Melchior Detweiler arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 16, 1736, on the ship "Princess Augustus" by way of Cowes, England. Melchior was a native of the Palatinate, a province of France. He was the father of four sons: Christian, Jacob, John, and Rudolph. The family settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, near the Blue Mountain. They lived in various counties in Pennsylvania for several generations.
Solomon Detweiler, Melchior's great, great, great, great grandson (ie sixth generation), was born March 24, 1851, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. December 28, 1876, he married Salina Byler, daughter of Rudie Byler and Mary Hertzler, in Lawrence Coutny, PA. Several of his brothers moved west to Ohio where they settled with their families. At some point Solomon and Salina moved even farther west, settling first in Hutchinson, Kansas, then on to Thomas, Oklahoma.
A Xanga friend sent these pictures to me after reading of my heritage. She lives in the area.
Wasn't that sweet of her?
Benjamin Harrison Detweiler was born February 13, 1888, in Hutchinson, Kansas, to Solomon and Salina (Byler) Detweiler. He was the seventh of fourteen children. Solomon died when Ben was eleven years old. The story of Solomon's death is a sad and a tragic one. Solomon had a dispute with neighbor John Yutzy over the sale of hay. I don't have the details in my memory -- I should get Uncle Johnny to dictate them to me sometime. And Aunt Edna has newspaper reports of the incident of which I should obtain copies. But at any rate, the dispute became physical. They were in the barnyard fighting, John Yutzy picked up a pitchfork and actually pierced Solomon with it. The wound was treated, but became infected, and as a result, Solomon died some time later of blood poisoning. This made a great impression on young Ben, and to the day he died he held a grudge against anyone with the name "Yutzy." The irony of this is that if you go to the little cemetery beside the Upper Deer Creek Mennonite Church in Iowa County, Iowa, you will see the headstones marking the graves of Benjamin H. Detweiler and his spouse, Anna J. Detweiler ... beside the headstone of a couple with "Yutzy" as their surname!!! And further irony that one of his granddaughters (me!) actually married a Yutzy. Well, the Canadians preferred to keep the Swiss/German spelling of Jutzi, but the pronunciation is the same and they all came from the same four brothers who came to the States in the early 1800's.
Anna J. Miller was born May 25, 1893, in Hubbard, Oregon. I know nothing about her family; when did they move to Oregon? How long were they there? Where did she and Grandpa meet? All I know is that she and Grandpa were married January 30, 1913, in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Their first four children, Solomon, Martha, Irene, and LeRoy, were born in Weatherford (Custer County). Their fifth child, third son, Raymond, was born in Keota, Iowa (Washington County). Their remaining 8 children were born in the Wellman/Kalona, Iowa, area. There is some dispute as to whether the section of Wellman they were in was in Johnson County or Washington County. I have tried to determine that from the internet, but Wellman is listed in both counties.
Ben and Anna raised 13 children to maturity. I don't know that Grandma had any miscarriages, but if she didn't I think that's quite unusual. My Dad told me that after Aunt Martha was born the doctor told Grandma she should have a hysterectomy, but she didn't pay any attention to him and had eleven more babies! After they moved to Wellman, they spent the rest of their lives in the Wellman area. The house I remember was on the outer edge of Wellman, across the road from the Wellman Mennonite Church, which they did not attend. They had been reared as Amish, so when they left the Amish church they found the conservative Upper Deer Creek Church more appealing than the more liberal "Old Mennonite" church.
Celebrating 50 Years Together
January 30, 1913 - 1963
Grandpa was a farmer and the four boys learned to farm as well. The only two of the four who continued in farming were the first and second sons, Sollie and LeRoy, although Raymond (my dad) settled in the country on 7 acres of land, which allowed the opportunity of having assorted farm animals and large gardens. I will probably discuss various members of the Detweiler family in later pages, but I think this is enough for now.
1 comment:
I enjoyed reading your history! Fascinating. How sweet that someone took the picture for you!
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