Friday, March 01, 2024

JOHANN MICHAEL AND ANNA MARGARETHA GRÄTER LIEB - Chapter Five

 

Introduction 

My fifth great-grandparents Johann Michael and Anna Margaretha Gräter Lieb represent the earliest documented ancestors of my great-grandmother, Catherine Ellen Lieb McWilliams. The Liebs emigrated from present-day Germany to America. Written records of the Gräter family and Anna Margaretha's second husband, Johann Mathias Staudt's family, date back into the 1600s in church books in the Sulzdorf, Württemberg and Wolfersweiler, Saarland states in the Holy Roman Empire. The Lieb's arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday, August 11, 1750. The rest is history! 


Door Panels from the Original Bern Reformed Church Near the Lieb/Staudt Home
Photo taken in Berks History Center, Reading, PA by Cindy Cruz 


A SECOND CHANCE – 

JOHANN MATHIAS AND ANNA MARGARETHA GRÄTER LIEB STAUDT

Twenty-six -year-old Anna Margaretha was left in a difficult situation when Michael died in the prime of life and she was left to raise four children as a single parent. Their income was probably generated by Michael’s mill and it would have been nearly impossible for her to manage a grist mill while caring for her young children. She likely had no experience running the business they purchased less than two years earlier. To further complicate matters, most German women had no formal education and spoke little or no English. Navigating a business world dominated by men in a community that was likely still “foreign” to her would have added another serious hurdle to maintain her precarious financial position. It was possible, or even likely, that a trusted relative or male friend was appointed to oversee her business.

Fate smiled on the unfortunate widow as she faced a lonely and uncertain future. Anna Margaretha and Johann Mathias Staudt, a thirty-year-old, single German immigrant, were married soon after Michael’s death. They may have fallen in love or perhaps were attracted to each other because of the mutual benefits their marriage provided to them. Mathias acquired a domestic partner and grist mill business and Anna Margaretha gained the financial support and protection of a husband. He must have been a kind man to take on the heavy responsibility of supporting a new wife and four young children.

Mathias was born in the Gimbweiler, Oldenburg, (later Germany), area and was baptized in the Reformed church in Wolfersweiler on 26 December 1725. He was the son of Abraham Staudt, who immigrated to Pennsylvania on 3 September 1739 on the ship Loyal Judith, and Anna Catharina Geiss Staudt who died in 1734 before the family emigrated. He, his father, brothers, sister, and brother-in-law came to America together when Mathias was fourteen years old. Family lore suggested he spent his teen years in Bern (later Centre) Township living in the household of his older sister Lisa Margarete and her husband Johann Nicholas Klee.



26 December 1725 Baptism Record for Johann Mathias Staudt

Translation:

Joh[ann] Matteis. legitimate son of Abraham Staudt from Gimbw[eiler] And Anna Catharina his legitimate wife was baptized on 26 xbr [December] Bernahard Göltzer; Joh[ann] Matteis, son of Hans Adam Wommer; Rosina Magdalena, daughter of Johann Gusen [Geiss]. (The last three names were probably Mathias’ baptism sponsors.)

Mathias and Anna Margaretha prospered together and added more children and more mills to their realm. Three sons, John, Abraham, and Mathias and two daughters, Anna Elizabeth and Catherine Maria, were born to the couple. Mathias built an additional hemp mill and sawmill on the 36 acres of the original Lieb property. He also expanded his land ownership with the purchase of another 136-acre property which straddled Tulpehocken Creek

When Michael Lieb’s children reached the age of majority, Anna Margaretha and Mathias fulfilled her obligation to them as specified in Michael’s will. They divided the proceeds from the sale of his personal property and the money she was required to pay the estate in exchange for ownership of Michael’s real estate. Three of Michael’s four children signed a deed on 23 February 1773 acknowledging their receipt of their inheritance and their release of any claim to their father’s real estate. Nicholas Lieb, Simon Lieb and Anna Catharina Lieb Pfaffenberger and her husband Michael signed the deed. The fourth heir, Maria Margaretha Lieb did not sign until 1783 because she was described as “still under the age of twenty-one years.” As a result, Anna Margaretha and her second husband Mathias Staudt became the legal sole owners of the Lieb homestead. 



