Yerkes has also been spelled Gerkes, Gerckes, Jerghes, Jerghjes, Jurckes,Yercas, Yercks, Yerkhas, Yerkas, Yerkiss, Yerks, and Yerkus
It was common for bequests in Colonial America to include wearing apparel.
Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans through their possesions.
Sarah Yerkes Hufty was born on July 15, 1716 in the Manor of Moreland which is now Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Herman Yerkes and Elizabeth Watts.
She married Jacob Hufty (Huffy) of Abington. He was the son of Benjamin Hufty (Hufte) and Ida Hermon (Hermen).
Sarah and Jacob's children included:
Elizabeth Hufty,
Mary Hufty Cowell (married Christian Cowell),
John Hufty (1742, married Elizabeth Yerkes), and
Jacob Hufty (1751, married Sarah Barclay).
Jacob died in late 1750 or in January, 1750/51.
In 1751 when her father died, she received 30 pounds according to the provisions of his will.
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
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.
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.
Chronicle of the Yerkes Family: With Notes on the Leech and Rutter Families by Josiah Granville Leach
Sarah Yerkes (Herman2, Anthony1), eldest daughter and third child of Herman Yerkes by his wife Elizabeth Watts, was born in the Manor of Moreland, Montgomery (formerly Philadelphia) County, Pennsylvania, 15 July, 1716, married Jacob Hufty, of Abington.
He died in the latter part of 1750, or in January, 1750-51, as on the 30th of that month letters of administration on his estate were granted at Philadelphia unto his widow, Sarah Hufty, "during the minority of the minor children," her brother, Anthony Yerkes, being one of the sureties on the bond filed.
She was living 30 April, 1752, when she joined with some of her brothers and a sister in conveying to their brother, Josiah Yerkes, land of which their father had died possessed, and she is styled in the conveyance "of Moreland, widow." On the back of the administration bond the names of the children appear as follows:
33. Elizabeth Hufty.
34. Mary Hufty.
35. John Hufty.
36.
Jacob Hufty.
Elizabeth Yerkes (Harman, Herman, Anthony), eldest daughter and second child of Harman Yerkes by his wife Mary Stroud, was born (probably in the Manor of Moreland) 5 September, 1753; married, 14 April, 1770, John Hufty, who is thought to have been her cousin, and son of Jacob Hufty by his wife Sarah Yerkes. The marriage is recorded on the books of the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, and on the printed list of marriages of that church the name is erroneously given as "Huffdale."
John Hufty lived upon lands of his wife's father, and afterwards occupied and farmed the plantation of her brother-in-law, Major Reading Howell, on the Street Road in Warminster Township, Bucks County, later removing with his family to Greene County, Pennsylvania, where he is said to have died. They are said to have had two daughters,—Phebe, given below, and one whose Christian name is unknown.
