Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Page Book: Family Files of Abigail Omans Lutz: LeVan Family to Coxe Line

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Descendants of Daniel Levan

Generation No. 1

1. DANIEL¹ LEVAN was born in Picardy, France ¹, and died in Amsterdam, Holland². He married MARIE BEAU in Picardy, France ³.

Notes for DANIEL LEVAN:
Levan Family Book, by Warren Patten Coons says: "The LeVan Family were among the refugees who fled from France to Holland, probably after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). Family tradition says they were manufacturers of brocade and taffetas in their native country, and that they were of considerable wealth" , also Rev. A. Stapleton, in his "Memorials of the Huguenots in America", pub. in 1901, & now out of print, says,--"About 1715 four sons of the refugee (Daniel LeVan) set out for Pennsylvania. They were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob & Joseph, the latter of whom died at sea. These were followed in 1727 by their bro. Daniel, & all of whom settled in the limits of Berks County (Pa.), also "Morton L. Montgomery, in his "Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pa.", pub. 1909, says, p 608, --"The family (Levan) was founded in America by three bros., Jacob, Isaac, & Abraham, who fled from their native land in 1715 to escape persecution & came to Pa."

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The Levan Family, by ????, retired school teacher, 1971 wrote in his book:
"An Old French Family of Knights and Nobles originally came from Norway and Sweden by the name of Kuebach LeVan. They landed on the northern coast of Normandy. He married Beatrice DeBonneville. Kuebach died 952 AD. He left a son, Hugo LeVan, who in turn had a son, Bertram. His descendants flourished. We are supposed to be from that line.

The coat of arms for the leaven Family: In the shield is a lion. The crest is also a lion."

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Information on the webpage of Ray Stonerock at http://www.geocities.com/CodyRay_1999/LevanPage.html on Dec. 24, 2000 says:
"As so many other Huguenots did, the LEVANs affiliated themselves with the Amsterdam Refugee Church of the Walloons who had preceded the Huguenots to Holland. We learn this from the baptismal records of this church, in which it appears that Abraham, son of Daniel LEVAN and Marie Beau, was born May 20, 1698, and was baptized by Monsieur H. Colviens in the presence of Abraham Fabre and Susanna LEVAN as witnesses. A baptismal certificate, with the above record, was made out at Amsterdam the 18th of September, 1751, by Josias Belisargne, "ancien" or Clerk of said church, and was evidently secured by post from Holland by Abraham LEVAN, son of Daniel LEVAN and Marie Beau, who, in 1751 was located in Oley Township, Berks Co., Pennsylvania. The original transcript of this baptism is now (1927) in the possession of Miss Hester MOYER LEVAN, 1020 Chestnut St., Reading, Pa., a great-great-great-granddaughter of said Abraham LEVAN. "

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Morton L. Montgomery, in his "Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pa.", published 1909, says, p. 608,--"The family (LEVAN) was founded in America by three brothers, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham, who fled from their native land in 1715 to escape persecution and came to Pennsylvania . . ." On pages 1048 and 1052 he also says these three brothers came to America "in about 1730, this fact being established by the record of land grants made to him (Isaac) bearing the dates 1731, 1734, and 1737-38, as well as grants made him along the Schuylkill river, this land aggregating in all over one thousand acres, most of which was in Exeter Township, (Berks Co., Pa.). Some of the property has remained in the family ever since." Again, on p. 1066, he says,-- "Jacob LEVAN . . . came to America in 1717 with his two brothers . . .". Both Rev. A. STAPLETON and Mr. Morton L. Montgomery agree as to the date of arrival of the fourth brother, Daniel LEVAN, namely, 1727. Naturally, for the State of Pennsylvania first began to keep record of its immigrants in 1727, and the name of Daniel LEVAN stands third on the list that numbered thousands, as witness the Pennsylvania Archives in loco. See also page 7, "Names of Foreigners of Penna., 1727-1808", by William H. Egle, late Librarian of the State of Pennsylvania.

"In the summer of 1727 Daniel LEVAN embarked at Rotterdam in the good ship `William and Sarah', Captain William Hill. The ship touched port at Dover, England, and then started on the long voyage to Philadelphia, where it arrived early in September . . . There were upwards of three hundred persons on the ship, of which 117 were males over sixteen years of age, and of this number sixty-two were ill on board at the time of arrival, and four had died on the voyage. Those who were well signed the Declaration, and the sixty-two, who were ill, were signed by the Clerk of the Board of the Provincial Council held at Philadelphia, September 21, 1727. Among the latter so signed was that of Daniel LEVAN." (See p. 1190, Montgomery's "Hist. & Biog. Annals of Berks Co., Pa., 1909).

Messers. STAPLETON, Montgomery and Egle all drew much, if not all, of their LEVAN data from the researches of the late Rev. Franklin Klein LEVAN (No. 2109), one of the Founders of the Pennsylvania-German Society. As the names of Jacob, Isaac and

Abraham LEVAN, brothers of Daniel, do not appear in the record lists of arrivals after 1727, it is only logical to conclude they must have arrived here before that date. As to the "about 1715" or "in 1717" statements of STAPLETON and Montgomery, I presume they followed the data of Rev. F. K. LEVAN, who, in turn, must have followed family tradition. This is not unlikely, as the Rev. LEVAN was born a mere one hundred years subsequent to the arrival of his progenitor, Jacob LEVAN, one of the four brothers.

The four pioneer brothers, and the one sister, Anna Elizabeth (No. 7), settled within the confines of Berks County, Pa.--Abraham in Oley, Isaac in Exeter, Jacob in Maxatawny Twp., as also Daniel and the sister Anna Elizabeth.

