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Descendants of Leonard Spare

4. Margaret² Spare (Leonard¹) was born Bet. 1721 - 1732, and died Unknown. She married Martin Newbaker. He died 1803.

Marriage Notes for Margaret Spare and Martin Newbaker:
Margaret Spare, daughter of Leonard, and Elizabeth Spare, married Martin Neubeeker. The name was later written Newbacker and Newbaker.

No record of this marriage has been found, but in the deed of 1770 whereby the three daughters of Leonard Spare released their interest in the father's farm to their brother Philip, Martin Neubacker was named as the husband of Margaret Spare.

Prior to the American Revolution the Neubecker family lived in Worcester Township, then Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, Pa. Then they made their home in that part of Lancaster County, Pa., which later was constituted into Dauphin County.

The Philadelphia immigration lists show that John Martin Neubecker subscribed to the oath of allegiance to the crown of England at Philadelphia September 15, 1749, he having been one of the passengers arriving at that port on the ship Edinburgh, from Rotterdam. The name Neubecker was not at all common, and there is little question but that this was the Martin Neubecker who married Margaret Spare.

On March 8, 1771, Martin Newbaker, of Worcester Township, yeoman, bought a tract of ninety-nine acres and thirty-two perches of land in Worcester Township, from Mary Norris, widow of Charles Norris. This was part of the extensive real estate holdings of the Norris family of colonial times in the neighborhood of Norristown and Norriton Township, these places being named for Isaac Norris, father of Charles Norris. Charles Norris died in Philadelphia in 1766.

The deed of sale recites that Newbaker had leased this land from Charles Norris January 1, 1753, for fifty years, the terms of the lease requiring that Newbaker "should yield and pay" to Norris, his heirs and assigns, "on the first day of January in every year during the said term the full and just quantity of forty bushels of good and sound merchantable wheat."

Charles Norris died intestate, whereupon the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia County authorized the widow to sell this tract of land to the highest bidder on February 28, 1771. The highest bidder proved to be Martin Newbaker, who offered 223 pounds, 12 shillings, 3 pence. Accordingly the court ordered the transfer made to Newbaker "under the proportionable part of the yearly quit rent hereafter accruing for and in respect of the premises to the Chief Lord or Lords of the fee thereof."

The property was described in the deed as bounded by the Norriton Township line and property of Nicholas Singer, William Fox, John Cassel and Isaac Norris, indicating it was in the southeastern part of Worcester Township.

Martin Newbacker was taxed in Worcester Township in 1769 for two horses and three head of cattle, and in 1774 for ninety acres, two horses and three head of cattle.

A deed on record in Norristown, Pa., shows that on February 20, 1775, Martin Newbaker sold his ninety-nine-acre farm in Worcester to John Fleck, of Plymouth Township, for 700 pounds.

In 1779 Martin Newbecker was taxed in Upper Paxtang Township, Lancaster County, Pa., for two horses, three head of cattle and two sheep, and his son Philip was listed in the same township as a "freeman." In 1782 Martin Newbaker was taxed in this township for forty acres of land.

Upper Paxtang Township was in that part of Lancaster County which became Dauphin County in 1785. It comprises the northwestern part of the present Dauphin County.

A warrant for 225 acres of land in Dauphin County was granted to Martin Newbacker July 5, 1788. In 1812 two warrants, one for six acres and the other for forty acres, in the same county, were granted to Philip Newbacker. The father and son also bought land from Malachi Powell.

The land of the Newbakers where they dwelt for several generations was in Halifax and Reed Townships, which townships were formed from Upper and Middle Paxtang Townships. The site is along the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River where Powell's Creek flows into the river, a picturesque locality south of the town of Halifax and about eighteen miles north of Harrisburg. The family also owned an island in the river which was called Newbaker's Island. A railroad station named Englenook is near by.

Both Martin Newbaker and his son Philip were enrolled in the Pennsylvania militia at the time of the American Revolution, being members of Captain James Murray's company of the Fourth Battalion of Lancaster County, commanded by Colonel Robert Elder. In 1777 Philip Newbaker was first lieutenant in Captain Martin Weaver's company of this battalion, but in lists for other years he and his father both are named as privates in Captain James Murray's company.

The muster rolls of this company for 1778 and 1779 appear in Volume VII of the Fifth Series of the Pennsylvania Archives, pages 337, 363, 377, 403 and 1030.

In the census of 1790 Martin Newbacker was listed as head of a family in Dauphin County, the family comprising three males over 16 years of age, one male under 16 years and five females. Philip Newbacker also was "head of a family" in the same county, his family con- sisting of two males over 16, three males under 16 and two females.

In this census Martin and Philip Newbaker were the only "heads of families" of that name in Pennsylvania.

Martin Newbaker probably died in 1803, for on July 28 of that year letters of administration were granted in Dauphin County to Margaret and Peter Newbaker and Jacob Hershey.

Children of Margaret Spare and Martin Newbaker are:

+	25	i.		Johann Philip³ Newbaker, born March 04, 1755 in Worcester Township, Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; died Abt. 1824 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
	26	ii.		Peter Newbaker, died Unknown.

More About Peter Newbaker:
Residence: Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

iii.

John Newbaker, died Unknown.

More About John Newbaker:
Residence: Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

iv.

Catherine Newbaker, died Unknown. She married Jacob B. Allaman; died Unknown.

Marriage Notes for Catherine Newbaker and Jacob Allaman:
lived in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

	29	v.		Margaret Newbaker, died Unknown.
	30	vi.		Christina Newbaker, died Unknown. She married W. Walsh; died Unknown.

Marriage Notes for Christina Newbaker and W. Walsh:
lived in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

vii.

Mary Newbaker, died Unknown. She married Jonas Schoffstall; died Unknown.

Marriage Notes for Mary Newbaker and Jonas Schoffstall:
lived in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

viii.

Sarah Newbaker, died Unknown. She married John Wells; died Unknown.

Marriage Notes for Sarah Newbaker and John Wells:
lived in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

ix.

Johann Jacob Newbaker, born April 07, 1770 in Worcester Township, Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; died Unknown.

More About Johann Jacob Newbaker:
Baptism: recorded at Wentz's Reformed Church, Worcester, Pennsylvania.
Residence: Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Newbaker, died Unknown.

      5. Elizabeth² Spare (Leonard¹) was born January 20, 1733/34 in Worcester Township, Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and died January 25, 1811 in Whitpain Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She married Daniel Yost, son of Jacob Yost and Elizabeth Shambach. He was born September 14, 1736 in Whitpain Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and died August 06, 1812 in Whitpain Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

More About Elizabeth Spare:
Burial: Unknown, Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell, Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania

Notes for Daniel Yost:
Daniel Yost was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Shambach) Yost. The parents were married in Pennsylvania. Both had been in the party of Palatines that arrived at Philadelphia in 1727 under the leadership of the Rev. George Michael Weiss, first ordained minister of the Reformed Church to come to Pennsylvania, of whom an account has been given in connection with Leonard Spare. Jacob Yost, who was 31 years old when he emigrated, came from Zweibrueken (umlaut u), on the Rhine, in Germany. In German the family name was written Jost. Several families of this name settled in what is now Montgomery County early in the eighteenth century, but it is not known that they were related.

Soon after his arrival Jacob Yost made his home in Whitpain Township, then Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, about fifteen miles northwest of the city of Philadelphia of that time. A log house that was his abode stood on the southwest side of Skippack Pike, northwest of Center Square, until the later years of the nineteenth century.

He was a weaver, and carried on his occupation in his home.

Jacob Yost and Elizabeth Shambach, daughter of Adolph and Dorothy Shambach, or Shambough, were married July 11, 1732.

Shortly thereafter Jacob Yost acquired eighty acres of land in Whitpain Township, west of Center Square. In accordance with the custom of that time in Pennsylvania, he was required to pay an annual quit rent for the property. Here he built a saw mill, power being obtained from Silver Run, a branch of Stony Creek. This probably was the first mill in Whitpain Township.

Later Jacob Yost bought ninety-five acres additional in the same locality.

On this tract successive generations of the Yost family dwelt until recent times.

Four sons and a daughter were born to Jacob and Elizabeth Yost. The sons, besides Daniel, included one, born April 16, 1733, who died in infancy; Jacob, born August 8, 1740; died November 18, 1743, and Peter, born October 5, 1742, who went to Dauphin County, Pa., and became a merchant.

The daughter, Anna Maria Yost, on August 2, 1753, married John Philip Boehm, youngest son of the Rev. John Philip Boehm, pioneer minister of the Reformed Church, whose activities have been described in the chapter on Leonard Spare. The Boehm family lived in Whit- pain Township, where the elder John Philip Boehm in 1740 founded the church at Blue Bell which bears his name.

John Philip Boehm the younger and his wife made their home in Philadelphia. In 1760 Jacob and Elizabeth Yost, parents of Mrs. Boehm, went to live with the Boebms in Philadelphia, spending the remainder of their lives there. The records of the First Reformed Church of Philadelphia show that Jacob and Elizabeth Yost were sponsors at the baptism of several children of Philip and Anna Maria Boehm.

Jacob Yost died in June, 1776, aged 79 years and nine months, and his widow died in August, 1786. Both were buried in the burial grounds of the First Reformed Church, the site of which is now included in Franklin Square, Seventh and Vine streets, Philadelphia.

Descendants of Jacob and Elizabeth (Shambach) Yost have been holding annual reunions since 1898. At the first reunion of 1898, held at the Yost homestead, in Whitpain Township, two members of the fourth generation from the ancestors were present --- Mrs. Sarah Yost Metz, 87 years old, and Mrs. Isaac Yost, 88 years old. John H. Bechtel, of Philadelphia, was elected president; J. Irwin Yost, of Center Square, secretary, and H. H. Hallman, Norristown, treasurer.

