HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PA

Excerpts from "HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY", PA

Further information can be found in "The History of Bucks County" NOCKAMIXON TOWNSHIP 1742
I HAVE COPIED THIS INFORMATION AS IT WAS WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR: W.W.H. Davis, A.M. Democrat Book and Job Office Print- 1876 History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time

On the organization of Tinicum, in 1738, a large tract of country immediately north of it was left without local government. The Durham iron works had been established since 1727 and although there was no organized township north of Tinicum, settlers had taken up land and built cabins here and therein the woods as high up as the Forks of Delaware. They were generally found on the river side of the county. The Durham road became a traveled highway several years before this date, and its opening, no doubt, invited immigrants to push their way up into the woods of Nockamixon, settling near or on the road. The names, and dates, of the original settlers can not now be told; nevertheless it would be interesting to know who had the courage to first penetrate that wilderness of country. large tract of country immediately north of it was left without local government. The Durham iron-works had been established since 1727 and although there was no organized township north of Tinicum, settlers had taken up land and built cabins here and therein the woods as high up as the Forks of Delaware. They were generally found on the river side of the county. The Durham road became a traveled highway several years before this date, and its opening, no doubt, invited immigrants to push their way up into the woods of Nockamixon, settling near or on the road. The names, and dates, of the original settlers can not now be told; nevertheless it would be interesting to know who had the courage to first penetrate that wilderness of country.
Among the old German families of Nockamixon are those of STOVER, KINTNER, TRAUGHER, OBERBECK, DEEMER, BUCK, and FRANKENFIELD.The Stovers, originally spelled Stoefver, came to the state at its foundation. Lewis or Lewis settled at or near Germantown in 1684, and his grandson William died at Valley Forge in 1778. John George Stover, from Saxony, a miller by trade, arrived in 1752, and settled in this county. He had three sons, Jacob, Ulrick, and Henry. The sons of Jacob were Matthias, Henry, who owned a mill at Erwinna, in Tinicum and Jacob, who lived at the Narrows, in Nockamixon. John Stover, miller at Tohickon, in Haycock was a son of Ulrick, and fromHenry are descended the Stovers of Bedminister, namely: Abraham, miller at Tohickon, whose son, John S. Stover, still occupies the old mill property. in 1776 David and Daniel Stover, brothers, immigrated from Saxony and settled in the upper end of the county, David had three sons, among whom was Abraham, father of William S. Stover, cashier of the Frenchtown . Daniel likewise had three son, Henry, Jacob and Daniel. Of these sons Henry died without children, Jacob had a large family, and his descendants are living in Philadelphia, Northampton and in New Jersey. Daniel had three sons, one of which was the father of John N. Stover, of Nockamixon. David Stover, Daniel, the great-grandfather of John N., of Nockamixon and his son Daniel, were all teamsters and hauled goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Easton, and other interior towns. Down to the completion of the Delaware Division canal all the goods required for the Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Mauch Chunk, and Wilkesbarre markets were transported through this county in what were known as Conestoga wagons. They were generally six-horse teams, fed from a trough fastened on the tongue. One of the finest teams driven in the last century was owned by Michael Butz, who resided in New Jersey, above Belvidere, of six large, black horses of equal size and were much admired. Among others who drove fine teams were Zelner, Klotz, Sumpstone, Bewighaus, Meyers, Fretz, Josephand David Stover and others. May of these teams traced on the Easton road through Doylestown. Their occupation was gone when the canal was opened and they have passed into history.
There are but three families of original settlers in Nockamixon, the PURSELS, KEYSERS and TRAUGERS. The Purcels are very numerous about Bridgeton, and on the eastern side of the township, while the Traugers are scattered over it, and are found in other parts of the county. The family is numerous and wields a good deal of local influence. There is not a descendant living in the township of many of the first settlers, as the Moyers, Brills, Campbells, and others all having left years ago or died. John Purcel, the grandfather of Brice N. immigrated from Ireland about 1750 and settled at Bridgeton, and bought of the Penns about three hundred acres on the Delaware in the south east corner of the township. He died about 1810 and was buried in the old graveyard back of the Narrows, leaving four sons, of whom Brice, the father of Brice N. Was one. Brice was born about 1776, and died in 1830, at the age of fifty-four. The other sons were Thomas, John, and Dennis, who went west. The old homestead was divided into three farms and occupied by the three sons of Brice. All the Purcels in the county are descended from John, the first Nockamixon ancestor.

