Notes:

Niagara Gazette - 2/23/1943

SAD event of wide interest occurred
here 25 years ago today
when Elias Witmer. Niagara county's
oldest resident, died at his
home in the Saunders Settlement
road, near Sugar street, at the astonishing
age of 101 years and
four months. More remarkable still
was the fact that he died on the
same farm where he was born and
had spent almost his entire life.
A member of a family whose
longevity has become almost a leg-
end in this area, Mr. Witmer was a
son of Abraham Witmer, who had
settled in Niagara county in 1811.
He was of Swiss ancestry. With
the exception of a few years, dur-
ing which he taught school in Buf-
falo, he operated the Saunders Set-
tlement road farm until he retired
near the century mark. Even when
he was crowding 100 he frequently
walked allk the day from his farm to
downtown Niagara Falls. Unmar-
ried, he was survived by 25 ne-
phews and nieces, including Mrs.
Daniel Schmidt, with whom he re-
sided; 166 grand-nephews and
grand-nieces and 35 great grand-
nephews and great-grand-nieces.

ALSO

Buffalo NY Morning Express - 2/23/1918

Niagara Falls, Feb. 23 - Elias Wit-
mer, who was 101 years old on October
6, 1916, died shortly before 5 o'clock
this afternoon at his home on the Sandy
Settlement road a few miles east of this
city. He had been failing all winter.
Two weeks ago he caught cold, but he
was up last Monday. Fifteen minutes
before his death he talked with Andrew
Lauer (sic), a lifelong friend and neighbor,
and showed much interest in the news
of the day.
Mr. Witmer was born in the house in
which he died, a house built in 1811 by
his father, Abraham Witmer. He was
never married, but lived in the old
house with Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Smith,
the latter the daughter of Tobias Wit-
mer, a twin brother of Elias, who died
in 1897 at Williamsville. Abraham Wit-
mer had six sons and a daughter and
Elias was the last.
Elias Witmer was well known in
Western New York. He was a great
walker and visited many places. He
never smoked, shewed or drank, not
because of religious scruples, but be-
cause he thought the habits useless and
unhealthy. He would annoy tobacco
growers in the fields by telling them
their work was a waste of time.
In religion, Mr. Witmer was a Men-
nonite and it was his last request that
Jacob Habecker of a Mennonite settle-
ment in Pennsylvania be asked to offi-
ciate at his funeral. A telegram was
sent to Mr. Habecker and the funeral
will be held next Tuesday at the home.
Burial will be in the Witmer rural
cemetery, which was founded by Abra-
ham Witmer.

ALSO

Niagara Gazette - 10/9/1911

Elias Witmer, the oldest resident of
Niagara county, yesterday quietly observed
his th birthday at the old Witmer
homestead on the Saunders' Settlement
road. Though the aged man has
lost considerable of his former vigor
he Is still active mentally and physically.
>"-".>'°
Mr. Witmer, son of the late Abraham
Witmer, a Niagara pioneer was born
near old village of Suspension Bridge,
on October 8th, 1816, and has lived in
this vicinity all his life. For the greater
part of the time he has been a farmer.
As a young man he started In business
at the-north end of the city, but
his'health failed him and he had to
seek outdoor occupation. There is no
better example in Niagara county of the
value of the outdoor life than Mr. Witmer
There was never a day up up until
within a year that he did not walk from
ten to twelve miles. There was no
more picturesque figure than his with
his fishpole over his shoulder.
Until this year Mr. Witmer never
missed a picnic of the Niagara County
Pioneer's Association. He was very
eager to attend the outing, but he was
not in the best of health at the tlme
and was persuaded to remain at home.
But he is again in first class health
and appears to be well enough to warrant
belief that he will round out the
century.

