Eby Family Homeland Tour:
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Online version of the booklet
organized & prepared by Samuel Esbenshade Wenger
for The Eby Family Association in 2003
Eby Family Homeland
Tour:
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Online version of the booklet
organized & prepared by Samuel Esbenshade Wenger
for The Eby Family Association in 2003
1. Stone House on Main Street from Dutch Mill Stones:
A large, 2-story stone house built from stones taken from the former Eby's Mill called the "Old Dutch Mill.". The mill was once located near the intersection of Peter's Road and Mill Creek Bridge. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1923 and was never rebuilt. Click here for directions.
2. Christian Eby Homestead, Snavely Mill & Cemetery in Elizabeth Township:
Snavely Mill & Mill Race:
This impressive mill race is as wide as a small pond. It is located on the left side of the roadway. The mill race was once used to generate power. The mill is large and made of limestone. It has been in continuous operation since Elias Eby built it in 1874. An older mill structure, built by Christian Eby III in the 1790s, was destroyed by fire. The storage bins and other modern additions show how the mill has been adapted for current use. Click here for directions.Christian Eby Homestead in Elizabeth Township:
The Christian Eby Homestead was built in 1754 by Christian Eby and Elizabeth Mayer. Note the deer horns and plaque hung under the eves. Both have been there since the house was built in 1754. Click here for directions. Christian Eby, sometimes referred to as "Elder" Christian Eby, became a deacon for the Hammer Creek Mennonite Congregation. He was born on February 12, 1699 and died on September 15, 1756 in Warwick Township where he was a miller by trade. He married Elizabeth Mayer on April 26, 1730 in Earl Township, Lancaster County, PA. She was born about 1712 and died on December 12, 1787 in Warwick township. They had 10 children:The following information is excerpted from John L. Ruth's The Earth is the Lord's:
"In 1754 there were a half dozen new Mennonite "community houses" of these years. They speak not only of increasing wealth but of local fellowship swelling beyond the capacity of most farmhouses. An exception was the substantial stone dwelling built in 1754 at Hammer Creek by miller Christian Eby. Here and in other members' houses, the Hammer Creek congregation met (every eight weeks in a given corner of the district) until a log Gemeinhaus was finally built after 1800. While the Eby house was being erected, the works, according to family lore, masoned into the exterior the still-warm antlers of a deer that had just been killed. Such a trophy is visible in 2002 at the cornice of the fine sandstone "mansion house," enlarged by Christian Eby's deacon son of the same name.
In the same year that the Ebys' house was built, an English-speaking traveler between Lancaster town and the Susquehanna exclaimed that he had observed there "the most beautiful country seat that might be seen anywhere, in a most perfect condition. It belonged to a Switzer." Especially noteworthy was how the farmer channeled spring water down over the hills to irrigate his entire meadow."
Christian's son, Bishop Christian Eby, was married to Catharine Bricker. In this house they raised 11 children. Descendants of this Christian and Catharine Eby family have provided exceptional church leadership in both Canada and the United States. They retained the old Eby homestead on Hammer Creek. Christian greatly improved the dwelling house erected by his father in 1754. The dressed sandstone in the front wall bears a date 1754 and names Christian Eby and his wife Elizabeth. The house and barn on this old homestead were in their time considered stately buildings. The house originally had a large chimney in the center with fire place in nearly every room on the first and second stories. It had an arched cellar underneath as found in the Hans Herr house. It had walnut and oaken paneled partitions, with some of the window sashes hung on cords with lead weights.
Christian was a large, well-proportioned and athletic man, retaining unusually good health and vigor both body and mind up to the time of his death. He was an Elder in the Mennonite Church and wore a long beard which was black until later years when it turned white.
Regularly scheduled Mennonite Meetings were held in home until a building for that purpose was erected in his neighborhood. He lived during the Revolutionary Wary and foraging parties took off some of his horses and cattle carrying with them large quantities of flour and grain from his mill. On one occasion his wife's pewter dishes and spoons and an oven full of newly baked bread and pies shared the same fate. During the winter in which the American Army was encamped at Valley Forge, a number of disabled soldiers were quartered in the Old Lutheran Church near Brickersville, and were supplied weekly with milk and other necessities of life from his and other neighboring farms.
