Day 4

This morning we had a short drive to Blairsville, PA.  We went directly to the Hopewell Church and cemetery where Johannes "John" Herrold is buried.  John is our 4 times great - grandfather.  John is the first born American in our family.  He was also a Revolutionary War veteran.  John and his family moved to the Blairsville area around the time of the Revolution. They were in Elders Ford (Elders Fort) where soldiers trained. Their son, Christopher (our 3 times great -grandfather) was born at Elders Fort in 1777.

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This is the Hopewell Methodist Church.  Before the Church was built people met in homes. John and his wife often held Church in their home. We are unclear why John and Barbara were not at the Lutheran Church. Maybe they just established community with these neighbors.

John Herrold is on the left. His wife Barbara is on the right. 

It is reported that John spoke broken English and only prayed in German.

John had a large expanse of land. He farmed, had a mill and a distillery. His land was West of Blacklick creek and North of the Conemaugh River. His land bordered Altmans Run (land owned my Barbara's family).  Some records state the John's acreage was called "Forerunner Plantation".  We were able to drive to what had been John's land AND walk some of it.  So fun to walk the ground of our ancesters.

Qualities of John that he has given to his descendents:

• Standing up for Freedom
• Respect 
• Hardworking

After a lovely walk with ancient relatives, we went to the Historical society.

Marna was gracious to come in on her day off to meet with us. She had found some information and made copies for me.  She shared about the growth of the community from past to present.  We learned about the floods and the building of the dam (that occurred after John died) that resulted in John's land  becoming a floodplain.

Thirty minutes down the road, we met with Carl at the Sampson/Clark Toll House.  The original warrant for the land named the owner as Christopher Harold. At this time we are unsure if this is our Christopher, son of John or John's brother, Christopher Columbus Harrold.  We'll let you know if we find out. Herrold sold the property to Mr. Sampson who built the Toll house. (yes, he collected tolls, no I-pass in those days....you had to stop).

The building is a replica of the original, because it was in such bad shape by the time the Murrysville Historical society acquired it.  The fireplace, however IS the original.   Travelers could stop along the trail to warm themselves by the fire and maybe get something to eat. 

After lunch, we took the scenic route to Marrietta, OH.  I wanted the scenic route so we could travel along the Ohio River (Christopher and Martha Cable Herrold traveled down the Ohio River on a Flatbush around 1800). We saw less of the river and more of the little towns, trees and mountainside. ☺

The Ohio River is beautiful!!!!

Tag Frei continued:  The Tollhouse

Back in the day when Pennsylvania was the Northwest Wilderness, the one main route to the west from Philadelphia was more of a pack trail and on this road, John's second son Christopher, (b 1777-d 1823) worked as a teamster.
As more people pushed west the government improved the road, called the old (General) Forbes Road by allowing private citizens to improve sections with layers of rock and sheet asphalt and charge tolls to lessen the costs of improvements.
This Northern Turnpike collected tolls in 1818 until trains caused traffic to dwindle.
On the refurbished cabin there is a sign saying the builders bought the land from Christopher Herrold.

                                  Toll House Sign showing
                          Christopher Herrold as land owner

We were so excited to see Christophers name on this plaque. After Christopher married, he and his wife "worked land for themselves".  We know they owned this Millersburg land and later when buying Ohio land Christopher was listed as a yeoman, a land freeholder.

                                Tollhouse original chimney

                                          Tollhouse front

Tag Frei         Johannes "John" Georg Harrold
                        Our Fourth Great-Grandfather
                                A Soldier in Revolt

Georg Stophel's first son John, born 1745, moved farther west in 1771 and settled near the juncture of the Conemaugh River and Black Lick Creek. 1788 records show he got a warrent to land adjacent to his father-in-law and called his farm Forerunner Plantation. Tribes of the area were Delaware and Shawnee and the land still wild and covered with old growth hardwoods.  When John was twenty, he faught with the 12th Regiment-Virginia in the Revolution, officially Navy Mil 1st Partisan Legion 3; trp musician 10/26/1781The local frontiersmen were drilled nearby at Elder's Ford which is gone now but was on the flats by the river and near John's home.
Together John and Barbara became successful owning 250 acres, a grain mill, sawmill, tannery and distillary they passed on to their son John, one of their thirteen children. The second son called Christopher is our lineage. The family continued to speak in broken German all their lives.
Barbara worked alongside her husband all her married life. It was common in those days for wives to not to inherit their "husbands" property at their passing and in John's will money and property were set aside to care for Barbara until her death.
John (d February 28,1828 age 83) and Barbara (b 1757-d January 19,1837 age 80) are buried near their home in row 2, Hopewell Methodist Cemetary, no, not the Lutheran one.

