JACOB STEER
The earliest discovered ancestor, to date, was Jacob Steer. The first known mention of him is in 1883 in the Westmoreland County History Book where he is included on the property owner's tax list for Mount Pleasant Twp. He is listed also on the first federal tax role for 1786. The 1800 Federal census shows his houshold having one male and one female over 45 years of age. His wife must have been still living. On 5 August 1803, Jacob Steer signed a will showing his address as Donegal. The will stated that he was not well and that he was leaving all his property to his son, Conrad. He left 15 pounds to his son Barnett and five shillings to his daughter, Cathrin. There is no mention of a wife. It is likely he did not die until 1815 because the will was not recorded until August 23, 1815. This is further substantiated by the mention of Jacob in Conrad's 1814 agreement described below.
No deed can be found for any property Jacob might have owned even though the county history book lists him as a property owner. The 1783 Federal Tax roles list him as paying taxes on 50 acres of land. It is possible that this property was included in the 170 acres his son Conrad later owned.
After collecting all the names of Steers (and variants of the name) that lived or immigrated in Jacob's lifetime, the origin of Jacob Steer could not be found. The few clues found, tempt one into speculating that he, and probably his son Conrad, immigrated to this country sometime in the latter half of the eighteenth century, probably from Germany. This is based primarily on the fact that Conrad was a member of the Donegal Zion Lutheran Church.
