Patriots

Christina Schneider Hench (1713-1789)

On 11 Sep 1777, in Chester Co., PA, USAG I, Christina Schneider, Johannes Christian Hench Sr., Maria Appalonia Hartmann, and Zachariah Rice Sr. rendered patriotic service by caring for Major Generals Anthony Wayne's Division after the Battle of Brandywine who camped on the meadow of their farms. The wives Christina and Abigail nursed and prepared for the soldiers in their homes and carried delicacies to the sick at Yellow Springs Hospital, where they both worked.

John Hench (1711-1801)

Pvt. John Jacob Mickley Jr. (1737-1808)

Watercolor of the Liberty Bell's arrival in Allentown by Davis Gray

Between 1776 and 1778, Pvt. John Jacob Mickley Jr. participated in the Revolutionary War and was elected to the General Committee of the Revolution for Northampton County on November 15, 1776. He served as the Commissioner of Issues. Following Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in mid-September 1777, Philadelphia was left defenseless, fueling fears that the British might melt down the Liberty Bell for munitions. Pvt. Mickley supplied his horses, manpower, and wagons to the Continental Army to transport the Liberty Bell from the State House to Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, ensuring its safekeeping. The Liberty Bell arrived on September 24, 1777, and was hidden under the floorboards of the church for nine months before being successfully returned to Philadelphia on June 27, 1778. In January 1778, he was once again appointed Commissary of Issues.

John Jacob Mickley III (1766-1857)

On 23 Sep 1777, in PA, USAG I, when Pvt. John Jacob Mickley III was eleven years old when he rode with his father, Pvt. John Jacob Mickley Jr, on the wagon that conveyed the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentwon, PA, and was occasionally permitted to drive. His first hand account of this event was his first visit to and from Philadelphia. There are two children's books, both called Saving the Liberty Bell about John's adventures, one by Marty Rhodes Figley (Author), Kevin Lepp (Illustrator), the other, by Megan McDonald, Illustrator Marsha Gray Carrington.

Later, during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, John went with the Pennsylvania militia to the western part of the state before President Washington disbanded the army.

Abigail Hartmann Rice (1742-1789)

Maria Appalonia Hartmann Is memorialized in Washington, D.C. and at Valley Forge, PA in the new bell tower as a First Generation American died of the after effects of typhus fever contracted while nursing wounded and sick soldiers at the Yellow Springs Hospital during the Revolutionary War.

Zachariah Rice Sr. (1731-1811)

Zachariah Rice Sr. built a mill along the banks of Pickering Creek near 1439 Clover Mill Road shortly before intersecting with PA113 in Chester Springs, Chester County, PA, is still standing today. Issue: 21 Children.

He had Revolutionary War activity primarily building the Yellow Springs Hospital and other buildings

In 1789, his farm of 303 acres, along with another 113 other Pikeland Township settlers, St. Peter’s Church, was seized by the foreclosure of an English mortgage.

The Rice's, Hartman's, Fuller's and others lost their property to Andrew Allyn, a Philadelphia merchant and member of the Continental Congress. Unable to redeem his property, the Rice's and others moved to the Juniata Valley in 1790.

After traveling thirteen miles and crossing the Schuylkill River to reach the closest Lutheran church in 1771, Zachariah and his team constructed St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Chester Springs at 1239 Clover Mill Road. After relocating to the Port Royal area in Juniata County in 1794, he built Church Hill Lutheran Church, affectionately known as Rice's Church, which unfortunately no longer exists. It was situated along Route PA75 near the Old Church Hill Cemetery.