bedminster he and the Proprietaries owned all the land in it. His was called the "Deep Run tract," [and contained 6,653 acres, surveyed 1730*] and as late as 1800 2,200 acres, divided into convenient-sized farms, were put up at public sale at the tavern-house of John Shaw. The Proprietaries opened their lands for settlement about 1725-30, and soon settlers began to come in and purchase. In 1734 John Hough purchased 200 acres on Deep Run, and John Brittain 150 on the same stream. August 6, 1741, 1,001 acres were patented by Ralph Ashton for the use of Richard Hockley, and the survey was made by virtue of a warrant dated March 20, 1734. This tract lay "near Tohickon above Deep Run." Settlers came in quite rapidly, and in a few years there was considerable population along the Deep Run, which name the settlement bore until the township was organized. These first-comers were from the north of Ireland, and belonged to that sturdy race known as Scotch-Irish, which played such an important part in the settlement of both the county and state. Although the township is now German, this race settled there at a subsequent period, and their descendants have gradually pushed out the English-speaking people and become dominant. The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians had not been long seated on Deep Run before they organized a church, which took the name of that stream, and bears it to this day. A log meeting-house was built near the creek, in the southwest corner of the township, as early as 1732, and the first settled minister was there six years later. It was the original place of worship of all the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of that region of country, and although it has lost its importance since the organization of the Doylestown church, it nevertheless remains the cradle of Presbyterianism north of Neshaminy. There must have been a small frontier congregation there as early as 1726, for when Mr. Tennent was called to Neshaminy in that year, he preached for them. At this time there is hardly a Presbyterian family in the bounds of the old congregation, and service is only held there at long intervals. In the old graveyard lie the remains of former generations, the inscriptions on the tombstones carrying us back nearly a century and a half. We read on these mute memorials of the past, that Alexander Williams died January 22, 1747, Samuel Hart, Jr., 1750, Samuel Cochran in 1767, Thomas Thompson in 1765, James Grier [Greir*] in 1763, John Grier [Greir*] in 1768, and William Hart, who was killed at the capture of Moses Doane, at the age of 40, 1783. At a later day there were buried there, Robert Barnhill, Robert McNeeley, Thomas Darrah, Robert Robinson, and others, fathers of the township. The Rev. Francis McHenry settled in the township in 1738, four years before it was organized, when he was called as pastor at Deep Run. His son Charles, who was a lieutenant in the Revolution army, made a narrow escape at the massacre of Paoli, in 1777. Hearing the alarm of the British attack, he rose from his bed and went to the door of his tent, where he was confronted by a dragoon, who struck him over the head with his sabre. The blow glanced from his head and fell upon his collarbone. He immediately run the Englishman through the body with his sword, who rolled off his horse, which McHenry mounted. He had accidentally put on his military cloak with the scarlet lining outside, by which he was mistaken for a British soldier, and in the confusion he managed to escape, pretty badly wounded. Among other articles found in the dragoon's portmanteau was a pair of horseshoes with nails - one of the shoes being now in the possession of William McHenry, of Pike county. It weighs about two pounds, has heavy heel-corks, but none at the toe, and was made without any fullering around it, but with a square counter-sink for each nailhead. The horse was a very fine one, which the captor sold in Philadelphia, and he is said to have drawn a ton of pig-iron on the ground with a chain. [Nathan and Agnes Grier were early immigrants from Ireland, and members of Deep Run church. One account tells us they lived in Plumstead and another in Bedminster, but at all events they were in the bounds of the congregation. This family gave three members to the ministry, James and Nathan, their sons, and John Ferguson, the son of James. James became pastor of Deep Run and spent his life there. Nathan, born in 1760, graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1738, was licensed to preach in 1786, and installed at Forks of Brandywine in 1787. His wife was a grandaunt of General Percifer F. Smith, distinguished in the Mexican war. Nathan Grier died in 1814. John Ferguson Grier was born in 1784, and graduated at Dickinson college with the first honors, in 1803. He studied divinity with his uncle Nathan, and was installed pastor of Reading Presbyterian church in 1814, and died there in 1829. The late Judge Grier, of the Supreme Court of the United States, is said to have been a descendant of Nathan and Agnes Grier. (1) (2) (1) For a further account of Deep Run church, see chapter on Historical Churches. (2) The account of Nathan and Agnes Gier [Greir*] within the brackets does not appear in the 1905 edition. The distinguished Orr family, of South Carolina, claims descent from Bucks county ancestry. The Orrs were in this county early. The first of the name was Humphrey Orr who took up 200 acres on the Tohickon, then in Plumstead, now in Bedminster, at the point where the Durham road crosses that stream, and was known as "John Orr's ford" before a bridge was built. (3) What time Humphrey settled there is not known, but he was probably there as early as about 1730, perhaps earlier, and died about 1736, leaving a widow Elizabeth. On June 13, 1737, John Orr, of county Donegal, Ireland, the only son of Humphrey, appointed his friend Andrew Henderson, merchant, his attorney to collect and receive all estate left him by his father, the said Humphrey, lately deceased "of Bucks county, Pennsylvania." Soon after, John Orr immigrated to America and settled on the farm he inherited from his father in Bedminster, where he lived to his death, 1762. His will is dated December 4, 1761, and probated June 16, the following year. In it he mentions his wife, Jane, son Thomas, daughter Isabella Patterson, and grandchild Rebecca but no others. There was a John Orr in Bedminster, in 1846, and a Samuel Orr in Hilltown, in 1860, but we know of none of the name in the county at the present time. In the land office, Harrisburg, there is a record of a warrant to John Orr for 200 acres in Makefield township, now Upper Makefield, dated March 19, 1733. We also learn from the same source that in Streaper's [Streeper's*] tract