BLOOMING GROVE COLONY

BLOOMING GROVE COLONY

John George Kiess


John George Kiess, the father of Catharine Kiess, who was the wife of John George Waltz, kept the diary of the trip from Moehringen to Philadelphia. When he arrived in Philadelphia he had but fifty cents in money. He worked at his trade (shoemaker) in Williamsport for a year, when he began to buy land in Blooming Grove, in small quantities, as he could pay for it, until he had 137 acres when he settled there. He lies buried in the graveyard at the rear of the Dunker church. His tombstone bears the simple lines:
Born August 7, 1781, Died October 1, 1858, Aged 77 years, 1 month and 24 days.
Nearby are the following tombstones:
Dorothea Kiess, Geboren 14 January, 1766, Died 4 June, 1847. Dorothea Kiess Born August 30, 1785, Died May 12, 1860. Aged 74 : 8 : 13.
Children of John George Kiess and Dorothea (Ulmer) Kiess: Catharine, married George Waltz; Rachel, married David Young; Dorothea,married William Rote; Elizabeth, married Jacob Kremer; Rosanna, married Jacob Sweeley, John, born in Germany (1793) and came with his father, married (1818) Elizabeth Seemiller; Elizabeth, married Leonard Kiess; Mary, married Sarah Herritt; Jacob, married Elizabeth Staiger; Rachel, married Samuel Young, George.
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