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The Hissem-Montague Family  |
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The Hissem-Montague Family |
Four Welker daughters married into the Thomas Hissom family. Abner Hissem (of Thomas) married Mary Welker, the daughter of Michael Welker and Elizabeth Wagoner. Jesse Hissam (of David) married Christine Welker, probably also the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Welker. John and Levi Hissem [Hysham] (of Thomas) married their nieces, Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of Jacob Welker.
The earliest ancestors below are based on the research of Ken Hinds. Most of the rest of the information comes from "George Welker, The Miller of New Goshenhoppen" by Kenneth H. Hallman and H. E. Faulk in the Bulletin of the Historical Socienty of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, David Patrick Parker's "The Parker Family History" and "One Parker Family."
(16) Wilhelm Welker (1592)Of Germany. He married Agnes Sheffold.
(17) Johannes Welker (c1610)He was born in about 1610 in Balingen, Wurttemberg, Germany. His wife was Elizabeth.
(18) Hans Martin Welker (1665)Or Welcker. He was born on 6 September 1665 in Balingen, Wurttemberg, Germany. Of the Palatinate. He married Margaretha Werner. The father of Johannes Georg Welker and Johann Valentine Welker. He died on 2 July 1693 in Germany.
(19) Johannes Georg Welker (1697)Also as Welcker, Wellker and Wigler. Johannes George, the son of Hans Martin Welker and Margaretha Werner, was born on 6 February 1697 in Meckesheim, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Wurttemberg, in the Palatine, Germany - from "Eighteenth Century Emigrants from German-Speaking Lands to North America" by Annette K. Burgert.
Johannes first married Anna Maria Fabian on 18 February 1721, but she died soon thereafter, on 12 December 1721. On 9 [7] June 1722 Johannes married Anna Margaretha Zimmerman. She was born on 3 April 1704 in Germany - from her tombstone. Her parents were Andreas Zimmerman and Anna Elisabetha Freyburger of Meckesheim, Baden, Germany.
The Welkers would come to America as a later part of the Palatinate emigration.
| The Palatine Emigration
In the late 17th century Louis XIV's France was waging war throughout the Palatine, his goal being to push the French kingdom's borders out to the Rhine. Religious conflicts between a Protestant population and a Catholic ruler followed. Calvinists, Lutherans and French Hugenots who refused to convert to Catholicism, suffered greatly at Louis' hand. Finally, in the winter of 1708, record low temperatures froze the Rhine River and closed this waterway for five weeks. Grapevines died, cattle froze, and any wine from previous harvests was ruined. Along with two previous years of crop failure, there was no immediate recovery in sight. For 30 years leading up to this point, the Germans of the Palatine had endured war, religious persecution and now potential starvation and, for many, this was the final blow. The Reverend Joshua Von Kochertal, a Palatine, was the moving force behind the first Palantine emigration to America. As early as 1704 he went to London to negotiate transportation for the Palatines out of their war-ravaged country. England under William and Mary had taken the lead in opposing Louis XIV's aggressive plans and in supporting the Protestant cause. Queen Anne had continued these policies.
In 1709, Britain passed a naturalization act that allowed any foreigner who took oaths professing to be a Protestant and pledging allegiance to the British government would be immediately naturalized and have all privileges held by English-born citizens for the cost of a shilling. These offers brought opportunities for a new life. Under Queen Anne's direction, land speculators who had obtained land patents in the colonies sent agents to the Palatines with offers of forty acres of land, plus paid transportaiton to the colonies and maintenance. In addition to the goal of supporting these Protestants, resettling these emigrants to the New York colony would provide a buffer against the French in Canada. The emigration took place via England, and at one point 14,000 German emigrants were camped in Britain in Blackheath, Greenwich Heath and other sites near London in appalling conditions. |
The Palatinate Germans emigrated to the New York colony from 1710 to 1722. However, poor treatment there caused many to migrate to Pennsylvania and for follow-on emigration to occurr through Philadelphia.
About five years after marrying, Johannes and Margaretha emigrated with a large company of Palantines to America, arriving from Rotterdam at the port of Philadelphia on the WILLIAM & SARAH, William Hill master, on 18 September 1727 - from "A list of ye Palatine Passengers Imported in ye Ship William and Sarah." The Welker surname was rendered as Wigler.
