French Family Association

The Official Website of the Surname French

Chart #195, “Study” of the
Chronology of
Jacob French 1^st, born ca. 1704
and his children Louisa, Jacob 2^nd, George, John Peter
Antrim twp, Cumberland Co., (now Franklin Co.), PA
Berkeley Co., VA (now WV)
Washington Co., MD

The Chronology of Jacob French 1^st was updated on 3/5/16. Numbers in brackets [ ] show sources and refer to the Bibliography and Records webpage. Revisions: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016. Contact.

FFA Home Page

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

George French’s Naturalization and Land Deeds

Antrim, Franklin County, PA

After the Death of Jacob French 1st

Huckleberry Hall

George French reduces his assets before his death ca. 1772

Migration South to Kentucky, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina

Preparing for the Death of Jacob French 2nd

Death of Jacob French 2nd and John French

Death of Louisa French Snively and John Snively

Bibliography and Records

Chronology, 1700-1826

Jacob French 1^st, 1704? – 1755, and his children:
     Levina (Louisa) French
     George French, born before 1726
     Jacob French 2^nd, born before 1730
     John French, need more research, in fact, all of these French ancestors are not yet proven; this research is what we have at the moment.

Analysis against Jacob French 1^st

Deb, this is a very interesting reply — very revealing. Let’s start with Jacob — and as I have checked the Jacob 1st on Chart #195, it seems there is not much on him and that everything I have for Jacob 1st could actually be Jacob 2nd, and George may have been their father as he was the only one naturalized and the others may have been born in America.

— never saw the document that Martha was the wife of Jacob 1st. Could Jacob 2nd have had 2 wives == first wife would be Magdalena as she doesn’t seem to appear very long, and perhaps Martha was second wife???

— Jacob 1st was born ca. 1704 and died 1755, but no real document

— no record of Jacob 1st being naturalized.

— we now think that the Jacob who lived in Antrim was Jacob 2nd, not Jacob 1st. However, neighbor was Jacob Snively whose son John Snively married Louisa French in the next generation, unless Jacob Snively was actually John Snively???

— was Jacob 1st in Captain John White’s Company in 1757? Must have been Jacob French 2nd

— Jacob Frans who immigrated 30 Oct 1738 was age 34, but not sure this was Jacob French

— Jacob 1st cannot be found until 1748, so this could be Jacob 2nd

— Jacob was mentioned in Maryland in 1758 in the French and Indian War for 6 days, but if he were born in 1704, Jacob 1st would have been about 54 years old — seems more that this would be Jacob 2nd.

— I do find it odd that Jacob 1st would buy land in 1748 just before he would die in 1755 — probably was Jacob 2nd

— The timing is correct for Jacob 2nd leaving Antrim and buying Huckleberry. Maybe George was his father and he followed his father to Maryland???

— No records for Jacob 1st

— No French on the Antrim Tax List of 1751, but John Scott and John Snively are listed

Schnebele Family

1659 -- Johann Jacob Schnebele/Snively (1^st) was born in 1659 in Affoltern am Albis, Canton Zurich, Switzerland, immigrated to the new world in 1714 with his wife and children to escape religious persecution, and settled in Lancaster, PA. He was naturalized in Philadelphia, PA, on 4 October 1729, and died in 1743 at age 84. His grandson, John Snively, married Louisa French. His granddaughter Magdalena Snively, married Jacob French 2^nd.

1694 Dec 31 -- Jacob Schnebele/Snively (2^nd), father of John Snively who married Louisa French in 1743 and Magdalena Snively who married Jacob French 2^nd, was born in Affoltern am Albis, Canton Zurich, Switzerland, the son of Johann Jacob Schnebele, died 24 August 1766 and buried at the Snively Family Cemetery in Greencastle, Franklin County, PA, at age 72 [91], immigrated in 1714 with his father. He married twice; his first wife’s name is unknown, who was the mother of John Schnebele (1720-1791) and Christian Schnebele. Jacob Schnebele’s second marriage was in 1736 to Barbara Eberle, and they had children Henry (who inherited much of the French land in Antrim, PA, after the French family moved to Maryland), Joseph, Andrew, Michael (died young), and Jacob. See Snively Genealogy and Schneebeli Genealogy.

1696 -- The western portions of Maryland (including present Washington County) were incorporated into Prince George's County in 1696.