Christian Eby Barn:
Also close to the Snavely Mill site is former location of the Christian Eby barn. This barn is no longer standing. It was located near the shed and was replaced by the current smaller metal storage shed. The original barn was 99 feet long, intentionally one foot shorter than the barn belonging to Eby's Welsh neighbor. Christian Eby did not want to offend his neighbors by making his barn as long or longer than his neighbor's. Click here for directions.The Eby Hammer Creek Cemetery:
On top of the hill behind the Christian Eby homestead is the old Eby Cemetery. This cemetery contains three generations of Theodorus Eby descendants. The iron fence surrounding the tombstones was built by Ira Eby, Martin Hershey and Frank Leaman some years ago to provide a degree of protection. Buried here are Christian Eby I (1698 - 1756) and his wife Elizabeth Mayer (1708 - 1787), Christian Eby II (1734 - 1807) and his wife Catharine Bricker ( 1743 - 1810) and Christian B. Eby III (1763 - 1824) and his wife Veronica Hershey (1766 - 1826). There were nine children born to this fourth generation Eby couple. Third generation Christian Eby II and his wife Catharine Bricker had we children. You'll also see a memorial stone for Theodorus Eby. The inscription reads: "Our immigrant forefather Theodorus Eby (1663 - 1727) was born in Switzerland and buried on his homestead in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We thank Theodorus for coming to this great country where his descendants have been able to practice religious freedom." Click here for directions.
(Click to see larger
picture.)
3. Theodorus & Peter Eby Homestead (pictured above):
This is the homestead owned and occupied by Theodorus Eby. He also build a log mill along Mill Creek, just upstream from the house on the stream running to the right of the house (as faced from Peter's Road). Go to directions.
Theodorus Eby, son of Bishop Jacob Eby, was born in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, on April 25, 1663. Being a follower of Menno in faith, he left his native land about the year 1704 because of religious persecution. From 1704 until 1715, he resided in the Palatinate region of Germany. He left for Philadelphia in the Spring of 1715. In August of the same year, he settled on what is now called Mill Creek, at a place now known as Roland's Mill. Roland's Mill is situated south of New Holland and is near the line of Earl and Leacock Townships in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
In 1718 through 1727, hew appears on the assessment rolls for Conestoga Township, as it was known prior to 1929 when Lancaster County was still part of Chester County. He built his first home in 1727 and lived in only a short time before his death in the same year. He had eight know children. (Go to Dawn Quast's Eby Genealogy page for details.) Barbara Eby, Theodorus's second wife, is the person who signed the deed as his widow which granted land in the city of Lancaster to Hans Moser on or before 1737. 1737 is the year when the house was officially patented to Hans Moser.
History: The "Old Dutch Mill," as Theodorus's mill is known, was built near a site south of New Holland, PA near where the Mill Creek crosses Old Peters Road. It was originally built in 1717 by Theodorus Eby. Theodorus Eby, sometimes referred to as Dorst Eby, built the first Dutch Mill of logs. He installed a great water wheel which lasted from 1717 until 1923 when the mill was destroyed by fire. The wheel was used to grind corn and with special rollers produced flour. Many of the original utensils, along with the original scales, were still used in the second mill built on the site when it too burned down in 1935. Some of the original machinery survived the fire and was later installed in a nearby stone mill..
The mill passed through several owners' hands after Theodorus Eby, including the Roland family. During the Revolutionary War, the proprietors, George and his brother, John Rien, ran the mill. Andrew Snyder, an employee of the mill, discovered that flour from the mill was being sent to the British Army and questioned George Rien concerning the legality of such actions. Moreover., it was discovered that flour being sold for the use of colonial troops contained ground glass. Action was brought against the Rien brothers for selling flour to the British.
At the trial, it developed that the Rien brothers were involved in the theft of horses, running them to Philadelphia where they were sold to the British. It was revealed that the Rien brothers were collaborating with Lieutenant Mansin, an officer of the British Army, Wendel Meyer and Joseph Rode. The testimony disclosed that these conspirators were delivering horses to the British while our own troops were dying from cold and hunger at Valley Forge because of the lack of horses used to deliver supplies to the Revolutionary Army. It was further disclosed that Rien's Mill was one of the most important stations in an underground system for sending flour and supplies to the British and then on to New York. Lieutenant Mansin quite often slept in the mill and used it as a base for operations.
History disclosed that more fine horses were delivered to the enemy from the area surrounding the Old Dutch Mill than any other area involved in the Revolutionary War. Mansin, Meyer and Joseph Rode were tried and sentenced to the gallows. The Rien brothers were tried in absentia since they had escaped and were with the British in Philadelphia. However, the entire proceedings were set aside by General George Washington when he reviewed the case. Someone evidently had overstepped his authority and had to be placed in his proper station by the Commander-in-Chief. A second trial followed. Mansin and Meyer were condemned to death. They were hanged in the old jail yard at Prince and Water Streets in Lancaster.