"Ship William and SarahThe ship list tells us that there were only two persons in the Welker party onboard the WILLIAM & SARAH, so no children were with them. Johannes' signature was on one of the lists, written as 'Hans George Welcker.' Margaretha's father, Andreas Zimmerman was also onboard, listed just before 'Hans Wigler.'
Rotterdam to Philadelphia
18 September 1727
DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA - PORT OF PHILDELPHIA
A list of ye Palatine Passengers Imported in ye Ship William and Sarah, Will'm Hill, Mast'r, from Rotterdam. Phlid'a ye 18 Sept'bre, 1727.
. . .
Andrw Simmerman*
Hans Jerrick Wigler**" - from Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
Beginning with an Act of the Provincial Council in 1727 and continuing up until the Revolutionary War, the Province of Pennsylvania required all immigrants to swear to "Oaths of Allegiance and Abjuration." The Welkers were the first shipload of colonists to arrive in Pennsylvania under this new law compelling all males over 16 years of age to register and subscribe to an "Oath of Allegiance" to the English King.
"At a meeting of the Board of the Provincial Council, held at the Court House in Philadelphia, Sept. 21, 1727, one hundred and nine Palatines appeared, who, with their families, numbered about four hundred persons. These were imported into the Province in the ship William and Sarah, William Hill, Master, from Rotterdam, last from Dover, England, as by clearance from the officers of His Majesty's customs there. The said Master being asked if he had any license from the Court of Great Britain for transporting those people, and what their intentions were in coming hither, said that he had no license or allowance for their transportation other than the above clearance, and that he believed they designed to settle in this Province.The leader of this group of colonists was a German Reformed Church minister, Reverend George Michael Weiss.
All male persons above the age of sixteen did repeat and subscribe their names, or made their mark, to the following Declaration:
We subscribers, natives and late inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and places adjacent, having transported ourselves and families into this Province of Pennsylvania, a colony subject to the crown of Great Britain, in hopes and expectation of finding a retreat and peaceable settlement therein, Do solemnly promise and engage, that we will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His present MAJESTY, KING GEORGE THE SECOND, and His successors, kings of Great Britain, and will be faithful to the proprietor of this Province; and that we will demean ourselves peaceably to all His said Majesty's subjects, and strictly observe and conform to the Laws of England and of this Province, to the utmost of our power and the best of our understanding.
[signed]
G. M. Weis, V.D.M.
. . .
Hans Michael Zimmerman [eldest son of Andreas]
. . .
Hans Georg Welcker"
The Palatine emigrants quickly moved out of Philadelphia into what is today Montgomery county, which is just northwest of Philadelphia county. At the time Philadephia county subsumed both regions.
"Upon their arrival in Philadelphia in the new country of America, Dominie Weiss almost immediately wended his way up into the Perkiomen region, and for a while officiated there as pastor of the German Reformed churches then being organized in that part of Philadelphia County. Many of this boatload of families followed the minister, with their families, into the new territory--then better known as the New Goshenhoppen Region--became settlers there, and identified themselves with the new churches that were then being organized there. Among these were the Welkers."
| The Perkiomen Valley
The Perkiomen creek flows from north to south and feeds the Schuykill river, entering that river north of Philadelphia. The river valley is comprised of rich farmland and the region has long supplied the needs of that city. During the British occupation of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War American troops camped along the Perkiomen, threatening the city. General Howe occupied Germantown to block their approach to Philadephia. Montgomery County was formed in 1784 from land taken from Philadelphia county. The original settlers came from Germany and Holland in the early 18th century. The town of New Goshenhoppen and Upper Hanover township are in the extreme northern end of Montgomery county. See also the "History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Illustrated."  |
"John George Welker alone first wended his way out of the city into the country--into the wilderness--into the Perkiomen region--finally locating lands there for settlement. These lands bordered the Perkiomen and Branch Creeks, in Upper Hanover Township, Philadelphia County, making the location now but a short distance northwest of the borough of Pennsburg, Montgomery County. Thither his family followed, with their few worldly possessions, and there together they began life in America as colonists."
"As newcomers they found their life in the new country at first varied and interesting and at times most trying and pathetic. It is said their first shelter consisted merely of dense branches of spreading trees. This was their sole protection until an humble hut could be erected of hewed logs of the vast forests there abounding at the time. The white people thereabouts were few, living far apart, but their nearest neighbors were the red men, or Indians. These natives were friendly to the settlers, and as neighbors they got along together splendidly, for the Indians kept away from the whites, remaining along the streams of water, and up in the hills among the rocks." Note that in these early years relations with the Indians were good based on the fair-dealing followed by William Penn.
