The story of the George Christian Spangler Historic Farm and its
Spangler family heritage goes back over 250 years. Twenty-one
year-old George Christian Spangler, Sr. left his native Prussia,
emigrated from Holland on the ship Jacob, and arrived in
Philadelphia on October 2, 1749.
He settled in Moore Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania and
married Anna Marie Kreider in Northampton County four years later.
Together they owned land, farmed, and raised ten children - George
Christian, Jr., Barbara Margarete, Johann Henry, Johann Christopher,
John, George Peter, Johan Michael, Suzanna, Johann George, and Anna
Maria. Spangler also served in the Northampton militia during the
Revolutionary War. Around 1794 George Christian and Anna Marie moved
to Rebersburg, Centre County. George Christian Spangler, Sr. died
there in 1802 followed by Anna Marie thirty years later.
In 1791 George Christian Spangler, Sr. and his wife Anna Marie
(Kreider) Spangler transferred land in central Pennsylvania to their
eldest son George Christian Spangler, Jr. This land was located
along the northern bank of Penns Creek in what was originally
Northumberland County (Union and Snyder Counties would be created
out of the western area in Northumberland County.) Today this land
is in Limestone Township, Union County.
George Christian Spangler, Jr. was born on November 2, 1755. He,
like his father and at least one brother, also served in the
Northampton Militia during the Revolutionary War. He married Anna
Catherine in 1781. In 1802, the forty-seven year-old George
Christian, Jr. built his stone house and farmed on the land he was
deeded along Penns Creek, approximately five miles west of New
Berlin, Union County. Together, George Christian and Anna Catherine,
raised eight children on the farm- Jacob, Christopher, Susanna,
twins Jonathan and Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Saloma, and Catherine.
George Christian Spangler, Jr. died on March 2, 1829, and Anna
Catherine Spangler died on July 7, 1841. Both are buried
in the New Berlin Cemetery, New Berlin, PA.
It was this union between George Christian Spangler, Jr. and Anna
Catherine Spangler, along with the creation of their farm
along Penns Creek that began a long era of farming in the Spangler
family; the farm was owned and operated by a Spangler descendent for
well over 145 years. It is a farming legacy lasting over 200 years
to the present and continuing into the future.