An American Family History

Anthony Yerkes was born in 1663 in Germany or Holland. He was a farmer. He married Margaret about 1687. Their children and life together are described in detail in the section on Anthony and Margaret Yerkes. Margaret was born about 1687 in Holland. She died before November 17, 1705.

On September 11, 1702, he served as a juryman before the Court of Record in Germantown. On December 28, 1703 he became one of the three burgesses of Germantown.

He married his son's mother-in-law, Sarah Eaton Watts, the widow of the Reverend John Watts in Philadelphia on September 9, 1709.  After that he settled in the Manor of Moreland.

In 1710 he became a member of the Low Dutch Reformed Church in Whitemarsh Township. 

His residence mentioned in a deed dated June 11, 1719 was Dublin Township where his wife's relatives lived. He may have retired there.

In 1729 he was naturalized. The assembly declared him entitled to the rights and privileges of subjects of the king.

The place of nativity of Anthony Yerkes remains a matter of conjecture. It has been assumed by others that he was a German, but the writer has found no evidence to establish such assumption. It is possible, however, that he came to Pennsylvania from Germany, and was a resident of the latter country at the time of his emigration. But, wheresoever the place of his birth, there are some items of circumstantial evidence which tend to indicate that he was of Holland descent. This evidence is found in the facts that he became a member of the Low Dutch Reformed Church organized in 1710 in Whitemarsh Township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County; that most of his fellow church-members were of Dutch birth or of Dutch descent; and that another of his surname, undoubtedly a Hollander, earlier emigrated to New York, and was a member of the Dutch Church in that city.

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