A yeoman was a man who owned and cultivated a small farm. He belonged to the class below the gentry or land owners. A husbandman was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman.
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.
Yerkes has also been spelled Gerkes, Gerckes, Jerghes, Jerghjes, Jurckes,Yercas, Yercks, Yerkhas, Yerkas, Yerkiss, Yerks, and Yerkus
Silas and Hannah's children included:
Elias Yerkes (1751, married Martha Coffing, daughter of Abraham Coffing),
Deborah Yerkes (1753, married Samuel Ayers),
Esther Yerkes (1755, married Charles Ayers),
Thomas Yerkes (1756),
Elizabeth Yerkes Howell (1758, married her cousin, Daniel Howell),
John Yerkes (1760),
Silas Yerkes (1762),
Hannah Yerkes Wright (1764),
Daniel Yerkes (1767, married Martha Collom and Esther Lykens), and
Benjamin Yerkes (1768, married Rachel Buzart).
He was a large land owner, farmer, and miller. He built a grist mill on
the Pennypack Creek at the juncture of Huntingdon and Creek Roads some time before the year
1760.
In 1755 he united with others in founding the Union Library Company of Hatboro.
In the Assessment of Moreland of 1776 from Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania he had 100 acres, 3 horses, 5 cows, a grist mill 9 children and "1 idiot." In 1787, he sold the mill and property to George Shelmire.
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.
A grist mill is a building where a miller grinds gain into flour.