of 4, 841 acres, situated between the Delaware and Tohickon creek, as divided in May 1738, lot No. 4, containing 180 acres, on that creek, is marked to John Orr. On the separate draft of this parcel it is stated it "was surveyed to John McCoy, who sold his improvement to John Orr who is now seated on the same." It was confirmed to Orr by patent dated December 12, 1745. (3) Probably the first tavern licensed in Bedminster, was that of Thomas Orr, where the Durham road crossed the Tohickon. He was the son of John Orr, the immigrant. The South Carolina Orrs trace descent from Robert, probably a son of John, who went to North Carolina prior to the Revolution, where he lived during the war, and had five sons in it, John distinguishing himself as a captain of cavalry. Robert Orr had nine sons and one daughter, and after the war several of them removed to South Carolina. Among them were Benjamin and Samuel, Baptist ministers, who would not remain in that state on account of their hostility to negro slavery, but removed with their families to the territory, northwest of the Ohio. Their brother Christopher settled in the Indian territory of north Georgia, where he became rich in this world's goods, and in a family of nine children, and died at a good old age. John Orr's first wife was a Miss Green of Pennsylvania, by whom he had four sons, double twins, and two daughters, and his second Jane B. Chickscales of South Carolina, by whom he had five children, the late James L. Orr, of South Carolina, being the second son, born May 12, 1822, in Anderson district, and who became the most distinguished member of the family. After receiving a good preliminary education at the schools of the neighborhood, he entered the University of Virginia at the age of 18, whence he graduated, and was admitted to the bar at 21. He married Miss Mary J. Marshall the following November. His political life commenced almost immediately. He was elected to the Legislature in 1844 and 1846, and in 1848 he defeated Honorable B. F. Perry, the leading man and statesman of upper Carolina for Congress. Perry denominated young Orr "that stripling," and laughed at his "presumption" in being a candidate, but at the close of the campaign the laugh had changed sides. He continued in Congress from 1848 to 1859, and was elected speaker of the Thirty-fifth Congress. When secession began to make headway in South Carolina he opposed it with all his might until he found the current too strong to stem, when he went with it. He commanded a regiment of rifles for a few months, when he was unanimously elected to the Confederate senate without his knowledge, in which body he served to the end. He is noted as advocating President Lincoln's proposition for the South to lay down her arms and come back into the Union. He was pardoned soon after the war, and in 1865 was elected governor of South Carolina over Wade Hampton, and while in office took active steps to suppress lawlessness in the state. The reconstruction laws deprived him of office in 1867, but in 1868 he was elected by the legislature judge of the Eighth district against his will, but which he accepted and held to December 1872. His administration of the law gave universal satisfaction, and when he left the bench all old debts had been wiped out, and the district was in peace and the laws respected. In 1872 he was tendered the position of United States minister to one of the South American republics, which he declined, and in December of the same year he was appointed minister to Russia. When he embarked at New York, where he contracted a heavy cold, in January 1873, the thermometer was 20 degrees below zero, a change of 60 degrees since he left his home in Carolina. At Pairs his physicians recommended quiet, but he hurried forward, and at Berlin he was two days in bed. By the time he reached Petersburg, with the thermometer at 23 degrees below zero, he was hardly in a condition to attend to business. There he rapidly grew worse, and died at his post May 5, 1873, a few days before reaching his 51st year. James L. Orr left a family of five children, three sons and two daughters. The oldest, James L. Orr, Jr., born in 1852, and educated at the University of Virginia, was secretary of legation while his father was minister to Russia. He was admitted to the bar in 1873, and has since been a member of the South Carolina legislature. Of the remaining children of Christopher Orr, Harvey J. is a physician of Mississippi, John A., who commanded a Confederate regiment during the late war, and was a member of the Confederate Congress, is now a circuit-judge of Mississippi. The sister Elvina married General Joel S. Miller, of Spartinsburg, South Carolina. The Darrahs of this county, and other parts of the state and Union, are descended from a Scotch-Irish ancestor who settled at Deep Run. Thomas Darrah came from the north of Ireland about 1725, and settled in Horsham, now in Montgomery county. After living there a few years he sold his property and removed to Bedminster, where he patented about 800 acres of land. Who, and when, he married we know knot, but at his death in 1750, he left his estate to his two eldest sons, the other sons having been taught mechanical trades. he left five sons and three daughters, viz.: Robert, Thomas, Henry, William, James, Susannah, and two other, names not known. The oldest son, Robert, married a Jacoby, whose descendants live in the lower part of the county; the second son, Thomas, had two sons, Thomas and Mark, and several daughters, and their descendants are numerous. Thomas married twice, his second wife being a daughter of Colonel Piper, of Bedminster, and had seven children. The wife of Charles Wigton, of Doylestown, is a daughter of Thomas Darrah the third. The daughters of Thomas Darrah the second married into the families of Phair, Denny, Ferguson, Walker, and Bryan. Henry, the third son of Thomas Darrah, married Ann Jamison, and removed to New Britain, now in the upper end of Warrington where Henry Weisel lives. He was a captain of militia during the Revolution, and served tours of duty under General Lacey and others; was probably in the Amboy expedition, in 1776, and died in 1772, from cold contracted in service, and was buried at Deep Run. The family have a tradition that General Washington several times stopped overnight with Henry Darrah, and that on such occasions the children were sent to a neighbor's, that he might not be disturbed by their noise His children were James, William, John George, Ann and Margaret. James married Rachel Henderson, of Warminster, into which township he moved, and where he died. The late Robert Darrah, of Warminster, ensign in the war of 1812, was the eldest son, and the Rev. James A. Darrah, of Missouri, his