The Schnecks

Originally from Germany, Adam Schneck arrived in America through the port of Philadelphia. Some eight years later he and other German families migrated to the Lehigh Valley when the infamous Walking Purchase of 1737 allowed for the sale of lands which had previously been in the hands of Native Americans.

The Schneck

House

After the infamous Walking Purchase of 1737, German immigrants arriving in Philadelphia flocked to the valley (then part of Bucks County) seeking unoccupied land upon which to settle and farm. During the late 1730’s and 1740’s, the immigrants settled the valley areas (then known as “the back parts of Macungie” or “the Heidelberg district”). The Coplay Creek watershed was settled in this period, because its fertile, well-watered soil and forested land was recognized as potentially excellent farmland. Thus, between 1735 and 1750 the progenitors of such Pennsylvania German families as Stechel, Balliet, Bear, Wotring, etc., settled within the Coplay Creek watershed. By the early 1750’s a sufficient number of settlers lived in the valley so that a new county (called Northampton) was created from the northern parts of Bucks County including the Lehigh Valley.