Exeter Township was settled around 1718. It had been a part of Oley, Philadelphia County. In 1741, seventeen signers petitioned the court for the erection of a new township to be called Exeter. The signers were: James Boone, Benjamin Boone, John Boone, Thomas Hughes, William Hughes, Thomas Yarnall, Deter Yarnall, Michael Waren, **ttna Huig**t, Peter Higo, David *****, Ezekiel Mathias, Roger Rogers, Joseph Brown, Jacob*****, Elias Hughs, and Squire Boone.
On the cover, Zack Millers Daily Stage from Reading to Pikeville.
Martin Alstadt
John Aurandt
George Albright
Joseph Boone
Joseph Brown
Godfried Baker
Isaac Brubaker
John Bishop
Christopher Boyer
John Bower
Paul Bridercum
James Boone
Benjamin Boone
Peter Beacley
Jacob Beacley
Jacob Bower
Henry Boyer
Adam Bolich
Henry Caknate
Conrad Cealler
Stephen Crider
Daniel Conrad
Frederick Celler
Paul Durst
Robert Dickey
Morris Ellis
Christopher Frederick
Peter Fisher
John Fullwiler
Godfred Grin
Adam Gearitt
George Garrit
Jacob Huet
George Hart
Daniel Hart
Jacob Hisler
Leonard High
John Hughes
Samuel Hughes
Edward Hughes
Nicholas Herner
Rudolph Heckler
Henry Herner
William Henton
Peter Hint
George Hinton
Henry Kerson
William Kerby
Deter Kerby
Mordecai Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln
Paul Leffel
Isaac Levan
Michael Ludwig
Lenhart Lebo
Abraham Levan
Philip Louderlock
Henry Leace
Peter Matis
William Maugridge
Val. Messersmith
George Messersmith
Ulrick Moone
Philip Near
Peter Null
Frederick Nackel
Henry Oder
Robert Patterson
Thomas Payne
Jonathan Price
Francis Ritter
Peter Rine
Jacob Rawn
William Russel
Michael Sister
John Suck
Peter Smith
Jacob Scharer
Peter Snider
Christopher Sheath
Widow Sheffer
Henry Slye
Henry Stucker
Henry Thompson
John Thompson
Jacob Willear
Martin Waltz
John Webb
Joseph Webb
Frederick Wallick
Christian Weeks
John Wainwright
Adam Young
Jacob Yoder
Jacob Young
SINGLE MEN
Adam Barnet
Jon Beacley
John Boone
Engle Boyer
John Collier
Frederick Herner
Francis Kerston
Abraham Lincoln
John Modling
William Patterson
Nathan Pugh
George Rutter
Philip Statler
Frederick Wallick
James Webb
Glen Hotel owned and operated by Charles Dengler. The hotel also had a large dance pavilion. During summer months, a Mr. Gauman held dances there on Wednesday and Saturday nights. The hotel burned to the ground on September 27, 1931.
Klapperthal Pavilion was a beautiful hotel built by the Reading Railway Company. It was constructed of red sandstone and frame and had a large dance pavilion about 200 feet long. There was also a baseball diamond nearby. Shows and other entertainment were held there. The building was torn down around the turn of the century.
Centennial Springs Hotel later became the Berks County Sanatorium until it was moved to Bern Township.
Baumstown is the oldest town in Exeter Township. It was first called Exetertown, and later named for Dr. Baum who settled there before 1800. His hospital was said to be the place later called Strawberry Mansion.
The Red Lion Inn - the oldest inn in the area.
The Black Bear Inn- stopping point on the way to Philadelphia. Mail was sent in care of ESTERLY, one of the owners. The post off remained ESTERLY and the area is still called that today.
The name St. Lawrence is from a brand name for a grade of woolen goods manufactured by the William Brumback Woolen mills in 1856.
John F. Lutz established the Lutz funeral home in 1884.
Albert H. Adams established the St. Lawrence Dairy Co. in 1888. Was the first milk wagon to deliver pasteurized milk to Reading in 1915 from St. Lawrence.