In due course, John Rien, the first of the brothers, returned and hid out among friends and relatives. With the return of peace to the country, prosecutions stopped and George Rien returned and regained possession of the Dutch Mill. Believe it or not, Mr. Snyder, who made the original discovery of this extracurricular activities returned to the mill to resume his former employment and marry a girl, Magdalena Pfeiffer, who lived in the Rien household. Incidentally, Snyder died in 1845 at the age of 112.
It should be pointed out that the populace of Lancaster County, predominantly of Swiss or German origin, was intensely devoted to the tenets of their religion. After enduring the hardships of Europe, most of them came to Lancaster County between 1727 and 1776. They were asked to take the Oath of Allegiance to the English Crown. In 1775, they were being asked to retract those oaths; and to them oaths were not to be taken lightly. With this as background and by reason of the sheer exhaustion of the local patriots, all persecution of the dissidents was stopped.
The Old Dutch Mill, established by Dorst Eby, bore under the gable end the names of D. and M. Rien, along with the date 1793. In 1793, the Rien brothers completely remodeled the mill in the form which it lasted until the fire of 1923. In 1968, part of the foundation still could be seen on the bank of Mill Creek just off Peters Road.
Other Eby Mills:
Grist and sawmills and, occasionally, a fulling, hemp or oil mill, were places of note, as widely known as taverns, and much more useful to life in the community. Theodorus Eby and his sons were builders of these mills and they were skilled and resourceful men. They erected and operated a chain of mills in Leacock, Earl, Warwich, Cocalico and Elizabeth townships. It is known that Theodorus had a mill on May 31, 1726, because a road petition of that date refers to the mill in naming the proposed route of the road. This was likely the Eby mill along Mill Creek, noted above. Peter Eby, prominent son of Theodorus, owned a large amount of acreage just north of the Mill Creek and west of the present Route 772. A mill was likely established on this tract of land. It is known that the Ebys had at least three mills along Mill Creek.
Food and shelter were the essential ingredients to the life and development of the county. The Eby grist and sawmills played their part: The grist mills provided food and the sawmills provided timber to supply shelter. Almost the total transferable wealth of residents consisted at first of logs. These were taken to the mills and exchanged for flour, meal and cut timber. Long rows of wagons loaded with corn, wheat, oats and rye would line up at the mill site, waiting their turn at the loading platform. The mills were places where the settlers in the new country met and intermingled more freely and generally than anywhere else except places of religious services.
Source: These historical facts concerning the Dutch Mill were reported by R.S. Sprout in the Lancaster County Historical Society Bulletin, Volume LVI-2-1952.
Original Eby Cemetery in Leacock Township:
Across from the original Theodorus Eby homestead on Peter's Road, on the adjacent farm, is the original Eby Cemetery. It is located in a field within a present-day Amish farm. This land was once the property of Theodorus Eby, the family progenitor, who was buried in this cemetery. (Click here to go to directions.)
In his will, Peter Eby deeded one acre of the Eby farm to be a protected area as a family burial plot. In recent decades, the Eby Family Association (see association Web site) restored the graveyard and erected a fence to protect the area from vandalism and damage. They've also repaired one of the original stones and installed a memorial stone to mark the grave sites of Theodorus and his son Peter and wife Anna Mylin Eby. (This is the Peter who built the 1734 house.)
4. Hershey's Mennonite Church & Jacob Hershey Farm
This cluster of Eby points-of-interest is located in 401 Hershey's Mennonite Church Road in Kinzers, Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Click here for directions.
The Hershey Mennonite Congregation erected the Hess Meetinghouse in 1837. It was enlarged in 1862. Gradually, the church became known as Hershey's Mennonite Church. It was likely names after the preacher Jacob Hershey and his descendants who lived in the vicinity.
Hershey's Mennonite Church has two cemeteries of interest. The old cemetery is located about 1/3 mile east of Hershey's Mennonite Church building (along Hershey Church Road) and contains the site where Bishop Peter Eby is buried. Bishop Eby is buried in row #8 from the east end of the cemetery at grave site #4. The old cemetery was used primarily until the 1800's, although there are a few burials dated within the early 1900's.
The new cemetery, located directly behind the church, contains the burial sites of Bishop Isaac Eby (first row inside the main gate on the left side) and Sem Eby, a son of Christian B. Eby with his wife Anna. They can be found in the second row near the gate. Sem grew up in Elizabeth Township, went west for a period and then moved back to Leacock Township where he met and married his wife Anna. They eventually took over her father's farm, Frantz Farm.
