440 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



of Francis P. Sheip, a son of John and 

 Hannah (Schneider) Sheip. They have two 

 children: Alma E., born March 29, 1870; 

 and Arthur B., who was born December 22, 

 1876, and married Hannah Sherm, a daugh- 

 ter of William H. and Lizzie (Barndt) 

 Sherm. Jacob F. Swartley married Sarah 

 Geil, a daughter of Enos and Mary (Means) 

 Geil, at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in 1888, 

 and they have one child, Catherine 

 Swartley. 



MRS. MARY ELIZABETH RICK- 

 ERT, of Chalfont, is the widow of John 

 S. Rickert, who was born in Hilltown, 

 Pennsylvania, January 13, 1844. He 

 acquired his education in the schools of 

 Plumsteadville. He entered the general 

 merchandise store at Dublin, Pennsyl- 

 A'ania, when twenty years of age, and 

 later Jaecame one of the proprietors as 

 a member of the firm of Jones D. Moyer 

 & Company, and following the death of 

 Mr. Moyer, ]\Ir. Rickert became the 

 senior member of the firm of John S. 

 Rickert & Company. He continued in 

 business at Dublin with good sucess 

 until 1882, when he removed to Chal- 

 font and entered into partnership with 

 Preston W. Hagerty, under the firm 

 style of Rickert & Hagerty, dealers in 

 general merchandise. They carried a 

 well selected stock of goods and by reason 

 of their honorable dealing secured a de- 

 sirable patronage, Mr. Rickert continuing 

 actively in the business up to the time of 

 his demise. 



On the 5th of February, 1870, in Lam- 

 bertville, New Jersey, Mr. Rickert had 

 married Miss Mary Elizabeth Leather- 

 man, a daughter of Eli and Sara (Got- 

 wals) Leatherman. Mrs. Rickert is a 

 granddaughter of Jacob Leatherman, 

 and is a representative of one of the 

 oldest German families of Bedminster, 

 tracing her ancestry back to another 

 Jacob Leatherman, who was the founder 

 of the family in the new world. He 

 emigrated from his native country, Ger- 

 many, on the ship "Lydia,' arriving at 

 Philadelphia, September 28, 1741. He 

 was then thirtj'-two years of age. 

 He secured a tract of land of three 

 hundred acres near the present Men- 

 nonite meeting house, in Bedminster, 

 and throughout his remaining days de- 

 voted his energies to agricultural pur- 

 suits, passing away on February 17, 1769, 

 at tlie age of sixty years. He was 

 accompanied on his emigration to Amer- 

 ica by his wife Magdalena and their 

 sons Jacob and Abraham, the latter then 

 but two years of age. Six other chil- 

 dren were born to them in this country: 

 Michael ; Henrv ; John ; Magdalene, who 

 became the wife of Jacob High; Cather- 

 ine; and Ann. 



Jacob Leatherman, grandfather of 

 Mrs. Rickert, was horn in 1793 and died 

 September 4, 1833. His wife, who bore 



the maiden name of Elizabeth Walters, 

 was born in 1788 and died September 

 30, 1859. Their children were: Mary 

 G., who was born in 1820, and died 

 September 17, 1874; Catherine, who was 

 born in 1823, and died June 5, 1842; Eli, 

 who was born November 14, 1824, and 

 died September 28, 1897; and Tobias, 

 who was born in 1829 and died March 

 20, 18.34. 



Eli Leatherman, son of Jacob and 

 Elizabeth (Walters) Leatherman, was 

 born in Plumstead township, November 

 14, 1824, and throughout his business 

 career carried on agricultural pursuits. 

 He wedded Sarah Gotwals, and his 

 death occurred September 28, 1897. 

 Their children were four in number: 

 Mary Elizabeth, who was born January 

 22, 1846, and became the wife of John 

 S. Rickert; Catherine, who was born 

 July 26, 1848, and married Isaac G. 

 Moyer; Henry R., who was born Decem- 

 ber 4, 1850, and married Almina Ger- 

 hart; and Emma, who was born Novem- 

 ber 16, 185s, and is the wife of Preston 

 W. Haggerty, a merchant of Chalfont. 

 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Rickert 

 are Sarah C, who was born November 



29, 1874, and is the wife of A. F. Book, 

 a son of Henry and Hannah (Krupp) 

 Book; Mary E., who was born December 



30, 1875, and is the wife of Robert 

 Mathias, by whom she has one daughter, 

 Margaret Elizabeth; George, who was 

 born August 18, 1877; and Florence, who 

 completes the family. 



JOHN H. MEYERS. The Meyers 

 family, to which John H. Meyers be- 

 longs, was founded in America about 

 1708 by Hans Meyer,* who came from 

 Germany or Switzerland and settled in 

 Salford township, Montgomery county 

 about two miles east of Salfordville. 

 There he purchased land in 1720 and his 

 property became known as the ancestral 

 home and is yet occupied by his great- 

 great-grandson. Hans Mej'er was a 

 farmer by occupation and always fol- 

 lowed that pursuit. He held member- 

 ship in the Mennonite church and died 

 in that faith in 1741. His children w^ere 

 Henry, John. Barbara, Jacob. Elizabeth, 

 Anne and Hester. 



(II) Henry Meyer, son of Hans 

 Meyer, was brought to America by his 

 parents when only a year old. He 

 married Barbara Miller, who came from 

 Germany to the new world when eigh- 

 teen years of age. He, too, followed the oc- 

 cupation of farming, living upon a tract 

 of land inherited from his father. He 

 was a Mennonite in religious belief and 

 died in 1800. Unto him and his wiie 

 were born the following named, Henry, 



*The name was originally spelled Meyer, and was 

 later corrupted into Myers, Meyers and Moyer. 