A butchering establishment was begun in the 1880's by Darius Weidner, and later was operated by Reuben Behm.
The LeVan families were among the first settlers in Exeter. The family was of French Huguenot origin.
Limekiln is also called Snyderville and Oley Line. It is situated on the Exeter-Oley line and named for a limekiln in the area, which was the homestead of Hans Snider.
Susanna Cox was hanged in City Park for the murder of her child.
Stonersville - Philip Boyer opened a hotel in 1813 called the Compass.
Lorane, also known as Exeter Station.
Most of the Boones were Weavers and Tanners.
George Boone III (George Boone, Sr.) was born at Stoak, near the city of Exeter in England. (The city for which Exeter is named). In 1689 he married Mary Maugridge, born 1669 near Exeter, England. All their children were born in England. The oldest were George Jr., Sarah and Squire. When George Sr was 51 and wife 48, they moved the family to America. They first lived in Abington and later to North Wales for about 2 years. In 1718, he obtained a warrant for 400 acres and allowances up Oley way (now Exeter). He built a log cabin in 1719-20 and in 1733 built the larger stone home. When George Sr. died, his body was taken to the Friends Burying Ground. His wife preceded his death by 3 years. George Jr was born in England in 1690. He was a schoolteacher, surveyor, and justice of peace, land speculator in partnership with Richard Peters. He erected a mill on his land in 1725-26 along the Monacacy Creek. Tradition has it that gunpowder was manufactured in this mill during the revolutionary war.
George Boone Jr. and his wife Deborah deeded one acre of ground to the trustees of the religious Society of Friends in 1736. Later, when John Lee bought the George Boone property, he donated an additional one-quarter acre and the deed was record in 1785.
Sarah Boone, second child of George Sr. and Mary, was born in 1692 in England married Jacob Stower.
Squire Boone, the third child of George Sr. and Mary was born in 1696 in England. He married Sarah Morgan. They settled in Bucks County, then in 1730 settled on what is now known as the Daniel Boone Homestead. In 1750 he sold part of his land to his brother Joseph Boone and the other part to William Maugridge, and moved to North Carolina.
The fourth child of George Sr. and Mary was Mary, born 1699 in England. She married John Webb and lived on the parental estate.
The fifth child of George Sr. and Mary was John, born 1701 in England. He was a bachelor and taught school at the Meeting House. John was a tanner by trade and had a tannery with his brother James on the parental homestead lands. He owned much land in Brunswick Township, Berks County (now Schuylkill County). Before his death in 1785 in Exeter Township, he turned all his lands over to his brother James.
Joseph, the sixth child of George Sr. and Mary was born in 1704 in England. He married a woman named Catherine. He had 5 children: Joseph Jr., Catherine, Mary, Hugh and Isaac.
The seventh child of George Sr. and Mary is Benjamin, born July 16, 1706 in England. He married first in 1726 to Ann Farmer and had one son. His first marriage took place at the Abington Meeting House. His second marriage was to Susannah. In 1735, Benjamin Boone and Mordecai Lincoln and four other men were appointed to lay out a road, one of the first roads in Exeter Township. He was a representative in Berks County until 1758. Benjamin's children were baptized at St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church and most of them settled in Northumberland County.
The eighth child of George Sr. and Mary was James, born July 7. 1709 and died September 30, 1785. Married first May 15,1735 and second in 1757 to Ann Griffith. All the children are from the first marriage. James inherited the homestead of his father and occupied it his entire life. He was a tanner by trade with his brother John. Two children were Ann and James Jr. James Jr. was a teacher at the Friends School and an astronomer of some note. A paper entitled the Boone Family by Dr. P. G. Bertolet of Oley written in 1858 says this of James Boone, Jr.
"Especially prominent was James Boone, Jr. who evinced a decided taste for letter at an early age. At the age of ten years, he mastered Geometry and Surveying. He resided form some time in Philadelphia, and while there often enjoyed the society of Dr. Ben Franklin and David Rittenhouse and other men of learning. He soon won a reputation, especially in the higher branches of mathematics. His copy of Sir Isaac Newton's work on astronomy is interesting; on the margins are criticisms and calculations, proving not a few to be in error.
