Berks was home to first Amish settlement in U.S.
A marker in Upper Bern Township commemorates the spot of the first organized Amish Mennonite congregation in America.
On June 26, 1959, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission dedicated a roadside plaque along Old Route U.S. 22 in Upper Bern Township, just a mile west of Shartlesville, commemorating the Northkill Amish congregation that was established there in 1740.
The Amish are Christians, Anabaptists and specifically a sect of Mennonites who follow the strict teachings of Jakob Ammann. Anabaptists do not believe in the baptism of children, only of adults who can make an informed decision.
Amman was a Swiss Anabaptist leader who lived from about 1644 to 1730.
According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, "Ammann insisted that any excommunicated Mennonite church member should be shunned socially and that anyone who lied should be excommunicated," and "taught that church members should dress in a uniform manner, that beards should not be trimmed, and that it was wrong to attend services in a state church. Although Ammann sought reconciliation with the Mennonites, he continued to insist that all who had been excommunicated should be avoided, and therefore his attempts at reconciliation failed."
The split with other church members is believed to be the main reason the Amish set sail for America.
The state plaque states: "Northkill Amish: The first organized Amish Mennonite congregation in America. Established by 1740. Disbanded following Indian attack, September 29, 1757, in which a Provincial soldier and three members of the Jacob Hochstetler family were killed near this point."
There are some references stating that the Hochstetler family settled there in 1737.
Reading Eagle: Ron Devlin | Researcher Lisa Adams reviews "The Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler," a family history at Berks History Center. Adams assisted in research on actress Katey Sagal's connection to the Hochstetler family, an Amish family who settled in Tilden Township in the 1700s. Sagal's connection to Berks is featured in "Who Do You Think You Are?" which airs on TLC April 17, 2016.
"Much of the information about the Hochstetlers comes from family lore rather than historical record," said Lisa Adams, Berks History Center researcher in a 2016 Reading Eagle article by Ron Devlin. The article was about how actress Katey Sagal traced her roots to the Hochstetler family in Berks and was featured in the TLC television show "Who Do You Think You Are?"
The episode keyed in on the massacre in which Jacob Hochstetler's wife, son and daughter were killed. He and two other sons were taken as hostages.
Courtesy of TLC | Actress Katey Sagal, right, connects with her Berks County roots in "Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired April 17, 2016, on TLC network. Her great-grandfather seven times removed was Jacob Hochstetler, an Amish settler whose family was attacked by Indians in the 1700s. Dr. Kara Dixon-Vuic, professor of history at Texas Christian University, was a consultant on the episode. Sagal was Peg Bundy on "Married With Children" and Gemma Teller Morrow on "Sons of Anarchy."
Descendants of the Hochstetler family say the massacre by Delaware Indians occurred earlier, on Sept. 19, 1757. That date was inscribed on "a plaque the family placed near Schlappich's house, and it appears in numerous family histories" according to an interview with Kevin Schlappich done by Devlin in 2007.
The family plaque was on a 2009 tour of Amish sites in Berks County.
Reading Eagle: Richard J. Patrick | J. Lemar Mast of Caernarvon Township led a bus tour of historic Amish sites in Berks County in 2009. On April 27, 2009, he views a monument to the Hochstetler Amish family in Upper Bern Township.
A 1913 book, "The Story of Berks County," by Dr. A. E. Wagner, F.W. Balthaser and D.K. Hoch makes reference to an Indian attack near Fort Northkill on Oct. 1, 1757. "The fort is about nine miles to the westward of the Schuylkill, and stands in a very thick wood, on a small rising ground, half a mile from the middle of Northkill Creek," the book states.