French Family Association
Mara French, P.O. Box 1109, Sutter Creek, CA 95685-1109. 209-267-0649 marafrench@mindspring.com
Chart #188, John French, 1648, the Brick Mason of NJ
and his sons Richard and John of Woodbridge twp, East Jersey,
and JohnÕs son Joseph French, 1714, of Raritan Landing, NJ, who m. Hannah Horn
and their son Lafford / Lefford French of Spartanburg, SC
and Pinckney French, 1790, of SC and KY
This web page updated by Mara French on 3/31/08. Send any corrections or
additions to Jeanette S.
French.
Contents
GEDCOM File of Chart #188 by Jeanette S. French with help from Jim Gunderson, and Judith French (for David and Philimon French)
Records -- Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements
Records -- New Jersey Wills, Recorded and Unrecorded
History
Chart
#188. John
French, brickmaker, merges the descendants of his son, Richard French,
original research and compilation by Jim Gunderson,
and the descendants of his son, John French, original research and compilation
by Jeanette S. French. Database also includes data provided by Judith French.
The
minutes of a Woodbridge town meeting held on August 20, 1669 state:
"Granted to John French to be an inhabitant that is only to have ten
acres of upland for a house lott [sic] and five acres of meadow and to expect
no more and that he is bound here to live and to furnish the inhabitants bricks
before strangers." John French was an established tradesman by
1669 when he was admitted as an inhabitant of Woodbridge township;
thus, we know he was born before 1648. He also lived Staten Island, New
York. His will was written in Woodbridge township, New
Jersey, and names wife, Susannah, sons, John and Richard, and
daughter Ann who married James Leith. Son John lived and probably
died in Woodbridge township. Son
Richard settled near Springfield, Essex County, New Jersey, where he died.
Some
descendants remained in New Jersey for several generations, others moved to the
new frontiers. Names include Richard, Robert, David, William,
John, Simon, Joseph, Lewis, Hugh, James, Noah
and Aaron. Unusual names include Cornelius, Philemon,
Phineas and Lefford/Lafford. See the French DNA web page for
information on the DNA Test from Group 1.
The family trees, submitted by the DNA participants, are posted
there. DNA test results indicate that descendants of John French,
brickmason, (including David A. French born Warren twp, Somerset County, New
Jersey) and descendants of Lefford/Lafford French, the Revolutionary
War Pensioner, who was born in New Jersey in 1753 and lived in South
Carolina/North Carolina, share a common ancestor. Circumstantial evidence
indicates that the common ancestor is John French, brickmason. Written by
Jeanette S. French.
Records
Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements
Pension
app of Lafford
French W7329
Transcribed
by Will Graves
State
of NC, County of Rutherford
Declaration
in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th, 1832
State of North Carolina County of Rutherford
On this
19th day of October 1832 personally appeared before me, John Mill,
one of the Judges of the court of pleas and Quarter Sessions for County
aforesaid at his own dwelling House in Rutherford County Lafford French age eighty years who
being first duly sworn according to Law doth on his oath make the following
Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th
1832:
He
would premise that within a few years past his mental as well as his bodily
faculties have very much failed—many things that were then familiar to
his recollection he has now but a confused and imperfect recollection of and
hence he cannot pretend to give with accuracy a detailed account of his
services or the particular days of his entering and leaving the
service—but as to the material facts of his service, he will state
nothing but what he is certain of. His first service was in a company of South
Carolina militia commanded by Col. Thomas Senior and Capt. David McDowell. We
marched to Granby in pursuit of a party of Tories but before we arrived there
they had dispersed—we then heard of a body of Tories in the neighborhood
of Ninety Six but they hearing of our approach also dispersed. This was in the
fall of 1779 or 1778 but he thinks the former and staid out as he thinks three
months or over—his next service was under Col. Thomas, a son of the first
mentioned Colonel Thomas—we marched from King's Creek to York District
South Carolina to Musgrove's Mill on Enoree and were joined on the way by Col.