Michael Lieb Heir’s 1773 Deed to Mathias & Anna Margaretha Staudt


THE STAUDT “MANSION HOUSE”

The Staudts were blessed with forty years of marriage before Mathias passed away in 1795. He enjoyed a long life and died just a few months shy of his 70th birthday. His estate file included an inventory of his personal possessions which provided rich details about the furnishings, linens, and kitchen equipment owned by Mathias and Anna Margaretha. It also listed the livestock and farm tools Mathias used in his everyday chores. The diverse, long list of possessions suggested that the couple received ample income from their farm, gristmill, sawmill and hemp mill. 

Mathias’ will spelled out specific provisions to be furnished to Anna Margaretha every year after his death. The list of firewood, livestock, grain, and other foods gave keen insight into her diet and how her meals were prepared.

“I Give and Bequeath unto my Beloved wife Anna Margaret During her Natural Life the following Enumerated Articles Yearly and every Year, that is to Say Twelve Bushel of Good Merchantable wheat the same to be Ground and Baked for her as She wants and Orders the same, One hog in the fall weighing at Least One hundred and fifty pounds and fifty pound of Beaf, One Barrel of Cider when Apples Apples [sic] fetcht to her as Much as She wants, Veigetbles of all kinds as Much as She wants for her Use, Eggs as Much as She wants, and to have the rights of killing A fowl when She pleases, One Cow to be kept for her use She my said wife to have Always her Choice of the Cows at any time on the Premises I now live, free wood haul’d and Small Cut, and fetcht in the house fit for fire use, which said Articles Shall be Raised out of my Estate and to be Delivered unto my Beloved wife Aforesaid by my Son John Stout, And I also Give and bequeath unto my Beloved wife Anna Margaret the Room I now live in with free Liberty to the kitchen Together with as Much of my household furniture as She wants or hath Need of, One Bushel of Coarse and half Bushel of fine Salt Yearly to be delivered by my Son John, unto my wife Aforesaid, I also Give unto my wife Aforesaid the Sum of Ten pounds, (Yearly) in Gold and Silver Money of Pennsylvania* And to Nurse her in Sickness and Old Age."

These instructions suggested that the Staudts were accustomed to a balanced diet and plenty of food. Pork, beef, poultry and eggs supplied protein, while bread, vegetables, apples, milk products and cider rounded out their meals. Fine-grain salt was used for seasoning foods and coarse-grain salt was needed for preserving foods. Firewood was used as fuel for both cooking and heating.

*A pound “in gold and silver money of Pennsylvania” in 1750 was worth about $260 in today’s money.



Excerpt from Mathias Staudt's Estate Inventory 

 

WOMAN’S WORK

Additional details about Anna Margaretha’s everyday life were discovered in the list of personal property she elected to retain from Mathias’ estate inventory. The fate of the remainder of his goods was not specified in his will. Property was typically sold at auction, or it may have been divided among their children. Her “flour box, dough trough, and scraper” were evidence that she baked her own bread. She may have also prepared an occasional sweet dessert using her “cake funnel.” An unspecified quantity of “dryed apples” hinted that Mathias may have had an apple orchard and she preserved their fruit by drying it. She probably also preserved cabbage by making sauerkraut because she kept their “cabbage cutter.” Coffee and tea must have been available and enjoyed as a hot beverage because she retained her “copper tea kettle” and “coffee roaster.” A “salt box” and “pepper mill” suggested that Anna Margaretha liked her food seasoned well.

Out of necessity, Anna Margaretha retained her ten-plate stove with pipe, shovel and tongs for heating and cooking her meals. Valued at £5/5/0, it was one of the most expensive items in her home. She kept her pot rack and a few cooking utensils including two iron pots and lids, a frying pan, two iron skillets, a “tin quart,” a “skimmer, two ladles and a flesh [meat] fork.” Earthen ware, six pewter plates and spoons, three knives and forks, and four table cloths were saved for setting her table. Her kitchenware was probably stored in the “kitchen dresser” she elected to keep. She also held back several articles for storage including a crate, a bucket, two “Indian baskets,” a barrel, a keg, a tub, and eighteen earthen pots. 