The Jacob Hershey Farm is located adjacent to Hershey's Mennonite Church and can be seen from the old cemetery.
5. Eby Homesteads near Gap, PA:
Two Bishops farms can be found near Gap, PA: Bishop Isaac Eby (buried near Hershey's Mennonite Church discussed above) and Bishop Peter Eby. Click here for directions.
The farm of Bishop Peter Eby, son of Christian Eby, son of Theodorus, is located in Paradise Township, adjacent to "Eby's Curve," an "S" shaped bend in the railroad tracks there. On this farm, there is an arch bridge (behind the house and farm buildings) which allows local traffic to pass under the railroad bridge located there. Peter was born on the old homestead located in Elizabeth Township (see above) where he spent his youth. In 1791, soon after his marriage to Margarette Hess, they moved to their farm near Gap. Peter farmed there until 1800, when he was ordained minister in Hershey's Mennonite Church. Soon after, he was ordained bishop of the Paradise/Hershey District of the Lancaster Conference Mennonite Church. Up until 1814, hew preached in private homes, then a school house was erected and, afterwards, a meeting-house for that special purpose.
His fame as a preacher was widely known and served to fill the houses to their utmost capacity wherever he officiated. The ministers of the Mennonite Church were not educated to deliver sermons from the pulpit, nor did they adopt ministry as a profession. Yet, Peter captured the imagination of his audience who never seemed to tire of listening of his biblical stories. He usually began his preaching with old testament stories about Noah, Abraham or Moses and then continued to the birth of Christ, his ministry on earth and his suffering and death. When he slowly got up from his seat to preach, all noise subsided into almost painful expectation. He would break this silence with a kind and fatherly greeting to his hearers and then proceed fervently into discourse. His voice, suppressed by emotion, and often sinking into silence, would allow the attention of his audience to continually return to him.
In church councils over which he presided as bishop, his voice was equally potent. His clear intellect enabled him to probe difficulties to their depth, and his impartial decisions, pronounced without fear or favor, were acknowledged to be just and rarely were appealed. His widely regarded reputation as a church leader even enabled him to travel to Canada for a time to serve as its first bishop, until his younger brother Benjamin was ordained to that position.
6. The Frantz Farms & Cemetery:
Jacob Frantz and his wife Elizabeth Hershey Frantz turned over their original homestead to their daughter, Anna, and her husband, Sem Eby.
Jacob and Elizabeth Hershey Frantz are buried in the Frantz Cemetery. This small triangular cemetery also holds four of Sem and Anna Frantz's children who died in infancy or at a young age.
Adjacent to the cemetery is found the Jacob Frantz farm. Jacob Frantz and his wife Elizabeth Hershey Frantz moved here around 1845 after Sem Eby and his wife Anna Frantz Eby took over the operation of the original Frantz homestead across the Pequea Creek in nearby Leacock Township. The farm is now owned by Christian L. Kauffman who operates a shoe repair shop on the premises. The house was built in 1845 by Jacob Frantz and is a good example of the Federal-style architecture found in many farm houses in the region that were built in the mid-1800's. Federal-style buildings are easily recognized by the "H" chimneys and the gable-end fanlights. Other owners who have occupied after Jacob Frantzer include John Mellinger, Esaias Denlinger (living there in 1926) and Benjamin Brackbill. Jacob Frantz was an active member of the Paradise Mennonite Church and gave much leadership to the building of the second edition of this church completed in 1847. The church served the congregation for 38 years.
Sem and Anna Frantz Eby occupied the farm formerly operated by Jacob Frantz until the 1800's. It is now farmed by Melvin Eby, son of Bishop Clair Eby, a descendant of Sem and Anna Eby.
Sem Eby married Anna Frantz in Paradise Township, moving from an East Earl mill. Sem (1808 - 1881) was ordained deacon in 1869 and is buried with Anna in the new cemetery near Hershey's Mennonite Church (see above). Sem's son John H. Eby, the youngest of his eleven children, married Lizzie Mellinger. They, along with their seven children, attended Paradise Mennonite Church and are buried in its cemetery, except daughter Susan (Sue), preacher Martin Hershey's wife, who is buried at Hershey's Church (new cemetery) as well.
Directions:
1. Stone House on Main Street from Dutch Mill Stones: From Kinzer Avenue in New Holland, head north on Main Street. The house is 1/2 block on the right. Map 1. Map 2. Return to description.