grandson. The Rev. D. K. Turner, of Hartsville, married two granddaughters of James, and daughters of Robert Darrah. The descendants of Henry Darrah are numerous and much scattered, in this state, and south and west. Among then is Henry D. Livezey, of Doylestown. William, the fourth son of Thomas Darrah, the elder, had seven children, Archibald, and William, and five daughters. Of the daughters one was the mother of Honorable William D. Kelley, another of the late Samuel A. Smith, and a third of the late Commodore Shaw. James, the fifth son, an ensign in the French and Indian war, lived and died in the Shenandoah valley. William Darrah, the elder, served in Benjamin Franklin's regiment on the Lehigh frontiers in 1756-57. William Armstrong, an early settler in Bedminster, was of Scotch-Irish descent, whose line can be traced back to John Armstrong, chief of the border clan of that name, who was treacherously murdered by James V., of Scotland. His father was an officer at the siege of Derry, and William, with his wife, Mary, and three sons, immigrated from county Fermanagh, Ireland, to America, in 1736. Himself and wife were members of the Presbyterian church, and brought with them a certificate signed by 20 of their neighbors and friends testifying to their good character. He probably settled in Bedminster soon after his arrival, for we find that he built a mansion there in 1740, known for many years as the "Armstrong house," and he was one of the petitioners for the township in 1741. December 30, 1747, he received from Thomas and Richard Penn a patent for 300 acres of land on the south bank of the Tohickon, and in 1745 he bought 104 acres more, probably having possession several years before receiving the patents. William Armstrong is represented as a man of education and intelligence, of great physical strength, and an excellent swordsman. He died about 1785. He had five sons, Andrew, John, Thomas, James and Samuel. Of these, Andrew and James married Van de Woestynes, of Hilltown, John, the sister, and Thomas, the daughter, of Rev. Francis McHenry, then pastor at Deep Run, and Samuel a daughter of Robert Gibson. Thomas and Samuel served in the Revolutionary army, the former a lieutenant. Jesse Armstrong, of Doylestown, is a descendant of William Armstrong. Jacob Wismer, who died at Deep Run, February 4, 1787,(4) in his 103rd year, was an early settler in the county, but we cannot tell at what time he came into Bedminster. He was born in Germany, and before 1720, immigrated to North Carolina, where he lived 10 years, and then removed to this county, where he married his third wife, with whom he lived 67 years. This would bring him into this county as early as 1720. Jacob "Weismore," signed to the petition for the township, 1741, was, no doubt, meant for Jacob Wismer. He had 170 children and grandchildren, and his widow was 84 at his death. He retained his senses until within about two months, and could walk out and dress and undress himself until within about two weeks of his death. In 1744 Adam Resher bought 56 acres on the Tohickon, and in 1749 Adam Peyzer purchased land along the same stream. (4) Columbian Magazine. Samuel Ayres, an immigrant from county Antrim, Ireland, settled at Deep Run about 1746, and died the following year. His son William removed to the vicinity of Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery county, where his descendants are now living, having intermarried, among others, with the families of Yerkes, McNiell, and Comly. The mother of F. A. Comly, president of the North Pennsylvania railroad, was Eliza Ayres, great-granddaughter of Samuel, of Deep Run, and granddaughter of William Ayres, who settled at Huntingdon Valley. Robert McNeely was an early settler in Bedminster, but we do not know at what time. He was a leading man in the Presbyterian church, and died in 1796. His wife's name was Rebecca, and his children, John, Robert, Andrew, William, Joseph, and Margaret. Dilman Kolp, probably Kolb, was living in the township before 1746, and his land abutted on the Mennonite farm. The first movement toward the organization of a township was made in March 1741 when "35 inhabitants of Deep Run" petitioned the quarter sessions to form the territory into a township, with the following boundaries: "Beginning upon Plumstead corner, coming along that line to Hilltown corner, and from that line to Rockhill corner, and down Tohickon till it closes at Plumstead corner, where it begins." The names attached to this petition give us some insight into the quality of men who people the woods north of Plumstead, namely: (1876 edition names) James Hughes John Ree George McFerrin Adam Thompson Mr. Miller Thomas Darroch Mark Overhold Martin Overhold Nicholas Ogeny Jacob Leatherman Jacob Weismore John Fretts William Graham Joseph Townsend Henry Groud Michael Lott David Kulp Daniel Norcauk John Bois Joseph Armstrong John Riffle Ralph Trough Fetter Ryner Matthew Ree Andrew Sloan Tillman Kulp Christian Stover George Lynard John Clymer Nicholas Kean Frederick Croft. 1905* edition adds these names: Robert Smith Abraham Black William Armstrong John Graham We have given the spelling of these names as we find them on the records, although some of them are evidently erroneous. The prayer of the petitioners was granted at the March term, 1742, and the court appointed as jurors John Kelley, William James, Griffith Davis, and Lewis Evins, with John Chapman as surveyor. The township was surveyed and laid out sometime during the year, and the boundaries returned were about the same as at present. On the report of the jury is endorsed the following: "Confirmed with the name of Bedminster." (5) In the report the Tohickon is spelled "Tohickney," and they give "Socunk" as the name of a place, whose locality is now entirely unknown. The area of Bedminster is 16,058 acres. (6) (5) Probably named after the parish of Bedminster, county of Somerset, England. (6) In the petition for the organization of Tinicum in 1738, Bedminster is mentioned as a "township," and probably was one for all practical purposes, but it was not constituted one by law until 1742. [The Fretzes are descended from John and Christian Fretz, immigrants from Mannheim in the Duchy of Baden, Germany, 1720. The family had been settled there for centuries, and probably of Roman origin. The immigrants and their immediate descendants, were Mennonites, and the elder branches were buried at Deep Run. *] [Christian Fretz, the elder of the two immigrants, settled at what is known as Heany's Mill, Tinicum, where the stone house is still standing his son Christian built over 125 years ago. He died there, 1784, and in his will, names his six children, Daniel, Abraham, Christian, Mark, Barbara and Esther, and his son-in-law, Jacob Yoder. There is no mention of his wife. Daniel, the eldest son, born about 1738, married Mary ____, had six children, and with his family, removed to Westmoreland county, 1800, except Daniel and Eve who remained in Bucks county. Abraham Fretz, second son of Christian the elder, born about 1745, married Dorothy Kulp and had seven children. In July 1775 he purchased 224 acres in Bedminster and passed his life there. This tract is now divided into four farms, and Anthony R. and Quincy A. Fretz own, or lately owned, the homestead portion. Christian Fretz, who married Judith Kulp, lived and died on the homestead, a miller and a farmer, and was the father of four children. Mark Fretz married Gertrude Kulp and had six children, the youngest by a second wife, and lived and died on a 200 acre farm in Tinicum near the Durham road. The oldest son was known as "Lame Anthony." The farm was later owned by Jacob Steely, Levi Yost and "Reuben Heaney."