Anmerkung |
[Martin Zerbe descendants.FTW]
Mrs. Kate Conrad Miller of 7th and Franklin, Pottsville, Pa., adescendant of Peter Deppen through his daughter Magdeline married toJonathan Zerbe, remembers many tales of the early Deppen and Zerbepioneers in Pine Grove Twp., then Berks Co., Pa. Mrs. Miller relates thestory as told to her by her mother and grandmother, the latter Salome Z.Daubert, who lived to be 98 years of age, with a keen mind and memory.The tale thrilled them as children and they had the grandmother repeatthe story many times. The grandmother conveyed the drama of the horrorsthe wily red-men acted on the early white settlers.
The Peter Deppen family moved to Pine Grove Twp. in 1776, when thispart of the country was the most northern frontier and had few settlersbesides the Indians. He bought the land from Benjamin Zerbe and this landwas surrounded by other lands of Zerbes and Boyers. As this was primitiveforest at that time, the father, Peter Deppen, went out to clear land andcut timber one morning, when he hurriedly came home to tell the wife andmother to extinguish the fire on the hearth and take the children, foodand bedding and hide in the swamp, as the red-men were coming. He wasjoining the men who were uniting for defense. The daughter Magdelinecarried the youngest child. They first took the precaution of thoroughlydestroying all signs of recent occupancy, especially all embers andashes, taking the family dog along. By the time they were ready, it wasalmost dusk and they went to the swamp as quickly as possible to hide,and none too soon. Ere long they saw the red-men coming, going into theirhome and evidently the cold fireplace caused them to think the familyabsent for some time, as they did not search for them, but their weirdyells and war whoops and dance portended no good and shortly the sky wasablaze by the fire of their burning home. The dog had to be held closelyto drown his growls. They had a lonely and fearful vigil until daybreak.Hearing a call sometime near daybreak, the mother told them to remainquiet and at the same place, while she went towards the home toinvestigate. As she drew near she saw the father on bended knees, withtear-streamed face and upraised hands supplicating help from God toendure what he thought was loss of family as well as home, he having goneto the other neighbors for help, as they lived far apart in those days.His own life was spared only by his shrewdness in hiding behind a log asthe Indians passed by. Afterwards he built the stone house in 1818, nowknown as the ' 'Far-away Farms.' ' The house bears the inscription date tothis day. This farm has been in possession of different members of theZerbe family since the death of Peter Deppen. Many Indian episodes arerecognized as true in the local communities, but have no other proof thanfamily tradition, for on affairs of local interest, history is silent,yet the facts are authentic and should be preserved on the printed page.(source: Counting Kindred, p 157)
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