1. Philip Johannes BOSSERT was born between 1705 and 1706 in Alsace-Lorraine France,died about 1796 in Bossardsville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania,about age 91, and was buried in Bossardsville, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
General Notes: The reason or reasons why Philip Johannes immigrated to America is unknow
n, though some speculate it was because of religious persecution. Loo ki ng at the history of France preceding the birth of Philip Johannes a nd dur ing the time he lived in France, the deciding factor may have be en , relig ious persecution, massive taxation, civil unrest, any o ne or a combinati on of factors.
Whatever the reason or reasons, Philip Johannes Bossert's name is f ou nd on the Passengers list of the Ship Samuel and Elizabeth:
Palatines imported in the Ship Samuel & Elizabeth, William Chilton, C om r, from Rotterdam. Sept. 30, 1740
[List 77 A] [List of the Male passengers imported in the Ship Samuel & E li zabeth, William Chilton, Comr, from Rotterdam. Qualified Sept. 30, 1740 .]
Males over 17 years of age:
Philip Bossert 35
Men in all 56. [women] 28. [Total] 84.
The above is a true List of the Male Passengers of the age of 17 yea rs & u pwards imported by me, to the best of my knowledge. Wm Chilton.
Sworn the 30th day of Septr 1740. [Endorsed:]
Samuel & Elizabeth, Willm Chilton, from Rotterdam & Deal. List of Palati ne s. Qualified 30th Sept 1740. (full list not included)
Excerpts from, "The Kellers of Hamilton Township" By David H. Keller, M.D.
PHILIP BOSSARD and family in Pennsylvania
….. It is probable that in 1749 John George Hartlieb, his second wif e, t he widow of Christopher Keller (No. 1) and the two step children, Chr istop her Keller (No.2) and Margaretha Catharine arrived from Philadelphi a, thro ugh the Wind Gap, probably stopping at Delabole to visit the fami ly of Jos eph Keller, and then up through Cherry Valley to the Bossard pla ntation. D oubtless Philip Bossard, George McDowell, Conrad Bittenbinder a nd Peter So an assisted in the building of the first log hut for the Hartl ieb famil y. Some measure of prosperity shone on the entire community a nd everythi ng was peaceful till the 11th of December, 1755, when a war pa rty of ov er 200 Indians simultaneously attacked settlements in what is n ow Lehig h, Northampton and Monroe Counties in a determined effort to dri ve the whi te settlers south of the Blue Mountains and keep them there. T he Minisi nk was harassed down to Shawnee, and all buildings north of Brod head's pla ntation in East Stroudsburg, then known as Dansville, were burn ed and t he people killed, taken prisoners or made fugitives.
A few weeks later, about January 15th, 1756, the first attack w as ma de on the Cherry Valley settlers. Philip Bossard had a Palatine nam ed Mulh ausen working for him. While Mulhausen was breaking flax one d ay he was at tacked by a party of five Indians and shot through the bod y. One of Philip 's sons came to his rescue but was at once shot and kille d. Philip now app eared and seriously wounded one of the foe but would ha ve probably been ki lled himself had not his neighbors come to his assista nce. Following th is the settlements on both sides of the Blue Mountains w ere kept in a cons tant state of anxiety. To protect the settlers and he lp them remain on the ir farms a chain of forts was built along the Blue R idge from the Susqueha nna to the Delaware - of these forts only four we re in the region we are e specially interested in. These were Fort Norr is near Kresgeville, Fort Ham ilton at Strousburg, Fort Depui at Shawnee a nd Fort Hyndshaw at Bushkil l. Bossard's plantation was nearly half-way be tween Fort Norris and Fort H amilton and when General James Young ma de an inspection of the Provinci al forts in 1756 he spent the night of Ju ne 23rd at Bossard's, leaving the re at 4 A. M. so he could get to Fort Ha milton early in the day. This exam ple was frequently followed by the offi cers and troops during the French a nd Indian War, as we find frequent men tion of persons stopping to feed the ir horses or stay all night at the Bo ssard plantation. On or about the 20 th of April, 1757, a second attack w as made on Cherry Valley and the surro unding territory which was consider ed grave enough to warrant the sendi ng of Michael Roup to Easton to ma ke a deposition or affidavit. Th is is of such interest to us that it is w orthy of repetition. (See notes f or Philip Johannes Bossert, Jr. for Mich ael Roup's deposition)
