Andrew K. Ziegler ¹

   FamilySearch ID: LQ5J-NS9.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Book: Strassburger Family and Allied Families of Pennsylvania, 1922. ²
The Ziegler family is documented in the genealogy of the Strassburger family by Ralph Beaver Strassburger, the same author of the famous Pennsylvania German Pioneers volumes of immigrant ship lists. An excerpt from the book:


Michael Ziegler, born probably about 1680 in Germany, came to America with his brother Melchior before 1717, as in that year he was living in Perkiomen Township, then Philadelphia, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where he died "far advanced in age" some time between February, 1763 and October, 1765. The exact date of his arrival in this country is not known, the first record we have being his appointment as one of the trustees of the land upon which was erected the Skippack Mennonite Church, whose congregation he later served as minister; he also preached at Germantown. His occupation, however, is given as that of weaver. The Christian name of his wife was Catherine, whose surname is unknown. In a number of deeds which she signed in conjunction with her husband she wrote her name in German "Catherinea Zieglerin," while Michael made his mark thus: M.Z.

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Andrew Ziegler, born 14 Mar 1770, second son of Michael Ziegler, was probably born in Lower Salford Township, where he resided until his removal to Frederick Township, about 1800. In 1792 he was married by Michael Croll, Justice of the Peace for Montgomery County, to Catherine Lederach.

The Lederachs owned a large farm adjoining the Zieglers, the little village of Lederachville touching Andrew Ziegler's farm on the northeast. In 1794, he purchased of his grandfather, Andrew Ziegler, Sr., a tract of one hundred and thirteen acres, which included a messuage, and lying within this tract was the house and twelve acres of land which had been set aside for his father.

Three years prior to this, Andrew Ziegler had purchased twenty-five acres of land which adjoined the farm which he later secured from his grandfather. On May 29, 1798, he and his wife, Catherine, sold parts of his farm to his cousin, Jacob Ziegler.

Some time between this last date, May 29, 1798, and 1810, Andrew Ziegler and wife removed to Frederick Township, which adjoined Lower Salford. On April 14 of the last named year, he sold to Jacob Gorges the remainder of his land in Lower Salford. In this deed he refers to himself as being of Frederick Twp.

There is no record of any purchase of land by Andrew Ziegler in Frederick Township prior to 1839. However, he was a large land holder, a dealer in cattle and owned and operated the mill that is just on the edge of Zieglerville. The village of Zieglerville is situated in the southern part of the township and is located on the Perkiomen and Sumneytown turnpike. Before the building of the railroad it was an important meeting point for stage lines. Here the passengers for Pennsburg and Boyertown met three times a week and were trans- ferred frmo small antiquated coaches to commodious omnibuses drawn by four or five horses, and on alternate days the returning passengers again separated and went their different ways. The Inn, on high ground located at the forks of the road, was an old-time house of genuine entertainment. Frederick Twp. was organized in 1730 and until 1731 had no official name, being known as Falkner Swamp in common with the other extensive regions drained by the Swamp Creek.

On February 6, 1760, George Wygard, or Weichert, bought of Michael and Eva Mary Bastian 306 acres of land located in Frederick Township, comprising ground upon which the present village of Zieglerville and its surroundings are located. Immediately upon obtaining possession of the property, he established an inn upon the Skippack Road just north of its crossing Swamp Creek; he also built a grist and saw mill, propelled by the creek.

On December 17, 1774, George Weichert offered the larger part of his plantation at public sale, advertising it on the 13th of that month in the Philadelphia "Staatsbote", as "situated on the Skippack Road, thirty-one miles from Philadelphia; that it contained about 125 acres cleared and 12 acres meadow; there was upon it a stone house in which a tavern had been kept for nearly fifteen years, also a grist and saw mill."

This land with the hotel and the mill later came into the possession of Andrew Ziegler and his son, Henry, from whom the village of Zieglerville took its name. An old draft of this 306 acres shows that Jacob Underkoffer owned an adjoining tract, but no deed is on record to show when Andrew Ziegler purchased this land in Frederick, but it is no doubt the same property which he mentions in his will as having bought of the trustees of Jacob Underkoffer and which he bequeathed with the mansion house to his son, Henry.

These early Germans repeated the same Christian name so frequently in the younger generations that it was customary to distinguish them by some descriptive name. Thus Andrew Ziegler, Junior, son of Michael and grandson of Andrew Ziegler, Senior, was known as "Little Andreas", not that he was small, but because he was tall and thin, and in several deeds executed shortly before his death he is designated as Andrew K. Ziegler, the initial no doubt standing for "Kolb."

Catherine Lederach, wife of Andrew Ziegler, died July 2, 1840, aged seventy years nine months and twenty-eight days, and was buried in the graveyard of the Lower Salford Mennonite Meeting. After her death perhaps Andrew Ziegler went to live with the children of his daughter, Magdalena Schwenk, who lived across the river from Schwenksville, in Salford Township, and here he passed away on December 26, 1844.

In his will, which he made a few months before his death, he requested that if he "should die at or near the place I now reside," his body be interred in the Salford burial ground. Large tombstones mark both their graves, and another adjoining is that of their daughter, Magdalena Schwenk. The will, which was dated September 26, 1844, and to which he had added a codicil, was entered for probate November 9 of the same year. An inventory of his estate shows that it was valued at nearly $6,000. According to the account filed at the same time by his executors, Henry Ziegler, his son, one of the executors, charges "traveling expenses incurred in going to Northumberland and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania, and to New York on business of the estate."

Children of Andrew Ziegler and Catherine Lederach:

1. Henry Ziegler, married Catherine Steiner.
2. Elizabeth Ziegler, married Dieter Buchert; issue: Andrew Buchert; Mary Buchert, married Francis Markley; Catherine Buchert.
3. Magdalena Ziegler, born February 27, 1795; died September 3, 1826; married Jacob B. Schwenk, son of Abraham M. Schwenk and Fronica Bauer.

Andrew married Catherine Lederach on 29 Mar 1792.¹ (Catherine Lederach was born in Sep 1769 in , Montgomery, PA, died on 2 Jul 1840 in Lower Salford Twp., Montgomery, PA ¹ and was buried in Lower Salford Twp.: Lower Salford Mennonite Meeting Cemetery, Montgomery, PA ¹.)