Rohrer Family

1696 Mar 16 -- John Jacob Rohrer was born, son of Hans Michael Rohrer (circa 1665) & Katherine Schwagler; John Jacob was born on 16 Mar 1695/96 in Alsace, Germany, died on 23 Nov 1771 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; John Jacob married Maria Souder Abt. 1733 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Maria was born on 24 Feb 1715/16 in Mannheim, Germany, died on 11 May 1769 probably in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He had children Jacob Rohrer 1734-1803, Ann Rohrer 2 Feb 1737/38, Christian Rohrer 1741-1804, Elizabeth Rohrer 1744, John Rohrer 1746-1814, Maria Rohrer 1748-1771, Martin Rohrer 1751, and Susannah Rohrer 1756-1815. John Jacob Rohrer's occupation was in Veterinary Surgery; Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The Rohrers of Lancaster: According to legend, detailed in the "Biographical History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania" by Harris, page 501, and other sources, John or Johannes Rohrer was born in Alsace in 1696. It is said that in 1725 he, together with his father, brothers and sisters, made their way to Switzerland in an effort to escape French persecution. John was sent back to recover some family belongings and was captured by the French. He escaped from prison (with the help of other distant family) but versions differ as to what happened after his escape. In "John Rohrer of Lancaster County" written in 1939 after extensive research by the author, Albert L. Rohrer, it is said that John made his way to England where he studied veterinary surgery, and later coming to America. That writer relied to a large extent on Harris who says that after arriving in America and acquiring real estate in Lancaster County, this John married Marie Souder in 1732. They had eight children, four sons were Martin, Daniel, John and Christian. Of their four daughters one married a Houser, one a Smith, one a Bachman and the other was wed to Peter Miller. According to this history, some years later while in Philadelphia and hearing of the landing of a vessel, John went to the ship where he saw that one of the passengers was his father whom he had not seen since escaping from the French. He was informed that his mother had died and his father had remarried. His father had two or three sons by his second wife. This family was destitute and were expected to be sold as indentured servants for their passage money. John paid the demands and took his father and his family with him. John later aided his half-brothers in acquiring land near Hagerstown, Maryland. Albert Rohrer drew the conclusion that Samuel and Martin were the names of these half-brothers and this assumption has been followed by most other writers of the Rohrer genealogy. One of the exceptions is Edythe Whitley who believed that the two half-brothers were named Frederick & Jacob. See The Rohrer Families by Wickliffe B. Neal page 27). Also see http://www.procuniar.com/BIO-JohnJacobRohrer1695-1771.html by David C. Procuniar, email: dprocuniar@woh.rr.com.

Note: The DNA test results for this Rohrer family and for this French family do not match at all as per research by Linda French Dawson [11].

Avey or Ebby Family

Henry (Henrich) Avey is significant to George French as the two men lived in Maryland and were both naturalized at the same time in 1747. Henry Avey was born in 1702 in Bern, Switzerland, and died in 1766 at age 64 in Frederick County, MD. He married Elizabeth (1704-1763) and had 8 children: Lizabetna 1724, Kathrina, 1726, John 1728-1789, Joseph 1747-1792, Mary, Margaretha, Barbara and Veronica. Jacob French 1^st lived in the same period, born ca. 1704 and died ca. 1755. George French may have also lived in this same era as Henry Avey as both were naturalized the same day in Maryland in 1747. Henry Ebby sailed on the ship “Samuel” in 1732 at ae 30; he was the only Ebby aboard.

Three things should be pointed out in Henry Avey’s will pre-1766.

1. Son Jacob Avey, 1733-1789, inherited 100 acres of "Scotch Lott". In 1741 “Scotch Lott” contained 150 acres and the developer/owner was Ewen Mugdanald at that time, MSA S1596 in Prince George’s County, Patent Record LG C, p. 177. By 19 Mar 1747 “Scotch Lott” was 202 acres and the developer/owner was Henry Avey, MSA S1427 in Washington County, Patent Record BT and BY 3, p. 713. County lines changed often in this area, and by 1846 “Scotch Lott” was in Frederick County and belonged to the Kline family. It is unsure how he was able to own land on 19 Mar 1747 when he wasn’t naturalized until 20 Oct 1747 in Maryland. See http://interactive.ancestry.com/49058/FLHG_SettlersMaryland2-0034/101680?backurl=http://person.ancestry.com/tree/18806968/person/2009354250/facts/citation/5393016015/edit/record.

2. The reference to the mother (underlined mine) rather than “his” mother, which may mean this was a second marriage for Henry Avey.

3. The fact that the will was translated from German. The will was written in German but this does not mean that the Avey family was German. As Henry probably could not write (most people could not at that time) he probably had the will written for him. If he had written it, I doubt that he would have spelled his sons names differently.

Joseph Avey, a son of Jacob, was born on May 10, 1767. May 12, 1768, Jacob Evey (Ebey; spelled both ways in document) purchased from John Avey the five acres willed him by Henry Evey. Jacob then turned around and sold 99 acres of “Mistake” and 72 acres of "Scotch Lott" to Jacob Root. In this document, Jacob Evey's sawmill was mentioned at the mouth of a Run of Beaver Creek. Isaac Houser' s hemp mill was also mentioned. Mary, the wife of Jacob Evey, relinquished her dower rights to the above land (MSA 1768).

The above sale left son Jacob Avey with approximately six acres of “Mistake:, 32 acres of "Scotch Lott", a lot in Frederick and part of the land Isaac Houser ted sold to Henry Avey before his death.

On June 22, 1771, Jacob Evey sold to Jacob Saltsgaver 50 acres of land on Waggon Branch of Beaver Creek called "Wine Hill" (MSA 1771). Mary, wife of Jacob, relinquished her dower rights to the land. "Wine Hill" was originally owned by Bambarger (Sharf 1968:985), but perhaps it was the land sold by Isaac Houser to Henry Avey as there is no record of a purchase by Jacob.

On July 25, 1771, Joseph and Jacob Evey sold to Jacob Saltsgaver 27 acres of “Scotch Lott” and six acres of “Mistake”. Eve and Mary, the wives of Joseph and Jacob, relinquished their dower rights to the land (MSA 1771).