... In September, 1762, a petition was presented to the court at East on f or a road from Shoemaker's hills to Dansbury (now East Stroudsburg) a nd fr om there to Mount ~ul and the Wind Gap. This petition was sign ed by John M cDowell, Philip Bossard, Lawrence Romig, John Hillman, Abr am Miller and Wi lliam Smith, and these petitioners were appointed as view ers. On Septemb er 1st, 1761, a tax of 3 pence per pound was levied to p ay the expens es of Representatives, to erect public buildings and to dest roy wolves, fo xes and crows. Among those in Lower Smithfield whose nam es we are interest ed in, the following appear on this list: Philip Bossar d, 8 pounds; Geor ge Hartlieb, 6 pounds, and Michael Roup, 5 pounds. Th ey were living in Low er Smithfield at that time as the township of Hamilt on was not organized t ill a year later in 1762. While Philip donated t he land that the Hamilt on Square church was built on in 1775 it was not t ill some years later th at this was deeded to the church trustees by his s on Melchior. This gift f rom the Bossard family to the community has be en fully discussed in a prev ious chapter and need not be repeated at th is time. The tax list of 1785 d oes not show Philip's name. It appears th at his son Melchior was the virtu al owner of the lands of his fath er as in that year Melchior paid 1 poun d, 8 shillings, 3 pence on 300 acr es of land, 3 horses and 5 cows. It w as not, however, till July 27th, 179 0, that Philip deeded to his son, Melc hior Bossard, this land; the deed b eing recorded in Deed Book B2, page 10 2, at Easton, reading in part as fo llows: Deed: Philip Bossert To Melchi or Bossert. July 27, 1790. Considera tion the natural love and affection wh ich he hath and doth.
It has been established through many sources that Philip Johannes Bosse rt founded Bosserdsville, Pennsylvania.
Philip married Eva Cathrina UNKNOWN about 1738 in Alsace-Lorraine France. Eva was born in Unknown and died in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania.
General Notes: Pennslyvania
Her tombstone in the Hamilton Square churchyard reads, "Im 77 Jahren" me an ing that she died in her 77th year.
* this information is copied from the genealogy compiled by Vonda Bry so n, whom has graciously given me permission to include this and oth er inf ormation from her work in this collection of Buzzard genealogy.
LaRue is possibly Eva Catharina's maiden name.
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN CHURCH RECORDS 1729-1870, Pennsylvania German Chur ch R ecords II, Williams Twp. Congregation, Communicants and Confirmations
p. 111 - Eva Catharina Bossert, Philip's wife, communed 19 Nov. 1752 He
Philip is named as husband, but he did not commune
p. 112 - Eva Catharina Bossard in, communed (prob) 17 May 1752
p 110 - Eva Catharina Bossard in, communed 18 Apr 1751
p 110 - Anna Catharina Bossert in, communed (prob) 12 Nov 1751
It is said that Eva died in her 77th year, although no dates are giv en f or her. She is buried in the family cemetery on the Phillip Bossa rd fa rm in Cherry Valley. Her tombstone is in the Hamilton Square churchy ard a nd states that she died in her 77th year. Her tombstone states " Im 77 Jahr en."
Noted events in her life were:
• Alt. Death. Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania
• Congregation, Communicant: Between 1751 and 1752.
Children from this marriage were:
+ 2 M i. Heinrich BOSSERT was born in 1740 in Possibly Aboard Ship Samuel And Elizabeth Or In Pennsylvania,died in 1791 in Unity Twp, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania,at age 51, and was buried in Unity Twp, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.
