THE ACKERMAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION comprising the descendants of GEORGE ACKERMAN, MENNONITE, of Lower Milford Township, Bucks County, Pa. and some of the descendants of STEPHEN ACKERMAN, LUTHERAN, of Haycock Township, Bucks County, Pa. ~ Compiled by Claire Ackerman Vliet 1 9 5 O FOREWORD The Ackerman Family Association was organized Sept.6,1915 at a meeting held in Bushkill Park, Easton, Pa. It consists of all Ackermans by descent who are interested in such an organization. The first officers were: Clarence s. Ackerman, President Frank Seiple, Vice-president George E. Brodt, Secretary Vharles Ackerman, Treasurer Frank Seiple, Historian Others who have since held office are: Mrs. J.S.Wetzel,Ass't Sec., William G. Pritchard, Pres., William P. Bray, Sec.,Har­ rison Fox, Sec., William Ii. Heard, Ass't Sec., J. S. Wetzel Pres., Charles Buzzard, Vice-pres., Oscar W. Ackerman, Amos E. Ackerman, Harvey Yeisley, Jarnes Gerhart, Vice-presidents, Floyd Ackerman, Treas. An annual reunion is held either at Ackermanville, Pa. or in Breidinger's Grove nearby on the last Saturday in July. More than 2!'\0 Ackerman descendants usually attend. When tile present historian began her labor of love ancl in­ terest nearly eil!'hteen years a,go she was fortunate in havtng the cooperati.on not only of the ofricers but also of some of the oldest members then living; e~g• Isaac Bitz, of Pen Argyl: Abraham Ackerman, of Flicksville; Hervey Ackerman, of Easton, Pa.: ancl lleuben ,ickerman, of Easton. Jacob S. Wetzel's un­ failing interest ancl help, and Oscar W. Ackerman's earnest support are hereby likewise acknowledged. hlrs. Robert Ger­ hart, of near Quakertown, liucks County, was instrumental in starting off the search among ~lennoni tes rather than among: Lutherans or Reforme<l Church members. Iler help was truly in­ Taluable in tracing those who remained in Bucks County. As the lines of descent began to be traced there was so much contributed by various members that it is impossible here to enumerate them. To all of them, we give our thanks t'or their sustained interest. The historian realizes that the following study of de­ scendants of Geor/!:e Ackerman, Mennonite, is far from sat­ isfactory from a ~enealol!ical point of view. Because the first generations in America remained loyal to the ~cnnon­ ite faith, there are no baptismal records to establish the dates of birth or names of parents. Only in later genera­ tions, and then only when they have broken away from the Mennonite church, do we find records of baptisms. The little Mennonite church established in Bangor, Pa. gradually died out, to be succeeded by Trinity Evangelical Lutheran church in 1878, but early Ackerman burials were made in the old "Meneest" cemetery adjoining. Tile branch that remained in Bucks County were able tn maintain membership in the various Mennonite and uunker churches there. Where dates could not be secured fror1 tombstones, the writer has had to depend upon information given by members of families, to whom grateful thanks is due. Errors in names, dates, etc. ii it is hoped will be caught up by members of the families where they occur. There is fun, and excitement too, in fitting together the jig-saw pieces of information gleaned from baptismal records, marriages, tombstones, deeds, wills, and so on. Sometimes one uncovers a bit of forgotten history. There is Factoryville, for instance, a place described on ~age 265 or the "History of Northampton County" (1877) as a village which can hardly be called more than a hamlet," Why was it called Factoryville? Probably because there had been a slate factory there. I had often heard my father speak of Lawrence Dutott's slate factory. liut inquiry of people living in Ackermanville brou~ht no information con­ cerning it, Nobody remembered it, tho' a memory was stirred of a Uutott who once lived where now nothing remained but lilac bushes and blackberry briers, Yet according to Deed Book E-11, p,500 in the Easton records, under date March 23, 1860 David, Anthony and John Ackerman, brothers, sold to Philip ilutott of Mauch Chunk and Lawrence Dutott of Lower Mount Bethel 9 acres & 115 perches more or less,"whereon is erected a 2-story llrick dwelling house, Ft-ame shed, Slate Factory and other buildings", which apparently had belonged to Reuben Fisher previous to 1861 and was probably built by him, Also among land records, two proved especially valuable in establishing the maiden name of wives of George Ackerman, Jr. and of John Ackerman, sons of the immigrant. Marriage records could not be found for either, Therefore these two deeds of release bring to light what could not otherwise be learned. Deeds of release were common