ALSO

Niagara Gazette - 10/8/1915

Elias Witmer, who will one year from
today, if living then, complete a century
of life's cycle, retains within his time-
shrunken physical frame a soul and intel-
lect which, when given' play in conversa-
tlon, quickly dissipate thoughts of per-
sonal appearance and challenge regard.
Feeble and beset much of the time with
the ills of the aged, Mr. Witmer coura-
g e o u s l y arose and dressed today, walked
about the house a bit and affably greeted
close relatives and neighbors who gather-
ed to cheer him. He resides with his niece
Mrs. Daniel Schmidt, on the Saunders
Settlement road, a few rods beyond Sugar
street.
I feel as well as I could' well expect to
all things considered." declared the near
centenarian to his interviewer yesterday
afternoon. "I believe I shall live for some
years to come, possibly to 125." he added,
and shook hands with quite a firm grip.
The quarter hour's talk that followed was
punctuated with many merry quips and
jests on the part of Mr. Witmer. Much
was confidential, the rest may here be
told.
Born in Log Cabin.
"Yes, I am ninety-nine years old come
tomorrow," he said. "I was born on October
8, 1816, in a log-cabin about five or
ten rods south of this place and I have
always lived in this neighborhood except
during the few years that I traveled
through some of the states. I was spanked
here, I was trained here. I was
schooled here and I always lived here.
The log-house in which I was born has
passed away. It was two stories on the
ground floor and had no upper floors.
"Abraham Witmer was my father and
Barbara Witmer, nee Habaker, my mother.
I had five brothers and several sisters.
They are all dead and I am living
on. I have tried in vain to discover why
I, a man of small stature and not overstrong
should have lived so long and
outlived my larger, sturdier brothers and
sisters. It is a mystery to me so do not
ask me to explain the cause of my long-
evity.
Believes In Good Cheer.
"I was raised here on a farm and as a
youth became a farmer naturally enough.
l continued a farmer until I came to
realize that I was below medium slze and
then I went and learned the tailor's trade.
That I found deleterious to my health so
I sought the farm again and the rest of
my life I got my living from Mother
Earth herself. What I was unable to do
myself I hired others to do and here I
am. Long may you wave, my dear young
sir. You see I am of good cheer. I have
always found it good to keep cheerful,
"I never married. I am what they used
to call a bachelor. Is there any other
name used now that is not so harsh as
that? No? And you say they call them
bachelor girls instead of old maids, now-
adays? Well, that it better, that's a
I much better way to express it-hum, bachelor
girls."
"Well, I grew up under paternal discipline.
After years I volunteered to be
baptized in the church. In polities I have
always been a democratic Republican. and
-put this in capital letters, if you will-I
I'm anti-Masonic. Most of our family
lived to goodly years. My father lived
over eighty years. Have I told you
enough about myself, now?''
H e r e ' s Old Age Recipe.
"What Is your recipe for living to the
age of ninety and nine years?" Mr. Witmer
was asked.
"Well, I have always confined my eating
to a plain farmer diet of wholesome.,
well-cooked food, off my own farm, the
aged.man replied. "I have never used
tobacco and of alcoholic drinks. I never
partook except very sparingly at any
time. Alcohol is injurious to success. As
a medicine, however, I favor its use."
"Are you still able to read?" asked the
reporter.
"Yes," was the reply. "I read some
with these spectacles but the types have
grown pretty dim. I have been able to
read some about the great war in Europe
and have heard some about it- I have
no words to express the horror of it.
I only pray God to favor the right, on
whichever side it may lie. May God direct
it r i g h t"
With the light of happiness over the advent
of another birthday shining from his
wrinkled face, Ellas Witmer waved his
hand in adieu as his Interviewer departed
and down the hall stairs he again piped
shrilly, "Long may you wave."

Notes:

Abraham Witmer was a pioneer settler from Lancaster County, PA, who settled on a farm of several hundred acres about one mile northeasterly from the old suspension bridge in the town of Niagara., NY


Tonawanda News - 7/18/1970

By WILLARD DITTM AR
President
Historical Society
of the Tonawandas
Witmer Road, connecting
Niagara Falls Boulevard
and River Road in North
Tonawanda, was named for
a family of early frontier
settlers.
In 1810, John Witmer and
his family, consisting of his
wife and eight children, left
Lancaster, Pa., and settled
on a 100-acre farm on
Military Road, which he had
purchased from one Isaac
Swain. At that time there
was only one other clearing
on Military Road.
Abram Witmer, a brother
of John, came to the Niagara
Frontier in 1811 from the
same place in Pennsylvania
with his wife and four children.
They settled on a tract
of land purchased from the
Holland Land Co. on
Saunders Settlement Road.
When the War of 1812 broke
out, Abram took his family,
which had grown larger,
back to Pennsylvania. The
Witmer brothers were
Mennonites and had
religious scruples against
war.
Tobias Witmer, one of
Abram's seven sons, was
born in 1816 at Bellevue
(Suspension Bridge) and
became one of the first
surveyors of the region. He
made several maps of early
Tonawanda which are still
the main reliance for lot
lines and street boundaries.
On an 1852 map of Niagara
County there are shown
nine families of Witmers
living at different points in
the Town of Niagara. The
two first Witmers. John and
Abram. reared 17 children,
most of whom survived and
married.

