Abraham Knerr Sr. ^{1 2}

   Another name for Abraham was Abraham Knörr.⁶

   FamilySearch ID: L8DL-P5F.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. He was naturalized in Lowhill Twp., Lehigh, PA.

2. He has conflicting birth information of 1716. ¹

3. He has conflicting birth information of 1717. ⁴

4. He immigrated to America at age 24 in the ship Lydia sailing from Rotterdam, James Allen, master, and arrived on 29 Sep 1741 to Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. ^{5 6}

5. Moved: 1748, Lowhill Twp., Lehigh, PA. ⁵

6. According to records of land warrants issued on 10 Aug 1748 in Macungie Twp., Lehigh, PA. ⁷

KNERR, Abraham 10 Aug for 50 acres adjoining John BEARE and Conrad LEGHLIDER abt 2 miles beyond Maccungie line.

KNERR, Abraham 10 Aug for 25 acres adjoining George AUBAUGH and Conrad LEGHLIDER near the above tract beyond Maccungie.

Maccungie Township is now in Lehigh County which was formed from Northampton County which was formed from Bucks County.

7. He signed a will on 2 Feb 1790 in Lowhill Twp., Lehigh, PA. ⁸
Last Will of Abraham Knerr
In the name of God Amen the second day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand seven Hundred and Ninety I Abraham Knerr of Lowhill Township in the County of Northampton and state of Pennsylvania Yeoman? being old and weak in Body but of perfect mind and memory Thanks be given unto God therefore calling into mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to dye do make and ordain this my last will. That is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul into the hands of almighty God that gave it and for my Body I recommend it to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like and decent manner at the discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but as the grand resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God And as touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to Bless me in this life I give devise and dispose of the same in following manner and Form. Imprimis it is my will and I do order that in the first place that all my Just debts be paid and satisfied. Item it is my will that my Grand children son and daughters of my Eldest son Christopher Knerr dec. shall have Ten pounds together namely Andrew, Barbara, Susanna, Maria Eve, in specie lawful money of the state of Pennsylvania and the said Andrew shall have Five pounds advance and the other five pounds shall be equally divided amongst them all and ninety pounds my said son Christopher Knerr dec. received of me in his life time which makes together one hundred pounds which is their portion and it is my will as follows that my daughter Barbara Horner has received of me one hundred pounds which is her portion, and my daughter Maria Eve Fenstermacher has received of me one hundred pounds which is her portion, and my son John Knerr has received his portion in the plantation where he lives on in Weisenberg Township and county aforesaid but he shall have the great Bible yet after my decease and no more, and my daughter Anna Barbara Giess has received of me one hundred pounds which is her portion and my grand children sons and daughters of my son Abraham Knerr deceased shall have sixty-seven pounds together Namely Andrew Abraham, Anna Elizabeth, and Susanna, which money shall be Equally divided amongst them all, and thirty three pounds my said son Abraham Knerr received of me in his life time which makes together one hundred pounds which is their portion and my daughter Susanna Hartman shall have twenty two pounds in money yet for her use, and seventy eight pounds she and my son in Law Peter Hartman deceased received of me in his life time which makes together one hundred pounds which shall be their portion, and my Grand child Jacob Rau said grand child Jacob Rau shall have one hundred pounds in money when he comes to his full age of twenty one years for his portion and that shall be his share in full, and if in case my said grand child Jacob Rau should happen to die before he arrives to his age of twenty one years and leaving no children then and in such case it is my will that my said daughters which are yet living Namely Barbara Horner, Maria Eve Fenstermacher, Anna Barbara Giess, Susanna Hartman, and Dorothy Stettler, and also my two sons John Knerr and Andrew Knerr, shall be in equal shares thereof of the said hundred pounds, and my Daughter Dorothy Stettler shall have forty pounds in money yet and sixty pounds she has received of me which makes together one hundred pounds which is her portion. And my Youngest son Andrew Knerr who is bound in a certain article of agreement to maintain and to give the yearly subsistence to me and his mother Eve during our natural lives. It is my will that he has received his portion in the plantation and premises where we now live on in said Township of Lowhill in full for his share, and further it is my will that if there should be any remainder further in money that the same shall be divided in equal shares amongst my said Daughters Barbara Horner, Maria Eve Fenstermacher, Anna Barbara Giess, Susanna Hartman, and Dorothy Stettler, and my grand children of my son Christopher Knerr dec. together a share, and my grand children of my son Abraham Knerr dec. together a share, but the household Goods and one cow shall be in use for my beloved wife Eve during her natural life and after her decease then to be divided in equal shares amongst my said daughters namely Barbara Horner, Maria Eve Fenstermacher, Anna Barbara Giess, Susanna Hartman, and Dorothy Stettler, and I do hereby constitute make and ordain Jacob Horner and Philip Stettler sole Executors of this my last Will and Testament, and I do hereby utterly disallow revoke and disannul all and every other former Testaments wills Legacies and Executors by me in any wise before this time named willed and bequeathed Ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and seal the day and year above written Abraham Knerr his () mark ? ? ? ? ? ? Northampton County is on the third day of May in the year of our Lord 1793 Before me John Arndt Register for the Probate of Wills & for said county personally came Peter Kocher and Peter Knoe? Two of the witnesses to the within written Last Will and Testament of Abraham Knerr deceased who being duly sworn according to law Saw did respectively depose and say that they were present and did see and hear the said Testator sign his mark, expressed to be the mark of Abraham Knerr: seal publish and declare the same as and for his last Will and Testament and that at the doing thereof he the said Testator was of sound mind memory and understanding to the best of their knowledge and Belief. And also that they these deponents together with John Kieffer subscribed their names as Witnesses to the same in the presence and at the request of the said Testator and in the presence of each other Witness my hand.
John Arndt Register.

8. Book: 1884. ⁹
From "History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon" published in 1884:

Abraham Knerr, the ancestor of the Kneers of Lowhill, was born in the year 1714 (but where is not known), probably in Germany. He came to Lowhill between the years 1748 and 1750, and took up a tract of land at the Jordan Creek, about three hundred acres. He had two sons, John and Andrew. To his son, John, he gave a tract of land in Weissenberg (near where Claussville now is, and at present owned by Levi Knerr), and to his son Andrew he gave the tract at the Jordan (part of it was conveyed to him on May 18, 1784). He died April 21, 1793, at the age of seventy-nine years. He lived in wedlock fifty-two years. Andrew married Catharine Elizabeth Schall, and had thirteen children, of whom four died young. Among those who came to maturity were Abraham, born Jan. 16, 1783 (married to Gertrude Smith), who kept the hotel at Claussville between the years 1810 and 1820, and later the hotel at Hynemanville, in Weissenberg. Catharine, born Dec. 23, 1784, married Paul Kramlich, and settled in Ohio. Andrew, born February, 1787, married Elizabeth Kocher, and bought a part of the old homestead from his father on Aug. 17, 1816, and another tract on May 13, 1822, in all about one hundred and fifty acres. He lived all his life in Lowhill, and died in June, 1865, at the age of seventy-eight years; his wife died four years before, and both were buried at the Union Church Cemetery. Anna Maria, born Feb. 10, 1796, married Jacob Brobst. Two daughters are living, one a widow, Matilda Romig, living at Allentown with her children and grandchildren and her sister Abbey, the wife of Levi Knerr, merchant, at Claussville. Elizabeth, born Aug. 27, 1798, married Peter Kuhns, of Lowhill. In the early time of Allentown they kept a hotel at the corner of Tenth and Hamilton Streets. Her only daughter, Mrs. Mary Young, widow of the late Col. E. B. Young (who was at one time mayor of the city of Allentown), is living at Allentown with her children. Salome, born Aug. 21, 1800, married George Braveber, who left early for Union County, Pa., where her descendants are living. David, born Sept. 29, 1803, married Sarah Horn. He took the original old home where the ancestor, Abraham, first settled, and held the same until his death, which occurred in December, 1864, at the age of sixty-one years. His widow is still living at Allentown. Elias, born April 1, 1806, intermarried to a Miss Peiffer, went to Crawford County, Pa., where he died. His descendants are still living there.