James Boone Jr. died almost in the prime of his life and buried at Friends Buying Ground.
Ann Boone, daughter of James was born April 3, 1737. She married at age 23 to Abraham Lincoln (Exeter's Lincoln, not the President).
The ninth child of George Boone, Sr. and Mary was Samuel, born March 22, 1711. He married Elizabeth Cassel in 1734. They had 4 children. He died in 1745 at age 34. His sons were Samuel and Isaiah and were reared by his brothers and their mother who remarried reared the two younger children.
Samuel Jr., in 1776 lived in Frederick, Maryland where he manufactured guns and gun locks for the Revolutionary War. He supposedly lost all his money in this venture.
Daniel Boone, was born October 22, 1734 but due to a change in 1752 from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, we now know his birth date as November 2, 1734. Little is known about his life in Pennsylvania.
Samuel Lincoln migrated to America and landed June 20, 1637 in Salem, MA. He settled in Hingham, MA. Samuel Lincoln and his wife Martha had 11 children. One son, born June 14, 1657 was named Mordecai. He was a blacksmith and ironworker. He married Sarah Jones and their first son was also named Mordecai. Mordecai Sr. died November 28, 1727 in Scituate, MA.
In 1714 Mordecai Jr, married Hannah Salter, daughter of Richard Salter. Mordecai and Hannah became the parents of six children, 1 son and 5 daughters. It is through their son, John that the family line descended to President Abraham Lincoln. It is said that Mordecai Lincoln Sr. of Exeter is buried in the Exeter Friends Burial Ground. Whether this is true or false is not known. The father of Mary (Mordecai Sr. second wife) was Andrew Robeson. Andrew Robeson was the first person buried in the cemetery of the Molatton Church (now St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church, Douglassville).
Mordecai's third son, Abraham, (the third son of his second marriage) was a Congressionalist as his marriage to Quaker Anne Boone was un-orderly.
Mordecai died when Mary was an expectant mother. Her stepson John was 21 years old and her four stepdaughters were only about 9-16 years old. Her own two sons were 4 and 6, Mordecai being born in 1730 and Thomas in 1732. Abraham was born October 18, 1736. Mary Lincoln remarried to Roger Rogers in 1742. There are no records of children by this marriage.
John Lincoln born 5-3-1716 in NJ married Rebecca Flowers Morris, a widow. Their first child was named Abraham and was the Grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln. This first son of John, named Abraham is often confused with Abraham of Exeter Township, the half brother of John and the son of Mordecai and Mary Robeson Lincoln was born October 18, 1736. Rebecca had nine children, eight born in Pennsylvania and the last in Virginia.
John Lincoln, the oldest son of Mordecai and later to be known as Virginia John and Josiah Boone, son of George Boone, Jr. about the year 1765 migrated to Linville Creek, Augusta County (now Rockingham County).
John Lincoln's daughter Rebecca married John Harrison.
Abraham Lincoln, son of John married in Virginia in 1770. They had 5 children, on of which was Thomas, the father of President Lincoln. In 1782, Abraham moved his family to Kentucky, where he was killed in a cornfield by a band of Indians.
Thomas Lincoln married Nancy Hanks.
Mordecai Lincoln left four daughters at his death. Hannah Lincoln married Joseph Millard on May 10, 1743. His is designated Esquire of Union Township. They had 4 children, 3 sons and 1 daughter. Joseph Millard, then of Amity, died before 1770. His wife Hannah granted administration to her stepmother Mary Lincoln Rogers.
Mary Lincoln married first to Mr. Norris and second to Francis Yarnall in 1742.
Anne Lincoln was born March 8, 1725. She married William Tallman. They lived in Amity until 1742 and in the county until 1780. William Tallman was an innkeeper at Reading from 1768-1780. They moved to Virginia and settled near her brother John in the Shenandoah Valley. She died there about 1812.
Sarah Lincoln was born April 1727. She married William Boone on May 26, 1748. She died April 21, 1810.
