Yerkes has also been spelled Gerkes, Gerckes, Jerghes, Jerghjes, Jurckes,Yercas, Yercks, Yerkhas, Yerkas, Yerkiss, Yerks, and Yerkus
Byberry is a township in the northeast corner of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The Walton brothers were early settlers. Moreland Township was just west of Byberry. When Montgomery County broke off in 1784, Moreland was divided into two townships, both called Moreland. In 1917 the Montgomery County Moreland split into Upper Moreland Township and Lower Moreland Township.
Titus Yerkes was born in 1731 in the Manor of Moreland which is now Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.. His parents were Herman Yerkes and Elizabeth Watts.
He was a farmer and had a saw mill. He owned a farm of seventy acres located in what is now Terwood in Moreland Township. He was a member of Union Library Company of Hatboro.
He married Margaret Paul. Her parents were Joseph Paul and Elizabeth Bridewell
Their children included:
Jonathan Yerkes (1759, married Elizabeth Jarrett) and
Titus Yerkes (1762, married Mary Streper).
Titus died in 1762 in Moreland. After he died, Margaret married John Nesmith.
The Union Library of Hatborough was formed in August, 1755 by 38 men who met the Crooked Billet Tavern. They each paid ten shillings a year to buy books. In August, 1756, the first shipment arrived from England.
The Manor of Moreland was composed of a tract of ten thousand acres, and was created, in 1682, by a grant from William Penn to Dr. Nicholas More. Most of the Manor was in Philadelphia County, but is now
Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