The above sale left Jacob with five acres of “Scotch Lott”, a lot in Frederick and nothing left of “Mistake”. John Avey patented at least two tracts of land in what is now Washington County, Maryland: “Avey's Delight and Resurvey” on August 19, 1751, 450 acres, and “Avey's Good Luck” on June 2, 1769, 453 acres (Sharf 1968, Vol.11: 982). I am not certain he had a total of 903 acres or if “Avey's Good Luck” is just a new name for “Avey's Delight” with new boundries, as he sold and purchased land adjacent to “Avey's Delight” from 1760 to 1773 (MSA 1760, 1765, & 1773). What is important is that the land is on the east side of Beaver Creek (MSA 1754) and both tracts are adjacent to a tract of land called “Mt. Pleasant” (MSA 1754; MSA 1773). This means that both tracts of land are in the same area. One piece, “Avey 's Good Luck”, is marked by a stone with I.E. 1769 written on it (MSA 1773). John's father, Henry, also had land (“Scotch Lott”) on Beaver Creek (MSA 1746). As John was the oldest son of Henry, it is possible that his father helped him to get started on his own farm (MSA 17&3a) in the same area. This would also explain why his (Henry's) oldest son only received five acres of "Scotch Lott" in Henry's will (MSA 1763a). The above data allows us to separate John's family from that of Joseph or Jacob. Land records for John will reference “Avey's Delight”, “John's Delight” or “Avey's Good Luck”. Joseph’s or Jacob’s land records will reference “Scotch Lott” as they inherited all but five acres of tha land from Henry (MSA 1763a) and Jacob purchased John's five acres of “Scotch Lott” in 1768 (MSA 1768). By 1771, Jacob had sold all but five acres of “Scotch Lott” (MSA 1768; MSA 1771), so after this date most land transactions referring to this piece of land will be Joseph’s family. As Jacob sold his portion of “Scotch Lott” to Jacob Root (MSA 1768) and Jacob Saltsgaver (MSA 1771), one could follow their sales until you found who they sold to and so on until you had a current owner.

As far as we know, Joseph Avey and Eve transferred to Michael, Samuel, and Daniel part of "Scotch Lott".

We know that “Scotch Lott” was next to both “Mistake” and “Jacob's Lott” (MSA 1771) and “Mistake” was a part of “St. Patrick's Lott” (MSA 1764). “Scotch Lott” was on the south side of Beaver Creek near Jacob Avey's sawmill at the mouth of a run of Beaver Creek (MSA 1768). In a Washington County deed, Peter Newcomer Sr. sold to a Jacob Evey, for $5,500, land on the north side of the turnpike from Boosnboro to Hagerstown, part of “Jacob's Lott”, part of “Mistake” and part of “Scotch Lott” (Wash. Co., Md. 1825). In the 1877 atlas of Washington County, Maryland, there were still Aveys and Newcomers in this area (Fig. 10:33).

1702 – Henry Avey or Ebby was born in 1702. He was a Swiss emigrant from Bern Switzerland to Philadelphia and had close connections with the George French as they were both naturalized the same day and place.

Henry Avey immigrated on 11 Aug 1732 from his hometown of Bern in Switzerland, to Philadelphia, PA, on the ship “Samuel” of London*, from Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, Vol. I, page 59. His oldest daughter Lisbetha Evy, was listed as age 8 in 1732 from ship records indicating she was born in 1734. Henry Avey died in April 1763 in Washington County, MD, at the age of 61.

George French and Henry Avey were both naturalized on 20 Oct 1747 as foreign Protestants; he was not Roman Catholic but followed principles of the Reformation, Lutherans, Baptists, and Presbyterians, from “Denizations and Naturalizations in the British Colonies in America, 1607-1775”. No other Avey is listed in this document. George French sold livestock in 1772 and is not mentioned in documents past that date, at which time George’s wife has not been mentioned – she may have died or George may never have married. The only other French in this document besides George French is John French, naturalized in Pennsylvania 29-30 May 1772; he was from Colebrookdale township, Berks County (relationship unknown, if any). Jacob Snevely of Switzerland immigrated on the ship “Snow Lowther” on 14 Oct 1731 to Philadelphia from Rotterdam but last from Dover; also on this ship was Johann Conradt Franck**. See http://www.reocities.com/Heartland/Hills/7010/shiplists_pa1731.html#SAMUEL and continuing pages. Henry Avey wrote his will on 2 Mar 1763 in Frederick Co., MD, and d. 25 Apr 1763. Jacob French 1^st died ca. 1755.

*Also on this ship on the same date was a man named Christian Frantz, also spelled Christian Frants. Christian Frants Senior was age 47 or born 1685 and Christian Frants Junior was age 26 or born in 1706, very close to the time that Jacob French was born. The childrens’ names of Christian Frantz were Anna, Barbara, Eva, Magdalena, Judith, Veronica, John, Michiel, and Elizabeth, but no Jacob. Some of these names were listed as Frantsin, but the records state that Christian Frants’ wife was Anna; therefore, he was not part of this Chronology.

**Conradt Franck owned land in Albany, NY, in 1761 and used the name Conradt Franck, not French; therefore, he was not part of this Chronology.

French Family

1704 -- A very approximate birth year of Jacob French 1^st in the Old Country. He married most probably ca. 1721 as their daughter Louisa French was born ca. 1722 and son George French was born ca. 1723-26, both in Europe. Most probably the French family immigrated between 1728-1738, but we do not know from where nor to which port.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Lancaster is the oldest inland city in the United States of America, snuggled along the north and west by the mighty Susquehanna River, and was originally settled in 1718. Lancaster County was established on 10 May 1729. The Snively and French families probably met in Antrim, PA, where a legal document of the French family shows the marriage between John Snively and Louisa (or Levina) French in 1743, and the marriage of Magdalena Snively and Jacob French 2^nd in 1751.

