Settling Berne's History - Revision history

JElberfeld at 14:07, 6 February 2013

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JElberfeld at 14:06, 6 February 2013

2013-02-06T14:06:27Z

JElberfeld at 14:02, 6 February 2013

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JElberfeld: Created page with "Column Settling Berne's history gement By Harold Miller "Our Heritage," the history of Berne produced by the Town of Berne Bicentennial Commission in 1977, begins: "As nearly ..."

2013-02-06T13:51:48Z

Created page with "Column Settling Berne's history gement By Harold Miller "Our Heritage," the history of Berne produced by the Town of Berne Bicentennial Commission in 1977, begins: "As nearly ..."

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Column
Settling Berne's history gement
By Harold Miller
"Our Heritage," the history of
Berne produced by the Town of
Berne Bicentennial Commission
in 1977, begins: "As nearly as can
be determined, it was 1750 when
Jacob Weidman led a small band
of settlers along an old Indian
trail through the Helderbergs.
Weidman, Ball, Bassler, Deitz,
Hochstrasser, Knieskern, and
Zeh — where or how did they
meet? Probably we shall never
know."
This story of the .settlement of
Berne was basically taken from
"The History of Albany County,
NY," written by Howell and
Tenny in 1886. One difference
between the two versions is that
Howell and Tenny also listed a
Shultes family as traveling with
these earliest arrivals. "Our
Heritage" left the family off the
list because they knew that
Mathias Shultes, the patriarch of
the family, was only 10 years old
at the time. Interestingly enough,
as explained below, he is the only
one on the Howell and Tenny list
that actually arrived with Jacob
Weidman!
A careful study of the genealogy
of these early Berne families
reveals that these early
settlers arrived individually over
a period of more than two
decades. The purpose of this
article is to cite one or two
records for each family, which
led to this conclusion, and to provide
more precise information, if
possible, about when each of
these families actually arrived in
what is now Berne.
In 1710, the British brought
hundreds of Palatine refugees
from Germany to settle their
New World colonies. They were
initially confined to work camps
along the Hudson River, and
made to produce pitch pine tar
to make watertight the ships of
the British navy.
When this project failed in
1712, many of these families
moved to the Schoharie Valley,
where they were weleorred by
the local Mohawks. Among these
first European settlers in Schoharie
were the Knieskerns and
Zehs, some of whose children or
grandchildren later moved :i
few miles east to Berne; so these
two families were already in the
general area long before Jacob
Weidman arrived in 1750.
William Barker, in his "Early
Families of Schoharie," says that
Jacob Weidman was undoubtedly
the Hans Jacob Weidman,
born in Switzerland Oct.22, 1720,
son of Felix, who was unmarried
when he emigrated from Bachs,
Switzerland to America circa
1738 to 1743. Jacob's marriage
record to Elisabetha (Dietz)
Shultes was recorded in 1743 in
Greene County.
Their first three children were
born before 1750 in the Catskill
area, whereas the baptism of
their fourth child was recorded
in Schoharie in 1751. With them,
when they moved to Berne, was
Jacob's 10-year-old stepson,
Mathias Shultes. A deed drawn
up and signed by Jacob Weidman
refers to Mathias as the son
of his wife, Elisabetha.
Jacob Weidman built a milldam
above the falls on Fox
Creek in what is now the hamlet
of Berne. This powered a sawmill
he constructed below the
falls. His son Peter added a
gristmill.
A 1787 Van Rensselaer survey
map shows the house in which
he and the family of his son,
Peter, lived as being on the bank
of the mill pond. The house built
by Jacob Weidman Jr. on Tabor
Road is still lived in by his
descendants.
Weidman may have moved
from Greene County to be
nearer his wife's family. As