2. Snavely Mill & Mill Race: Route 23 West to Leola. Turn right and take short cut past Leola Elementary School on your right. Follow Route 772 to Hess's Church along Newport Road to Lititz. Turn right. Before going all the way up the hill, go left to the Brunnersville Square. Go about 1 mile beyond the square, then turn right from Lexington Road or go to Dridge Hill Road. Follow Dridge Hill Road to the Snavely Mill Road. Turn right and go short distance to the Snavely Mill. Cross the bridge to see the Christian Eby Homestead. Map 1. Map 2. Map 3. (Click here to return to description.)
Christian Eby Homestead in Elizabeth Township: See directions for Snavely Mill & Mill Race above. Return to description.
Christian Eby Barn: See directions for Snavely Mill & Mill Race above. Return to description.
The Eby Hammer Creek Cemetery: See directions for Snavely Mill & Mill Race above. Return to description.
3. Theodorus & Peter Eby Homestead: Head north on Main Street, New Holland (Route 23). Left on to Peter's Road (as of May 2004, there's a small white used car dealership on corner). Continue on Peter's Road to four-way intersection. (You'll see a church on your left.) The homestead is immediately past this intersection on the left. Map 1. Click here to return to description.
Original Eby Cemetery in Leacock Township: Head north on Main Street, New Holland (Route 23). Take a left on to Peter's Road (as of May 2004, there's a small white used car dealership on corner). Continue on Peter's Road to four-way intersection. (There's a church immediately on your left.) The graveyard is on the right, situated in a field on an Amish farm there. To approach, take drive through farmyard up hill. Keep your eyes peeled to the left for a path through crops. The site is surrounded by an iron fence. (Click here to return to description.)
4. To Hershey's Church from New Holland: Route 23 to New Holland Road south. Go through New Milltown. Take left on to Hershey's Church Road.
To Hershey's Church from Route 772/Lititz: Take Route 772 south toward Leacock and Intercourse. Once through Intercourse, look and take left onto New Holland Road. Take right onto Hershey's Church Road before reaching New Milltown.
Map 1. Map 2. Map 3. (Click here to return to description.)
Bishop Isaac Eby Farm: Newport Road south toward Gap. Turn right onto Henzel Road. Halfway up the road you'll see Isaac Eby's farm on the left. Near the corner of the farm is the small Hess Cemetery. (Lots of Hess's lived around here and some are buried here, including Samuel Hess.)
Bishop Peter Eby Homestead: Go to Route 30 on Hensel Road. Turn left onto Route 30. Take first right. Last farm on right belonged to Bishop Peter Eby.
6. The Frantz Farms & Cemetery:
West on Route 30 to Leaman Place. Turn right onto Esbenshade Heights Road. Turn left onto Harristown Road. The Frantz Cemetery is found at the intersection of Belmont and Harristown Roads.
To go to the Jacob Frantz Farm, go past Frantz's Cemetery. The Jacob Frantz farm is on the right across from the Paradise Elementary School.
To go to the Sem Eby Farm, turn right onto Belmont Road heading north. Turn right onto Queen Road to the first farm on the right.
Map 1. Return to descriptions.
Resources used to compile this tour information:
Groff, Clyde L. and Newman, George F.; The Eby Report, Volume 1, Number 2, "American Bi-Centennial Issue," 1976.
Groff, Clyde L. and Newman George F.; The Eby Report, Volume II, Number 1, "The First Four Generations in America," 1978.
Navelle, Zona Eby; "Through Windows of Time -- Nine Generations of an Eby Family," 1995.
Eby, Ezra E.; "A Biographical History of the Eby Family," Published in Berlin, Ontario, Canada; Reprinted 1991.
Benner, Henry G., Editor; "The Story of the Paradise Mennonuite Church," Horning Printing, 1985.
Eby, Jacob; "A Brief Record of the Ebys," Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1923.
Eby, Martin Christian; "History of the Hershey Mennonite Church of Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," 1978.
Quast, B. Dawn; "Eby Family Homepage (Abee, Aebi, Eaby, Ebey, Ebi, etc.), Family Treemaker Report, 2001.
Ruth, John L.; "The Earth is the Lord's," A Narrative of Lancaster Mennonite Conference, Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Copyright 2001.
J. Eby Hershey, an Eby historian, who assisted the author with family and related Eby information, location of Eby properties, and checking the information for accuracy in content and details.
Roy and Margaret Eby for supplying a variety of books and resource materials used to compile this information.
Author Samuel E. Wenger; 3 Faiview Drive; Akron, PA 17571; (717) 859-2357; Email: swenger@ptdprolog.net
