The following article was found in The Perry County Democrat, Bloomfield, Perry County, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, March 17, 1926, Page 1, Columns 6-7:
Ancestors, Perry County Chapter, D.A.R.
By Charlotte J. Barnett, Historian
Peter Scheibley
It very often happens that there is a variation in the spelling of family names from early days to present time. The family name of the Sheibleys had an unusual number of variations. Five different spellings of the name are found in the deeds, inscriptions and other records: Scheibly, Shively, Sheifly, Sheifley and Scheibley. The spelling of the name in his old family Bible is Scheibly, and the same is used in the inscription on his tombstone. The spelling used by his descendants in Perry county is Sheibley.
Peter Scheibly was born April 10, 1742, in Switzerland, of German parentage, according to the most reliable family traditions. One descendant, however, claims that he was a Swiss Huguenot, which would indicate a French parentage.
He came to this country "at an early age" with two brothers, as a Redemptioner. He settled in Berks county, where he lived before and during the Revolutionary War. Several other counties are mentioned, by different descendants as his place of residence.
There are five references to Peter Scheibly (Scheifly) in the Pennsylvania Archives. Three of these record him as a private in the Sixth Battalion, Northampton County Militia, in 1781. The fourth reference gives the date as 1787, evidently a typographical error, and the fifth is a record of his receiving depreciation pay for services on the Continental Line, Northampton County Militia.
It had always been a matter of family tradition among his descendants that he was a Revolutionary soldier, but these references to him as a soldier in the Continental Army given in the Archives, are the official proof of traditions of descendants and friends.
Those who lived in Revolutionary times were called upon to endure many hardships. They had hardships and discouragements in addition to the hardships of war.
Peter Scheibly owned a farm in Berks county. About 1780 he sold this farm and received payment for it in Continental money, which soon became worthless, which meant the loss of his farm.
But the pioneers were a necessity men who were not easily discouraged. So he took a fresh start, when almost fifty years old. He came to what was then Cumberland county, now Perry county, where he bought a farm, known as the Henry Kline farm in Tyrone township, in 1789, and took up his residence there. At one time he owned 691 acres of land.
In 1802, he bought the farm near Greenpark, which has ever since been known as the Peter Scheibly farm. The old farmhouse at Greenpark in which he lived is still standing and is occupied by his son-in-law's great-grandson, Edgar A. Stambaugh. On this farm was Stambaugh's Woods, for many years a favorite picnic ground.
At his death his estate was valued at more than $20,000, which in those days, would make him a comparatively wealthy man, and he accumulated this amount in spite of his early loss.
He died September 7, 1823. He was twice married, and, according to the inscription on his tombstone, he was the father of twenty children. He and his second wife are buried side by side in the Union graveyard at Loysville. The inscription on his tombstone is in German and on that of his wife in English.
Like so many of the pioneers of Perry county, Peter Scheibly was devoted to the church and took an active part in the founding of churches. Shortly after he came to Perry county, the Lebanon Church at Loysville was built, and he was one of the building committee, and one of the trustees to whom the land for church purposes was deeded.
He was said by his older descendants to have been a very religious man. His family Bible is still in the possession of one of his descendants. It is of very large size, heavy, and strongly bound, and is in perfect condition.It was printed in German, in 1788, from Luther's translation made in 1534. It contains many illustrations.
Sixteen of his twenty children married and raised large families. Elizabeth, (Mrs. Jacob Stambaugh) never had any children.
The family of Peter Scheibly was one of the prominent pioneer families of the county. His descendants have intermarried with other large Perry county clans. Many of his descendants are found in Perry county and in other parts of Pennsylvania, and in practically all the States of the Union. They include men and women prominent in Church and State, ministers, physicians, and other professional men, law-makers, editors and business men. Several legislators from Perry county were his descendants and the founder of the Advocate and Press was his grandson.
HIs example in fighting for his country has been followed by his descendants, and many of them were found among the soldiers of the War of 1812, the Civil War and the World War.
A very complete genealogical history of the family was published in 1924, by his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Laura Wilhide Johnston. The book entitled "Descendants of My Great-Grandparents". In Mrs. Johnston's family are two professional men and on professional woman.
Peter Scheibly is represented in the Perry County Chapter, D.A.R., by the Regent, Mrs. Laura Willhide Johnston, and her daughter, Dr. Catharine Johnston; by the Treasurer, Mrs. Mary Kline Patterson, by the Chaplain, Miss M. Zula Swartz, by Mrs. Olevia Kistler Rickard, a director in the chapter; Miss Gertrude English, Miss Martha Kline English, Mrs. LaRue Ritter Fickes, Mrs. Isabelle Burd Newlin and Mrs. Maude Eudora Ritter. Several other applications for membership have been made on his record.
Peter Scheibly's official Revolutionary war record had been sought by men and women for many years without success. Since the publication of his genealogy, the record in it has been used by many in different places outside of Perry county. Among them are: Miss Nell Nace, Chambersburg; Misses May and Louise Naugle, Fremonth, Ohio; Mrs Lulu Gay (Mowery) Foulk, Youngstown, Ohio; her daughter, Mrs. Carl KcKee, Sharon, Pa,; Dr. Will H. Whistler, Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. Henry Wentz, Shelby, Ohio.
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