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HEIZER FAMILY:
The origins of the Heizer family and name are enigmatic. No one knows how our German ancestor, Johannes, spelled hhis surname, when and where he was born or any details of his early life and family. Similarly we do not know what motivated him to leave Germany or the date he arrived and settled in America. Colonial records reveal a number of other individuals and families with similar surnames who immigrated to North America before and after Johannes. To say they are relatives would be, at best, a subject for future investigation.
Those who have made a passing investigation of the family in Colonial America will usually refer to the James Marion Heizer book – The Heizer Family – American Pioneers, privately published about 1970, which states that Johannes' son, Valentin, was born about 1722, was left with relatives in Germany when his parents immigrated to the American Colonies and settled in Bebber’s Township, Pennsylvania (later - Skippack Township).
The tale follows that Valentin arrived America in 1738 and joined his father in Skippack. Valentin was a cabinetmaker, farmer and later an innkeeper, believed to have suffered from deafness and, at a relatively young age, was killed by a runaway horse.
As at this date (2006), there is no evidence that Valentin was left with relatives in Germany or would verify the date when he, his father and mother came to the American Colonies, either collectively or separately.
Although far from confirmed with hard data, many Heizer family historians have surmised that Johannes arrived in Philadelphia by 1726, and possibly as early as 1719. After arriving in Philadelphia Johannes may have settled in Lancaster Cty and then made his way to Skippack Township, possibly to reconnect with German friends and relatives, and to purchase farmland and continue his trade as a weaver. A review of a period “map table” list of original owner deeds in Skippack and Perkiomen Townships from 1704 to 1726 do not include the surname variations of Johannes or his father-in-law, Antonius Heilmann (later Anthony Hallman). That said, it was common for land speculators to purchase blocks of property to divide and resell, but the original deeds would not necessarily reflect the actual name of settlers who set up their homes, farms and businesses in their new country.
It is believed that Johannes married Maria Dorothea Heilman, daughter of Anthony and Maria Salome Hallman, before 1720. The place and location of their wedding is not known.
Civil documents record that Johannes was naturalized an English subject at the September 25-27, 1740 Session of the Supreme Court held in Philadelphia. Hallman family researchers tell us that his wife, Dorothea, was naturalized about the same time. Interestingly, the records comment that many of the citizenship candidates came from the Ludwigsburg District, Wittenberg, Germany.
A map indicating the year 1717 refers to 183 acres in Skippack, Pennsylvania owned by John Umstead, which now located at the intersection of Township Road and Evansburg Road. This property appears to be all or part of the 183 acres that was purchased by Johannes Heizer in 1727. The property is about a mile south of the old Skippack Mennonite Meetinghouse (Lower Skippack Mennonite Church), which is also along the Evansburg Road. The original Heizer farmstead stands today and is situated along the northwest corner of Evansburg Road and Township Town Line, and at the base of Heiser Road. “1741 – A. Hyser”, (Valentin's brother) was incised in the brownstone barn. The farmstead is about a mile south of the old Skippack Mennonite Meetinghouse.
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