Sergeant John Peter Waltman

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military Service: 1776; American Revolution (US)

Notes:

The Waltman Family of Northampton County, By Neil A. Boyer, 12 Jun 2009

John Peter Waltman (1741-1817)

John Peter Waltman, known as ?Peter,? was born on May 9, 1741, and died on November 9, 1817, at the age of 76. (This is not the Peter Waltman, 1779-1836, of Allentown, who was the son of Conrad Waltman, Jr. and the father of Joseph Waltmston.) The dates of this Peter?s birth and death are known from his tombstone in the Kreidersville Cemetery, located next to the marker honoring his father, the immigrant Conrad Waltman. As the tombstone indicates, Peter was in the 3d Pennsylvania Battalion, Deter?s Company, during the Revolutionary War. LaMance said he was a sergeant, but the DAR records said he was a private. Although he was enrolled twice, on the first occasion someone served in his place, and the second time he was on ?inactive duty.?[25] Thus, it is not clear that he served at all. Nevertheless, he is one of the four Waltmans included in the DAR Patriot Index. A study of soldiers buried in Northampton County[26] gave this entry for Peter:
Peter Waldman, Private
Born May 9, 1741, Died Nov 7, 1817
Second Class, Seventh Company, Third Battalion
Company Commanded by Captain John Dieter
Northampton County, Militia 1782, 1783

Peter apparently was the fifth of the Waltman children, and his name appears frequently in church and official records, along with that of his brother Valentine. He apparently spent his life in the area near Kreidersville. Tax lists for ownship of Northampton County showed Peter paying taxes from 1763 (when he would have been 22) through 1788. He appeared in 1764 as a communicant at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Petersville, about two miles northeast of Kreidersville, along with Valentine and Catharina Waltman. In 1772, he was one of the contributors to the creation of the union church at Kreidersville. The 1776 tax list showed that he owned 30 acres cleared, 20 acres of woodland, one horse, two cattle and four sheep. From 1779 through 1788, he had 120 acres of land. He was listed in the 1790 census on property that included one male over 16 (presumably himself), one male under 16, and five females.

Peter married Maria Elizabeth Boyer, who had been born on December 25, 1751. According to her tombstone in the Kreidersville Cemetery, she died in 1831, 14 years after Peter died. Tax records show that Peter was single in 1772. Peter andlizabeth were married in 1774, when he was 33 and she was 23, and had their first child in January 1775.[27]

LaMance said that although Conrad himself had married a commoner, he was offended ?when his son married what he considered a peasant?s daughter, a woman who worked in the field and helped to get in the hay.? She said Peter ?was getting to be something of a bachelor when he fell in love with this good-looking girl that could sing and laugh, spin and sew, and was famous for her bread and pies.? But in Conrad?s view, for Peter to marry Maria Elizabeth Boyer was ?quite a different thing? from his own situation. Because of the conflict between his father and his wife, LaMance said Peter could not even bring Conrad to his own home. And LaMance said that, in her pique, Maria Elizabeth prevented Peter from erecting a tombstone to Conrad after the old man died.[28] She added, however, that Peter and Maria Elizabeth made a home for Nicholas Waltman, the youngest child of Peter?s brother Frederick, after Frederick was killed in the war.

No link has been discovered between Peter?s wife, Maria Elizabeth Boyer, and the Boyers of Orwigsburg who moved to Easton in the mid-1800s, one of whom, Lewis Elmer Boyer (1869-1948), joined a Waltman in marriage. LaMance described Mariath?s family as ?fine people, good neighbors, religious almost to fanaticism, upright, honest, capable and industrious. But as firm as the rock of Gibralter itself. They were tall and blonde, some with hair of that rarest of all color, a pure gold. . . . Southern Bavaria is near Switzerland, and these Boyers were good singers. They were adept, like the Swiss, at yodel singing. They were a merry, laughing, witty set, although their high spirits sometimes alternated with the deepest melancholy.? LaMance said she could report these things because she had personally known some of these Boyers (although 150 years later!).