Mordecai Lincoln Jr., of Exeter, son of Mordecai and Mary Lincoln, was born Mary 9, 1730 in Amity. He married Mary Webb or Ward in 1755. They had 5 children all born in Berks County. They were: Benjamin 10-29-1756, John (Thomas) 3-28-1758, Nancy Ann 11-22-1759 who married Jacob Giger, Hannah born in 1761 and Sarah born 2-25-1767 married John Jones. Sarah died 1-25-1838 in Fayette County, PA.
On January 4, 1787 Mordecai Jr. bought land in Fredrichtown also known as Hummelstown, which is 9 miles east of Harrisburg, Derry Township, Dauphin County, PA. On May 17, 1794, he sold the property to Valentine Hummel who was an innkeeper. Mordecai Jr., at that date was described as being a Yeoman of Union Township, Fayette County.
Exeter Abraham Lincoln married Anne Boone, daughter of James Boone. She was born 4-3-1737. They had 10 children, Mary, Martha, Mordecai, James, Anna, Rachel, Phebe, Ann, Thomas and John.
Thomas, third son of Abraham married Alice Dehaven. They had two children. Martha was born 11-22-1811 and married John Kaub. They had two sons. Martha died 11-12-1858 and is buried at Friends Meeting.
John Dehaven Lincoln, the only son of Thomas and Alice was born 1-1-1815. He married Sarah Gilbert and they had 10 children. They later separated.
The oldest son of John D. and Sarah was Alfred G. Lincoln. He married Anna Louisa Hemming. He worked on the railroad for about 20 years and then returned to farming. They lived on a farm between Painted Sky Road and the Schuylkill River. They had 6 children.
A taxpayer of Exeter Township Henry Vanderslice was elected sheriff of Berks County in 1773. he was still in office when the Declaration of Independence was written and it was his duty to read the Declaration to the populace. He wanted to do more for the freedom movement so he applied for an appointment as a wagon master for the Continental Army. He headed a brigade of twelve wagons. Their duty was to forage for and cart to the army the many supplies and food which they needed. It is safe to say that without the successful aid of Henry Vanderslice, George Washington would probably have been unable to last through the winter at Valley Forge.
In 1784, right after the Revolutionalry Conflict, there were two Exeter companies in the Fourth Battalion of the militia. The officers of company 4 were John Ludwig; Captain, Abarahm Griffith; Lt., Conrad Teeder, Ensign. The officers of company 7 of the same battalion were John Snyder; Captain, John Hider; Lt., and Daniel Schneider; Ensign.
The war of 1812 - Exeter township participants:
Samuel Gerber
Jacob Kern
George Hartman
John Hill
John Klinger
Samuel Hill
William Moyer
Henry Emore
David Borst
Peter Borst
Nicholas Carver
Daniel Dietrich
Samuel Dietrich
George Gryberger
Jacob Heater
John Heckman
Jacob Jackson
Jacob Rowe
John Strunk
Samuel Smeck
Nathan Thomas
Corp. Thomas Lincoln and Augustus Wert are buried in Schwarzwald Cemetery.
Friends Meeting House - Deeded by George Boone, Jr. on December 24, 1736 for the sum of twenty shillings. In 1784, John Lee who purchased the George Boone Jr. farm, deeded one-quarter acre of land to be used for burials. The cemetery was filled with graves and in 1818 was filled with ground to allow more burials on top of existing graves.
Schwarzwald Luther Church - First man to serve families was an unordained schoolteacher, Mr. John Philip Streiter.
Stonersville Union Sunday School was founded in 1867.
St. Lawrence Union Sunday School was organized in the St. Lawrence one-room schoolhouse on Bingaman Street on April 20, 1878.
Lorane Sunday School was organized about 1885 in the Green Tree schoolhouse. Organized by H.B.Levan, Amos Deeter and John Troxel. The chapel was built around 1900 by Dr. Jacob Rittenhouse.
