Leonard Styer (1768-1843), son of Jacob and Christana (Spare) Steiger married a woman named Mary Tyson in the late 1700s. Before the Leonard and Mary (Tyson) Styer blog, I will give a brief introduction to the Tyson Family. Due to the Tyson connection, our branch of the Styer Family has roots that go back all the way to the original founders of Germantown, the very first settlement of the Pennsylvania Dutch. It is like the Pennsylvania German equivalent of Jamestown or Plymouth Rock. So even though we don’t have any Styers who came over on the Mayflower, we have ancestors who came to America on the Concord, the first ship to bring the people later known as Pennsylvania Germans to America.
Cornelius Tyson, the Immigrant
Like many of the early Germantown Settlers, Cornelius Tyson/Theissen (1652-1719) was a weaver from along the Rhine, near Crefeld, close to the border between Germany and Holland. He is thought to be the brother of Reynier Tyson, who led one of the original 13 families of Germans to sail to America on the Concord and settle in Pennsylvania in 1683. Cornelius may have come to America as early as 1685 but was definitely a resident by 1703.[1] Like the other settlers, Cornelius was a German Quaker who may have had Mennonite sympathies. His 1719 gravestone is the oldest extant German-language gravestone in the United States. You can visit it in the Upper Burial Ground along Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia at the site of the old Concord Schoolhouse. The cemetery is well maintained, and a branch of the Tyson Family from Ohio recently got together to commemorate this ancestor by dedicating a brass plaque at the foot of the stone.
Tyson Descendants
Cornelius’ son, Matthias (1687-1766). Married Barbara Sellen, whose father, Hendrick, led one of the original 13 families who settled in Germantown and also was a trustee of the Germantown Mennonite congregation. They built a homestead in Perkiomen Township, currently Montgomery County, PA. I have not been able to locate Barbara’s grave, but Matthias is buried in the Lower Skippack Mennonite cemetery in a grave marked with a carved field stone.
Matthias son Cornelius (1720-1752) married Barbara Pennebaker/Pennypacker (1720-1761) in 1738. Barbara’s father was Hendrick Pennebaker who was a Germantown settler. Cornelius farmed his father’s homestead in Perkiomen township.[2] Our Pennebaker ancestry makes us distant cousins to the Honorable Samuel W. Pennypacker, Governor of Pennsylvania. I will focus on the Honorable Samuel in a future blog. As far as I can tell, no gravestone exists for Cornelius or Barbara.
Cornelius son Joseph (1752-1829) was a tavern owner and farmer. His obituary referred to him as “Big Joe Tyson.” Tyson’s tavern was an important meeting place during the last part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries.[3] It was used to hold political meetings for Federalist and Democratic Republican voters during the 1790s. In 1811 it is recorded the local militia met there to elect officers.[4]
Joseph built his tavern near an older one where his wife’s relative, Jacob Wentz, had operated a tavern previously. During the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign during the Revolution, George Washington used Wentz’ Tavern as his headquarters. Over the years, both taverns were demolished, but I have visited the site which is marked with a very old lilac bush.
Joseph Tyson was married twice, first to our grandmother, Elizabeth Robinson (1753-1783), until her death. He then married Barbara Wentz (1756-1825), the daughter of Peter Wentz. This marriage took place at 2nd Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. His 2nd father-in-law, Peter Wentz, was a wealthy farmer, whose house and farmstead have been lovingly restored as a museum, which I highly encourage anyone with an interest in history, architecture, or folk art to visit. The Peter Wentz House is a true gem of Pennsylvania German culture.
Joseph Tyson’s tavern is now gone, demolished in 1864. Big Joe was laid to rest along with his 2nd wife at the Wentz’ Reformed Church near our Spare ancestors. Joseph’s daughter Mary married Leonard Styer, and we will pick up with those two in the next blog.
Tyson Cousins:
I already mentioned Reynier Tyson, who was likely the brother of our ancestor Cornelius Tyson. Reynier led one of the original 13 families who came to Philadelphia on the Concord. While I was living outside Philadelphia I discovered some fun facts about some of Reynier’s descendants, who would be cousins of ours. Reynier Tyson’s son, Abraham and his wife Mary (nee Hallowell) built a stately home known as Tyson Green which lies just north of the borough of Jenkintown. Among other things, this family operated some lime kilns, which were facilities which converted limestone into lime by heating it up with charcoal. Lime was used to make mortar and whitewash paint or can be applied to farmland to lower soil acidity. The Tyson kilns provide the name for the Limekiln Pike which runs through North Philadelphia into Montgomery County. Incidentally, mortar made from lime produced at the Tyson kilns was used in the construction of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. A lasting family legacy indeed!
Join us next time as we dive into the mysterious lives of Leonard and Mary (Tyson) Styer.
[1] Jordan, John W., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, (New York & Chicago, 1911) p. 395.
[2] Ibid, p. 396.
[3] A History of Worcester Township, 1976, p. 48.
[4] In the days before the organization of the National Guard, each county had a militia system to provide troops in case of emergency. A couple times per year, the men would don their uniforms and get together for drill practice. Usually these affairs would create a good excuse for a picnic and a little drinking. An interesting feature of Pennsylvania militias since the Revolutionary War was that the men elected their officers.
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