THE SHRIVER FAMILY GREEN BOOK.
PART SECOND. NARRATIVES AND RECORDS TO THE PRESENT TIME. 1888.

(Page numbers from 1888 Green Book in [square brackets].)

Early Settlement of the Shrivers at Goshenhoppen and Conewago.

“Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed;
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”
PSALM cxxvii; 3, 4, 5.

From the foregoing Records and Narrative it appears that Andrew Shriver, when he came to America, was accompanied by his wife, Anna Margareta, and their three children, — Ludwig, Andrew and Anna Margareta, and the step-son, David Young.

Their first settlement was at Goshenhoppen, near the Trappe, on the Schuylkill, Pennsylvania.

A memorandum, still extant, by Andrew Shriver, of Union Mills, endorsed as received by him from the “mouth of Andrew Shriver and his wife,” — his grandparents — confirms the facts as stated by Judge Shriver. The father, Andrew Shriver, (the immigrant), who had supported his family by labor at Goshenhoppen, soon died. Andrew, the son, then learned the trade of tanning, and, on attaining his majority, married — spring of 1733 — Anna Maria Keiser, and in June following removed to Conewago, Pa.

The settlements at Goshenhoppen, and Conewago, were made mainly by Germans, and were among the first of that nationality in   [34]   the country. The Bicentennial of the arrival of the first German immigrants in the country on the ship “Concord” was celebrated October 8th, 1883. The first settlement at “German Town” (now within the limits of Philadelphia) accords with this date, being made in 1683, but whether by the ship Concord’s immigrants is not positively known.

The settlement at Conewago, 1733-34, by the Shrivers and others, it is claimed, and it would seem rightfully, to have been the first in that section of Pennsylvania now within the limits of Adams county. Reference to this was made by Col. Edward McPherson in the Star and Sentinel, Gettysburg, 1876, as follows:

“The land taken up by Mr. Schriver was held by Mr. John Digges under a grant from Lord Baltimore, who claimed a large strip of what is now in Pennsylvania, and whose principal grantee was very persistent, before the survey of 1739, in maintaining their right to it, and, after the survey, in claiming a right to enlarge the grant. Digges took out his warrant in 1727, and it was surveyed in 1732 — which was several years before Penn’s agents would consent to make sales, either contingent or positive, the time of probable purchase of the Indian title being then uncertain. The tract of Digges, as surveyed, contained 6822 acres, and was called ‘Digges’ Choice;’ and was described as lying on ‘Little Conewago.’ It comprised the present limits of Conewago and Germany townships, Adams County, and Heidelberg township, York county, and includes the site of Littlestown — ‘Peter Little’s Town’ of the early days — and of Hanover, which is on the southwestern extremity of the tract.

“I suppose the earliest settlement in Adams county was by purchasers under Digges, whose homes were for years made miserable by the turmoils arising out of disputes between Digges and other settlers, which were aggravated by the conflicting claims of Penn and Baltimore to the proprietorship. For many years the region was known as the `disputed land,’ and there was naturally much lawlessness. Digges sold portions of his land from 1731 onward. Among the earliest Purchasers were John Lemmon, David Young – Schriver’s step-brother, — prior to 1743 — “Adam Messier,   [35]   Adam Miller, and Peter Youngblood. In published papers relating to affairs in 1746 occur the names of Dudley Digges, son of John, Robert Owings, Adam Furney or Pfarney — 1738 — and Nicholas, his son, Matthias Ullery, Matthias Marker, George Shriver,* — prior to 1746 — Martin Kittsmiller, William Logstone, Martin Ungefan, Valentine Eyler — 1734 — and Conrad, his son, Matthias Ulric, Peter Ensminger — 1742 — William Oler, Jacob Banker, Herman Updegraffe — 1741 — Jacob Youngblood — ­1738 — Peter Rysher, Peter Shultz, John Martin Inyfoss, Martin Brin and Abraham Sellen.

*Probably the son of Casimir Shriver, and cousin of Andrew and Ludwig Shriver, as noted in the Alsenborn records.

“In 1752 forty persons lived within the limits of York county on tracts sold under Maryland rights, some, of whom were in the present limits of Adams county. (Among these are found the names of Andrew Shriver, Ludwick Shriver, David Young, Shriver’s step-brother, George Shriver, and Nicholas Furney.)

“The Commissioners of York county undertook to collect taxes from the above, as living north of the temporary line, but the Provincial authorities prevented it, on the ground that they held under Maryland rights, and could not be taxed by Pennsylvania authority until the final settlement of the boundary.”

Robert Proud, in his history of Pennsylvania, written principally between 1776 and 1780, makes honorable mention of the inflow, about this time, of German immigrants. “In 1749 twenty-five sail of large ships arrived at Philadelphia with twelve thousand souls.” He observes that up to 1776, when the “importation” ceased, by accurate account as many as 39,000 German immigrants had arrived; that Lancaster, York, Berks and Northampton counties were mainly settled by them; and that they “were more adapted (than other nationalities) to agriculture and the improvement of a wilderness.” This opinion was justified by events, for the “wilderness” which they heroically invaded and subdued, and which was subsequently “improved” by their descendants, is noted as the “garden spot” of the state, and has literally been made to “blossom as the rose.”   [36]

Respecting the Conewago family:

Andrew Shriver, the head of the family, had seven children; three sons, David, Andrew and Jacob, and four daughters, whose names are not given in the preceding narrative, though it is stated that they married, and reared large families. The history of David Shriver, the eldest son, and that of his descendants and connections, is given at length in these pages. Andrew, the second son, remained at the Conewago home, and reared a large family, the records of which will appear in due order. Jacob, the third son, had one son who died early, and his father soon after, leaving no descendants. The marriages and history of the daughters, and their descendants, will be given as far as may be obtained at this late period. Ludwig Shriver and David Young, his step-brother, as seen by the records, were early identified with the Conewago settlement, but nothing further is known of their history. It is singular that no mention is made of the daughters, Anna Margareta Shriver and Anna Margareta Young, her step-sister, either before or after the emigration of the family to this country.

Andrew Shriver, the head of the Conewago family, died August 12th, 1797, aged eighty-four years, eleven months and six days.

His wife, Anna Maria Keiser, was born near Heidelberg, Germany, September –, 1710; died May 8th, 1801, in the ninety-first year of her age. Their remains are interred in Christ Church burial ground, where also are found the tombs of a number of their children and descendants.