Person Page - 36

Daniel Witmer

• Last Edited: 10 Jan 2018

• Daniel Witmer was born on 30 September 1781.¹
• He was baptized, St. Peter's (Hoffman's) Church, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, PA, name given as "George Daniel."¹
• He was the son of Heinrich Witmer and Catharine Losch.
• Daniel Witmer was born on 15 September 1781, Northumberland County, PA.^2,3
• He married Susanna Bower, daughter of Johann Matthias Bauer and Catharine Hilbert.
• Daniel Witmer married Mary Catharine.
• Daniel Witmer died on 29 March 1869, at age 87.²
• He left a will on 19 April 1869; Filed and Recorded in Will Book 76 (26?) Page 8
  In the Name of God, Amen, I, Daniel Witmer of Lykens township Dauphin County and State of Pennsylvania, Farmer, being of good helth and of Sound Memory and Good Understanding but Considering the Uncertainty of this transitorey life Do make and Publish this my last will and testament in Manner and form following to witz:
  First, It is my will and I do order that all my just Debts and funeral Expenses being duly paid and Satisfied as Soon as Conveniently Can be Don after my decease.
  Second, It is my will, and I give and devise and Bequeath Unto my beloved wife Catharina Witmer the Fourm or peace of Land as is the same in the grount Where we Now live, as long as She lives and all the Proseats Arising from that land or fourm She Should Have as a Support during her life time but She Should Keep it in good order and pay all Taxes on Said peace of land during her life time. And also it is my will And I do order that my wife Catharina Shall have the lipperty on my peace of Mountain land to cout Wood wen Ever She juses for reales for to keep up the Fences on the above fourm in good order, and also for to git her firewood She Shall have the rite as much As She wants for her youse during her life time, and Futher I do give and Bequeath unto my beloved wife Catharina at the appraisment of my Personal property What ever She wants, to the amount of one hundred Dollars, and futher, I do give and Bequeath unto my Beloved wife Catharina Seventy Dollars in mony From the sale of the personal property, and futher it Is also my will and I do order the mony I ow my wife Catharina Shall be paid by my Executor herein after Named from the mony mad out of my property the Same on my other Debts too;
  Third, And then I do order and it is my will that the Ballans of my Personally property Shall be Sold Imeatteatley after my dece'd by my Executor herein after Named or the Serviver of them, and pay all my do debts and funeral Expenses as Sune as Canvineand Can be don, After my dece'd
  Fourth, And then futher I do order and it is my will that my fourm were my Son Jacob Witmer Lives on it now, Shall be appreast and if my Son Jacob will take it at the Appraisment, then he Shall have the Lipperty to do so, and If not then it Shall be Sold at Public Vendue, And also my house and Lote with the watter rite in Uniontown Shall be Sold after my dece'd At Public Vendue by my Executor herein Named Under Common law, and for that purpes I do Hereby Outhorise and Empower my Said Executor Or the Survivor of them, for all my reale Propperty, to Sign Seal Execute and Acknowledge All Such deed or deeds of Conveyances, as my be Requisite and Necessarey for the granting and Assuring the Same to the purchaser or purchasers thereof in fee Simple; And then futher I do Order and it is my will that the proseats of this Sale, and of the Sale of the persanall property, After all Lagoceys, and debts, and funeral expenses Are posted and Sattisfide, then the Ballans of the Mony Shall be Devided Amoungtst all my Children and Legal ares, in Equill Share or Shares alike, Except my Daughter Mary Shall have fourty Dollars Less than anny of the others, and then the one Share of my Daughter Elizabeth Shall be devided Amoungtst Her and her Children and She Shall have only One Share just as much as one of hor Children From hor first Husband, and the Ballans Shall Be plast in intrest for her Children till they arive the age of twenty one years;
  Fifth, And futher it is also my will, that the fourm or peace of land were I now live or what I dit give to my wife Catharine during hor life Time, and after the death of my wife I do Order and it is my will that it shall be apprast And in Case that my two Daughters or anney of them Namely Margaret and Fanny will Take it at the apprasment, then they Shall Have the Lipperty to du So and if not then it Shall be Sold at public vendue by my Executor Herein after Named or the Serviver of him And my Peace of Mountain land also, Under Common Law, and my Executor Shall give Title under his hand and Seal as aforesaid And the mony arising from this Sales after All Expenses are pait, I do order and it is my Will that my Daughter Fanny Shall have One hundred Dollars in atvence, and the Ballans Shall be divided Amoungtst all my Children in Equill Share or Shares alike as aforesaid;
  And last I hereby Constitute and appind My Son Daniel Witmer to be Executor of this my last will and testiment hereby Revoking and Annulling all former Wills by me made, and Satisfying and Confirming this, and no other to be my Last will and testament;
  In testimony wereof I have hereunto Set My hand and Seal this 31th day of February A.D. One thousand Eight hundred and Sixty Seven. Signed Published and declared by the above Named Daniel Witmer Sen. as and for his last Will and testament, in the Presence of us who at his request Have Signed as Witness to the Same.
  (Signed) Daniel Good
  (Signed) Samuel Shoffstoll
  Dauphin County ss
