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Although I have gathered these German-speaking immigrant ancestors on a single page, they actually came in different eras for different reasons. The earliest were Swiss Mennonites, some of whom may have spent some time in German lands along the Rhine before immigrating to America to escape persecution. Later immigrants appear to have come primarily to improve their economic situations, although I cannot dismiss other motives. I have included only those ancestors about whom I have information beyond their names.
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Nicholas Beery Sr. (Bieri) was born either in 1697 or 1704, according to different theories that can be found at the website of Ray Beery under Bieri to Beery. The link opens a new window or tab. The theories also involve different parents.
In any event, Nicholas died 1 Oct. 1762 in York County, Penn. I am descended from two of Nicholas' sons, John and Nicholas Jr. It is probable that he was raised in Palatinate as his parents were almost surely driven out of Switzerland permanently during severe persecution of anabaptists in 1710-11. He migrated to Pennsylvania in 1727, arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam, Holland, 16 Oct. aboard the ship Friendship after a four-month voyage against adverse winds in which a fifth of passengers died. He probably spent his first winter in America with Mennonites of Pequea Creek settlement in Conestoga (now Lancaster County), Penn. Possibly as early as 1728, he settled on virgin land on north bank of Codorus Creek, a mile or so north of present city of York in what became Manchester Township but was then known as Springettsbury Manor. Nicholas married Barbara Miller on 1 Dec. 1728 according to one source, although Ray Beery favors a theory that places the marriage in Europe. Nicholas appears to have been an unusually prosperous farmer. He was arrested in 1736 or 1737 and taken to Annapolis by Maryland authorities during a land title dispute that led to drawing of Mason-Dixon line. Pennsylvania colonial records report 1747-48 hearings concerning "Nicholas Pieri" and an unsuccessful attempt by a Capt. Higginbotham to evict Pieri on the basis of a Maryland land grant.
Notable descendants:
Not my line: The actors Wallace Beery (1885-1949), Noah Beery (1882-1945) and Noah Beery Jr. (1913-1994) are descendants of Nicholas and Barbara through their son, Nicholas Jr.
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Barbara Miller is a daughter of Michael Jeremiah George and Magdalena Miller. It is possible, although still speculation on my part, that Millers arrived on same ship as Nicholas Beery. She died 2 Dec. 1791. Barbara married Nicholas Beery on 1 Dec. 1728, according to one source. Ray Beery believes they were married in Europe. Nicholas and Barbara had nine children. She is my ancestor through two sons, John and Nicholas Jr. Barbara was involved in 1765-66 land dispute as widow protecting the estate against a faulty survey. Her second marriage was to Jacob Kagy on 17 Nov. 1766.
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Johannes Seitz was born 30 Jan 30 1740 at Adelshofen, Baden, Germany, a son of Johann Andreas and Anna Dorothea (Welck) Seitz. He died about 1 April 1793 in Strasburg (now Shrewsbury) township, York County, Penn.
Johannes may have received his education in Baden at the nearby Lorsch or Herrenalb monasteries. He married Catharine Rueb 8 May 1764 in Adelshofen and left for America eight days later. Johannes and Catharine took with them Lewis, a child whose exact origins are unknown although DNA tests involving his descendants prove the child's father was a Seitz. For more on the effort to prove Johannes' origins, go to The Search for the German Origins of Johannes Seitz.
Johannas, his pregnant wife and Lewis, arrived in Phildadelphia 20 Oct. 1764 aboard the ship Richmond from Rotterdam, Netherlands. It's not clear that Johannas settled immediately in York County, but he bought 283 acres in Shrewsbury township 28 April 1786. His house was still standing until the late 1980s although the original log walls were weatherboarded, when it was dismantled, reportedly to be rebuilt elsewhere with other log cabins. Johnannas is buried at St. Peters Reformed church near Glen Rock. Johannas and Catharine had nine children.
Notable descendants (also see Lewis Seitz entry):
Not my line: Clarence Cleveland Dill (21 Sep. 1884 - 14 Jan. 1978) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives 1915 -1919, representing Washington's 5th Congressional District. He served as U.S. senator from the state of Washington, 1923-1935 He is descended from the oldest daughter of Johannes and Catharine, Cartherine Seitz, who married Henry Keller.
Not my line: Samuel Franklin Leib (18 Jan. 1848 - 26 Dec. 1924) was a lawyer and judge in San Jose, Calif., having moved there from his native Fairfield County, Ohio in 1869. He served on the Stanford University Board of Trustees from 1891 to 1923, becoming board president for seven years when the president and co-founder of the university, Jane L. Stanford, died in 1905. He is a grandson of Joseph Leib and Elizabeth Seitz, a daughter of Johannes and Catharine.