"The Welkers' condition bettered concomitant with the incoming settlers from Europe who were pouring into America at this time. They had, too, at first, through strenuous labor, to clear these lands of their dense growths for cultivation, and tilled the soil for their livelihood, and thus they lived their backwoods life in a modest and humble way. The family were thrifty and provident from the beginning, and in time Hans [Johannes] thrived, became well to do and quite a landowner, and was one of the most prosperous and public-spirited colonists there found."
A list of the congregation of the New Goshenhoppen Reformed church of 1731 lists George Welker amongst other WILLIAM & SARAH arrivals.
Johannes, a miller by trade, built a mill on Perkiomen near the outlet of the West Branch creek, on the family homestead in Upper Hanover township. This mill was to be managed by three generations of Welkers. Johannes was naturalized at Philadelphia on 24 September 1741.
Johannes was made guardian of Joseph Fabian, perhaps a relative of Johannes' first wife.
"Pennsylvanische Berichte, 16 Apr. 1749:
Joseph Fabian, 15 y. old, has been indentured to a trade three times by his guardian, Georg Welcker [q.v.], Goshenhoppen (Montgomery Co.), but ran away each time." - from "Eighteenth Century Emigrants from German-Speaking Lands to North America" by Annette K. Burgert
Johannes and Margaret died within ten days of each other; Margaret on 27 February 1782 and Johannes on 8 March 1782. They were buried in the Welcker plot of the old cemetery at New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church in East Greenville. While George wrote a will, it has been lost and was perhaps never signed.
"1782, February. Old Mrs. Welker died on the 27th and was buried on March 1st. She was nearly 78 years old, less 1 month.
1782, March 6. Wrote old George Welker's will.
Old Hans George Welker died at 3 o'clock in the afternoon on (March) 8th and was buried on the 10th. He was 85 years old." - from the diary of David Schultze
The children of Hans Welker and Anna Zimmerman were,
(20) Johann Jacob Welker, died young
(20) Dietrich Welker
(20) George Welker
(20) Susanna Welker
(20) Michael Welker (1731)
(20) Margaret Welker
(20) Johannes Welker
(20) Jacob Welker
Apparently there was a first son, born on 3 December 1725, who died young [note the Johannes below]. He would have been born in Germany.
(20) Dietrich Welker (1728)He was born in 1728 in Perkiomen. He was married Sarah DeHaven in November 1747 in the New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church. He died in April 1786. His only child, Margaret, married William Rittenhouse.
(20) George Welker (1729)He was born on 14 November 1729 in Perkiomen. He was a miller like his father. He married Margaret Erb in 1790. Considering this late date, he may have had an earlier marriage. He died on 4 May 1812 in Perkiomen. His sons were George and John.
(20) Maria Susanna Welker (1731)She was born on 17 August 1731 in Perkiomen. She married Benedict Swope or Schwob on 8 October 1751. She died in March 1795.
(20) Margaret Welker (1736)She was born in 1736 in Perkiomen. She married Peter Pennebaker on 20 June 1772.
(20) Johannes Welker (1741)He was born on 30 August 1741 in Perkiomen. A Johan Jacob Welker of Pennsylvania, the son of Johan Georg Welker, moved to North Carolina with his two sons, Jacob and Leonard.
(20) Jacob Welker (1746)He was born on 27 March 1746 in Perkiomen. He was also a miller. He married Susanna Kurr. He died on 17 July 1832 in Perkiomen. Their children were Anna Maria (12 March 1769), George (9 May 1771), Jacob (7 September 1772), Susanna (2 October 1775), John (5 August 1778), and Margaret (c1780).
(20) Michael Welker (1731)Michael, the son of Johannes George Welker and Anna Margaret Zimmerman, was born in about 1731, or perhaps 1733, in Perkiomen, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He married first Anna Marie Reed, the daughter of Philip Reed and Veronica Bercky, in 1752 in the New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church. She was born in 1733.
Michael was a farmer and later fought in the Revolutionary War. He successively owned two portions of his father's farm.
"As the children of the elder Welker grew to man and womanhood, their parents did as was the custom of many of those early and more thrifty settlers, that is they provided the children upon their maturity and marriage with a "start" by giving them a farm and other aid and assistance essential for their betterment, comfort and happiness. Like their parents, these children, too, became thrifty, prospered, and were exemplary, influential and public-spirited in their neighborhood.