Clarke and he thinks Col. Shelby. At the Mill we had a skirmish with a body of
Tories whom [?] killing a number and taking a number of prisoners—how
many he does not now recollect nor can he recollect the day or month but it was
not long after his first service. He was not, he thinks,
more than ten days in this service—after which a party of men among whom
I was one rendezvoused at Mountain Creek in Rutherford County with us. The
return of Col. Clarke from Salisbury where he had gone with the prisoners taken
at Musgrove's Mill as soon as he arrived and other men had joined us he marched
us to Augusta and laid siege to it but was not able to take it. I here was with
the troops on the [this portion of the document is
obliterated and illegible] a Col. Williams [could be Williamson] and
other officers that I cannot recollect after the siege was raised he and
fifteen other soldiers came back here with leave of our officers. He was about
a month he thinks in this service—does not remember the day or month in
which he was out. He next entered a militia company commanded by Capt. [? could
be William] Wood of Spartanburg to guard against the Indians and Tories and
ranged through a part of Spartanburg & Greenville So. Ca. and Rutherford County. He cannot state the day or year when
he performed this three months service but would state that it was the first he
performed after the first mentioned commander Col. Thomas senior and ought to
have been set down so—he [?] of the terms of service hereinbefore
mentioned served a whole summer every other week guarding a block house near
the head of Pacolet River in Greenville So. Carolina against
the Indians who were then committing depredations on the frontier. This
was in the summer of 1778 or 1779. He served in a company of Rutherford militia
commanded by Capt. James McFadden [could be McHadden] in an expedition against
the Cherokee Indians. The party besieged one of their Towns on the Tuckaseegee
River and killed and took prisoners several of the Indians—he was
frequently out on scouts as long as the war lasted for a week or several days
at a time besides those above mentioned. He has no
documentary evidence and knows of no other Person by whom he can prove his
services [?] of John McClure and George Salmon—he further states that he
is entirely unable to go to Rutherford Court House which is seventeen miles
distant—he being a great part of the time laid up with gravel which has
brought on incontinence of urine—He hereby relinquishes every claim
whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name
is not on the pension roll of any state. [here he
answers the interrogatories answering that he was born in 1753, has no record
of his age, volunteered every time he entered the service, never received any
discharge and states that John Granway, John Moore and John Mills can attest to
his character.] Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Lafford French
[In her
statement, Jane McMillan, a neighbor, says French served under her father,
Capt. David McDowell as well as Cols. Roebuck and Thomas.
French served with his brothers, William, Simon & Joseph French as well as
James Beaty, Alexander Copeland, William Moore and Hugh Moore. Elizabeth
French, Lafford's widow, made an application in 1854 saying that her husband
served almost constantly during the entire war in Col. Benjamin Roebuck's
regiment as a mounted horseman, but that due to his failing body and mind when
he gave his statement in 1832, he could not detail his full service and
therefore the pension awarded him was not what he was entitled to receive. She
states that Lafford
French died Sept. 11, 1834. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Gregory.]
[Rebecca Copeland, widow of Alexander Copeland, filed a widow's pension
application (W9395) in which she stated that her husband served in Spartanburg
District under Capt. David McDowell. The war dept. papers indicate that
McDowell was under Benjamin Roebuck.]
New Jersey Wills, Recorded and Unrecorded
New
Jersey Archives, Trenton, New Jersey. Information found in my Gedcom
is based on copies of New Jersey Wills stored in the Trenton Archives.
John French's will is only one of many that are used to
document information found in my Gedcom. Jeanette S. French
á
The
ORIGINAL WILL of John French, brick mason, living Woodbridge twp, Middlesex
Co., NJ, is available from the New Jersey Archives and can be ordered by anyone
for a nominal payment.
á
Also
available is the hand copied duplicate of the original will
that was originally made by a government clerk for the record and called the
RECORDED WILL. The original will
is called the "unrecorded" will.
á
In
the ORIGINAL WILL OF JOHN FRENCH you will find the names of his 2 sons, John
and Richard.
á
The
RECORDED WILL OF JOHN FRENCH is what was copied into the NJ Record Book by one
of the clerks. It is a hand
written copy of the original will and is hard to read, the page being folded
and the entries at the crease being quite faded.
á
The
RECORDED WILL was used to create the abstracts of the NJ wills that are widely
available today. Because of the
condition of the recorded will for John French, brick mason, an error resulted
in these abstracts WHEN THE NAME OF HIS ELDER SON WAS OMITTED.
á
Only
RESEARCHERS who have FAILED to OBTAIN the ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS make this error
relative to John French, brick maker.
á
The
New Jersey Archives is a great source of information for people researching the
NJ FRENCH lines and we who descend from JOHN FRENCH, BRICKMASON are indeed
blessed to be able to see his ORIGINAL WILL and the ORIGINAL signage.