My fourth great-granddfather, and a Revolutionary War veteran, Philip Myers was born on 3 November 1759, in the Rhine valley of present-day Germany. He immigrated as a child, settling with his parents in Frederick County, Maryland Colony. After the Revolution, he married and raised a large family in the “Wyoming” valley of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Click here to view his place in the family tree.
Early life (described late)
The best source, indeed the only “primary” source pertaining to Philip’s early life, comes late; in a sworn statement by Philip himself, in support of his claim to a Revolutionary War pension. It is hardly bulletproof, having come from an old man recalling events of his childhood; even so, it should rank as “pretty good” evidence, fit to stand unless anything contrary comes to light.
Although it was well-known that Philip served, and several female descendants have proved it in their applications to the DAR, this 58-page file contains many details previously unknown to me, and corroboration of some vital statistics, from Philip’s own lips, under oath, no less!
Why did Philip wait so long to apply for a pension? In the early years following the Revolution, pension laws were very restrictive, only providing benefits to veterans who were invalids (disabled) or indigent (impoverished), and even then, only if they had served nine months or more. Since Philip Myers fit none of those categories, there was no pension available to him. But in 1828, a more favorable law was passed, with more to follow. The following information was taken verbatim from the American Revolution message board for genealogy.com. It was written and posted as message #3250 by Ed, a historian on the American Revolution.
The last and most liberal of the service-pension acts benefiting Revolutionary War veterans was passed on June 7, 1832 (4 Stat. 529), and extended to more persons the provisions of the law of May 15, 1828. The act provided that every officer or enlisted man who had served at least 2 years in the Continental Line or State troops, volunteers or militia, was eligible for a pension of full pay for life. Naval and marine officers and enlisted men were also included. Veterans who had served less than 2 years, but not less than 6 months, were eligible for pensions of less than full pay. Neither the act of 1832 nor the one of 1828 required applicants to demonstrate need. Under the act of 1832 money due from the last payment until the date of death of a pensioner could be collected by his widow or by his children.
Of course, by 1832, Philip Myers was 72 years old, and indeed, he died less than three years later, after which his widow was not eligible for continued benefits until the laws were further revised in 1848.
On July 29, 1848 (9 Stat. 265), Congress provided life pensions for widows of veterans who were married before January 2, 1800.
But we are getting ahead of the story. Here are some quotes from, and comments on, Philip’s declaration to the Luzerne county court on 08 September, 1832.
(For an enlarged view of this introduction, click on the image. To view the entire three-page declaration, click here.)
State of Pennsylvania
County of Lucerne [sic]On this eighth day of November 1832 personally appeared in open court, before the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Lucerne, state aforesaid, now sitting, Philip Myers, a resident of the Township of Kingston in said County, and State aforesaid, aged seventy two years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.
That he was born on the third of November 1759, near Mentz [sic] in Germany, on the river Rhine; that in the year 1766 he came to America with his parents and landed in Philadelphia where they resided four weeks* when they moved to the town of Frederick, County of Frederick in Maryland where he lived until the year 1785 when this applicant left Frederick and settled in Kingston where he now resides.
(* In the manuscript, the word “years” was crossed out and “weeks” written above, as if the judge or clerk had initially misunderstood, and then corrected himself.)
This paragraph confirms the published sources, which state the same birth date and date of immigration, probably based on this very document. Further, and not given in other sources, the port of entry is specified as Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, these documents do nothing towards the identification of Philip’s parents, a problem which has been vexing me for years. But they do provide a fascinating synopsis of Philip’s Revolutionary service, which I will launch into below.
Birth Record Found, but Suspect
Using LDS sources, I found what may Philip’s baptism record in the German churchbooks, along with several generations before him. Note that subsequent research has put the validity of this finding in doubt.
Philip Myers’ baptism record, 1759
Christening of Phillip, with twin brother Jacob, sons of Valentin Meyer and Theresa, at St. Stephen’s Catholic church, Mainz, on 28 November 1759.
In the same church, three siblings of Philip were also baptized: Anna Margaretha, christened 8 May 1755, Bernardus Vincentius, 22 Jan. 1757, and Jacobus, 14 Jan. 1765. The problem: this does not correspond with the two brothers said to have immigrated with the family. There were Lawrence (born c. 1754) and Henry (1757). While “Henry” may have been the one named Bernard in the church records, “Lawrence” is nowhere recorded.
With the high incidence of infant and child mortality in those days, it is easy to imagine that those siblings I found may have died before the family came to America. And with the prevalence of wars, not to mention fires and natural disasters, no doubt a great many church records do not survive. However, since the records seem quite intact for this particular family, it becomes questionable whether this Philip Meyer is in fact our ancestor who died in Pennsylvania, regardless his promising birth date and place.
continued …
Thomas Bennet In-Depth « Ole's Blog
Jun 7, 2010
[…] extensive resource up until now. If you were fascinated by the quotes I posted in the series on Philip Myers, and on Thomas and Martha Bennett, I highly recommend this volume. It must be out of print, as […]
Lawrence Myers’ bible « Ole's Blog
Jul 15, 2010
[…] $4.25 must have been quite a chunk of change in 1827. This particular Lawrence Myers was the son of Philip Myers and Martha Bennett Myers. He was born in the Wyoming valley of Pennsylvania, and as a young man, […]
Myers’ in the news (c. 1800) « Ole's Blog
Nov 27, 2010
[…] may recall that, according to accounts of Philip and Lawrence from the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania (where the two “removed” after the […]
Myers Land in Maryland « Ole's Blog
Dec 11, 2010
[…] discovery raises some hard questions. As we have explored in depth, Lawrence and Philip both settled in the Wyoming valley of Pennsylvania after the Revolutionary […]
Madison Myers, the Link « Ole's Blog
Jan 18, 2011
[…] in Maryland, and removed to the Wyoming Valley (PA), where he married Harriet Myers, daughter of Philip Myers, and also his cousin, according to Genealogical and Family History of Wyoming and Lackawanna […]
Kelly Gatzke
Aug 14, 2020
Hi George, I am researching my friend’s ancestry for her and am curious about something. Have you ever seen anything about Philip Myers (1759-1835) having a mulatto son named Philip Adolphus Myers? According to Ancestry, Philip A Myers was born in 1790 in Forty Fort and died about 1858 in Ohio. One of the profiles I found on Ancestry said he was mulatto, not really sure where that evidence came from. Anyhow, I was just curious if you had seen the name Philip Adolphus before and if I was following the correct lineage. Thanks!
George
Aug 14, 2020
I have never heard of this Philip Adolphus Myers. He is not mentioned in any printed sources I studied about the early families of Forty Fort. I will try to find what you found on Ancestry; I’d have to see some source citations to put much stock in it. I moved your comment to the page profiling Philip Myers (1759-1835)
Kelly Gatzke
Oct 4, 2020
Thank you George for commenting in return. The more research I have done, I don’t think the Myers I am looking for descends from this Philip Myers or even Philip Adolphus Myers.
I still wanted to send you the Ancestry link for the Philip Adolphus Myers that shows this Philip as his father and Martha as his mother. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/46301657/person/24438671753/facts
Thank you for such a wonderful website! I wish our Myers came from these amazing people!
Jessica L Myers
Jan 2, 2022
Hello! I’m a descendent of Harriet and Madison Myers–Philip Myers’s daughter and nephew. (Dr. Charles Myers, the one who wrote A Connecticut Yankee in Penn’s woods, was my grandfather.) Is it possible to get a digital copy of the Madison Myers Bible–and who is Tom Welch of Chicago? Any way to get in touch with him?