Last fall, Don Brein-inger was the speaker at one of the Albany Township Historical Society meetings.

He chose a subject he had researched for a display at the Weisenberg-Lowhill Historical Society's Fall Festival the Werley family.

Imagine sharing a house with other families and the part of the house you were allowed to use was strictly laid out, Breininger told the audience.

He then talked about three sisters who had three kitchens in the house, three garden plots and three pig pens.

The house in which Breininger now lives had three pages of instructions describing what one family could use.

These included the steps that were to be used by a family.

Breininger then explained the Werley family in Weisenberg Township began with the immigration of Sebastian Werley in 1753.

His brother, Michael, settled in Albany Township.

They took the oath of allegiance in 1765 with the sacrament given in Allemaengel, which he believes was Jerusalem "Red" Church.

The two brothers married Rosina and Clara Derr, who were of the Bitt-ner family. This provided close ties that continue to this day with a joint family reunion.

The Breininger family was among a group who visited the villages in Germany that were important in the family history.

A church from which the pastor introduced Sebastian to the church in America has been restored.

All the pastors up to 1764 were listed on some papers in German script found in the church including Casper Kershner, who made the introduction and tied everything together.

The church has paintings of religious scenes rather than stained glass.

The paintings were restored when the church was renovated.

The baptismal font where Sebastian was baptized is from the 1700s.

Sebastian had four sons and three daughters, though the daughters were seldom mentioned.

Each son received 220 acres of land from their father.

Three of the farms, called plantations, were transferred the same day.

The Rev. Jacob Bittner wrote a history of the Bittner-Werley families.

Thiswas published in 1933.

Though some mistakes and omissions have been found, it is still the best genealogical information available for eastern Pennsylvania, Breininger said.

Three of the sons became distillers, including the son who had Breininger's farm.

Breininger accidentally set fire to it when material from a scrap fire blew across the lawn and the door caught fire.

He still has the logs from the distillery.

Apple jack stills were in basements.

Eight Werley grandsons each received 110 acres of land.

The property line on the now Breininger property ran through a spring so each family could use the spring.

He had a photograph of the Werley's Corner Hotel from 1890. The Seiberling family began the hotel and owned two farms east of Werley's Corner.

It is believed that the corner was known as Werleysville in 1834 because the name was found on signs.

As with other small crossroad towns at the approximate same time, it became known as Werley's "Corner."

Sebastian Werley II, a grandson, bought the hotel from the Seiberling family.

In 1785, Sebastian Werley signed a document and deed of sale for what became the Breininger farm.

Breininger said he has all the deeds to the farm from 1762 on.

A photo showed a log barn in poor condition which was replaced in 1929 at a cost equal to the earlier purchase of the entire farm, $6,000.

During the Depression apple jack saved the farm.

The distillery was registered under the British crown before the Revolution.

Breininger showed a stick with marks for measurement.

The stick was made by the Hydraulic Press Manufacturing Company and was used to measure the apple jack in a barrel.

When Breininger's family moved to the farm he went to the summer kitchen one day and in a hallway with five doors he put his hand up on a ledge and heard something knock.

He looked to see what it was and found a yardstick with a handle and several markings.

The markings turned out to be measurements for various things in the house such as the distance between studs.

"I call it my Werley stick," he said.

His grandfather's cousin would visit on Sundays and often the talk was about relationships.

The young Donald listened and now he wishes it could have been recorded.

When blasting was done for Holben's Valley Road, small holes appeared in the slate of the barn roof and the kitchen settled.

He had to replace the kitchen.