On going to Philadelphia Jacob Yost on November 27, 1768, deeded his Whitpain Township mill and farm to his son Daniel, the latter paying 450 pounds. The tract at that time included fifty-five acres of woodland, besides the cultivated part.

Daniel Yost possessed unusual mechanical genius. He was a blacksmith, and at his forge he made metal articles needed on farms and in households of the neighborhood. He became widely known for the scythes, sickles and other edged tools which he made. At the time of the American Revolution he also repaired guns.

His daybook, from 1768 until 1814, which was still in existence in 1931, gives some intimation of Daniel Yost's versatility, for the entries show he manufactured keys, locks, hinges and latches, besides edged tools; he mended clocks and farm tools, forged chains and sold stove pipe.

The shop in which Daniel Yost worked is a stone building fifteen by fifteen feet in size, with walls eighteen inches thick. At the shop was a water trough ten feet long hewn from a single piece of stone. In this trough scythes and other implements were tempered.

At the saw mill timber was prepared for building houses and barns and for making furniture. Later the saw mill was converted into a grist and chopping mill. The mill was operated until the end of the nineteenth century.

A cider mill on the farm, built about the time of the Revolution, stood until 1904.

St. Helena's Catholic Church now (1931) owns that part of the Yost farm on which the farmhouse, the mill, the smithshop and other old buildings still stand.

Daniel Yost and his oldest son were both enrolled in the Whitpain Township company of the Philadelphia County militia in the Revolution. (Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. XIII, page 733; Sixth Series, Vol. 1, page 891.) The service of these militia commands has been described in connection with Leonard and Daniel Spare.

Following is a copy of a document which further attests to the patriotism of Daniel Yost:

"Philadelphia County SS:
      "I do hereby certify that Daniel Yost, of Whitpain, and county aforesaid (Blacksmith) hath voluntarily taken and subscribed the oath of allegiance and fidelity, as directed by an act of General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed the 13th day of June, A. D. 1777. Witness my hand and seal the 30th day of May, A. D. 1778."
                                    "SETH QUE."

Daniel Yost was assessor, tax collector and road supervisor of Whitpain Township in the later years of the eighteenth century. In 1788 he was appointed to compute the damage done to residents of the township by British troops in the Revolution, when foraging parties made frequent incursions into the Whitpain region at the time of the British occupancy of Philadelphia.

He also was an elder of Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell, Whitpain Township.

Daniel Yost and his wife, as well as many of their descendants, are buried at Boehm's Church.

More About Daniel Yost:
Burial: Unknown, Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell, Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania

Children of Elizabeth Spare and Daniel Yost are:

Jacob³ Yost, born December 12, 1761 in Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania; died March 25, 1814 in Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania.

Notes for Jacob Yost:
Birth and death dates given are according to the family record. The baptismal record gives his date of birth as December 7, 1760.

More About Jacob Yost:
Baptism: April 05, 1761, Market Square Reformed Church, Germantown, Pennsylvania. The record notes on the same day the baptism of "Elizabeth Joostin, born Sperrin, aged 27 years," his mother.
Elected: 1813, a commissioner of Montgomery County and served in that office until his death the following year.

ii.

Maria Yost, born October 03, 1762; died November 26, 1840.

Notes for Maria Yost:
Her tombstone lists her birth and death dates as noted. Her baptismal record gives her birth date as September 1, 1762.

More About Maria Yost:
Baptism: Market Square Church, Germantown, Pennsylvania

+	37	iii.		Peter Yost, born January 28, 1765 in Whitpain Township, Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; died September 16, 1827 in Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
	38	iv.		Abraham Yost, born March 09, 1767; died September 22, 1848.

Notes for Abraham Yost:
Abraham was a trustee of Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, when it was incorporated, in 1821, and he held that office for twenty-five years. In 1822 he was elected president of the consistory of the congregation, and in that position he served for twenty-years.

Sarah Yost, born January 18, 1772; died January 03, 1853.

Notes for Sarah Yost:
Sarah kept herself well informed as to public affairs, and she had definite opinions on political questions in an age when women were not expected to be interested in such matters. In the presidential campaign of 1852, when she was 80 years old, she strongly espoused the cause of Franklin Pierce, the Democratic nominee, and she presented a hickory pole --- a Democratic symbol in those days --- to the Whipain Democratic Association. the raising of the pole, in front of Philip Gerhart's Brick tavern, at Center Square, was the occasion of a great demonstration.

By her will Sarah Yost left $400 to Boehm's Reformed Church, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, the interest to be used to aid members of the congregation, though she granted permission for the use of the principal for church improvements should such use be deemed desirable. The money was applied to the erection of a parsonage.

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