The Lancaster County Genealogy website discusses boundary changes, cemeteries, Bible records, etc.

1714 -- From Vicki, Ref. [32]: Jacob Schnebeli/Snively (2^nd) immigrated to Lancaster Co., PA, in 1714, with his father Jacob Schnebeli (1^st), and lived along the Conestoga River which is a tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through the center of Lancaster County, PA. This is the land on which he built his house in 1728. Religious disputes drove them to leave their home in Switzerland and immigrate to Pennsylvania. The English associated the Swiss with their Dutch brethren Anabaptists and called them Mennonites. Other ship passenger records show that Jacob Schnebeli returned to Europe to urge other Brethren to come over to Pennsylvania by 1717 overflowing the Skippack and Pequea settlements. By the 1730s a few of these families located along the Conococheague Creek in the Cumberland Valley as did Jacob Schnebeli. The Amish didn’t appear in Lancaster County until 1759; therefore, we know that Jacob French 2^nd was not an Amish, see [182]. See website on Mennonites.

The following is from “The Three Earls: an historical sketch, and proceediings of the centennial jubilee held at New Holland, PA, July 4, 1876”, beginning on page 22. The first footnote talks about Pequea Creek and how his Swiss Mennonite Eby family immigrated to Lancaster County, PA, in 1709 – they left Switzerland, they moved to the Palatinate area of Germany. Henry or Heinrich Eby was naturalized with George French in Maryland in 1747. These pages mention more than one hundred names of first settlers, and the surname French is not one of them making me think that perhaps the French family came from Alsace-Loraine in France and simply used the surname French after they immigrated. The Rohrer family came from Markirch, Alsace, and the immigrant, Jacob Rohrer, was born in 1696 and immigrated in 1732. Markirch is the German spelling and Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines is the French word. Alsace was a French province, but a German province before 1697 and between 1871-1919. Anabaptist Mennonites were forced out of Alsace in the 18^th century and many went to the Palatine area of Germany.

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The Schnebely family also settled along the Conestoga River. In the footnote above, Martin Kendrick sold land on 28 Feb 1724 that he had bought on 22 Nov 1717. The Kendrick family was also known as Gindrick as the hard sound of the K and G in German are very similar. On 30 Mar 1725, Henry Kendrick administered to Martin Kendrick and John Harr, the widow Barbary, renouncing in favor of brother-in-law Martin Kendrick, in Chester County, PA Wills. Martin Kendrick is still in Pennsylvania in 1783 as he appears in the Freeman’s Journal of Philadelphia, PA, on 23 Jul 1783.

Jonathan Gingrick bought land adjacent to Jacob French 2^nd’s land in Antrim, PA, in 1748. Gingerich becomes Kingery: Although the most common early European spelling of the name seems to be Gingerich, today in America there are many variations. The passenger list for the Palatine ship "Adventure Galley", a ship that brought indentured servants to Pennsylvania under William Penn to populize the state, said from Rotterdam to Philadelphia on 2 Oct 1727 and has Johannes Ullerich listed, which is believed to be Johannes Gingerich. Johannes Gingerich began showing up in Lancaster Co PA about 1735 on church records. The PA state archives shows that John Kingry was naturalized as a US citizen in Sep 1743, under the heading “Quakers”. Johannes Gingerich was b. 1679 in Alsace, Canton Bern, Switzerland and d. 1769 in Warwick, Lancaster Co., PA. He began showing up on the Church of the Brethren records in 1735 in Lancaster Co., PA. The name “Gingrick” was not listed in the Taxable List of 1751 and 1752 in Antrim.

Johann Jacob Schnebele (or Snively) moved to Franklin County in the 1730's. He built a cabin on the family homestead. He received a warrant dated March 28, 1743 for 100 acres, and another tract on June 15, 1748. (Washburn, page 50.) Jacob French 2^nd purchased 48 acres next to Jacob Snively on that same day in June. This land is owned in 2012 by Luke Martin, a Mennonite, as per Vicki [32].

1717 -- From Snively - Snavely by Elizabeth Washburn (sent by Vicki, Ref. [32]), “The Land Office map of Manheim Twp., Lancaster Co, Pa, shows a 400-acre tract of land just west of Conestoga Creek, warranted to Martin Kendrick (Kendig) Nov 22, 1717, and surveyed May 29, 1718; it was patented to John Snevely Oct 4, 1735.....” “In 1728, Johann Jacob Schnebele, or Snevely, as the name appears in the early Lancaster records, built a substantial home on Kauffman Run (now Landis Run), a tributary of the Conestoga Creek.” (Washburn, page 41). This is the present home at 2201 Oregon Pike. It is about 4 miles, northeast of Lancaster on route 272.

1719/1720 – John Snively, son of Jacob Snively, was born in Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a Dutch populated area of the state, even though it was named after Mannheim, Germany. Because John Snively married Louisa/Levina French in 1743 (no source found), she must have been at least 15 and therefore born between 1720-1728.