3 M ii. Jr. Bossert Philip JOHANNES was born about 1742 in Pennslyvania and died about 1757 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania about age 15.
General Notes: Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania
Was killed during an Indian uprising along with several others
....everything was peaceful till the 11th of December, 1755, when a w ar pa rty of over 200 Indians simultaneously attacked settlements in wh at is n ow Lehigh, Northampton and Monroe Counties in a determined effo rt to dri ve the white settlers south of the Blue Mountains and keep th em there. T he Minisink was harassed down to Shawnee, and all buildings no rth of Brodh ead's plantation in East Stroudsburg, then known as Dansvill e, were burn ed and the people killed, taken prisoners or made fugitives.
A few weeks later, about January 15th, 1756, the first attack w as ma de on the Cherry Valley settlers. Philip Bossard had a Palatine nam ed Mulh ausen working for him. While Mulhausen was breaking flax one d ay he was at tacked by a party of five Indians and shot through the bod y. One of Philip 's sons came to his rescue but was at once shot and kille d. Philip now app eared and seriously wounded one of the foe but would ha ve probably been ki lled himself had not his neighbors come to his assista nce. Following th is the settlements on both sides of the Blue Mountains w ere kept in a cons tant state of anxiety. To protect the settlers and he lp them remain on the ir farms a chain of forts was built along the Blue R idge from the Susqueha nna to the Delaware - of these forts only four we re in the region we are e specially interested in. These were Fort Norr is near Kresgeville, Fort Ham ilton at Strousburg, Fort Depui at Shawnee a nd Fort Hyndshaw at Bushkil l. Bossard's plantation was nearly half-way be tween Fort Norris and Fort H amilton and when General James Young ma de an inspection of the Provinci al forts in 1756 he spent the night of Ju ne 23rd at Bossard's, leaving the re at 4 A. M. so he could get to Fort Ha milton early in the day. This exam ple was frequently followed by the offi cers and troops during the French a nd Indian War, as we find frequent men tion of persons stopping to feed the ir horses or stay all night at the Bo ssard plantation. On or about the 20 th of April, 1757, a second attack w as made on Cherry Valley and the surro unding territory which was consider ed grave enough to warrant the sendi ng of Michael Roup to Easton to ma ke a deposition or affidavit. Th is is of such interest to us that it is w orthy of repetition.
The 24th day of April, one thousand, seven Hundred and Fifty seven, appe ar ed before me, William Parsons, esquire, one of His Majesty's Justic es of t he Peace for the County of Northampton, Michael Roup, of Lower Smi thfiel d, in the said County, aged 52 years, a person to me well known a nd wort hy of credit, and being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almi ghty Go d, did depose and declare, that his neighbor, Philip Bozart, bei ng at Fo rt Norris last Saturday week, heard a letter read there, which w as dispatc hed by Major Parsons to acquaint the Garrison that he had recei ved Informa tion that some Enemy Indians intended shortly to come and atta ck the inhab itants at and about Minisink and to desire them to be upon th eir Guard; wh ich was soon made known to all the Neighboring Inhabitant s. And this Depon ent further saith, That on Friday Morning last John Lefe ver passing by t he house of Philip Bozart and this Deponent, informed th em that the India ns had murdered Casper Gundryman last Wednesday Evenin g; whereupon this de ponent went immediately to the House of Philip Boza rt to consult which w as best to be done. Their House being about half a m ile apart That they co ncluded it best for the Neighbors to collect themse lves together, as ma ny as they could in some one House. And this Depone nt further saith, th at he immediately returned home and loaded his Wag on as fast as he could w ith his most valuable Effects which he carri ed to Bozart's House. Th at as soon as he had unloaded his Wagon he dro ve to his Son-in-law Peter S oan's House about two miles, and loaded as mu ch of his Effects as the Ti me and hurry would admit, and took them al so to Bozart's where 9 famili es were retired; That a great number of t he