French Family Association
The Official Website of the Surname French
Berkeley County, West Virginia
The boundaries of old Frederick County today encompasses 12 counties:
Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, and Page counties in Virginia; and
Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Mineral, Hardy, and Grant counties in
West Virginia.
Chart #195, Jacob French 1st, ca. 1705
Antrim twp, Cumberland Co., (now Franklin Co.), PA
Berkeley Co., VA (now WV)
Urbana, Champaign Co., OH
Enterprise, Wallowa Co., OR
Introduction
This chart updated by Mara French on 5/17/12. Numbers in brackets [ ] show sources and refer to the Bibliography at the end of this chart. An asterisk (*) shows continuation of that line. Send any corrections or additions to this chart to marafrench@mindspring.com. Revisions: 2009, 2011, 2012.
Contents
French Family Chronology, 1710-1826
Land Owners in Washington Co., MD
* * * * * * * * * * * *
FFA Chart #195 Home Page Topics
FFA Charts for DNA Test Group 4
Immigration of the French Family
Any Connection to Col. John French of New Castle, Delaware?
The Scotch-Irish Pioneer Settlers in Pennsylvania
DNA Test Data for Henry French
FFA Charts for DNA Test Group 4
DNA Test Group 4 Test Results (old website)
DNA Test Group 4 Test Results (new website)
DNA Test Group 4 Cross-Reference Chart
DNA Test Group 4 Descendant Chart to Testee
DNA Group 4 Spreadsheet by Deb Skoff (.pdf) or (.doc)
In Appreciation
Thank you to Deb Skoff [1], Vicki French Carroll [37], and Linda French Dawson [11], who all contributed a significant amount to this chart. Deb and Vicki are both descendants of JacobÕs (2nd) son Henry, and his son George W. French, FFA Chart #31. Linda is a descendant of JacobÕs (2nd) brother George French, FFA Chart #136. As for me (Mara), IÕm fascinated with the hobby of researching the surname French. The four of us made a good team in researching this line – each contributed missing pieces that the other ones could not find. I feel so fortunate to have been in this group. -Mara
Foreword
IÕve researched this line just about all I can from ancestry.com and from the internet. Additions need to come from family members or from local books or historians who havenÕt put their information online.
P.S. Although Jacob French is not in my line, I will continue to do research on him as time permits. My line is FFA Chart #6.
Reunion
Tracy and Brian Potts, 311 Richard St., Martinsburg, WV. 25404-9078. 304-263-1170. French Reunion 2005 Aug 28th, from 12 noon till 6:00 pm. Dinner will be at 1:00 Located at Tuscarora Puritan Club, Martinsburg, WV, behind Tuscarora Church Hall. Please bring a covered dish or picnic lunch and something for auction. Remind Relations!!! Invite relatives!! Bring pictures from past reunions. Come and plan to enjoy the day!! Hope to see you there. Stay tuned for updates of possible future reunions. [Obviously this reunion has already taken place. We hope there will be others.]
FFA Charts for DNA Test Group 4
FFA Chart #10,
John Peter French and William Lewis French of TN
FFA Chart #23,
Isaac French of Canada
FFA Chart #30,
Louisa French of WV, sister of FFA Chart #195
FFA Chart #31,
Henry French of KY
FFA Chart #129,
Peter French of TN – no test yet
FFA Chart #136,
George French of SC
FFA Chart #186,
Philip French of IN, brother of FFA Chart #206
FFA Chart #193,
David French of KY
FFA Chart #194,
Samuel and George Hedges French of IN
FFA Chart #195,
Jacob French Sr. and Jr. of WV
FFA Chart #206,
Samuel and David French of IN, brothers of FFA Chart #186
The DNA expert and administrator for the surname French is Julia French Wood. Email her about all DNA questions to JuliaFWood@aol.com. For ancestry questions, email marafrench@mindspring.com.
History and Background
Going due west from Philadelphia along the Pennsylvania border is Antrim, Franklin Co., PA, where the French familyÕs first records appear. Thereafter, the family remained mostly in Maryland and in Berkeley Co., VA (now WV).
Berkeley County is the second oldest county in West Virginia and was created (while part of the state of Virginia) in 1772 from the northern third of Frederick County, VA. The county seat was established in the colonial village of Martinsburg and was incorporated in 1778. During the Civil War, Berkeley County, still a part of Virginia, experienced conflict and much destruction, as did other areas, and families became divided. After November 1863, Berkeley County became part of the new state of West Virginia. Many Quakers and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, along with the English and Dutch, became residents there in the early 1700s. The county has a long history and includes many historic and architecturally-important buildings. The old French House is a stone farmhouse built ca. 1830 at 789 French Road in Jefferson Co., WV 25442. Today this is considered Shepherdstown, the oldest town in the state of West Virginia.
The Snively family was closely connected to the French family; they came from Lancaster, but so far we have no indication that the French family ever lived in Lancaster, but the two families Snively and French did meet in Antrim, PA.
Lancaster and Antrim are in Pennsylvania. Hagerstown is in Maryland. Middletown is in Virginia. Hedgesville, Berkeley, and Martinsburg are in West Virginia. Most of the DNA Testers from DNA Test Group 4 named French came from these areas. This chart, FFA Chart #195, shows the first family of this group with the same DNA test results.
Berkeley County was taken in part from the County of Frederick, Virginia and made its historic entry as a county on 15 May 1772, just the year after Jacob 2nd acquired land there in 1771. Besides Frederick County, Berkeley County also took in present Jefferson County until 1801, which was part of Orange County, VA in 1738. Orange County was from the vast territory of Spotsylvania County, VA, in 1734.
Just before the Revolutionary War, the Pennsylvania Dutch German settlers had started to move to Berkeley County. These were of the Lutheran/Reformed faith. They acquired large holdings in some of the best agricultural areas of the county, and the county took on more of a southern influence even though it came through the Pennsylvania Dutch from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Small plantations were established with slave labor. Native limestone was the principal building material. The placement of their main buildings was generally near a stream. Hedgesville was established in 1832. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was built in 1844 and brought faster transportation. Mill Creek had the largest concentration of mills with 15. They varied in their produce from grinding grain, flour, sawing lumber, grinding plaster, woolen mills, and paper mills. In the early 1800s, many of Berkeley CountyÕs sons and daughters did not have enough land, and they began to move to the Kentucky and the Ohio area, in particular Ohio from 1810 to 1840, as witnessed by this French family. For further information on Berkeley Co., WV, read the National Register of Historic Places.
Berkeley County West Virginia Surname Migrations: Jacob French appears as an early settler in or near Antrim township, Cumberland County (now Franklin County) Pennsylvania in the early 1700s.
The 1680 Early Pennsylvania Settlers Along the Delaware River was extracted from the Pennsylvania Archives, but no French is on the list. It is possible that the first French arrived between 1680 and 1728. The surname French is no longer shown in the early tax list of Antrim, Franklin Co., PA, by 1751. As for Frederick County, Maryland, only 3 men with the surname French are listed on ancestry.com: Jacob in 1752, Peter in 1759, and George in 1776.
Who Were the Scotch-Irish?
The Scotch-Irish settled Greencastle-Antrim, as well as the rest of the Cumberland Valley. Who were the Scotch-Irish? They were protestant Presbyterian, Lowland Scots. The Scotch-Irish were not Irish and were not Catholics. The term Scotch-Irish is strictly an American nomenclature. In England and Ireland the same people are called Ulster Scots, which is much less confusing. See details at http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Local_History/scotch-irish.htm.
