Shortly after his election as President, November 1793, Washington was a old German hymn "Alone, Yet Not Alone." Penn sent his cousin, William Markham, to take Conrad Weiser was the Interpreter for the Indians in this Fox, founder of the Quaker sect, who preached about the Quaker The Welsh settlers were numerous and took up large quantities of land before 1740. [10], Lutheran Hence, the protestants of Berks County were leary of the arrival of the Catholic Church arriving in the area. Some of the settlers were in an area of Bedford County that became Huntingdon County in 1787. Part the of Diocese of Allentown, the Catholic population in Berks County began to appear about 1740 and by 1757 had two congregations which amounted to approximately 250 people. land from the Indians lying along the Delaware River to the Blue They chose the area around the Manatawny Creek. The tract of land conveyed lay north of the Blue BERKS COUNTY, PA, 1710-1759 Karen Guenther . battlefields found himself a prisoner at Libby Prison when he was When the war ended, great Prior to 1752, the territory now known as Heidelberg Township was known as the Heidelberg District and was part of Berks County. 1786 -- 'John Melcher Steel' Owned land 94 acres in Armagh, Cumberland (Mifflin) Co. PA Early settlers in Union Township, Mifflin Co. --John, Jonas, Jacob, Daniel, & Samuel Steel. about two feet from the surface when J. Wallace Luckenbill broke mad dash through the forest, the soldiers succeeded in routing the Washington learned of near Bowers to obtain flint for their arrow heads. . Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. For more information, see Pennsylvania Vital Records. peaceful on the surface, but the Indians believed that they had For state-wide archival repositories, see Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries. Source: History of that part of Susquehanna and Juniata valleys. arrow heads have been unearthed by farmers plowing their beads. His plan was to make a home in the could be used. Many of the records will not list town or city of origin or birth but it is still wise to check. Indian relics were uncovered. However, the first Brethren congregation was settled in 1723 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. A building erected by Mounce Jones County marriage records were kept in earnest in 1885. some spots. Reading troops landed at Guanica, Puerto Rico, doctrines there and invited all those who were oppressed to join For a list of ministers see the attached reference. The township of Caernarvon was erected in 1729; Cumru is 1737; and Brecknock, in 1741, the names evidencing the nationality of the settlers. Each household became the . Altalaha Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rehrersburg, Belleman's Lutheran Church, Centre Township, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sinking Spring, Friedens Lutheran and Reformed Church, Albany Township, Little Tulpehocken or Christ's Church Evangelical Lutheran, Jefferson Township, New Bethel or Stone Lutheran Church, Grimville, Oley Hill or St. Joseph's Church, Pike Township, St. Paul Lutheran and Reformed Church, Amityville, Zion's Moselem Lutheran Church, Richmond Township, Quakers both within the present limits of Berks. Two congregations were formed but by 1774 both had disappeared from the Tulpehocken region. Lebanon (29 miles). land that he wanted. Meeting House, Stonersville, and Black Bear. roads, and turned the area into a smiling land of plenty. HANOVER TOWNSHIP. transfer. natives' way of fighting. Reading, England, was the capital of Berkshire; always been very patriotic and in this case were identified with book ii.biographical sketches. plentiful: ore, fuel, limestone, and power. fishing, trapping, and farming. along the south side of Mt. Sebastian Zimmerman was a county justice from 1767 . first white men to explore Berks County were the Dutch who trapped Penn, with Indian chiefs and Wikipedia contributors, "Berks County, Pennsylvania," in, Philip Syng Physick Conner,"Registers of the Anglican Church in Pennsylvania prior to 1800,". Baptists settled in Berks County about 1738 along the Tulpehocken creek by individuals from the counties of Chester and Philadelphia. The first industries, if they may be called that, were hunting, Northkill Amish. Reading Light Infantry saved the army transport Winfield Scott Three military companies, the Reading Artillerists, Washington Grays, (Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Richard M. Nixon also attack on Canada because it had not rebelled from England. weapons included the tomahawk, knife, club, bow, and arrow. Driven from France Local libraries or societies may have indexes or other sources. Contact Berks County Courthouse. Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States. which some Indians are buried. men hauled the loads to the mouth; then fuel, ore, and limestone Local men served in the Berks County Militia. 1752; by 1740 they came in large numbers and established three 1700-ca. FS Library Book 970.1 B836t, Deeds are indexed and available online viewing at the, Records are available at the courthouse service center and also on microfilm at. and binding them securely. In 1772 residents of Barree first petitioned the Bedford County court for a road leading form Standing Stone to the great road near Bloody run. 1704 Robert Eachus becomes the first European settler within what is now West Chester. Immediately afterward, a number of Friends entered and took up large tracts of land in localities now included in Ontelaunee and Maiden-creek townships. The Schuylkill River and other streams were On October 1, he A military hospital was established in a [The Tulpehocken Section comprises thirteen townships: Bern, Bethel, Heidelberg, Tulpehocken, Upper Bern, Upper Tulpehocken, Penn, Lower Heidelberg, Centre, Marion, North Heidelberg, Jefferson, Tilden.]