John Levering ¹

  General Notes:

JOHN (Major): b. April 25, 1750; m. Jan. 8, 1778, by
the celebrated Rev. F. A. Muhlenberg, D. D., to Hannah
Howell, who was b. Dec. 30, 1752, and was of Welsh
parentage. Her grandfather, David Howell, m. Mary
Reading, who was a cousin to the great hymnologist,
Rev. Dr. Isaac Watts. Their son, John Howell, b. Aug.
8, 1721, was the father of Hannah. She died Oct. 28,
1820. Major Levering d. July 28, 1832. Both were
buried in Lev. Cem.
Major L. was an active partisan and soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was a commissioned officer in that campaign.
He was active and prominent in the Baptist Church at Roxb., of which he was a constituent member and deacon, and was named first in the Board of Trustees, in the charter granted by the Supreme Court of Penna., in the year 1791. He was baptized June 9, 1772, by the Rev. William Rogers, into the First Baptist Church of Philad.

MAJOR JOHN LEVERING

WAS born April 25, 1750, in Roxborough, Philad., in a large stone house on Ridge Avenue, built by his father. He was a carpenter and builder. Reared in the pious atmosphere of his father's home, he espoused religion when 22 years of age. The records of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia bear evidence of his baptism on June 9, 1772. He subsequently (1789) became one of the constituent members in the organization of the Roxborough Baptist Church. He was made a trustee and a deacon of the church, and continued in office through life.
In "the days that tried men's souls" he was intensely loyal. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he, with his brothers, Jacob and Anthony, enlisted in the cause for American liberty. They were Christian soldiers of like spirit and characteristics as qualified the limited army of Gustavus Adolphus, the hero of Protestantism in the "thirty years' war" in Germany, who went from morning prayers into battle for the right.
John Levering's services became conspicuously valuable to the army leaders. His home being within the theater of action, within hearing of the old Liberty Bell, which first proclaimed the Declaration of Independence, and within call of the Continental Congress; environed by British rule, while the enemy occupied Philadelphia (1777), he was in position to observe much and apply it to advantage. One act of his daring and exercise of good judgment is related in the volume of proceedings of the Levering family reunion August, 1891, and shows how General Washington relied upon him.

He was at the battles of Trenton and Princeton and in other engagements of the war. As commissioned Ensign he carried the colors, thus leading in the fray.
While writing I have before me a dilapidated paper which is a relic of those days and official evidence of his then relation to the Continental Army. It reads:
I DO hereby CERTIFY, That John Levering, of Roxbury Township, House Carpenter, and Ensign in the 2nd Btln., Philad. County, Hath voluntarily taken and subscribed the Affirmation of Allegiance and Fidelity, as directed by an ACT of General Assem bly of Pennsylvania, passed the 13th day of June, A. D. 1777.
Witness my hand and seal, the 20th day of May, A. D. 1778.
[L. S.] JOHN MOOR.
Printed by John Dunlap.
While several commissions were issued to John Levering assigning various official duties, I call attention to one now before me, issued by THE SUPREME COUNCIL to him as Captain in the army, which was "Given under the lesser seal of the Commonwealth at Philadelphia, this tenth day of May in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty."
This commission imposed new responsibilities which were readily accepted, though it came at a time when the American troops were discouraged, and the term of enlistment of many about to expire. The forces had passed through a severe winter, and endured distress from cold and hunger; their means of subsistence now almost exhausted. It was the most critical period of young America's existence. Nor was it yet known, at the date of this commission, that Lafayette was returning with a Godsend of French helpers. In this emergency our grandsire consecrated himself anew before our country's altar. Ducit Amor Patrice, was his inspiration. Well may we wish that he and his compatriots could know that their children's children are proud of their achievements and appreciate their sacrifices which gave Columbia to us.
Entertaining fear that the Britons might undertake to regain their lost cause, John Levering urged the maintenance of military organization; he was commissioned Major in the Pennsylvania line,
after the war, and again took active part in the War of 1812, when over three score years of age.
The military archives of Pennsylvania preserve his name. In the office of Auditor-General of the State the records show--under the head of "Associated Battalions and Militia"--that John Levering was, in 1780, made Captain of the 6th Company of the 7th Battalion, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Holgate. (Penna. Archives, Vol. 13, p. 759.) He is also mentioned in the alphabetical lists of Revolutionary soldiers in the same volume, page 129. This evidence is repeated in the book, "Pennsylvania in the Revolution," which is now out of print, but well preserved volumes maintain tangible memories.
Major Levering died July 28, 1832, in the house in which he was born, aged 82 years.

John married Hannah Howel on 8 Jan 1778 in Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. (Hannah Howel was born on 30 Dec 1752 in Pennsylvania, USA.)