In time, to their son Michael Welker, the parents deeded a farm of one hundred and fifty acres of land with improvements "for love and affection." It was part of the old "Welgar" homestead. The title of conveyance was not given him until March 2, 1767, although the son for years previous was in possession and occupied the farm.
The conveyance of these lands from parents to son carried with it several perpetual rights, privileges and restrictions. We learn from the deed of conveyance that the homestead farm was divided into two tracts of land by Perkiomen Creek, and that a mill race, leading to the Welker grist and saw mill, ran through Michael Welker's part of the land, or farm. Among the rights reserved for this son were:--"Perpetual benefit of water from the mill race for house use; free access for obtaining the same; at the proper season of the year the privilege of running the water from the mill race for watering the meadows; at mowing time the right of opening the flood gates of the dam for draining the overflow, etc.
The restrictions included were that "Michael Welker forever be restrained from building a mill or mill dam on his premises; his brother George (the miller) be allowed the privilege of fowling and fishing in about the waters if necessary; to obtain material and conveying it over his property for the repairing of the dam; the said mills and lands to have for all time an open road to and from the King's highway, etc."
Michael Welker owned the farm until December 21, 1789. He then conveyed it for a consideration to his brother, Jacob Welker, also a miller. In the same year Michael Welker bought another farm adjoining from William and Margaret (Welker) Rittenhouse, heirs of his older brother, Dieterick Welker, deceased. After a short ownership of this property, Michael Welker sold it for a consideration to Peter Heist, a neighboring wheelwright. Michael Welker's name then disappeared from the Upper Hanover Township assessment books; apparently he had removed from the township."
Anna Maria Reed, Michael's first wife, had died on 17 May 1756, perhaps during the birth of her only child, Jacob, though this seems late for a first child.
"After the decease of his wife, Anna Maria Reed, Michael Welker seems to have lived an unsettled and wandering life. At times we find him living on his farm in Upper Hanover Township and at other times we find him living elsewhere. It is said that he in this interval followed the life of a frontiersman--was a hunter and trapper--and migrated into other parts of the province, to such places where his vocation would yield better results. This wandering life led him into the extreme western part of Pennsylvania, into Westmoreland County, where he seems temporarily to have settled. As a settler he took up unseated lands there in the neighborhood of the home of his son, in Hempfield Township. The assessment books of Upper Hanover Township during this period of his life enumerate him as a "farmer," then as a "saddler," then as a "hunter," and during his protracted absence from Montgomery County his farm is recorded therein as an "estate," etc.
At the time of the American Revolution Michael Welker was still living in Upper Hanover Township. We find him there associated with this township's militia. He served as a Private in the 4th battalion, 1st company, 6th class in Captain Siegfried's Company - from the Pennsylvania Archives VI series, volume I, page 786. Also as a Private in Captain Harry Boyer's company - from the Pennsylvania Archives VI series, volume I, page 768. Also as a member of Captain Lower's company and, lastly, as a member of Captain Mauerer's Company, Upper Hanover Township, Philadelphia County Militia."
About 1780, while in Upper Hanover Township, Michael Welker again married, this time to a widow named Elizabeth Wagoner, her maiden name is unknown. Soon after he moved west to Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. There for some years he owned lands of considerable extent, near those of his son, Jacob Welker.
"In this new country Michael Welker became quite a man of affairs, and was prosperous in this world's means. He died there in 1799, leaving a good-sized estate. A widow and seven children survived. The children by the second wife were Michael, Henry, Elizabeth, Catharine, Mary,** Susanna, and Christiana.
Elizabeth (Wagoner) Welker several years after her husband's death again married, and her third husband was one George Smith, a widower, with a family of children, who resided in Hempfield Township. Shortly after their marriage the Smith family, with the Welker children, moved over into Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. There this family lived and farmed until the Welker children arrived at their majority. These children then married; most of them removed to Stark County, Ohio, settling on farms near the county seat town of Canton. The Welkers of these families are numerously found thereabouts today, and are active, influential and thrifty in all walks of life."
Elizabeth died before 1830.
