[160-1] CHRISTOPHER JACKEL (YEAKLE)[E 57], b Mar. 15, 1718; d Mar. 3, 1810; s Christopher and Regina (Htibner) Jackel [160]; m Aug. 9, 1743, by Rev. Balthasar Hoffman to MARIA SCHULTZ [E 152], b Mar. 28, 1718; d Mar. 11, 1807; dau Balthasar and Susanna (Dietrich) Schultz [149].
Christopher Yeakle was about eighteen years of age when he came to Pa. in 1734 with his mother. Tradition says Christopher Yeakle was one of nine children, and that his father died in Silesia. [W. A. Y.] This tradition is not verified by the Harpersdorf Church Books, as the records give his father only two children: Christoff, born in 1713, and a second Christoff, born in 1718.
After settling at Cresheim, Germantown Twp., Phila., Christopher Yeakle apprenticed himself to a cooper and continued to follow this trade during the remainder of his life. Some of his coopering tools are preserved in the Schwenkfelder Historical Library at Pennsburg, Pa. He was naturalized June 21, 1743. In 1743 he is said to have built the log-house at Germantown Avenue and Mermaid Lane (owned in 1884 by Charles Streeper), which was razed in 1903, and which was a land mark for many years. However, a search of the records failed to produce any evidence that the plot of ground on which this historic Yeakle log-cabin stood was ever owned by Christopher Yeakle. The records show that during his lifetime the land on which “The Yeakle Log Cabin” stood, was owned by others [vid. Christopher Yeakle— Homes and Burial Places]. At various times he acquired considerable property [Plates H V, H VI, HI}. He owned the land on which the present depot of the Pennsylvania R. R. at Chestnut Hill now stands and later built a residence on it. In 1764 he also bought eighty-two acres in the present Springfield Twp., at the foot of Chestnut Hill, near the historic ‘Wheel Pump” Hotel, which he sold to his son, Abraham, in 1783. His industrious and frugal habits enabled him to become possessed of considerable property, and his descendants at one time owned a large part of the present Chestnut Hil. During the Revolutionary War the British troops destroyed quite a good deal of property belonging to Christopher Yeakle, as shown by lists in his own handwriting. Whether these bills were ever paid has not been determined. Samuel Yeakle [160-51] has a grandfather’s clock, formerly the property of Christopher Yeakle, which still shows the marks of the British bayonets when they entered Christopher’s house for plunder.
That Christopher Yeakle was well educated and a leader of the early Schwenkfelders is shown by the many papers in his own handwriting that are still extant. A list of books in his possession indicate a wide reading for a cooper. He is buried in the Yeakle Cemetery in Chestnut Hill.
Children (6):
CHRISTOPHER JAECKEL
“Auch hier musz ich die Begebenheit meines Grosz Vaters (mutterseits nach) billig gedenken, nemlich Christoph Jackel, der 4ltere, auf Chesnuthill (in Philada. Co.) Er erzehlte mir noch, wie er in seiner Kindheit, von seiner guten Mutter, an der Hand ergriffen worden, u. zu ihm sagte: Komm, komm; -—-der Widder (Jesuiter) will dich holen! da erschrack er u. warm ware es ihm geworden, als es ihn vorher gefroren hatte, Die Mutter (eine Wittwe gewesen) flohe mit ihm be¥ Nacht Zeit, sonnabends vor Ostern, tiber die Grenzen, nach Sachsenland, ihren religidsen Anverwandten nach, in A.D. 1726. Er erlernete in seiner Jugend das Kiefer—Handwercks-Gesschifte vollkémmlich, welches er oberhalb Germantoun am Q9ten Meilstein, an einem schénen Wasserstréhmgen, fiirs erste antrieb, u. zugleich ein einstégigtes niedliches Wohnhiusgen da errichtete, das jetzt noch da stehet, seine Mutter hielt ihm Haus, u. unterstiitzte ihn in seinen Geschaften. Er trat in den Stand der Ehe, ohngefehr 10 Jahr nach seiner Ankunft in diesem Abendlande, mit einer der Schwestern des letztbesagten George Schultz (des alteren)—Nach seinen verbesserten Umstinden, zog er 1 Meile héher hinauf, mit seiner Familie, u. betrieb bestandig da sein Wesen, bis ins hohe alter hin von 92 Jahren; seine Ehegattin verschied kurz vorher, in ihren 90sten Jahre (so wie ich mich noch erinnere) in ihren letzten paar Jahren wurde sie blind geworden, Doch blieben sie noch beyde, be} guten Verstandskriften, bis an ihr seliges Ende.” [Manuscript written by Isaac Schultz, Sr.,in S. H. L.] (Translation)
I must also give you an account of the adventures of my maternal grandfather, viz. Christopher Jackel, Sr., in Chestnut Hill (in Philada. Co.).
