Hans Peter Umstead

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95786885/hans-peter-umstead

The Umstat name is found variously spelled as Umstatt, Umstadt, Umstead, Umstot, and Umstott.

Hans Peter Umstat was most likely born in Kreigsheim, Germany about 1650. On October 12, 1685 at the age of about 35, he emigrated to Germantown, Pennsylvania on the ship Francis and Dorothy from Rotterdam, Holland. Shortly before his arrival, he had purchased 200 acres of land from Dirck Sipman in the new settlement that would become Germantown. The land purchase was made on August 16, 1685 in Rotterdam. Hans Peter lived in Germantown the rest of his life.

Accompanying him to Pennsylvania were his wife Barbara (maiden name unknown), his son John, and two daughters, Anna Margaretta, and Eve. Hans Peter and his family are believed to have been Quakers or Mennonites, although their religion is not known for certain. Mennonites and Quakers were considered radical groups in the early days and were frequently persecuted in their homeland. Most Mennonites preferred to relocate rather than fight, as they were generally committed to peace and nonviolence.

We can speculate that Hans Peter's motivations for leaving his homeland included escape from religious persecution, the promise of land, and the assurance of religious liberty. The first Mennonite congregation in America was formed in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1683.

Hans Peter brought his old family bible, printed in 1568, to America with him. The bible had been given to his father Nicholas Umstat and when Nicholas died in 1682, it passed to Hans Peter. The bible contained several interesting entries, probably written by his father Nicholas, in addition to family data. Examples (translated from German): "In the year 1658 the cold was so great that even the Rhine froze up. On the 31st of January so great a snow fell that it continued for four days. There was no snow so great within the memory of man," and "December 16, 1680, the Comet Star with a long tail was seen for the first time." (Researchers say the comet that impressed him had appeared in the time of Caesar, and over a span of about 500 years was the most imposing comet known to astronomers.)

Upon Hans's death, the old family bible was passed on to his daughter Eve. It is still in existence today, although in very fragile condition. It is housed at Pennypacker Mills in Schwenksville, PA.

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The Montgomery Historical Society reports that Hans Peter died in Germantown and that he and his wife were buried "in the Mennonite Cemetery east of Shippack," where his son Johannes (AKA John) had settled. The gravestones have been lost or obliterated over time.

Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

about Hans Peter Umstat

Name: Hans Peter Umstat

Year: 1685

Place: Germantown, Pennsylvania

Family Members: Wife Barbara; Son Johannes; Daughter Anna Margaretha; Daughter Eva

Source Publication Code: 1734

Primary Immigrant: Umstat, Hans Peter

Annotation: Date and port of arrival or date and place of naturalization. Extracted from W.I. Hull's William Penn and the Dutch Quaker Migration to Pennsylvania (see PILI, first edition, source no. 3313).

Source Bibliography: DUTCH AND GERMAN SETTLERS IN GERMANTOWN, 1683-1709. In Krefeld Immigrants and Their Descendants (Links Genealogy Publications, Sacramento, CA), vol. 1:2 (1984), pp. 41-47.

Page: 45

From Dottterer

"Hans Peter Umstat, ( ) arrived in Philadelphia on October 12 1685. Until some
time in the year 1702 he lived inGermantown. He then removed to Skippack
creek , about two miles from the present Evansburg , and Spent the remainder of
his life there . He became a leading spirit in that locality . He purchased land at
various dates a partial list given in thebook foots up 4,012 acres .
He was a surveyor, and it is supposed
that he laid out the Skippack road inconsequence of a petition to the court date d
June ,1 71 3 ; also that he made the survey of Skippack and Perkiomen township in 1725."
from The Perkiomen Region, Past and Present by Henry S. Dotterer, Vol. I . No. 1. SEPTEMBER,
1894

Note: does NOT seem to appear on https://www.geni.com/photo/view?album_type=project&photo_id=6000000200638005870&project_id=4496356