HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



245 



Castle, K. G. E. ; and the Doylestown I\Ian- 

 naerchor Society. 



He married, May 12, 1889, May Emma 

 Roberts, born May 12, 1861, daughter of 

 John and Susanna (Kratz) Roberts, of 

 Doylestown. On the maternal side she is 

 descended from John Valentine Kratz, who 

 was born in the Palatinate in 1707, and 

 came to Pennsylvania at the age of twenty 

 years in the ship "Friendship," arriving at 

 Philadelphia, October 15, 1727, and settled 

 in Upper Salford, now Montgomery county. 

 The grandparents of Mrs. White arje Isaac 

 H. and Sybilla (Duke) Kratz; her great- 

 grandparents Abraham and Elizabeth 

 (Fretz) Kratz; and her great-great-grand- 

 parents Isaac and Mary (Yellis) Kratz, 

 Isaac being a son of John Valentine, the 

 emigrant. The only child of Howard P. 

 and MaryJEmma (Roberts) White is Ed- 

 ward Earfe, born February 18, 1890. The 

 family are members of the Presbyterian 

 church. 



WILLIAM G. MOVER, a venerable and 

 «minently esteemed resident of the borough 

 of Chalfont. for many years an active and 

 potent factor in the agricultural, political 

 and social interests of New Britain town- 

 ship, was born at Pleasant Valley, Spring- 

 field township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 

 February 14, 1834, a son of Abraham D. 

 and Mary (Geisinger) Moyer. 



The founder of the American branch of 

 the family was the Rev. Peter Moyer, who 

 with his brothers William. Jacob and Henry, 

 and their sister and widowed mother, came 

 to America in 1741. The family were na- 

 tives of Switzerland, and were forced to 

 flee from their native country during the 

 fierce persecution of the Mennonites by 

 the Calvinists, or State Reformed church, 

 to the Palatinate in Germany, where they 

 remained with friends in the vicinity of 

 Kerbach for about one year, when they 

 ■emigrated to America. The mother mar- 

 ried Nickey Schaafroth ; no issue. Of the 

 brothers, Peter was the oldest and Plenry 

 the youngest. Peter, William and Henry 

 settled in Springfield township, Bucks 

 county, and Jacob settled at Center Valley. 

 Saucon township, Lehigh county. They all 

 became farmers, and were active members 

 of the Mennonite church. The supposition 

 is that Peter was a minister in Switzer- 

 land, and he was one of the early minis- 

 ters of the church in Springfield township; 

 Jacob was also a minister and preached 

 at Coopersburgh. 



Rev. Peter Moyer, great-grandfather of 

 William G. Moyer, was born in Switzer- 

 land about 1723, married . He set- 

 tled in Springfield township, Bucks county. 

 Pennsylvania, near Pleasant Valley, where 

 on May 28, 1752. he purchased his farm 

 ■consisting of 107 acres (old measure) from 

 Joseph Green. The property was bounded 

 \>y lands of William Bryan. Joseph I'n- 

 thanks, and James Green, and is owned 



now by Mary Moyer Geissinger, wife of 

 Charles A. Geissinger, daughter of Abra- 

 ham G. Moyer, a great-grandson. Rev. 

 Peter ]\Ioyer was one of the early minis- 

 ters of the Mennonite church of Spring- 

 field. Children : Christian. John. Jacob, 

 William, Henry, Isaac, Mary (Mrs. Kulp), 

 Barbara. Two daughters married Kulps, 

 and three children died young. 



William Moyer, grandfather of William 

 G. Moyer, was born in Springfield town- 

 ship, Bucks county, June 7, 1764. His oc- 

 cupation was that of a farmer. He was 

 united in marriage to Mary Overholt, who 

 was born December 27, 1767, and their 

 children were : Magdalena. Nancy. Han- 

 nah. Kate. Mary and Abraham D. The 

 death of William Moyer occurred February 

 12. 1848; he was survived by his wife, who 

 passed away September i, 1850. 



Abraham D. Moyer, father of William 

 G. Moyer. was born on the old Peter Moyer 

 farm in Pleasant Valley, June 6, 1798. He 

 was reared on the homestead, received a 

 good common school education, and 

 throughout his active career followed farm- 

 ing as a means of livelihood. He was the 

 leader of the singing in the Mennonite 

 church. In 1832 he married Mary Geis- 

 inger, who was born in Upper Milford, 

 Lehigh county, September 18, 181 r, a 

 daughter of Philip and Fanny (Hestand) 

 Geisinger. Their children are: William 

 G., mentioned hereinafter ; Fanny, who be- 

 came the wife of Nathaniel Bechtel, of 

 Berks county ; Mary and Abraham. The 

 father of these children died September 15, 

 1871 ; the mother passed away December 9, 

 1900. They were honest and industrious 

 people, and in every relation of life per- 

 formed their duties conscientiously. 



William G. Moyer spent his childhood and 

 early manhood years on the farm owned 

 by his father, and his education was ob- 

 tained in the schools of Springfield and 

 Quakertown. For ten years, from 1855 to 

 1865, he served in the capacity of teacher, 

 achieving a fair degree of success in this 

 vocation owing to the fact that he was able 

 to impart to others clearly and concisely 

 the knowledge he wished them to receive. 

 From the latter named year untTl 1872. a 

 period of seven years, he engaged in farm- 

 ing in Springfield township, after which he 

 removed to New Britain township, where he 

 owns a fine farm in the borough of Chal- 

 font. He is practical and progressive in his 

 methods, and, being familiar with all the 

 details of this branch of industry, derives 

 a goodlj' income from his labor. He has 

 been active and prominent in political 

 affairs, and has been chosen the incum- 

 bent of several offices of trust and respon- 

 sibility. He was township auditor for six 

 years : secretary of the school board for 

 a similar period and jury commissioner for 

 Bucks county, having been elected in June, 

 1903 ; and was first president of the council 

 of Chalfont. serving three years. For 

 many years he has served as correspondent 



