358 



HI ST OR]' OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



Gotlip and Mary (Doll) Kraft, tlie lor- 

 mer a native of Germany and the latter 

 of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, hut hoth 

 are now deceased. Gotlip Kraft was an 

 honest farmer, hut died hefore he had ac- 

 quired much properly. His wife soon af- 

 terward passed away. She was a daughter 

 of Christian Doll, a farmer of Pennsyl- 

 vania, of Dutch descent, and a soldier of 

 the war of 1812. In early life he learned 

 the shoemaker's trade, hut subsequently 

 carried on agricultural pursuits. The gov- 

 ernment granted him a pension in recog- 

 nition of his patriotic service in the sec- 

 ond war with England. His children 

 were: Washington, a weaver and farmer; 

 Charles, a cigar manufacturer; Jesse, a 

 plasterer; Mrs. Elizabeth Diehl and Mrs. 

 Mary Kraft. After the death of her pat- 

 ents Mrs. Elizabeth Murray had to make 

 her own way in the world, and she was 

 employed in different households up to the 

 time of her marriage. She became the 

 able assistant- of her husband, and their 

 united efforts have resulted in the acquire- 

 ment of a good home and a fine farm, 

 and now they are enabled to enjoy many 

 of the comforts and luxuries of life. They 

 have two children, Mabel, born May 29, 

 1887; and C. LeRoy, November 17, 1894. 



OLIVER J. DEEMER. The Deemer 

 family of Bucks county are descendants 

 of Johannes Deimer, who emigrated from 

 Germany in the ship Davy, arriving in 

 Philadelphia, October 25, 1738, and soon 

 after settled on a large tract of land m 

 Nockamixon township, on the river, just 

 below the Durham Ime. Whether he was 

 the same John Deimer, who was a captam 

 of a company in the expedition agamst 

 Quebec in 1746-7, is problematical. Tra- 

 ditions in the family seem to bear out the 

 theory that he was. Tradition further re- 

 lates that he was reared in the Roman 

 Catholic faith and educated for the min- 

 istry, but becoming enamored of a i-Totest- 

 ant maid, he married her and emigrated 

 to America to escape the wrath of his 

 family and church. The name of Diemer 

 appears in different parts of Pennsylvania 

 at about the time of his arrival. A John 

 Deimer, practitioner in Physic and Chirur- 

 gery was a land owner in New Providence 

 township, now Montgomery county, as 

 early as 1734, and died there in 1759. He 

 purchased land in Bucks county in 1753, 

 which was sold by the sheriff after his 

 death on suit against his administrator, 

 James Deimer. A Michael Deimer set- 

 tled in Limerick township in 1769 and died 

 there in 1795, leaving sons George and 

 Daniel and a daughter Eve, who married 

 Jacob Painter. The eldest son George 

 removed to Vincent township, Chester 

 county, and is the ancestor of a family 

 of the name located later in the Cumber- 

 land valley. 



Johannes Deimer was the father of 

 Michael Deijner, mentioned . at lengtli 



hereinafter and probably of George 

 13eenicr, "House Carpenter," who purchas- 

 ed land in Rockhill m 1773, which he and 

 wife Dorothea conveyed in 1777, as well 

 as of Joseph Deimer who located in New 

 Jersey at about the same date, alter having 

 resided some years in Durham, Bucks 

 county. 



Michael Deemer, son of Johannes, the 

 immigrant of 1738, and ancestor of ail the 

 present Bucks county family, was born in 

 or near Durham, Bucks county, about the 

 year 1750. On the division of the Dur- 

 ham tract in 1773, he purchased one hun- 

 dred and sixty-three acres on the Nock- 

 amixon line, and in 1789 purchased a tract 

 adjoining in Nockamixon. He died in 

 1797, and his widow Elizabeth, some years 

 later. They were the parents of thirteen 

 children, John, Jacob, Mereles, Catharine^ 

 Solomon, Madlena, Sarah, Michael, George, 

 Henry, Frederick, Barnet, and Margaret. 

 Michael and Elizabeth Deemer were among 

 the original members of Nockamixon Re- 

 formed church at its organization in 1773,. 

 and the baptism of several of the above 

 children appear of record there, the ear- 

 liest one to be baptised there, however, be- 

 ing Sarah, born October 2, 1774, and the 

 last one Margaret, on March 17, 1782. 

 John Deemer, the eldest son, died a year 

 before his father, leaving eight small chil- 

 dren, Benjamin, John, Mary, Margaret, Sa- 

 rah, Hannah, Michael, and Catherine. The 

 eldest, Benjamin, born April 17, 1784, is the 

 paternal ancestor of Newberry Deemer, of 

 Bridgeton, through the marriage of hu> 

 daughter Sarah to William Deemer, son of 

 Frederick, above mentioned. Michael 

 Deemer, another son of Michael and Eliza- 

 beth, born December 20, 1776, died March 

 8, 1850, was the grandfather of Edward 

 Deemer, a soldier in the civil war and late- 

 ly a resident of Doylestown ; and Elias 

 Deemer, the prominent lumber merchant 

 and business man of Williamsport, Penn- 

 sylvania. Barnet Deemer, j^oungest son ot 

 Michael, Sr., settled in Rockhill and was 

 the father of Mrs. Michael Lehman, of 

 Doylestown. 



Johan George Deemer, fifth son ot 

 ]\lichael Deemer, Sr., and great-grand- 

 father of the subject of this sketch, was 

 born in Nockamixon, February 2, 1779, and 

 baptized in Nockamixon church, March 13,. 

 1779, though the latter date is given on 

 his tombstone as the date of his birth. He 

 was a farmer and considerable land owner 

 in Nockamixon and Haycock, being appar- 

 ently a large dealer in timber and timber 

 land. He married Elizabeth Unangst, bom 

 September 17, 1783, died March 19, 1862. 

 He died April 27, 1858, and they are buried 

 side by side in Nockamixon burying 

 ground. They were the parents of six chil- 

 dren, as follows : Margaret, born Septem- 

 ber I, 1811, married David Argart ; Cathe- 

 rine, who married Samuel Wagener ; Mary, 

 who married Henry Sassaman ; Samuel, 

 who married Catharine Ruth ; Charles, who 

 married Mary Bergy ; and Rose Anna, who- 