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1723 -- George French, born ca. 1723-1726 but not in the U.S. or Britain as he applied for naturalization in 1747, was raised in Antrim, Franklin Co., PA. George first owned land in Maryland in 1747 right after his naturalization, indicating he was probably 21+ years old or born 1726 or before. No one has been able to find the name of George’s wife, but her name may have been Barbary, Evy, or Mary, the names of their first 3 daughters – not sure where I found those children’s names, but the name Barbary has always been predominant in this family. George lived in Frederick County, Maryland, and then to Berkeley County, VA, and then WV (border lines changed) where he became a blacksmith and bought “Old Forge Farm” in 1762 and built a stone house there about 7 miles from “Huckleberry Hall” where his brother Jacob French 2^nd resided. At this early time, MD, VA, and WV may have changed borders in the area where he lived.

1727 -- Pennsylvanians became concerned enough about unregulated immigration of these "foreigners" (meaning non-British subjects), that they an act was passed requiring registration and loyalty oaths. 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. Because of this law, the emigrants who came before 1727 needed to be naturalized, which was the case with George French who was naturalized in 1747 along with many neighboring Germans, but in the state of Maryland, not Pennsylvania, where laws could have been different. Those foreigners who were naturalized before 1776 in Maryland contained little information; however, only Protestants were allowed to be naturalized. George’s father, Jacob French 1^st, may never have been naturalized or he may have been born in England and was already a British subject. “Colonial Maryland Naturalizations” by Jeffrey A. and Florence L. Wyand, shows George French on page 17.

Copies of these naturalizations were supposed to be sent to the Office of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations in London or Westminster at the end of every year. Some colonies complied with the law and others did not. The naturalizations that were sent to England will be found in Naturalizations of Foreign Protestants in the American and West Indian Colonies. (See below.) Those that were never sent may be found in colonial records and may be on microfilm through the Family History Library. They will be cataloged under the name of the current state. Naturalization records during the colonial time can help you determine if your ancestor was really from the British Isles.

1727-1729 -- Jacob French 2^nd was born about this time, place unknown.

1729 Oct 14 -- Johann Jacob Schnebele/Snively (1^st) was born in 1659 in Affoltern am Albis, Canton Zurich, Switzerland, immigrated to the new world in 1714 with his wife and children and settled in Lancaster, PA. He was naturalized in Philadelphia, PA, on 14 October 1729, and died in 1743 at age 84 – this was probably the same year his son John Snively married as his second wife Louisa French.

1731 Oct 14 -- Ship Lowther (Snow) of 1731, leaving from Rotterdam, stopping in Dover, England, and arriving in Philadelphia 14 Oct 1731 with Jacob Snevely. He could have been Jacob Snevely 2^nd, but if he were, he probably had gone back and forth between his native country and Pennsylvania, as he was already in Pennsylvania in 1714.

1731 -- From Images of America: Greencastle/Antrim: by Bonnie A. Shockey and Kenneth B. Shockey: “Jacob Snively (a Swiss) was probably the first white settler in Antrim Township. He arrived in 1731 and purchased a total of 1,500 acres of land in 1734 and 1735.” His homestead and that of other settlers became known as the Conococheague Settlement. Vicki, Ref. [32], believes it is safe to say that the Ulster-Scots and the Swiss arrived within days or weeks of each other in Antrim.

1732-1763, Maryland Militia, Muster of Captain John White’s Company, Maryland Militia, for 6 days service, Jacob French. The 6 days indicates that Jacob French was a Mennonite because Mennonites weren’t allowed to serve more than 6 days.

Capt. John White m1. Sarah Leonard before 22 May 1722. John White wrote his will on 4 Sep 1755 and it was probated on 24 Oct 1759 in Frederick County, MD. His father was Peter White and mother was Abigail. He m2. Martha Jones who was the widow of John Stull. After her second marriage, John White died and she married again to Hugh Torrence. Before living in Maryland, John White lived in NJ, and before that, his ancestors lived on Long Island, NY.

1734-1735 -- From Images of America: Greencastle/Antrim: by Boonie A. Shockey and Kenneth B. Shockey: “Jacob Snively was probably the first white settler in Antrim Township, formerly in Cumberland County, now Franklin County, PA. He purchased a total of 1,500 acres of land in 1734 and 1735”.

Jacob Schnebele’s (Snively) granddaughter Anna eventually inherited the land and house. She married Benjamin Landis, a Swiss, who apparently bought out Anna’s brother’s part of the property. The Landis family were Mennonites as well [75].

1735 Oct 4 -- From Snively - Snavely by Elizabeth Washburn, “The Land Office map of Manheim Twp., Lancaster Co, Pennsylvania, shows a 400-acre tract of land just west of Conestoga Creek, warranted to Martin Kendrick (Kendig) Nov 22, 1717, and surveyed May 29, 1718; it was patented to Johann Jacob Snevely Oct 4, 1735.....” “In 1728, Johann Jacob Schnebele, or Snevely, as the name appears in the early Lancaster records, built a substantial home on Kauffman Run (now Landis Run), a tributary of the Conestoga Creek.” (Washburn, page 41). This is the home at 2201 Oregon Pike. It is about 4 miles, northeast of Lancaster on route 272. The house was later plastered over with stucco as the sides are today very smooth. The house still has today (2012) the original slate roof, front door, attic, floors, and basement, per Vicki [32]. The house was built at a wagon stop.

