HISTORY: Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia, Chapter 7, Brubaker & Meetch, Dauphin County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/dauphin/ http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/dauphin/runk/runk-bios.htm _______________________________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Containing Sketches of Representative Citizens, and Many of the Early Scotch-Irish and German Settlers. Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Company, 1896, pages 88-93. _______________________________________________________________ BRUBAKER AND MEETCH. I. JOHN BRUBAKER, a native of Switzerland, emigrated to America about the year 1712, or perchance earlier, as it is stated he built the first grist mill in what was afterwards Lancaster county, Pa. He settled near the present town of Lancaster. He had a family of nine sons, of whom we have the following: i. John, m., 1st, Maria Newcomer; 2d a daughter of Michael Tanner, and had issue. 2. ii. Daniel, m. and left issue. iii. Peter. iv. Abraham, m. and left issue. 3. v. David. vi. Christian. vii. Henry. viii. Jacob. II. DANIEL BRUBAKER (John), b. about 1715, in Lancaster county, Pa.; m. a daughter of Michael Tanner. They had issue, among others (surname Brubaker); i. Joseph, b. 1741; m. Elizabeth Downer. III. ABRAHAM BRUBAKER (John), resided in what is now Clay township, formerly a portion of Elizabeth township, Lancaster county, Pa. He married and left issue, among others (surname Brubaker): i. Abraham, m. and had David, John, Abraham, Jacob, and Peter. ii. John, m. and had John, Jacob, and Abraham. iii. Daniel, m. and had Daniel and John. iv. Christian, m. and had Abraham and John. v. Jacob, m. and had Jacob and John. IV. JOSEPH BRUBAKER (Daniel, John), b. about 1741, in Lancaster county, Pa., d. about the year 1808, in Halifax township, Dauphin county, Pa. In 1785 he purchased a large tract of land in then Upper Paxtang township, Dauphin county, Pa., and in 1790 with his family settled thereon. At that early period the comforts of civilization were few, schools, homes and churches being widely scattered; nevertheless he erected the altar of his simple faith (Dunkard) and in that, after the manner of his fathers, instructed his sons and daughters. Mr. Brubaker m., 1764, Elizabeth Downer. They had issue (surname Brubaker): 5 i. Daniel, b. June 6, 1765; m., 1st, Catharine Singer; 2d, Barbara Brubaker. 6. ii. Elizabeth, b. 1770; m. John Meetch, Jr. 7. iii. Jacob, b. 1775; m. Barbara Bartle. iv. Joseph, b. 1779. 8. v. Ann, b. May 1, 1781; m. John Boyer. DAUPHIN COUNTY. 89 Portraits: Daniel Boas; A. O. Hiester; Charles A. Hay?; W. M. Stamford 90 HISTORICAL REVIEW [blank page] DAUPHIN COUNTY. 91 9. vi. Catharine, b. 1790; m. Jacob Brubaker. 10. vii. John (twin), b. 1800; m. Julia Mehaffey. V. DANIEL BRUBAKER (Joseph, Daniel, John), b. June 6, 1765, in Lancaster county, Pa.; d. February 19, 1843, in Halifax, Dauphin county, Pa.; was twice married; 1st Catherine Singer. They had issue (surname Brubaker): i. Joseph. ii. Jonathan, m. Eliza Rutter, and had John-Rutter, m. Louisa Poffenberger. Daniel Brubaker m., secondly, Barbara Brubaker. They had issue: iii. Ann, m. S. W. Straw, and had Joseph. iv. Maria, m. A. W. Loomis, and had Albert, Daniel, Barbara, and William. VI. ELIZABETH BRUBAKER, (Joseph, Daniel, John), b. about 1770; d. April 28, 1822; m. John Meetch, Jr.,* b. 1761; d. 1828, son of John Meetch, Sr. They had issue (surname Meetch): 11. i. Joseph-B., b. September 3, 1792; m. Alice A. Buchanan. ii. Rebecca, b. 1795; d. July 16, 1829; m. Thomas Trump, and had Alfred-Heaton, d. s. p., and Cyrus. iii. Benjamin, m. Sarah Hoffman, and had Frank and Lizzie, m. Daniel Chubb. iv. Daniel. v. John, b. 1803. vi. Elizabeth, b. 1805; d. 1847; m. Michael _____ *John Meetch, Sr., the son of an Irish magistrate, was born in Enniskillen, county Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1724. He received a