More About DANIEL LEVAN:
Residence: Amsterdam, Holland⁴

Notes for MARIE BEAU:
Levan Family Book, by Warren Patten Coon, says: "Family tradition . . . states that the mother, -- Marie (Beau) LeVan, wife of Daniel,--thrifty and ingenious, employed an odd but clever ruse to bring some of their wealth out of France. She made a dress of 'squares', into which blocks or squares she sewed gold pieces."

Children of DANIEL LEVAN and MARIE BEAU are:

ABRAHAM² LEVAN, b. September 20, 1698 ⁵; d. April 21, 1779, Oley, Berks Co., Pa.⁶; m. CATHERINE WIEIMAR, Pennsylvania ⁷; b. February 22, 1705/06, Europe ⁸; d. September 29, 1768, Oley, Berks Co., Pa.⁹.

Notes for ABRAHAM LEVAN:
RootsWeb.com Isearch-cgi 1.20.06 (File: tax1734.txt)

Tax Lists: 1734 Philadelphia County Taxables (now Berks Co, PA)

The following list was taken from tax lists of Philadelphia County
and presents those persons who in 1734 lived in what is now Berks County, Pa.
or in Townships bordering Berks Co.

OLEY:Abraham Levan

More About ABRAHAM LEVAN:
Burial: on old homestead Oley, Pa.¹⁰
Residence: Oley, Berks Co., Pa.¹¹

More About CATHERINE WIEIMAR:
Burial: beside husband ¹²

2.	ii.		ISAAC LEVAN, b. Abt. 1700; d. June 12, 1783, Reading, Berks, Pa..
	iii.		JACOB LEVAN, d. 1768, Eagle Point, Maxatawny Tp., B.C., Pa.¹³; m. MARY; d. 1785 ¹⁴.

Notes for JACOB LEVAN:
RootsWeb.com Isearch-cgi 1.20.06 (File: tax1734.txt)

Tax Lists: 1734 Philadelphia County Taxables (now Berks Co, PA)

The following list was taken from tax lists of Philadelphia County
and presents those persons who in 1734 lived in what is now Berks County, Pa.
or in Townships bordering Berks Co.

MAXATAWNY: Jacob Levan

More About JACOB LEVAN:
Residence: Eagle Point, Maxatawny Tp., B.C., Pa.¹⁵

Notes for MARY:
RootsWeb.com Isearch-cgi 1.20.06 (File: willabs04.txt)

Wills: Abstracts: Berks Co, PA 1782-1786

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Thera.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/pafiles.htm

LEVAN, MARY, widow (of Jacob), Maxatawny.
July 25, 1783 - January 18, 1785. B - 134.
To eldest son Sebastian 5 shillings.
To granddaus., viz: Elisabeth, Christiana, Susanna and Mary NEUDORFF,
my bed and bedding.
To my four daus., viz: Catharine PROBST, Mary HILL, Susanna NEUDORFF,
and Eve JODER all remainder of estate to be equally divided.
Exrs: Sons-in-law Frederick HILL and Peter JODER.
Wits: Thomas LEE, Jr. and George YODER.

	iv.		JOSEPH LEVAN, d. at sea en route to America with Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob ¹⁶.
	v.		DANIEL LEVAN, d. June 1777, Maxatawny Tp., B.C., Pa. at the old homestead called "Kemp's Hotel"¹⁷; m. SUSANNA SIEGFRIED; d. 1778 ¹⁸.

Notes for DANIEL LEVAN:
RootsWeb.com Isearch-cgi 1.20.06 (File: willabs03.txt)

Wills: Abstracts: Berks Co, PA 1775-1781

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Thera.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/pafiles.htm

LEVAN, DANIEL, Maxatawny.
July 9, 1776 - July 5, 1777. Vol 2- 312.
Wife Susanna, to have all estate until son Daniel is 21. To maintain
and educate younger children.
To son Daniel at 21, my dwelling place in Maxatawny, containing 200
acres. Also 100 acres of Woodland in Longswamp, Farming utensils and
cattle. Paying for same as follows, to son Peter, dau. Barbara REESER,
dau. Elizabeth REESER, dau. Catharine LEVAN, dau. Mary SIGFRIED, dau.
Susanna KEMP, dau. Magdalena and dau. Margaret their shares of same.
To son Peter LEVAN, my new stone House commonly called the store and
one acre of land off my plantation, at �50.
Son Abraham having rec'd. a large sum of money of me, he shall retain
�400, as his share and pay remainder to my Exrs.
Devises heirs 1/2 interest in a tract of 500 acres and Sawmill in
Brunswick Twp to son Daniel, dau. Catharine and dau. Susanna KEMP, at
valuation of �300. Share of dau. Ester wife of Benj. WEISER to be �200,
to be in Trust until the death of her husband.
Remainder equally divided among my children, viz, Peter, Jacob, Isaac,
Barbara REESER, Elizabeth REESER, Catharine LEVAN, Mary SIGFRIED,
Susanna KEMP, Magdalena Margaret, Sarah and Dorothea LEVAN.
Exrs: wife Susanna and son in law George KEMP.
Wit: Henry CHRIST, Sebastian LEVAN and Balser GEEHR.

More About DANIEL LEVAN:
Immigrated: September 18, 1727, aboard Ship William and Sarah, from Rotterdam to Philadelphia ¹⁹
Misc Info: signed Declaration of Independence ²⁰
Residence: Maxatawny Tp., B.C., Pa.²¹

vi.

ANNA ELIZABETH LEVAN, m. SEBASTIAN ZIMMERMAN.

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