  On the 19 April 1869 Personally appeared Before me George M Mach Register of wills &c in and for Said County Daniel Good & Samuel Shoffstoll the Subscribing witness to the within instrument of writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Daniel Witmer de'd and after having been by me duly Qualified according to Law do say that they were present and Saw and heard the testator Sign Seal and declare the Same to be his last will and testament and at the time of So doing he was of a sound mind memory and understanding to the best of their Knowledge and belief.
  Sworn & Subscribed
  Before
  Geo M Mach
  Reg.
  (Signed) Daniel Good
  (Signed) Samuel Shoffstoll
  [As transcribed by Lynne Ranieri, who attached the following note: I have transcribed it exactly as it appears and while his legal representative seems to have needed a bit of help editing his spelling, his unique spelling gives a delightful flavor to the text. A couple of notes may help you with the bumpy reading: "fourm" seems to be intended to be "farm" "were" occasionally means "where" "legal ares" is "legal heirs" "She juses for reales for to keep up the Fences" is "she uses for rails to keep up..." "Proseats" is "proceeds" ].
• He was buried at Stone Valley Church, Hickory Corners, Lower Mahanoy Township, Northumberland County, PA.⁴
• According to some sources Daniel Witmer was buried at Hoffman's Church, Dauphin County, PA.
• Floyd's Northumberland County Genealogy pp. 516 thru 549 [Internet version] states:
  "Daniel Witmer; son of Mathias, was an extensive farmer, owning the farm which is now the property of Joel Lahr, in Lower Mahanoy township. He followed agricultural pursuits all his life. He is buried at the Zion's Stone Valley Church. He was three times married, by his first wife having children as follows: Jacob, Fannie, Daniel and Elizabeth (wife of Elias Hoover). (At the Stone Valley Church is buried Susana, wife of Daniel Witmer, born Oct. 29, 1798, died Jan. 15, 1831.)"
       There is substantial question about whether a Floyd is correct in saying that Daniel was the son of Mathias. There are various pieces of evidence suggesting that Daniel's father was in fact Heinrich, Mathias's brother. This "evidence" (from Lynne K. Ranieri) includes the following:
       - Baptismal record for Georg Daniel of Henrich and Catharina Witmer (baptism two weeks after "our" Daniel's birth)
       - Baptismal record for Jacob Witmer, son of Daniel and Susanna and the sponsors were Henrich and Catharina Witmer (the sponsors are often the grandparents)
       - Burial records for "Susanna Bower 10-29-1788 to 1-15-1831" state that she was the wife of Daniel Witmer, son of "Heinrich (Witmer) and Catharine Losch".
  The last of these is probably a reference to the Genealogist's Guide to Burials, vol. 3, 2nd edition (1989), p. 346, which lists Daniel Witmer as "s/o Heinrich & Catherine Losch." In the 4th edition (1997), vol. 3, p. 329, however, under the Stone Valley Cemetery the same authors list Daniel (married to Catherine Bower) as "s/o Matthias and Barbara." In the "Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Pioneer Families," published in 1992, the same authors cover both bases. On p. 1883, they list Daniel as "son of Matthias," while on p. 1885, they list the same Daniel as "son of Heinrich."
  The 1860 Census for Lykens Township, Dauphin County, lists Daniel (age 80) and wife Catharine (age 68), with two children (Franny, age 18, and Sarah, age 13) and a servant (John Bodorff, age 17).
  Lynne Ranieri's Internet Witmer Genealogy lists the following eight children for Daniel and Susanna: Jacob, Kate, Samuel, Polly, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, and Daniel.
  Historical Review of Dauphin County, Transcribed by Daniel Reichard d.reichard@computer.org for The Dauphin County,
  Pennsylvania Genealogy Transcription Project - http://maley.net/transcription.
  Date of Transcription: March 18, 2001:
  WITMER, Daniel, retired farmer, Mifflin township, was born in Northumberland county, near the Dauphin county line, February 26, 1821. Daniel, the father, was also born in Northumberland county, and followed the occupation of blacksmith in his younger days, and later cultivated a farm in Mifflin township and was engaged in raising stock. He married Susan Bower, a native of the same county, and they had eight children: Jacob, deceased, Kate, Samuel, Polly, Sarah, Daniel, Elizabeth, and John. His wife died in Northumberland county, and he married again, but the name of his second wife is not known. He died in Mifflin township. He was an old line Whig in politics, and in religious faith and fellowship was with the German Reformed church.
  Daniel received only a limited education, having attended subscription schools only six months in the winter season. He worked on the farm as a laborer and received $3 per month, and was occupied in this way until he was sixteen years old, when he learned the trade of wagon making at Uniontown, and worked two years at the trade. He then started a shop in Berrysburg, which he conducted for fifteen years, and built up a profitable trade. He bought twenty-one acres of woodland, for which he paid $90 per acre. It took him years of hard work to clear the ground and make improvements, but he finally built a fine residence and good barn, and made a first class farm. He has also two houses in Berrysburg. He was married, in Mifflin township, in 1844, to Rebecca Reher, born in Pine Grove, Schuylkill county, in 1823; daughter of John Reher, a farmer. Their children are: Emeline, Alice S., Henry N., Ann Eliza, Daniel, Agnes, William, David, John, and Edmund, who died young. Mr. Witmer is a Republican in politics, and has held the office of school director and other township offices. He is a member of the German Reformed church, in which he served as elder and deacon. He is retired from active work through bodily infirmity, and is faithfully cared for by his faithful wife."

• Father*: Heinrich Witmer b. 28 Dec 1757, d. 11 Oct 1825
• Mother*: Catharine Losch