From Vicki, Ref. [32] in 2012: The Kauffman Run (now Landis Run), a tributary of the Conestoga Creek, goes behind Jacob Snively’s house in Lancaster, PA, the house he lived in before moving west to Antrim, PA. (He was known as Jacob Snively as he dropped the “John/Johann” from his Christian name Jacob as John/Johann was his Saint’s name.) I visited this house; it is now a Staffing Agency at 2201 Oregon Pike for Tri Starr and includes a parking lot and other buildings. The basement has an arched stone ceiling with two arched windows (maybe more) that let in light. The building is the oldest continually inhabited house in the area. Tri Starr Agency email: Lancaster@tristarrjobs.com.

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1736 Apr 14 -- John Snively (who married Louisa French in 1743) moved to Shady Grove, Antrim Twp., Cumberland Co., now Franklin Co., PA, just east of present Greencastle, with his father, Jacob Snively, shortly before the death of his mother, Anna Newcomer Snively, who died before 14 Apr 1736 when Jacob Snively m2. Barbara Eberle.

1738 -- John French, youngest son of Jacob French 1^st, was born about this time. He moved to Chansford/Chanceford, York Co., PA, m. Maria Barbara Schmeiss ca. 1762. John died 25 Dec 1787 in Hagerstown, Washington, MD. Maria Barbara Schmeiss was born in 1741 in Chanceford, York, PA, and died in 1817 in Tell, Huntingdon, PA. They were married ca. 1760 and had children Henry in 1760, Maria Elizabeth in 1765, Peter in 1769, and John in 1772. This may be FFA Chart #129. John French resided in Antrim, Franklin County, PA, in 1814.

1738 Oct 30 – a possible immigration for Jacob French 1^st, listed as Jacob Frans, age 34, was on the Palatine ship “Elizabeth” from Rotterdam (Holland), to Cowes (England), then to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Capt. George Hodgson. This is only a hypothetical assumption by Mara French and has in no way been proven. Here are my reasons for interpreting Jacob’s immigration. Note that the Jacob Frans who married Maria Baszier in Holland in 1777 and who lived in Kingston, NY, is not the same Jacob Frans who immigrated in 1738, as they came later. See [132].

· The name “French” is a British name, not a German name, which would be Französisch, and not a French name, which would be Français, and in the Netherlands it would be Frans. There was definitely a reason Jacob received the name French. It could be because he lived in France, but many other immigrants were also born in France and didn’t receive this surname. It could have been the anglization of the name Frantz or Franz after immigration, but that surname continues in other locations in the New World, which are not the same as Jacob French, plus the Frantz DNA does not match with the surname French of DNA Test Group 4. Or, it could be the American word for the Dutch word Frans, which is translated in English to the name “French”. This latter reason seems the most plausible. However, the DNA for Jakob Ammann and Jacob French match precisely. See http://www.frenchfamilyassoc.com/FFA/CHARTS/Chart195/Ammann.htm.

· The name “French” in the Dutch language is “Frans”, and that name does appear in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the main emigrant was Jacob Frans in 1738; women and children are listed only by number, and Jacob would have had a wife and at least 3 children (Levina, George, Jacob). From “Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, edited by William John Hinke. We are unable to find Jacob French’s whereabouts between 1738 and 1747 = 9 years, so one might assume his name was changed from Frans to French, as the name Frans disappears in Pennsylvania.

· If Jacob Frans were the father of these 3 children, the 3 children would have also been listed if they were 21 years of age or older, and they are not listed, which means they were all born after 1717.

· Jacob Frans took the Oath of Allegiance as he arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738. Levina did not need to become naturalized as her husband was naturalized and women didn’t have advantages at that time anyway. George was naturalized in 1747 in Maryland. Son Jacob was living in Pennsylvania in 1748 and took the Oath of Allegiance when he was 21 according to Pennsylvanian laws as each state had different laws – we cannot find this document if it exists or not.

· After Jacob Schnebele’s (2^nd) death on August 24, 1766 at age 72 leaving 17 children, the executors of the estate, sons John Snively (who was married to Louisa French) and Henry Snively (eldest son from Jacob Schnebele’s second marriage) made a detailed inventory of his personal property. Among the books listed were three large “Dutch Bibles”, a “Dutch Testament”, and four “Books of Hymns and Psalms”, Ref. [66], page 87. Because the Snively family were Swiss and spoke German, that would leave only the French family who could have made use of the Dutch language, and would therefore be from Holland.

· Jacob Frans is listed in the 1738 Pennsylvania Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA. John Christian Frans appears in the 1740 Pennsylvania Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA.

· Jacob Frans did not need to be naturalized because he was an adult at his arrival in 1738 and it was then that he took the Oath of Allegiance, he was living in Pennsylvania and the later 1740 Naturalization Law of Maryland did not affect him. Many of the men’s names on the ship Elizabeth have an (X) after them meaning that they signed their name with an X. Jacob is the only one who has a (J) after his name. Looking at the other names where (V) and (K) and (H) appear, it is obvious that those men signed their initial, as Jacob did. These men subscribed the oaths of the government upon arrival. From http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/pal_eliz1738.shtml. In addition, this website shows a detailed list of the Palatines who were on the ship Elizabeth; here his name is spelled Jacob Frantz (and in other source, Frans) which definitely indicates a spelling by pronunciation.

