Rickenbach,
Bern Township
This USGS topographic map from 1924 shows the
general layout of the district of Rickenbach, several miles north of Reading, Pennsylvania,
where Rebecca's memoir of her father takes place. The location of specific
landmarks from the memoir are indicated. The red border in the central portion
of the map shows the land given to James Rickenbach's father Benjamin from the
settlement of Jacob Rickenbach's estate in 1832. Jacob's oldest son Solomon
received the larger portion shown in green.
The creek (thin blue line) flowing into the
Schuylkill River through the Herbein Farm is the "little crick"
mentioned several times by Rebecca. "Duncan's Level" of the
Schuylkill Navigation Canal is shown along the west edge of the Schuylkill
River. It is interesting to see that the entire length of the canal was still
filled with water in 1924. Rebecca refers to the strip of land between the river
and the canal as "Duncan's Island".
See the bottom of the page for links to these
and other locations.
Gypsy Encampment
Click on each link below to find out more
about each location shown on the map:
Jacob Rickenbach's
1817 Homestead
Gypsy Encampment
(Reinhart family)-
Stoltzfus Cemetery
(near Peacock's Lock)
Johan Rickenbacher's
House (20 miles south in Caernarvon Township)
Noecker, Rickenbach
and Ake Shipyard, Camden, New Jersey
City of Philadelphia,
mid to late 1800s.