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Peter Schumacher, of Krisheim
Facts and Events
Peter Schumacher was a former Mennonite who had been converted to the Quaker faith and became prominently identified with the establishment of Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 dead link, in Gencircles.com.
On June 10, 1683, Francis Daniel Pastorius of Somerhausen, Germany, one of the Frankfort Company, sailed from London, reaching Philadelphia on August 20. He was the founder of a colony afterwards called Germantown.
On June 10 (or 11), 1683, Govert Remke, Lenard Arets, Peter Klever (or Kleber), and Jacob Van Bebber, a baker, all Quakers of Crefeldt on the Rhine River who had purchased 1,000 acres of land each from William Penn, went to Rotterdam this day with others (33 in all), then to London, and sailed for America July 24, 1683, in the ship Concord.
They settled on the land they bought from Penn, and other people spoke of the place as "A German Town." Today Germantown is part of the City of Philadelphia -- the six miles of land between Penn's village and this German settlement is now all solid city. During the year 1683, the Friends held their first meeting at the house of man by the name of Kunder in the German colony. The first Friends' Meeting House in Germantown was built in 1686.
In 1685, Peter Schumacher, of a leading family of Kreisheim, came over and settled in the German colony. In 1691, the Germantown people were "naturalized" in the spelling of the names, so that Klever was changed to Clever, and afterwards became Cleaver; Schumacher became Shoemaker.
By 1685, Peter's wife and his brother George had both died. Peter took his family, consisting of son Peter and daughters Mary, Frances & Gertrude, to America. They arrived in 1685 and settled in Germantown, Pa., where Peter died several years later. Another daughter, name unknown, the wife of Dielman Kolb, stayed behind in Germany, as did Peter's brother Arnold.
According to "The Shoemaker Family" by Thomas H. Shoemaker, Peter and his family sailed from London on "Francis & Dorothy" on 8 mo: 14: 1685. The passenger list of that ship contains Peter Schumacher, son Peter, daughter Mary, cousin Sarah and daughters Frances & Gertrude. Peter had signed an agreement with Dirck Shipman of Krefeld before he left Germany, on August 16, 1685. It called for Peter to proceed to Pennsylvania and receive 200 acres from Herman Op den Graeff. He was to erect a dwelling on this land, which he apparently did. Peter died in Germantown in 1707 at 85 years of age.
Peter Jr. married Margaret Op den Graeff on February 26, 1697. They had ten children, including Peter, Daniel, Isaac, John, Samuel and five daughters.
Agenes Schumacher (daughter of Peter Phillip Schumacher and Sarah Hendricks) was born 1652 in Wolfsheim, Palatinate, Pfalz, Germany, and died 07 Feb 1705 in Wolfsheim, Palatinate, Baden, Germany. She married Dielman Kolb on Abt. 1668 in Wolfsheim, Baden, Germany.
- ↑ Hull, William I. (William Isaac). William Penn and the Dutch Quaker migration to Pennsylvania. (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: Swarthmore College, c1935)
407-408.
Dutch and German Settlers in Germantown, 1683-1709
IV. FROM KRISHEIM, WOLFSHEIM AND FLOMBORN
Schumacher, Frances : Peter's daughter.
Schumacher, Gertrud : Peter's daughter.
Schumacher, Maria : Peter's daughter.
Schumacher, Peter (II) : in Germantown, 1685 ; subscribed £4 to the Friends' Meeting-house, 1686 ; justice, burgess ; collected money for the school; * ; built prison and stocks (with Isaac) ; versus Keith ; deed for his land written in Dutch.
Schumacher, Peter, Jr. (III) ; Peter's son ; committee-man, burgess ; collected for the school ; wife was Margit op den Graeff ; +(Peter Shoemaker)
Schumacher, Sarah Hendricks : wife of Peter II.
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[Note of Caution: Others claim that Sarah Hendricks was a cousin and not the wife of Peter (II).]
- Source needed.
The early European followers of Menno Simons banded together to escape religious persecution, and established colonies at strategic points in Central Europe, where the government was tolerant, and they were or less welcome. Peter and George were of these Mennonite families, and it is possible that their roots go back to a small Mennonite colony at Monschau, in the Rhine Province of Germany, just south of Aachen and a few miles easy of the Belgian frontier. (French -`Montjoie; and `Aix'). At Monschau in the year 1597, is found a Henrich Schumacher and his wife and Arndts (Arnold) Henrich and his wife, Dedenborn, (Aptenstucke Staats Archiv Dusseldorf, Julichsberg, 254).
When persecution began in this area, and these Mennonite families began to lose their possession by confiscation, the colony appears to have moved to Dollendorf, near Lowenburg in the Siebengebirge hills on the east bank of the Rhine River, south of Cologne.
