First Settlement - PLAQUE
Paradise Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
On September 10, 1710, a patent for 2000 acres of land surrounding this spot was granted by William Penn, proprietor of Pennsylvania, to Daniel Fiere and Isaac Lefever. The patentees were from France and were Huguenots. Here they, with their mother , Madam Mary Fiere, and her family settled. These were the first white settlers in this part of Lancaster County. On account of an error in measurement the original patent was surrendered and a new patent for 2300 acres was granted on October 29, 1734. Within sight of this marker, Daniel Lefever, the son of Isaac Lefever and Catharine Fiere, his wife, was born. He was the first white child in the settlement.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1710 William Penn granted a large tract in the rolling farmland of what became Lancaster County to Daniel Fiere and Isaac Lefever, French Huguenots who had fled religious persecution in Europe. Settling here with the widowed Madam Mary Fiere and her family, they were among the first Europeans to put down roots in this corner of Penn's colony. A surveying error later forced them to surrender the original patent for a corrected one, and a child born within sight of this spot is remembered as the settlement's first.
Why it matters
It marks the arrival of Huguenot refugees whose search for religious freedom helped seed Pennsylvania's famously diverse early population.
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Related people
- · William Penn
- · Isaac Lefever
- · Daniel Fiere
- · Mary Fiere
- · Daniel Lefever
Related events
- · Huguenot settlement of Lancaster County
Themes & tags
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