A 1763 deed describing the early history of a tract of land in Bernville was presented to the Bernville Area Community Library on Feb. 23 by William F. Richardson, of Reading.
In more than one thousand words carefully handwritten on parchment, the document tells about the initial land claim by Henry Spengler (Heinrich Spingler) in 1736 and the sale of the rights to Godfrey Fidler (Gottfried Fidler Jr.) in 1747. Fidler donated an acre of that land for the original site of Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The tract of more than 200 acres – which originally included the current location of St. Thomas Church in Bernville, as well as Penn-Bernville Elementary School in Penn Township and the Jefferson Township Municipal Building – was one of the first properties claimed by white settlers in the area near the confluence of the Tulpehocken and Northkill creeks. In 1763, the year the deed was signed, Lenni Lenape warriors came over the Blue Mountain to attack farm families just north of Bernville.
Several of the names noted on the old deed are well known in northern Berks County. Of course, spelling often became an issue when German names were written by English-speaking officials, as in the case of Umbehacher for Umbenhauer. In addition to those already mentioned, the following names appear (as written on the parchment): Eckert, Weiser, Wagner, Schauer, Strous, Jacobi, Daumel, Stump, Epler, Lauck, Hawk, Filbert, Haus, Fengel, Hoffman and Rieth.
“It is my pleasure to donate this deed, which has a significant place in the history of the Bernville area, and to make it available to the public,” Mr. Richardson, longtime Executive Director of the Berks Community Action Program in Reading, told the library trustees at their February meeting.
After mentioning that his grandfather, Charles M. Richardson, had lived on Main Street in Bernville, he then revealed a few stories about the Bernville adventures of his father, William S. Richardson, who became a U.S. Representative for Berks County. The donated deed was found some years ago in the personal effects of his Uncle Charles, who had operated the family’s dairy business. The Richardson & Ahrens creamery was located on the present site of Bernville Borough Hall.
Much of the unusually large document describes the complicated legal issues that arose after Godfrey Fidler died without a will. Eventually his eldest son, Stephen (Stephanus), was able to acquire the property rights and sell them to Jonas Eckert, as confirmed by the deed. Before that, Stephanus successfully petitioned the Orphans’ Court of Berks County to remain on the land, agreed to have the property appraised to determine how much money other heirs would receive from the estate, and obtained the guarantee of two individuals that payment would be made to his mother (who had remarried in the meantime), two adult sisters and six other children left behind by his father.
The deed also notes local municipal boundary changes since 1736. For transactions before the formation of Berks County, the document refers to the tract as part of Tulpehoccon (Tulpehocken) Township in Lancaster County, which extended northward to Blue Mountain and eastward to the Schuylkill River until 1752. At the time the deed was signed in 1763, the land, straddling the Northkill, was situated in Tulpehocken Township and Bern Township, both of which have been reconfigured over the years. Today the original tract includes acreage in Bernville Borough, Jefferson Township and Penn Township.
The Bernville Area Community Library, located only a few steps from the land described in the deed, is planning to display this interesting document after renovations to the building are completed in a few weeks. The library is expected to be on the usual schedule during the renovation process.