The family name of KINTNER was originally GINTNER.. George Gintner, the grandfather of Hugh Kintner, came from Wurtemberg, Germany, before the Revolution and settled in Nockamixon. He served throughout the war as acaptain of cavalry, and at its close he turned his Continental money intohollow-ware at the Durham iron works, which he exchanged for a farm in Monroe county near the Delaware Water Gap. He lived there the remainder of his life, and was drowned the Delaware while driving the river for fish. He left two sons, Joseph, who died young, and Jacob the father of Hugh, who lived and died in Bucks county, and who was elected sheriff in 1824, and a daughter, Mary who married a Smith and settled in Walpack, Sussex county, New Jersey. Jacob was bound out among strangers when young, and the spelling of the name was changed from Gintner to Kintner. This change defeated his effort to recover the pension due his father for his Revolutionary services.

Nicholas BUCK, the founder of Bucksville, was the third son of Nicholas Buck of Springfield, where he was born the 20th of March, 1767. He married Mary, the daughter of John Eck, of Upper Salford, Montgomery county, and in the fall of 1792 he purchased of Christian Klinker, sixty-four acres on the Durham road, in Nockamixon, the site of Bucksville. He erected a dwelling wheelwright and blacksmith shops, and made other improvements. He built a tavern house, sign of the "White Horse" in 1808, licensed the following year and opened a store in 1818. About the beginning of the century Mr. Buck raised and organized a good troop of volunteer horse, to thecommand of which his son Nicholas succeeded at his death. He died at Bucksville, Aug. 28, 1829, his widow surviving him until 1858, at theage of ninety-one leaving ninety five living decendants was a native of Skippack, in Montgomery county, was familiar with a number of Revolutionary events and frequently saw Washington and his army. She lived at Bucksville inn this county sixty-five years and at her death left several descendants of the fifth generation. He had six children, Elizabeth, Nicholas, Sarah, Mary, Jacob E. and Samuel E. who married into the families of Kohl, Malone, Conner, Shaw. Mrs. Malone and Mrs. Conner are living at an advanced age in Philadelphia, both receiving pensions for the services of their husbands in the war of 1812-14. Jacob E. Buck, of Hatborough, is the only surviving son. At the death of Nicholas Buck, SR, his son Nicholas succeeded him in business at Bucksville, where he died in 1871 at the age of seventy-nine. He had a post-office established there in 1828. For more than half a century the line of stages running between Easton an Philadelphia changed horses at the Bucksville inn.

The Lutheran congregation of Nockamixon was organized about 1755 and the first church editiee, an humble log building, stood northeast of Rum Corner.The only names of early trustees which have come down to us are Michael Schick and Frederick Eberhart, in 1766. The Nockamixon church is probably the child of Springfield, or rather grew up within its bounds, out of the membership of which three generations have grown up in adjoining neighborhood. These two churches have the same pastors, but who the earliest Lutheran pastors were is not known. The Reformed congregation was organized as early as 1773. As the records have been lost, or not regularly kept, it is difficult to arrive at a correct history of the church. The first minister in the log house was the Reverend Casper Wack, who resided in Hilltown and left in 1782. in connection with the congregations of Durham, Springfield, and Tinicum and William F. Gerhart,1844 with Durham and TinicumThe Present pastor, Reverend W. B. Rothrock, was elected in 1859 and ministers to this congregation and Durham which make one charge.

CHURCHES
The Nockamixon church is properly the child of Springfield, or rather grew up within its bounds, out of the membership of which three generations have grown up in adjoining neighborhoods. These two churches have the same pastors, but who the earliest Lutheran pastors were is not known. The Reformed congregation was organized as early as 1773. The Reformed congregation was organized as early as 1773. As the records have been lost, or not regularly kept, it is difficult to arrive at a correct history of the church. The first minister in the log house was the Reverend Casper Wack, who resided in Hilltown, and left in 1782. His successors, as near as we can arrive at it, were the Reverends Frederick William Vondersloot, 1787, John Mam, 1792, Mr. Hoffmeyer, 1796, Jacob William Dechant, 1808, Samuel Stahr, 1811, in connection with the congregations of Durham, Springfield, and Tinicum, and William F. Gerhart, 1844, with Durham and Tinicum. The present pastor,ReverendW. D. Roothrock, was elected in1859,and ministers to this congregation and Durham, which make one charge. The Lutheran congregation have worshipped in the same building since the brick church was erected in 1813, which was the joint work of the two congregations. It was consecrated June 12, 1814. The same year the Lutheran congregation purchased one-half the Bible and hyme-book for ten shillings, for which the Reformed gave L1.6s in 1792. The German and English languages are used alternately in worship. In May, 1875, the old brick church was torn down and a handsome new editice of the same material, erected during the summer and fall on its site. The last sermon was preached in the old church by Reverend William S. Emery.
In the north-westcorner of the township three miles from Kintnerville, in a piece of timber on the farm of Frank Campbell is an old graveyard, in which interments have not been made for many years. Most of the graves are marked by rough, unletterd stones, a few only revealing the names of the silent sleepers. The oldest is that of Elizabeth, wife of John Brown, who died October 3d, 1757, aged thirty-six years; Thomas Little, died March 14, 1787, aged fifty-five years; and Patrick Hines, died November 11, 1813, aged sixty-four years. Near the road is a walled enclosure, some eight by fifteen feet, which appears to have been the burial place of the Long family, probably of Durham. There lie the remains of Thomas Long, esquire, who died February 22d, 1810, aged seventy years, and his two children, Thomas and Rachel, who died in 1781 and 1782. There are other graves inside the enclosure, on two of which we made out the initials and figures: S.I.E. 79 and W.I. So far as known these settlers were of the English-speaking race.
Three main roads run through Nockamixon from north to south-the River road, which follows the winding of the Delaware, the Durham road, which runs through its western end, nearly parallel with Haycock run, and is intersected at many points by lateral roads, and an intermediate road starting at the River road, near Kinterville, following the course of Gallows run, and thence via Kintner’s down into Tinicum. The earliest local road that we have found on record dates back to 1750, from the river to Durham road, to "begin at the plantation of Richard London’s ferry, and ending at the plantation of Theodore Todd, which did belong to John Mitchel".
The villages of Nockamixon are Bridgeton and Kintnerville, on the Delaware, Bucksville, on the Durham road, all post villages, and Narrowsville on the high ground above the river. A few years ago Bridgeton was made a separate general election district which, with the territory included in it contained a population of nine hundred and fourty-four at the census of 1870 and only fourteen less in 1860, showing a small increase. The name of the post-office is Upper Black’s Eddy, which was established in 1830 and David Worman appointed its first postmaster and that at Kintnerville in 1849, with Samuel Boilean, the postmaster. These villages deserve no special notice, as they have but the usual features of county hamlets, made up of tavern, store, and few dwelling. Bridgeton, the most important and populous is connected with the New Jersey shore of the Delaware by a wooden bridge. There is but one island in the river opposite this township at the north west corner, which was confirmed to Nockamixon in 1786.
We have not seen any enumeration of the inhabitants of Nockamixon earlier than 1784, when the population was 629, with 116 dwellings. In the next twenty-five years it had almost doubled for at the census of 1810 it contained 1,207 inhabitants, 1820, 1, 650; 1830, 2049, and 407 taxables; 1840, 2055, 1860, 1,630, Bridgeton district meanwhile having been created and the population taken from the township enumeration, and in 1870, 1,528, of which 110 were of foreign birth. Nockamixon has become a German township to all intents and purposes and the descendants of the early English settlers have been pushed out by the advancing Teutonic column or Germanized. THE END

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