Person:Mathias Somers (1)

Mathias Sommer was the oldest son of a Freistett innkeeper, also named Matthias Sommer. Matthias Sr. operated an establishment called the Krone, which still stands today, though not as an inn. Matthias Sr. died in 1732, and his widow, Anna Barbara, remarried to Mathaus Haas in 1733, a butcher from a neighboring village of Freudenstadt. It is not known if they had children.

Mathias Sommer, son of the Freistett innkeeper, came to Philadelphia between 1746-1749. His second wife likely died either before or shortly after arrival in Philadelphia. Mathias' younger brothers, Hans Georg, Johannes, and Martin, arrived in Philadelphia in 1752. In both Freistett and Philadelphia, the Sommer brothers can be found in the Lutheran church records. Before his departure to Nova Scotia, Mathias was a trustee of the St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Barren Hill (Philadelphia area).

In 1766, Mathias Sommer was the first to sign what is known as the Articles of Agreement with John Hughes, a Philadelphia merchant who was part of a land grant company that recruited settlers for Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, the settlers did not immediately have all the provisions they needed, and Mathias did not survive through the first winter after arrival. His widow, Christiana, remarried to another settler, Jacob Ricker, and there were no known children from that marriage. Jacob Ricker, however, represented the Sommer survivors during legal proceedings with the government to retain Mathias Sommer's family claim on the 2100 acres originally promised by the Philadelphia proprietors. A 1792 deed has recently been discovered showing where Mathias' son, Andrew (Andreas), registered his share of 1050 acres with the new colonial government of New Brunswick.

1. ↑ Information from William Oulton, Christianna Lake, BC.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Evangelische Kirche Freistett, Kirchenbuch, 1621-1962.

   microfilms available at Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; originals available from archives in Rheinau, Baden, Germany

3.   The Search of Heinrich Stief, A Genealogist on the Loose by Les Bowser
   2001.

   In depth research all about the settlers of Monckton Township

4.   The Settlers of Monckton Township by Les Bowser
   2016.

   A compilation of articles previously published in Generations, a journal of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society

5.   Establishing the German Origins of Mathias Sommer, Settler of Monckton Township by Mary Ann Schaefer
   2017.

   available at http://www.yesteryours.net/mann/docs/MathiasMoncton21.pdf.
   A shortened version was published by Generations, a journal of New Brunswick Genealogical Society (Summer 2017, Vol. 39, No. 2, p. 3)