good education. Marrying in opposition to his father, he came with his wife to America about 1752, landing at New York. From thence they went to the headwaters of the Susquehanna, finally passing down that river, locating on the northern side of Peter's mountain, thus being one of the early pioneers of that locality. In 1756 his family was driven off by the Indians - but returned when the settlers had organized for their own defence. In the French and Indian war, Mr. Meetch took up arms in aid of the frontiers, and when the storm of the Revolution burst upon the country he was an active participant, being in Capt. John Reed's company during the Jersey campaign of 1776-7. Mr. Meetch died at his residence in 1794, his wife surviving him only a few years. They had five children who reached maturity: Nancy, m. John Cavet, went to Knoxville, Tenn., where she died at the age of ninety; Mary, m. _____ Brown, removed to Westmoreland county, Pa.; Rebecca, m. _____ Dunlap, settled in Erie county, Pa.; Elizabeth, m. Robert Lyon, removed to Northumberland county, Pa., and John, who married and remained on the homestead, as above. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Freeburn, and had John-M., m. Susan Wickersham. 12. vii. Ann, b. 1807; m. Benjamin Hoon. 13. viii. Mary, b. September 25, 1809; m. George Carpenter. 14. ix. Catharine, b. June 7, 1811; m. John Frederick. x. Robert. xi. Sarah, b. 1817; m. Joseph Brubaker. VII. JACOB BRUBAKER (Joseph, Daniel, John), b. 1775; d. prior to 1808; m. Barbara Bartle, b. 1766; died October 11, 1853, in Middletown, Pa., and is buried in the M. E. graveyard there. Concerning the wife of Jacob Brubaker, we have the following: She was of German parentage and born in Cumberland county, Pa. Her mother, Christiana Bartle, was a woman of strong, practicable turn of mind, of good education, and possessed of a firm reliance upon divine Providence. Her father, Andrew Bartle, removed to Harper's Ferry, where he remained until the outset of the Revolution, when he went to near Fort Licking, on the Holstein river. A year after their settlement they were taken captive by the Indians, and with other prisoners marched toward Detroit. On the journey the prisoners were separated, each party consisting of eight whites and nine Indians. Barbara, with her mother and sister Wilhelmina, continued together until the latter, a delicate girl of fourteen, fell by the way exhausted, when one of the savages struck her with a tomahawk, and scalping her proceeded onward. The anguish of the mother and sister cannot be described. The march was rapid and provisions scarce, the entire party subsisting for three days on a pair of pigeons caught by one of their number. Barbara received from her Indian captor kind treatment, and when her little feet gave out he carried her upon his back until she was rested. When they gathered around the campfire after the day's march, her mother would take her Bible, which she carried with her, and read aloud by the light of the blazing logs. Her heroic endurance of the hardships of her situation had won the admiration of the savages. Her reading from "the book" had to them an appearance of mystery that to their untutored minds savored of the supernatural, and when the time came for her to read, they were her earnest and reverential listeners, while as they expressed it, she "made the book talk." When grown to wo- 92 HISTORICAL REVIEW manhood Barbara was often heard to say that the Indians treated her infinitely better than did the British, into whose hands she afterwards fell. Arriving at Detroit, they were delivered to the British, starved and ill-treated, and every indignity and abuse heaped upon them by their white captors. At the end of six weeks' captivity among the Indians, and two years and a half among the British, she and her mother were exchanged as prisoners of war. Barbara Bartle had become a perfect mistress of the arts of swimming, diving and