Teri found a site map of John and Barbara's bottom land and after several deadly floods (Johnstown Flood) in the area, the Conamaugh was dammed causing John's land to flood. The Army corps of engineers oversees the area and has opened it to hunting and farming....

Herrold Hunters

                      What's left of Forerunner Plantation

                                   John's cabin repurposed

                                      John's Veteran Star

                               John Harrold, Rest in Peace

Tag Drei continued: For Good Purpose,
                           finding Georg Stophel Harrold
                              "Defender of the Frontier"
                 
We know Georg Christopher "Stophel" Herrold was born in 1723 (records say) in Stouchsburg and served in the French and Indian War and the Revolution. After spending the afternoon with our cousin Tom Harrold of the Baltzer Meyer Historical Society in Greensburg, PA we believe Stophel was a teamster with wagons or pack animals traveling the only road from Philadelphia west to land, resources and opportunity and at that time considered a gateway to the west. He knew Conrad Weiser and may have worked for him or General John Forbes Expedition and so may have seen this area he later settled in: rolling hills, water, covered in huge oaks and other timber. We suppose he might have also worked as a quartermaster during the French and Indian War doing what he knew how to do. After French and Indian war Stophel most likely marked 300 acres through a "Tomahawk" grant (slashing a tree to mark your territory until a land office can register you) and oficially named it Harroldtown. The documented grants required settlers to set aside land For a Good Purpose: Build a church, secondly practise freedom of religion, thirdly, build a school, all of which Stophel complied. Old Harroldtown is now part of Greensburg, PA.
We have learned how important churches were for the success of these young communities. It was usually one of the first thing a settlement built and could function as a school too. After church meetings in homes Stophel built a log church, then a stone church and finally a brick church and school to fulfill the Good Purpose. Today we drove all around the perimeter of the original 160 acres Stophel donated that now has three modern beautiful schools and a healthy community in the Good Purpose land.


In 1973, the Stophel Harrold homestead site was studied by a University. It was three stories with thick 8 inch walls on a stone foundation. Four down, four rooms up and one on the third floor. Teri's Herrold book has the house plans.

The original brick Lutheran Church and school are still standing. Apparently the Lutherans split into two churches, one for German speakers (Stophel's family) and English speakers down the hill, cemetary in between.

                          Harrold Lutheran Church, wood

Harrold School, one room with a bell. The oak beam is 30 feet of single length timber

With his other land we think he farmed, had a mill and sold timber, and had a distillary. Gradually he added to his acreage and raised a lot of little Lutherans.
By the time Stophel died 1787, he and his wife Maria Catherina Pontius (married 1744) had over 1000 acres and were considered prosperous. Amazing what they accomplished at that dangerous time. They are buried by the Harrold Zion Lutheran Church and marked with the plaque, Defender of the Frontier.

Day 3 - Our third day was long and joyful.  After a breakfast of farm eggs and toast (Lorrie & Bill had "eggs in a nest" - it's a recipe their dad, Norman Deck, use to make. (You cut a hole in the bread & fry the egg in the middle).  We headed toward Stouchburg to the Church and gravesite of our 6 times great-grandfather Georg Christoph Herrold.

Georg was orphaned at age of 5.  He was married at age 20 and was a vinter. In 1743 he came to America at the age of 55. He brought his family. (Most likely to protect the boys from Alexander the Great).

Christ Lutheran Church is an imposing site (HUGE!!).  The surprise was that the rally old graves were not in front of the Church but in a very old section surrounded by stones and a iron gate.  So Cool!!!
Many soldiers from the French & Indian War as well as the Revolution were buried there. One grave was of a little girl who had been kidnapped by the Indians.  Many stones had been just wood, now petrified. Many stones were unreadable.  Georg's family had placed a newer (1970) marker.

We did a libation ceremony and offered a prayer of thanksgiving for our ancestor.

A member of the Church & cemetery board, Dave, met with us. He gave us a history of the Church, the area and shared church documents.  He was very knowledgeable! One document was communion (most likely Georg's last communion, based on the date.  

Qualities that Georg possessed and passed to on to his future relations (us). 

• Resilience
• Love of family
• Courage

We drove ...........a long way.......to Greensburg, PA.

Greensburg in the 1770 was known as Harroldton, because "Stophel" Harrold, our 5 times great-grandfather founded the community.  Christopher  "Stophel" and his wife donated 158 acres of land for "Good Purpose".  So Churches and schools have been put on this land.

We met with our cousin, Tom Harrold.  We share Christopher *Stophel" as our common ancestor.  Tom shared a ton of history with us. We

Rob, a member of the Church cemetery board, toured us through the Church and cemetery sharing history.

This is St. John's Harrold Church. 

