Casper John Statler, Sr.

mmigrated 1762 on the Bennett Galley from Hanover Germany _MILT French and Indian War as an Ensign in Gen. John Forbes' Army under the command of Col. He Nickname AKA Stotler

NOTE: The General Society of Colonial Wars was established in 1893. Membership in the society requires that the member be a male at least 18 years of age and be able to show direct lineage to an ancestor who served in the Colonial Wars. See General Society of Colonial Wars for more information on the society and its records.

Casper Statler (Stotler) was born about 1740, and was reared in the Conochocheague settlement, that settlement now constituting Franklin County, PA. The first account of him is as an ensign in Captain Edward Wards’ First Battalion, PA Regiment. He fought in the French and Indian War under the command of Col. Armstrong at Fort Bedford, and this regiment accompanied Gen. Forbes army in the reduction of Fort Dusquesne at Pittsburgh in 1758, on their return.9

Casper Statler, in marching along the Forbes military road over the Allegheny Mountains in 1758 and 1759, passed over the land on which he subsequently settled. This was then in Cumberland County, in 1771 in Bedford County and in 1795 in Somerset County. It appears that he was pleased with this Allegheny wilderness for he then went back in 1762 and selected the tract of land on which he, a few years later, erected his house and other buildings. This place, on the west slope of the mountain, where he first built his cabin, was known as "The Fields" and is now known as the Guy Lambert Farm.

About 1762, he married Rebecca Regina Walter, who had just been released from seven years captivity among the Indians in Ohio. Casper Statler and Rebecca had been reared in the same settlement and were probably playmates before her captivity in 1755. David Husband, of Somerset Co., states in his annals, that "Rebecca and Casper were married soon after her release and that they then moved immediately to the frontier." While it may be possible that they settled on the western side of the Alleghenies in 1762, they may not have done so until 1768, as there was a severe penalty against settlers on the Indian’s land west of the mountain. On the 24th day of February, 1768, the Governor issued a proclamation warning settlers to leave their settlements. However, in the fall of 1768, the Indians released all of this land in Southwestern PA to the proprietors. There it was that Casper Statler and his wife settled on the land he had located in 1762.

The above mentioned annals say that in about 1770, Harmon Husband took a trip to Bedford, along the Forbes Road, from Fort Bedford to Fort Pitt, and that the road was well-traveled. He noted a small military post at Stoystown and that a number of adventurers had built cabins along the road for the accommodation of wayfarers. Among these men were mentioned Martin Stoy, John Mills and Casper Statler. Statler settled there about 1770 and was licensed to keep an Inn by the Court of Quarter Sessions of Bedford County in 1778. The said annals state that Stoy, Mills and Statler were the first settlers and noted where they located. It also said that Statler commenced the clearing and farming of his land as soon as he came, instead of devoting so much time to hunting as the others did. This road was the only avenue of commerce between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia for nearly forty years, and Casper’s home, near the summit, was a place of notoriety among the traders, trappers and packers of that time.10

The following extract is from the history of Somerset County published in 1884. "The earliest settlers in Somerset Co., were Casper Statler and George Lambert. Casper Statler was probably the first settler in Shade Twp., and one of the first inhabitants of Somerset Co. He came from Franklin Co."11

Upon settling, Statler first went to Greencastle to trade. He was obliged to flee there from his mountain home several times, and take himself there also during these periods of Indian hostilities. Casper, the pioneer, was a genial, whole-souled man. By his industry, he acquired wealth and owned a lot of land. His family consisted of the following children:

Casper Statler Jr. b. 19 Apr 1767 m. Anna Mary Lambert Mary B. Statler b. 1768 m. John M. Lambert Elizabeth Statler b. 1770 m. George Lambert John Statler b. 1773 m.1 Catherine Lambert; 2 Molly ???? Samuel Statler b. 15 Jan 1776 m. Magdalena Mostoller Emanuel Statler b. 1776 m. Catherine Mostoller Eleanor Statler b. 1788 m. Peter Schell

In another account, Casper Statler Jr., above, was described as "genial, friendly and free-hearted. He acquired such property as was esteemed a vast fortune in the days when nearly all the settlers were poor; but he always exhibited generous traits, and frequently lent substantial aid to the needy and unfortunate. He owned many hundred acres of land in the western part of this township, which is now divided into more than a dozen farms. He is well remembered by the older people who bear cheerful testimony to his worth. Casper Jr. kept one of the first Taverns along the pike and started a small grocery store very early, what is now known as Gardill’s at West End. So, it seems from the above descriptions of Caspers Senior and Junior, the traits of generosity carried on down through the generations.

In a Statler Ancestry article by Eber Cockley, it states, "Statler was an innkeeper, catering to travelers and wagoners on the old PA Road. When a new road was opened a short distance to the south of his place, he built a log structure by the side of the new route, for the storage of grain and forage for sale to the wagoners, with an attendant on duty, giving curb service. School was held at Statler’s cabin at an early date, with William Newell the teacher."