Michael's children with Anna Maria Reed were,
(21) Jacob Welker (1756)
Michael's children with Elizabeth Wagoner were,
(21) Michael Welker (c1781-1785)
(21) Mary Welker (c1782)
(21) Henry Welker (c1784)
(21) Elizabeth Welker (c1785)
(21) Catharine Welker (c1787)
(21) Susanna Welker (c1788)
(21) Christiana Welker (c1790)
Also as Welcker. Jacob, the only child of Michael Welker and his first wife, Anna Marie Reed, was born in May 1756 in Upper Hanover township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. His mother probably died in child birth. His father became something of a frontiersman after this event, abandoning his son to the care of the child's grandparents and others of the family for long periods.
"Jacob was given a liberal education for those days, reared as a farmer, but learned the milling trade with his uncles, George and Jacob Welker. They at the time owned and operated a flouring, grist and saw mill, erected on the old Welker homestead farm, abutting that of their father, on Perkiomen Creek. It seems when still a young man Jacob Welker drifted from his home, westward, far into the frontier country of the province, and finally settled in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. There he took up new lands and bought other property, and identified himself with this new country.Like his father, the son, too, became a traveller, hunter and trapper, and roamed the country in quest of game and pelts, and it was this desire that eventually led him to the western wild or frontier part of Pennsylvania. He seems to have been so pleased with this new country and its opportunities that he determined finally to locate there. As early as 1773 we find him taking up unseated lands, and settling there as the records show.
It is said Jacob Welker at first built for himself a modest cabin of logs, and gradually cleared the land of its timber for cultivation. First he farmed in a meagre way, and hunted and trapped in season. The country thereabouts was wild and abounded in game. The Big Sewickley Creek flowed through his lands. As the new country was settled by incoming colonists, to meet their wants he built on the banks of this creek a flouring, grist and saw mill. For many years at this stand he supplied their needs in these lines, and conducted his enterprises with profit and success.
On a recent visit by the writer to this place, in the fall of 1926, he could learn nothing as to the exact whereabouts of these industries of Jacob Welker on Sewickley Creek, except that they were located on this stream, and not far distant from the present village of Armbrust. The old people have gone from the neighborhood, and at present a new generation of inhabitants are living there.
The coal mining and coke industries thereabouts have wrought changes and brought a transformation producing conditions that never existed in earlier days. A newer element of individuality of a different nationality has come to replace the old, and the newcomers know little or nothing of the past.
In his time Jacob Welker owned several fine farms thereabouts. He lived in this neighborhood as the other colonists lived until his death. As the new country was settled and improved, he reared a large family of children, and by thrift and industry progressed and prospered and became well to do for these earlier days. During his ownership his farm and mills were better known as "Jacob's Hall."
Jacob Welker seemed to have been imbued with the same martial spirit that characterized his father. Even before the Revolutionary War, during the colonial period, as early as 1774, the time of the formation of the new county of Westmoreland, we find him a soldier in the colonial service, to sustain Pennsylvania's rights to its lands, in what was then known as the "Dunmore war."(*) These troops also did service in the Indian wars during pre-Revolutionary times, and later in the Revolutionary War period.
In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book, No. 3, pg. 241, there is recorded a deed for land from "Jacob Wilker to Eli Coulter." It is dated "July 26, 1787," and recorded "Jan. 22, 1798." It is for a tract of 100 acres of land, in Hempfield Township, "situate on the Branch of Turtle Creek, adjoining General Forb's Road," and the receipt for the money is signed "Welker" not Wilker, as above. This land was actually purchased by Jacob Welker on 8 June 1773 making it one of the earlies land transactions in Westmoreland County.
Jacob Welker married Rosanna Hartman in about 1798 in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county. She was born 10 August 1776 in Hempfield township. Jacob Welker had postponed marriage until quite late in his life and then married a woman much his junior. This explains why his children were so young when he died.