Not my line: Roland Forrest Seitz (14 June 1867 - 29 Dec. 1946) was a composer and music teacher. Best known for his marches, he lived almost his entire life in York County, Penn., although his musical education was at Dana's Musical Institute in Warren, Ohio. His best known composition may be the "University of Pennsylvania Band March," written in 1901. He is a grandson of Andrew Seitz, son of Johannes and Catharine, and Catherine Klinefelter
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The birth of Lewis Seitz Sr. is cloaked in mystery. For a detailed look at what we have uncovered using a combination of old records and modern DNA testing, go to The Mystery of Lewis Seitz.
We do know that Lewis came to America with Johannes and Catherine Seitz on the Richmond, arriving at Philadelphia on 20 Oct. 1764, and that he was raised as their oldest son.
Lewis died of bilious pleurisy on 10 May1823, at the home of John Schaeffer in Washington, Penn., while returning to his Fairfield County, Ohio, home from Pennsylvania and/or Virginia. Lewis married Anna Beery, probably in York County before moving to Rockingham County, Va., in 1788 or '89.
Lewis and his family moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1801. This move was done with the congregation of a Baptist church that opposed slavery. Some books say it was the congregation of the White House Church, located in present-day Page County, Va. However, the earliest reference that I know of to the Pleasant Run church states that the Rockingham County, Va., congregation came out of the White House Church in 1790. In other words, it was a daughter church of the White House Church, which makes sense given the distance Lewis and the others lived from the White House Church and the fact that Massanutten Mountain is in between.
(The Pleasant Run reference is found in the Ohio chapter of "A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America, and Other Parts of the World" By David Benedict, published in London in 1813. Clicking on the link should open a new window or tab in your browser and take you to the contents page for the book on The Reformed Reader Website. Scroll down to the link to Ohio and the Western Territories (near bottom). Follow the link and scroll down to the section on the Scioto Association. Closing the window or tab will return you to this page.)
Lewis became a prominent Baptist preacher in Ohio. His Pleasant Run Church was one of four founders of Sciota Baptist Association in 1805. The association refused to correspond with churches that permitted members to have slaves. Several of his sons were pioneers in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1820s. Son John founded Bloom township. Son Lewis Jr. was also a preacher. Most, but not all, siblings had large and prosperous families. Sisters Catherine, Elizabeth, Eleanor and Barbara moved with families from York County, Penn., to Fairfield County, Ohio, in early the 1800s.
The wife of Lewis, Anna Beery, was born 30 Jan. 1768, probably in Shrewsbury township, York County, Penn., a daughter of John and Catharina (Hunsaker) Beery. She died 30 Sept. 1831 in Fairfield County, Ohio. They had 15 children, 14 of whom married and raised families.
Notable descendants:
Enoch Beery Seitz, a grandson of Lewis, achieved some fame as a mathematician and teacher in the 19th century. An article about him can be found elsewhere on this site at Teacher of the Great.
Not my line: Don Carlos Seitz (4 Oct. 1862 - 4 Dec. 1935), a great-grandson of Lewis, was a top aide to newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer. In addition to his editing and business management duties, Don C. Seitz wrote several nonfiction books.
Not my line: Rev. Edward Seitz Shumaker (30 July 1867 - 25 Oct. 1929), a nephew of Enoch Beery Seitz and great-grandson of Lewis, was a prominent leader of prohibition forces in Indiana in the early 20th century. A Methodist minister, he was head of the Indiana Anti-Saloon League.
Shumaker was also a genealogist and worked with Don C. Seitz on a Seitz genealogy that was never completed. Although Shumaker wrote an unpublished autobiography that is in the DePauw University Archives in Greencastle, Ind., no further evidence of his Seitz genealogy work has been found beyond some references in his 1924 book, "Descendants of Henry Keller of York County, Pennsylvania and Fairfield County, Ohio." Henry Keller married Catherine Seitz, oldest daughter of Johannes and Catherine and sister of Lewis.
Not my line: John Seitz (12 March 1829 - 6 Sept. 1915) was an Ohio legislator and gubernatorial candidate. Seitz served in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate in addition to running unsuccessfully for U.S. representative, governor and state treasurer. Known as "the watchdog of the treasury," his best known piece of legislation was "the Seitz election law," which made it a felony to bribe or intimidate any voter and made the guility candidate ineligible to hold office even if elected. Grandson of Lewis through Rev. Lewis Seitz Jr. and Barbara Kagy
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 | The youngest child of Frank and Mary is my grandfather, Frank P. Tillman, born 24 March 1889, who served as superintendent of the Kirkwood, Mo., school system from 1924 until shortly before his death 9 May 1947. Frank P. Tillman Elementery School is named in his honor. The link should open a new window or tab. |
Notable descendant: Frank's brother, Benjamin William Tillman, was captain of the 1907 University of Missouri football team and later a long-time farm agent in St. Clair County, Ill.
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Return to Seitz Site: 
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Created by Karl Seitz
Rev 08/28/2007