Andrew Knerr, Jr., of the third generation, who bought a part of the original tract, had nine children, who came to maturity. Polly, married to Charles Bachman, lived in Washington township, this county, where her husband conducted a tannery. In the year 1866 they left for Wisconsin, where they are still living. Amos left when young for New York State, and thence went to Kalamazoo, Mich., of which place he was one of the early settlers. He was married there, and died there in 1883. Jonas married Susan Muehlhaus (a daughter of the late John Henry Muehlhaus, who came from Hessen, Germany, and taught German schools in the different parts of the county during the period of the German schools). Jonas and his wife are still living. At his father's death he bought a tract of twenty-two acres from the old tract, which adjoined his other land.

Owen, who first married Susan Geddes, a native of Union County, still living in the township with his second wife, Mary Hartman, a descendant of the old Hartman family of Lowhill. Aaron, who married Hoffman, living at Allentown. Stephen, who left for Kalamazoo, Mich., where he settled and remained during his life; died about seven years ago. Mary, married to Moses Heilman, is living at Allentown. Amelia, who married Alfred B. Hallman, died 1868. Alvin, the youngest, is living in Monroe County, Pa.

Of David Knerr's family - Sarah married John Hollenbach, and lived in Lowhill till after the death of her husband, which occurred in the beginning of the seventies, when she was married to Frank Herber, at present living in Weissenberg. Moses, married to Amanda Clauss (a daughter of Daniel Clauss, after whom Claussville was named), is living, and the owner of the old original homestead, of which he came in possession at his father's death, making a continuous possession to the Knerrs from one generation to the other for about one hundred and thirty-four years. Hiram, married to Leanna Roeder, is living at Washington township. Joseph, married to a Miss Quier, is at present a widower, living at Allentown. Carolina, married to Jon. Kemerer, went to Iowa, where she died. Amanda married Lewis Peter, and died about fifteen years ago. David Franklin, married to Helen Wetherhold, is living at Allentown. John Andrew, married to Sarah Wetherhold, sister of the above, is in Allentown. Louisa, married to James Major, is also living at Allentown. David, the above and his wife, Sarah, had thirteen children. Jonas Knerr, son of Andrew, has three children, - one daughter and two sons. Catharine, married to J. B. Heller, who died 1864, lives at Allentown. Willoughby, married to Martha Schlicker, lives in this township. E. Henry, married to Isabella S. Diehl, is living at Weidasville, holding the office of justice of the peace of Lowhill township.

Owen Knerr's children are Samuel, living in San Francisco, Cal.; William, living in Dakota Territory; James, married to Amelia Wanamaker, living at Kreidersville, Northampton County; Elizabeth, married to Byron Rupert, living in Monroe County; Ada, married to Willoughby Miller, living at Allentown; Asa, married to Laura Knauss, in North White Hall township; Milton J., in Dakota Territory; Albert Eugene, in Paw Paw, Mich.; and Mary J., Calvin, Emily, and Ida, who, being young, still reside in the township.

9. Book: History of Lehigh County on Page 450, 1884. ¹⁰
Abraham Knerr, with his wife Maria Eve, came from Germany, or more probably from the German part of Switzerland, some time previous to the year 1748, and settled in the eastern part of Weissenberg, about a quarter of a mile from the present village of Claussville, on a tract of land called by him Pleasant View, which is now (1884) owned by his great-grandson, Levi Knerr, of Claussville. He took up large tracts of land and divided them among his children. He had a large family of sons and daughters, among whom were the following: Christopher, who married, had several children, and then moved to other parts; John Jacob, who probably went to other parts before he was married; Andreas, who married a Miss Schall and settled at the Jordan, and became the father of the Jordan branch of the Knerr family; Abraham, who settled at what has since become the village of Lyon Valley; and John, who received the old homestead. Of the daughters, one, Barbara, married Jacob Horner, another married a Mr. Stettler, and still another a Mr. Hartman.