*] [John Fretz, one of the immigrants, and brother of Christian, probably first settled in Upper Salford, Montgomery county, where he married Barbara Meyer, whose father was a recent arrival and 1737-38 purchased 230 acres in Bedminster, where his great-great-great-grandson, Mahlon M. Fretz, now resides. This is considered the homestead farm. By his first wife he had five children, and three by his second. John, Jacob, Christian, Abraham and Elizabeth and Mark, Henry and Barbara. John Fretz, Jr., born 1730, married Mary Kulp, and had ten children. He lived for a time in Tinicum and was a weaver by trade. In 1772 he was a miller in Haycock, and 1800, when 70 years old, removed with his family, except his daughter, Barbara, to Lincoln county, Canada, where a number of Bucks county Mennonites had already settled, and died there, 1826, at the age of 96. His descendants are numerous in Canada, and the western States. Jacob Fretz, second son of John, the twin immigrant of Christian, born 1732, married Magdalena Nash, daughter of William Nash, (7) lived first near Erwinna, Tinicum, later removed to Bedminster on the farm where his son, known as "Big Joe" lived, now owned by Aaron Yerger. He and his wife died there and were buried at Deep Run. They were the parents of ten children. Christian Fretz, born 1734, married Barbara Nash, sister of Magdalena Nash, and died, 1803. She was born 1737 and died 1823. They were the parents of twelve children, and had 109 grandchildren, and 103 great-grandchildren, their descendants living and dead, being estimated at 3,000. He lived and died on the Fretz homestead, Fretz Valley, Bedminster township. Abraham Fretz, fourth son of John, born 1736, married, was the father of four daughters and one son, the daughters all marrying husbands of the name of Landis.*] (7) William Nash had three wives: by his first wife he had nine children: Elsie, wife of William Tyson; Ann, married Joseph Tyson; Kathrine, married Benjamin Hendricks. By second wife: William; Magdalena, married Jacob Fretz. By his third wife, Agnes, married Oberholtzer; Elizabeth, born August 3, 1751; Joseph, born January 18, 1753; Benjamin, born April 16, 1755, died 1758; Abraham, born November 2, 1757. William Nash made three special bequests in his will to his wife's daughters, Barbara and Mary Oberholtzer, and Martin Oberholtzer, Sr. William Nash signed his name with a cross and was probably an immigrant. His will is on record in Philadelphia.* (See illustration of Fretz Homestead, Bedminster)# [Elizabeth Fretz, daughter of John, born July 19, 1739, married Jacob Kolb, 1760, at first lived in Tinicum, then moved into Hilltown and died there. They had ten children: Mark Fretz, born December 1750, married Elizabeth Rosenberger, 1773, died 1840, his wife born 1752, died 1847, they lived at Curley's mill, New Britain, had four children. Henry, the youngest son of John, born November 10, 1755, married Barbara Oberholtzer, died 1831, his wife, born October 10, 1754, died 1834. He lived in Bedminster on what is known as the "Wister farm" and had 10 children. (8) This numerous family, which has added so much to the population of the county, were farmers in the earliest generations, and several acquired wealth, but, at the present day, are found in every walk of life, many in the learned professions.*] (8) We close the Fretz family with a footnote, because of the uncertainty that hangs over the genealogy of one branch; a footnote is a more appropriate place than the text. The question turns upon the marriage of Christian Fretz, whether his wife was Barbara Oberholtzer or Nash. We have the same authority for both, but are not able to reconcile the difference. Barbara Oberholtzer, who was born in 1709, died April 5, 1744; married Agnes ____, November 2, 1736, and she was born April 18, 1713, died February 15, 1786; they had issue, Barbara Fretz, born November 20, 1737, Henry, born February 5, 1739, Maria, born December 19, 1740, John born, November 8, 1742, died December 2, 1742, and Martin, born December 20, 1743. Agnes, widow of Martin Oberholtzer, married a second time, William Nash, who was born November 24, 1696, died 1760, and had issue, Elizabeth Nash, born August 3, 1751, Joseph Nash, born January 18, 1753, Benjamin Nash, born April 16, 1755, died 1758, Abraham Nash, born November 2, 1757.* Editorial note: Barbara Oberholtzer is the recognized wife of Christian Fretz according to the "FRETZ FAMILY HISTORY, a Collection of Books and Updated Genealogical Material on the Fretz Family," Compiled by Fretz Family Association, 1975, Vol. II, p. 16. [Henry Stauffer (9) born in Germany, and married Barbara Hockman, landed at Philadelphia, September 9, 1749, and settled in Bedminster on 23 acres, purchased of William Allen, June 12, 1762. Here he lived and died, on the farm now, or recently owned by Joseph Sine. They had five children, Ulrich, Barbara, who died young, Henry, Jacob and Ralph. Ulrich Stover (Stauffer) born July 16, 1750, eldest son of the immigrant, married Barbara Swartz and had seven children, Elizabeth, who died young, Mary married William Fretz, Henry, Abraham, Jacob, Andrew and Joseph. He died on the Tohickon, Haycock township, November 2, 1811, where his grandson, John Stover, now or recently, lived. Henry Stover, second son of the immigrant, born July 9, 1754, married Elizabeth Fretz, Tinicum, had children, Abraham, Catharine, Barbara, and Elizabeth, and died in Springfield near Bursonville; Jacob, the third son, born May 13, 1757, and died April 28, 1844, married Elizabeth Swartz, and by her had one child, and nine children by a second wife. He drove his father's team, a mere lad, when pressed into the service during the Revolution, first with Sullivan's cavalry, and then with the main army, under Washington, sometimes carrying his