Peter was born abt. 1701 in Germantown and died probably
in 1776. No extant will or estate records have been found. 7 Jun
1775 he sold his 303 acres. Rather than recording his land purchases,
he kept them all together at home until 6 Dec 1775, when he recorded
all of them. (Luckily the house didn’t burn!) [Edward Hocker:
Peter d. 1776; Phila. Co. Deed Book I-15: 105-113]
What we know about Peter is best shown in a time line:
1734 - Tax list of Limerick Twp.
shows him living on his father’s 256 acres of land next to
his brother John “NS”and his cousin Adolph Pennypacker.
1739 - He purchased 50 acres
from widow Ann Barlow adj. to the land of his father on which
he was living. It is possible that he purchased this first piece
of land in order to be eligible for the following cemetery plan:
| The Brooke family of Limerick donated land for a cemetery in 1720 to be available to all persons who would help bear the costs of maintaining it. In 1739 Wm. and George Brooke gave a title in trust to persons (and heirs forever) entitled to be buried there. The list included: John and Peter Umstadt; Jonathan Woodley; John Kendall; Robert May; Wm., Owen, and George Evans; John David (how he signed his name, but Davis), and Enoch Davis; Peter Peters; Nicholas Custer; Jerome Hause; William Maulsby; John Jordan; Henry and Barnabas Coulson; Henry Hoven?; Claus Brown; David Jones; and Michael Hitter. [Lichtenwalner, Huriel E., “Limerick Township: A Journey through Time 1699-1987", publ. By Limerick Township Historical Society, Limerick, PA, 1987.] |
1741 - His father sold him 126 acres of his land, and 126 acres to his brother John “NS.”
1746 - John “NS” and Deborah sold him 125 acres of adjacent land.
1748 - When the other heirs of Johannes sold the remainder of his land to Henry “H,” Peter signed with no wife.
1775 - June 7th Peter sold
the 303 acres he had accumulated to Adam Prutzman for 1500 pounds,
again no wife signs. Isaiah Jacobs and Jacob Umstat wit. There
is interesting wording in this land record: “Unto the said
Adam Prutzman his heirs and assignees against the said Peter Umstat
and his heirs and against all and
every other person and persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or
to claim the same or any part or parcel of them or either of them
shall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents.”
[Phila. Co. Deed Book I-15:105-113]
1776 - Peter died leaving no extant
will or estate records. [Edward W. Hocker, well known and respected
Phila. Co. researcher, lists his death date as 1776, unsourced.]
|
At this point there is no question that he was! For 30 years Umstead researchers have believed that he was, but could not document it until Herman of Berks Co. was proven by DNA to have been a descendant of Johannes and Mary. If you look at the completed chart of the families of the children of Johannes and Mary, you will note that only Peter is old enough to have had a child Herman born 1726. Often older family members with children had already distributed their estate to their children. Well folks, those 1500 lbs. went somewhere! He could have been as old as 47 when he first signed without a wife. That could leave as much as about 23 years unaccounted for as regards marital status. We know he lived another 27 years at least; they are also unaccounted for as regards marital status. It is the consensus of our Research Team that the unusual wording in the sale of the land to Adam Prutzman above indicates that Peter did have children who were heirs. Based on strong family ties, we are listing his children as: Harmon/Herman of Berks Co.; John of Berks Co., John's sister Mary Umstead Dehaven Schneider of Berks Co. and Limerick Twp.; Nicholas, son-in-law of Enoch Davis, of Limerick Twp. and Frederick Co. MD; Peter of Frederick Co. MD and Hampshire Co. VA , whose descendant's DNA proved him to have been a descendant of Johannes Umstadt. |
CRIS'S COMMENT: A DNA MATCH PROVES A COMMON ANCESTOR. AS THERE IS NO REASON TO SUSPECT THAT JOHANNES, SON OF HANS PETER, HAD A BROTHER, THE REASONABLE CONCLUSION IS THAT A DNA MATCH SIGNIFIES A DESCENDANCY FROM JOHANNES. IT IS POSSIBLE, THOUGH, THAT A COMMON ANCESTOR COULD HAVE BEEN SOMEONE FROM AN EARLIER GENERATION, I.E. A BROTHER OF HANS PETER OR EVEN EARLIER. THERE ARE STILL SOME "ORPHAN" UMs WHO CAME TO THE U.S. AT VARIOUS TIMES AND HAVE NOT BEEN LINKED TO PARENTS.
last updated 27 May 2010