| The Hartman Family
The Hartmans may have been part of the Catholic family who emigrated from Goshenhoppen, in Berks county, to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Five Catholic families migrated to Westmoreland County and founded the church at St. Vincent's called Sportsmans Hall. These were the families of Patrick Griffin, Philip Hartman (1725-1809), John Tapper and Philip Freeman who moved west between 1787 and 1790. "PHILIP HARTMAN, a native of Holland, settled near Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, prior to the Revolution. He enlisted in Colonel OGLE'S regiment, of the Pennsylvania Line, and served throughout the struggle for independence. His brother Michael also served in the Continental army, and subsequently settled in Manor township, Armstrong county. Prior to 1796 Philip HARTMAN came to what is now Oakland township, Butler county, and took up 200 acres of land, upon which he lived for several years, dying in Armstrong county. His family consisted of the following children: James; William; Sarah, who married Richard CONNELL; Kate, who became the wife of James COCHRAN; Mary, who married Edward BOLAND; Margaret, who married John BELL, and Elizabeth. The family were adherents of the Catholic church."Philip's wife was Eva - son William (1796). Philip's brother was Michael Hartman. The following are some Hartman's from the Minisink: "Hundreds fell victims to the relentlessly cruel savage, along the Blue Mountains, south and north of them and along the Susquehanna, as far north as Penn's Creek, from 1754-1763, and even at a later period. Among the massacred were many Germans more than three hundred in all. Germans massacred, north of the Blue "Mountain, within Monroe county, among others, were: Guldin, Hoth, or Hutli, Bomper, Vanaken, Vanflor, Schnell, Hartman, Hage, Brundich . . ." - From "A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand German, Swiss, Duthc, French and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776" |
Jacob Welker's Will:
"First--I devise my dwelling and plantation unto my son Michael Welker on the following conditions:--By him paying to his sisters and brothers out of the same the following named sums, to-wit: In four months after my decease, he pays the sum of $14.25 to my son John Welker, and in four months after that payment the like sum to my son Samuel; and in four months after that the like sum to my daughter Polly intermarried to Levy Hissom; and in four months after that payment the like sum to my daughter Bessie intermarried with John Hissom; and the like sum to my daughter Nancy; in four months after that payment a like sum to my daughter Sophia; in four months after that payment a like sum to my daughter Catharine; and in three years after my decease Fifty dollars to my son Jacob Welker.Jacob died in June 1836 and was buried in Feightner's [Fightner] cemetery in Hempfield township. Rosanna died on 14 November 1867 and was buried in the same place."Second--It is my will that my beloved wife Rosana live with my son Michael Welker, during her natural life-time, or, so long as she remains my widow in my dwelling house, and my said son Michael in addition to the above named sums (of money) he is to pay to the rest of my sons and daughters, he is to provide for my beloved wife Rosana all necessaries for life, both in health and sickness, and all necessary wearing apparel if required, and keep one cow and three sheep along with his own on the place and find sufficient feed for the same; and find sufficient fuel ready chopped for her during her lifetime, so long as she remains my widow. If my son Michael Welker comply with my wishes in paying the aforesaid sum (of money) as directed to each and keep my beloved wife as directed, He is to have and hold my said Dwelling and Plantation, situated in Hempfield Township, in the County of Westmoreland, to him and his heirs and assigns forever.
"Third: I devise and bequeath to my beloved wife Rosana her best bedsteads, and necessary bedding, one cow, 3 sheep, one hog, to have her choice out of the stock, one spinning wheel, one reel, her own clothing, the chest with three drawers, the cupboard with glass doors, one table, and two chairs, and one prayer book, and one catechism, and as much kitchen furniture as she needs for her use, and to all as above named at her own disposal at her death: And further I will one bed and bedding to my daughter Sophia for her use, and as to the residue of my personal estate of whatsover kind the same may be. I direct my Executors to collect all of my outstanding debts, dues and demands and from the presents arising from my personal estate, pay all my just debts as aforesaid. I direct my executors to divide the same into eight equal shares and give and devise two shares thereof to my son John, and one share thereof to my son Samuel, one share to my daughter Polly, and one share to my daughter Betsy, and one share to my daughter Nancy, and one share thereof to my daughter Sophia, and one share thereof to my daughter Catharine, to be paid to them by my executors, after the estate is settled, &c. And further it is my will and desire that my executors hereinafter named as soon as David Ruff has complied with the covenants of an article of agreement I made with him that they make and execute a Deed of Conveyance for the land I have sold him described in said agreement, which agreement is in the hands of G. Mechling, esquire.
"Lastly; I nominate, constitute and appoint George Mechling, esq., and my son Jacob Welker, both of Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, to be my Executors of this my last will and testament, and revoke all former wills heretofore made.
"In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Eleventh of January, 1833.
Jacob Welker [L. S.]
"Signed and sealed in the presence of us:--
John Shellenberger
Thomas Monroe.
"Proved Feb. 11, 1834."
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book, No. 2, page 300.
Jacob's children were,
(22) Jacob Welker
(22) John P. Welker (1802)
(22) Michael Welker (1803)
(22) Samuel Welker (1807)
(22) Mary Welker (c1807)
(22) Elizabeth Welker (c1809)
(22) Ann Nancy Welker (1811)
(22) Sophia Welker (1815)br>
(22) Catherine Welker (1821)
He was born on 17 September 1801. In 1852 he moved to Virginia.
