Abraham Shelly

  Noted events in his life were:

• purchase, Abt 1715. The land I purchased was located near the Township of Milford where many from my denomination were settling. Mennonites settled Milford Township about 1715. We were mostly from the Palatinate where religious persecution had driven us from Switzerland and Alsace. We were poor, but industrious and frugal, and soon provided homes for ourselves. We had few indigent among us, and no one in good standing accepted public alms. The first minister in the county of our denomination was Valentine Clemmer. He represented the church at the “Great Swamp.”. The earliest services were held in private houses, the first church building not being erected until 1735, built on the land of William Allen. In 1771, a second building was erected for the Swamp church, a mile east of the original one.

• Notes of Interest: Milford Township. Milford was organized in 1734. Milford is the first township of the last group to be organized before 1752. Milford is the first township into which the Germans came in any considerable numbers. The heaviest German immigration took place between 1725 and 1740, and during this period a large number settled in the upper end of this county, and what is now Northampton and Lehigh. By 1775 they numbered about one half the population of Pennsylvania.

Knowledge of early Milford is neither extensive nor as accurate as could be desired. It is not know who the first land-owner was, but Joseph Growden owned a large tract there at an early day. Martin Morris, who was there among the first, took up five hundred acres, which he conveyed to Jacob Shelly. Those who signed the petition to be organized as a township were: Cline, Clymer, Musselman, Jamison, Nixon, Jones, Lawer, Wies, Ditter, Hoene, Sane. The first survey showed the names of real estate owners as: Robert Gould, Michael Atkinson, John Edwards, Thomas Roberts, David Jenkins, edwin Phillips, Peter Evins, Michael Lightfoot, Arthur Jones, Morris Morris, John Lander, Jacob Musselman, John Yoder, Peter Lock, Abraham Heston, John Dodsel and Joseph Growden's.


http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~buckscounty/milford.html

Milford is the first township of our last and concluding group which includes all the remaining townships in Bucks, and those of Northampton and Lehigh organized prior to 1752.
Settlers were on our northwest border in Philadelphia, now Montgomery , county before 1730, finding their way into this distant wilderness up the valley of the Perkiomen. Among the land-holders in Hanover township, Montgomery county, in 1734 were those bearing the names of:
Melchoir Hoch
Samuel Musselman
John Linderman
Peter Lauer
Balthazer Huth (1)
Andrew Kepler
Jacob Hoch
Jacob Bechtel
Ludwig Bitting, or Pitting
Jacob Heistandt
Philip Knecht
Henry Bitting
Barnabas Tothero
George Roudenbush
Conrad Kolb
Jacob Schweitzer
Adam Ochs
Nicholas Jost, now Yost
Jacob Jost
Bastian Reifschneider
John George
Jacob Schaefer
John Schneider
Anthony Hinkle Anthony Ruth, Nichlas Haldeman and Henry Funk owned land, and probably lived, in Salford township, and Herman Godshalk in Towamencin, Montgomery county. As these are all Bucks county names, probably the ancestors of those bearing them here came from over the border. Before 1739 George Grouer [Gruver*]built a grist-mill in the Perkiomen valley, about five miles above Sumneytown, and in 1742 Samuel Shuler built one on East Swamp creek, one mile above the same place, the walls of which were standing and some of the machinery remaining [a few years ago*]. In 1748 Shuler built a dwelling near the mill, which is still in use. About the same time Jacob Graff built a large grist-mill on the Perkiomen creek, on the site of Perkiomenville. It was in use about 100 years, and is now occupied by the three-story grist-mill [lately*] owned by Mr. Hiestand. The next mill built in the valley is about half-way between Green Lane and Perkiomenville, which is still standing. Among the earliest settlers in this part of Montgomery county were Frederick Hillegass, of Upper Hanover, Jacob Wissler, Johannes Huls, Philip Labar, George Shenk, Ludwig Christian Sprogel, Henry Roder, Ludwig Bitting and Peter Walstein. Immigrants were not tardy in crossing the line into Bucks county.