Anna Margaretha could have enjoyed needlework, or it may have been a necessary chore to clothe herself and her family. Along with her kitchen items, she kept a spinning wheel, “spun yarn,” twelve yards of linen, “flaxen and tow linen,” sewing thread and “bucking cloth.” The linen was quite valuable as it was appraised at £10/9/0.

Essential furnishings, linens, and a couple of “luxury” items rounded out the few possessions Anna Margaretha retained for her personal use. Of course, she kept her bedstead, bed [mattress], five sheets and “bed cases,” two pillow cases, a blanket, curtains, and one additional bed, all appraised at £5. She also kept a chest for storage. Other necessary possessions included an arm chair, two other chairs, a lamp, her brass water bowl, soap and tallow, and six towels. A thirty-hour clock, valued at £5/15/0, and “some books” were the only non-essential items that she kept for herself.

Anna Margaretha did not claim a large portion of her and Mathias’ belongings listed in the inventory. The dwelling she lived in was willed to her son John. It must have been spacious to house all the Staudt’s furniture and other possessions. They owned walnut tables, 4 benches, 3 chairs, 4 chests, 3 bedsteads, and a cloth press [wardrobe chest.] Two lamps, two iron candle sticks, two pewter candle sticks and a snuffer provided lighting for the home. A box, earthen ware, a straw basket, other “trumpery” [decorative items] and window glass (see the 1798 tax on page 73) provided storage and decorated the living space. 

A number of bed linens including four bed sheets, a bed case, a bolster case and some old bedding were cataloged in the house. At least two tablecloths and three towels were also listed. Even a dressed deer skin was among the items in the household.

Anna Margaretha’s kitchen was especially well stocked with cooking implements. Several pewter utensils including 11 plates, a basin, 2 dishes and 18 spoons were stored in the kitchen. Equipment for special purposes, such as a chopping board, bread baskets, coffee pot, tea ware, earthen pitcher, tin colander, grater, buckwheat griddle, dripping pan, patty pan, and an earthen fish plate, pitcher and pots also stood ready for use. A wooden tray, ladle, bottles, glasses, and bowls could have been used for serving family or company. The usual frying pan, skillet, iron pots, Dutch oven, copper kettle, lids and pot hooks were available for cooking almost any traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish.

A butter churn and 3 butter tubs were evidence that Anna Margaretha probably churned her own butter. A cheese tub and sauerkraut tub hinted at two other foods that the family produced and consumed. A “cook’s tormentor” [long meat fork], some type of sausage-making implement, a grind stone, and a washing tub all served useful purposes for the lady of the house. There were also several containers that could be used to carry or store kitchen produce, including earthen jugs, 2 casks, a tub, 2 baskets, 5 buckets and some bags.

A few representative examples of food in the Staudt’s household were included in the estate inventory. Bacon, ham, dried apples, hog’s lard and butter were listed. Another salt box filled with salt and an earthen jug of lime were also included. Two fish nets were evidence that the family may have eaten fish taken from Tulpehocken Creek which ran through the Staudt property. A 32-gallon cask of whiskey topped off the contents of the kitchen!

Even though Anna Margaretha held back several needlework supplies, there were many more in the full inventory. There were 2 spinning wheels, a cotton wheel, a woolen wheel, 2 pair of wool cards, a pair of cotton cards, and 2 hatchels for use in preparing fibers for cloth. A large amount of fabric on hand included 48 ¾ yards flaxen linen, 11 yards of tow linen, 2 ½ yards stripes, 3 ¾ yards check, linen stripe, yarn and spun tow yarn. Some leather and cloth remnants concluded the listing of needlework supplies.



Excerpt from Mathias Staudt's Estate Inventory


THE MAN OF THE HOUSE

Mathias’ personal effects disclosed a few details about his life that might have remained hidden without their written description in the inventory. The value of his wearing apparel was fairly high in comparison to his other possessions. His wardrobe was appraised at £8/14/6 [8 pounds, 14 shilling, 6 pence]. Only his stallion [£30], mare [£20], whiskey [£10] and fine linen fabric [£10] were worth more than his clothing. Either he had a large number of clothes or they were made of high-quality materials. 