Greencastle, Antrim, Franklin Co., PA, named for Greencastle in Northern Ireland in the county of Antrim where many of the settlers of this area first came in the 1700s.
The Presbyterian Scots lived in Northern Ireland for a little over a century before immigrating to the American colonies. The English landlords found the Scot settlers too similar to the Irish natives and resented them. The immigration was precipitated by the English Monarchy who tried to exert its own political and religious authority over the citizens of Ireland, including the Presbyterian Scots, causing constant struggles for religious tolerance, civil liberties, and political rights such as holding office or having representation in government. Economic factors also affected their decisions to immigrate to the colonies. Anglican ministers made the majority of their income by imposing tithes on the Irish - Catholic and Presbyterian alike. The Irish tenants were charged high rents for their land adding additional economic burdens on their families. Consecutive potato crop failures in 1724 1725, and 1726 compounded all the preceding problems and forced many Ulster Scots to seek a new life in America [61].
The mass immigration of the Scotch-Irish took place over a 58-year span between 1717 and 1775. This time period is known as the "Great Migration" and occurred in five "waves". The immigrants from the first three waves established the major settlements of the Scotch-Irish in the colonies. The immigrants from the first and second waves landed in Philadelphia and the Delaware River in Pennsylvania; this would be the French family. The third wave of immigrants moved beyond Pennsylvania into Virginia and beyond [61] .
The legacy they did leave behind for future generations is their religion. In each settlement they built a church in which to practice their Presbyterian faith. In the early 1700's, the Greencastle settlement was known as the East Conococheague Settlement. The first church, known as the Red Church, was built at Moss Spring [61].
á On May 10, 1729, Lancaster County was established from Chester County land.
á At the May 1741 quarter sessions court of Lancaster County, Antrim Township was established. At that time Antrim Township included all of present day Franklin County except Warren, Fannett and Metal Townships.
á Lurgan Township was established from the northern part of Antrim Township in 1743.
á On August 9, 1749, York County was established west of Lancaster from Lancaster County land.
á On January 27, 1750, Cumberland County was established from Lancaster County land.
á Greencastle was founded in 1782 by John Allison and was situated in the southern portion of Cumberland County.
á On September 9, 1784, Franklin County was established from the southwest part of Cumberland County. Any local research for tax records, deeds, or genealogy dating before September 9, 1784 must be done in Carlisle, the County seat of Cumberland County. All surviving records after that date can be researched in the Franklin County administrative offices in Chambersburg, Pa.
Even though the first settler in this area was Chambers, he arrived about the same time as the French family did; therefore, you could imagine the French family had similar adventures. The first white man to settle in what we know today as Franklin County was Benjamin Chambers, a Scotch-Irishman. He was from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and along with his brothers James, Robert, and Joseph immigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania some time between 1726 and 1730. With permission from the Indians, Chambers was allowed to settle on the land of his choice. This was about 1730. On March 30, 1734, the agent for the proprietors gave him a license "to take and settle and improve four hundred acres of land at the Falling Spring's mouth, and on both sides of the Conococheague Creek, for the convenience of a grist mill and plantation." This place became Chambersburg [61].
Antrim Township, established in 1741, is named after County
Antrim in the very northeast corner of Northern Ireland from where many of this
area's first settlers came. There is also a town by the name of Antrim
located in County Antrim [61].
German settlers followed the early Scotch-Irish. These were a people who came from the many different German states. Their basic reason for leaving their homelands was to find religious freedom and as they moved into this frontier region along with and after the Scotch-Irish, they, too, acquired lands and became the leading farmers of the local area [61].
The Snively and French Families Met in Antrim, Pennsylvania
The first generation of the French family to immigrate to Pennsylvania ca 1727 met and married the first generation of the Shively family to immigrate to Pennsylvania in 1729. Both families settled in Lancaster, PA, moved westward to Antrim township, Franklin Co., PA early on by crossing the Susquehanna River. The marriages between 1743-1790 are:
John Schnebele m. Louisa
French in Pennsylvania
Magdalena Schnebele m. Jacob French in
Pennsylvania
Mary Shively m. George French in Pennsylvania
Margaret Snively m. David French in
Pennsylvania
Early Ancestry.com Listings in Pennsylvania
Setting the Search Box to only arrivals to Lancaster, Pennsylvania from 1700 to 1720, there are 367 persons. These are the names of those men who were naturalized in 1747 along with George French.
No French.
1719 Snively -- Hans Schnebele, 1714 Jacob Schnebele, 1718 John Schnebele, 1714 Jacob Saveley, 1714 Jacob Snively
1719 Newcomer -- Peter Neukommet or Newcomer was b. 1680 in Langnau, Bern, Switzerland and d. 29 Jan 1732 in Leacock, Lancaster Co., PA. He immigrated to PA in 1718 at the age of 38. As you can see, he was acknowledged in PA within a year of his arrival. He was a Mennonite. Anna Newcomer m. Johann Jacob Schnebele, the immigrant of that family, settling in Lancaster Co., PA. Johann Jacob Schnebele was naturalized in Philadelphia on 14 Oct 1729 and m. Anna Newcomer ca. 1730.
1719 Miller -- Georg Miller, 1710 Jacob Miller, 1719 Nicholas Miller, 1719 Felix Miller. They came over in the ship James Goodwill, David Crocket, Captain, from Rotterdam, and landed at Philadelphia, Pa., September 29th, A. D. 1727. Those from the Miller family who were on this ship were Jurgen Miller, Christian Miller, John Miller, Joseph Miller, and Hans Miller.
Setting the Search Box to only arrivals to Lancaster, Pennsylvania from 1720 to 1740, there are 289 persons:
No French.
1729 Jacob Miller
1729 Peter Neukommet or Newcomer
1729 Jacob Schnebele or Snevely
Setting the search Box to only arrivals to Pennsylvania with surname French from 1700 to 1720: None to Pennsylvania, but the following men to other states. 80 people with names other than French show up in various parts of Pennsylvania.
Benjamin French 1714 Virginia
Edmund French 1707 Maryland (an Edmund French appears in the 1820 KY census)
George French 1700-1799 Virginia
John French 1715 Virginia
Philip French 1702 North Carolina
Phillip French 1719 Virginia
Thomas French 1714 Virginia
Setting the search Box to only arrivals to Pennsylvania with surname French from 1720 to 1730:
Frances French 1727 Pennsylvania, an indentured
servant recruited in London (no Frances in this line)
Joseph French 1727 Philadelphia, and his son Joseph, both Quakers
John French 1728 Pennsylvania
George French 1733 Annapolis, Maryland
Setting the search Box to only arrivals, surname French (variations) and Jacob (variations) between 1730-1740:
Jacob Franck, 1733, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jacob Franck, 1739, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, b.
1714
Jacob Frank, 1738, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, b. 1708
Jacob Frank, 1736, Savannah, Georgia
Jacob Frans, 1738, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, b.