He related to me that when he was a small child, his good mother grasped his hand and said, ‘“Come, come, the Jesuits will get you,’’ whereupon he was filled with terror, and he grew warm, just as the chills had run over him before; and his mother, who was a widow, fied with him at night—the time was Sunday before Easter—and they crossed the boundary into Saxony in 1726, and followed the other religious refugees.
In his youth he learned the cooper’s trade thoroughly, which trade he followed at first in the upper part of Germantown, at the ninth milestone, by the side of a small stream of water, and erected at the same time a neat one-story cottage, which is still standing. His mother kept house for him and assisted him in his trade.
About ten years after his arrival in Germantown, he married one of the sisters of George Schultz, . Sr.
As his cireumstances improved, he moved a mile farther north with his family, and continued with his trade, even up to his old age, ninety-six years. His wife died shortly before him in her ninetieth year (as I remember), but in her last years she became blind. Both of them however retained their faculties up to the time of their death. THE YEAKLE Loc CABIN
“The land on the east side of Germantown Avenue, between Mermaid Lane and Moreland Avenue, became the property of John Neuss in 1714. At his death in 1719 he devised it to his eldest son, Cornelius, and at his death in 1754 it became the property of his eldest son, John Nice. There is no record of the sale of any part of this property prior to December, 1759, when John Nice sold five acres to Derrick Keyser, carpenter, who sold it to John Wentz in 1801. The deed to Wentz recites ‘a certain log tenement and lot or piece of ground situate on the N. E. side of Germantown Avenue, being at the intersection of Limekiln Road; thence along said road N.40° W. 14 P. containing 5 and 14 acres.’ This log house, which was torn down about ten years ago, was commonly known as the Yeakel Cottage and was said to have been built by Christopher Yeakel in 1744. From the above record it would appear that Christopher Yeakel never owned this corner, but this does not prove that he never lived there, for he may have rented it, although this would seem rather a strange thing for him to do when he owned the house above Evergreen Avenue, having purchased it in 1741.
This tract of five acres was sold by the administrators of John Wentz to John Stallman in 1831.” [Dr. John J. Mac Farlane]
TitLE To Tract oF LAND ON WHICH THE YEAKLE Log CaBIN Stoop
The following held title to this tract during the period of Christopher Yeakle’s life: May 12, 1714—Dec. 6, 1754 John Neiss 56 acres Dec. 6, 1754—1759 Cornelius Nice 56 acres 1759 John Nice 56 = aeres
1759—1801 Derick Keyser 54 acres May 27, 1801—Feb. 14, 1831 John Wentz 54 acres Feb. 14, 1831—Apr. 2, 1838 Stallman Haas 514 acres Apr. 2, 18388—Apr. 5, 1842 G. Hergesheimer 514 acres Apr. 5, 1842—Sept. 26, 1848 Hiram Buseh 514 acres Sept. 26, 1848—Apr. 5, 1851 George Pitman 514 acres Apr. 5, 1851 John Peberdy ,
The fifty-six acres were intact from 1714 to 1759; the five and one-fourth acres which were a part of the fifty-six acre tract were intact from 1759 to 1851 or later. The part of five and one-fourth acres by itself or as part of the fifty-six acres was intact from 1714 to 1851 or later. In 1801 the five and one-fourth acres had a log tenement. In 1831 the buildings mentioned are: “Stone kitchen, frame tenement, frame barn, and stone spring house.”
It seems strange that Christopher Yeakle should build on this land when in 1743 he acquired land on the top of the hill; however, it is a well authenticated tradition in the Yeakle family that Christopher Yeakle built this log cabin and lived in it. The Editor cannot account for these discrepancies.
It is stated that William Schemmer who died Oct. 11, 1896, saw the so-called Yeakle Log Cabin in a Henry Clay political parade, after which it was deposited on Germantown Avenue. He was the fatherin-law of Charles Gorgas, 7169 Germantown Avenue. His father was toll-gate keeper at the fork of the three roads below the Wheel Pump Hotel, Chestnut Hill, Pa.
Parents’ family: [160] Regina (Hubner) Jackel
Children’s own families: