HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



305 



father of Baden, and her mother of Bavaria. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Siegler are the parents of 

 eight children, the eldest two, William and 

 Katie, died in childhood, and those who 

 survive are Marie, Catharine, Gertrude, 

 Anna and Emma, twins, and Rose. The 

 family are members of the Roman Catholic 

 church. 



WILLIAM S. ERDMAN, M. D., of 

 Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 

 vania, was born in Richland township, 

 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 

 5, 1869, and is a son of Owen and Mary 

 Ann (Singmaster) Erdman, both of Ger- 

 man descent, whose ancestors -were 

 among the early German settlers in 

 Bucks and Montgomery counties. John 

 Yost Erdman, the paternal ancestor of 

 Dr. Erdman, was born at Pfungstadt, in 

 Hesse-Darmstadt, in the year i&<52, and 

 emigrated to America with his son An- 

 drew, arriving at Philadelphia on board 

 the ship at "St. Andrew's Galley," John 

 Stedman, master, September 24, 1737. 

 Like nearly all the early German emi- 

 grants he probably made his home for a 

 short time among his compatriots on 

 the Schuylkill or its tributaries. In 1750, 

 however, we find him settled in Upper 

 Saucon township, near Centre valley, in 

 what was then Bucks county, but be- 

 came a part of Northampton county in 

 1752 and Lehigh county in 1812. He was 

 the owmer of 178 acres of land that de- 

 scended to his son Andrew^ and has re- 

 mained in the family ever since. John 

 Yost Erdman died in 1760, at the age of 

 seventy-eight years. 



Andrew Erdman. son of John Yost 

 Erdman, married Anna Maria Freder- 

 ick and had nine children, viz.: John, 

 Andrew, Jacob, Catharine, wife of Jacob 

 Barnhart; Yost, Sybilla, wife of Henry 

 Bittz; Abraham, George, and Anna Mar- 

 garet, wife of George Sober. Of the 

 above children John, Jacob and George 

 remained in Lehigh county; Andrew set- 

 tled in Montgomery county where he 

 was living in 1833 at the age of seventy- 

 eight; Abraham removed to Westmore- 

 land county, and Yost settled in Milford 

 township, Bucks county. The sons-in- 

 law settled in Northampton and Bucks 

 counties. 



John Erdman, great-grandfather of 

 Dr. Erdman, was born on the old Le- 

 high county homestead about the year 

 1760, and was probably the second son 

 of Andrew and Anna Maria (Frederick) 

 Erdman. He married Sarah Bitz and to 

 them was born a family of six children, 

 viz. : Jacob, Daniel, John, Henry, Kate and 

 Levina. 



Daniel Erdman, grandfather of Dr. 

 Erdman, was born on the Upper Saucon 

 homestead in Lehigh county, February 

 12, 1797, and spent his whole life there, 

 living to a good old age. He married 

 Anna M. Miller and had four children, 



ao-3 



viz. : Sara Anna, Daniel, Owen and Anna 

 Marie. 



Owen Erdman, father of Dr. Erdman, 

 was born on the old homestead in Le- 

 high county, November 11, 1828. He 

 was reared to the life of a farmer and 

 followed that vocation in his early man- 

 hood. His education was acquired in the 

 district schools of his native township; 

 he conducted his father's hotel prior to 

 his moving to Steinsburg, this county, 

 where he purchased a farm and entered 

 the cattle business, eventually drifting 

 into the commission business; moving 

 to the city of Philadelphia, where he 

 conducted a commission house. Return- 

 ing to Bucks county he settled in Rich- 

 land Centre, where he began making 

 leather flynets and harness; he followed 

 that until the civil war broke out when 

 he enlist-ed . in the army. He served 

 three years and three months as a mem- 

 ber of Company E, Third regiment, 

 Pennsylvania Reserves and participated 

 in several engagements, the most 

 notable of which was the battle of Bull 

 Run, where he received a wound wdiich 

 made it necessary for him to be sent to 

 the hospital. He is still living in Rich- 

 land township, near Quakertown, being 

 engaged in the harness business. Mary 

 Ann Singmaster, the mother of Dr. Erd- 

 man, was a native of Richland town- 

 ship, and comes of a well known Bucks 

 county family of German ancestry that 

 have been residents of Bucks county for 

 several generations. Owen and Mary 

 Ann (Singmaster) Erdman w-ere the 

 parents of four children: Dr.^ Milton S. 

 Erdman, deceased, who was one of the 

 most successful physicians in the 

 county; Dr. Wilson S. Erdman, a prom- 

 inent and successful physician' of Rich- 

 landtown, Bucks county; Sarah O. re.sid- 

 ing at home; and Dr. William S. , 



Dr. William S. Erdman was born and 

 reared in Richland township, an'd ac- 

 quired his education at the public 

 schools of that township and at the 

 Quakertown high school. After his 

 graduation from the latter school he 

 spent two years in his father's harness 

 shop, and in 1889 took up the study of 

 pharmac}^ and served an apprenticeship 

 of three years, and later began the study 

 of medicine under his brother. Dr. Mil- 

 ton S. Erdman, to w-hich he applied 

 himself for four years. In 1893 he en- 

 tered the Medico Chirurgical College of 

 Philadelphia, from which he graduated 

 with honors in the spring of 1896. After 

 his graduation he spent the summer with 

 Dr. E. S. Reed, of Atlantic City, and in 

 the autumn of the same year located at 

 Buckingham, Bucks county, where he 

 has since practiced his profession with 

 marked success, building up a large and 

 lucrative practice. Among his friends 

 and patrons are people w^ho have graced 

 the highest walks of life. It must be 

 said for Dr. Erdman that with a brave 