1704
Johann Jacob Franz, 1737, Pennsylvania
*Jacob Francois, 1730 to Batavia, resident of Brussels, Belgium
*Jacob Franke, 1737 to Batavia, resident of Gouda,
Holland
*Jacob Franken, 1732 to Batavia, resident of Embden,
Holland
*Jacob Fransz, 1730 to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), from
Holland
*Jacob Frens, 1736 to Batavia, from Holland
*Jacobus Francisco, 1736 to Batavia, from Guinea
*Jacobus Francois de Cuijper,
1731 to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), from Brugge, Belgium
*Jacobus Fransz, 1738 to
Batavia, from Leijden, Holland
*Batavia,
now called North Jakarta, was the capital of the Dutch East
Indies. Batavia was founded as a trade and administrative center of the Dutch
East India Company, and was never intended as a settlement company for the
Dutch people. Coen founded Batavia to be a trading
company in the form of a city filled with people who would took care of the
production and the supply of food. As a result, there were no
migration of Dutch families. Instead a mixed society was formed. There
is no word that these people migrated to America; however, towns named Batavia
exist in IL, IO, MI, NY, WI, and OH. Batavians were also a Germanic tribe
living during the Roman Empire in the area of the Rhine delta in Germany.
Immigration of the French Family
Ancestry.com has an index of the names of 30,000 immigrants – German, Swiss, Dutch, and French – into Pennsylvania, 1727-1776, and the name French does not appear at all. Website: http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/BookView.aspx?dbid=10413&pageno=50.
This first generation French of this line was probably Jacob French, who emigrated to Antrim twp., Franklin Co., PA, but from where is the question. Some researchers say from Rotterdam and others say from Northern Ireland. The original settlers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, were mostly Ulsterscots beginning in 1729-1730, and they were quickly followed by the Palatine Germans.
George French, son of Jacob French (1st), acquired land in Pennsylvania in 1747, and by law he must have been 21. That would make his birth date 1726 or before and that he may have been the only son born in Germany, and therefore, the only one who was naturalized as we cannot find naturalization records for his siblings. That could also establish the immigration date and the birth dates of his siblings, and the birth date of his father (1705 or before), supposing that the age of 21 to get married was the same in Germany at that time. George also needed to have lived in the new colony for 7 years before applying for naturalization; therefore, he immigrated before 1740. See http://www.britishislesdna.com/Immigration/US_naturalization.htm.
Jacob French (1st) was probably b. before 1705. We have looked through several listings for the surname French to Delaware, Philadelphia, New York, Virginia, or Maryland at that time. Deb (Ref. [1] ), found a (Johannes?) Franck family who came over to NY in 1710. This family is another possibility to keep in mind. I found references to an Andreas Franck in NY who might be of this same family. Then I found an interesting excerpt from a PA newspaper relating to the German settlers of Pennsylvania and adjacent territories that says: "February 26, 1757 - Jacob Franck, glazier, and his wife, of Lancaster, have both died, Friedrich Danbach, Johannes Ebermann and Kraft Roesser, Vormunder (administrators), notify Stophel Franck, Henrich Franck, Andreas Franck, Anna Maria Franckin, Maria Gertraut Mollin, Michael Moeller and Christian Moeller to appear for the settlement of the estate." Since our Jacob French died in 1755 and we don't know when his wife died -- the timing is close. I think that Andreas and Stophel or Christopher were in NY. One link to the newspaper reference is at http://www.awesomegenealogy.com/pennsylvania_newspapersgermantownpgs1757.shtml. I also found it in one of Henry Z. Jones' books about the Palatine emigrants. The name Moeller is the Americanized or anglicized spelling for the German name MŸller, as an umbat ÒuÓ is pronounced and spelled as ÒoeÓ.
Johannes Ebermann immigrated from Germany to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1732. His wife was Maria Catharina Frank. He was b. ca. 1713. Kraft Roesser named his son Kraft Roesser and he was b. 28 Jul 1753 in Lancaster Co., PA, at the First Reformed Congregation. Anna Catharina Franckin arrived in the new world in 1739.
Johann Jacob Franck was born on 28 Jul 1714 and died on 13 Apr 1787 in Lancaster, PA, and could have been our Jacob French (2nd). He came on the ship ÒFriendshipÓ with Miller, Sneppley, and Schnebli traveling from Rotterdam to Philadelphia in 1727. The name Miller or Muller appears on several of these early ships. If Jacob French (2nd) was born on 28 Jul 1714 in Sinsheim (near Heidelberg) in Germany, his father Jacob French (1st) may have been born in 1690. Johann Jacob Franck m. Anna Maria Kunigunda Bischoff on 4 Feb 1740, which time period fits in with the 3rd generation of our family; but still, this research has not been proved.
All the men who were naturalized with George French, son of Jacob French (1st) were Germans and are easily found on ancestry.com, including their immigration and ship records. Why GeorgeÕs immigration cannot be found is unknown to us. His name may have been spelled different before he immigrated. LetÕs start there . . .
Possible French Surnames
Ancestry.com has
noted that various other names could actually have been French.
The surname ÒFrenchÓ could have been spelled Franck, Frasch, Frinch, Friench, Franche, Freich, Ffrench, Pfrench, Frensch, Frensche, Francey, Franzšsisch, Jacob, Jaque, Francis Jacobs, Francis Jacques, Rench, Francis, Francois, Fanck, Fersch, Frand, Frank, Frech, Fremt, Funck, Tench. A large Funk family in the area also consisting of Henry, Jacob, and John, is not the same one as our French family, see Ref. [52]. Anthon Jacob Frenckel was b. 25 Jul 1708 in Soest, Westfalen, Prussia and married Maria Zur Hoehe.
German Emigrants
According to Wikipedia, German Americans comprise 17% of the U.S. population, the largest ancestral group. The first significant groups of German immigrants arrived primarily in NY and PA in the 1680s. They were pulled by the attractions of land and religious freedom. The first permanent German settlement in what became the United States was Germantown, Pennsylvania, founded near Philadelphia on October 6, 1683. Large numbers of Germans migrated from the 1680s to 1760s, with Pennsylvania the favored destination. Most were Lutheran or German Reformed; many belonged to small religious sects such as the Moravians, Amish, and Mennonites. German Catholics did not arrive in number until after the War of 1812.
In 1709, 2,100 Protestant Germans from the Pfalz or Palatine region of Germany escaped conditions of hardship, traveling first to Rotterdam and then to London. Queen Anne of Great Britain helped them get to her colonies in America. The trip was long and difficult and many died before teaching America in June 1710. This was the largest single immigration to America in the colonial period.
The tide of German immigration to Pennsylvania swelled between 1725-1775, with immigrants arriving as redumptioners or indentured servants. By 1775, Germans constituted about one-third of the population of the state. Although many Germans arrived from Hesse, Germany to fight during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) against the American army, the particular French family had already immigrated to Pennsylvania.
Was the French Family German or Swiss?
The emigration from the Rhineland (then the Electoral Palatinate) began early in the 18th Century when Queen Anne became concerned for the plight of the protestant subjects of her cousin, the Elector. At first, the Palatines were brought to England, but this produced overcrowding and domestic disturbances. In 1709, a group then in England was transported to New York. Subsequently, Palatines were transported directly to the colonies, most often to Pennsylvania. This met the goals of settling the colonies & giving relief to those who wished to emigrate.
Demand was strong and a bustling trade in human cargo soon developed. Sometimes, recruiters would spread out through the Rhine Valley, selling passage on ships. If the prospective passengers hadn't the money, a contract for indentured servitude would be accepted. Sometimes, the emigrants made their way down the Rhine to (mostly) Rotterdam and contacted a ship's captain there.
Before the
prospective emigrants could leave, they needed permission from their local
government. Most often, a simple fee of 10-15 pfennigs and vote by the city
council would obtain a "manumission permit". But, if the individual was subject to military subscription (draft) they would not
be allowed to leave. The journey down the Rhine River was the next hurdle; this
could take weeks on boats or barges. Each time they stopped, the local
authorities might exact another tax.
