Person Page - 49

Abraham Deppen

• Last Edited: 26 Oct 2024

• Charts: Descendants of Peter Klinger

• Abraham Deppen was Farmer.
• He was born on 8 September 1812.
• He was the son of William Deppen and Magdeline Seiler.
• Barbara Wiest and Abraham Deppen had a relationship and one child, but no marriage records were found for them.¹
• He married Mary Snyder, daughter of Johann Peter Schneider and Gertraut Maurer.²
• Abraham Deppen died on 13 August 1899, at age 86; Newspaper report:
  DEATH OF ABRAHAM DEPPEN.
  Was One of the Wealthiest Men In the Lower End of the County.
  Abraham Deppen, of Mahanoy, Pa., died Sunday evening at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Muth. He was one of the oldest citizens of that community having almost reached his 87th year. Mr. Deppen was very popular in his neighborhood and will be greatly mssed. Through thrift and frugality he became one of the wealthiest men in the lower end. With a borrowed aze he worked for twenty five centa A day, and having thus learned the value of a dollar, was able in later years to accumulate quite a fortune. The deceased will be buried at the St. Peter's church, in Mahanoy, Thursday, August 17th, at 9:80 a. m.
  Thus another soul has fled from this world of turmoil and strife to be ushered into that great unknown, whence none have ever returned.
  The Sunbury Gazette, and Northumberland County Republican, August 18, 1899, Page 2.³
• He was buried at St. Peter's Cemetery, Red Cross, Northumberland County, PA.⁴
• Floyd, Biographical and Genealogical Annals of Northumberland County (1911) [Internet version] says:
  "Abraham Deppen, son of William, born Sept. 8, 1812, died Aug. 13, 1899, and is buried at St. Peter's Church, in Mahanoy township, where his wife also rests. He was a farmer, and also dealt in land and cattle, meeting with such success in his operations that at the time of his death he had an estate valued at $100,000. He was a resident of Herndon at that time. In 1832, together with a man named Mowery, he cleared the first five acres of what is now the site of the borough of Shamokin. In 1844, with his family, he left Jackson township in a Conestoga wagon drawn by three horses and moved out to Wayne county, Ohio. They arrived a day or two too late to take possession of the land for which they had arranged, so the family lived in their wagon and with a cousin until the land tangle was straightened out. This, however, was only the beginning of a series of troubles. They lived for two years upon the farm they had taken up, but the rust killed the wheat crop, and they subsisted on corn cakes and corn bread, pork and chickens, unable to obtain money or other food. Mrs. Deppen became so homesick that Mr. Deppen hitched up his Conestoga wagon and took her back East, the four children remaining alone upon the farm until the parents returned, after an absence of ten weeks. Then Mr. Deppen became homesick, and after another year the entire family returned to the old location in Pennsylvania. The last year in Ohio the wheat and corn crops had both frozen, and the family lived principally on soft corn and pumpkins. It was in 1846 that they made the return journey, and when they arrived at Liverpool, Perry Co., Pa., the pair of horses he drove were Mr. Deppen's only possessions. He settled on the opposite (east) side of the Susquehanna river, and, purchasing five thousand bushels of potatoes on his father's indorsement, obtained a new start. In 1847 he went out to Ohio again to harvest his wheat crop, which was excellent. Just fifty years afterward he went back again, to visit his old farm, which he had sold to Alexander Deppen, who became a successful farmer thereon. The land improved greatly under cultivation.
  "In 1854 Abraham Deppen purchased half of the 300-acre island located in the Susquehanna river between Port Trevorton and Herndon, the other half being owned by a man named Strickler, who was the first man upon it. It was first known as Strickler island, later as Strickler and Deppen island. Mr. Deppen retained his interest until 1868 or 1869, when he sold to Peter Ziegler, since whose death his son George has owned it. The island comprises three hundred acres of the finest and most fertile land in the upper part of the State.
  "Abraham Deppen married Mary Snyder, of Upper Mahanoy township, born in 1811, died in 1868. They were the parents of four children: Louisa (married Mr. Reuben H. Muth), George (of Herndon, Pa.), Joseph (of Mount Carmel, Pa.) and Alexander."

• Father*: William Deppen b. 20 Nov 1779, d. 3 Sep 1848
• Mother*: Magdeline Seiler b. 15 Sep 1790, d. 2 Feb 1862

Mary Snyder

• Last Edited: 9 Mar 2012

• Mary Snyder is also referred to as Anna Maria in some sources.²
• She was born on 27 November 1811.^3,2
• She was the daughter of Johann Peter Schneider and Gertraut Maurer.¹
• Mary Snyder married Abraham Deppen, son of William Deppen and Magdeline Seiler.³
• Mary Snyder died on 12 November 1868, at age 56.³
• She was buried at St. Peter's Cemetery, Red Cross, Northumberland County, PA.³

• Father*: Johann Peter Schneider¹ b. 10 Sep 1782, d. 17 Oct 1841
• Mother*: Gertraut Maurer¹ b. 3 Jul 1779, d. 29 Mar 1844