Notes
Note N580
Index
Described as deceased in his mother's obit. Appears in 1870 Marion Co, IA Census, Union township, page 309, line 12
Notes
Note N581
Index
He owned property with Herman, which was bought from the Van Bebbers, promoters of the Mennonite Settlement on Perkiomen-Skippack Creeks. This property was acquired between 1702 and 1706 and amounted to 440 acres, now located on Route 73 near the center of the Northeast edge of Skippack Township, as it borders Lower Salford Township. By 1706, Gerhard had built the first log house in the development. The stone house is supposed to date from 1720 and a license as an Inn was issued 2 May 1723. The house was enlarged by the owner in 1783 and is now a two story rectangular brownstone with three windows upper and two and a door lowere with a small hood covering the lower entrance. Chimneys are at each end. In this house, the Skippack Reformed Church was founded and Rev. Phillip Boehm came on circuit to hold services. So the DeHavens were not poor. Harmon sold, in 1723, his half of the land to Peter Jansen and moved to Lower Providence near Evansburg, now State Route 422. Gerhard was baptized in Mulheim-an-dur-Ruhr, Westphalia on 5 Dec 1681 and was know to be in Germantown by 1698 and signed list of German Naturalizations ratified 1709.
Notes
Note N582
Index
Location is given in Pennypacker as "the Mennonite graveyard on the Skippack near Evansburg."
Notes
Note N583
Index
Lived in Providence Township, Philadelphia, Pa. Herman and Gerhard bought 440 acres along Shippack Creek in 1706. Later Herman moved to New Providence near Evansburg and bought 200 acrfes. He built a saw mill and grist mill. He also kept an ordinary or inn. He was granted a license for the inn in 1734. Herman died in 1752 and is buried in the Mennonite Cemetary, Shippack.
"Harmond DeHavens's Will --
In the name of God Amen. The 1st day of October in the year of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred and forty nine, I Harmond Dehaven Senior of Providence in the County of Philadephia, Yeoman
1st I will that if in case I should die before my loving wife Annica Dehaven, it is my will that she shall have the plantation whereon I now live ----- after her death ------ all shall be to my youngest son Isaac Dehaven and his heirs ----- forever----but in case my son Isaac shall be equally divided between all my children ------ It is also my will that my son Jacob Dehaven shall have the tract or parcel of land which I purchased of my son-in-law John Paulin containing 104 A together ---- forever.
Item is my will as for the ust (rest?) of my children being all married and settled and I have given unto everyone of them their several portions and estates as much as I reasonably could spare. I do leave them my last legacie in this following manner:
to my Eldest son Edward 1 shilling
to my son Abraham 1 shilling
" " " John 1 shilling
" " " Harmond 1 shilling
" " eldest daughter Katherine Davis 1 shilling
" " daughter Elizabeth Paulin 1 shilling [Pawling]
" " " Margaret Davis 1 shilling
to my youngest daughter Mary Siecly " [Seely]
and appoint my loving wife Annica Dehaven my true and faithful executrix.
Witnesses: John Harpole, Ludwig Harpole, Roger North"--Find-a-grave
Notes
Note N584
Index
Lived on a part of the present Planters Hall stock farm.
Notes
Note N585
Index
Merged General Note: During the battle of Germantown, Washington tried and failed in an attempt to drive out the British troops stationed under Sir William Howe. According to Issac C. Sutton, who does not cite any primary reference sources for his information but relies heavily on family tradition, "Jacob was the most distinguished of the brothers. He attained great wealth through the West Indies trade, owning several ships. During the Revolution, Jacob loaded the Continental Congress $450000 dollars worth of supplies and money for the army. In the winter of 1777, when Washington was at Valley Forge, the Congress ran out of money and supplies. The paper money was so depreciated that it had very little value. The Continental Congress appealed to the citizens of Pennsylvania for aid. At the end of the war, Congress offered to repay the claims in currency. As a result of the post war depression which lasted until 1787, the value of paper money was unstable. Consequently, Jacob refused payment in specie and asked for coin. He was not repaid. Claims have been presented before Congress several times but no action resulted. Jacob died in 1812. In 1792, the Continental Congress had an internal debt of $42 million dollars owed to civilians for their help in the Revolution. Alexander Hamilton urged the debt be paid. In addition, the government assumed the individual states' debt to citizens incurred during the war.