Yet none of this stemmed the flood of Palatines pouring out
of Germany & into the "New World". In 1727, Pennsylvanians
became concerned enough about unregulated immigration of these
"foreigners" (meaning non-British subjects), that they passed an act
requiring registration & loyalty oaths. Before that
date, I suppose there were no regulations and Jacob could have entered easily
– does anyone know?
From 1727 to 1776 (when the Revolutionary War interrupted
immigration) each ship was required to submit a list of its debarkees,
who were then required to take and sign (or have signed for them, then make
their marks) loyalty oaths at City Hall.
The first group of Germans to settle in Pennsylvania arrived
in Philadelphia in 1683 from Krefeld, Germany, and included Mennonites and
possibly some Dutch Quakers. During the early years of German emigration to
Pennsylvania, most of the emigrants were members of small sects that shared
Quaker principles--Mennonites, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders,
Moravians, and some German Baptist groups--and were fleeing religious
persecution. William Penn and his agents encouraged German and European
emigration to Pennsylvania by circulating promotional literature touting the
economic advantages of Pennsylvania as well as the religious liberty available
there. The appearance in Pennsylvania of so many different religious groups
made the province resemble "an asylum for banished sects." Beginning
in the 1720s significantly larger numbers of German Lutherans and German
Reformed arrived in Pennsylvania. Many were motivated by economic
considerations.
German Script class from Linda French Dawson. Old German is written in one for 3 scripts: SŸtterlin, Kurrent Kupferstich, and Breitkoph Fraktur. Reply from Deb: Thanks for sending this information. It made me start thinking about how the word "French" appeared if written in German script. I tried to use your attachment to copy and paste each letter into a Word document. For some reason each German script character automatically converted to the English alphabet. So I tried to find a way to do the conversion online. I found a font company where you can type in an English word and it shows the appearance in the Kurrent Kupferstich script. I attached what was generated when I typed the word French. It's pretty interesting to see this. No wonder names evolved when a non-English person came to America! The webpage I used is at http://www.waldenfont.com/product.asp?productID=8. Needless to say, we still have no clue as to if the French family was German or not. Related surnames from Germany who married a French were: Ersom, Sturman/Sterman, Schmeiss/Smice/Smise/Smize, Ruhl/Rule/RŸhl, Houser/Hauser, Kountz, and Hartman, Hartman, Sheets/Sheetz, Trobaugh. Related surnames from Switzerland are: Shively, Snabley, Schebley, Savely, Schnebley. These names appear to be German: Franck, Frasch, Friench, Freich, Frensch, Frensche, Fanck, Fersch, Frand, Frank, Frech, Fremt, Funck.
Was the French Family French?
George French (with Samuel Chase) made a resurvey on his land called ÒWaggonerÕs FancyÓ in 1767. AndrŽ Waggener is listed in the 1810 census of Berkeley Co., VA. Because the name AndrŽ is a French name, and because perhaps GeorgeÕs motherÕs name was Waggener, he could have been from France, or from the Alsace-Loraine area of France/Germany. A woman named Martha Wagner, age 38 in 1733, was on the naturalization list. Jacob Wagner was born in the Palatinate area of Germany in the year 1717 and immigrated to Lebanon, Lancaster Co., PA. Needless to say, we still have no clue as to if the French family was French or not. These names appear to be French: Francey, Franzšsisch, Jaque, Francis Jacques, Francois.
Was the French Family Dutch or Irish?
The names Davis, Dougherty, and Hedges who were closely connected with the French family in the New Colonies were from England. The Immigrants from Holland and Ireland needed to be naturalized as the French family did. No more has been researched, but you might try von Frantz or van Frantz.
Searching Names Via DNA
The surname French DNA Group 4 testees are all from Hapologroup G, broken down to include 2 from G2a and 1 from G2a3b1a, and 9 strickly from ÒGÓ alone.
Looking at the Hapologroup from
the 178 tests taken for Fox (English spelling for the German spelling of
Fuchs, only 1 tested as G2; all others are very different.
Immigration Ships
I searched all the ships leaving
Rotterdam from 1683 and arriving in Philadelphia until 1747 when George French
was granted land in Pennsylvania, and nothing
is evident that a French immigrated from Germany to
Philadelphia.
The Palatine Project shows a few other ships leaving from Rotterdam to Philadelphia. Most of these ships stopped in Falmouth, Liverpool, Cork, Plymouth, Cowes, Deal, Dover, Portsmouth, and London indicate that the French family could have boarded any of these ships at the stop-over port and really not have been German.
I've looked at various passengers here but found no clue, but there are hundreds of names: http://www.immigrantships.net/v6/surnamesv6/splfo_v6.htm. I also looked thru this and found nothing; see: http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1700v4/1700indexv4.html
Surnames Fuchs, Fucks, Fox
á Ship ÒJames GoodwillÓ from Rotterdam, Holland, to the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 11 Sep 1728. See ship records: http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1700v4/jamesgoodwill17280911.html. His actual spelling of his surname as it appears on the list is ÒJocob FuchsÓ. On the website http://www.immigrantships.net/v2/1700v2/jamesgoodwill17280911.html, his name appears as ÒJacob FucksÓ. The date of this emigration seems to align perfectly with the date JacobÕs son George was born (1727 or before) and the date his second child was born (1729 or after). Has anyone checked the Fuchs DNA website? Family Tree DNA shows 19 tests. In the German language, Fuchs means Fox, and 178 tests have been taken under that surname. See http://www.familytreedna.com/project-join-request.aspx?group=Fox and http://www.familytreedna.com/public/FoxDNA/.
á Another website: http://www.ristenbatt.com/genealogy/shplst14.htm which states that the men aboard the ship ÒJames GoodwillÓ were above 16 years of age and arrived in Philadelphia on 11 Sep 1728. None of the names of the other passengers are recognizable as neighbors, family, or friends of Jacob French.
á Jacob French was b. before 1705, PERHAPS emigrated on the Ship ÒJames GoodwillÓ from Rotterdam, Holland, to the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 11 Sep 1728. See ship records: http://www.immigrantships.net/v2/1700v2/jamesgoodwill17280911.html. His actual spelling of his surname as it appears on the list was ÒFucksÓ. The FFA has absolutely no evidence of when or from where the French family immigrated, nor how the French family spelled their name before they arrived, nor if they even changed the spelling. See website: http://www.ristenbatt.com/genealogy/shplst14.htm. This website of the same ship does not show him: http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1700v4/jamesgoodwill17280911.html.
Surnames Frantz, Funck
á Ship Molly in 1727, the surnames Frantz and Funck are listed next to one another. Besides seeing many passengers with the name Miller/Muller, nothing stands out to indicate Jacob French was on one of the ships.
á Ship 1732 Samuel, a large group with the name Frantz immigrated, landing in Philadelphia on 11 Aug 1732: Christian Sr. (age 47), Anna (age 37), Christian Jr. (age 26), Barbara (age 20), Eva (age 19), Magdalena (age 15), Judith (age 12), Veronica (age 8), Johann (age 7), Michael (age 6), and Elizabeth (age 3).
á Ship 1738 Elizabeth, landed in Philadelphia on 30 Oct 1738, was Jacob Franz, age 34; therefore born in 1704. The name Franz is different from Frantz. The dates are perfect and would indicate that all children except perhaps for John were born abroad. The ship left from Rotterdam and stopped in Cowes, an English seaport town on the Isle of Wight.
á Ship 1738 Robert and Alice, shows Jacob Frantz, no age.
