This week I wanted to tell you about another branch of my mom’s family – Andreas BRINKER and Jacob BRINKER, my maternal 7th and 6th great grandfathers respectively. However, a quick Google search left me shocked. I’ve found no less than 3 researchers who’ve done an amazing amount of research and writing about Andreas and Jacob. I don’t think I can build on or add to all that they’ve done! So, I’m going to add in what few documents I found plus the pictures and video I took and I’m going to link you out to other researchers. I’ll give you a very brief background first.

Andreas BRINKER and his son, Jacob Michael BRINKER (originally spelled BRUNGGER and also I’ve seen it spelled BRÜNCKER) were my maternal 7th and 6th great grandfathers. The line goes from Andreas to his son Jacob Michael (a Revolutionary War veteran) to Jacob’s daughter Katherine BRINKER SEELY to Katherine’s son George Washington SEELY to George’s son Reverend Charles George SEELY to Charles’ daughter Mary Ann SEELY BATES who was the mother of my great-grandfather, Albert Lewis BATES. You can tell how the name changed to BRINKER if you listen to the pronunciation of the name BRÜNCKER.

Andreas was born in Rumikon, Elsau, Zurich, Switzerland on 9 July 1699. Sadly, he lost both his parents when he was 3 years old. I haven’t been able to learn who raised Andreas. On 26 April 1720, Andreas married Regula Zehnder HERTER. Their 5th child was Jacob Michael BRINKER. Jacob was born 9 November 1727 in the same place as his father. Jacob married Susannah HINKEL (also spelled HINCKEL or HINKLE). Andreas died 12 March 1764 and his son Jacob died 30 October 1798.

Just so you’re aware, much of the Easton, Pennsylvania history I talked about when I wrote about William PARSONS applies here. Easton and Sciota are only about 25 miles apart. Both places were affected severely by the Indian raids and the military involvement in the area among other things so just keep the Easton history in mind while you’re reading about Andreas and Jacob.

Bookmark This

Now you need to either bookmark these sites and read them when you’re through with my post or you need to put my post on hold and go read about this family. I first recommend Lee JUNKINS’ website MidSouthRescue. The link in the previous sentence will take you to the homepage. Read it to the end. You’ll get an overview of the BRINKER family. Then, go read Andreas’ amazing story. (There’s a little about Regula HERTER, my 7th great grandmother too if you’re interested in reading it.) After you read about Andreas, click over to his son (and my 6th great grandfather) Jacob Michael BRINKER’s story and read it as well.

Once you’ve studied Lee’s work, you need to go on over to Becky WISEMAN’s blog Kinexxions. Her BRINKER posts:

• Update from Salt Lake City :: One Month – Updating on her BRINKER research done in Salt Lake City, Utah
• The Brinker Kinexxion – New research on her BRINKER line

This woman (whose name I couldn’t locate) has a blog called Past Remains that includes some BRINKER research. You can find the BRINKER posts here:

• 52 Ancestors #38 Andreas Brinker, Swiss Immigrant to PA – Andreas is my 7th great grandfather.
• 52 Ancestors #40 Jacob Brinker & Susannah Hinkel from Switzerland to Western Pennsylvania – These are my 6th great-grandparents.
• 53 Ancestors #41 Abraham Brinker (Louisa Moser) Pioneer of Butler County PA 1774-1850 – Abraham was the son of Jacob and Susannah (HINKEL) BRINKER. She also included Abraham in this post about occupations of his ancestors.
• 52 Ancestors #42 – Jacob Brinker, Butler Innkeeper, Sheriff, Councilman, Colonel – This Jacob is the grandson of my 6th great-grandfather, Jacob. She also has a couple of posts about this Jacob’s daughter. If you’re interested you can do a search of her blog for the BRINKER surname and find those.

I’m keeping Paula TALBERT BRINKER’s blog on the back burner in the hopes that one day she’ll return to it. She is a descendant of Andreas BRINKER with more than 30 years’ research done.

Jeremiah DOWLING had a fabulous photo blog called The Orange Chair. He did a photoshoot with the orange chair at Brinker’s Mill. You should definitely go look at it. I had a good laugh and his book choice was SPOT ON!

Now that I’ve tuned you in to two amazing researchers plus a couple of other fun blogs, I’m not sure I even have a story left to tell but I’m going to try anyway.

My Contribution to Andreas BRINKER’s Story

We flew into Allentown on a Sunday evening. We found our hotel and then grabbed some local Philly style pizza. I didn’t even know Philly had a style of pizza but omg! It was so good! In case you’re ever in Hellertown, Pennsylvania, looking for pizza, I highly recommend Rocco’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant. They’re good, local people who make great pizza! So we got food and settled in for the night. Starting tomorrow I would be running all over the Poconos in search of my people.

