Daniel levan

The following was presented to the Editor by Mr. John J. Lewis (No. 1950), of Mt. Carmel, Pa., and purports to come from Vienna Heraldry, Vol. III., p. 177, and other sources.

The LEVAN Family

An old French family of Knights and Nobles, who originally came from Norway and Sweden, from whence they spread themselves through France, Germany and England.

The first of the name, Kuebach LEVAN, a leader of a Norwegian band, which he conveyed by ship to France, where they landed in the most northern coast of Normandie. He conquered the early inhabitants and made them submissive and tributary to him. Later he stormed the castle of Count DeBonneville, when all the inhabitants of the castle were slain except Beatrice DeBonneville, the beautiful daughter of the Count, who was spared and was married to Kuebach LEVAN against her will. He died A. D. 952, and left a son, Hugo LEVAN.

Several of the descendants joined Norman Grand Duke William, the Conqueror, and after the conquest of England, returned to Normandie. Nothing is known of them, only Bertram LEVAN married in France, that is in Normandie. This descendant flourished and was held in high esteem during his lifetime.

Louis LEVAN was a physician, who lived in La Rochelle in 1695. From France he went to Pfalz and studied at Heidelburg. He married Marie Kremer, and afterward finished his medical course. Soon after, the French invaded the Pfalz region, and Louis moved away from the Rhine. Where he went to, and where his descendants settled, is not known.

The Coat of Arms was borne by the first ancestor. In the shield is a lion. The crest is also a lion. The LEVAN genius is a lion. The crown in the crest is that of one of the family who won the first prize in a tournament. (See Vienna Heraldry, Vol. III., p. 177).

The LEVAN Family in Holland

The LEVAN Family were among the refugees who fled from France to Holland, probably after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). Family tradition says they were manufacturers of brocade and taffetas in their native country, and that they were of considerable wealth. The same tradition states that the mother, --Marie (Beau) LEVAN, wife of Daniel,--thrifty and ingenious, employed an odd but clever ruse to bring some of their wealth out of France. She made a dress of "squares", into which blocks or squares she sewed gold pieces.

As so many other Huguenots did, the LEVANs affiliated themselves with the Amsterdam Refugee Church of the Walloons who had preceded the Huguenots to Holland. We learn this from the baptismal records of this church, in which it appears that Abraham, son of Daniel LEVAN and Marie Beau, was born May 20, 1698, and was baptized by Monsieur H. Colviens in the presence of Abraham Fabre and Susanna LEVAN as witnesses. A baptismal certificate, with the above record, was made out at Amsterdam the 18th of September, 1751, by Josias Belisargne, "ancien" or Clerk of said church, and was evidently secured by post from Holland by Abraham LEVAN, son of Daniel LEVAN and Marie Beau, who, in 1751 was located in Oley Township, Berks Co., Pennsylvania. The original transcript of this baptism is now (1927) in the possession of Miss Hester MOYER LEVAN, 1020 Chestnut St., Reading, Pa., a great-great-great-granddaughter of said Abraham LEVAN.

The LEVAN Family in America

Rev. A. STAPLETON, in his "Memorials of the Huguenots in America", published in 1901, and now out of print, says,--"About 1715 four sons of the refugee (Daniel LEVAN) set out for Pennsylvania. They were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, the latter of whom died at sea. These were followed in 1727 by their brother Daniel, and all of whom settled in the limits of Berks County (Pa.)."

Morton L. Montgomery, in his "Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pa.", published 1909, says, p. 608,--"The family (LEVAN) was founded in America by three brothers, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham, who fled from their native land in 1715 to escape persecution and came to Pennsylvania . . ." On pages 1048 and 1052 he also says these three brothers came to America "in about 1730, this fact being established by the record of land grants made to him (Isaac) bearing the dates 1731, 1734, and 1737-38, as well as grants made him along the Schuylkill river, this land aggregating in all over one thousand acres, most of which was in Exeter Township, (Berks Co., Pa.). Some of the property has remained in the family ever since." Again, on p. 1066, he says,-- "Jacob LEVAN . . . came to America in 1717 with his two brothers . . .". Both Rev. A. STAPLETON and Mr. Morton L. Montgomery agree as to the date of arrival of the fourth brother, Daniel LEVAN, namely, 1727. Naturally, for the State of Pennsylvania first began to keep record of its immigrants in 1727, and the name of Daniel LEVAN stands third on the list that numbered thousands, as witness the Pennsylvania Archives in loco. See also page 7, "Names of Foreigners of Penna., 1727-1808", by William H. Egle, late Librarian of the State of Pennsylvania.