(1) Probably Ruth*

Milford is the first township into which the Germans came in any considerable numbers. From their first advent into the province a few of this race found homes in Bucks, but they were too few to make any impression upon the English population. The heaviest German immigration took place between 1725 and 1740, and during this period a large number settled in the upper end of this county, and what is now Northampton and Lehigh. By 1775 they numbered about one half the population of Pennsylvania . Our early German settlers followed the track of those which had preceded them up the valley of the Perkiomen, and planting themselves in the northwest corner of the county, they gradually spread across to the Lehigh and Delaware, and southward to meet and check the upward current of English immigration. In time they became the dominant race in several townships originally settled by English speaking people.
The early Germans came with a fair share of common school learning, and there were but few who could not read and write. They early established schools to educate their children; and it was a feature with the German settlers that they were hardly seated in their new homes before they began to organize congregations and build churches. Among them were men of education, and to the Moravians especially are we indebted for the introduction of a high degree of cultivation into the wilderness on the Lehigh. The third newspaper published in Pennsylvania was in German, in 1739. Christian Sowr, of Germantown, had printed several editions of the Bible in German years before the first English Bible was printed in America, which issued from the press of Robert Aitken, Philadelphia, 1780. As a class the Germans excelled the other races that settled this county in music, and they were the first to introduce it into our churches. At first the Proprietary government was prejudiced against them, but such was not the case with William Penn, and it was not until 1742 that the Assembly passed an act for their naturalization. Shortly afterward an act was passed that applied to Dunkards, Moravians, Mennonites, and all other Protestants, except Friends, who refused to take an oath. But this boon was not granted without the asking, and then it took years to get the law passed. A petition was presented to the legislature in 1734 from "inhabitants of Bucks county," which stated that the petitioners were from Germany, and having purchased lands, they desire naturalization that they may hold the same and transmit them to their children. It was signed by John Blyler, John Yoder, Sr., Christian Clemmer, John Jacob Clemmer, Abraham Shelly, Jacob Musselman, Henry Tetter, Peter Tetter, Leonard Button, Peter Wolbert, Owen Resear, John Resear, Felix Pruner, Lawrence Earp, Joseph Everheart, Michael Everheart, Jacob Wetsel, Michael Tilinger, Baltzer Caring, Joseph Zemmerman, John Rinck, Jacob Coller, John Lauder, Peter Chuck, John Brecht, Henry Schneider, Felty Kizer, Adam Wanner, Martin Piting, John Landes, George Sayres, Abraham Heystandt, Christian Newcome, Felty Young, Henry Weaver, John Weaver, Jacob Gangwer, Francis Bloom, Frederick Schall, Henry Rincker, Lawrence Mirkle, Leonard Cooper, John Yoder, Jr., Adam Shearer, Felty Barnard, John Reed. The earliest record of an alien of Bucks county being naturalized by the Assembly is that of Johannes Blecker [and others in petition of Francis Daniel Pastorius*], September 28, 1709. In 1730-31 Jacob Klemmer, of Richland, Jacob Sander, Philip Keisinger, George Bachman and John Drissel petitioned the Assembly to be naturalized.
The descendants of the German immigrants of this county have retained, to a considerable degree, the manners and customs of their fathers. The every-day language of at least one-third of the population is German, or "Pennsylvania Dutch," as it is popularly called. In so far as this is a language at all, it is mosaic in its character, and was the result of circumstances. The early immigrants from the German principalities and Switzerland became welded into one mass by intermarriage, similarity of religion, customs and language. This, with subsequent admixture with the English-speaking portion of the population, gradually gave rise to a newly-spoken, and to some extent, a newly-written, dialect, known as "Pennsylvania Dutch," which is used, to a considerable extent, throughout eastern Pennsylvania. (2) The advent of the Germans introduced a new drink, called Mum, from Mumma, the name of the inventor, who first brewed it at Brunswick, in 1492. It was a malt liquor, brewed from wheat, and at first was considered a medicine. It was nauseous, but was made potable by being fermented at sea. Ash defines it to be a beer brewed from wheat, while a dictionary of 1770 says it was "a kind of physical beer made with the husks of walnuts infused." Tiswick, in the "Notes and Queries," says: "Mum is a sort of sweet, malt liquor, brewed with barley and hops, and a small mixture of wheat, very thick, scarce drinkable till purified at sea." Pope turned his verse upon it, and says:
"The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum,
Till all, turned equal, sound a general hum." It sold at Bethlehem in 1757, at a shilling a pint; but we doubt whether the Germans of the present day have any knowledge of the beverage that regaled their ancestors a century ago.

