Innkeeper, K. Scott Hertzog has published an ambitious 330-page book that traces the history of the historic property, from the late 1600’s to today, called “My First 250 Years: The Story of the Hertzog Homestead.” Following the death of his father, Kenneth Buch Hertzog, an amateur historian he had amassed detailed records of the Hertzog, Metzler, Buch, and Meyer families that built and/or lived on the homestead.  “He gave me a foundation to build on,” Hertzog says. “I wanted to solve the mysteries of the unknowns.” 

Along the way, he uncovered some interesting facts. For one, Hertzog learned that he is a descendant of Martin Luther, founder or the 16th century Protestant Reformation that led Anabaptists – among them Hertzog’s ancestors – to flee Europe for the uncharted land of America.

One of those settlers, Elias Meyer, acquired the homestead property directly from William Penn’s sons in the mid-1700’s. Meyer’s son, Peter, built the barn from 1765 to 1770 which is now Hertzog Homestead Event Venue and Limestone Gift Shoppe. The original gray limestone farmhouse was constructed five years later and expanded in 1840.

During the Civil War, for instance, three Metzler brothers living on the farm followed very different paths. One was a conscientious objector; another was exempt from military service by marriage; and the third served in the Illinois Cavalry. He did not violate his pacifist beliefs, however, because he served as a veterinary surgeon, removed from direct combat.

The “My First 250 Years: The Story of the Hertzog Homestead.” is available from Amazon.com; the publisher, Masthof Press (www.masthof.com); and at the Hertzog Homestead Bed & Breakfast (https://www.hertzoghomestead.com).