Casper Statler died 12 Apr 1798. In 1805, there was a Petition of Writ of Partition, setting forth that he had died seven years earlier, owning 19 tracts of land, containing a total of 4,332 acres. In two of the lands, an Emanuel Statler, probably his brother, but possibly his son, was part owner. These lands were appraised and divided among the children and they were under obligation to pay his widow, their mother Rebecca Regina, the interest on one-third of the appraised value of the land during her life. (Being a minor, a Mr. Casper Keller, was appointed guardian of Eleanor after her father’s death. Rebecca died 28 years after Casper, on 20 Feb 1826, at the home of a daughter.

In 1904, Mary Statler Sproat Hillegass died. She was a granddaughter of Rebecca. In her obituary, it retold briefly, the entire story of Rebecca Regina Walter, coinciding pretty much with details as set down in this narrative, with a few small differences, most notably the date of the captive exchange which was listed in this obituary source as 31 Dec 1764, with the exchange being made by Col. Bouquet at Carlisle.14 We know that the exchange of Rebecca, was made at Lancaster, two years earlier by the Moravian, Mr. Post.

An interesting story about Rebecca follows. "(Rebecca’s) years as an Indian captive fitted her for the wife of a pioneer settler. Long years after Casper and Rebecca had become settled in their mountain home, and after they had been able to supply themselves with the luxuries of a good home, through industry and management, a delegation of some twenty-five Indian chiefs and braves and a military escort were passing along the Forbes Road, along which the Stotlers lived, to a conference with the ‘Great White Chief’ of the white people.

It was evening when this delegation arrived at the Stotler Farm and the officers in charge asked permission to stop here for the night. The Indians built a fire near a large spring of water. Mrs. Stotler soon recognized several of the Indians as belonging to the tribe which had held her captive. Informing the officer in charge of the party this, she expressed the wish to see the old chief that she pointed out. The chief was then invited to come to the Stotler house.

Mrs. Stotler then spoke to the chief in his own language. He was greatly surprised and asked how she had learned the ‘Indian Talk.’ After she mentioned several incidents that had occurred in his family and tribe while she had been a captive, the old chief recognized her as the pale-faced squaw who had been with them so long and had fallen asleep when the white men came for her. The old chief was greatly pleased and asked about her brother. She told him that her brother, John, had returned to live with the Indians, which also pleased him."15

One last item of interest. In a book by Sally M. Keehn, entitled "I am Regina," the foreword reads, "Although the following narrative is fictionalized, it is based on a true story. It happened to Regina Leininger and is dedicated to her memory. The story begins in 1755 on a small farm near present-day Selinsgrove, PA . . ."

The book details the kidnaping of Regina, along with her siblings, after the murder of her father. It tells how she was held captive for years (finally being released in same exchange that John and Ephraim Walter were). The afterword in the book states, "Regina Leininger was reunited with her mother on December 31, 1764. Regina returned to the home she loved. There she lived, her life encircled by the warmth of family. Regina never married. Now, more than two centuries later, a tombstone stands at Christ’s Church Cemetery, near present-day Stouchsburg, PA. The inscription on it reads:

Regina Leininger

In Legend Regina Hartman

As a small child held Indian captive

1755-1763

Identified by her mother’s singing the hymn: ‘Allein, Und Doch Nicht Ganz Allein’* 

• ‘Alone, Yet Not Alone Am I’16

For many years, some have argued that the story of Rebecca Regina Walter and Regina (Hartman) Leininger, had been one in the same, adding more confusion to the story, but there is an actual plaque, in Carlisle, PA, commemorating the return of Rebecca Walter to her mother, just as there is an inscription on Regina Leininger’s headstone. I do think it plausible that perhaps the detail of the German hymn being sung, which was very well documented in the Leininger story, and appears nowhere but in legend in our story, has been "borrowed" from the other surrender in Lancaster. But, since we were not there, how are we to ever know for certain? And it does make for a better story, does it not?

Rebecca Regina Walter and her husband, Casper Statler, are both buried in the Statler Cemetery, on the Guy Lambert Farm, near Reels Corner, Shade Twp., Somerset Co., PA. Rebecca’s tombstone reads:

"In memory of Rebecca Stotler

wife of Casper,

who departed this life February 20, 1826

Aged 80 years

Why do we mourn departed friends

Or shake at death’s alarms?

It is but the voice that Jesus sends

To call us to His arms."17 

• Residence: Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 2 2017, 22:14:35 UTC

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Inscription
Casper Stotler
Born Aug 18, 1743
Died Apr. 12, 1798
Veteran of the French & Indian War
"Here Lyes the Body of Casper Stotler,
sen-r. born the 18th, of august, AD 1743.
and departed this Life, april the 12th.
In the year of our Lord, 1798."

Husband of Rebecca Regina (Walter) Statler.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 2 2023, 4:05:00 UTC