Michael Kressler 1740 – 1796

It is good to remember those who came before us.  As I write these tributes to my Revolutionary War ancestors, I am amazed to learn of the difficulties they endured in life.  For some, their whole lifetime was marked by turbulent times. It was not easy to live on the frontier back then.  Michael Kressler and his family was no exception.  Imagine hearing reports of marauding Indians  who were attacking and  killing neighbors.  Some of the stories I have read are spine chilling.  

There are several records that record the  service of Michael Kressler.  He is credited by some as having served in the Pennsylvania Line and by others for service as a Ranger of the Frontier.  Men who enlisted in the Pennsylvania Line served for at least six months and were prepared to face battle in conflict with the enemy.  Often, as was the case in Northampton County,  special troops called Rangers were recruited to serve long periods of enlistment to protect the frontier against Indian attacks. 

http://wulffsrangers.com/Blog/

“They (the Rangers) were kept continually on the alert, marching to and fro, to protect the country from the enemy who was only known by his sudden burning and murders and escape to the depths of the forest…”  (Knouff)

Kressler's name appears in various lists in The Pennsylvania Archives 5^th Series, Volume 8.  On 14 May 1778  Private Michael Cressler, 1^st class, appears on the general muster roll of the 2nd Company, 4th Battalion, Northampton County Militia under the command of  Lieu't Co'l.  Nicholas Kern and  Captain George Edelman. p. 367.  On September the 6^th, 1780, he is listed as a member of the 4th Class, 8th Company, 3rd Battalion. The Company was commanded by Captain Paul Knauss. pages 240, 241 and 289.  Again on  May the 1^st,  1781, Private Michael Kressler,  2nd Class, 8th Company, 3rd Battalion.  p. 249.  These records show us that Michael Kressler was prepared to provide service for the protection of his family and neighbors  throughout  the period of the Revolutionary War. He is recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as Ancestor #: A067507 and also by the Sons of the American Revolution, Membership:90643.

 

Michael was born several years after his father’s arrival here in 1732.  Born in 1740 in Frederick Township, Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania, he was the son of  Hans Philip Kressler.  Michael Kressler (Cressler)  married Elizabeth Halloway on December 6, 1761 at the Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran Church, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania.  They became the parents of  eight children, who were born in Allen Township, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania.  They were:  Phillip, born Sept. 14, 1763; George, born April 24, 1768; John, born April 28, 1771; Valentine, born Feb.1, 1774;  Jacob, born Dec. 20, 1775; Michael, born Aug. 20, 1778; Adam, born May 8, 1781 and  Elizabeth, April 3, 1783. Their births are recorded in the records of the Zion's Stone Church at Kreidersville.

 

Time has weathered his original tombstone in the cemetery at Zion's Stone Church in Kreidersville, but  a new one was put in place by his descendants in 1984.  His grave is also marked by a bronze Revolutionary War Veterans marker and flag by the DAR.

My great grandmother, Clara Illick McEwen is a descendant of Micheal Kressler.  Her mother was Henrietta or Harriet Kressler Illick, a daughter of John Kressler and Mary Seidel.  John was a son of Jacob Kressler, son of Michael and Elizabeth.  I welcome your comments and would love to hear from anyone descended from Michael Kressler. 

Sources:

• "An Arduous Service":The Pennsylvania Backcountry Soldiers' Revolution, Gregory T. Knouff, Rutgers University, NewBrunswick, 1994.  Online at https://ojs.libraries.psu.edu/index.php/phj/article/viewFile/25116/24885.  March 17, 2014.
• The Pennsylvania Archives 5^th Series, Volume 8 
• Family Trees: WorldConnect Project
• Find A Grave Memorial #: 5710991 http://www.findagrave.com

                                 Please see this list of all My Revolutionary War Ancestors.

Copyright

This page  © 2014, Cynthia H. Smith


Send email to chsmith47@yahoo.com

This site may be linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.  The copyright on this page must appear on all copied and/or printed material.

Johan Heinrich Rasley (1761 - ??)