personal effects. He purchased the mill property on the Tohickon now known as "Myer's Roller Mill," December 27, 1784, and died there. The most prominent members of the Stover family were Ralph, youngest son of Henry, the immigrant, and his eldest son, Abraham F. Stover. The former, born January 10, 1760, married Catharine, daughter of Abraham Funk, owned a farm on the Tohickon where the Easton road crosses that stream, and died there November 7, 1811. He was many years a Justice of the Peace, when a much more important office than now, and member of the Assembly, 1793-99, inclusive. While a member of Assembly, he had an act passed changing the name "Stauffer" to "Stover." His son Abraham F. Stover, born May 10, 1786, married Rachel Fretz, of Warwick, and died 1854. He followed in his father's footsteps; was several years a Justice of Peace and Surveyor, and three years a member of Assembly, 1817-20; removed to Farquier by Rev. A. J. Fretz County, Virginia, 1833, purchased a 300 acre farm and died there. The late Ralph Stover, Point Pleasant, was one of his children. A Christian Stauffer settled in Bedminster about the same period, and owned a farm on 181 acres there, but we do not know that he was a member of the same family.*] (9) The Stauffer/Stover family, according to tradition, had its origin in a generation of knights called Stauffacher, at Hohenstauen, in Suabia. The dynasty existed more than 130 years to 1268, when Conrad, son and heir of Conrad IVth, was taken in battle and beheaded. The family now separated, and their elegant seat has never been reclaimed, one branch finding a home in America.* Although the original settlers of Bedminster were English-speaking, the Germans were not far behind them. The first of this race were Mennonites, who settled on and near Deep Run, on the banks of which stream they erected a log church in 1746. On the 24th of March, William Allen gave the congregation the church-lot and a farm of 50 acres, the deed being executed in trust to Abraham Swartz, Hans Friedt, Samuel Kolb, and Marcus Oberholtzer, bishops and deacons. He gave them at the same time a silver-cup, still used for sacramental purposes. In 1766 the log house was replaced by a stone one, about 50 yards from the former, on a knoll on the north bank of the creek. The old house was used for a school-house for many years, and was not taken down until 1842. The stone building, enlarged and repaired in 1794, was torn down in 1872, and a modern structure erected on or near its site. The first minister to officiate was Abraham Swartz, who became blind the latter part of his ministry. After that it was his custom to get one of the congregation to read a portion of Scripture, from which he selected his text and preached a sermon. After Mr. Swartz, the ministers and deacons, in their order, were Jacob Gross, Abraham Wismer, Abraham Oberholtzer, Daniel Landes, Christian Gross, Abraham Kulp, Abraham Moyer, Isaac Meyers, Samuel Godshalk, and John Gross, ministers, and Henry Moyer, Joseph Nash, Abraham Fretz, Abraham Wismer, Samuel Shelly, Jacob Oberholtzer, and Abraham Moyer, deacons all deceased. The present ministers are Isaac Meyers, Samuel Godshalk, and John Gross; and Jacob Oberholtzer, and Abraham Meyers, deacons. (See illustration of Old Mennonite Church, Bedminster) The congregation was divided by a schism in 1849, when a portion of the members went off. The seceders built a new meeting-house a few hundred yards from the old one, where a small body continues to worship. The old congregation is one of the largest and most flourishing in the county. By a clause in the deed, the real estate reverts to the heirs of William Allen, if regular service in the church be omitted for the period of five years, but the title would re-invest in the society, if a minister should be again ordained. Continued service has been held there since the first house was built in 1746. Abraham Godshalk, who is said to have been a deacon of the church at one time, was the author of a work, entitled, "A Description of the New Creature from its birth until grown into a perfect man," printed at Doylestown by William M. Large, in 1838. He was a man of strong mind, and extensive reading, but without early education. He wrote considerably in prose and verse. Jacob Gross was an immigrant from Germany. The author visited the old stone meeting-house in the spring of 1872, a few days before it was pulled down, to make way for the new one, at the time the accompanying sketch was made. Inside and out it had all the quaintness of its day and generation, low eaves, steep roof, heavy cornices, and the doors in the portion formerly used as a dwelling in two parts, an upper and a lower. The men, as well as the women sat on benches without backs, those for the women ranged across the room, those for the men along either side, each successive bench being placed at a little higher elevation as they proceeded towards the wall, with rows of pegs suspended from the ceiling and also in the wall to hang their hats upon. On the north end was a vestibule provided with pegs and shelves for the cloaks and bonnets of the women. Across the central portion of the south end was a raised platform with a long desk, used as a pulpit, on which laid a German Bible, printed at Germantown, Pennsylvania, by Christopher Saur in 1743, with heavy back and brass clasps, and beside it were two hymn-books, also in German, which bore the imprint of 1803. The two old-fashioned stoves were no doubt case to be put into the first stone meeting-house built there, for one of them bore the inscription, "Matthias G. Melin, May 28, 1766," and the other, "Abraham Meier, 1766." [Among the German settlers in Bedminster near the close of the last century, was John Peter Mickley, son of John Jacob, who landed at Philadelphia, 1733, and settled in White Hall township, then in Bucks county, now in Lehigh county, and a descendant of a Huguenot ancestor driven from France at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. John Peter Mickley came to Bedminster, 1784, and had a family of ten children, eight daughters and two sons. The daughters were long-lived, one dying at 92, another at 90, two at 81, one at 89, and one other at 79. There are but few, if any, Mickleys living in the county, the last male member of the Bedminster family being Josiah Mickley, sometime deceased. He left one daughter who married Dr. William Nicholas, a veterinary surgeon of Bedminster. She is also deceased, leaving one child. The history of the Mickley family is authority for our saying that John Jacob Mickley drove the team that conveyed the old Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Bethlehem prior to the British troops occupying that city, 1777.