(2) The influence of the public schools, wherein English alone is taught, is
gradually doing away with German as a spoken and written language in Bucks
county. *

A noticeable feature in connection with the Germans of this county is the great change that has taken place in the spelling of family names. In some instances the German original is almost lost in the present name, and the identity can only be traced with difficulty. Who but one versed in such lore would expect to find the original of Beans in Beihn, Brown in Braun, or Fox from Fuchs, and yet there are greater changes than these. Mr. William J. Buck, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, kindly prepared for us the following list of changes in the names of German families in this county:
Swope from Schwab
Bartholomew from Barteleme
Miller from Muller
Fox from Fuchs
Smith from Schmidt
Meyers from Meyer or Moyer
Shank from Schenck
Kindy from Kindigh
Overholt from Oberholtzer
Shoemaker from Schmuacher
Cassel from Kassel
Everhart from Eberhardt
Black and Swartz from Schwartz
Wolf from Wolff
Calf from Kolb
Keyser from Keiser
Snyder from Schneider
Knight from Knecht
Shearer from Scherer
Overpeck from Oberbeck
Wise from Weiss
Buck from Bock
Weaver from Weber
Stoneback from Steinbach
Harwick from Harwich
Amey from Emig or Emich
Fisher from Fischer
Root from Ruth
Funk from Funck
Rodrock from Rothrock
Brown from Braun
Fraley from Froehlich
Deal from Diehl
High from Hoch
More or Moore from Mohr
Beans from Beihn
Strawsnyder from Strohschneider
King from Konig
Young from Jung
Stover from Stauffer
Steeley or Staley from Stahle
Frankenfield from Franckenfeldt
Fulmer from Folmer
Bishop from Bischoff
Arnold from Arnoldt
Heck from Hecht
Emery from Emrich
Umstead from Umstadt
Nonamaker from Nonnemacher
Gruver from Gruber
Kline from Klein
Hinkle from Hinckle
Vanfossen from Vanfussen
Godshalk from Gotschalk
Singmaster from Singmeister
Allem from Ahlum
Mickley from Michele
Heaney from Heinich
Applebach from Afflerbach
Leidy from Leidigh
Clymer, or Clemmer from Klemmer
Lock from Loch
[Taylor from Schneider*]
Wireback from Wierbach [Weierbach*]

The Germans have been exceeding aggressive since they settled in Bucks county. Seating themselves in the extreme northwest corner of the county, they have overrun the upper townships, and in some of them they have nearly rooted out the descendants of the English race. Like their ancestors, which swept down from the north on the fair plains of Italy, they have been coming down county for a century and a half with a slow, but steady tread. Forty [sixty*] years ago there were comparatively few Germans in Plumstead, new Britain, Doylestown and Warrington (3), but now they predominate in the first, and are numerous in the other three. Among twenty-two names to a petition for a road in Hilltown, in 1734, but three were German, and it is now considered a German township. They have already made considerable inroad into Solebury, Buckingham and Warwick, and still the current is setting down county. As a class, they are money-getting and saving, they add acre to acre, and farm to farm, their sons and daughters inherit their land, and they go on repeating the process. They have large families of children, and but few immigrate, but marry about home and stay there. With a persistent, clannish race like the Germans, this system of accumulation will, in course of time, enable them to root out others who have less attachment for the soil. Where this advancing Teutonic column is to halt is a question to be answered in the future, for it has its picket here and there, in all the townships, down to the mouth of the Poquessing.

