Coopersburg's Connection to Washington and Valley Forge

According to the writer of "The Pennsylvania German in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783," Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Richards, "the Pennsylvania Germans were the 'First Defenders' of the Revolution." He states that without them there would be no Declaration of Independence. It is ironic that local folk had to fight against the Hessian mercenaries from Germany, some who lived in Hesse-Cassel where Revolutionary War volunteers fighting the British had originated.

We need to focus locally on Northampton and Lehigh counties now due to recently discovered information, uncovered by this writer, particularly featuring two families who helped supply George Washington's suffering troops that horrible winter at Valley Forge.

Michael Heller, the Elder, drove a wagon of supplies from his farm in Lower Saucon Township to Valley Forge during the winter of 1777 to 1778. Today his family history is preserved thanks to the Saucon Valley Conservancy at the Michael Heller Homestead.

It has also been documented that 16-year-old George Yeager of Coopersburg drove his Conestoga Wagon with supplies from neighboring farms. Thanks to H. Conrad Yeager Kern, historian from that area, and his son, Sam Kern, for the photo commemorating that rendezvous in an oil painting by Art Weiss, which accompanies this article.

There were many gristmills in the greater Saucon Valley at the time. Unfortunately, specific trips to Valley Forge are still undocumented; however, in his book Richards mentions another possible source of supplies in the following quotation: "The Hellertown flour mill, at Hellertown, on the bank of the Saucon creek, was deeded, by the Penns, to Blasius Beyer, Dec. 13, 1767; by him to Joseph Jennings, Feb. 10, 1768; to Jacob Overpeck, Oct. 1, 1768; then to Christopher Wagner, Oct. 20, 1772. It has remained in the Wagner family." Note that Richards wrote his text in 1908 and that some other sources disagree with ownership and dates. Also, Simon Heller's farm was directly south of his younger brother, Michael's, farm. Nevertheless, Hellertown Historical Society, the Saucon Valley Conservancy, Lower Saucon Township Historical Society and Coopersburg Historical Society are forever linked in their success of local history preservation.

Moreover, "Old Squire Jacob Abel was the first in Easton to own Durham boats, and take part in the (supply) traffic. On so small a thing as these Pennsylvania-German Durham boats hung, probably, the fate of our country in its struggle for independence."

In conclusion, Richards writes, "Almost literally from door to door went emissaries throughout the German counties, accompanied by wagons into which the donations were loaded and, as filled, forwarded to the army."

From personal experience on all sides of my 100 percent PA German families' ancestry, generosity has been taught, even through the lean years of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Lee Weidner is a Hellertown-based author and historian. A retired teacher, he is the author of several books about local history, including "Images of America: Hellertown" and "Saucon Secrets, volumes 1 and 2."