*] The Eckels were probably among the earliest of the German settlers in Bedminster. The grandfather of the late John Eckel, dead many years, came from the borders of France and Germany, and settled near Deep Run meeting-house. Shortly afterward he returned to Europe on business, and on his way home was taken sick, and died at Philadelphia, and his body was buried in Tohickon graveyard. He left three children, two sons, and one daughter who married Frederick Jordan, and was the ancestor of John W. Jordan, LL.D., librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. John married and settled near Frenchtown, New Jersey, Henry married a Moser [Moses*] of Oley, Berks county, and remained at the homestead in Bedminster. He had three sons and five daughters, who married and raised families. Several of the sons were tanners by trade. Several generations of Eckels resided on the homestead, son succeeding father, but it has now passed into the hands of strangers. The only surviving child of John Eckel, a son of Henry, is the widow of the late David Spinner, of Milford. John Eckel, merchant, of Philadelphia, is a descendant of the family. The oldest Reformed church in Bucks county is in Bedminster on the old Bethlehem road, near its crossing of Tohickon creek, and called the "Tohickon Church." It was organized, 1743, and subsequently became a union church, Reformed and Lutheran, and has remained so. The present Reformed pastor is Rev. James Kehm. (10) (10) The account of this church as it appears in the 1876 edition, about a page and a half, can be found in the online Chapter XIX, "Historic Churches," which also includes updated material from the 1905 edition. Keller's church, Lutheran and Reformed, is situated on the Ridge road, leading from Bucksville to Sellersville, near Haycock mountain, and was organized early, the land it was built on was conveyed to Henry Acker, Henry Keller and Christian Stoneback for that purpose and an additional tract was subsequently purchased of John Ott. Henry Keller was one of the active leaders in the development of this church. In 1840, the Lutherans and Reformed became a union congregation, and joint owner of the real estate by deed dated January 1, 1858. The first union church was erected, 1841, at a cost $1,900, and a new building put up, 1894, at an expense of $12,000. It is modern in all its appointments with a seating capacity of 500; seats arranged in amphitheater form and a Sunday school annex. A movement to open a cemetery was made in 1874, incorporated the same year, and the first burial was 1876. It is not known when the first interment was made in the graveyard of Keller's church, but some of the grave stones are as old as 1782. The first organ was brought from Germany, the gift of the Rev. Mr. Hecht, the pastor, but the present one was built at Quakertown in recent years. The church records, of the period of which we write, speak of the congregation as the "Vacant Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of the Tohickon, township of Bedminster, county of Bucks." The first Lutheran pastor was the Rev. Lucas Raus, of Germany, who was sent to take charge of the congregation, by the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, D. D., in 1751, and preached his introductory sermon the 7th of July. From the close of the Rev. Mr. Raus's pastorate, about 1757, to 1865-70, there were fourteen successors to him as follows: William Kurtz Conrad Daniel Walther Otto Hasse Johann Michael Enderlain Frederick Neimyer Anthony Hecht August Henrich Schmidt Tenno Johann Nicholas Mensch Henry S. Miller C. F. Weldon W. B. Kemmerer Edward M. H. Sell Leonard Groh Reuben B. Kistler George M. Lazarus J. F. Ohl G. C. Gardner Warren Nickel. As we have already said, the Reformed Congregation was organized, 1742, with the Rev. Mr. Hess, the first pastor, who was followed by the Revs. Zeigler, Gross, Rothrock and C. B. Weaver, a recent incumbent. In this period the number of members has increased from 40 to nearly 300. The two denominations worship in the same building in love and peace, beautifully emphasizing religious tolerance. In the last decade, the Lutheran congregation celebrated its 150th anniversary in the presence of a large concourse of people, and the exercises were in both German and English. Bedminster township was the centre of religious activity early in the 18th century, and her churches are of great historic interest. At Deep Run, the earliest Presbyterian church, north of the Neshaminy, was established; on Tohickon creek is the oldest Reformed church in the county and the Mennonite congregation in Bedminster is the oldest of this denomination in the Bucks. (See illustration of Deep Run Presbyterian Church)## The Keichlines, of Bedminster, not so numerous as they were half a century ago, are descended from John Peter Keichline, who immigrated from Heidelberg, Germany, and settled in this township as early as about 1742. He had three sons, Peter, Andrew, and Charles, all of whom entered the Revolutionary army. Peter, who lived at Easton, as early as 1749, raised a company of riflemen in Northampton and Bucks, for Colonel Miles's regiment, and was in command of it at the battle of Long Island, 1776, where he was taken prisoner. Lord Sterling wrote to Washington that the English General Grant was killed by some of Keichline's riflemen. Andrew was promoted to a majority on the field of Monmouth. Charles, who entered the army later than his brothers, took the oath of allegiance in June 1777. Jacob Keichline, son of Andrew, born in Bedminster, September 8, 1776, and died February 26, 1861, well-known in the upper section of the county, was the landlord of Keichline's tavern in Bedminster 36 years. Andrew and Charles Keichline, were both born in Bedminster, the former being the grandfather of William H. Keichline, Philadelphia. Peter Keichline built the first flour-mill on the Bushkill. Andrew owned and kept a tavern, now a dwelling house, opposite Tohickon church. George Piper, the founder of Pipersville, and the ancestor of those bearing the name in that section of the county, was born on the Wissahickon, Philadelphia county, November 11, 1755. He removed to Bedminster about the time he arrived at manhood, and married a daughter of Arnold Lear, of Tinicum. About 1775 he opened a store at Pipersville, and in 1778 he moved into the tavern at that place, which he kept until his death in 1823. He was an officer in the Continental army, and a colonel in the state militia; and assisted General Paul Mallet Provost to purchase the tract of land on the east bank of the Delaware, on which he afterward laid out Frenchtown, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. Colonel Piper listened to the reading of the Declaration of Independence in front of the