Surnames Snevely, Snively, Schebley, Schnebley, Snabily, Snabley, Sneevele, Meyer, Miller
á Ship Lowther (Snow) of 1731, leaving from Rotterdam, stopping in Dover (County Kent, England), and arriving in Philadelphia 14 Oct 1731 with Jacob Snevely. He arrived alone, without a family.
á Ship 1736 Princess Augusta, men who settled in Lancaster, shows Jacob Meyer, George Meyer, Christian Sheybly or Shibley (age 53), Christian Sheibly or Saveley (age 17), the latter born in 1719. The Christian Sheybly aged 53 would be born in 1683, and he is definitely the one born in 1683 in Oberdorf, Canton of Basel, Switzerland who died ca. 1752 in Lancaster Co., PA. Louisa French m. Johann Jacob Schnebele in 1743 in Franklin Co., PA, and being at least 21, she was born in 1722 or before. Johann (SaintÕs name) Jacob (Christian name) Schnebele was b. 1720 in PA, and d. 16 Mar 1795 in Antrim, Franklin Co., PA, m. Louisa French in 1743. ÒAÓ John Snively lived in Washington Co., MD, in the 1790 census.
á On the ship Friendship I saw the names Miller, Sneppley, and Schnebli traveling from Rotterdam to Philadelphia in 1727. The name Miller or Muller appears on several of these early ships.
á See genealogy of John Henry Snabely from Switzerland whose son married Elizabeth Eversole, a surname that appears in Berkeley Co, WVA as the purchaser of French land. A Miller and a Snider also appear in Berkeley during this time.
Surname Felker
á Ship 1732 Plaisance which landed in Philadelphia on 21 Sep 1732, shows the name Johan Jacob Felker, age 17, of which surname married into the French family early on. Johan Jacob Felker was born in 1715, and perhaps married Maria Margaretha Pheiffer. He d. May 1791 in Montrose, Susquehanna Co., PA. Barbary French, sister to Henry French of Washington, Greene Co., TN (FFA Chart #10), was born ca. 1745 and married a man named Felker, probably ca. 1766 or later. No known connection of these 2 Felker families.
Surname RŸhl,
Rule
á Ship 1739 Samuel, shows Peter Ruhl, age 45; therefore, born 1694. Peter French married Rosanna Ruhl and also belongs to DNA Test Gp 4.
Who Was JacobÕs Wife, Martha?
Jacob could have been married to Martha French who released
the dower rights of Jacob FrenchÕs land called ÒDry Springs Joining to a RockÓ
which he bought in 1752 and sold in 1754. In land contracts in Maryland, Jacob
signed his name Jacob Funk and other times Jacob French, but the signature is
the same, as well as those names in the contract.
Jacob French may have married Martha in Germany and had their first child there. See this website: http://www.ristenbatt.com/genealogy/shplst14.htm. This website of the same ship does not show him http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1700v4/jamesgoodwill17280911.html.
The most familiar local Scotch-Irish surnames in early Pennsylvania were Allison, Irwin, Craig, McLaughlin, McLanahan, McDonald, McDowell, McCrae, Alexander, Chambers, and Davison; Martha could have had any of these surnames, or a German surname. However, because her birth surname is never mentioned in Pennsylvania in connection with a fatherÕs will, etc., as Louise French SnivelyÕs name is, we believe her parents did not immigrate and that Martha and Jacob French married overseas.
ÒAÓ Martha Miller was b. 16 Sep 1701 at Saint PaulÕs Parish in Kent Co., Maryland, the dau. of Michael and Martha Miller. She could also have been born Martha Denison, dau. of Andrew Denison and his wife Sarah, as the oldest daughter; Andrew d. Jan 1788; see more at Ref. [92].
Any Connection to Col. John French of New Castle, Delaware?
It seems as though this French family of Col. John and his brother Robert were already in Delaware and Pennsylvania in the late 1600's. They appear to be English. Since George French of FFA Chart #195 was naturalized in 1747 in MD, this is proof that his family was not English. That's enough evidence for Deb Skoff to decide that these two families couldn't be related. Since the other men naturalized at the same time were Germans, then it's likely that George French and the two Jacob Frenchs were also German. See FFA Chart #81.
The Scotch-Irish Pioneer Settlers in Pennsylvania
Historical Map of Franklin County showing Antrim at the bottom in 1741. See a ÒPictorial View of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Then and NowÓ, by Gordon Crooks, 2011. For more details, see Ref. [60] and [89].
The Scotch-Irish were a numerous but honorable class who migrated to Pennsylvania and other Eastern States at an early day. The counties of Antrim, Armagh, Caven, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan and Tyrone-names familiar to all intelligent Pennsylvanians, soon became prominent because of the new blood and brains introduced. Thus Protestantism was planted in Ireland. These Scotch-Irish immigrants did not come to Pennsylvania as soon as the Germans. In 1728, 4,500 persons, chiefly from Ireland, arrived in New Castle. In 1729, Logan expressed his gratification that parliament was "about to take measures to prevent the too free emigration to this country," intimating that the prospects were that Ireland was about "to send all her inhabitants hither, for last week not less than six ships arrived." "It is strange," continued he, "that they thus crowd where they are not wanted. The common fear is that if they continue to come, they will make themselves proprietors of the province." In 1730 he again complains of them as "audacious and disorderly" for having, by force, taken possession of the Conestoga Manor, containing 15,000 acres of the "best land in the country." See http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Local_History/scotch-irish.htm.
Of this they were, by the sheriff, subsequently dispossessed and their cabins burned. About the same time, he says, in another letter, "I must own, from my own experience in the land office, that the settlement of five families from Ireland gives me more trouble than fifty of any other people."
The captious spirit manifested by Logan against both German and Scotch-Irish settlers, and especially the latter, and which was subsequently shared, to some extent, by Peters, Dickinson and Franklin, is readily accounted for by his fear of losing his position in the Government, should any other than the Quaker influence prevail.
From 1730 to 1740 the influx was great. Settlements were commenced in Cumberland (then Lancaster) County in 1730 and 1731, the Chambers brothers having crossed west of the Susquehanna about that time. After 1736, during the month of September, in which year alone 1,000 families are said to have sailed from Belfast, the influx into the Kittochtinny Valley, west of the Susquehanna, increased rapidly; for in 1748, the number of taxables, not counting the fifty Germans, was about 800.
Soon after the erection of Cumberland County (1750), "in consequence of the frequent disturbances between the governor and Irish settlers, the proprietaries gave orders to their agents to sell no lands in either York or Lancaster counties to the Irish; and also to make to the Irish settlers in Paxton, Swatara, and Donegal Townships advantageous offers of removal to Cumberland County, which offers being liberal were accepted by many."
Injustice has been done to the Scotch-Irish settlers of these early days by two classes of writers: first, those who were actuated by jealousy, as was Logan, in his inability to see good in any classes not directly connected with the original Friend or Penn element; secondly, those who have failed to study carefully the circumstances which surrounded the Scotch-Irish immigrants in their settlements and conduct toward the Indians. Under these circumstances we are not surprised to hear Mr. Sherman Day, in his Historical Collections of Pennsylvania, call them "a pertinacious and pugnacious race," "pushing their settlements upon unpurchased lands about the Juniata, producing fresh exasperation among the Indians." "As the result of this," he continues, "massacres ensued, the settlers were driven below the mountains, and the whole province was alive with the alarms and excitements of war."