(3) There are a seaport and borough in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and a village
and parish in England of this name.*

Our present German population is well up to the descendants of the English speaking settlers in the spirit of progress. Their schools are numerous and well attended, and they give the common school system a generous support. Churches are found in every neighborhood, and all denominations are administered to by clergymen of their own choice. The church edifices, as a whole, are superior to those in the English portion of the county, cost more money, and are constructed in better architectural taste. In addition, there is hardly a German church that does not contain a pipe organ, some of which are large and expensive. They pay considerable attention to music, and some good performers are found in the rural districts. During the Revolutionary war the Germans were universally loyal to the American cause. The great majority of them had left the land of their birth to seek liberty in the new world, and they came with too cordial a hatred of tyranny to assist the English king to enslave the land of their adoption. Many Germans of this county served in the ranks in Washington's army, and a number bore commissions. No portion of our population excel the Germans in those qualities that go to make good citizens, kind neighbors, and fast friends.
Our knowledge of the early settlement of Milford is neither extensive nor as accurate as we could desire, for we have found it exceedingly difficult to obtain information of this and other German townships. Originally the territory, included in this township and Upper Milford in Lehigh, was one district for municipal purposes, but was never embraced in one organized township. These divisions bore the distinctive name of Upper and Lower Milford down to the close of the last century. The new county line of Northampton, in 1752, ran through the middle of this district, or thereabouts, leaving each county to fall heir to a Milford township. Its first settlers were Germans, who came over the border from Philadelphia county, having found their way up the valley of the Perkoimen.
It is not known who was the first land-holder, but Joseph Growden owned a large tract there at an early day. Martin Morris, who was there among the first, took up 500 acres, which he conveyed to Jacob Shelly, May 5, 1725, part of which is now owned by Joseph S. Shelly. In 1749 Abraham Shelly was a petitioner for a road. William Allen likewise owned land in Milford among the first. November 17, 1724, Nicholas Austin of Abington, Philadelphia county, purchased 270 acres of Joseph Growden, the patent for which was not issued by the Penns until 1739. It passed through two generations of Austins to John Haldeman, the ancestor of the Haldemans of New Britain.
[The Beidlers were early settlers in Milford, but just when they came is unknown. They are descended from Jacob Beitler, a redemptioner, who is credited with arriving early in the eighteenth century; settled first in Chester county, then removed to Lower Milford, Bucks, where he married Anna, daughter of Hans Meyer, or Moyer, a recent immigrant. After this the family history is known. In 1753-60 Henry Beidler patented 120 acres, became a farmer, and died 1810, at the age of 101, his will being probated May 10. He had seven children:
Anna, who married Henry Oberholtzer
Barbara married John Newcomer
Elizabeth married Christian Swartz
John
Abraham
Jacob
Christian. Of the sons of Jacob Beidler, John spent his life in Chester county, leaving many descendants there and elsewhere, Judge Abraham M. Beidler of the Court of Common Pleas being one; Abraham settled in his native township, had one daughter, Mary, who inherited her father's estate, married John Stahr, who became the ancestress of the Rev. John S. Stahr, D. D., a distinguished clergyman of the Reformed church, and president of Franklin-Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. He died 1800, his will being probated November 25; Jacob, the third son of Jacob, the immigrant, settled in Hilltown, married Annie Leiderach, (4) had three children, Henry, Jacob and Annie and died, comparatively young, 1781. His will directs, that after his children are well educated they shall be "put to trades." Of his children, Henry, born 1778, removed to Lancaster, Pa., dying there, 1852. Jacob, born October 5, 1776, and dying February 8, 1866, married Susanna Kraut, and was the father of nine children, Annie, who married Samuel Stover, Aaron, Elizabeth married Isaac Kratz, Henry, Nathan, Jacob, the millionaire lumber merchant, who died at Chicago, March 15, 1898, Christian, Susanna, widow of Jacob Fretz, and Joseph, residing near Plumsteadville; all are dead except the last two named. Annie Beidler, daughter of Jacob and Annie (Leiderach) Beidler, married Henry Licey and died 1837, without issue. Christian Beidler, the youngest son of the immigrant, who died 1827, inherited the homestead, Lower Milford, married Mary Shelly, daughter of Jacob Shelly.*]

(4) Editorial note: Present day spelling is Lederach. DB.