· The name Frans does not appear again in Pennsylvania until 1786 with an absence of 48 years – no doubt there would have been a record on a “Jacob Frans” within 48 years if he hadn’t changed his name to French, which could mean according to my hypothesis that the name was Anglicized from Frans to French immediately when he arrived on the ship in 1738. The name “Jacob Frans” appears in Mulberry Ward, Philadephia, in 1786 on the Tax and Exoneration List, paying tax on his house and vacant lot, 3 horses, 1 cow, 2 chairs, 1 stage wagon, and his occupation amounting to £729. The name Jacob Frans does not appear on ancestry.com between 1738 and 1786. “A” George Frans in South Ward, Philadelphia in 1779, and “a” Peter Frans in Towamensing, PA, in 1788 are also listed.

· Jacob Frans’ first child, Levina, received that Dutch name, and her name was Anglicized to Louisa when they reached Philadelphia. However, Louisa’s husband John Snively reverts back to calling her Levina in his will of 1791. She married in 1743 date shows that the family arrived before that date; therefore, the possibility of 1738 exists. No record of this French family appears in Pennsylvania before 1743 when Louisa French marries. Jacob Frans did on this day, 30 Oct 1738, take and subscribe the oaths to the government.

· The ship Robert and Alice departed from Rotterdam, Holland, to Philadelphia on 11 Sep 1738 and lists “a” Jacob Frans. Most immigrants were German Palatines. Also on this ship were Johann Gottfried Rohrer and Johannes Rohrer. Here his name is also listed as Jacob Frantz. See http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/ships/1738robalice01.txt.

· From “Births in Holland, 1706-1710”, http://mailgroep.seniorweb.nl/gen/Dopen%20Gouda%20Index%201706-1710.pdf: Jacob Frans, born 5 Sep 1706 to Matijs Frans and Catharyna van der Vloet. They had another child Niesie born 23 Nov 1708. There are 31 hits for the name Frans. There’s a Levyna Frans and Jan Gibon/Gybon who had son Pieter on 12 Dec 1706 in Gouda, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. In another section their names are spelled Jan Gybon and Levina Frans in which another unnamed child was born. She is the only Levina in this entire file. Jacob and Levina Frans are together. Because of this early Levina, they probably named their daughter Levina, the one who married John Snively. Peter is spelled Pieter. Jacob is spelled Jacob or Jacobus or Jakob. The city of Gouda is almost next to Rotterdam where the ship Elizabeth left from to arrive in Philadelphia on 30 Oct 1738. If this scenario is proven truthful, another generation back has been found to Matijs Frans and his wife Catharyna van der Vloet. I’ve seen the name spelled Matthijs. Mattijs Frans died on 29 Nov 1751 in Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant, Nederland. If Jacob Frans were born on 5 Sep 1706, he would have been 32 when he immigrated, and not 34 as indicated, but the calculation seems rather close. Perhaps the 5 Sep 1706 date was a baptismal date.

Does the following baptismal record indicate the child received the mother’s surname as she was not married?

· George French, son of Jacob 1^st, was probably the oldest son. He moved to Maryland (did he ever live in Pennsylvania?) and was affected by the 1740 Naturalization Laws of Maryland. He needed to be in the county for 7 years before he could become naturalized; therefore, his naturalization in 1747 shows that the family immigrated before 1740. The possibility of an 1738 immigration exists. George needed to be naturalized before he could marry for the first time and before he could own land in Maryland. He bought land in 1748 and probably married that year, but no records have been found regarding a marriage. He needed to be 21 by 1747, which makes his birthdate 1726 or before.

· The Lancaster, PA, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-1940, lists several hundred members of the Snavely and Snively families. The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society typed on index cards from original data (not from computer or internet data), listing an estimated 800,000 Lancaster County Mennonites and Members of related groups. Among the 800,000 Lancaster County Mennonites and members of related groups (I suppose this means Anabaptists), the French family is NOT listed at all. But we know that they were in Lancaster County as Louisa French is listed as a spouse, but not as a member of the Mennonites in the “F” section — the name French is not there al all. This further proves that the French family could have been Quakers or Amish.

· Jacob Frans with an estimated age of 34 and birth year of about 1704 on the Elizabeth immigration list of 1738 indicates he was the correct age to have children in the 1720s.

· Jacob French 1^st’s son, Jacob 2^nd was first mentioned in Maryland in 1758 in the French and Indian War for 6 days, and also in 1762 when he bought “Huckleberry Hall”. He perhaps became naturalized or took the oath of Allegiance in Pennsylvania.

Description: Description: JacobFranz

Only men are listed on the ship list, no women and no children. If this is the Jacob French 1^st of this line, his children would have been all under 21 years of age or born after 1717. It lists the 43 men aboard the ship, but just indicates that there were 21 women and 6 children, no names given. In the 18th century the legal requirement that a person be of age, that is an adult, he or she must have reached his 21st birthday. This was the requirement for persons to sell real estate, to sue in one’s own name in a court of law, to sign a bond or promissory note, and to marry for the first time. If either of the parties to be married was not of age, the consent of a parent or guardian was necessary. It was to be in writing before two witnesses, unless it was sworn to before the clerk of the county court.

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18^th Century Philadelphia Courthouse where most passengers were taken to swear their loyalty to the Crown, that is, if they were British.

