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(1/3) Happy 4th of July! I'm directly descended from 23 (and a half!) Revolutionary War veterans: gunnarmiller.substack.c…. There were three cemeteries I wanted to visit all within a reasonable driving arc with special relevance to today. I'll make three separate posts, and pepper in some regional photos for sense of place.
First stop Jerusalem Union (Red Church) homepages.rootsweb.com/… in Stony Run, Albany Township at the top of the county near the foot of Hawk Mountain gunnarmiller.substack.c…. As I researched my family tree in more detail over the last year, there’re two stand-outs related to the prophylactic Liberty Bell rescue from Philadelphia to Allentown for the duration of the Revolution.
My 5th-great-grandfather findagrave.com/memorial… Matthias George Probst (1736-1792) was a Cpt., Lynn Company, 2nd Bn. Northampton Associators (battles of Trenton and Princeton), then 6th Co., 3rd/1st Bn., Northampton County Militia; Continental Line (serving under his 1st cousin 1x removed (not nephew) Lt. Col. Michael Brobst (1751-1814)); Cprl., Pennsylvania Militia, and Ranger on the frontier. He participated in the evacuation of the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown for safekeeping in August 1777.
"MATTHIAS GEORGE PROBST & THE PRESERVING THE LIBERTY BELL By Bill (William Leander) Brobst on July 2 , 2006 “As you prepare to enjoy the 4th of July and with our Brobst reunion only a month away (even if you can't attend), remember one of our Brobst ancestors who played a role in preserving the Liberty Bell. He was Mathias George PROBST (or Brobst as it appears on his gravestone) who lived from 1736 to 1792. Mathias served with the Berks County, PA militia, and with the "Continental Line" as a captain in the Revolutionary War, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Michael Brobst. “The Liberty Bell was significant because it was rung on July 8, 1776, to announce the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Reports differ on whether Mathias accompanied the Liberty Bell both from Philadelphia to Allentown for safekeeping from the British and/or on the return trip back to Philadelphia for posterity. “From "History of Lynn Township" by Arthur Klingaman, 1974: ‘There is a story that he [Mathias] and some of his men were camped about 20-30 miles from Philadelphia early in the war. [On July 14, 1777, he took the oath of allegiance to Penna in Philadelphia.] As the British were advancing on Philadelphia, in late August of 1777, Mathias and his men, with Jacob LEESER and Jacob MICKLEY and several others, went there and took the Liberty Bell, weighing over a ton, along with a dozen other bells, with them from Philadelphia, through Bethlehem, and buried it inside of the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, [now] Lehigh County, on Hamilton Street, between 6th and 7th Streets.’ Shortly thereafter, Philadelphia was occupied by the British. “According to an account by William A. Brobst of Kitty Hawk, NC in his ‘Brobst Chronicles,’ we learn that ‘about June 27, 1778, after the Continental Army under George Washington regained possession of Philadelphia, Mathias BROBST and Jacob MICKLEY returned the Bell to Philadelphia to its place of honor. In 1835, the Bell, which had cracked originally and was recast, cracked again , this time irreparably, during the funeral procession of Chief Justice John Marshall. It now hangs from its original yoke, but silent, at the Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia,’ thanks to the help of Mathias BROBST.”"
A 6th great-grandfather was also involved: Johann Heinrich Reitz (1747-1814), Cpt., 8th Co., 2nd Bn., Northampton County Militia; Captain wikitree.com/wiki/Reitz… of a squad that guarded Frederick Lieser when he hauled the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown, PA in 1777.