Abraham married HABECKER, Barbara on 8 Oct 1804 in Columbia, Lancaster County, PA. Barbara (daughter of HABECKER, Christian and HERR, Esther) was born on 23 Oct 1782 in Manor Township, Lancaster County, PA; died on 6 Jul 1859 in Witmer Homestead, Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY; was buried in WItmer Memorial Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Niagara Gazette - Abt 7/1957

By CLARENCE O. LEWIS
Niagara County Historian
IN 1810.JOHN WITMER and
his family consisting of his wife
and eight children left Lancaster,
Pa., in a Conestoga wagon with
a four horse team. AM their worldly
possessions were in that wagon.
They were bound for the
Niagara Frontier. The trip was
made in late August and early
September and required 18 days.
The route was circuitious until
they reached Batavia from whence
they followed the Buffalo road
to Black Rock and thence down
the river to Devil's Hole where
they took a road which had been
chopped out by Isaac Swain. This
led to his clearing where the Military
road crosses Gill Creek, close
to the northern boundary of the
Town of Niagara.
Mr. Swain had. partially cleared
the timber from about 40 acres
and erected a good-size log house.
John Witmcr had purchased this
100 acre farm of Mr. Swain who
then moved to the Town of Porter
and settled south of Youngstown.
At this period (1810) there was
only one other clearing on the
Military road in the present town
of Niagara.
A short time before John Witmer
brought his family from Pensylvania,
he had ridden through
on horseback and purchased his
land. When he left his old home
he had cut a slender branch from
a Locust Tree to use as a switch.
When he reached his new home
he planted the switch in the rich
soil in front of the log cabin. The
switch, so the family tell me, took
root and today one may see as I
did, on the east side of the military
road some 25 odd feet north
of the Gill Creek crossing, a large
gnarly old locust tree that has
every earmark of being old enough
to verify the family legend.
* • *
WHEN THE TOWN of Niagara
was organized in April 1812.
John Witmer was elected one of
the "pathmasters." In 1817 he
built a small sawmill on Gill
Creek near his home and in 1818
began to saw and sell lumber.
"A great many of the first frame
houses in that part of Niagara
and adjacent towns were built of
lumber from his sawmill. Last
week I called on Mrs. Theresa
Morrison and Miss Serena Witmer
of 1024 Grove Ave., who are great
granddaughters of John Witmer.
They were most hospitable and
very willing to help me complete
this story. One incident they told
me was about Benjamin Witmer
son of John, and their great uncle
who as a boy of 17 during the
War of 1812, ventured down to
the bank of the Niagara opposite
one of the teaters of battle on the
Canadian, side and as he peered
through the bushes a four-pound
cannon ball came whizzing across
the river and took hit hat off his
head. When be had recovered
from the shock he found the cannon
ball imbedded in the earth
and took it home and it is still
kept by these ladies as a memento
of those troublous times of long
ago.
Abram Witmer, a brother of
John, came to the Frontier in
1811 from the same place in
Pennsylvania. His wife and four
children came with him. Their
trip was similar to John's. They
settled on a tract of land purchased
from the Holland Land
Co. It was on the Saunder's Settlement
road just east of Sugar
Street, and on the west abutted
on the Mile Reserve. He built,
a log house and began to clear
his land. At the first town meeting
in 1812 he was also elected
a pathmaster. When the War
broke out he took his family back
to Pennsylvania. The Witmer brothers
were Mennonites and had
religious scruple against war.
« » *
OUT OF AN estimated total of
337 homes along the Frontier, the
English and Indians looted and
burned all but a few that were
somewhat isolated! Fortunately
Abram Witmer's was one of these,
so that when they returned everything
was just as they had left it.
When the weather was too bad
to go to Porter's Grist, Mill at
the Falls they used a hollowed
out stump and a spring pole with
a stone tied to it for a pestle to
grind their grain.
In the spring of 1836 Benjamin
Rathbun came to Niagara Falls
to invest in real estate and erect
buildings. He heard that Abram
Witmer Jr., had a brick kiln
where he was making brick for
his house. Mr. Rathbun entered
into a contract with father and
son to make 300,000 brick for
him which he would pay for on
delivery. They had made and delivered
about two-thirds of the
contract when Rathbun's business
empire founded more or less on
credit, failed — partly, on account
of the financial panic of
that year and partly because of
unscrupulous deals.
The Witmers lost heavily but
made the best of a bad deal, selling
the bricks left on their hands
wherever they could find a market.
Abram Sr., was a carpenter
and cabinet maker as well as a
farmer.
Among documents found in the
old Court House attic were two
legal papers dated 1853 containing
the signatures of Abram Witmer
and Tobias, another son.
Abram, Sr., died Sept. 4, 1851.
Christian H. Witmer, the oldest
of Abram's seven sons operated
Judge Porter's Grist mill near the
present River end of First street
He also had a mill of his own
somewhat later, on the high bank
of the River near the Whirlpool
Bridge. On Sept. 17, 1859 while
working on the raceway he fell
into the water and was carried
down into the River and to his
death in the Whirlpool.
,* • *
TOBIAS WITM'ER was born in
1816 at Bellvue, (Suspension
Bridge). He was one of the first
surveyors of that region, his maps
being still the main reliance for
lot lines, etc. He was quite a
genius, being an inventor, author,
poet and a preacher besides a
Civil Engineer. One of his inventions
was the bicycle wheel. He
made the spokes of the wires from
an old hoop skirt. He also invented
a corn sheller, an automatic
rairoad switch,- pile driver,
portable signal tower for use
in the Army, fire escape, etc.
He taught school for a time
In 1861 although he had a family
of 12 children he enlisted in a
Civil War Regiment He died in
1897 in Williamsville, Erie Co.,
leaving a record of accomplishments
that seldom is equalled.
Elias Witmer, twin brother of
Tobias, finished his schooling at
the Lewiston Academy after which
he learned the tailor's trade. Later
he taught school, but finding his
health impaired he stuck to farm-
ing the rest of his long life.
Practically all the advancement
of the Niagara Frontier, from its
wild state to the highly developed
status of 1918, was. encompassed
in his life. In his youth oxteams
were a common sight along Portage
road. He was in Buffalo on
Oct 26, 1825, to see the official
opening of the Erie Canal and saw
DeWitt Clintonon the "Seneca
Chief and heard the cannon
"telegraph that carried the notice
of the starting of the Seneca
Chief on its voyage to the Atlantic
Ocean.
# • •
ELIAS WITMER was greatly
interested in the Niagara County
Pioneer's Assoc, organized in 1877
and was one time vice president
He was a regular attendant at
the Olcott Pioneer's Picnics. In
1914 when he was 98 years old
he planned to attend the picnic,
writing, a card to the Secty., George
S. Gooding in advance signifying
his intentions. He died Feb. 23,
1918, aged 102 years, in the
homestead built by his father in
1821.
On the 1852 map of Niagara
County there are shown nine
families of Witmer's living at different
points in the Town of Niagara.
The two first Witmers,
John and Abram, reared 17 children,
most of whom survived and
married.
A few moved out of Niagara
County, but the majority of them
lived and operated various types
of business in this County. The
Witmer road connecting Hyde
Park Blvd. with the Military
road perpetuates the family name.
There are today in Niagara
Falls six families descended from
the two pioneer brothers, .John
and Abram. They are Orlando
B. Witmer, 2215 Pierce Ave.; M.
T. Witmer, 1301 Ferry Ave; Miss
Emma A. Witmer, 1600 Cleveland
Ave.; Christian H. Witmer. 1174
Haeberle Ave.; and my collaborators,
Miss Serena T. Witmer and
Mrs. Theresa Morrison, 1024
Grove Ave. Also a great great
grandson, Robert C. Witmer,
2913 Michigan Ave.