No doubt the agitation for a township organization in Richland, whose inhabitants were moving in this direction, stimulated the people of Milford to set up for themselves. On June 13, 1734, those living between the county line and the section then about to be laid out as Richland, petitioned the court to erect the country they inhabit into a township, with the boundaries they specify. They state in the petition that heretofore they had been united with Richland for municipal purposes, but now wish to be separated, because the territory is so large that the constable and collector cannot attend to their duties. That section of the county must have been pretty well peopled at this early day, for the petition has 62 names upon it, nearly all German, among which we find those of Cline, Clymer, Musselman, Jamison, Nixon, Jones, Lawer, Wies, Ditter, Hoene, Sane, and other equally well-known at this day. The court doubtless granted the prayer of the petitioners, for the township was laid out and established soon after. It was twice surveyed, both times by John Chapman, the second survey only differing from the first on it southeast boundary. The first was returned into court September 13, 1734, and the last was made October 22nd. On the first plat of survey are given the names of the following real estate owners:
Robert Gould
Michael Atkinson
John Edwards
Thomas Roberts
David Jenkins
Edwin Phillips
Peter Evins
Michael Lightfoot
Arthur Jones
Morris Morris
John Lander
Jacob Musselman
John Yoder
Peter Lock
Abraham Heston
John Dodsel
and "Joseph Growden's great tract, sold mostly to Dutchmen." On the back of the draft is endorsed "Bulla," the name the petitioners desired their township called. Whether it was ever called by this name we are unable to say, but however this may be, it was soon after changed to Lower Milford, and afterward to Milford. The survey fixes the area at 15,646 acres. Some of the landowners did not live in the township, but only owned land as an investment. In the session's docket, 1734, we find the following entry: "Ordered that some part of the township of Richland, now and for the future to be called Balla [Bala*] (or Bulla) be recorded according to a certain draft of the said township, now brought into court." This has reference to the formation of Milford.
Among those who came into the township after it had been organized was George Wonsidler, (5) the ancestor of the family of this name. He immigrated from Germany in 1743 [1744*], at the age of 22, and settled in Milford, where he spent his life, and died in 1805, at 84. He left two sons, George and John Adam. George remained in Milford, where he died in 1858, at the age of 84, leaving three sons and one daughter, John, George and Jacob, and the daughter's name not known. John died in 1869, at the age of 77, leaving three daughters. George lives in Milford, at the age of 80, and Jacob in Springfield, who have sons and daughters married, with families; there are only seven descendants of the second George living. John Adam, the second son of George Wonsidler, born in 1770, and died in 1854, after 84 years, settled in Hanover township, Montgomery county, where he passed his life. He had eight sons and two daughters, and 14 of his descendants, bearing his name, are now living. The name is but seldom met with, and probably all who bear it in this section of the United States can trace their descent back to the Milford immigrant of 1743 [1744*]. Charles H. Wonsidler, of Trumbauersville, is a descendant of George, eldest son of the first George.

(5) He landed at Philadelphia, from the Phoenix, October 20, 1744.

The great-grandfather of Michael Musselman came into the township with a son, 15 year old, in 1743, and bought land of William Allen, on which he built a log house, still standing, and used as a dwelling, near the Mennonite meeting-house, not far from the Milford and Steinsburg turnpike. The great-grandson, Michael Musselman, over 80 years of age, now lives in the old house where, probably, three generations of the family were born. An adjoining tract then owned by William Roberts, now belongs to Jacob W. Shelly. Probably the oldest stone house, in the northwest section of the county, stands in the southeast corner of Milford, a mile from Trumbauersville, near the road from Bunker Hill to Sumneytown. It was built in 1740 or 1742, by Thomas Roberts, and now belongs to the estate of John Wonsidler. The stone house of Daniel H. Kline was built in 1756. Among the early inhabitants of Milford and remembered by some of the present generation, was a land turtle, who was there probably as early as 1750. It was picked up in May 1821 and found to be marked "J. B. 1769," and "Ditlow, 1814." As it was found between, and within a mile of the dwellings of J. Bleyser, and Mr. Ditlow, it was probably marked by them. It had been a known inhabitant of that vicinity for 52 years, (6) but how much longer no one can tell.