state house, Philadelphia, July 4, 1776. The tavern at Pipersville was built by one Bladen in 1759. The sign of the old inn, simply "Piper's tavern," was painted on a board and fastened to the front of the upper porch. It was called Bucks County hotel while Jacob Keichline was landlord, and was only called Pipersville when the postoffice was established, in 1845, and Jacob Nicholson [David Glick*] appointed postmaster. (See illustration of Pipersville Inn)## [The Sollidays, of Bucks county and other parts of Pennsylvania, were French Huguenots, driven from France during the religious persecution of the 17th century. They first fled to Germany, where they became Germanized, subsequently coming to America. While the name "Solliday," the present spelling in Pennsylvania, does not appear in Rupp's list of 30,000 immigrants, who arrived between 1727 and 1776, persons who settled here were the ancestors of the family in America. The name is variously spelled. (11) The family first appeared in Bucks county, so far as we are informed in 1762, when Frederick Solliday settled in Bedminster, and purchased 142 acres and 127 perches of William Allen, May 6. He may have been there prior to this date, from the recital in the deed, which says the land was there "in his actual possession and seizin." His occupation is given as "shoemaker." The name at that time was spelled several ways. Of Frederick Solliday but little is known. He had sons, Frederick, Jacob, who purchased the homestead of the father, 1794; Daniel, Henry, Emanuel and Benjamin. Frederick Solliday, the immigrant, died, 1804, and his sons, Jacob, Emanuel and Henry administered to his estate, August 8. In the letters of administration the name is spelled "Sallade." The son Frederick died 1782 and Michael Weisel, Jr., administered to his estate, October 21. His widow died, 1794, and Michael Weisel also administered to her estate. Her name was Elizabeth and on her petition March 10, 1783, the court appointed Weisel guardian for her minor children, and on her subsequent petition, September 13, 1783, the same person was appointed guardian of her youngest child, "born since the decease of the father, aged three months." On November 6, 1797, the child Frederick petitioned the court to appoint his uncle Emanuel Solliday, his guardian, "having arrived at the age of 14 years." The first recorded will of the Sollidays, we meet with, is that of Joseph Salladay of Plumsteadville, executed January 29, 1825, and probated April 21, leaving a widow Anne and children, Samuel, Lewis and John N. Salliday. The will is signed Joseph "Salladay," but at the head, is written Joseph "Sollade." Sarah Solliday, died at Doylestown, 1867, and her will probated August 2. Daniel Solladay died Springfield, 1873, and his will probated June 27, and Benjamin Solliday died at Doylestown, 1885. John N. Solliday, the most prominent member of the family in this county, was county auditor two terms, 1862-63, and 1875-77. The family was patriotic and served the country in the Revolution. Melchior Sallada, an armorer by trade, enlisted in Captain Lewis Farmer's company, Colonel Miles' regiment, April 6, 1776, but was discharged by order of Congress to re-enter the service as armorer. Frederick, Emanuel and John Soliday were members of the Bedminster company of Associators, Capt. Robinson, Third Associated Battalion. Daniel Sallada, a private in the Third Pennsylvania Continental regiment, was living in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, 1835, at the age of 96. The first colonel was Joseph Wood, succeeded by Colonel Thomas Craig, and was at Brandywine and Monmouth. The Salades were in the Minnisink, on the Upper Delaware, as early as 1752. The late Samuel Solliday, New Hope, was several years in business at Doylestown. Thomas C. Atherholt, Philadelphia, is a descendant of the Sollidays in the female line.*] (11) September 18, 1749, Ship Ann, Capt. John Spurnier, from Rotterdam, 242 passengers from Basil, Zebeibruckan, Wurttemburg and Darmstadt, and among the passengers was "Jacob Salathe," October 4, 1751; Ship Queen, of Denmark, Capt. George Pariah, from Rotterdam, 252 passengers, came "Jacob Salade," October 16, 1732; Ship Snow, Kelly, master, from Rotterdam, came Nicholas "Salada," October 3, 1764; Ship King of Prussia, came Michael and Thomas "Salade." Doubtless the reason for this difference in spelling the name was the fault of the clerk at the port of arrival trying to spell it as pronounced in English. There is a Salladasburg in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. In Bedminster there is a labyrinth of roads, but we know little about those earliest laid out. It is a difficult thing to recognize local roads after the lapse of many years, and a change of the names of points that fixed them at their opening. The township is cut by three of the great arteries of travel that traverse the county: the Durham and Easton roads pass through the southeast corner of Bedminster, intersecting at Pipersville, the Old Bethlehem road forms the northwest boundary, while the Swamp road separates it form Hilltown on the west. The first township road, that we have a record of, was laid out in 1748, running from the road from "Colvin's ferry (on Delaware) to Philadelphia," to John Clymer's mill on Tohickon, and thence by the Presbyterian and Mennonite meeting-houses to the Old Bethlehem road. In 1755 a road was probably laid out from the Durham road to Jacob Stout's mill on the Tohickon and the Tohickon church, and thence toward the county line. A road was laid out in 1765 from Deep Run meeting-house to the Easton road, and the following year one was opened from the meeting-house to Tohickon church. About 1800 a bridge was built over Deep Run, near the meeting-house. [The Troughs were early settlers in Bedminster, doubtless among the earliest of the Germans. Ralph Trough, or Traugh, was there, 1741, when the township was organized. In 1763, Rudolph Traugh bought 300 acres of Thomas and Richard Penn, and at his death, 1772, the land was divided between his two sons, Henry and Adam. On February 20, 1787, Henry Traugh and wife, Mary, conveyed this tract to Rudolph, son of said Henry, and March 2, 1787, Rudolph and wife conveyed 31 acres of its tract to Adam Yost.