It is here at Dollendorf that is found the earliest definite knowledge of Peter and George Shoemaker. The Duke of Julich und Berg in 1652 gave notice that this religious sect must sell their possessions and vacate their land, and he gave them two years to do it. In the Staats Archiv Dusseldorf, Bergische Gerichte - Amt. Lowenberg - 4, and in the Dollendorfer Protocoll von Contracten, year 1655, there came before the rent controller, Agnes, widow of Arnold Schumacher, to state that she appoints Eithum, her son-in-law, as trustee for Peter and George, both of age, and guardian for her minor children:- Arnold, Treinchen (Catherine), and Adelgen (Adele).
This family had sold its possession at Niederdollendorf, including many meadows, vineyards, and lands in and around the Siebengebirge, cooling equipment, stable and furniture to Gerhard von Bonn and his wife, Catherine Benders von Bonn, for 1440 taler. From this money that had to take 300 taler for debts, but the rest was divided among the children. They received free transportation to Mainz. Arnold Shoemaker's widow was Agnes Roesen, and the family estate was from the mother’s not the father's side. Agnes died soon after 1655. Of the minor children mentioned above, Arnold was the son of Arnold and Agnes; Adele was the daughter of Theiss (Mathias) Bonn, son-in-law of Agnes; about Catherine there is a question, although Peter Shoemaker did have a daughter, Catherine, who could have been named for Peter's sister.
From Mainz the family moved to Kriegsheim, near Worms, and it is well known that Peter and George Shoemaker were converted at Kriegsheim about 1659 from the Mennonite to the Quaker faith by William Ames and George Rolfe, missionaries of William Penn. By the year, 1685, Peter's wife and George Shoemaker himself, had both died. Arnold Shoemaker, the younger, third brother of Peter and George, remained a Mennonite, and was still living in Kriegsheim in 1685. There is no reason to believe he ever emigrated to America. A brother-in-law of Peter, George, and Arnold Shoemaker was Mathias Bonn, who was living at Kriegsheim in 1685. Records also speak of a foster son of Peter Shoemaker also at Kriegsheim in the same year - Rohrig Otto, possibly Otto Rohrig.
The preceding material was brought to light and developed through the research of Wilhelm Niepoth and Dr. Walther Risler, both of Crefeld, Germany. (See “From Kreigsheim to Pennsylvania” by Wilhelm Niepoth, Germantown Crier, March 1957.
Peter Shoemaker, widower, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1685 and settled in Germantown with his only son, Peter, Jr., and three daughters:- Mary, Frances, and Gertrude. Another daughter, wife of Dielman Kolb, remained and died in Germany.
NOTE : Care must be observed in working the Peter Shoemaker Chart, prepared some years ago by T. Maxwell Potts. In it, Peter Shoemaker, 3rd, the son of Peter Shoemaker, Jr., is confused with Peter Shoemaker of Reading, Pennsylvania, and the latter allied in turn with John Shoemaker, soon of George of Reading.
The following is included here, though much of the connection at the point noted (***) may not be accurate.
The following is from The Shoemaker Family by Thomas H. Shoemaker “---at the following from the `List of Arrivals' show; `The Francis & Dorothy, from London, Richard Bridgeman, Commander, arrived in Philadelphia, 8 Mo 14th 1685 (old style). Among the passengers were Peter Schumacher, and Peter his son, Mary his daughter, and Sarah his Cousin and Frances and Gertrude his daughters.”
Judge Pennypacker, the Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol IV, p 22, gives Peter's history as follows: “Peter Schumacher, an early Quaker Convert from the Mennonites, is the first person definitely ascertained to have come from Krisheim the little village in the Palatinate to which so much prominence has been given. Fortunately, we know under what auspices he arrived. By an agreement with Dirk Shipman of Crefeld, dated August 16, 1685, he was to proceed with the first good wind to Pennsylvania, and there receive 200 acres from Herman Op den Graeff, on which he should erect a dwelling, and for which he should pay a rent of two rix dollars a year." I think the judge errs when he says Peter was the first person known to have come from Kriegsheim.
There is little doubt Jacob Shoemaker (Schumacher, Sr -1665) came from that village in 1683, also Gerhard Hendricks the same year; of the latter there is no question. The judge has a deed of Peter's written by Pastorius.
Peter Shoemaker, Sen., seems to have been a man of considerable importance in the town. In 1693, he was one of four person who signed the certificate of Samuel Jennings, as a delegate from the Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting to the Yearly Meeting at London.
He died in Germantown in 1707, aged 85 years.
Besides his son, Peter, Jr., and his 3 daughters, Mary, Francis and Gertrude, who accompanied him over, he had two others. The fifth child, a daughter, married Dielman Kolb. She never emigrated. Of this marriage, four of their children became Mennonite ministers; all but two eventually emigrating to this country. The name is usually now spelled Kulp.
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