Heinrich Boyer (abt. 1720 - 1757)

Born about 1720 in Heiliges Römisches Reich [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 2 Jan 1757 at about age 37 in Towamensing, Carbon (then Northampton), Pennsylvania

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Biography

Henry's ID for American Boyers 7th edition is 1-BL in chapter 38 of volume 4.3 The 7th edition of The American Boyers stated that Henry Boyer was born circa 1720 perhaps near Munich, Bavaria, Germany, however, I have not found any documentation to support this claim. ^[1]

After immigrating from Germany, Henry ultimately settled in Towamensing Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. That land first was a part of Bucks County (1682) and then Northampton County (1751) was split off and ultimately became Carbon County (1843). ^[2] due to increasing population and the creation of new counties.

On May 4, 1748, Henry Boyer was granted one hundred acres near the near the Blue Mountains, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from the State of Pennsylvania for fifteen pounds and ten shillings. The survey was not recorded until decades after Henry's death - 1785 - by his son Frederick at which time it had shrunk to sixty-seven acres.^[3] On 22 Feb 1749, Henry Boyer was granted one hundred acres in Bucks County from the State of Pennsylvania. ^[4]

Henry Boyer was scalped by the Delaware Indians on 2 Jan 1757^[5] at the Boyer farm, Towamensing Township, Northampton County (now Carbon County), Pennsylvania. Captain Jacob Orndt at Fort Allan on 16 December 1757 wrote, "Jany 2th 1757, Hanry Boyer was Killed and three of his children were Takin Presoner the was under gage - 1 Killed - 3 Presoners". The original manuscript is part of the Conrad Weisser Papers, held in the Manuscript Department of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Richards ^[6], Thompson, Mathews and Hungerford all stated the attack happened while Henry plowed his field with his three oldest children nearby. Donald A. Boyer ^[7] dated the attack as June. However the list filed at Fort Allan on 16 Dec 1757 stated the attack was in January, so plowing frozen ground in Pennsylvania would not be feasible. Whether it be January or June, the Indians shot and scalped Henry and took as hostages the children Frederick, Margaret, and Elizabeth who accompanied him. Indians carried the children into Canada. He was about thirty-seven years old leaving seven orphans behind.

This was a time of hostilities in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. The Lehigh Gap settlers had built a fort (really a blockhouse with a stockade) ^[8] for their protection which a few soldiers helped to man.

Henry Boyer was listed in guardianship court records on 23 Dec 1762 ^[9] as the deceased having left seven minor children: Frederick, Margaret, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Henry, Ann. Unfortunately his wife is identified only as Mrs. Wendel Geesey, but she was the co-administrator of the estate.

Sources

• Alfred and Hungerford, Austin N. Matthews, editor, History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts and Richards, 1884), page 761.

• Candace E. Anderson, editor, Genealogical Abstracts of Orphans Court Records, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Volumes A-E, 1752-1795 (Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 1998), page 28.

• Dauphin County Geographic Information Systems, Early Landowners of Pennsylvania., CD-ROM (http://www.ancestortracks.com/: Ancestor Tracks), Township Warrantee Maps, page 13.

• Donald Arthur Boyer, American Boyers, 7th Edition, volume 4 (York, Pennsylvania: Association of American Boyers, Inc., 1998), page 453.

• Donald Arthur Boyer, American Boyers, 7th Edition, volume 4 (York, Pennsylvania: Association of American Boyers, Inc., 1998), page 453.

• Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg Richards, Pennsylvania-German in the French and Indian War; a Historical Sketch (Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania-German Society, 1905), pages 383-384.

• Ian K. Steele, Setting All the Captives Free: Capture, Adjustment, and Recollection in Allegheny County (Montreal, Kingston; London; Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013), Appendix: Named Captives Taken on the Allegheny Frontier, 1745-65 (Kindle edition).

• Mildred Williams, compiler, Warrantees of Land in the County of Bucks, Pennsylvania, 1733-1889 (Jamison, PA: Will-Britt, c1964), page 6. Hereinafter cited as Warrantees of Land in the County of Bucks, PA, 1733-1889.

• Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Land Warrants: digitized onto compact disk, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Pennsylvania Historical Society, "Pennsylvania Settlers Murdered by Indians," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography volume 32 (1908): pages 309, 313-314.

• Pennsylvania Probate Court, 1683-1994, Northampton, Orphans Court Records and Index, 1752-1882; Film 946983 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1973), Roll 1, page 8.

• Ralph Beaver Strassburger, compiler, Pennsylvania German Pioneers in Three Volumes (Norristown, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934), pages 331-332.
• Recorder of Deeds Northampton County Court House, Easton, Pennsylvania. Grantee Index volume B: page 640-3, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• " International Genealogical Index database, Family Search, (www.familysearch.org), , (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:M6V9-S3V : accessed 2015-01-16), entry for Henry Boyer.

• Charles N. Thompson, Sons of the Wilderness: John and William Conner (Noblesville, Indiana: Conner Prairie, 2000), page 9-10.

• Henry Melchoir, Mulhenburg Richards, John M. Buckalew, Sheldon Reynolds, Jay Gilfillan Weiser and George Dallas Albert Pennsylvania Indian Forts Commission, Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, volume 1 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvnia: Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896), section 1: Indian Forts of the Blue Mountains, pages 158-159.

• John H. Long, editor, Pennsylvania: Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, c1996).

• Thomas H. Bateman, "Ritter, Kuntz and Allied Families," Americana volume 36 (January, 1942): page 113.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Donald Arthur Boyer, American Boyers, 7th Edition, volume 4 (York, Pennsylvania: Association of American Boyers, Inc., 1998), page 453. Hereinafter cited as American Boyers, 7th Edition.
2. ↑ , Pennsylvania: Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, c1996)
3. ↑ Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Land Warrants: digitized onto compact disk, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dauphin County Geographic Information Systems, Early Landowners of Pennsylvania., CD-ROM (http://www.ancestortracks.com/: Ancestor Tracks), Township Warrantee Maps, page 13.
4. ↑ Mildred Williams, compiler, Warrantees of Land in the County of Bucks, Pennsylvania, 1733-1889 (Jamison, PA: Will-Britt, c1964), page 6. .
5. ↑ "Pennsylvania Settlers Murdered by Indians", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Pennsylvania Historical Society, 1908, volume 32, pages 309, 313-314. [1]
6. ↑ "Pennsylvania-German in the French and Indian War; a Historical Sketch", Richards, Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg; Pennsylvania-German Society, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; 1905; pages 383-384. [2]
7. ↑ Donald Arthur Boyer, American Boyers, 7th Edition, volume 4 (York, Pennsylvania: Association of American Boyers, Inc., 1998), page 453.
8. ↑ Henry Melchoir, Mulhenburg Richards, John M. Buckalew, Sheldon Reynolds, Jay Gilfillan Weiser and George Dallas Albert Pennsylvania Indian Forts Commission, Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvannia, volume 1 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvnia: Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896), section 1: Indian Forts of the Blue Mountains, pages 158-159.
9. ↑ Orphans Court Records and Index, 1752-1882, volume 2, pages 25-26.