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Moorer (Murer, Maurer) 1. PETER MURER (Sr.), was baptized 20 Jan 1684 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] and died 21 Dec 1758 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[3,4]. He was the second son of CHRISTEN MURER and MADLENA WÄTTERLING. He married MADLENA (Madl) TANNER (Danner) of Oberwil on 24 Oct 1713 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland. She was baptized 15 Jan 1682 in Oberwil, BE, Switzerland, the oldest child of PETER TANNER The Younger and MADLENA BURRET[2]. Zweisimmen is a town in the Simmental (Simme Valley) in Canton Bern, Switzerland. It was an administrative center in the mid-eighteenth century. Hans Tanner, a fellow immigrant on the Samuel, in his letter of 18 Sep 1735[9], notes that two of Peter Maurer’s children died on the voyage: ... of those from Sibenthal [Simmental] four children died, two of Peter Maurer's and two of Peter Aegger's[9]. Note – I’ve not been able to find out if Hans Tanner and Peter Murer’s wife Madlena Tanner were related. Peter Mooree platted 150 acres of land and town lot #160 on 21 Oct 1735[6]. The Giessendanner Record[3,4] notes that Peter Murer, Senior was a native of Canton Bern and almost 75 years old at his death: 89} 1758 Thursday Decembr 21st died after 15 Days Illness and on Friday Decr 22d. was enterred in the Plantation of Peter Murer in Orangeburgh Township, the Body of the said Peter Murer, Senior, a Native of Switzerland Canton Bern; Aged almost 75 years[3]. Note – the words “Canton Bern” are omitted in Salley’s transcription[4]. Children of Peter Murer and Madlena Tanner are: 2. a. PETER MURER was baptized 4 Nov 1714 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] and died in 1790 in Orangeburgh District, SC[10,11]. b. MADLENA MURER was baptized 23 Aug 1716 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] c. MAGRETH MURER was baptized 18 Sep 1718 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] d. SARAH MURER was baptized 12 May 1720 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] e. HANS (JOHN) MURER was baptized 1 July 1725 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] and died bef. 1754 in South Carolina. John Moore platted 50 acres of land on 5 Oct 1737[8]. Note – a land claim by a 12 year old was unusual but not unknown. This was probably done to ensure that that John would have some land of his own should something happen to Peter, Sr.. The 29 Jan 1754 petition of Peter Moorer, Jr. for his brother’s 50 acre grant says in part: The Petition of Peter Moorer humbly shewing That the Petitioner’s Brother had by virtue of a warrant the 7th of May 1737 surveyed for him a Tract of 50 acres of Land ... . The Petitioner’s Brother John Moorer being long since dead and having always lived on the said Land, the Petitioner prays that he may have a grant for the same.[5] I certify that John Moorer by a warrant dated May the 7th 1737 had a Tract of 50 acres surveyed in Orangeburg by George Haig, Deputy Surveyor, on the 5th of October 1737, ...[5] 2. PETER MURER (Jr.) was baptized 4 Nov 1714 in Zweisimmen, BE, Switzerland[1] and died in 1790 in Orangeburgh District, SC[10,11]. Peter married (1)MARGARET LARRY abt. 1740 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[3,4]. Peter married (2)DOROTHEA WETSTINE on 4 Mar 1749 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[3], she died 24 Feb 1750 and was buried in the Orangeburgh Churchyard (Old Pioneer Graveyard)[3,4]. Peter married (3)MAGDALENE HORGER. on 2 Apr 1751 in Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina[3,4]. Peter Maurer served as Township Commissioner from Mar. 16, 1768 to the time of his death, about 1790. In his old age, he owned and operated the Orangeburg Inn, in the Town of Orangeburg. His body lies in "The old burying ground" in Orangeburg.[10]. Children of Peter Murer and (3)Magdalena Horger are: a. JOHN MURER was born 4 Aug 1754, baptized 26 Oct 1754 in Orangeburgh Township, SC[3,4] and died 1806-1810 in St. George, SC. b. JOHN HENRY MURER was born 26 Dec 1756, baptized 9 Mar 1757 in Orangeburgh Township[3,4], SC and died 1798 in Orangeburgh District, SC. c. FREDERICK MURER was born 5 Apr 1759, baptized 4 Jun 1759 in Orangeburgh Township[3,4], SC and died abt. 1824 in Mt. Willing, Alabama. A Lieutenant Peter Moorer, serving in Capt. Daniel Linder’s Company of the Orangeburgh Militia, was killed in 1781 and his wife, Ann Moorer, signed a receipt for his £15 pay on 5 Jan 1782[12]. This Peter may have been a fourth son of Peter Murer, Jr.. In the old Swiss records, the name is spelled Murer or Maurer and means mason or bricklayer. It is a common name in the Germanic speaking regions of Switzerland. RESEARCH NOTES: Some sources say Peter Murer, Sr. was baptized 4 Mar 1670 in Buchs, Zurich, Switzerland, the son of JACOB MAURER and ELSBETH STAHLMANN[10,11], but this assertion does not match the known facts about Peter Murer, Sr. of Orangeburgh Township[3,4,9]. Some sources say that Peter Murer, Jr.’s brother John Murer married Elizabeth Ulmer and had four children between 1746 and 1768, but Peter declared that his brother John was “long since dead” in 1754 and petitioned for John’s 50 acres of land. Peter would not have been able to petition for the land if his brother had left a wife or children. REFERENCES: 1. Evangelische-Reformierte Kirch Zweisimmen (Berne), "Kirchenbuch, 1580-1795", FHL INTL Films 2005904 and 2005905. 2. Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Oberwil im Simmental (Bern). "Kirchenbuch, 1580-1766". FHL INTL Film 20059627. 3. Joop Giesendanner, "The Book of Record, Orangeburgh, SC". http://www.xs4all.nl/~sail/. 4. A. S. Salley, The History of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, pp 96, 164, 207, 215. 5. Brent Holcomb, Petitions for land from the South Carolina Council Journals, Volume IV : 1754-1756, 1998. 6. SC Archives, Colonial Plats (Peter Mooree), Ser. S213184 Vol. 0018 Pg. 00516 Itm. 02 . 7. SC Archives, Colonial Grants (Peter Moore), Ser. S213019 Vol. 0034 Pg. 00543 8. SC Archives, Colonial Plats (indexed as Joseph Moore), Ser. S213184 Vol. 0004 Pg. 00152 Itm. 02 . 9. Leo Schelbert, America Experienced; Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Accounts of Swiss Immigrants to the United States, Account of Hans Danner, pp. 32,33. 10. Ernest Samuel Moorer, “The Moorers”, The Orangeburg Observer”, c.a. 1943. 11. Monroe Black, The Murray, Connor, and Moorer Families of South Carolina, Higginson Book Company, 1997. 12. Murtie June Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War, pp. 208, 209. Other references to this surname are found in OGSGS Newsletters: Vol. 1 #3 p.16; Vol. #4 pp. 22, 28; Vol. 1 #12 pp. 57, 58; Vol. 1 #13 p. 62; Vol. 16-18 pp. 73, 83; Vol. 1, #19 pp. 85-88, 94, 95; Vol. 1 #20 p. 97; Vol. # 22 p.128; Vol 4 #2 p. 13; Vol. 4 #3 p. 19; Vol. 5 #2 pp. 28-30; Vol. 6 #5 p. 85. Information provided by Jim Rickenbacker 3/9/05.
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