In reply to these serious charges, Judge George Chambers, in his "Tribute to the Principles, Virtues, Habits and Public Usefulness of the Irish and Scotch Early Settlers of Pennsylvania," a carefully written and most admirable little book, enters a most emphatic protest. Without attempting to present in detail the facts which enable his to reach his conclusions, we give a brief summary of his argument: Admitting the aggressive character of the early Scotch-Irish settlers in pushing into the forests and occupying lands, the outrages and massacres by the Indians were, nevertheless, not the direct result of these encroachments, but a retaliatory protest against the unjust manner in which their lands and hunting grounds have been taken from them by so-called purchases and treaties with the government. By the cession of 1737, the Indians were to convey lands on the Delaware to extend back into the woods as far as a man can go in one day and a half. By the treaty of Albany, in 1754, between the Proprietary of Pennsylvania and the Six Nations, nearly all the lands claimed by them in the province were ceded for the small sum of 400 Pounds. The dissatisfaction produced by this cession, which the Indians claim they did not understand, was fanned by the French into open hostility, manifesting itself in the indiscriminate and wholesale devastation and massacres following the Braddock campaign. The wrongs of the government, and not the encroachments of a few daring settlers, it is claimed by Mr. Chambers, produced these destructive Indian outrages. Gov. Morris, in his address to the Assembly, on November 3, 1755, clearly reminds them "that it seemed clear, from the different accounts he had received, that the French had gained to their interest the Delaware and Shawnese Indians, under the ensnaring pretense of restoring them to their country."
The Assembly, in their reply to Gov. Denny, in June, 1757, say: "It is rendered beyond contradiction plain that the cause of the present Indian incursions in this province, and the dreadful calamities many of the inhabitants have suffered, have arisen, in a great measure, from the exorbitant and unreasonable purchases made, or supposed to be made of the Indians, and the manner of making them - so exorbitant, that the natives complain that they have not a country left to subsist in." --Smith's Laws.
A careful study of these people clearly shows that, while they were aggressive, they moved along the line of a higher civilization; while they were firm in their convictions, they advocated the rights of man to liberty of thought and action; while they cherished many of the institutions and beliefs of the old country, they were intensely patriotic and loyal to the new; and while they possessed what they regarded the best lands, they were just in their dealings with the untutored red man. These were the people who laid broad and deep the foundations of social, educational and religious liberty in America.
The German immigrants, as a class, were hardy, industrious, honest and economical, retaining, to a great extent, the prejudices, superstitions, manners, language and characteristics of the fatherland. Like the Scotch-Irish, their migration to America was the result of a deprivation of certain religious rights in their native countries, and a desire to improve their physical condition in the new world.
Like the Scotch-Irish, they, too, were Protestants, belonging to different denominations: (1) The Swiss Mennonites were among the earliest to come about the beginning of the last century, and settled in the neighborhood of Philadelphia and at Pequea and other points in what is now Lancaster County. They were orderly, honest, peaceable and advocates of non-resistant or peace principles. (2) German Baptists (Dunkards), Moravians, Seventh-day Baptists. (3) Lutherans and German Reformed, the latter two constituting the great body of the arrivals, and furnishing the aggressive elements of the new settlers. They came later than the others and entered new fields.
Many of these early Germans, having first located in the State of New York, were dissatisfied with the unjust treatment received at the hands of the authorities, and therefore came to Pennsylvania. They wrote messages to their friends in Europe, advising them to shun New York and come direct to the province of Penn, which afforded superior inducements.
Their arrivals in the province were, briefly: Henry Frey came two years earlier than William Penn and one Platenbach a few years later. In 1682 a colony arrived and formed a settlement at Germantown; and in 1684-85, a company of ten persons was formed in Germany, called the Frankfort Land Company, of which F. D. Pastorius was appointed attorney. They bought 25,000 acres of land from Penn, in addition to other tracts. From 1700 to 1720, the Palatines, so called because they sprang principally from the Palatinate in Germany, whither they had been driven by persecutions in various parts of Europe, came in vast numbers. They suffered great privations. In 1708-09, more than 10,000 went to England, where, in a sickly and starving condition, they were cared for by the generous Queen Anne who, at an expense to herself of £135,775, alleviated their sufferings in that country and assisted them to come to New York and Pennsylvania. Their number was so great as to draw from James Logan, secretary of the province of Pennsylvania in 1717, the remark: "We have, of late, a great number of Palatines poured in upon us without any recommendation or notice, which gives the country some uneasiness; for foreigners do not so well among us as our own English people." In 1719 Jonathan Dickinson said: "We are daily expecting ships from London, which bring over Palatines, in number about six or seven thousand."
The arrivals from 1720 to 1730 were so numerous as to produce some alarm lest the colony should become a German one. Says Rupp: "To arrest in some degree the influx of Germans, the assembly assessed a tax of twenty shillings a head on newly arrived servants; for as early as 1722 there were a number of Palatine servants and Redemptioners sold to serve a term of three or four years at £10 each to pay their freight."
From 1730 to 1740, about sixty-five vessels were filled with immigrants, having with them their own preachers and teachers, landed at Philadelphia, from which they scattered in various directions; many of these located in York County.
From 1740 to 1755, more than a hundred vessels arrived, some of them, though small, containing from 500 to 600 passengers. In the summer and autumn of 1749, not less than 12,000 came. This period - 1740 to 1755 - witnessed many outrages upon the unsuspecting passengers. Within the State were certain Germans known as neulaenders, who, having resided in this country long enough to understand the business, profited by the ignorance and credulity of their own people abroad. Going to various parts of Germany and presenting the new world in glowing colors, they induced, by misrepresentations and fraudulent practices, many of their friends and kinsmen to sell, and in some cases even to abandon their property and forsake their firesides in order to reach this new land of promise. Many, starting with inadequate means, were unable to pay their passage, and on arriving were sold for a series of years as servants, to liquidate their claims. These were called redemptioners or Palatine servants.
The number of Germans in Pennsylvania about 1755 was from 60,000 to 70,000. About nine-tenths of the first settlers of York County, then including Adams, were Germans. The great influx into Cumberland County which, with the exception of a few English, was settled almost exclusively by Scotch and Scotch-Irish, began about 1770; though as early as the period from 1736 to 1745, there were found in the Conococheague settlements, the Snivelys, Schneiders, Piscackers, Liepers, Ledermans, Haricks, Laws, Kolps, Gabriels, Ringers, Steiners, Senseneys, Radebachs, Reischers, Wolffs, Schneidts, Rupp. Rev. Michael Schlatter, a German reformed minister, in a letter dated May 9, 1748, thus describes a visit through the valley: "On the Conogogig we reached the house of an honest Schweitzer [supposed to be Jacob Snively, of Antrim Township,] where we received kind entertainment with thankfulness. In this neighborhood there are very fine lands for cultivation and pasture, exceedingly fruitful without the application of manures. Turkish corn (Indian maize) grows to the height of ten feet and higher, and the grasses are remarkable fine. Hereabout, there still remains a good number of Indians, the original dwellers of the soil. They are hospitable and quiet, and well affected to the Christians until the latter make them drunk with strong drink."
The original German has, by imperceptible changes, been gradually transformed into a being very unlike the original, known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. The latter has in him more of the democratic spirit, which ignores the clannishness of the olden time and forms friendships and alliances with people of other nationalities. The dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch, is sui generis an anomaly in the domain of language. Its possessor is a cosmopolitan, fond of social life, ambitious and industrious, and in these latter days quite fond of public office and other "soft places." He is destined to take the land.