Early records of Schwarzwald United Church of Christ are missing, lost or destroyed. However, 1737 has become the accepted date for the founding of Schwarzwald congregations. The log church remained in use until 1810-11 when it was replaced by a building of stone. The names of the building committee are said to have been: Jacob Levan, John Neikirch, Henry Boyer and Henry Klose. The ministers in charge of the congregation at the time were Rev. H. A. Muhlenberg, and Rev. William Pauli. The church was dedicated on November 10, 1811. Services were held in German and English. The stone church remained in use for about 60 years. The present structure, a brick building was erected in 1870. The building committee was Joseph Levan, Benjamin S. Ritter, Simpson Garber, Joseph Kissling and John Heister. Revs B.D. Zweizig and A.S.Leinback pastors officiated.
Exeter Bible Church - A group of 17 adults began a small Sunday School meeting first in the home of Richard Seidel on Jefferson Street and later moved to a first floor room in the POS of A building at main street and Pennsylvania Ave. Later named Birdsboro Gospel Church. George Quell of Wyomissing and Lester Grubb of Birdsboro served as teachers and leaders of the church.
Church of the United Brethren in Christ - located on a small plot of land along the Philadelphia Pike. One-half acre of land was bought from George Wamsher on 3-8-1869. Trustees were P. T. Poulton, Daniel Bower, John W. Hartranft, John Shantz, Abraham Eschleman, Samuel Romig, and George Kane (Treasurer). Pastor David McChalicher and Bishop Weaver dedicated the church in 1887. Later, a Rev. Melcher of Reading held revival meetings. The church was torn down in 1910-12.
Stonetown - July 1912, Rev. David Weaver.
Dr. George DeBenneville, born in London in 1703 who was a medical practitioner encouraged the custom of having private burials grounds on the farm as a matter of convenience. The custom was observed until about 1860.
The Heckler-Esterly Cemetery on top of a hill off the Oley Turnpike is still in good condition. Daniel Heckler who was murdered by a British soldier lies there and also Daniel Esterly who as a revolutionary war veteran.
Ritter Cemetery - General Roth killed at Baltimore in the war of 1812 is buried here.
Young (Jung) cemetery on Ritter lane - two almost illegible tombstones here.
Kline cemetery off Ritter lane near Stonetown holds a veteran of the war of 1812, John Close.
Messersmith cemetery
Yeich cemetery - no trace left
Pet Cemetery - established in 1920 along Rt. 422 by veterinarian Dr. Romberger. Moved in 1936 to Route 562.
Wanner's Mill operated by Paul Feger. At his death in 1790, he willed the paper mills to his sons and son-in-law and the saw-grist mill to his widow. The paper mill manufactured the paper upon which the continental money was printed. In 1808 by sheriff sale, bought by Jacob Hill. In 1809, Jacob Hill sold the mill to his father, John Hill. John Hill turned the mill into a rifle-boring mill and moved it further up stream. Later it was sold by the sheriff to Christian Hoffmaster. His son, John Hoffmaster operated it until 1870 when the Wanner's bought it. It was sold in 1929 to Peter J. Spuhler. The mill is now a retail feed store.
Saw mill owned by Henry Schoefer - no longer exists.
Paper mill owned by John Breiner, John Berstler used the power for a blacksmith shop. Philip Seidel had a forge nearby. Later owned by Samuel Hoffmaster.
Solomon Seidel's forge near Antietam Creek.
Benjamin Custer owned land near Butter Lane. Lydia Custer married Henry Seidel, they had a son Solomon, who had a son Solomon. He went up-stream, built a race, which operated Philip Moyer's Tilt Hammer and Sol Seidel's Forge. Another owner was Gottlieb Moyer. Samuel Hoffmaster bought the property and conveyed it to his daughter Sarah who married Solomon Sweitzer. It was later known as the Sweitzer farm.
William Sweitzer bought 145 acres near Opal and Emerald Avenues. His farmhouse, which is no longer standing, was the old Carsonia Inn. Benjamin Custer's cottage remains here. Jacob Brumbach bought the Benjamin Custer mill. He started his wooden mill about 1840 and then sold to his two sons, Jacob and William. They operated it until 1853 when Jacob withdrew. William bought the Housin Grist Mill.