(6) 1905 edition only says "for years." DB

Before 1750 Milford had practically become a German township. Of 49 names signed to a petition for a road in 1749, every one is German, and many of them are familiar names of residents of this and adjoining townships at this time, viz:
Abraham Zaln
John Drissell
Johannes Funk
George Clark
Paul Samsel
Ludwig Cutting
Philip Hager
Christian Cassel
Ulrich Wimmer
William Labar
Christian Willcox
Adam Schneider
Andrew Wichschuttz
David Mueckley
Heinrich Hitz
Michael Eberhart
Philip Liber
Henry Bach
Rudi Frick
Kasper Hayser
Christian Sitzmar
Jacob Hecock
George Ackermann
Peter Kreiling
Jacob Zweifuss
Nickol Mumbauer
Andreas Trumbauer
Theobold Branchlar
Jacob Beittler
John Stell
Heinrich Huber
Johannes Frick
Lorentz Esbach
Charolus Olinger
Rudolph Reigert
Abraham Shelly, Jr.
Abraham Dittlo
Johannes Huber
Jacob Martin
Jacob Musselman
Samuel Lauder
Abraham Kreider
Andreas Hochbein
Johannes Wombol
Johannes Reb
George Rodi
Johannes Clymer
John Peter Kreider
Michael Schenk.
Ulrich Spinner, (7) or Spinor, the great-grandfather of Edwin D. Spinner, of Milford, immigrated from Basle, in Switzerland, in 1739. His wife, Ursula Frick, came from the same place, and probably he was married at his arrival. He settled in Milford the same year. In 1753 he bought 203 acres in the "Great swamp," lying about Spinnerstown, in the western part of Milford, and died in 1782, at the age of 65, leaving two sons and two daughters. The youngest son, David, received the real estate, the other children getting their share in money. The eldest son settled in Salisbury, Lehigh county, and the daughters married a Mumbauer and a Deal, Mrs. Reuben F. Scheetz, of Doylestown, being a descendant of the latter. David Spinner, the son, died on the homestead in 1811, at the age of 53, following the trade of potter, besides conducting his large farm, to his death. He was Justice of the Peace, and held other local offices, among them collector of taxes, about the close of the war of independence. He advanced the entire amount on his duplicate to the county in gold, which was afterward paid in, in Continental money, by which he lost a large sum. He left two children, the late David Spinner, who died about 1867, at the age of 76, and one daughter, who married a Weaver, and had one child. David Spinner's widow [survived her husband many years.*] The latter left two children, Edwin D., who married, and has one child, also married, and a daughter Elvina, who married Doctor Dickenshied, and has one son. The homestead is still in the hands of the family. The widow of the late David Spinner is the only daughter of John Eckel, of Bedminster.

(7) Ulrich Spinner arrived at Philadelphia December 11, 1739, in the Lydia, and
was 23 years old at the time. With him came Ludwig, Johannes and Casper
Frick, probably relatives of his wife. Rupp gives the name as Ulrich
"Steiner," an error in copying or translation. The original list gives the
name Ulrich "Spinder." David Spinner, youngest son of Ulrich, died 1811, was
the uncle of F. E. Spinner, Treasurer of the United States, 1861-75, and his
curious signature to the greenback is not forgotten.*