"In the summer of 1727 Daniel LEVAN embarked at Rotterdam in the good ship `William and Sarah', Captain William Hill. The ship touched port at Dover, England, and then started on the long voyage to Philadelphia, where it arrived early in September . . . There were upwards of three hundred persons on the ship, of which 117 were males over sixteen years of age, and of this number sixty-two were ill on board at the time of arrival, and four had died on the voyage. Those who were well signed the Declaration, and the sixty-two, who were ill, were signed by the Clerk of the Board of the Provincial Council held at Philadelphia, September 21, 1727. Among the latter so signed was that of Daniel LEVAN." (See p. 1190, Montgomery's "Hist. & Biog. Annals of Berks Co., Pa., 1909).

Messers. STAPLETON, Montgomery and Egle all drew much, if not all, of their LEVAN data from the researches of the late Rev. Franklin Klein LEVAN (No. 2109), one of the Founders of the Pennsylvania-German Society. As the names of Jacob, Isaac and

Abraham LEVAN, brothers of Daniel, do not appear in the record lists of arrivals after 1727, it is only logical to conclude they must have arrived here before that date. As to the "about 1715" or "in 1717" statements of STAPLETON and Montgomery, I presume they followed the data of Rev. F. K. LEVAN, who, in turn, must have followed family tradition. This is not unlikely, as the Rev. LEVAN was born a mere one hundred years subsequent to the arrival of his progenitor, Jacob LEVAN, one of the four brothers.

The four pioneer brothers, and the one sister, Anna Elizabeth (No. 7), settled within the confines of Berks County, Pa.--Abraham in Oley, Isaac in Exeter, Jacob in Maxatawny Twp., as also Daniel and the sister Anna Elizabeth.

Abraham LEVAN (No. 2 in this gen.) lived a quiet, agricultural life in the beautiful Oley Valley a few miles from Reading, Pa. The roomy stone homestead he built about 1740 is still standing in the midst of its fair acres (179), owned in 1927 by his descendants, Heyman E. and Katie M. (LEVAN) ) Bertolet, No.'s 2973 and 1530 respectively. A tenant works the farm for Mr. Bertolet. The pioneer lies buried with several generations of eldest sons and their wives in the private cemetery of the pioneer, a few hundred feet from the old homestead. His unrecorded will, a copy of which is in possession of his descendant, Mrs. Hannah (LEVAN) DeTurk of Friedensberg, B. C., Pa., gave original data on the children and grandchildren of the pioneer. A transcript of said Copy of Abraham LEVAN's unrecorded will is (1927) in the possession of the Editor of this genealogy.

Isaac LEVAN (No. 3), who settled at what is now Jacksonwald, Exeter Twp., B. C., Pa., was probably the most well-to-do of the four pioneer LEVAN brothers, owning over 1,000 acres of land, including numerous lots in the city of Reading. In 1770 he removed to Reading, where he died in 1783, as witness a caveat by two of his sons, issued to hold up the settling of his will until they had a chance to dispute it. He was associated in business with the celebrated Conrad WEISER of Reading and Womelsdorf, Pa., who, for so many years, was interpreter and intermediary between the Pennsylvania authorities and the Indians, preventing many uprisings of the latter. Together, WEISER and Isaac LEVAN secured the original property for the congregation of the oldest Reformed Church in Reading, Pa. Isaac's niece, Esther, daughter of Daniel LEVAN of Maxatawny Twp., B. C., Pa., married Conrad WEISER's son Benjamin who lived in Heidelberg Twp., B. C., Pa., and Isaac's own daughter, Judith, married Samuel WEISER. No greater factor in the early settlement of Pennsylvania existed than Conrad WEISER, save William Penn, and it is of note how closely allied the WEISER and LEVAN Families were.