*] The Scheetzes, a numerous family of Bedminster and other townships in the upper end of the county, are descended from Conrad Scheetz. About an hundred years ago he and his brother Philip immigrated from Germany, and settled at Germantown. They were married and brought their families with them. Conrad Scheetz carried on the business of a hatter, and many farmers from the Bucks and Montgomery bought their hats of him when going to or from market. He had several children, among which were George, Jacob, Charles, Samuel, Mary, Eliza, and Elizabeth, all of whom lived and died in Philadelphia county except George, the oldest son. He came to Bucks county and settled in Bedminster township about 60 years ago, at what is now known as Keller's Church. He married a Fluck, and had a family of nine children, eight sons and one daughter, all of whom are living, married, and have families. George Scheetz died about 1861, and his widow in 1875, aged 83. The oldest son, William, has in his possession the family Bible brought from Germany by Conrad, which was printed in 1770, and is handsomely illustrated. The descendants of George Scheetz are living in Bedminster, Richland, Quakertown, and Doylestown. John Clymer's mill, on the Tohickon, is thought to have been the first built in the township, and before 1749. The mills of Jacob Kraut, on Deep Run, and Joseph Tyson, on Cabin run, were erected next in order. We have authority for saying that the oldest mill in the township is supposed to have been built on the site of Angany's on a small stream that joins Deep Run, east of the Presbyterian church. These mills were followed by Jacob Stover's on the Tohickon, and Henry Black's oil-mill on Cabin run and Durham road, half a mile below Pipersville, since torn down. In 1753 the widow Sheaver owned a mill, but we do not know the location, and the same year a road was laid out from it to Deep Run meeting-house. One of the petitioners was Rev. Francis McHenry. Among early mills on the Tohickon were those of Ichabod Wilkinson, White's and Henry Lot's. (See illustration of Angony Mill)## A school house formerly stood on the Easton road at the foot of Deep Run hill, 3/4ths of a mile above Pipersville, but was torn down some years ago. It was built in 1805 by Colonel Piper, Abraham Hight, William Meyers, and Frederick Keehler, and among those who taught in it was the late Charles B. Trego, of Philadelphia. In early times peaches were raised in great quantities in Bedminster, and the crops were most prolific between 1811 and 1825. The production was greater than the consumption, and the surplus was hauled by wagon-loads to the distilleries to be made into peach brandy. From about 1780 to 1820 Bedminster was a great field for catching wild pigeons, which gave rise to much sport. They came in large flocks, and were caught in nets. Those who most excelled in catching them were Abraham Kulp, Jacob Wismer, Jacob Angany and Abram Overholt. Wismer frequently caught as many as would fill two or three barrels before breakfast. Many were salted down for future use, but large numbers were sold in the neighborhood, at 25 cents a dozen, or sent to the Philadelphia market. Bedminster has five villages, at least localities that bear the name, Pipersville, on the Easton road, in the southeast corner, Dublin, on the Swamp road, in the southwest corner, Hagersville and Keelersville on the Old Bethlehem road, in the northwest corner, and Bedminsterville, at the intersection of the roads that lead from the Mennonite meeting-house to Keller's shop and from the Durham to the Dublin road. Of these, Dublin is the most considerable. It is said to have taken its name from the old log tavern that first dispensed the good things of life to man and beast at this point. It was a double building and got the name of the "double-inn," and, in the course of time, the name was a little changed, and the hamlet that grew up around it was called Dublin. This was nearly a century ago. Three taverns have stood on the spot occupied by the old hostelry. During the Revolution it was kept by a man named Robinson, whose son was a royalist and an associate of the Doanes. We are told that after the war was over it is supposed he lay concealed a long time in the house between two partitions. He was watched, but not discovered. The father was drowned in a creek on the premises. Here there are a tavern, church, store, mechanics, several dwellings, and a postoffice, established 1827, with Newton Rowland postmaster, and a carriage-factory. Each of the other villages has a tavern, store, and a few dwellings. Pipersville, Hagersville and Bedminsterville are post-villages, where offices were established 1845 and 1851. This township is well watered by Cabin, Deep, Wolf, Deer and Mink runs, branches of Tohickon and by the north branch of Perkiomen. The surface is rolling, with but few hills, the soil is generally fertile, and produces good crops under careful German tillage. In 1784 the population was 988 white inhabitants, 3 blacks, and 143 dwellings. In 1810 it was 1,199; 1820, 1,248; 1830, 1,594, with 338 taxable; 1840, 1,630; 1850, 1,911; 1860, 2,238; and in 1870, 2,370 of which 6 were colored and 40 foreign-born; [1880, 2,482; 1890, 2,385.*] Among the early settlers in Bedminster, we find that Mrs. Agnes Darrah died August 3, 1820, at the age of 90, Abraham Leatherman in 1823, in his 84th year, and Barbara Fretz the same year, aged 85. [Bedminster is entitled to the honor of having been and probably still is the home of the most prolific family in children in the county. The father is William Buehrle, born in Baden, Germany, 1834, the son of a Republican agitator, whom the trouble in 1848 compelled to flee to America. He settled in Bedminster, 1856, and married Ann Freiling, then only 14 years old. To them 19 children were born between 1857 and 1889, of which 15 were living in 1892. The father followed canal boating for 21 years on the Delaware division and in the west, and then settled down to farming. The sons and daughters married near home and also went into business. The father has been a well-known citizen in Upper Bucks and if living still is a native of Bucks county, subsequently went to Philadelphia, became prominent in politics and was a member of the State Senate.*] The accompanying map of the "Upper end of Bucks county" was copied from an old one drawn between 1742 and 1750. It gives the location of the townships formed in the upper section at that period after Springfield had been organized, but before its "adjacent" had been laid out and declared Haycock township. It shows several townships now in Northampton and Lehigh, namely: Bethlehem, Millcreek and Lower Saucon in the former, and Upper Saucon, Upper Milford and Macungie in the latter. That Williams township, organized 1750, is not given on it is evidence the original map was drawn prior to that year. Durham township was not organized until 1775. (See Map of Upper End of Bucks county, 1750) End of Chapter XXXV or Chapter V, 1905 edition. Book/picture recognition: # Fretz Family History, Mennonite Pub. Co., 1890 Vol. 1, and Vol. 11, 1975. Fretz Family Association 200 E. 5th St. Lansdale, PA 19446 ## History of Bedminster, Bucks Co., PA, Adams Apple Press, 1976. pp. 26, 30, 32.