[The Zollners or Zellners (8) were in the Province by the middle of the eighteenth century, Conrad, Christian and John Zollners, relatives, if not brothers, settling in Milford township. Conrad who came in the Phoenix, was naturalized August 28, 1750. He was a Lutheran and became a member of St. Peter's Church. In 1756 we find him a soldier in the Provincial service, called out to defend the frontier from the Indians. He married Margaretha Camerer, or Kemerer, and their son John, born September 12, 1747, and died in Lehigh county, January 20, 1824, was a soldier in the Revolution. He married Maria Elizabeth Woll, and was the father of four sons and four daughters, two sons and two daughters living to maturity. The sons were John and Peter Zollner. Christian Zollner, the supposed brother of Conrad, married Susanna Stahl and was living in Milford, 1761. One of his sons was a lieutenant in the Northampton regiment, probably in the Whiskey Insurrection, 1794, and his descendants are still living in the neighborhood of Dillingersville, Lehigh county. John Zollner, the third of the three brothers, born December 3, 1743, and died May 26, 1834, married Susannah, daughter of George and Magdalina Magle Getman, and were the parents of ten children, among them Aaron, a Mennonite minister of Michigan. Hannah, who married Benjamin F. Brown, Philadelphia, and Sophia, who married the late Charles Hamilton, Doylestown, April 2, 1845, and Peter a soldier of the war of 1812-15 with England. He married Elizabeth ---- and their seven children bear the name of Zollner, Hendly, Rittenhouse, Philadelphia, and others elsewhere. John Zollner was an elder in the Schlicterville Lutheran church. Charles Hamilton, who married Sophia Zollner, was born in the North of Ireland, November 1812, and came to America when a young man. He was a farmer in Doylestown township for many years, but moved into the borough in his later years. He had considerab

• Signed a Petition, 1734. ⁷⁸⁵ I signed a petition along with my German neighbors that was presented to the Pennsylvania Assembly. Through this petition we were requesting the right to be naturalized and requesting that the procedure not include the taking of an oath. It was our desire to be naturalized, so that we could transmit our land holdings to our children upon our deaths. The Pennsylvania law didn't allow us to write wills since we were not considered legal citizens of the colony.

The signers of this petition were:

John Blyler, John Yoder, Christian Clemmer, John Jacob Clemmer, Abraham Shelly, Jacob Musselman, Henry Tetter, Peter Tetter, Leonard Button, Peter Wolbert, Owen Resear, John Resear, Felix Pruner, Lawrence Earp, Joseph Everheart, Michael Everheart, Jacob Wetsel, Michael Tillinger, Baltzer Caring, Joseph Zemmerman, John Rinck, Jacob Coller, John Lauder, Peter Chuck, John Brecht, Henry Schneider, Felty Kizer, Adam Wanner, Martin Piting, John Landes, George Sayres .

• Conveyance, 29 Jan 1739. ⁷⁸⁵ Thomas and Richard Penn conveyed to me 50 acres of land in Milford Township, adjoining the land I had previously purchased from William Penn

• purchase, 1740. ⁷⁸⁵ I bought 260 acres from Morris Morris.. The petition that I had signed along with my neighbors in 1734 went through to the legislature and passed into law. I became naturalized in 1740.

• Survey, 17 Nov 1749. ¹³⁹ I requested that 198 acres in Donegal Township be surveyed to “Jacob Hofffman by Warrant of the 17 September 1744 which is vacated fee and the survey ordered to be returned to Abraham Shelly.”

• Conveyance, 1760. ⁷⁸⁵ Elizabeth and I conveyed a portion of our land to our son Jacob. My wife and I had entered into an agreement to convey to our son Michael 135 acres of the land I had purchased from Morris Morris.

Unfortunately, Michael and Abraham both died before this agreement could be completed.

Abraham married Elizabeth Unknown about 1725 in Netherlands ⁷⁸³.^,784 (Elizabeth Unknown was born about 1700 in Switzerland and died after 1761 in Milford Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Immigration, 1725. ^785,786,787 We made plans along with other Mennonite families to immigrate to the Pennsylvania colony. Upon our arrival in Pennsylvania, I purchased land in Bucks County from William Penn. I also changed my last name from Schelle to Shelly, which means a spring, a ley or a field

Abraham next married Elizabeth Unknown. (Elizabeth Unknown was born about 1704.)