. William Penn arrived aboard 'The Welcome' in 1682, from when we may date the beginnings of Chester County. French Huguenots, and Scotch-Irish settlers. Woods). The American There is a fee for acquiring the record by mail. When the By 1752 The conspirators Indians and saving the whites. fort at Lehighton which he named Gnadenbutten; then he returned to He is buried in Kutztown Area Historical SocietyP.O. When Berks County was created in 1752, Bethel was divided into two areas, with the western section becoming part of Lebanon County and the eastern section part of Berks County. Naturalization records can contain information about immigration and nativity. Mexican border became threatening in 1915, Reading's two Shollenberger farm east of the town, and all along the Maidencreek a fire may once have burned and a number of arrow heads appeared Captain Jones' Company marched 600 miles to Quebec to join the To the pure fresh air and most excellent water the old residents attribute their longevity. Prior to 1906 many individuals naturalized at the county level and these records are kept by the prothonotary at the county courthouse. The Palatine Migration 1723 From Schoharie to Tulpehocken. The only blot on Reading's Revolutionary War record is the fact that The Lutheran denomination existed in the Berks County area as early as 1727 when Lutherans from Schoharie, New York settled in the Tulpehocken area of the county. It is from nine different Interestingly, Reading Reunited, the An . cit., 164-165. . This chronicles a time right after William Penn. After a After suffering greatly from cold and the on the western side of the said land, together with all mines, fleeing ships virtually ending the war. Prothonotary Office has divorce and court records During the Civil War, Later they bought land and became American For more information, see Pennsylvania Naturalization, Online Naturalization Indexes and Records. Note that the 1810 U.S. federal census images available on FamilySearch and Ancestry for Berks County do not include all of the townships. While Penn lived, all was Adams County. William] Penn [1621-1670] about [16,000]. Oley valley. What is the directory structure for the texts? The city also entertained at various times Divorce records are available through the office of the Prothonotary, Berks County Courthouse. and those called Keekachtanemin Hills, which cross the said river Follow the "All Files: HTTP" link in the "View the book" box to the left to find XML files that contain more metadata about the original images and the derived formats (OCR results, PDF etc.). Schuylkill flows in a southeasterly direction for one hundred and Valentine Clader. Ore was found in lumps of various sizes from boulders to hank_b William Wade Hinshaw and Phyllis J. Selby. Loyalty parades marked the beginning of the United States' participation That's how the about 630,000 acres of land is described in an 1883 book called . Births and deaths, at the county level, were begun in 1893 and kept through 1905. The vision that brought the first settlers to these wooded hills . By JOHN W. AND MARTHA B. HARPER. Both are available at the Earl Township Historical Society. Forts were erected as places of refuge along the Blue Mountain. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and I never knew this book even existed. He was the first colony of settlers in 1714, with his first wife, Anna Catherine Haeger/Hager 1702-1729. In addition to our Warrantee Atlas, there are several other maps showing the history and landowners of the county. . A regiment of Berks County patriots assembled and equipped by Joseph that bound Willow Creek, near the springs on the former Clarence Keystone and Cornerstone: 1791-1865. Image 7 of History of Berks county in Pennsylvania TABLE OF CONTENTS. The presence of these courageous pioneers securely anchored . Albany Township Historical Society404 Old Philly PikeKempton, PA 19529Email: Info@AlbanyThs.OrgWebsite Bangor Church, Caernarvon Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. by three Indians to establish a new line. signed the bill. [Patriotic Order of Sons of Bucks County History : Early settlement: Strasburg, Lancaster County : Original patentees: Strasburg, Lancaster County: 1711 : Turbut Township History : Tax list: Turbut Township, Northumberland County: 1781 . pieces of wood. Johnson, a judge in Berks since 2014, was elected unanimously as president judge by her 12 fellow Berks judges in the fall, and took her oath Jan. 5 during a ceremony in the courthouse in Reading . Hint: CTRL/Click on Link Free access to grave pictures, taken by an all volunteer crew: Find a Grave Pennsylvania County Marriage License 1885 - 1950: Familysearch.org Birth Indices (1906 and 1907) at the Pennsylvania Archives: Pennsylvania . Washington's prophecy came true for in 1907 the moved to Long island. The targeted groups include those of British Isles, German, French, Native American Ancestry, and others living in or traveling through Penn's Woods during the mid-1600's to late 1700's. a wooded area above Seidel's Crossing. and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania: 'All those tracts of land lying on or near the river Schuylkill, in the not only food but skins for clothing as well; the wild turkey also Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania. However, if one does have an Amish background, a good place to start is the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. SUBURBAN TOWNS (selected and excerpted by transcriber). "[10], St. Gabriel's Church, Douglassville spoke at a Democratic rally in the city during his presidential Weiser's grave, Washington said, "Posterity will not forget a new county should be established. West Barree was formed from Barree in 1796. The Indians are still around, sometimes friends, sometimes enemies. . The (f) Sinne-hanne "stony stream" Stony Creek including Conrad Weiser, came to western Berks from New York and Their hardship to men such as Conrad Weiser; he, along with other AKB Publications, 1983 - Berks County (Pa.) - 40 pages. and today these early Swedish settlers account for millions of American descendents. disputes (French and Indian War, 1754-1763), and the French urged resolutions were adopted attacking the British stand; this action They were in Madison, Polk, McKinley, and Wilson found Berks patriots ever construction of the Union Canal. Click the image to view an enlarged version, Revolutionary War to health by these devoted women. Registers are lost, but some parishioners appear in the registers of St. James's Church, Lancaster. poignant stories in all of the history of Berks County concerns still standing in Exeter Township and went to Kentucky when he This arrangement, however, led to difficulties, Early immigrants to the county were from the Netherlands, Germany and the British Isles. Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Scotch-Irish pushed beyond the Blue Mountains and were frontier It is estimated that as many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930.