The three original counties of Pennsylvania, established by William Penn in 1682, were Chester, Philadelphia and Bucks. Chester County included all the land (except a small portion of Philadelphia County, southwest of the Schuylkill to the extreme limits of the State. Lancaster County was formed and taken from Chester May 10, 1729; York was taken from Lancaster August 9, 1749. Cumberland County remained a part of Lancaster until it was itself erected a separate county, January 27, 1750. Franklin County, the then southwestern part of Cumberland, and known as the "Conococheague Settlement," was established September 9, 1784. To understand the early history of this country, the reader will need therefore, to bear in mind two facts:
1. Prior to January 27, 1750, its territory (with the exception of Warren township) was found in the county of Lancaster.
2. From January 27, 1750 to September 9, 1784, it belonged to Cumberland County. Since the latter date (September 9, 1784) it has had a distinct organization of its own.
Long prior to Greeley's famous advice, "Go west, young man," or Bishop Berkley's oft-quoted "Westward the course of empire takes its way," the tide of migration was toward the setting sun. Since the race began, the line of movement has been along the parallels, and in the direction of the receding darkness. The early settlers of the Kittatinny or Cumberland Valley came from the older eastern countries, where they located soon after their landing on the Atlantic coast. No record exists of those who may have wandered through this region on prospecting or hunting tours, if any such adventurers ever did make these hazardous trips. As early as 1719, John Harris had commenced a settlement near the present site of Harrisburg, and for many years afterward ran a ferry across the Susquehanna at that point known as Harris' Ferry. On either side of the river were Indian villages, the one where Harris lived being known as Peixtan or Paxtan. On the western side of the river, at the mouth of the Conodoguinet, at the present site of Bridgeport, and at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches, were three Indians towns, at which trading posts were established. At the last-named place, James Chartier, an Indian trader, had a store and landing place. It is claimed by some that James Le Tort, one of these traders, after whom the beautiful stream in Cumberland County was named, lived at a very early period at a place called Beaver Pond, near the present site of Carlisle.
What is now Cumberland County had settlements at various points away from the river. Richard Parker and his wife settled three miles north of Carlisle in 1724. His application at the land office in 1734 was for a warrant to land on which he "had resided ye ten years past." George Croghan, an Indian trader, whose name occurs frequently in early records, lived about five miles from the river on the north side of the Conodoguinet. He owned tracts in various parts of the county, a large one being north of Shippensburg. He did not cultivate all these, but changed about as his convenience and trade demanded. He was an Irishman of common education, and in later years lived at Aughwick or Old Town, west of the North Mountains, where he was trusted as an Indian agent. In the settlement commenced by James Chambers near Newville, then known as Big Spring, a group of inhabitants, so numerous as to form and support a religious society as early as 1738, was found, consisting of David Ralston, Robert Patterson, James McKehan, John Carson, John Erwin, Richard Fulton, Samuel McCullough and Samuel Boyd. Robert Chambers, brother of the preceding, as well as of Benjamin, who located at Falling Spring, formed a prosperous settlement near Middle Spring, about two miles north of Shippensburg. At the same early date. The first settlers were such men as Hugh and David Herron, Robert McComb, Alexander and James Young, Alexander McNutt, Archibald, John and Robert Machan, James Scott, Alexander Sterrett, Wm. And John Piper, Hugh and Joseph Brady, John and Robert McCune, and Charles Morrow. In asking that the State road, which was laid out in 1735-36 might be directed through that neighborhood rather than through Shippensburg, the petitioners claimed that theirs was the more thickly settled part. By some (footnote: Historical discourse of Rev. S. S. Wylie at the Centennial celebration in Middle Spring. This claim, however, is incorrect. Blunston's license to Benjamin Chambers at Falling Spring was dated March 30, 1734.) it is claimed that in the Middle Spring settlement the first land in the Cumberland Valley taken under authority of the "Blunston Licenses" (footnote: Samuel Blunston of Wright's Ferry (now Columbia) was authorized by the proprietaries to make a partial survey of land and to grant to settlers permission to take up and improve, or continue to improve, such lands as they desired, with the promise that a more perfect title should be given them when the Indian claims should be extinguished. The Indians were also assured that these claims would be satisfied as soon as the pending Indian treaties should be completed. The first of these licenses was dated January 24, 1733-34 and the last October 31, 1737. Appended is a copy of one of these: "Lancaster County, ss.- By the Proprietary: These are to license, and allow Andrew Ralston to continue to improve and dwell on a tract of two hundred acres of land on the Great Spring, a branch of the Conedoguinet, joyning to the upper side of a tract granted to Randle Chambers for the use of his son, James Chambers; to do hereafter surveyed to the said Ralston on the common terms other lands in those parts are sold; provided the same has not been already granted to any other person, and so much can be had without prejudice to other tracts before granted. Given under my hand this third day of January, Anno Domini 1736-7. Pennsylvania, ss. Sa. Blunston.") and assigned to Benjamin Furley, was located. According to the record in the county surveyor's office at Chambersburg, this tract, embracing some 1094 acres and allowances, warranted December 18, 1735, and surveyed April 15, 1738, was situated on the Conodoguinet Creek in what was then Pennsborough Township, Lancaster County, but now Southampton Township, Franklin County. It was subsequently occupied by William, David, James and Francis Herron, William Young, and John Watt.
Where Shippensburg now stands, a settlement was made as early as 1730. In June of that year, according to Hon. John McCurdy, the following persons came to that locality and built their habitations: Alexander Steen, John McCall, Richard Morrow, Gavin Morrow, John Culbertson, Hugh Rippey, John Rippey, John Strain, Alexander Askey, John McAllister, David Magaw and John Johnston. They were soon followed by Benjamin Blythe, John Campbell and Robert Caskey. From this settlement ultimately sprang a village older than any other in the Cumberland Valley. It was a distributing point for settlers, and hence important, as will be shown by the following letter written therefrom: (dated May 21, 1733)
Dear John: I wish you would see John Harris, at the ferry, and get him to write to the Governor, to see if he can't get some guns for us; there's a good wheen of ingns about here, and I fear they intend to give us a good deal of troubbel, and may do us a grate dale of harm. We was three days on our journey coming from Harrisses ferry here. We could not make much speed on account of the childer; they could not get on as fast as Jane and me. I think we will like this part of the country when we get our cabbin built. I put it on a level peese of groun, near the road or path in the woods at the fut of a hill. There is a fine stream of watter that comes from a spring a half a mile south of where our cabbin is bilt. I would have put it near the watter, but the land is lo and wet. John McCall, Alick Steen and John Rippey bilt theirs near the stream. Hugh Rippey's daughter Mary (was) berried yesterday; this will be sad news to Andrew Simpson, when it reaches Maguire's bridge. He is to come over in the fall when they were to be married. Mary was a verry purty gerl; she died of a faver and they berried her up on rising groun, north of the road or path where we made choice of a peese of groun for a graveyard. She was the furst berried there. Poor Hugh had none left now but his wife, Sam and little Isabel. There is plenty of timmer south of us. We have 18 cabbins bilt here now, and looks (like) a town, but we have no name for it. I'll send this with John Simpson when he goes back to Paxtan. Come up Soon; our cabbin will be ready to go into a week and you can go in till you get wan bilt; we have planted some corn and potatoes. Dan McGee, John Sloan, and Robert Moore was here and left last week. Remember us to Mary and the childer; we are all well. Tell Billy Parker to come up soon and bring Nancy with him. I know he will like the country. I forgot to tell you that Sally Brown was bit by a snaik, but she is out of danger. Come up soon. Yr. Aft. Brother, James Magraw.
