The Ulrich/Baker Ancestral Lines

The settlement and community in Northkill is stated as the “First Amish Church” in America.  It is the home of several families from which both Baker Grandparents – Ira “Bud” & Bertha Mary – descend.  After the massacre, the families went many directions.  It seems the Hochstetler’s and those most directly affected by violence, left the area and went West.  Other families moved east to Lancaster County (Upper Conestoga), which is presently the largest Amish community in the United States.

This claim that Northkill is the first Amish Church, is probably not correct.  It can be considered one of the first Amish “Communities”.  

The Yoder family and others congregated years earlier in nearby Oley County, PA, which in 1742, had a large enough pacifist population that they petitioned for an exemption of swearing an oath when they were naturalized in America.  It was granted.  The Quakers and Mennonites and the Yoder’s in Oley County, all in Pennsylvania, were granted this exemption.   These were earlier “communities” or even churches, prior to Northkill, but they were not Amish. 

Due to these Amish populations in the Northkill region, Berks County was created in 1752.  The names on the first tax list were:  

Jacob Hertzler

Christian Yoder    (YR2, an ancestor to Grandma Bertha Mary/her father Frank Eash)

John Yoder      (YR25, an ancestor to Grandma Bertha Mary/her father Frank Eash)

Christian Zoog     (ZK22, an ancestor to Grandma Bertha Mary/her mother Nettie May Hostetler )

Moritz Zoog

In 1766, Richard and Thomas Penn – sons of William Penn, the namesake of Pennsylvania – gave 20 acres for a church, school and graveyard.