inhabitants were also retir ed to the Houses of Conrad Bittenbender a nd John McDowel; That Bozart's Ho use is 7 miles from Fort Hamilton a nd 12 from Fort Norris. And this Depone nt further saith, that yesterday M orning about 9 o'clock the said Peter So an and Christian Klein with his d aughter about 13 years of age went from B ozart's House to the house of t he said Klein and thence to Soan's Hou se to look after their cattle a nd to bring off more effects. And this Depo nent further saith, that abo ut a half an hour after the above 3 persons we re gone from Bozart's Hous e, a certain George Hartlieb, who also fled wi th his family to Bozart's a nd who had been at his own house about a mile f rom Soan's to look after h is Creatures and to bring away what he could, re turned to Bozart's and re ported that he had heard 3 guns fired very qui ck one after the other a nd towards Soan's Place which made them all conclu de the above 3 perso ns were killed by the Indians. And this Deponent furth er saith, that the ir little Company were afraid to venture to go and see w hat had happen ed that day, as they had many Women and Children to take Ca re of, w ho if they had left might have fallen an easy Prey to the Enemy. A nd th is Deponent further saith, That this Morning 9 men of the Neighbor-ho od a rmed themselves, as well as they could, and went towards Peter Soan 's pla ce, in order to discover what was become of the above three person s. Th at when they came within about 300 yards of the House, they found t he bod ies of the said Soan and Klein lying about 20 feet from each othe r, kill ed and scalped, but did not find Klein's daughter. Soan was kill ed by a b ullet which entered the upper part of his back and came out at h is breas t. Klein was killed with their tomahawks. The 9 men immediately re turn ed to Bozart's and reported as above. That this Deponent was not o ne of t he 9, but that he remained at Bozart's with the women and Childre n. Th at the rest of the people desired this Deponent to come to Easton a nd acq uaint the Justice with what had happened. That the 9 men did not t hi nk it safe to stay to bury the Dead. And further this Deponent saith no
The mark (x) of MICHAEL W. ROUP.
Col. Rec., vii, p.493.
Following close after this came an ambuscade in which Conrad Bitten-ben de r, John NoIf, Peter Roth, and two sons of Philip Bossard were kille d. It w as after this that many families fled to Easton and from the re on July 25t h, 1757, a petition was sent to Governor Denny whi ch is of especial intere st because it is signed by two of the membe rs of our family. The Petiti on of sundry Persons, formerly inhabitants be yond the Mountains, humbly Sh eweth: That we, your Petitioners, having ma de Settlements beyond the Mount ains, have been obliged to leave them; th at we last fall sowed some gra in which is now fully ripe and should be c ut down, but for fear of being w ay laid and murdered by our enemies we da re not go to reap it, and witho ut it we and our families must be expos ed to want and become a burden to o ur Country. We therefore humbly pray t hat the Governor will be pleas ed to order us a guard of Soldiers to prote ct us, till we can reap and rem ove our grain to this Side the Mountain, a nd your Petitioners as in duty b ound shall ever pray.
Signed: FILIB POSSERT
Signed: MELCHER STECHER.
his Signed: GEORGE (X) MENINGER mark
Signed: JOHANNES BIDENBENDER
Signed: KROG HADLIEB his Signed:
MICHALE (X) RAUPP. mark
AND OTHERS. Penn. Arch. lii, p.238.
Noted events in his life were:
• Alt. Death: 1757.
• DEPOSITION OF MICHAEL ROU: 24 Apr 1757.
+ 4 F iii. Christina BOSSERT was born on 12 Oct 1743 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania and died in 1794 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania at age 51.
+ 5 M iv. Johan Melchior BOSSERT was born on 18 Dec 1745 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania and died on 8 Feb 1830 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania at age 84.
6 M v. Infant Son BOSSERT was born in 1756 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania and died in 1757 in Cherry Valley, Pennsylvania at age 1.
General Notes: Believed to have been killed in an Indian attack
Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List
This Web Site was Created 19 Mar 2005 with Legacy 5.0 from Millennia