On September 23, 1873, Cyrus Fairchild Styer married Harriet Brugler. Grandma Harriet was the descendent of an old Montour/Columbia County family which is the topic of this edition of Meet the Family.
Our oldest ancestor in the Brugler clan that I have been able to uncover for sure is Peter Brugler (~1755-1843), Harriet’s grandfather. It appears that Peter was a resident of New Jersey at the time of the American War of Independence. According to Cummins’ 1911 History of Warren County, NJ, the Bruglers were of Dutch origin.
At some point, Peter Brugler married his wife Anna (1767-1852), while they still lived in New Jersey. After the birth of their second child, they moved to Pennsylvania, first settling in the Chillisquaque region in 1788, later moving to Jerseytown (So named due to all the New Jersey settlers in the region), and later still to the Frosty Valley area, near a smaller valley called the “Liebenthal[1]” where he later died after having amassed an estate of about 600 acres.[2] Peter and Anna were Presbyterians and Peter voted Democrat. Their children were as follows:
- Mary: 8/15/1785, married William White, there is a Mary White born in 1785 whose husband was William in the Dodson Cemetery, Luzerne County, PA. I believe her to be Mary Brugler, but do not have solid proof.
- Samuel, our ancestor: 7/29/1787-3/9/1868, married Jane Everett
- Sarah: b. 3/21/1790
- Catherine: 10/10/1792-12/23/1868, married John Snyder of Burdett, NY.
- John: 3/21/1795-5/8/1864, married Mary Kinney. They are buried at Old Rosemont Cemetery in Bloomsburg.
- Elizabeth: b. 11/8/1798
- Anna: 8/20/1801-1872, married Aaron Blue (1798-1885), the scion of an old New Jersey (Holland) Dutch family whose descendants still populate Montour and Columbia Counties. Aaron and Anna eventually settled in Iowa, where they are buried.
Peter was a soldier in the Revolutionary War: according to his Revolutionary veterans pension application, he was drafted twice in 1776 for month-long tours of duty in the state militia.[3] Both times he was discharged and returned to his home in Knowlton Township, Sussex County, NJ. He was called up twice again during 1777 for month-long militia duty. The second tour of which he was involved in a small altercation with the British while on guard duty protecting supply wagons. Brugler’s unit were surprised by a British ambush, but they escaped to safety through an orchard. He served two more months in the year 1778. It doesn’t appear he saw any action besides the ambush. Peter also mentioned in his testimony that as a member of the militia he was often employed in emergencies for several days at a time in order to round up local loyalists or pursue escaped enemy prisoners.
Peter Brugler was in his eighties when he applied for his veteran’s pension. By this late point in his life he had lost all the paper records which he could have used to support his claim, although prominent local men vouched for his character. His claim was rejected due to lack of evidence, and although the decision was appealed by his widow, and later by his son, our ancestor, Samuel Brugler, the case was finally laid to rest in 1864, over twenty years after Peter’s death in 1843 at age 90.
One last anecdote related to Peter Brugler relates to his hunting. According to the stories recorded in the Biographical Annals, he was an avid and successful hunter.[4] Kay Heim told me a story that he was noteworthy for having killed one of the last Native Americans in this part of Pennsylvania. Here I will quote Battle’s 1887 History of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania:
“On one occasion while out hunting, he [Brugler] had an adventure which illustrates how much the life of the pioneer sometimes depended on cautious but decisive action.
The ground was covered with snow to the depth of several inches. He had followed a deer for some distance, when, on turning a hill, he came upon what at first appeared to be an entirely different trail, but the discovery of his own footsteps proved that he had made a circuit, and reached the same trail he had previously traversed, and at the same instant he noticed before him in the snow the prints of an Indian moccasin. Their contrast with his own tracks may have caused a momentary fear, but this only intensified the keenness of his faculties, as the certainty of his danger became conclusive. He remembered having seen a hollow tree when he first passed over the trail. It required but a few minutes to reach it and conceal himself within its dark recess. The stealthy tread of the pursuing savage could be plainly heard at a short distance, and presently his dusky form emerged from the pines into full view. Brugler waited till his rifle was well aimed at the eye of the Indian. The sequel [conclusion, that is] must be inferred. In relating the story, he never went beyond this point.”
There is research that needs to be done (or if it is done, made more public) regarding Peter’s heritage. The Bruglers were probably Dutch, like many New Jersey Settlers in the North Branch region. What is their wider legacy, especially in New Jersey? I will continue to work on this.
The Bruglers were important early settlers of the North Branch Valley, clearing and improving land that would make way for future European settlement. We can see the family participated in the American Revolution. Later this week we will continue to investigate the Brugler story with Peter and Anna’s son Samuel and his wife Jane. Join us again next time!
[1] Liebenthal (Love Valley in German) mentioned in Battle’s 1887 History of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania.
[2] BACMC, volume 1, page 238.
[3] All the information related to his war service and pension application is taken from a document given to me by Kay Heim entitled, “Revolutionary War Declaration of Service, Peter Brugler.” It is a transcribed copy of a primary source.
[4] BACMC, volume 1, page 261.
Styer Stories 
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