STAPLETON first made the mistake, and then all historians who followed fell into the same error, of believing and stating that Daniel LEVAN, son of Daniel the pioneer in Maxatawny Twp., B. C., Pa., was the individual who "was admitted to the Bar at Reading, Pa., in 1768, and became a lawyer of considerable prominence", filling every political office within the gift of the County. In the will of Daniel LEVAN (No. 6 in this gen.), drawn in 1776, he says, --"until my son Daniel LEVAN shall arrive to the age of twenty-one years (if he lives so long.)" Supposing him to have been as old as possible, that is twenty, and yet under twenty-one in 1776, he would have been born in 1756, making it an utter impossibility for him to be admitted to the Bar in 1768 at the age of twelve. The noted Daniel LEVAN who was elected to nearly every County office, was a son of Isaac, the pioneer of Exeter Twp., B. C., Pa., as witness Deed, B2--78, "indenture made Nov. 11, 1774, between Isaac LEVAN, Senior, of the Town of Reading . . . Gentleman and Mary Margaret his Wife of the One Part and Daniel LEVAN of Heidelberg Township Berks County Attorney at Law of the other Part, witnesseth that the said Isaac LEVAN and Mary Margaret his Wife, for the Natural Love and Affection which they have and bear for the said Daniel LEVAN, their Son ...". The Deed proceeds in detail concerning two tracts of land, and is "recorded Feb. 28, 1775, witnesses,--Henry Christ and George Nagel". A Deed of June 10, 1779, B7--37, shows Daniel LEVAN, Attorney at Law, of Heidelberg Twp., B. C., Pa., had removed to Reading, Pa. The Deed is one of sale to him from his father, of Lot 72 in The Ground Plan of Reading, and proceeds to say,--"It is the same Lot of ground which Ann Eve WEISER, the widow and Relict, and also a Devisee of Conrad WEISER, deceased, by Indenture of the 5th day of January, 1761, recorded in the office for Recording of Deeds at Reading in and for the County of Berks in Book A., Vol. 2., pp. 252, 253 . . .". This property is now, 1927, the N. W. corner of 5th and Court Sts., Reading. Daniel LEVAN (No. 18), Attorney at Law, was an Indian interpreter prior to the Revolution, and of the 4th Company, Berks County militia. While Judge at Reading he was Chief Burgess. He was one of the judges of the Court of Justice established under the Constitution of 1776. He served as Treasurer of the County from 1779 to 1789, and as such had charge of the monies raised in the County for the militia; as Sheriff of the County from 1777 to 1779; as Prothonotary from 1779 to 1789, and again in 1791; and as Clerk of Quarter Sessions from 1780 to 1791. It will be noted that he was, at one and the same time, County Treasurer, Prothonotary, and Clerk of Quarter Sessions. He was buried at Sixth and Washington Streets, Reading, Pa., and, after interment of eighty-seven years, his dust was removed to the

Charles Evans Cemetery in the same city. In his will, 1792, B--288, he provides for the disposal of his properties, totalling 1561 1/4 acres.

Jacob LEVAN (No. 4) settled at Eagle Point, Maxatawny Twp., B. C., Pa. He was one of the first settlers of that region, and an extensive land owner, the present flourishing Borough of Kutztown being built on part of his estate. He erected the first grist mill in this section of the country. The mill is still standing (1927), an interesting and romantic symbol of bygone industry. He and his family used the front part of the mill as their home until their massive mansion was built, patterned after Jacob LEVAN's ancestral home in Northern France. On the inside lintel of the door leading into the great hall was carved "1740", the date of its erection. To the Rev. John Baer Stoudt of Allentown, Pa., we are indebted for this excerpt from his article on "The LEVAN Family", in "The Centennial History of Kutztown, Pa."

"The building was razed in 1844. The cellar, containing a spring of water, was arched, the masonry of the arch being so firm that it was only with difficulty it could be demolished. What a pity that this splendid example of colonial architecture was destroyed! The hospitality of its owners was famed far and wide, and under its roof were entertained many noted men of the Colonial and Revolutionary periods. It was from the balcony of the mill that Count Zinzendorf, of the Moravian Church in America, preached to the settlers in the fall of 1742, and also that Rev. Michael Schlatter, the organizer of the Reformed Church and the first Superintendent of Public Instruction (of the State of Pa.), preached to a large multitude of people, June 28, 1747.