Mathias might have been clean shaven, or regularly trimmed his beard, because he owned 2 razors and a tin shaving dish. Perhaps he enjoyed reading because his library was valued at £3/10/0, although no specific number of books was listed. His gold sealer was probably used to certify his signature on documents and seal his correspondence. A steelyard [balance scale] and set of weights indicated he weighed some type of goods, but the size of the scale was not specified so it is impossible to speculate how it was used. A walnut box may have been used to store his valuables.

Mathias was primarily a miller, but he also raised crops and kept some livestock. His most expensive possessions were his bay stallion and his bay mare. These animals were almost certainly his means of transportation and may have been used as draft animals to pull his farm equipment. He owned several cattle including a brindle [“tiger-striped”] cow and bull, a brown cow, a black heifer, 2 black calves, 4 hogs and 5 shoats [newly weaned pigs.] His will indicated that he also kept fowl of some type on his farm. The eight cattle were appraised at £13/15/0 and the swine were worth £4/17/6.

The horse tack on the Staudt inventory confirmed that horses were used for both transportation and farming. 3 saddles, 2 sleighs, a pair of harness, a girthing strap, 4 pair traces, 2 collars, “hames and quiles,” 2 blind bridles, and a back band were stored in the barn. A wheel barrow, shovels, a dung fork and hooks were evidence of other chores associated with the animals. Lock chains, spancels, cow chains and rope were probably used while milking the cows and doing other barnyard tasks. A cutting box and knives were handy for chopping straw to place in the 2 fodder troughs for the livestock. Various containers stood ready to hold grain or seeds. There was a half bushel, 6 double barrels, 2 single barrels, 5 kegs, buckets, 2 funnels, a cedar tub, tar bucket and bags listed in the inventory. A drawing bench and 4 drawing knives were kept for use when butchering a hog or cow. 

Several varieties of crops were grown on the Staudt plantation. An unspecified quantity of oats, more than five bushels of Indian corn, 7 bushels of wheat, 15½ bushels of rye, 4½ bushels of buckwheat and some flax seed in bags were included in the inventory. Mathias also mentioned in his will that clover seed was to be sown on some pasture land for his livestock.

Simple farm tools and implements were cataloged as well. 2 scythes, 3 sickles, a pitch fork, 3 hay pullers, a winnowing fan, chaff bag, a plow, an iron-feet harrow and harrow chain were listed. The whole family probably worked in the kitchen garden wielding the 2 stone sledges [hammers], pick, 3 hoes, turnip cutter and 2 wooden watering cans found in the appraisement of property.

Like most early settlers in Pennsylvania, Mathias probably built and repaired the wood structures and furniture on his property. A substantial number of woodcutting and woodworking tools were among his possessions. He had 2 axes, 2 hatchets, a crosscut saw, mill saw, saw, planes, a maul, 2 wedges, 3 augers, gimlets, 5 chisels and center bits in his tool collection. Ladders, pinchers, wire nippers and rake maker’s tools completed his list of hand tools.

A conch shell was one of the most curious items in the inventory. The pointed end of a conch shell could be cut off to create a water-and-rust-proof “horn.” These horns were blown as a signal of an approaching watercraft that could be heard a quarter mile away. It may have been used by the Staudts as part of their mill business on Tulpehocken Creek.

A few references to Mathias’ three mills were also found in the inventory. Walnut, oak and maple boards “on the sawmill” and two millstone cases were listed. 31 pounds of raw hemp, probably to be processed for rope fiber in the hemp mill, and “12 barrels of flour in Philadelphia” valued at £40 were included among his assets.

JOHANN MICHAEL AND ANNA MARGARETHA GRÄTER LIEB - Chapter Six

  Introduction  M y fifth great-grandparents Johann Michael and Anna Margaretha Gräter Lieb represent the earliest documented ancestors of m...