The father of Maria Elizabeth was Henry Beyer, who died in early 1775. A warrant from Thomas and Richard Penn, dated May 4, 1748, had provided Henry with 100 acres of land in Linn Township, in Lehigh County, about 20 miles northwest of A. And in 1769, Henry Silvius, Sr., sold to Henry Beyer 60 acres in Towamensing Township, in Carbon County north of Moore Township. Silvius had acquired that land in 1747 under a warrant by Thomas and Richard Penn. On his death, Henry Beyer left this property to his heirs, including Peter Waltman and his wife Maria Elizabeth.[29] Court records show that on April 14, 1775, the heirs to these two sites sold their rights to a total of 161 acres for 275 pounds for one and 125 pounds for the other. Besides the Waltmans, the heirs of Henry Beyer included Frederick and John Beyer.

Peter Waltman?s will, dated March 25, 1816, was written in German and proved on November 26, 1817, 17 days after he died. It mentioned his wife, Marie Elisabeth, and his children Anna Maria, Elisabeth, Barbara and Magdalena. Executors weons-in-law, Jost Straus and Peter Anewald.

John married Maria Elizabeth Boyer about 1774 in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Maria was born on 25 Dec 1751; died on 01 Feb 1831 in Kreidersville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; was buried in Zion's Stone Church Cemetery, Kreidersville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Waltman Family of Northampton County, By Neil A. Boyer, 12 Jun 2009

Anna Barbara Waltman was born on June 21, 1777, and baptized on June 29 at Zion Church.[31] She died on August 4, 1853, at the age of 75. She married Peter Anewalt, Senior, who had been born on November 12, 1772. He died on July 20, 1825, 28 years before Anna Barbara died. Peter Anewalt was a farmer and weaver who owned 150 acres in Allen Township and 145 acres in adjoining Lehigh Township. ?Barbara? received property from the estate of her father, Peter Waltman, in 1852. Among the children of Peter and Anna Barbara Anewalt was a Peter Anewalt (1797-1841), who married Elizabeth Bliem. The tombstones of Peter and Anna Barbara Waltman Anewalt in the Kreidersville Cemetery have erroneous dates and appear to confuse Peter with his father, Valentine Anewalt (1731-1802), who emigrated to America on the Snow Squirrel in 1761.[32] Catharine Anewalt, a daughter of Anna Barbara Waltman and Peter Anewalt, was a direct ancestor of William J. Fiedler, Jr., of New Tripoli, Pennsylvania, who in 2006 was doing research on the related families

Sponsors were Henrich Boyer (same name but not the father of Maria Elizabeth Boyer Waltman, since he had died in 1775, two years earlier) and Anna Barbara Waltmann, sister of Peter. Her tombstone erroneously said she was born on June 5, 1778, but the date of death is the same, August 4, 1853.

There is confusion about the dates and names because there is also a tombstone for an ?Barbara A. Anewalt? at Zion Church Cemetery that says she was ?born May 14, 1742, married Peter Anewalt, and died at 28, August 4, 1828.? The dates and numbers make little sense. Despite the name on the tombstone, it appears from the records that this ?Anna Barbara,? born in 1742, was not a Waltman and was not the wife of Peter Anewalt, but actually the second wife of Peter Anewalt?s father, Valentine Anewalt.

It appears that Valentine Anewalt (1731-1802) first married, in 1753, Johanna Margret Kurtz (1733-1793), and they had nine children, including Peter Anewalt (1772-1825). He then married ?Anna Barbara,? last name unknown, who was born in 1742 or 1743 and died in 1828. They had no children. See Humphrey, Pennsylvania Grave Stones, Northampton County, For People Born Before 1800, Larjon & Co., Washington DC (2000), page 8 for the confusing Anewalt tombstone records.

