TULPEHOCKEN 300th ANNIVERSARY TRIP - Chapter Two - July 25, 2023

 SERENDIPITY AND MORE COUSINS

Kansas Girl in a Pennsylvania Sunflower Field

Tuesday, July 25

I built an extra day into our schedule in case we had any travel delays before our bus trip, so today was open for spur of the moment adventures. I suggested that we drive to Robeson Township to pay our respects to two of our paternal Quaker ancestors who are buried in the Robeson Monthly Meeting Burial Ground between Plowville and Scarlets Mill. We took the scenic route across thirty miles of rural landscapes spanning the counties of Lebanon, Lancaster and Berks, passing through the historic towns of Schaefferstown, Kleinefeltersville and Cocalico. We were rewarded with stunning vistas of pristine farmsteads, quaint homes lining the streets of the villages, dense forests, and verdant fields of corn, soybeans and freshly-baled hay.

A Reminder of My First Job as a Hybrid Corn "Detasseler" in 1971!

This signs in this field brought back memories of my first “job” as a hybrid corn “detassler” in 1971. I rode to cornfields in the bed of a farm truck and was paid to pull the tassels from cornstalks so the plants could be selectively hybridized. It was a terrible job!  

A Beautiful "Bank Barn" Rebuilt in 1936

Another Building on the Same Farm

The Farmhouse

We arrived at the walled burial ground nestled next to occupied residences and parked in a graveled space near the graveyard. The meeting house was demolished long ago and all the Quaker property except the cemetery was sold to private owners. There was a dirt path to the walled space, but I wasn’t keen on driving a rental car down the narrow path. We had just exited the car when a grumpy lady across the street asked us to move the car. Lacking other options, we politely obeyed and parked in another private driveway across the street where no one appeared to be at home. 

Robeson Friends Monthly Meeting Cemetery

2890 Plow Road, Birdsboro, PA

Entrance to Robeson Friends Monthly Meeting Cemetery

We walked down the path to the entrance and got our first glimpse of the cemetery. It was a large area, but most of the ground was open space lacking any visible grave markers. This was no surprise because I knew my sixth-great-grandparents, Owen and Sarah Embree Humphrey, do not have marked stones to designate their resting place. They were buried in 1790 and 1795 respectively, when Friends burial grounds were simple fields of unmarked stone. Early Quakers eschewed anything hinting of position or material wealth, even in death. Headstones were considered a display of vanity. Gradually over time, restrictions were lifted, and small inscribed stones were permitted. To add to the mystery of their burial places, Quakers were not buried in family groups. Rather, interments were usually made in chronological order where space was available.

Entrance to the Walled Graveyard

The grounds were covered in vegetation camouflaging a minefield of poison ivy! I braved the challenge and tiptoed through the ankle-high weeds hoping I would emerge unscathed. In hindsight, I probably should have been worried about ticks, too! The reason for the unkempt condition of the cemetery was soon apparent. Many field stones, some with etched initials, were hidden by the overgrowth, making it impossible to mow the grounds without damaging the stones or mowing equipment. 

Fieldstones Etched with Initials

Small Headstones with Inscriptions

The Embree and Humphrey families were well documented in both meticulous Quaker records and in Colonial civil records. Sarah Embree’s grandparents were in Connecticut Colony as early as 1649, when one of their children’s births was recorded. Robert, her grandfather, was born in England in about 1621. Her parents were listed in Quaker meeting minutes in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, by 1711, where Sarah was born in 1715. The family moved to Pennsylvania in the verge of the Abington Meeting in 1725 where they received “relief” from the church in 1731 when they were afflicted with smallpox. Sarah first married John Hughes but was widowed at age twenty-one in 1736. She married Owen Humphrey in Marion in 1738. The Embrees and Humphreys moved to the Berks County area in 1740, although the present county was not established until 1752.

Owen Humphrey’s uncle John was one of the first Quakers to emigrate to Pennsylvania from Wales in the 1680s. He purchased 312 acres of land in Merion in 1683. Owen’s father, Benjamin, inherited more than 200 acres of land in Haverford from John where Bryn Mawr now stands. Benjamin was also a joint owner of the Blue Anchor, the first public house (hotel and tavern) in Philadelphia. Both family’s roles in American history prompted me to take the time to pay my respects to Owen and Sarah even though I don’t know the exact place they were buried in the cemetery. 

One of the Cemetery Walls

Grave of a Lincoln Family Member
Abe Lincoln's Ancestors Lived in Berks County in the 1700s

Owen Humphrey and Sarah’s father, Moses Embree, owned land near the Robeson Meeting House and were among the founders of the Robeson Monthly Meeting which was granted [established] in 1740. The Meeting was known as the “Forest Meeting” because it was in the midst of almost unbroken woodlands between Flying Hills and Hopewell Hills. We drove through the area where both families owned property, and even today it is still almost totally covered by dense woods. The community was on the fringe of white settlement and though the Friends existed mostly in peace with their Native American neighbors, they were often harried by Indians as they traveled to their house of worship.

Owen and Sarah’s daughter, Mary, married Daniel Williams at Robeson Monthly Meeting on 11 June 1772. They were my fifth great-grandparents and the parents of my fourth great-grandmother, Sibilla Williams Todd, who was born in 1776. Mary’s family moved to Wrightsborough, Georgia, by way of North Carolina in 1777. They suffered “difficulties and perplexities” while traveling during the Revolutionary War but joined several of Mary’s Embree uncles in Georgia. Sibilla married Stephen Todd on 1 June 1798 in Warren County, Georgia, and they later migrated to Belmont County, Ohio. Their daughter Sibilla Todd married into the Smith family leading down to my paternal grandmother, Annabell Smith McClanahan.

