Pfoutz, Simeon^[1]

1780 - 1856  (76 years)

• Name	Pfoutz, Simeon
  Birth	9 Jan 1780	Pfoutz Valley, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Cemetery	North Bend Cemetery, North Bend, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States
  	North Bend Cemetery
  	Address: North Bend Cemetery
  Residence	24 Oct 1850	Leidy Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States   [1]
  	Living in the home of his son Jacob.
  _AMTID	-1594634896:1030:839865
  _COLOR	1
  _FSFTID	LHRR-1ZZ
  _UID	7153D132125244BFA8DB4664F7A0A257EBCE
  Death	26 Aug 1856	Kettle Creek, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States
  Burial	North Bend, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States
  	Address: North Bend Cemetery
  Oldest Known Ancestors	Paternal Line: Johann Michael Pfoutz,   b. 1656, Rohrbach Rheinish d. 1683, Rohrbach Rheinish Maternal Line: Sarah Woodrow,   b. Abt 1757, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 1792, Pfoutz Valley, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States
  Person ID	I3073	Family Tree
  Last Modified	30 May 2024

  
  

  Father	Pfoutz, George,   b. Abt 1754, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 17 Nov 1833, Wayne County, Ohio, United States (Age 79 years)
  Mother	Woodrow, Sarah,   b. Abt 1757, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 1792, Pfoutz Valley, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 35 years)
  Family ID	F1685	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Minnick, Susannah,   b. 8 Jun 1794, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 12 Mar 1848, Kettle Creek, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 53 years)
  Marriage	3 Oct 1810	German Reformed Church, Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States
  Children	1. Pfoutz, Simon,   b. 26 Dec 1813, Kettle Creek, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 21 May 1892, Chapman Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 78 years)   2. Pfoutz, Martha Harriet,   b. 9 Jun 1816, Kettle Creek, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 17 Sep 1889, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 73 years)   3. Pfoutz, Sarah,   b. 1 Apr 1818, Pennsylvania, United States d. 1903, Chapman Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 84 years)   4. Pfoutz, Jacob W,   b. 24 Jun 1820, Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 1 Apr 1868 (Age 47 years)   5. Pfoutz, Susannah,   b. 26 Aug 1822, Leidy Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 24 Dec 1903, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 81 years)   6. Pfoutz, Nancy,   b. 2 Sep 1826, Chapman Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 17 Dec 1901, Shintown, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 75 years)   7. Pfoutz, Mary Ann,   b. 24 Feb 1829, Pennsylvania, United States d. 25 Dec 1915, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 86 years)   8. Pfoutz, Catherine,   b. 26 Apr 1831, Pennsylvania, United States d. 28 Jan 1891, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 59 years)   9. Pfoutz, David,   b. 12 Feb 1839, Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 3 Aug 1906 (Age 67 years)   10. Pfoutz, Christopher C,   b. 6 Dec 1843, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States d. 26 Nov 1921, Lock Haven, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F991	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 May 2024

  
  

• Event Map

  Cemetery - North Bend Cemetery,Address: North Bend Cemetery - - North Bend Cemetery, North Bend, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States Residence - 24 Oct 1850 - Leidy Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States Burial - Address: North Bend Cemetery - - North Bend, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  First white settler of Leidy Twp Died from a rattlesnake bite Linn, John Blair, History of Centre & Clinton Counties, pp. 635-642. Simeon Pfouts was the first white man that settled upon the waters of Kettle Creek. He was a man who possessed a strong physical constitution, reckless of danger, with a predilection for wild adventure, having previously traveled extensively amid the wilds of Southern States. In the year 1813 he made his way up the West Branch as far as the mouth of Kettle Creek, which is said to have derived its name from the finding of a kettle in it near its confluence with the Susquehanna by some one of the white settlers residing within the vicinity of its mouth. Ascending that stream a distance of about eight miles, he came to a bend in its course, and on the eastern side was a flat of rich land of sufficient length and breadth for a handsome farm, bounded on the east by a lofty mountain, and on the western side of the creek the rock-crowned summit of Savage Mountain shoots up in the skies to the height of twelve hundred feet. There, amid the wildest scenery, the huge trees of the forest soon began to fall before the steady blows of his axe. The game in the woods and the fish in the creek furnished the largest share of his provision stock. Passing the summer engaged in clearing land and constructing a rude dwelling, in the fall he stepped into his canoe, and was soon moving upon the rapid current of Kettle Creek in the direction of his home in Perry County. In the spring of 1814, bidding adieu to friends and home and the scenes of earlier days, in company with his wife and little boy, then two years old, and a man by the name of Paul Shade, made their way to the Susquehanna River, and packing a few household goods and a stock of provisions into a keel-boat, they started up the river for their new home. Arriving at the mouth of Kettle Creek, they reshipped their goods into a large canoe, which they pushed up the creek to the place selected the year previous by Pfouts. The two men then commenced enlarging their improvement, and the cultivation of the land already cleared; but they were compelled to realize the many disadvantages attending a pioneer life. Situated many miles beyond the confines of civilization, where the voice of a white man was seldom heard, not a road or foot-path gave evidence of the advance of civilization between the waters of the Susquehanna and the Allegheny, - that is, in a northern and western direction. The streams of the township were teeming with trout, deer were very plenty in the woods, wolves roamed through the forests in droves, and panthers were numerous. Mr. Pfouts was an expert hunter, and often would the nimble footed deer fall before the aim of his rifle. On one occasion at least his life was in great peril. He was traveling down the creek, hunting for his cows. At the foot of Spice-wood Island, which is located about a mile below his residence, he found three young panthers lying in their nest of leaves, underneath the shelter of an old root. He quickly gathered them up in his arms, and started for home. When he had arrived within about one-fourth of a mile of his residence the sound of panther yells fell upon his ears. Then commenced a race for life, and Pfouts fully developed the strength of his muscles. Nearer and louder were the terrible screams of that huge monster. Pfouts gained the race by a few feet, and, rushing into the house, he dropped his young panthers, and seizing his rifle shot the panther, which fell dead near his door. At another time, in company with Paul Shade, pushing a canoe up from the river laden with provisions, when within a mile or two of his home, at a point where the channel of the stream is narrow, suddenly an enormous panther leaped from his concealed position among the rocks at the form of Pfouts, and alighted in the water close to the stern of the canoe, the rapid current carrying it some distance down stream before it reached shore. One day, while out hunting with his well-trained dog, he killed four panthers, and the following day he killed another. Near the mouth of Beaver Dam Run he caught one in a trap which measured eleven feet and six inches in length. In 1816 a young female stranger made her appearance, and from that time on constituted one of the family circle, the first white child born on Kettle Creek, still living and occupying the position of wife of Isaac Summerson, being in comfortable and prosperous circumstances, with children and grandchildren in sufficient numbers to form quite a colony. They were the first couple married on Kettle Creek. Mr. Pfouts erected the first saw-mill and grist-mill that was constructed on Kettle Creek. He reared a family of nine children, eight of whom are now living. He died on the 26th of August, 1856, from the bite of a rattle-snake which he held in his hands in a playful manner, demonstrating to a young friend the harmless nature of those venomous reptiles.

  
  

• Sources

  [S703] 1850 CHECKED United States Federal Census, Leidy Twp, Clinton County, PA; D1 F1. 1850 US Census Leidy Twp, Clinton County, Pennsylvania