The marker for Conrad Waltman was placed in the Kreidersville cemetery in 1986 by William J. Fiedler, Jr., and Aaron Hower of New Tripoli and possibly other family descendants. William Fiedler is descended from several families who lived in the Kreidersville area in the 1700s ? the Waltmans, Anewalts, Dreisbachs and Howers. Bill?s father, William Jacob Fiedler (1911-1970) married Edna Saylor Hower (1911-1974), who was the daughter of Lloyd Clarence Hower (1880-1959) and a granddaughter of Thomas Hower (1854-1928). Thomas Hower?s father, Aaron Hower 1823-1867), was the son of George Hower (1798-1886), who was married to Catharine Anewalt (1802-1884). Catharine, in turn, was the daughter of Peter Anewalt (1772-1825) and Anna Barbara Waltman (1777-1853), who was a daughter of Conrad Waltman?s son John Peter Waltman (1741-1817) and his wife Maria Elizabeth Boyer (1751-1831). George Hower was the son of Johann Nicholas Hower (1751-1824) and Elizabeth Dreisbach (1762-1839). Elizabeth Dreisbach was the daughter of Simon Dreisbach, Jr. (1730-1806), granddaughter of Simon Dreisbach, Sr. (1698-1785), and the niece of John Dreisbach (1735-1796), who married Elizabeth Waltman, a daughter of Conrad Waltman, Senior. Thus, these four families were intricately intertwined. See more details in the chapter on the children of Conrad Waltman. To bring the links up to modern times, the Hower Family Reunion in 1987 welcomed as guests Minerva and Dr. Charles Waltman (1906-1995), of Easton, Pennsylvania, a prominent descendant of Conrad Waltman Senior, Valentine, Conrad Junior, Peter and Joseph Waltman

Anna married Peter Anawalt about 1796. Peter (son of Valentine Anawalt and Joanna Margaret Kurtz) was born on 22 Nov 1772 in Northampton County, Pennsylvania; died on 20 Jul 1825 in Northampton County, Pennsylvania; was buried in Zion's Stone Church Cemetery, Kreidersville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Waltman Family of Northampton County, By Neil A. Boyer, 12 Jun 2009

Anna Maria Waltman was baptized at Zion Church on April 8, 1779. She died on September 12, 1852, at the age of 73. A proceeding in Northampton County Court[33] in November of that year described her as a ?lutatic? (presumably it was meant to be ?lunatic?). The will of her father, Peter Waltman, dated March 25, 1816, 18 months before he died, provided that 300 pounds be left and remain a charge on his lands for the use of Anna Maria, and that after she died, the property would be distributed to his other three daughters. (His two sons already had died.) In the court proceeding, the two surviving sisters (Barbara and Magdalena) and the daughter of the other sister (Elizabeth) sold their rights to the real estate to Conrad Keck and John Miller. (LaMance created confusion on this issue. She saw the tombstone of "Maria Waltman" and erroneously believed she was the daughter of Valentine who was named "Maria Barbara.")

Notes:

The Waltman Family of Northampton County, By Neil A. Boyer, 12 Jun 2009

Peter Waltman was born on June 10, 1781, and baptized on July 8 of that year at Zion Church. He died on January 14, 1811. The church record said he died of ?magere Krampf,? which has been translated as a form of cramps. The Zion Church record said he was aged 29 years, 7 months, and 4 days. Apparently he was not married. LaMance said this Peter Waltman, born in 1781, was often confused with the Peter Waltman born in 1779. That Peter was the son of Conrad Waltman, Junior. The two Peters were only two years apart in age, and she said that because of this, their fathers also were often confused. That may have been true, although LaMance herself was confused, thinking that the Peter of 1779 was the son of Valentine rather than the son of Conrad Junior.

Notes:

The Waltman Family of Northampton County, By Neil A. Boyer, 12 Jun 2009

Magdalena Waltman married Adam Lerch. She is buried in Zion Church cemetery in Kreidersville. Judging by the tombstone, she was born at the end of 1786 and died on June 7, 1869, at the age of 82.[36] The will of her father, Peter, left property to ?his three daughters, Barbara, Magdalena and Elizabeth? to share after the death of their sister Anna Maria. Under the Northampton County court order mentioned above, property in this instance was distributed to ?Magdalena Lerch.?

Family/Spouse: Adam Lerch. Adam was born on 24 Dec 1774; died on 26 Jan 1840 in Kreidersville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; was buried in Zion's Stone Church Cemetery, Kreidersville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]