10. Book: Anniversary History of Lehigh County on page 288 published, 1914. ^{4 11}
Abraham Knerr, the ancestor of the Knerr's of Lowhill, was born in the year 1714 (but where is not known), probably in Germany. He came to Lowhill between the years 1748 and 1750 and took up a tract of land at the Jordan about thee hundred acres. He had two sons, John and Andrew. He died April 21, 1793, at the age of seventy-nine years. He lived in wedlock fifty-two years.

11. Book: Anniversary History of Lehigh County, 1914. ⁴
Abraham Knerr, the ancestor of this family, the name of which is also found spelled Knoer, Knarr and Knorr, was born in Zweibruecken, Germany, in 1716. He emigrated to America in the ship Lydia, James Alien, master, sailing from Rotterdam, and arrived at Philadelphia on Sept. 29, 1741. He settled on a tract of 100 acres of land located on the line between Lowhill and Weisenberg Townships, a short distance west of Claussville, which he secured by warrant dated Aug. 16, 1748, adjoining lands of Nicholas Acker, Peter Grow, John Bear, George Folk, and Christopher Kop. This tract, together with a tract warranted by Peter Grow, on Sept. 27, 1758, called Friend's Arrival, the whole amounting to 131 acres, was patented to John Knerr on June 6, 1810, upon the payment of $208.43.

On May 18, 1763, Paul Boger, of Gwynedd Township, Philadelphia County, Ermholder, and his wife, Christianna, sold to Abraham Knerr, for £340, three tracts of land in Lowhill Township, containing 226 acres. On this tract Abraham Knerr erected about 1780, a log house, which still stands, to which an addition was built in 1812. On May 18, 1784, Abraham Knerr and his wife sold these tracts, containing respectively, 126 acres, 47 perches, 52~2 acres, and 48 acres, 32 perches, to their youngest son, Andrew, for £450. One hundred acres of this land, with the old house, is now owned by George F. Knerr, of Allentown, a great-grandson of Andrew.

Abraham Knerr was a farmer by occupation and at the opening of the Revolution took an active part as a patriot, having been elected a member of the General Committee of Observation for Northampton County from Lowhill Township, whose meeting he attended on May 30, 1776, when representatives to the Provincial Convention held in Philadelphia on June 18, 1776, were chosen, which was the first step in forming a new government.

He was a contributor to the Lowhill Reformed Congregation in 1769, to which on the dedication, Sept. 3, 1769, he, with Nicholas Mannebach, presented a baptismal service. In later years he became a member of the Reformed Congregation at Unionville Church.

He died April 21, 1793, aged 79 years, and was buried at Unionville Church, but unfortunately, no stone marks his last resting place. Rev. Abraham Blumer preached his funeral sermon.

His wife, Mary Eva Knerr, was born Oct. 1, 1713 and died June 20, 1792, aged 78 years, 8 months and 19 days. They had ten children: Christopher, Catharine Barbara, John Jacob, John, Mary Eva, Anna Barbara, Abraham, Susanna, Dorothea, and Andrew. Christopher Knerr, his eldest son, was born Oct. 8, 1742, and was baptized Nov. 28, 1742, at the Jordan Church.

Abraham married Maria Eva Faess, daughter of Andreas Faess and Anna Eichenberger, in 1740 in Burbach: Burbach Reformed Church, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, FRA.¹ (Maria Eva Faess was born on 12 Oct 1713 in Berg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, FRA ¹, christened in 1728 in Diedendorf: Diedendorf Reformed Church, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, FRA,^{1 3} died on 20 Jun 1792 in Lowhill Twp., Lehigh, PA ¹ and was buried in Neffs: Neffs Union Cemetery, Lehigh, PA.)

  Marriage Notes:

Their nuptial record is in the church record book. The pastor performing the marriage came from Asswiller, another small village in the immediate area about forty miles northwest of Strasbourg, France.