It was built when the stone church was taken down.  The first Old Zion Harrold Luthern Church started as a "house church". Then a log building was the Church and the school. Then the stone church was built. There was a dispute over using English or German so the congregation split. The German speaking congregation built another Church. That building is now the historical society building.  The picture above would have been English speaking.  That is where Stophel is buried, but his family would have attended the German speaking church.

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This is Stophel*s grave stone. It is leaning. Because of it*s age the have to figure out the best way to fix it without damaging it.

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Tom took us to the school and drove us around, showing us all of Stophel's land (where the farm was located).

This says "Harrold School #8" on the glass.

 Bill sitting in the corner of the classroom.

Lorrie and I got to ring the school bell.

The drive around town really gave us an idea of the breath of Stophel's land. Bill was able to recognized the strategic advantage of the area. The views gave an understanding of why he picked this spot.

Qualities from Christopher "Stophel":

• Bravery
• Industriousness
• Value of education and religion
• Generosity

Also in the old cemetary are some striking headstones. The first is Maria Cattarina Becker 1743 and the last 1954. Many of the stones are illegible or damaged in sandstone or wood and to make it even more difficult, early inscriptions are in old German.

I believe the date is 1751. The angel is striking and there is a Thor symbol at the top.

Regina was held captive for 8 years and was identified by her mother as the little girl was singing a German song.

Herbs were planted in old cemetaries to offset the odor of decomposition. We found some old thyme originally planted in the 1700's.

Tag Drei--We finally meet our 6th Great-Grandfather,
              Georg Christoph Horoldt and his second son                      (our 5th Great Grandfather), Georg Stophel Herrold

                                         Georg Christoph
We continue west through low rolling hills to Stouchsburg, an ageing main street of a town that nobody west of here has heard of.  The small 1800's houses on Main St. still have outhouses and barns in their backyards and the Lutheran Church hasn't had a minister in 7 years.

Now back in 1744, when Georg C. and his wife Maria Catherine moved here from Philadelphia, probably to land his brother owned, Stouchsburg was Western Frontier Indian country where raids were common and settlers were killed or kidnapped, even though fellow German Conrad Weiser and General John Forbes signed a treaty with the Shawnee to allow German settlers establish the Tulpehocken (land of turtles) Settlement here.

Conrad Weiser is an important person to our Herrold settlers. He was the same age as Georg C. and from a town in Germany close to Steinheim and an immigrant to this area.  At 15 he was sent to live with Mohawks, learn the language and Iroquois customs and became a go between for Iroquois and British. We were told by the local historian that  Weiser lived near Georg C, and grew grapes. We suppose since Georg C was a vintner they might have connection. We do know that Weiser ran wagons and pack trains through the wilderness and that Georg Stophel (Georg C's son) worked as a teamster.

Georg C. lived here 4 years, perhaps never owning land but working with what he knew-grapes or farming. He is buried next to our 6th great grandma Maria Skelkopf in Christ Lutheran Church Cemetary. Christ Lutheran Church, Stouchsburg, PA.

                    Christ Lutheran Church, Stouchsburg, PA

                                 Christ Lutheran Cemetary

                        Maria Scheelkopt Herrold 1692-1760

In Honor of Our Ancestor George C. Herrold 1688-1749, Erected (sandstone replaced with granite) by the Herrold Family.

Day 2 - adventures
We had a leisurely morning at the Bond House, enjoying the 18th century dining room and parlor.

We drove to Valley Forge (because it was on the way and a significant site of the Revolution).  George "Stophel" Horold and his son John, both fought in the Revolutionary War.  Stophel rode with George Washington in the French and Indian war when they were in their 20's.  George & his son John trained for the Revolution at Elders Ford. (more about that in Thursday).  Valley Forge gave us a good understanding of the life, conditions and war strategies (Bill's favorite part) of the time.

We left Valley Forge and traveled West to Landis Farm Museum to learn about farming in the 18th & 19th centuries.  We saw an early settlement, how cloth was made and stood on a teamster tavern (a truck stop of the early days)!!  Ale, cider and wine were the most common drinks of the early Germans. Beer was more American.  The farmhouse reminded Bill of the Nelsonville farmhouse he visited as a kid.  At the general store we found a stereoscope just like our grandpa William had.  Grandpa sold them as a young college student. (Lorrie & I each have one).

Tired, hot and full of knowledge we made our way to the Landis Farm cottage (different family from the museum).  We met up with Deb and learned that she has farmed her whole life. Their biggest commodity is chickens. (They produce 30,000 eggs a day).  So you can imagine what we were going to have for breakfast.
The cottage was so cute, but a little small for tall people. Can't imagine a large family living in that small house, but the 1700's it would have been common.