Following is from Michelle Sterchi.
Headline reads "Pay 1777 Debt Owed Patriot, U.S. Is Urged". Date line is Washington, September 9, (AP). The United States was urged Friday to repay $50,000 loaned by a Pennsylvanian in 1777 to help the starving Revolutionary Army through the bitter winter at Valley Forge.
It's not the money, it's the obligation to pay an old debt of honor that should prompt the Government to come up with the money, says Rep. Thomas M. Pelly (R., Wash).
'DISBAND OR STARVE' Pelly introduced a bill Thursday authorizing the payment and recounted for the House the history of the debt.
In the winter of 1777-1778, he said, the ragged Revolutionary Army wa almost destitute. there was no money for the Continental Congress to appropriate, the currency was depreciated and public credit was nonexistent.
In the crisis, George Washington turned to the people of Pennsylvania for help.
"Unless aid comes," he said, "our affairs must soon become desperate beyond the possibility of recovery. The army must disband...or starve."
$50,000 IN GOLD. Among the citizens who responded was Jacob DeHaven, who advanced $50,000 in gold and large quantities of supplies, which have since been valued at $400,000.
Although the national government born of th revolution agreed to assume the debts owed by the States, DeHaven never got his money back.
The family clung to records substantiating the load and made fitful efforts to collect it. In 1877 Congress was asked to pay back the money, but the legislation was never acted on by the revolutionary War Committee.
.....unreadable....
The findings led to the filing of a claim against the government in 1901 but that, too, came to naught.
The earlier actins sought repayment of the full $450,000 plus 4 percent interest since 1777, which the law firm estimated ats totaling more than $1 million in 1901.
NO CONTACT WITH HEIRS Pelly, who says he has had no contact with DeHaven heirs but became interested in the case upon hearing of it through a friend, thinks repayment should be limited to the cash advanced.
His bill would authorize the Federal Court in the District of Columbia to hold the money and let the heirs present their case. The money would then be disbursed among them as the court sees fit.
"It would just be a token repayment," he says, "but it should be made. the United States prides itself on paying its debts and this is a debt of honor."
From another clipping provided by Michelle Sterchi.
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Rep. Pelly introduced a bill on September 8 authorizing the payment and recounted for the House the history of the debt.
The payment is recommended to the heirs of Jacob DeHaven, a well-to-do German-Frenchman who immigrated to America in the 1750's with his three brothers, Samuel, Edward and Peter.
The $50,000 represents the original advancement made in gold.
Records at the Historical Society of Montgomery County indicate the DeHavens settled in Upper Merion Township, which before 1784 was in Philadelphia County. It was generally known that the DeHavens owned much land in upper and Lower Merion Townships in the vicinity of Swedesburg, Swedeland, Gulph Mills, Rebel Hill, Plymouth Township and Philadelphia, all of which is authenticated by old wills and deeds in Philadelphia and Norristown.
During the Revolutionary War in the cold Winter of 1777-78 when the suffering ill-clad poorly fed American Army camped at Valley Forge, Washington appealed to the citizens of Pennsylvania for aid to relieve his destitute forces. It is claimed that Jacob DeHaven, among others, notably responded by advancing the Continental government gold and larg quantities of supplies which have since been valued at $400, 000. This was done through Robert Morris, (?) of the Revolution.
According to Howard DeHaven Ross, Ph.D. in his "History of the DeHaven Family", the contribution was "made in a spirit of broad, generous and self-sacrificing patriotism bearing testimony to his unselfish devotion to the cause of American Independence".
.....unreadable....
Rep. Pelly revealed he had no contact with DeHaven heirs, but became interested in the case upon haring of it through a friend. Pelly thinks repayment should be limited to the cash advanced.
Rep Pelly's bill would authorize the Federal Court in the District of Columbia to hold the money ($50,000) and let the DeHaven heirs present their case. The money would then be disbursed among the heirs as the court sees fit. It would be just a token repayment, Pelly pointed out, but it should be made, he said.