The next morning I couldn’t wait to see Old Brinker’s Mill! I drove to Sciota, Pennsylvania to the Old Mill Preserve. I was sad to see the Mill is closed right now but I had fun looking around outside the building. They’ve really made this into a beautiful area where people can take a walk, photograph, etc.

Even though I don’t like including video with me talking, I’m going to add it anyway so you can hear the sounds and feel more like you’re at the mill.

Here are a couple more videos. They give you a better shot of the mill and one lets you briefly listen to the birds around the mill. They were singing beautifully and plentifully the day I was there.

As it turned out, I wasn’t able to get inside the mill at all due to construction. As I was leaving town I noticed a home with the construction company’s name on it so I turned in and asked the guy if he was the owner of the construction company working on the mill. He said he was. I asked if there might be any way I could get in and he said there wasn’t. He said he doesn’t know how they’re going to make it safe enough for workers to get in there and fix it. He said there was a flood a couple of years ago that took out one corner of the mill and the second floor collapsed onto the first and they aren’t sure how to proceed. He was a very nice man and a local so I’m hoping they get it figured out and people can start touring the mill in the near future.

One of my favorite pictures that I took is of a log cabin that’s just down the walking path from the mill. The story I read before I went to Pennsylvania was that my 5th great grandmother, Katrin (also spelled Ketrum or Ketrin/Ketren and is, I suppose, a Swiss or German pronunciation of Katherine) was born in a log cabin next to the Mill. I asked someone about the log cabin and how long it had been there. They said they didn’t know but it had been there a long time and there used to be many more family log cabins around it but the others had been torn down over the years.

On the mill property there are remnants of outbuildings and other “signs of life”:

And finally, the historical sign that hints at some of the history of the mill:

On to the Research Library

After spending a day in Sciota looking at the mill, I took a day and went to nearby Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania to the Monroe County Historical Association housed in the old Stroud Mansion. These are the books and documents I found there.

The second page of this article has two recipes at the bottom of the page that I want you to have.

In 1954, Brinker’s Mill finally got a rest. I initially found this article in the Mill vertical file at Monroe County Historical Association¹ but it didn’t have any identifying information. I was fortunate to find it on Newspapers.com with all it’s identifying information.³

Below is the only interior shot I’ve ever seen of Brinker’s Mill. Since I didn’t get to go inside due to the flood damage, I’ll include the interior shot that I’ve found (not to mention it’s the second page of the previous article).

Documents

Following are the documents I found in the BRINKER vertical file at Monroe County Historical Association.⁴

I also found a DAR app that indicates he was a patriot. I’m attaching it in case anyone would like to begin their DAR membership.⁴

Remember when I said that much of what happened at Easton also affected Sciota? Well, when I was looking through the old Revolutionary War era letters, I came across some Brinker’s Mill correspondence. I’ll include one quote from one of the letters here.

Brinker Mills, May 17, 1779

…the Wagoners left their wagons standing in the road and took their horses away for fear they would die and [I] had nothing to give them…

Alexander PATTERSON writing about the tenuous situation of Sciota during the “Indian Raids”.⁵

The military took over Brinker’s Mill as an outpost. Much of what was provided to the military (or possibly rather demanded or taken by the military) was never repaid to the people of the area. Jacob BRINKER had such losses and was never repaid by the government. George WASHINGTON himself gave orders to certain businesses in the area of Brinker’s Mill that they were to provide certain items to the soldiers and, in some cases, even specified how much was to be given them.

Andreas’ Old Homeplace

Utilizing what maps I could find online and comparing old and new maps, I tried to find the location of Andreas BRINKER’s old homeplace. I can’t guarantee this is it but I think this is pretty close to where he lived. The property has been turned into a landfill site.

I found some of the buildings in this area so interesting. Here are a few:

Final Thoughts

If you want something nice to remind you of who your ancestors were, I recommend the following item from the gift shop at Monroe County Historical Association:

Thanks for sticking with me this far. This has not been my typical blog post. I’ve never encountered an ancestor that was so well documented online that I had almost nothing left to add. I hope you’ve enjoyed it anyway. Be sure to check out those other bloggers. They’ve done amazing work.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Resources

1. Monroe County Mills Vertical File, Monroe County Historical Association.
2. Hamilton Township, Sciota, Pennsylvania, Vol 1, August 1995.
3. Newspapers.com, The Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 16 April 1954, accessed 16 June 2022.
4. BRINKER Vertical File, Monroe County Historical Association.
5. Weaver, Ethan Allen. Copies of Revolutionary War Letters Relating to Northampton County, PA. Easton Public Library, 1936.
6. Hoffman comp. & ed., Henry C. Landmarks of Monroe County. Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania.
7. Cagle, Carrol D. and Janet K. Warter. The Lineage of Andreas Brüncker/Brinker, 1699-1764.
8. Faust and Brumbaugh. Lists of Swiss Emigrants to the American Colonies.