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