Between the Pequea and Conestoga creeks, near the Susquehanna, Richard Carter, an Englishman, a wheel-right, located and improved two hundred acres, in 1716. The same year, Alexander Bews, took up four hundred acres on the south side of the Conestoga; Anthony Pretter, of East Jersey, three hundred acres, near Pequea, or south side of Conestoga; and John Gardiner, Jr., from Philadelphia county, two hundred acres, on the same side of Conestoga. About this time, Jacob Greider, or Kreider*, Jacob Hostater, Hans Frantz, Schenk, and others, settled on the banks of Conestoga; Joseph Cloud, in 1717, took up 500 acres near Pequea creek. The same year, settlements were began on the banks of Octoraro, William Grimson constable of Sadsbury township, in 1717, was among the first settlers on the Octoraro; his neighbors were the Cooksons, Mayes, Jervis, Irwins, and some years afterwards, the Pattersons, Darbys, Mackrels, Leonards, Jones, Steels, Matthews, Cowens, Murrays, Millers, Allisons, Mitchels, and others, all of whom settled on or near Octoraro.
*The relentless spirit of persecution, as the number of its subjects of oppression decreased, singled out individual families; of these oppressed were the Kreiders and Hostaters - these fled for life from Switzerland to Wurtemburg; taking nothing with them from their Fatherland, except their families, and small quantities of tow cloth, a few linens, and some wearing apparel, Kreider remained but a short time - but emigrated to America, and in company with Hostater, after paying the brethren of their faith, a visit, at Pequea, settled on the north side of the Conestoga, about two miles south from the present site of Lancaster, where he took up eight hundred acres of land in 1716 or 1717, "among the new surveys at Conestoga."
Here, he erected a temporary shelter, a tent covered with tow cloth brought from Switzerland, which served him and his family till autumn, when the tent gave way to a cabin built of round, unhewn hickory saplings, and covered with bark - both were abundant.
When the weather became cold, his tawny neighbors, the Indians, paid him regular night visits to shelter with him, and sleep by the side of a genial fire. They were on perfect terms of intimacy and friendship ; the Indians frequently supplied him and family with fish and venison, which they gave in exchange for bread. Fish were very abundant in the Conestoga and all the streams of the country; these they took with nets made of bark, or speared them with a gig made of Ashwood. The inventive genius of the Indian is known to all who have spent some time among them, or are conversant with their mechanism. Perhaps the reader may wish to know how to make a fish-gig, if he should ever be placed in the Indians situation, we will tell, as we were told, how the Hickory Indians, on Conestoga, made theirs. Christian Kreider, grandson of the first settler, says, "The Indians took a very slender sapling of Ashwood, - this kind of wood was preferred on account of its hardness: and burned it to a point at one end;" this, says the reader, is simple. So it is, just as easy to be done as setting up an egg on the point end, or the discovery of America, after it is known. The reader, especially our young friends, would, we think, be pleased to know how the fish were secured with a barbless, pointed stick. The Indian is never at a loss to take a fish, if he has no net, he takes either his bow and arrow or his spear, such an one one as has just been described, and his tiny, barky boat; he glides to a place where, as every skilled piscator knows, fish are; here, through the calm and transparent water he strikes the spear through the body of the fish, passes one hand below, and takes a huge salmon or some other fish.
On a certain occasion, as Kreider had the honor of the company of his Indian neighbors, and having that day consulted his almanack to regulate his clock, by its indication of rising and setting of the sun, noticed the moon would, in a few weeks, be eclipsed; he informed the guests that on a certain evening, a few weeks from that time, the moon would hide her face just as the clock would strike; to hear, that the moon would refuse to shine, was nothing new to them, they had seen eclipses before; but that their white neighbor should possess so much prescience as to know this before hand, was strange to them. At the time specified when the broad-faced moon was to hide her disc, fifty or sixty Indians assembled; they were all attention; scarce had the clock struck, to their utter astonishment, the moon's face began to lessen. Profound silence prevailed. Their spokesman expressed the cogitations of the wonder-stricken visitors, uttered it as their sage conclusion, in these words: 'Tis the white man's God tells him this, else he would not know it before hand."
Rupp, I. Daniel. History of Lancaster County. Lancaster: Gilbert Hills, 1844. 116-119
The Mennonites - In 1709, several families from the Palatinate, descendants of the distressed Swiss Mennonites settled on Pequea creek. With this colony came Hans Herr, a Mennonite minister, who dispensed to them the word of life. The Mennonites were of course the first regularly organized denomination in the county. Among their first ministers in this county, before 1725, were Hans Herr, Ulrich Breckbill, Hans Tschantz, Hans Burkholter, Christian Herr, Benedict Hirschi, Martin Bear, Johannes Bauman. They had been very numer- ous till about the year 1791, or '92, when a certain Martin Boehm and others made inroads upon them, and a considerable number seceded and united themselves with the United Brethren or Vereinigte Brueder, nevertheless, they are still the prevalent denomination in this county. They have about forty-five ministers in the county. These are divided into bishops and ordinary ministers. The bishops at present are the Revds. Jacob Hostater, Jacob Zimmerman, Christian Herr, Henry Schenk, and Mr. Bomberger; among their ordinary teachers are the Revds. Daniel Gehman, Mr. Gulh, IMr; Gehman, Tobias Warner, Mr. Sherick, Joseph Wenger, Jacob Weaver, Jacob Stauffer, Joseph Hershy, Joseph Horst, Jacob Hershey, Henry Breneman, Benjamin Herr, John Kreider, David Witmer, Mr. Staufer, Benjamin Eby, A. Brubaker, John Shenk, Andrew Kauffman, Christian Herr, Martin Mayer, Daniel Sterneman, John Hoover, Christian Kaufman, John Kindig, John Nissly, Christian Nissly, John Schlott, David Ebersole, Peter Ebersole, Mr. Brubecker and others whose names we have not learned.
These all preach in German. They have upwards of thirty- five meeting houses. Some of the congregations are large, numbering rising of two hundred members. The probable number of Mennonite church members, we think cannot be less than six thousand. As they keep no records of names, it is somewhat difficult to ascertain the exact number. Their forefathers all brought Bibles with tlicm. We have seen within the last year, several of Froschauer's edition of the Swiss Bible, printed at Zurich, 1540, and still in a good state of preservation, with the Mennonites.
Rupp, I. Daniel. History of Lancaster County. Lancaster: Gilbert Hills, 1844. 456