Biographical Sketch of the PENNYPACKER Family; Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Sandra Ferguson . Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* extracted from THE HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY PA, by Futhey and Cope (1881); Pennypacker family origin in North Brabant, Holland, and members still exist (1889) at Waalwyk, near Hertogenbosch. 1650; some of the family went up the Rhine to Flomborn, a village near Worms, and became Germanized, changing their Dutch name Pannebakker (tile-maker) to Pfannebacker. The Weissthum, a manuscript record of this village from 1542-1656, signed by Johannes Pfannebecker, one of the town officers, was still in existance in the late 1800s. Ca 1699, Heinrich Pannebecker, b 1674, came to Germantown, and from there moved to Skippack, where he died in 1754....was the first German surveyor in PA and a large land-owner. several grandsons moved to Chester Co - Jacob, to Perkiomen Junct, 1772; Matthias to Pickering, 1774; Harman, John & Benj to Chester Spsrings 1792, 1794, 1796; Henry to Vincent, 1794. Nathan, son Jacob, b 3-2-1771, d 7-9-1833; farmer living on the Schuylkill, and active Federalist and Anti-Mason; elected to the Assembly 1812, 1814, 1830; 1814 one of a committee to select a member of Congress; 1832 - on the Anti-Jackson electoral ticket. Matthias b 10-14-1742 d 2-13-1808, wealthy farmer and miller, bishop in the Mennonite Church; 1st preacher in the old Pheonixville church; had officers from Valley Forge quartered at his house; 1777 the British caused a great deal of destruction at his mill; 1784 appointed by Assembly a commissioner to provide for the navigation of the Schuylkill River;1793 he sent $240 to Philadelphia for the relief of the poor of that city from yellow fever. Elijah H. Pennypacker. b 11-20-1804- Elected to Assembly in 1831, 1834, 1835, when he was chairman of the committee on banks and instrumental in having the Bank of the United States incorporated by the state; 1832-3 he presented a bill for the incorporation of the Philadelphia and Reading RR, and was chairman of the committee in charge till it became law; was also involved with the organization of the public school system; secretary of the canal commissioners in 1836, 1837; was an abolutionist, and connected with the Underground Railway; president of the AntiSlavery Society of Chester Co; candidate of the Temperance party; president of the school board for many years, Schuylkill twp; president of the Mutual Insurance Co, of Chester Co. Uriah V. Pennypacker, son Joseph and Elizabeth, b Schuylkill twp 10-6-1809; studied law with his uncle and admitted to the bar and later to the Supreme Court; active Whig; one of the founders of the 1st Baptist Church of West Chester ; an incorporator of the Central Union Association, and it's treasurer for 20 years; burgess of West Chester in 1845-1848; d Aug 16, 1867, buried in Oaklands Cemetery...left 4 children, among them Charles H b 4-16-1845, prominent lawyer, amateur scientist, active politician...involved with the Udderzook murder trial and the cases originating in the Pickering Valley accident of 1877. Galusha, b 6-1-1842, Col 16th US Infantry, brevet major-general USA, hero of Fort Fisher, youngest general during the Rebellion - full brigadier at the age of 22; 7 wounds in 8 months and 5 promotions within a year...remarkable for his bravery in the 'face of death'. Matthias, b 8-15-1786 d 4-4-1852, farmer and miller on the Pickering, elected to the Assembly 1826, 1827; 1837 served as member of the Constitutional Convention; 1831 chairman of organization that made the first move towards the construction of the Philadelphia and Reading RR. Dr. Isaac A Pennypacker, b Schuylkill twp 7-9-1812 to Matthias and Sarah Pennypacker, she a daughter of Isaac Anderson; read medicine with his maternal uncle Dr Isaac Anderson, and Prof Wm E Horner and graduated from U of PA, 1835; practeced in Phoenixville in 1836 till 1854, when he became Prof. of Medicine at Philadelphia College of Medicine. Married Anna Maria Whitaker, oldest dau of Jospeh Whitaker, esq, 5-9-1839. Dr Pennypacker d 2-13-1856, buried Mennonist soc burying-ground, Phoenixville. Dr Matthias J. of Schuylkill, b 9010-1819, elected to Assembly 1855. Dr Nathan A, of Schuylkill twp, b 10-20-1835, Capt of Co K, 4th Pa Reserves during the Rebellion; elected to the Assembly 1865, 1866, 1867; helped erect the State Hospital for the Insane at Norristown in 1877; lieut-col on the staff of Gov Hoyt; president of the Schuylkill twp school board for several years. Samuel W , lawyer in PHiladelphia, b Phoenixville 4-9-1843; 1867 elected president of the Law Academy of Philadelphia; one of the editors of Weekly Notes of Cases, the leading law journal of PA; involved with local historical investigation, and 1872 published the "Annals of Phoenixville" and in 1880, "Settlement of Germantown." Isaac R., b Phoenixville 12-11-1852, editor of Morning News, of Wilmington, Del.; also wrote and published local poetry.