A record of the birth of John Henry Rasley is found in the  baptism records of the Tohickon congregation of Bucks County. The record was originally written in German and in the old German script.  The English transcription shows: “Johan Heinrich Rossly born Feb. 17, 1761, bap., Mar 7, 1761."  His parents names are given as Conrad Rossly and Maria Magdalena.  Sponsors were Henry Frey and Margaret Weyerbach.  This record clearly establishes him as the son of Conrad and Magdalena.  Throughout his life he was known as Henry Rasley.

The Rasley family historian, Gladys Gardner, now deceased, of Kintnersville, Pennsylvania  provided the ancestry account of Henry Rasley from the family records which she kept.  The Rasley family has held summer reunions in the Slate Belt Area of Northampton Co., Pennsylvania since 1910.

Henry grew up in a family of seven siblings, he being the second born. The family lived in the area of Williams and Lower Saucon Townships.   By 1777 when he was 16 years old  he  aligned himself with the Militia of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Archives 5^th  Series,  Volume 8  provides documentation of his  service as  a  Private 7^th  Class in the 1^st  Battalion, 1^st  Company of the Northampton County Militia.  The 1^st  Battalion in Northampton County  was formed in Williams and Lower Saucon Townships in 1777 under  Colonel  George Hubler.  Like all Battalions it remained active for a term of three years when  a new Battalion was organized. You can read about how the Revolutionary War Militia was organized on  the  Pennsylvania State Archives page.  Joseph Frey was elected Captain of the First Battalion of Northampton Co. in 1777. 

By 1782 his division of the Militia was reorganized into the 4^th Battalion under Lt. Col. Philip Boehm.   Captain Anthony Larch was the leader of the 1^st Company  in which  Henry Rassly  was a member of the 7^th class.  

http://www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp

While this card shows “Inactive Duty” we can still understand that  Henry made himself available for service for a period of at least 5 years and very probably for the duration of the Revolutionary War. 

John Henry Rasley married Anna Elizabeth  Schmell about 1788.  While little is known about her, it has been determined that she was the daughter of John Michael Schmell.  Evidence of this relationship is found in the will of John Michael Schmell of Bucks County.  “ March 16, 1795  , michael smell, haycock twp. died sept 1794. left 7 children;  michael, phillip, george, mary, w/o john resly, elizabeth, w/o henry resly, margaret, w/o jacob schoch and susanna, (a minor).”   Of interest in this record is that we learn that  sisters,  Mary  and Elizabeth Schmell married  Rasley brothers, John and Henry.

Henry and Elizabeth became the parents of 13 children.  The first of the children were  born in Lower Saucon Township.   John H., June 17, 1789; Anna Margaret, Oct. 16, 1790; Magdalena,  June 22, 1792;  Jacob,  March 23, 1794;  Johan Heinrich Rasely  Jr., (aka Henry Rasley)  who was born on September 2,  1795, married Jane Ayers and is my  4^th great grandfather; and  Elizabeth, March 4, 1797.  Sometime after the birth of  Elizabeth  the family relocated in  Upper Mt. Bethel Township, Northampton Co, Pa. where the last five children were born.  Samuel, Feb. 26, 1799; Conrad, Nov. 26, 1800;  Katherine,  June 13, 1802;   Susanna, Feb. 28, 1804; Jude, Dec. 28, 1805; Anna Maria, Sept. 15, 1807; and Judith, 1808.

The mystery of where these two souls, Henry and Elizabeth, are buried has not been solved.  I have not been able to find death dates for  them either.  If anyone can shed light on this I welcome your input. Henry and Jane Ayers Rasley were my 4^th great grandparents. Their daughter Sarah married William McEwen.  Sarah and William had a son, she named Henry, to honor her father and grandfather.  Henry McEwen married Clara Illick.  They were the grandparents of my mother, Lois McEwen Hughes.

These books are available for research at the Marx History Room of the Easton Library, Easton,  Pennsylvania.

Sources: 

• Pennsylvania Archives 5^th Series, Vol. 8
• Church-book of the Reformed Congregation in Lower Sauconheim : to be used for the congregation to record the births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, also for confirmation, began in the year 1756.
• Church record of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, 1774-1833 / copied by Wm. J. Hinke.
• A history of the Tohickon Union Church, Bedminster township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania : with copy of church records, Reformed congregation, 1745-1869, Lutheran congregation, 1749-1840; prepared and translated at the request of the Pennsylvania German Society.