Johannes married SCHALLENBURGER, Maria about 1755. Maria was born about 1735; died between 1774 and 1840. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Christian + HERR, Esther. Esther (daughter of HERR, David and HERSHEY, Barbara) was born on 18 Jul 1755 in Millersville, Lancaster County, PA; died on 28 Nov 1830 in Lancaster County, PA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From the book, "The Witmer Family" compiled by Maxine Blankenhorn Bennett, pub. by Clifford H. Bennett, 1984

Peter Widmer was born abt. 1698 in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. He was listed in the congregation of Swiss Mennonite families who had fled because of religious persecution, to the more tolerant Upper Rhine Valley of Germany and were living there in 1731. Later he was in the congregation at Hasselbach, four miles from Bischofshelm to the South.
Peter and his wife Anna emigrated with their children on the English ship "Restauration", James Hall, Captain, from Rotterdam, last from Leith -- arrived in Philadelphia harbor 9 Oct 1747. They settled in Lancaster County, near friends and relatives who had also emigrated from the Palatinate or adjacent German Duchies. Peter and Anna were parents of several children, but only five are known.

Peter married BACHMAN, Anna Catharine between 1716 and 1752. Anna was born between 1695 and 1720; died between 1745 and 1808. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joseph + ERISMAN, Barbara. Barbara (daughter of ERISMAN, Melchior and Edith) was born on 15 Oct 1730; died on 10 Dec 1770. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

David married HERSHEY, Barbara in 1738. Barbara (daughter of HERSHEY, Christian and EGLE, Esther) was born in 1718 in Lancaster County, PA; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]