skating, and was subsequently instrumental in saving more than one person from a watery grave. She grew to be a lovely woman, and afterwards married Jacob Brubaker. They left issue (surname Brubaker): 15. i. Joseph, b. August 12, 1797; m., first, Rachel Frederick; secondly, Sarah Meetch. ii. Jacob, b. 1800; d. 1859. VII. ANN BRUBAKER (Joseph, Daniel, John), b. May 1, 1781; d. January 1, 1857; m. John Boyer, b. 1792; d. 1860. They had issue (surname Boyer): i. Joseph, b. 1817; d. 1875; m. Mary Syler, and had David, Joseph, Mary-Jane, and Sarah. ii. Elizabeth, b. 1819; d. 1844; m. Frederick Fronk, and had Henry and Rebecca. iii. John, b. 1822; m. Jane E. Keagle, and had Rebecca, Elizabeth, Mary, Kate, Margaret, John-Downer, and Philip. IX. CATHARINE BRUBAKER (Joseph, Daniel, John), b. about 1790; m. Jacob Brubaker, b. December 22, 1787; d. December 22, 1851. They had issue (surname Brubaker): i. John, m. Maria Clemson, and had William and Lydia. ii. Hiram, m. Sarah Umberger, and had Rebecca, Benjamin, and Millard. iii. Henry, m. Rebecca Shammo, and had Jacob and Samuel. iv. Benjamin, m. Barbara Loomis, and had Mary-J., Earnest, and Myrtle. v. Susanna. vi. Mary. vii. Isaac, m. Mary Geist, and had John-H. and Margaret. viii. Jacob. X. JOHN BRUBAKER (Joseph, Daniel, John), b. about 1800; d. 1826; m. Julia Mehaffey, and there was issue (surname Brubaker): i. Elizabeth, m. John Fullwood, and had Sarah, Julia, Emma, Charles, John, and William. ii. Sarah, m. _____ Ebron, and had issue. iii. Henry-Mehaffey, m. Kate Guernsey, and had Mary, John, and Stephen. XI. JOSEPH B. MEETCH (Elizabeth, Joseph, Daniel, John), b. September 3, 1792; d. December 25, 1875; m. Alice Ann Buchanan. They had issue (surname Meetch): i. Mary-R. ii. Alice-Ann, m. Herman Chubb, and had Ellen, Joseph, Myra, Myrtle, Mary, and Harry. iii. William-Buchanan, m. Mary Sheaffer, and had issue Annie and Sarah. iv. John XII. ANN MEETCH (Elizabeth, Joseph, Daniel, John), b. 1807; d. 1854; m. Benjamin Hoon; and had issue (surname Hoon): i. John, m. _____ Livingston, and had John and Justina. ii. Joseph-E., m. and had Clarence, John, and Joseph. iii. Harriett-E., m. George English, and had Emma, George, Clara and Lucy. iv. Sarah. v. Annie-Clara, m. John Metzger. vi. Mary. vii. Benjamin. XIII. MARY MEETCH (Elizabeth, Joseph, Daniel, John), b. September 25, 1809; d. January 26, 1879; m. George Carpenter. They has issue (surname Carpenter): i. James-B., b. August 11, 1830; m. Mary Garman, and had James, America, and Allen. ii. Lizzie-M., b. November 3, 1832; d. September 25, 1857; m. Stiles Duncan, and had Mary and Harry. iii. Charles-D. iv. Thomas-B., b. April 16, 1838; m. Emma F. Brubaker, and had Sarah, Benton and Duncan. v. John-H. vi. George-W., b. July 4, 1842; m. Sallie Fyson, and had Bruce and Walter. XIV. CATHARINE MEETCH (Elizabeth, Joseph, Daniel, John), b. June 7, 1811; m., April 8, 1830, John Frederick; b. May 6, 1806. They had issue (surname Frederick): DAUPHIN COUNTY. 93 i. Emma, m. William Wilson. ii. Marion. iii. Kate. iv. Clara, m. Isaac Shivers. v. John-W., m. Mary Powell, and had Warford. vi. Ella. vii. Annie. viii. Walton, m. _____ Zeigler. ix. Charles, m. Annie (Powell) Frederick. XV. JOSEPH BRUBAKER (Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, John), b. August 12, 1797; d. March 31, 1871; was a justice of the peace fifteen years, and for a long period postmaster at Halifax; he was a gentlemen of integrity, uprightness, and was liberal and humane to the poor and unfortunate. He was twice married; first to Rachel Frederick, who died in 1828, leaving no issue; secondly August 16, 1835, Sarah Meetch, b. 1817; d. November 27, 1880. They had issue (surname Brubaker): i. Sarah-L., m. C. E. McFarland, and had Virginia, Bruce, Mabel, Laura, and Walter. ii. John-Meetch. iii. Emma-F., m. Thomas B. Carpenter, and had Sarah, Benton, and Duncan. iv. Lillie-K., m. J. Wesley Straw, and had John. v. Joseph-W. vi. James-H. vii. Charles-E.