George and John Hendel learned the trade of hat making from their father and took over the Jacob Brumback mill. After 2 years, and exchange was made with John Yerger (Yeager), the Hendels going to Reading and John Yerger taking the Hendel mill in Exeter.
Abraham Keller ran a paper mill.
Jacob and Adam Breiner had an oil mill.
Adam Johnson made castings for blast furnaces.
Daniel Guldin had a blacksmith shop, later used by the Seigel Brothers, Stauffer and Kretz and Abraham Stauffer.
Levan Brothers had a glue factory near Black Bear. Daniel Levan, son of Joseph started to manufacture hats. After Daniels death, his son William operated the business.
Ahrens Fertilizer plant.
Brumbach Brothers Woolen Mill. David, George, Aaron and Thomas built A.J.Brumbach. Building in 1892. It is now the Central Door and Plywood Company.
Housin grist mill - William Brumbach established a second mill. After it was destroyed by fire, his son Albert J. took over the operation. The product was called St. Lawrence Woolens. In 1895, Mr. Brumbach established a Pants and Vest factory at 14th and Muhlenburg and also one in Landsdale, PA.
Jacob Levan had a saw mill.
Bechtel family operated a grist mill.
George DeBenniville Keim had a clover mill. In 1845, George Gernant, High Sheriff of Berks County sold to Gottlieb Moyer and Daniel Yocum. In 1863, Daniel and Catherine Yocum deeded to Gottlieb Moyer a house, forge and 134 acres of land. Gottlieb Moyer deeded the same land to Morgan Althouse who married Moyer's daughter. Moyer and Yocum operated the Exeter Tilt-Hammer forge when George Keim bought an interest in the business in 1828.
Daniel Yocum sold land to John Troxel for a pottery. John Troxel married Daniel Yocum's daughter. It is said that Troxel made brick to line his grave. Ferdinand Winterhalter married Troxel's daughter. Mr. Winterhalter had a milk route in Reading.
John Beckley owned the right to land at the intersection of Country Club Road and Philadelphia Pike when George Boone, Sr. bought it. The land was turned over to George Henton. Henton sold to John Bishop. George and Daniel Bishop, Amos Esterly, Nicholas Jones, Thomas Mull, George Ammon, Jacob Hertzog, Mrs. Maggie Leinbach and George Wamsher later owned the mill.
John Lincoln owned a sawmill on the Lincoln Homestead lands.
Rueben Seidel had a stream forge.
Jacob and John Gehr had a fulling and carding mill. This was on the Hans Schneider homestead lands. Jacob Gehr married a daughter of Schneider.
Grist mill owned by the Snyder family. Hans Schneider received a patent to this tract in 1734 and bordered the Boones. Snyder's grandson Daniel became the miller. The land was sold to S. H. Sensenig of Conestoga Valley.
John Boone had a dam which powered a Tilt-hammer forge. His brother, Judah Boone operated the farm. John died in 1858.
Samuel Kaufman was an ironmaster from Maidencreek. It was leased to John Bland of Birdsboro in 1858.
The first main power east of the Monocacy Creek was the John Bechtel Mill. The mill was built by Judah Boone around 1772. Judah turned the land over to Nicholas Knabb. Other owners were Van Reed, Henry Knauss Jr.
Moses Boone had a wheelwright shop near the Antietam.
Abel Thomas had a sawmill. David Herbein later ran it.
Christian Link was a potterer. He dug his clay from the nearby Jacob Guldin farm.
Mahlon Guldin also had a pottery. His brother Jacob started the pottery.
E & G Brooke Furnace made pig iron sold by weight for refining into wrought iron.
It was about 1790 when the Friends built a log cabin structure for the purpose of teaching. The schools were subscription or pay schools and were open to others as well as to church members.
Hans Snider homestead in Limekiln served as a school.
In 1889, Harrison Gechter was paid one dollar to furnish water at the All Sort School.
Contributed by: DTowns4622@aol.com.
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