Peter Meyer (abt. 1723 - abt. 1793)

Born about 1723 in Bettwil, Canton, Aargau, Switzerland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1793 at about age 70 in Springfield, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States

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Peter Meyer was a Palatine Migrant. Join: Palatine Migration Project Discuss: palatine_migration

Biography

Peter's origins are uncertain, although there is general agreement that he was born c.1723 and arrived in Pennsylvania c.1741 with his widowed mother, Catharine, and several brothers, and settled in Springfield, Bucks County.^[1][2][3]

Davis^[3] identifies Peter and his brothers as being the sons of the Mennonite Hans Meyer who died in Lobenfeld, and thus assumes that Peter was born in Lobenfeld. This is often cited in family trees, but is not confirmed and is contested (see profiles for Hans Meyer and Peter Meyer. Other sources suggest that the family had its origins in the Steffisburg region of Switzerland,^[4] and Fretz^[1] records that the family travelled to Pennsylvania via Kerbach, in the Moselle region of France (and not via Germany).

Fretz^[1] records :

Rev. Peter Meyer, together with his three brothers, William, Jacob, Henry, one sister (name not known) and their mother (a widow) came to America about 1741 or later. The family were born and lived in Switzerland, but fled from the fatherland during the fierce persecution of the Mennonites by the Calvinists or State (Reformed) church to the Palatinate in Germany were they remained with friends in the vicinity of Kerbach for about a year, after which they emigrated to America. The mother married a second husband by the name of Nickey Schaafroth, but had no issue by this marriage. The sister was the oldest of the children. She married a man by the name of Schatz, but had no issue. Of the brothers, Peter was the oldest and Henry the youngest. Peter, William and Henry settled in Springfield township, Bucks county, and Jacob at Centre Valley, Saucon township, Lehigh county. They were all farmers and members of the Mennonite church. It is said that Peter was a minister in Switzerland. He was one of the early ministers of the Mennonite church in Springfield. Jacob was also a minister, and preached in the Saucon Mennonite church.

Peter purchased a 107 acre farm in Pleasant Valley, Springfield, Bucks from Joseph Green on 28 May 1752.^[1], and on 23 Jan 1754, another 50-acre tract of land in Springfield, Bucks, was warranted for survey to Peter Moyer. It was returned on 17 Apr 1787 to Jacob Angne.^[5] The survey shows that the land adjoins properties owned by Saml. Bond, Thos. Lloyd, Chas. Maycock.^[6] This was presumably Jacob Angeny who, around the same time, purchased land from the estate of Peter's brother, William Meyer.

In 1773 Peter was ordained preacher in the Swamp district of the Franconia Conference. His brother Jacob Meyer (1721-90), also a preacher and later a bishop, settled nearby in Saucon Township, now Lehigh County.^[2]

Peter married Magdalena Clemmer.^[3]. An unsourced Findagrave entry records that he also married Barbara Stauffer Saeger.^[7] His children are identified as :

1. Catharine (1748 – ?), m. Kulp ^[1][7]
2. Barbara (1750 - ?) m. Detweiler^[1][7]
3. Elizabeth (c.1752 - ?) m. Henry Kulp ^[1][7]
4. Christian (1755–1826)^[1][7]
5. Johannes (1757–1833)^[1][7]
6. Jacob (1759–1832)^[1][7]
7. Henry (1762 – ?)^[1][7]
8. Mary (1764 - 1789) m. Funk^[1][7]
9. William (1764 - 1848)^[1][7]
10. Abraham (1770 - 1828)^[1][7]
11. Isaac (1775 - ?)^[1][7]

and three others who died young. ^[1]

Note : Fretz identifies Peter's children as including "Mrs Kulp" and two daughters who married Kulps (p.521) but had no children (p.580). ^[1] Findagrave entries maintained by Tom Myers record that two of these daughters were Catherine and Elizabeth, both of whom appear to have had children. It's assumed that, since Fretz details the children of Elizabeth, she is the "Mrs Kulp" he mentions on p.568. It's possible that these are the two daughters mentioned by Fretz as marrying Kulps, and that he erred in identifying three.

Peter is reported to have died c.1793. His grave has not been identified, but it is likely that he was buried at the Springfield Mennonite Cemetery.^[7]

Notes

According to naming customs among Germans of his time, he may have been baptized with a first name which he never used, followed by "Peter", and possibly with a third name which he also wouldn't have used in daily life.

Robert H Moyer's GEDcom file for the Meyer/Moyer family says that Peter's place of birth was in Germany, and that he lived in Switzerland before his immigration through the port of Philadelphia in 1741. This is unlikely to have been the case as the Mennonites who had been expelled from Switzerland generally faced harsh punishment if they returned.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16} Fretz, Abraham James. "A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Christian and Hans Meyer and Other Pioneers: Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches, Illustrated with Eighty-seven Portraits and Other Illustrations" pp.520-521. Harleysville, Pennsylvania: News Printing House, 1896. (Available online at Google Books.)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Wenger, John C. (1957) "Moyer (Moyers, Mayer, Meyer, Meyers, Myers) family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online Retrieved 1 Aug 2018 at http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Moyer_(Moyers,_Mayer,_Meyer,_Meyers,_Myers)_family&oldid=134834
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Davis, Richard Warren (1995) Emigrants, Refugees and Prisoners Vol.2 p.288
4. ↑ Moyer, John (ud) Are Pennsylvania Moyer families descended from Steffisburg Meyer families? viewed 19 Oct 21 at https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/Steffisburg_Meyer.html
5. ↑ Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania State Archives. Records of the Land Office (RG-17, WARRANT REGISTERS, 1733-1957. [series #17.88]). Bucks County Warrant Register (p.52, warrant no.229) viewed at http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-88WarrantRegisters/BucksPages/Bucks52.pdf
6. ↑ Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania State Archives. Records of the Land Office (RG-17, COPIED SURVEYS, 1681-1912. [series #17.114] Survey Book C-129, no.208 viewed at http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-114CopiedSurveyBooks/Books%20C1-C234/Book%20C129/Book%20C-129%20pg%20415.pdf
7. ↑ ^{7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12} UNSOURCED Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207645658/peter-meyer : accessed 19 October 2021), memorial page for Rev Peter Meyer (1720–Feb 1793), Find A Grave: Memorial #207645658, citing Springfield Mennonite Meetinghouse and Cemetery, Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Tom Myers (contributor 47272121) .

See also :

• Davis, William Watts Hart, A Genealogical and Personal History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. https://books.google.com/books?id=-nEHRwRAwxAC&lpg=PA245&vq=kerbach&dq=bucks%20springfield%20pa%20kerbach&pg=PA245#v=snippet&q=kerbach&f=false
• Moyer, Peter - listed as decendent (Will Book A, p71) - in Bucks Co. Will Index; fm Ancestry.com Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993, Bucks County.
• Meyer, Peter (b abt 1721; immigrated to Philadelphia in 1741) - data abstract fm Ancestry.com U.S. and Canada Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
• Meyer, Peter - data abstract, re: land warrant for 100 acres in Bucks Co., PA, dated 10 Jan 1749; fm Ancestry.com Pennsylvania Land Warrants, 1733-1987 .
• Moyer, Robert H - Poe-family GEDCOM file, ca. 1998.
• Pennsylvania, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890 via Ancestry
• Private records of Edmund West, via Ancestry
• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 via Ancestry
• U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s via Ancestry
• Fleming, George T. History of Pittsburgh and Environs (The American Historical Society, New York and Chicago, 1922, Vol. 4, p. 52-53)