(22) John Welker (1803)He was born on 18 October 1803. The twin of Michael. He first married Katie and second married Julia Ann Lewis. He died on 6 December 1881 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania.
(22) Michael Welker (1803)He was born on 18 October 1803. The twin of John.
(22) Samuel Welker (c1805)He was born in about 1805. He married Ruth Monroe. He died on 8 July 1895 in Westmorland county.
(22) Mary Welker (c1807)She was born in about 1807. Also called Polly. She married Levi Hissem, the son of Thomas Hissom and Mary Parker. They "removed to the West; there died and left a family of descendants; farmers." I believe they are the family that removed to Missouri.
(22) Elizabeth Welker (c1809)She was born in about 1809. Also called Bessie. She married John Hissem, the son of Thomas Hissom and Mary Parker." Some time after their marriage he removed with his family to the state of Iowa; there died and left children." That quotation is, unfortunately, untrue. This, I believe, is a confusion with the John Hissam/Hysham family of Iowa, descendants of John's brother, Thomas Hissam. Our John Hissem, or perhaps just his children, moved to Stark county, Ohio. He had at least three children, Eliza Jane (Yarger), Samuel and John. The latter two had no children.
(22) Ann Nancy Welker (1811)She was born on 27 September 1811. She married Frederick Shaff. She died on 3 January 1901 in Greensburg, Westmorland county.
(22) Sophia Welker (1815)She was born on 2 March 1815. She married Abram Hudskins.
(22) Catherine Welker (1821)She was born on 2 January 1821.
(21) Michael Welker (c1781-1785)A child of Michael and Elizabeth Wagoner; that couple married in about 1780, hence the 1781 birth date. He may have been born later, in 1785 in Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He moved to Stark county, Ohio with his brother, Henry, and married Christina Wagoner. I wonder if she was a relative of Michael's mother. Michael died before 1850.
(21) Mary Welker (1782)Mary Barbara Welker married Abner Hissem in 1804. The history of Westmoreland county, cited above, gives her name as Walker. She was born on 28 January 1782 in Westmoreland county, the daughter of Michael Welker and his second wife, Elizabeth Wagoner. Mary died on 22 August 1858. She was the aunt of the wives of Levi and John Hissem.
(21) Henry Welker (c1784)A child of Michael and Elizabeth Wagoner. He moved to Stark county, Ohio, as did many of the Hissom family. He married Osee Price on 3 October 1811. He died on 20 September 1827 in Stark county.
(21) Elizabeth Welker (c1785)A child of Michael and Elizabeth Wagoner.
(21) Catherine Welker (c1787)A child of Michael and Elizabeth Wagoner.
(21) Susanna Welker (c1788).A child of Michael and Elizabeth Wagoner. She married David Kimmel.
(21) Christiana Welker (c1787-1799)A child of Michael Welker and Elizabeth Wagoner per the Historical Society of Montgomery County, mentioned above, and The Reed Family History. I don't know when Christiana was born, but her parents married in about 1780 and she was the seventh child born, so she could not have been born any earlier that 1787 (tough work to have one child a year) and more likely she was born later. However, her father died in 1799, so not later than that. I should note that most sites claim she was born in 1786.
I believe that she married Jesse Hissam (of David). I base this on the death certificate of Eleanor Hissem Lee which lists her parents as Jessy [sic] Hissem and Christine Welker. The informant for this was her brother, Abner. Also, so many other Welker daughters married Hissam boys while living in Hempfield township. Christiana's sister, Mary, married Abner Hissam and two daughters of their brother, Jacob Welker, married Abner's younger brothers, Levi and John. This also, of course, makes it more likely that Jesse was the son of Thomas, not David, Hissam.
In 1706 Reverend Kochertal published a pamphlet in which he recommended South Carolina as a favorable site for German colonization. He later petitioned Queen Anne to permit 60 Palantines then with him to sail for one of the British colonies in North America. "We humbly take leave to represent," he wrote to the London Board of Trade, "that they are very necessitous and in the utmost want, not havlng at present anything to subsist themselves: that they have been rendered to this by the ravages committed by the French in the Lower Palatinate, where they lost all they had." On 28 April 1708, permission was granted Kocherthal and his 53 Paletine refugees to sail for America. They founded the town Newburgh, on the Hudson.