Another Section of Cemetery Wall

 Joanna Furnace

1250 Furnace Road, Geigertown, PA

Sign on Highway 10/Morgantown Road

Blowing Engine House, Furnace Stack and Casting House

I managed to leave Robeson unscathed by insect bites or poison ivy, so I considered myself lucky! As I stated earlier, we drove south to see the general area where the Embree and Humphrey farms were located. The Historic Joanna Furnace was also only four miles from Robeson, so we decided to walk around the Joanna living history site maintained by the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association.

The numerous buildings on the property were not open, but educational sign displays explained the history and use of each structure. It was a beautiful and interesting site. Joanna was a water-powered (changed to steam power in the 1850s), cold blast, single stack charcoal iron furnace started in 1791. The business employed woodcutters, charcoal makers, teamsters, guttermen, fillers, potters, a founder, and an ironmaster for two twelve-hour shifts every day of the year including Christmas. Iron was usually tapped twice daily, and pig iron was the primary product produced at the furnace. In-plate stoves, sash weights, bake ovens, pots, pans, kettles, fire backs and cannon balls were cast from the iron in the adjoining casting house.

Wheelwright Shop

Blacksmith Shop

Remains of the Ironmaster's Mansion Gardens

The Ironmaster’s Mansion was an elegant residence in its heyday. It was torn down after it fell into disrepair after the furnace ceased operation. 

Company Office and Store Building

Joanna Furnace is also historically significant for its role as a “station” in the Underground Railroad. Quakers in the area were Abolitionists and the Furnace was one of four stations located ten miles apart that concealed enslaved persons and aided in their escape to freedom. The Underground Railroad in Berks County was active from the early 1800s until the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.

The furnace is down in Hay Creek Valley, and we weren’t aware that a thunderstorm was quickly rolling in until thunder and raindrops forced us to rush back to our vehicle. It was nearly lunchtime, so we motored five miles over to Morganville where we had salads at Wendy’s and did some shopping until the storm blew over. 

Fun Photo Op in the Wendy's in Morganville

Serendipity

Bern Churchyard

Bern Historic Graveyard 

Gate and Fencing Donated by W.K. Hiester

We were about half an hour away from our hotel, so we decided to mosey back via a different route. We traveled up highway 10 around Reading where I planned to take 222/422 back to Myerstown. When I missed a turn, our route changed fortuitously! We ended up on 183/Bernville Road and drove right up to Old Bern Cemetery. Taking photos there was on our list, it was nice and cool, and the overcast sky provided perfect light for taking photos. We quickly found our fifth great-grandfather, Johann Jost Heister, our fifth great-grandmother, Anna Margaretha Gräter Lieb Staudt, and revisited another set of fifth great-grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth Kershner Reber. Perfect timing! I also made stops to pay my respects to Anna Margaretha’s second husband, Johann Mathias Staudt and her son Johann Abraham Staudt, who was a Revolutionary War veteran.

5th Great-Grandfather Johann Yost Hiester
Emigrated from Elshoff in 1737

5th Great-Grandmother Anna Margaretha Gräter Lieb Staudt
Emigrated from Sulzdorf, Württemberg in 1750

5th Great-Grandfather & Revolutionary War Patriot Thomas Reber

5th Great-Grandmother Elizabeth Kershner Reber 

Anna Catharina Gräter Lieb's Second Husband Johann Mathias Staudt
Emigrated from Wolfersweiler in 1739

Anna Margaretha & Johann Mathias Staudt's son & 
Revolutionary War Patriot Abraham Staudt 

As we continued on our way, we came upon another welcome sight – a field of sunflowers in full bloom! I think there was divine guidance in my missed turn! We hurried into the sea of blooms and snapped a few pretty pictures in the indirect light. So lovely!

My Sister in the Sunflower Field

Dinner with our Werner Cousins

After a short stop at our hotel, we were off to our second dinner invitation; this time with our Werner cousins. We made the ten-minute drive to the Country Fare Dutch Restaurant to meet David and Deann Werner. We became acquainted with them last summer in Stafford County, Kansas, when we all met with Lynda and Larry Fenwick. Lyn wrote a book, The Prairie Batchelor, about Isaac Beckley Werner, our mutual distant first cousin, four times removed. The Fenwicks entertained us and gave us a personalized tour of Isaac’s community while Lyn read passages from her book about the people and places and how they connected to Isaac. We had an unforgettable experience!

Deann, LaRita, Dave and Me at Isaac Werner's Grave in June 2022

Dave greeted us at the restaurant and guided us to a large table in the dining room surrounded by Werners! What a nice surprise! Dave's wife Deann, his brother Paul and wife Dale, and his parents, James and Emily Rissmiller Werner were joining us! Oh my, we had a wonderful time! There was more Dutch food and delightful stories from the Werners. We learned how Jim and Emily met, that Deann and Dale were sisters married to brothers, and plenty more as we enjoyed hearty helpings of salad with hot bacon dressing, tasty entrees, and “filling” with gravy, while we soaked up precious family history!

After temporary goodbyes, since we planned to meet again on Saturday, we hurried back to our hotel to prepare for an early departure for New York the next morning.

NEXT - MOHAWK VALLEY, NEW YORK