Jacob DeHaven failed in his efforts to secure a settlement during his lifetime because of the depleted condition of the National Treasury. Subsequently, DeHaven heirs presented their claim before Congress in the 1850's, but the Civil War halted these proceedings.
Again in the 1870's the claim was revived, but failed to effect a return. In May of 1905, the Law Firm of Anderson and Doan of Wahsington, D.C., attorneys for the DeHaven heirs, filed a claim, this being their final attempt until action taken by Rep. Pelly.
DeHaven heirs said tradition and family both authenticate the loan. An old family bible, whereabouts unknown, is said to have contained a receipt from the Government for money loaded it by DeHaven, reportedly sealed to a leaf therein by the Red Seal of the United States Government. Other testimony was also submitted.
The representations made by the DeHaven claimants has been that the records of the period have never been systemized, printed, or even assorted or indexed, and so, without permission of congress, they cannot be (?)
.
Only the state, Treasure and War Departments are authorized to examint the papers, Wlter Q. Gresham, Secretary of State in 1895, submitted to cognress a plan for publishing these valuable historical manuscripts. It was declared too expensive.
Jacob DeHaven died in 1812. The later years of his life were spent with a brother, Samuel, at Gulph Mills. It is claimed that Jacob had two sons, one having been killed during the Battle of (?) during the Revolutionary War, the other dying in infancy.
For land donated to Christ Church, Old Sweden, at Swedesburg, the DeHaven descendants, for all times, were given a family right in the burial grouns. there are more than 45 DeHaven family members interred at Old Swedes. the DeHavens also donated land to Old Gulph Church, Gulph Mills.
It is fitting that DeHaven Street in the Rebel Hill, gulph Mills areas of Upper Merion Township and DeHaven Avenue in West Conshohocken, pay tribute to this distinguished family.
From time to time, the name of DeHaven is mentioned in the news columns of the Times Herald...that is Upper Merion Police Officer Carl DeHaven of 211 S. Tyler Road, Henderson Park. Carl, his father, Howard, and grandfather harry, are lineal descendants of Samuel DeHaven, brother of Jacob DeHaven. Samuel, a soldier of the Revolution, is buried in the Old Swedes Cemetery at Swedesburg.
Moses and John DeHaven also served in the Continental Army during the Revolution.
Rep. Pelly said, "the United States prides itself on paying its debts and this is a debt of honor? The times Herald brought public attention to the DeHaven Claim....unreadable....
The text of H.R. 17632 introduced by Representative Pelly is as follows:
A BILL For the relief of the late Jacob DeHaven. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, into the registry of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the sum of $50,000 in full settlement of the claims against the United States of the late Jacob DeHaven for repayment of a loan made by him to the Continental Congress in 1777. Section 2. the funds paid into the registry of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia pursuant to the first section shall be disbursed, on the order of such court, to the persons whom the court determines to be entitled to such funds.
From the Congressional Record reference cited, the text of Representative Pelly's introduction speech is as follows:
Mr. Pelly: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House for 1 minute, to revise and extend my remarks, and to include extraneous matter.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Washington? There was no objection.
Mr. Pelly: Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to repay a debt of honor that goes back to 1777.
This debt goes back to the Revolution, when General George Washington and his army were at Valley Forge, during the Winter of 1777-78.
George Washington, in this desperate crisis, turned to the citizens of Pennsylvania for aid.
Among the citizens who responded was Jacob DeHaven, who advanced $50,000 in gold, along with large quantities of supplies.
Mr. Speaker, in 1901, Isaac DeHaven, who resided in what is now Bellingham, Washington, filed a claim against the Government and, as I am informed, since then 19 other DeHavens have made inquiry of the General Accounting Office about repayment.
Mr. Speaker, every American is aware of the suffering of the Revolutinary Army during the Winter of 1777-78. The Army was almost destitute, suffereing indescribable hardships. Congress could do little. There was no money to appropriate, the currency was depreciated, public credit was gone.
Turning to citizens of Pennsylvania for help, Washington said: "We have never experienced a like extremity at any period of the war. Unless aid comes, our affairs must soon become desperate beyond the possibility of recovery. The Army must disband...or starve."
This dept cannot be disregarded without a breach of faith. My bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to pay into the registry of the U.S. District Court-District of Columbia-$50,000 in full settlement of the DeHaven claim. The funds shall be disbursed, on order of such court, to the persons whom the court determines to be entitled to such funds.
At this point, I ask unanimous consent to insert the findings of Anderson and Doan in 1905 with regard to this matter: In the Matter of the DeHaven Heirs v. The United States Government. In 1894, our firm was first employed to prosecute the claim of the heirs of Jacob DeHaven, deceased, against the United States Government for the recovery of $45000 loaned thereto by DeHaven, then a resident of Pennsylvania, and a man of large means and intensely American.
The greater part of this sum, it is claimed, was paid in gold, and from cash realized from securities on his land, and the residue consisted of supplies furnished the army. This loan, with its accumulations of interest, now aggregates more than $4,000,000. The fact of this loan is well established in the annals of the DeHaven family as tradition, circumstantial evidence and the positive declarations of Jacob DeHaven himself could establish any fact in which his heirs have a common interest.
That it was nevery paid is equally well established.
This is a case of very great interest, and appeals to the highest consideration of justice on the part of the United States. The debt could not have a more sacred origin. Washington, who had so often appealed to the people for help, speaking of that dark period in the history of our forefathers, says of the Revolutionary debt, "Ti is more than a common debt, it is a debt of honor".
The United States Government so regarded the debts made in the defence of liberty and independence from the mother country.
That such a loan as Jacob DeHaven's was authorized, there can be no question.
The Continental Congress passed a resolution to raise $5,000,000 at four per cent interest October 3, 1776.
Some four months thereafter, to wit: February 22, 1777, the same Congress passed a similar resolution to borrow $13,000,000.
In these resolutions it was among other things, declared that the money so to be borrowed, was for the use of the United States at tghe annual interest of four percent, and directed certificates to be issued accordingly. So the absolute authority for the loan existed by positive authority of the Continental Congress October 3, 1776, and February 22, 1777, at four per cent interest and certificates to issue accordingly.
Again, has the Federal Government (U.S.) authorized the payment of such loans so made under these resolutions of the Continental Congress.
The National Government commenced March 4, 1789.
Hamilton's report, as Secretary of the Treasury, was presented to the House, January 15, 1790. It embodied a financial scheme which was generally adopted and remained the line of financial policy of the New Government for more than twenty years.
On his recommendation the New Government assumed not only the foreign and domestic debts of the Old Government in carrying on the war, as its own, but also the debt contracted by the several States during that period for the general welfare, viz
1st. Foreign debts with interest $12,000,000 due chiefly to France and private lenders in Holland.
2nd. The domestic debt, including outstanding Contental money and interest, amounting to $42,000,000.
3rd. The State debts assumed amounting to $21,000,000 to the States, of which Pennsylvania was to get $2,200,000. The propositions of Hamilton were agreed to in March, 1790.
The Act of August 4, 1790, pledged the fith of the United States to make up all deficiencies in interest.
For superintending these loans and for general management of the public debt, the old Continental system of a loan office commision in each State was continued. Robert Morris was appointed Superintendent of Finance and Secretary of the Treasury under the Confederation, and so served until 1784 when the fiscal affairs of the country were placed in the hands of three Commissions.
Under the old Colonial Government, there existed a loan office system or financial agents of the Government in each State to receive loans and subsistence to carry on the war.
It is generally believed that the Jacob DeHaven money was received by Robert Morris.
Now, As To The Settlement Of The Financial Agents Of The Continental Congress.
The indebtedness of the Revolutionary War, and its settlement with all creditors both public and private, was passed over to the New Government.
The accounts of many of the loan offices were unsettleed. There seems to have been much laxity in their management. The papers of the first Virginia loan office were lost.
In South Carolina and Georgia the loan office proceeds had been appropriated to State uses, and from only five States have returns been made; but of more than $2,000,000 advanced to the Secret Committee of Foreign Affairs prior to August, 1777, a considerable part remains unaccounted for. The expenditure of fully one-third of the money borrowed remains unexplained.