evidenced by numerous marriage
and baptism records in the
Schoharie churches, some of her
brothers and sisters had moved
to the area from the Catskill
region as early as 1740.
I believe that the Dietz
brothers initially settled on land
on the east side of a small knoll
half-way between the present
hamlets of Berne and West
Berne, where the Van Rensselaer
survey map shows Johan
Jost Deitz living in 1787. On the
west side was a large beaver
pond formed by a dam on Fox
Creek. Its prominence caused
the area to be called "the Beaverdam."
About 1865, a small log
church was built on the knoll.
This was "The Reformed Protestant
Dutch [German] Church
of the Beaverdam." Today it is
the site of the Berne and Beaverdam
Cemetery.
A study of baptism, marriage
records, and the 1787 map leads
me to conclude that, between
Weidman's mills and the Dietzes,
lived Peter Ball. Peter was 11
years old in 1710 when he and
his parents immigrated with the
other Palatine refugees brought
by the British. His father died of
disease on the sea journey.
Young Peter and his widowed
mother are not listed in the 1716
census of the early settlers of
Schoharie. Because of the intermarriages
between the Ball and
Dietz families, and the baptisms
sponsors of their children, it
suggests that by 1740 Ball had
settled on the flats below Berne
next to the Dietz family.
Two of his children married
his Dietz neighbors. Peter's son,
Johannes, born 1724 in Princetown,
Schenectady County, married
Maria Dietz in 1747,
showing conclusively he was in
the area before Weidman arrived
in 1750. Since there was no
church in the Beaverdam, the
marriage Was recorded in Schoharie.
Although, based on my research,
I have concluded that the
Ball and Dietz (Deitz) families
were living in the Berne area by
1740, undoubtedly no records
will ever be produced to prove
this, or to show where they
actually built their homesteads.
In this short article it is impossible
to present all of documentation
to support my conclusions.
That will have to await
the publication of a detailed
presentation, and lengthy interpretation,
of the supporting
baptismal and marriage records.
Frederick Bassler immigrated
from Basil, Switzerland in 1749
and settled first in Philadelphia.
There, he took as his second wife
the widow Margaret Leip, who
had two sons by her first husband.
Since the 1753 birth of
Frederick Bassler Jr. was recorded
in Philadelphia, the
Bassler family could not have'
arrived at the Beaverdam with
the Weidman family in 1750. In
1758, the Frederick Bassler
family settled in what is now the
Town of Knox. With them were
her two sons, John and George
Leip (Leib), who later settled on
an adjoining farm.
Jacob Hochstrasser was born
in Germany about 1730. When,
in 1775, one of his daughters
married a son of Jacob Weidman,
the family was likely living
just east of the Weidman's lands,
between what are now the hamlets
of Berne and East Berne.
Still, the only Hochstras.sers
shown on the 1787 Van Rensselaer
survey map are Jacob's
sons Paul and Balthazar, living
near what is now East Township,
in the Town of Knox.
Balthazar's 1786 Schenectady
marriage record to Catherine
Achenbach, says he was born in
Germany. Since he was born in
1764, his father could not have
come to Berne with Jacob
Weidman in 1750.
Balthazar's brother Paul was
baptized in 1765 in the Reformed
Church in Albany. Other baptism
records show they lived in
Albany and Guilderland for
several years before moving to
Berne.
The first known map to show
the location of the Beaverdam
community is dated 1757.
Thompson's Lake is to the east of
the settlement. All of the houses
in Beaverdam are located between
Jacob Weidman's house
on his mill pond and where is
now the hamlet of West Berne.
Houses are also shown in
Schoharie and below the
Helderber,, scarpment. The
lack of houses elsewhere on the
Helderberg plateau confirms
that the first settlers in Berne
homesteaded the desirable flatlands
below the present hamlet,
rather than along the top of the
escarpment.
For the first 50 or more years,
the community was called the
Beaverdam. When the town was
organized in 1795 it was named
Bern; there are no earlier records
with this name.
Assuming Jacob Weidman
was still alive at the time, at age
75, he would have been one of
the oldest and most prominent
citizens. He may well have
suggested naming the new town
after the capital of his homeland,
Switzerland.
In summary, the story of
Jacob Weidman leading a small
group of weary settlers to Berne
is apocryphal. We will never
know which family was the
earliest arrival.
It well could have been one of
the other early Berne settlors,
such as Johannes Fischer,
Anthony Engle, or Nicholas
Ecker, all of whom also squatted
on land owned by the Van
Rensselaer family on the flats
between Berne and West Berne.
Euretha W. Stapleton, the
historian for the Town of Berne
at the time of the publication of
"Our Heritage,' wrote in the
foreword: "The editors and
authors of this volume recognize
that a history such as this is
never complete or perfectly accurate.
It is our hope that, in
time, other sources and documents
will be discovered and the
material added to our archives
so that future generations will
benefit."
Now that additional information
is known about when
various early settlers arrived, the
teaching of the history of Berne
in the public school should be
revised to reflect this.