among Mennonite families for settling estates, Northampton County Deed Book F-1, p,215, dated March 12, 1787, shows Margaret Sell to be daughter of Henry Sell and wife of George Ackerman of Lower Milford twp., Bucks Co. Bucks County Deed Book 50, p,585 1 dated April 15, 1819, contains within it the record that "Jacob Bleam died intes­ tate leaving issue three children: viz, the above named John Bleam, Mary intermarried with Henry Beitler and Cath­ arine intermarried with John Ackerman", and that Mary and Henry Beitler and Catharine and John Ackerman signed a deed of release to John Bleam Dec, 10, 1770 for this land in Richland township, Bucks Co. With this glimpse of just a few of the joyous "finds" en­ countered along the way, we proceed to the history of and the practical accounting for descendants of the Mennonite Ackermans, iii REFERENCES Wills, P!tiladclpl1ia County, Pa. Wills, Dceris & .\drninistrations, Bucks l!c Northampton Cos., Pa. Pennsylvania Arcllivcs Tax Lists: Bucl,s Co. Northar:1pton Co. ::io,ooo i'<ar~es of bll'1ip:rants, .:.-::c. - .1. Daniel Runp PerkioJ11en :.=tegion, Past ancl Present Vols. I & II Hist0ry of the V.ennoni tc-s of Franconia Conference - " Jotm C. Wenger A History of tile Mennonites D. Y.. Cassel History of &1cks County Wm, w. H, Davis History of ;~ortha;:1pton Co., Pa, Published 1877 First Settlers of the Forks of t!te Delaware - Ur, Henry M, Kieffer Historic Homes~ lnstituti.ons and lienealogicnl & Personal Memories of tlle Lehigh Valley. l'ubllshed 190!> Encyclopaedia ~rittanica, 11th. Edition The Pennsylvania liermans Jesse Leonard Rosenberger Magazine of ,\mcrican Genealogy The Stocker Far1ily Horatio s. Shull The lienealogical History of tlle Gottschall Far.1ily - Hev. ;.;. B. Grubb History of A.llentown Conference of tl:e hinisterium of Penna. ( Evanp:el teal Lu tiler an) Pres ton A. Laury Lolclen Anniversary Souvenir Look or Trinitv Evanp:clical Lutller,t11 (.;llurcl1, Lanr:or, l'a. 1 !J::?R • l'ennsyl vania Magazine or lHs tory & lliography, July, 1029 ti<:>wspapcr 1,otices of Marriar-:es ,\c Deaths in .Northampton Co., 179~-1S~1. Henry F, ~arx (.;ollection - Easton Public Library, Easton, l'a. Baptis □ al ,tccorcls: Flicl:sVil le Church, Nortluunpton Co., Pa. 1 '-l2~-FNfi :<:ellcr's Church, Weisel, Bucks Co., Pa. Tollickon Church, Bucks Co., l'a, llbi tuarics Tor:tbstonc inscriptions Faf'lily Bible nccorcls iv ACKERMAN REUNION THEME SONG 1. When William Penn, the Englishman, Whose heart on peace was bent, Was given Pennsylvania He made a settlement Of Quakers, Mennonites, and such Who heard that he had planned To sell to all who wished to buy A goodly lot of land ■ Chorus: Now this was something new! Yes: this was some thin!!; new. To own the land in simple fee Was surely something new. 2. So in the 18th. century George Ackerman had come To this fair land from Germany To live in "Grosse Schwamm". And to his el,lest son, named George, Re left the homestead dear: But John and Henry travelled north Until they settled here. Chorus: And so they settled here; And so they settled here. This village named for Ackermans Is where they settled here. 3. Now Henry had but daughters two, And one of them died young; But John had sons - yes, six of them - And we from them have sprung. We meet together once a year And pledge ourselves again To live good lives as they have done, For we're American! Chorus: Yes, we're American! Oh, we're American! We've been here now two hundred years And we're American, Sung to the tune of "My Last Cigar" CHAPTER 1 When the Ackerman Family Association, composed of Ackermans from Ackermanville and the surrnnnding towns, was formed in 1915, the founders were under tl1e impression that all people of that name derived fro~, one co1,1P1on immip:rant ancestor. He­ search has shown however that there were many Ackerman Irrnni- 1<rants. Earliest of them was David Akkerman and his wife Lys­ beth de Villiers, who came fro:'1 Holland to New Amsterdam, now New York, in 1662. Their descendants soon scattered over New York, northern ~ew Jersey and Connecticut. Kathlyne Viele has compiled a more or less complete genealop:y of that line. There was also a John Acrcman who settled in Bucks County, Pa. at "Falls of Delaware" (now Morrisville), a Quaker settle­ nent. He ll,:.d his first land grant of '?13 acres from Sir Edmund Androc;, Governor of' "1ew l'.ork and adjacent provinces, in 1679. When William Penn acriuired the Province of Pennsylvanja in 16Sl, John Ackerman asked to have his land ,:rant confirme,l by Penn. This wa.s done in II the first month", 1684. The land ex­ tended from the Delaware Hi ver, '.ln'.l was bounded on one side by land of Richard Ridgway, on the other by land of iJaniel nrinson.