                                  Please see this list of all My Revolutionary War Ancestors.

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Copyright

This page  © 2014, Cynthia H. Smith


Send email to chsmith47@yahoo.com

This site may be linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.

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Centerville, Pennsylvania, 1874

Ever wonder what life was like in a rural area 140 years ago?  My church, Trinity United Church of Christ, is located in Centerville. Many of my ancestors hail from Northampton County, Pennsylvania and the area surrounding Centerville in Upper Mt.  Bethel Township.   So when this newspaper clipping was recently given to me, I found the musings of the unknown poet to be very interesting indeed.    It was originally published in the Easton Argus on May 6, 1874, but there is no date given or paper identified for this reprint of the poem, "Ho, For Centerville".  The poem talks of people and places in the village of Centerville, also known as Stone Church, located in Upper Mt.  Bethel Township, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania.

                             Ho!  For Centerville

O! say shall I tell you about Centerville,
How it's built partly in a vale and partly is on a hill,
We have a stream but too small its mission to fill,
Consequently we have no factory, neither a mill.

A tannery to tan our leather we have got,
It tans when its cold and it tans when its hot,
We have an enterprising shoemaker always in his shop,
Ready to accommodate lady, gentleman or fop.

One hotel we have, in dimensions it does well,
For accommodations you must stop and then you can tell,
A blacksmith we have got of him I must tell,
That he shoes our horses and does it well.

Three preachers we have of churches the same,
But the way they quarrel and fight tis a public shame,
If we haint all good Christians I wonder who's to blame,
For the sinner stands aloof in this senseless church fighting campaign.

Of old maids, it beats all creation who are wishing for another occupation,
We have nearly enough to supply a foreign nation,
Of widows we run still higher in multiplication,
For we have enough to supply the centennial with a donation.

We have a jolly fat doctor, somewhat resembling a Quacker,
Two or three school teachers and a lively undertaker,
One neglected school house, standing on half an acre,
One spavined old politician and an axe handle maker.


Two milliner shops one sees as he passes
They vie with each other in fitting up our lasses,
Two stores we have that sell dry goods to the masses,
And a curly-headed clerk to measure out molasses.

We have three society meetings in all,
The Odd Fellows, Mechanics and Grangers all meet in one hall,
Our squire in office haint so very tall,
But then he runs a store beneath it all.

A ladies fair and festival the first week in July we are promised, that's one thing,
On the fourth, speeches, fireworks, fantastic parade and balloon ascensions and other things,
At the head of all this is our stone-cutter, the patriotic tea-come ton,
For the people to enjoy themselves he always gets up some fun.

The fame of Pompeii and the glory of Rome,
With us can't compare, when we're all at home,
About one hundred and fifty souls in number can be shown,
By counting street-trotter, store-lounger, gambler, blosard, worker and drone.
PONTIAC.

         Undated postcard  of Stone Church, PA also known as Centerville. This photo is looking south.            The map below shows Centerville from the opposite direction.

This Map of Centerville was taken from the  Atlas of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1874.  The Atlas was reprinted by the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society in 1990.  Look closely at the map and you will see the names of home owners in town, the churches and various places of business.  Trinity United Church of Christ, known as Christ Reformed back then,  is identified as Luth. & Ref Ch. (Lutheran and Reformed Church) on the map. The Luth. & Ref. Cemetery is now known as The Old Union Cemetery.  A list of the burials in the Old Union Cemetery can be found here.  St. Paul's Lutheran Church is now a private home. The Methodist church burned down and Christ Lutheran Church was built in 1910 where the Centerville Hotel is located on the map.

WOW... a friend just sent a picture of the 1860 map of Centerville.  Here it is.  Nice to see the changes in 10 or so years.

Recently found an article from The Morning Call , December 25, 1994,  by Denise Reaman. 

Copyright

This page  © 2014, Cynthia H. Smith


Send email to chsmith47@yahoo.com

This site may be linked, but not duplicated  in any way without consent.

 The copyright on this page must appear on all copied and/or printed material.