For the genealogy of the early settlers of Berne, Knox, and other Hilltown families, see the Berne Families Genealogy posted on the Berne History Project web site at [www.Bernehistory.org www.Bernehistory.org]

:[[h:Altamont Enterprise|Altamont Enterprise]] - Thursday, November 13, 2003

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 Now that additional information is known about when various early settlers arrived, the teaching of the history of Berne in the public school should be revised to reflect this.
-For the genealogy of the early settlers of Berne, Knox, and other Hilltown families, see the Berne Families Genealogy posted on the Berne History Project web site at [www.Bernehistory.org www.Bernehistory.org]
+For the genealogy of the early settlers of Berne, Knox, and other Hilltown families, see the Berne Families Genealogy posted on the Berne History Project web site at [http://www.Bernehistory.org www.Bernehistory.org]
 :[[h:Altamont Enterprise|Altamont Enterprise]] - Thursday, November 13, 2003

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 Frederick Bassler immigrated from Basil, Switzerland in 1749 and settled first in Philadelphia. There, he took as his second wife the widow Margaret Leip, who had two sons by her first husband. Since the 1753 birth of Frederick Bassler Jr. was recorded in Philadelphia, the Bassler family could not have arrived at the Beaverdam with the Weidman family in 1750. In 1758, the Frederick Bassler family settled in what is now the Town of Knox. With them were her two sons, John and George Leip (Leib), who later settled on an adjoining farm.
-Jacob Hochstrasser was born
+Jacob Hochstrasser was born in Germany about 1730. When, in 1775, one of his daughters married a son of Jacob Weidman, the family was likely living just east of the Weidman's lands, between what are now the hamlets of Berne and East Berne. Still, the only Hochstrassers shown on the 1787 Van Rensselaer survey map are Jacob's sons Paul and Balthazar, living near what is now East Township, in the Town of Knox. Balthazar's 1786 Schenectady marriage record to Catherine Achenbach, says he was born in Germany. Since he was born in 1764, his father could not have come to Berne with Jacob Weidman in 1750.
 in Germany about 1730. When,
-in 1775, one of his daughters
+Balthazar's brother Paul was baptized in 1765 in the Reformed Church in Albany. Other baptism records show they lived in Albany and Guilderland for several years before moving to Berne.
 married a son of Jacob Weidman,
 the family was likely living
-just east of the Weidman's lands,
+The first known map to show the location of the Beaverdam community is dated 1757. Thompson's Lake is to the east of the settlement. All of the houses in Beaverdam are located between Jacob Weidman's house on his mill pond and where is now the hamlet of West Berne.
 between what are now the hamlets
-of Berne and East Berne.
+Houses are also shown in Schoharie and below the Helderberg escarpment. The lack of houses elsewhere on the Helderberg plateau confirms that the first settlers in Berne homesteaded the desirable flatlands below the present hamlet,
-Still, the only Hochstras.sers
+rather than along the top of the escarpment.
 shown on the 1787 Van Rensselaer
-survey map are Jacob's
+For the first 50 or more years, the community was called the Beaverdam. When the town was organized in 1795 it was named Bern; there are no earlier records with this name.
 sons Paul and Balthazar, living
-near what is now East Township,
+Assuming Jacob Weidman was still alive at the time, at age 75, he would have been one of the oldest and most prominent citizens. He may well have suggested naming the new town after the capital of his homeland, Switzerland.
 in the Town of Knox.
-Balthazar's 1786 Schenectady
+In summary, the story of Jacob Weidman leading a small group of weary settlers to Berne is apocryphal. We will never know which family was the earliest arrival. It well could have been one of the other early Berne settlers, such as Johannes Fischer, Anthony Engle, or Nicholas Ecker, all of whom also squatted on land owned by the Van Rensselaer family on the flats between Berne and West Berne.
 marriage record to Catherine
-Achenbach, says he was born in
+Euretha W. Stapleton, the historian for the Town of Berne at the time of the publication of "Our Heritage,' wrote in the foreword: "The editors and authors of this volume recognize that a history such as this is never complete or perfectly accurate. It is our hope that, in time, other sources and documents will be discovered and the material added to our archives so that future generations will benefit."
 Germany. Since he was born in
-, his father could not have
+Now that additional information is known about when various early settlers arrived, the teaching of the history of Berne in the public school should be revised to reflect this.
 For the genealogy of the early settlers of Berne, Knox, and other Hilltown families, see the Berne Families Genealogy posted on the Berne History Project web site at [www.Bernehistory.org www.Bernehistory.org]
 :[[h:Altamont Enterprise|Altamont Enterprise]] - Thursday, November 13, 2003