Had the accounts of the various financial agents of the Government been correctly kept, and the reports of the agents from time to time been presented and filed as contemplated by law, and a faithful discharge of public duty and trust demanded, no difficulty would have existed in effecting the payment of this loan.
The fact is astounding that of all these agents, but 5 in the States have made reports.
For the truth of this fact, we give Professor Benson J. Lossing, author of the "Cyclopaedia of United States History, Volume 1, page 317." Divers authorities confirm the saem and it is in accord with our investigations.
Statements, transactions, etc. etc. covering the Revoluitonary period and the struggle for independence, together with manuscripts embodying the collections of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton, as well as the journals of the Continental Congress, exist in the State Department in a chaotic state.
To carefully investigate these valuable papers and Continental records is no ordinary task. So important are these papers now in the archives of the State Department, that our late Secretary of State, the Hon. Walter Q. Gresham, on January 6, 1895, submitted to Congress a general plan for publishing these valuable historical manuscripts, in the course of which he recommended their publication in a set of fifty volumes at a cost of $100,000 for the first edition of 1,000 volumes. He also suggested that the work should be done gradually, on an appropriation of $25,000 annually, and under the supervision of a competent editor and stafff.
We believe that with a full and careful examination of these State documents, reports, revolutionary facts, etc., that the loan of Jacob DeHaven will be established.
Without some authority from Congress no one outside of the State, Treasury and War Departments can be permitted to examine these valuable papers.
SUMMARY OF THE CASE--What has been found and what settled:
1st. The Colonial Government being in financial distress, individual loans were authorized by the Continental Congress and loan office certificates were issued therefor.
2nd. That the Federal Government recognized these obligations and passed a special Act for their payment with interest.
3rd. That out of the thirteen financial agents appointed by the Continental Goverhnment to receive these individual loans and subsistance for the war, but five have made reports to the Government as required by law.
4th. The existence of an unassorted and confused mass of revolutionary records, documents, papers, etc. is the State, Treasurey and War Departments, aggregating say fifty or more large volumes.
5th. The recommendation by Mre. Gresham, late Secretary of State, for the proper editing, indexing and publication of these records of the Continental period now found in a chaotic condition.
6th. Unbroken family history and traditiona alike authenticate this loan.
7th. The possession by the DeHaven heirs of a number of old affidavits of sundry persons testifying that they knew Jacob DeHaven; that he
"IOWA WOMAN IN LUCK.--Said to Be Principal Heir to $3,000,000 Claim Allowed by the Government. Clinton, May 11--One of the many interesting stories of t he revolutionary times has just come to light here and a Clinton lady by the name of Mrs. Lucinda Dietz, who conducts a bakery here, is the central figure, as she is one of the three direct heirs of an estate valued at $3,000,000, which has been in litigation since the revolutionary war, but the claim of which has just been allowed by the government. The story is most interesting, having for its origin one of the wealthy patriots of the dark days of 1778 and 1779. During the revolutionary war, when the funds were exhausted and the spirits of the Americans were at their lowest ebb, Jacob DeHaven, a wealthy tanner residing at Salisbury, Penn., loaned the government $50,000, and it is said the money was paid by him personally to Gen. Washington. About the close of the war DeHaven died, before he had effected a settlement with the government. At various times prior to 1859, the claim was brought before the government officials, but no settlement was effected. Just before the breaking out of the civil war, the claim was allowed, but war came before payment was made. The press of other government business tghen took the attention of the officials for a number of years and the claim was laid aside. Recently the heirs took the matter up again with the government and have succeeded in having the claim allowed. The amount now reaches $3,000,000. The direct heirs are Mrs. Dietz, of this city, a sister, Mrs. Boytz, of Morrison, Ill., and Henry DeHaven, a brother, who resides at Salisbury, Penn. Besides these, the members of the DeHaven Club of Chicago are distant heirs, being the descendants of a brother of the patriot. The three direct heirs are great grandchildren of DeHaven."--11 May 1900, The (Marshalltown IA) Evening Times-Republican