The LEVAN home was the stopping place for the Moravian missionaries on their journeys to the various German settlements in Pennsylvania and adjoining colonies and to the Indians, the most noted of whom were Count Zinzendorf, Bishop Augustus Gottlieb SPANGENBERG, Bishop John Christopher Frederick Cammerhoff and Rev. Leonard Schnell . . . In 1756, the period of the French and Indian war, the Indians began to make incursions into the County, and massacred many of the settlers in Heidelberg and Albany townships in Berks County, and Lynn and Heidelberg townships in Lehigh County. Jacob LEVAN was instrumental in organizing a volunteer company to protect the settlers . . . so they 'could plant their crops and repair their fences'. It was called The Maxatawny and Allemangle Independent Guard, and consisted of 24 men, who served . . . from April 3 to May 11. In 1758 Jacob LEVAN was Commissary for the following frontier forts: Peter Doll's Block House, Fort Lehigh, Fort Allen, A Block House and Fort Evert. (See Pennsylvania Archives.) He was judge of the County Courts from 1752 to 1762."

Colonel Sebastian LEVAN (No. 21), the eldest son of Jacob LEVAN, first became active in the cause of the patriots when, on Dec. 5, 1774, he was elected a member of the Berks County, Pa., Committee of Observation, upon which he served, one of 15 members. From this Committee he was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Convention, Feb. 2, 1775. He was a delegate from the 7th Battalion to the Lancaster Convention in July, 1776, and subsequently served up to 1777, with the rank of Colonel of the 7th Battalion. He was elected a representative on the Standing Committee, serving later in the State Assembly during 1779-80, and also as a Councillor on the Supreme Executive Council for 1782-1784.

Daniel LEVAN (No. 6), settled in Maxatawny Twp., B. C., Pa., a mile or so from his brother Jacob of Eagle Point. He built his stone homestead just over the hill from the present eastern terminus of the Borough of Kutztown, and beside the unimproved highway that ran from Reading to Easton. In 1755 this road was improved by order of the State after petition of thirty citizens of Berks and Northampton Counties, the list being headed by Conrad WEISER, and included two of the LEVAN brothers, Jacob and Daniel. Traffic soon grew to such a volume that Daniel LEVAN enlarged his original homestead, built probably as early as 1740, and, in 1765 (?), made it practically double its original size, and set up in business as proprietor of what is said to be the oldest hostelry in the eastern part of Berks County. In one of the longest and most explicit wills imaginable, and drawn up by his nephew, Colonel Sebastian LEVAN, Daniel LEVAN left this property to his son Daniel. In 1788 it came into the possession of Susanna (LEVAN) KEMP and her husband, Captain George KEMP of the American Revolution, who conducted it for fifty-two years. It is still (1927) owned and conducted by the KEMP descendants of Captain George and his wife Susanna LEVAN.

From Reading, in 1775, the First Defenders of the nation-to-be marched to Cambridge over the road that passes immediately in front of the LEVAN Tavern, now KEMP Hotel. At the approach of Howe's army, the Continental Congress, in session at Philadelphia, adjourned precipitately Sept. 18, 1777, to meet in Lancaster, making their journey thence by way of Bethlehem, Allentown, Kutztown and Reading. In the "Diary of John Adams" he mentions stopping over night at the LEVAN Tavern. On the evening of November 12th, 1777, there was a group of half a dozen men at LEVAN's, whose conversation one might wish had been more fully reported. One was the Hon. William Ellery, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and, as Representative from Rhode Island, at this time a Member of the Continental Congress sitting at York, Pa. From his Diary under that date we learn,--"From

It is quite certain that most of the noted characters of the American Revolution passed over this "Easton Road", en route to and from York, Pa., where the Congress sat so long, and, with every probability, many of them "dined" or remained over night at the LEVAN Tavern.

E
ve LEVAN

She was married to Peter YODER on 7 Dec 1762 in First Refomed Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Children were: Susanna YODER.

I
saac LEVAN

J
acob LEVAN

Book and Page:

Date Made: 10 Mar 1766

Date Proved: 12 Mar 1768

Abstract:
Jacob Levan, Maxatawny. Vol. 2-41. To wife, not named, 1/3 of all estate. Remainder divided among all children. Son Sebastian to have the land now in his possession and son Jacob £400, before the division. Exrs: son Sebastian and son in law Valentine Brobst.

Name Title Description Property Residence

ANNALS OF OLEY VALLEY The Levan Family