Thornton Family Genealogy

    Witmer, 2 Peter , Senior

Birth:     1737, Pr. Hessen-Nassau, Hertzheim, Dillingsburgshopf(?), Germany
Death:     Jul 1793

Father:    Witmer, 1 Peter ()
Mother:    <unknown>, Anna Witmer ()

Married    Schuett, Sarah Maria Sallome Witmer ()
           7 Oct 1757, Philadelphia, PA, Sourced
Children:
    1. Witmer, 3 Peter Jr. (*1760 Lanc, PA? +1835 OH?)
    2. Witmer, Maria Magdalena Thornton (*1766 Manor Twp., Lancaster Co., PA +1847 Green Twp., Summit Co., OH)
    3. Witmer, Mary ()
    4. Witmer, Susanna ()
    5. Witmer, John ()
    6. Witmer, Samuel ()


Notes: 

Will proved August
SOURCE: 1793 Old Northumberland Co. Wills and Administrations
Mentions Magdalene as Mrs. John Thornton and Peter, Jr
(Also there is Salome will)


Texts: 

PETER WITMER, SENIOR, was
bron [sic] in, Hertzheim, Nassau, Dills-
burgishaft, Germany, 1737.  It is
believed that his father was also
named Peter, and that he came on
the ship "Muscliff" in 1744, or on
the ship "Restauration" in 1747.
The Peter of this sketch married
Marie Salome ______in Philadel-
phia, Pa., in 1757.  On June 8, 1759,
he was granted a warrant of survey
for 50 acres of land in Lancaster
County.  In 1773, he lived in Manor
Township, Lancaster County, and
was taxed with 140 acres and per-
sonal property.  In 1775 or 1776,
he loaded his family and goods in
a flat boat at Columbia, Pa., and
came up the river with them to the
site of the present village of Dun-
dore, in Union Township, where
he built his first cabin.  He was as-
sessed in Penn Township for the
first time in 1776, and in 1786,
was assessed with 120 acres of
land, a fulling mill, and consider-
able personal property.  In 1785 he
was one of the road supervisors of
Penn Township.  In 1790, his family
consisted of four males over 16
years, and three females.  In 1791,
he established a ferry across the
river to the foot of the Mahanoy
Mountain.  Peter died in what is
now Union Township in July, 1793
and his will was probated at Sun-
bury, PA., on August 3, 1793.  The
will mentions his wife, Maria Sa-
lome, and some of their children:
Peter, Junior, Susanna, Magdalene,
(Mrs. John Thornton), and Mary
(Mrs. John Motz).  Mary was born
in Lancaster County, Pa., on Octo-
ber 9, 1767, and died at Woodward,
Center County, Pa., on March 13,
1839.  Other known children of Pe-
ter, Senior were John and Samuel.
Peter, Senior was buried in the
Row's (Salem) Cemetery in Penn
Township.  Peter, Senior, and his
son, Peter, Junior, received depre-
ciation pay for services in the
Northumberland County Militia.
Ralph Witmer and Frank A. Eyer,
both of Selinsgrove, Pa., are des-
cendants of this pioneer.
SOURCE: DR. CHARLES A. FISCHER, Snyder Co. Pioneers, Selinsgrove,
PA, August 22, 1938, pp. 99 & 100
Passenger list for galley Muscliffe, arrived 1744, George Durel,
commander, from Rotterdam and last from Poole in Dorsetshire, has
a Petter Wittmer, who took the oaths and qualified to the government.
SOURCE: STRASSBERGER & HINKE, PA German Pioneers, 1934, 1992 ed.,
p. 358
No Peter Witmers listed on the 1747 Restauration.
SOURCE: STRASSBERGER & HINKE, PA German Pioneers, 1934, 1992 ed.,
p. 365
Another Peter died 7 Aug, 1808, Lancaster, Lancaster Co.,
PA
SOURCE: Will, NEHG - Mormon fiche
Revolutionary soldier
SOURCE: Bessie Thornton Offut, Pa. Archives, 3rd Series, Vol. 23, p. 246