The first settlement, in what is now Franklin County, was made in 1730, at Falling Spring, (now Chambersburg)-the confluence of the two streams, Falling Spring and Conococheague-by Col. Benjamin Chambers and his older brother, Joseph. Between 1726 and 1730, four brothers, James, Robert, Joseph and Benjamin Chambers, emigrated from the country of Antrim, Ireland, to the province of Pennsylvania. They settled and built a mill shortly after their arrival, at the mouth of Fishing Creek, in what is now Dauphin County, where they occupied a tract of fine land. These brothers were among the first to explore and settle the valley. James made a settlement at the head of Great Spring, near Newville; Robert, at the head of Middle Spring, near Shippensburg, and Joseph and Benjamin at Falling Spring, where Chambersburg now stands.
By an arrangement among the brothers, Joseph returned to supervise their property at the mouth of Fishing Creek, and Benjamin remained to develop the settlement at Falling Spring. He built a one-storied hewed-log house which he covered with lapped cedar shingles secured by nails-an innovation upon the prevailing style of architecture, which consisted of round log structure covered with a roof of clapboards, held in position by beams and wooden pins. Having completed this, the finest residence in the settlement, he addressed himself to clearing land, erecting necessary buildings and planning the future growth of the colony. Some time after this, Benjamin had occasion to visit his former homestead at Fishing Creek. Returning, he found his house had been burned by some avaricious person for the "sake of the nails," which were a rarity in those days.
Subsequently Mr. Chambers received what was then the only authority for the taking up and occupying of land. The following is a copy of the interesting instrument, which was a narrow strip of common writing paper, the chirography on which would not stand the crucial test of modern straight lines, ovals and right and left curves.
From Karen Engstrom: Well Mara.... Actually Northern Ireland is a land of conflicts between the "native" (I use that term loosely) Celtic Catholic Irish (who the Romans called Scotti) and the Celtic Scots (from Scotland who by this time happened to be Presbyterians) who were sent in to displace the local "native" Catholic Irish landowners/dissenters as spoils of war. This was all thanks to Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Cromwell (and others down the line) in the many attempts by the English crown (who happen to be "High Church" Anglican/Church of England and of which the King or Queen of England is the religious leader) to get rid of the Pope of Rome's presence in England's back yard. The Popes had a price on early dissenters heads (like Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I) so it was a very real and immediate threat if you consider the Spanish Armada. Anyway, I think the movement was called "Plantation." Dublin's Trinity College is/was an Anglican institution. So, fundamentally there were primarily three religious movements active in Ireland in the late 1500s, into the 1600s and on - The earliest being the Catholics, then the Anglicans/Church of Ireland (our Episcopalians) and then the Presbyterians. Not long after, there were also a few Quakers and other Protestant movements like the Methodists all trying to get a foothold against the Catholics. In Northern Ireland, the Catholics and Protestants regarded one another as less than human for generations (I have letters to prove it!). It is possible that the surname "French" got into Ireland when William the Conqueror's boys, the Normans, expanded the Plantagenet power into Ireland. As in England, the French speaking people that they brought with them could have acquired the surname, "French" similar to what happened in southern England during those times. Or, later on, the Frenches may have merely arrived from England to take advantage of available land from dispossessed Catholic Irish which was being offered to loyal Protestants.
In my family tree there's a little bit of history that took place in the late 1600's, early 1700's involving all the above: A Presbyterian Scottish mercenary settling in Northern Ireland benefiting from the results of spoils of war; an ancient aristocratic Irish Catholic family that went Presbyterian thanks to love and marriage with a Scottish Presbyterian farmer's daughter; and, an English soldier posted to a small Irish village - a Welch Quaker who's grandson married a local Catholic peasant girl (again, love!). By the way, those red-headed Irish are the direct result of those Norwegian Vikings who raided and then settled in Ireland (especially in Northern Ireland)..... whose descendants became good Catholic Irish! That lovely Irish lace, china and glassware are the results of Protestant (Huguenots) French being settled into south eastern Ireland. And now the Pakistani's and other dark races are arriving! The smell of curry fills the air! No such thing as pure anything!
The very independent Scots-Irish left Northern Ireland in droves ("Wild Geese") in the 1700's when the English started in oppressing them and taxing them out of a livelihood - treating them as they had treated the Catholic Irish all along. After all, in the eyes of the English, these Scots-Irish were Presbyterians - not Anglicans. They had shown no respect for the English crown or authority. Many Presbyterian Scots held the belief that the Anglican Church was just warmed over Catholicism which they considered idolatrous and made no bones about it. Eventually, stifled by the oppression, the Scots-Irish Presbyterians joined together with their Irish Catholic neighbors and rose up in rebellion. They lost! It's quite a story. And, you are right.. they landed in New York and Philadelphia and Quebec. They also went eastward into European countries - they spread out to all the world's ports. They settled in Appalachia, they went everywhere!
More than you wanted to know but there you are. A huge and complicated history glossed over, overly simplified, not quite totally accurate (but close!) and in a nutshell. Not much on TV tonite, obviously!
Scotch-Irish (or
Scots-Irish) Americans are the descendants of an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish
province of Ulster who
immigrated to North America
primarily during the colonial era.[2] Some scholars also include the
150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to America during the early 19th
century, and their descendants.[citation needed]
Most of the Scotch-Irish were descended from Scottish and English families who
colonized Ireland during the Plantation of Ulster
in the 17th century.[3] While an
estimated 36 million Americans (12% of the total population) reported Irish
ancestry in 2006, and 6 million (2% of the population) reported Scottish
ancestry,[4] an additional 5.4
million (1.8% of the population) identified more specifically with Scotch-Irish
ancestry. People in Great Britain or Ireland that are of a similar ancestry
usually refer to themselves as Ulster Scots, with the term
Scotch-Irish used only in North America.[5]
The Colonial Era was that period in America before 1776 at which time the British separated from the Americans.
DNA Testing
Administered by Julia French Wood. For any questions regarding DNA, please email Julia at juliaFWood@aol.com.
A good source for research would be for a male with the
surname French of this line to take the DNA test. It is a simple test that
doesnÕt involve blood. A kit is delivered to your house with special brushes
for you to take cheek swabs and the tip is injected into the tiny test tubes to
be returned to the lab. After the tests that you ordered are completed, in
about 4 weeks, you will be notified and can log in to your personal page at the
company to view your results and your DNA matches. They may match up with one
of the tests shown here: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/french/default.aspx?section=yresults. The FamilyTree DNA website gives a special lower price to those
with the surname French. Read about those who approve of it: http://www.familytreedna.com/testimonials.aspx. To get the
discounted price for our French DNA Project group, go to http://small-stuff.com/FRENCH/DNA/ and click at
the left on "Join the French DNA Project" then place your
order. Julia French Wood suggests the 37 marker
test (Y-DNA37), but if you want to start with 25, you can upgrade to a higher
test at a later date if needed.
Maps
Go to ÒHistory of Franklin County, PennsylvaniaÓ: http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/franklin/history/local/wbeers005.txt
Go to ÒHistory of Washington and Frederick Counties,
MarylandÓ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_County,_Maryland
Go to ÒHistory of Berkeley County, West VirginiaÓ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_County,_West_Virginia
Maps of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia
One can see that Franklin County, PA is just north of Washington and Frederick Counties in Maryland, which are just north of Berkeley and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia.