A monument to John Peter Hoffman and the pioneers of the Lykens Valley was dedicated on 27 November 1924. The monument is located in a farmer’s field in Washington Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, at the foot of Short Mountain, on land that was once a burial ground of the early pioneers.
The monument was erected by the Hoffman Family Association. The following is a transcription of the dedication program up through the page including the genealogy, but not including the names of the officers of the Hoffman Family Association:
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INSCRIPTION
JOHN PETER HOFFMAN
PIONEER
ARRIVED FROM HOLLAND
IN 1739,
SETTLED HERE 1750
BORN 1709 – DIED 1798
HIS REMAINS WITH THOSE
OF 26 CONTEMPORARIES
LIE BURIED HERE
ERECTED BY
HOFFMAN ASSOCIATION
1924
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FOREWORD
This monument is erected as a memorial to John Peter Hoffman by his descendants in recognition of his labors as a pioneer, when all this territory was an unconquered wilderness frequently visited by roaming bands of hostile Indians, and abounding with wild beasts that aggravated the terrors of life in that early day, fully a quarter of a century before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
What hardships he endured and what grim struggles he passed through while striving to establish for himself and his loved ones a little home within the primeval forest we can but faintly imagine, but that he was strong in faith we cannot question, for he succeeded.
Imbued with the same spirit common among our patriot forefathers and believing that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” he devoted his life to the task of establishing that principle long before it was given an expression at Independence Hall, and he lived to see it realized in the foundation of the American government.
In his particular sphere he played a noble part in blazing the way for civilization through the dark forests of a wild country wherein he chose to make his home. His work in clearing the land for cultivation and his skill as a carpenter applied to building the humble cabins of his contemporaries in this region, contributed in no small degree to entrenching those early settlers who, like himself, had come from oppressed lands, to America seeking civil and religious freedom.
That such a brave, undaunted spirit deserves worthy recognition every son and daughter under Freedom’s Flag must and will gratefully testify.
John Peter Hoffman was not alone a pioneer citizen, helping to lay the foundations of this republic by conquering the wilderness and opening it for the habitation of other religious refugees from foreign fields, but he was a soldier in the Provincial forces, repelling the Indians who constantly menaces the white settler’ peace and safety, and he contributed of his own sons as soldiers of the American Revolution, for the establishment of that freedom which he sought when setting out on his pilgrimage from Rotterdam, Holland, and which we, his numerous descendants, with the rest of our countrymen now enjoy.
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BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JOHN PETER HOFFMAN
At this late date it appears quite impossible to procure all the facts that we should like to know concerning the life of the pioneer whose memory we now seek to honor by the erection of this monument, but from various authentic sources the following particulars have been granted.
John Peter Hoffman, a native of Germany, born in 1709, was one of the earliest settles of what was originally known as the Wiconisco Valley, taking its name from the creek flowing through it and called by the Indians Whisconescong.
With others of his family and friends he came to America in 1739 in the ship Robert and Alice, Captain Walter Goodman, arriving in Philadelphia in September of that year. He first located in Berks County, where he worked at his trade, that of a carpenter. During the early Indian troubles on the frontiers he served as a soldier in the Provincial forces.
About the years 1750 he came to the end of Short Mountain in Lykens Valley, where he built a small log house, just across the road from the present House on E. W. Romberger‘s farm. He as the contemporary of John Lycan and Andrew Lycan (or Lykens), Ludwig Shott, John Rewalt, and others, and was with them driven off by the Indians in their marauds of 1756.
Sometime after this, however, returned and brought his family to Lykens Valley. Here he followed farming and died in 1798 at the age of 89 years.
His remains, with those of twenty-six of his kinfolk, were interred in the field on the farm, where this monument now stands.
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HIS FAMILY AND KINFOLK
The wife of this progenitor of the Lykens Valley Hoffmans preceded him in death and lies buried here, with others of their issue.
No authentic record of all of their children has been uncovered, with it is known that among them were the following:
(1) Catherine Hoffman, married Andrew Reigle, the head of a large family of that name in the “Upper End: of this county. Both of them reached the age of four-score years.
(2) Barbara Hoffman, married George Buffington, a soldier of the Revolution, and the head of a family of that name.
(3) Elizabeth Hoffman, married Ludwig Sheetz, the head of a large family of that name.
(4) John Hoffman, eldest son, was born in Berks County, in 1746. He served in the war of the Revolution, and commanded the Upper Paxtang Company in its expedition up the West Branch of the Susquehanna in 1778 and participated in the Battle of Muncy Hill. He resided near Hoffman’s Church, and along with farming, served as a justice of the peace from 1771 until 1831, the year of his death. he and his wife, a Miss Kauffman, are buried in the Church graveyard. They had issue as follows:
(A) Elizabeth Hoffman, married John Hoffman, a farmer. They lived near Hoffman’s Church.
(B) Marian Hoffman, married to Joseph Neagley.
(C) Magdalena Hoffman, married to Thomas Koppenheffer.
(D) Catherine Hoffman, married to John Buffington.
(E) Barbara Hoffman, married to John Specht.
(F) John Hoffman, married to a Miss Deibler.
(G) Jacob Hoffman, married to ?
(H) Daniel Hoffman, married to a Miss Snyder.
(5) John Nicholas Hoffman, second son of John Peter Hoffman, was born in 1749, married Margaret Harman. They had issue as follows:
(A) Catherine Hoffman, married Peter Shoffstall.
(B) Susanna Hoffman, married Levi Buffington.
(C) Sarah Hoffman, married Jonathan Snyder.
(D) Margaret Hoffman, married ?
(E) Peter Hoffman, married Miss Lupold.
(F) Elizabeth Hoffman, married Jacob Hawk.
(G) Jacob Hoffman, married Catherine Ferree.
(H) Daniel Hoffman, married Hanna Ferree.
(I) Nicholas Hoffman, married Miss Messner.
(J) John Hoffman, no record.
(K) George Hoffman, married Hannah Welker.
(6) Christian Hoffman, third son of John Peter Hoffman, was born in 1752, and resided on the old homestead at the end of Short Mountain. He was a soldier of the Revolution and an active citizen of the “Upper End.” He married Susanna Deibler and they had issue as follows:
(A) Anna Hoffman, married John Peace.
(B) Susannah Hoffman, married Jonas Shott.
(C) Catherine Hoffman, married Jonathan Novinger.
(D) John B. Hoffman, married Barbara Bowman.
(E) Jonas D. Hoffman, married Rebeca Collier.
(F) Peter Hoffman, married Elizabeth Hoffman.
(G) Daniel G. Hoffman, married Susanna Harman.
(H) Christian Hoffman Jr., married Sarah Tobias.
(I) Simeon Hoffman, never married.
The foregoing traces three generations, as closely as satisfactory records have been found. From these, all living generations should be able quite readily to trace their genealogy,since the aforesaid third generations representing the male issue going by the name of Hoffman, were the grandparents of the lineage now living.
It has not been possible to trace the genealogy satisfactorily from the daughters of John Peter Hoffman down to the third generation as in the case of his sons, though, no doubt, other family associations, such as the Reigles, Buffingtons and Sheetz’s may have gathered reliable data along that line.
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Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.