About the Somers Family
Name: Mathias Sommer – Anglicized: Matthias Somers
Born: 6 Apr 1715 in Freistett, Baden, Germany, oldest son of Matthias Sommer and Anna Barbara
Huebster (surname spelling varies)
Marriages:
• Maria Magdalena Sommer, 1715-1741, married 18 Sep 1736 in Freistett, Germany. Maria was
from another Sommer family in the same area, presumed to be related, but the exact connection
has not yet been established. Two known children came from this marriage, one son, one
daughter.
• Anna Barbara Gramp, dates unk., married 3 Apr 1742 in Freistett, Germany. Three known
daughters came from this marriage, one died young.
• Christiana Null, dates unk., married 23 Oct 1749 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Colony. Two
daughters whose baptism records in Philadelphia can still be found: Anna Catharina and Eva
Magdalena, the latter probably did not survive. A 1766 Nova Scotia accounting of five settler
families recorded five other Sommer children who traveled to Monckton with their parents:
Eva Salome (Sarah), Sophia, Christiana, Andreas, and Rekena (Regina or also Rachel).
Story: Mathias Sommer was the oldest son of a Freistett innkeeper, also named Matthias Sommer.
Matthias Sr. operated an establishment called the Krone, which still stands today, though not as an inn.
Matthias Sr. died in 1732, and his widow, Anna Barbara, remarried to Mathaus Haas in 1733, a butcher
from a neighboring village of Freudenstadt. It is not known if they had children.
Mathias Sommer, son of the Freistett innkeeper, came to Philadelphia between 1746-1749. His second
wife likely died either before or shortly after arrival in Philadelphia. Mathias’ younger brothers, Hans
Georg, Johannes, and Martin, arrived in Philadelphia in 1752. In both Freistett and Philadelphia, the
Sommer brothers can be found in the Lutheran church records. Before his departure to Nova Scotia,
Mathias was a trustee of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Barren Hill (Philadelphia area).
Mathias Sommer did not survive through the first winter after arrival in Monckton. His widow,
Christiana, remarried to another settler, Jacob Ricker, and there were no known children from that
marriage. Jacob Ricker, however, represented the Sommer survivors during legal proceedings with the
government to retain Mathias Sommer’s family claim on the 2100 acres originally promised by the
Philadelphia proprietors. A 1792 deed has recently been discovered showing where Mathias’ son,
Andrew (Andreas), registered his share of 1050 acres with the new colonial government of New
Brunswick.
As provided by:
George S. Somers
george.somers@icloud.com