In the midst of green farm fields and patches of woods an
old red and white covered bridge crosses Schwaben Creek. The soft currents
tumble over weathered rocks worn down by the elements over many years. Song
birds and bumble bees flit between sweet smelling cedars in the rural quiet.
500 yards through the fields, an old church cemetery stands guard flanked by
Line Mountain to the north and the main road that bisects southern
Northumberland County to the south. The graves at Himmel’s Church mark the
center of Mahantongo Valley that runs from the Susquehanna River more than
fifteen miles east into the coal region of Schuylkill County.
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| Covered Bridge over Schwaben Creek |
It was in this valley of rich farmland that German settlers
labored for their dream of prosperity.
The insulated settlements retained their language and customs into the
twentieth century. Independent and
adventurous Heinrich Köhler brought his wife Elizabeth and five small children
into this wild land in 1775. They
traveled from Berks County across the Blue Mountains 40 miles North West to the
last mountain before Indian Territory trudging along an old Indian Trail called
Tulpehocken Path. He started at Bethel,
Berks County and carted his family in a wagon through Pine Grove and Klingerstown
to a gap in the mountains then north to a 200 acre plot of land at Line
Mountain. Today there are historical
markers along the route showing sites of the Pilger Ruh or Pilgrim’s Rest where
the settlers could get fresh spring water and signs at the locations of old
forts that guarded the trail.
Alongside German families whose descendants would intermarry
with the Kehler family, Heinrich felled trees and built a cabin, cleared land
and planted crops, cared for horses and cows, chickens and pigs. The physical
labor to carve out farms in the remote Pennsylvania woods took a toll on many
of the settlers. Toddlers died early and men grew old before their time, while
widows raised young children. The farmers in Mahantongo and over the years
their descendants in nearby Schuylkill County survived with community support
and fellowship. Heinrich and Abraham Schneider and Johannes Knärr worked the
land in Northumberland County at the time the Revolutionary War raged to the
south and east. They bought their land as original land grants from the Penn
family. Indian attacks occurred as late as August 1780 near Sunbury ten miles
west of Kehler land. It must have taken enormous courage to continue on. Twenty
five years later Caspar Hepler cleared his land six miles east along the same
mountain.
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| Kehler Farm |
Each generation pushed ahead. Heinrich’s sons spread
throughout Pennsylvania and continued to farm but added occupational skills
such as tanning hides into leather, tin smithing, woodwork, and other goods to
meet the needs of the community and give supplemental income. Generations of
Kehler women were expert seamstresses and quilters. Those creative skills can
be seen generations later in the crafts and artistry of Kehlers. Heinrich’s
grandsons began to acquire land and made money buying and selling real estate.
Kehlers have a connection to land and often use it to acquire wealth. Several
more generations exhibited entrepreneurship qualities running businesses like
meat processing and grocery stores. By the twentieth century several
generations of Kehlers were expert machinists and then a microelectronics
engineer who designed parts for space rockets foreshadowing software engineers
in the family today.
Our story starts with Russell Dwight Kehler, born in 1926 in
the coal region of Pennsylvania and traces back through the generations to his
German ancestors from Baden-Wuerttemberg and one line of miners from Wales. It is a story of courage and independent spirit
and hard work through trials and setbacks. As shown by the perseverance of
these generations, the family motto seems to be Bleib die Kurs or Stay the
Course, setting goals and overcoming obstacles by grit and determination.
©Ancestor Encounters
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