The following list is of the 43 men on board the Palatine ship “Elizabeth” from Rotterdam (Holland), to Cowes (England), then arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Capt. George Hodgson on 30 Oct 1738. The list shows only men; no women or children. Comments in brackets after the ages are from Mara French. The only problem with this Jacob Frans perhaps being the Jacob French of this line is that none of the other names on this ship related to him after immigration.

Lodwick Nicholas 34 – [50 acres on 13 Sep 1748 in Lancaster, PA]
Jacob Shilkneght 38
George Arnoldt 34
Johannes Mayer 27
Philip Jacob Leyderberger 34
Daniel Heyning 30
Christian Egan 17 – [bapt. 19 Nov 1716 at St. Nicholas Within, Dublin, Ireland]
Johannes Honether 36
Johannes Mester 43
Tobias Swartz 26
Bernard Wainmaker 40
Hans Jacob Kesler 25
Mathias Bartholomew 20 – [moved to Middletown, Frederick Co., MD; had land in Bedford Co, PA, had a will which is online at ancestry.com under the name Bartholomew Booher/Bucher. He was perhaps from Bas-Rhin, France].
Conrath Nydagh 19
Nicholas Hodele 36
Johannes Harley 25
Hans George Fritz 30
Conradt Kenner 22
Hans Georg Petery 33
Laurentz Rous 23
Geo. Adam Mayer 19
Philip Besa 16
John Lodwick Potts 29 – [several listings born in England]
Henry Keaghler 28
Matheas Poriger 39
Jacob Frans 34 – [not verified to be the Jacob French of this line]
Jacob Kern 18 – [member of the Egypt Reformed Church in Egypt, Lehigh Co., PA].
Johannes Yeites 21
Hans Jacob Bener 38
Conradt Fogleman 35
Andreas Rodenhauser 34 – [wrote “nach Psylv” “Ist ins Neue Land” which is German for “Going to Pennsylvania” “It is in a New Land”]
Hans Adam Kinsler 25
Mathias Chris 50
Christian Lesch 41
Hans Geo. Windlinger 32 – [sick onboard ship, wrote will 2 Mar 1738, proven 19 Mar 1738, Newhanover township, PA, wife Mary, children Mary, Eve, Susanna, Hannah. This date was no doubt the Old Calendar, which today would have been 1739.]
Michl Deyne 29
Martin Dageaback 23
Ulrich Rodobush 24
Mathys Deolar 31
Christian Creytz 26
Elias Berniger 24
Lodowick Fansler – [b. ca. 1714]
Geo. Adam Yeagold

“Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania, 1727-1775” also lists Jacob Frans as immigrating on the ship “Robert and Alice” from Rotterdam, Holland on 11 Sep 1738. This ship left from the same port to the same port less than 2 months earlier. Looking at both ship lists, no single name stands out as being connected with the French family later on in Pennsylvania.

1739 -- Jacob Snively was naturalized in Philadelphia in 1739 and died at the age of eighty-four. His descendants intermarried with the Strite, Miller, Garver, Hoffman, French, and other families of the Leitersburg District, Pennsylvania.

1739 -- Jacob Rohrer, father of John Rohrer, settled on Antitiem Creek lands in 1739. Jacob Rohrer was naturalized with George French in 1747 in Maryland, but we don’t know if he was Jacob Rohrer Sr. or Jr.

1740 -- From Deb, Ref. [1]: “After 1740, the procedure changed [for naturalizations]. The 1740 Act of Parliament [13 George II, c.7] was entitled “An Act for Naturalizing such foreign Protestants, and others therein mentioned, as are settled or shall settle in any of His Majesty's Colonies in America.” It allowed an immigrant who had lived seven years in a colony to become naturalized by fulfilling certain requirements (such as taking the oaths and producing a certificate that he had taken the Sacrament) in the colony of residence. His naturalization applied in England as well as in all of the colonies. The payment for the naturalization under this act was two shillings. Large numbers of immigrants (excluding Catholics) became naturalized under this act.”

The British Parliament, in 1740, passed a Naturalization Act through which alien colonists could obtain the rights of natural-born subjects of Great Britain. Great Britain includes four countries: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, . . but, it does not include Ireland (south). Therefore, if you were an emigrant from Ireland, you needed to take the Oath of Allegiance. Before 1740, the practice of Denization at English Common Law was practiced: denization occurred by a grant of letters patent, an exercise of the royal prerogative. Denizens paid a fee and took an oath of allegiance to the crown. A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien and a natural-born subject, and partakes of both. That person would have no political rights, could not be a member of parliament, and could not hold an office; however, he could purchase property, but he could not inherit property. This might explain why no family member of Jacob French 1^st was able to inherit his property in Antrim in 1755 when he died; therefore, the family moved to Maryland.

For an alien to become naturalized by the 1740 Naturalization Act in Pennsylvanina, he first had to reside in the colonies for seven years (not being absent for more than two months at any one time). He then had to produce in Court a certificate showing he had taken the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in some Protestant or Reformed Congregation in the Province of Pennsylvania within three months before the said Court, take and subscribe specified Oaths, and make and repeat a specified Declaration prescribed by the act. Special provision was made for an Affirmation in place of the Oaths to be made by Quakers, and both Quakers and Jews were exempted from the obligation of receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The act did not cover religious groups such as the Mennonites, Moravians, Quakers, and Jews, who received exemptions as being non-Protestant. In Pennsylvanina this problem was met by an Act of Assembly passed 3 Feb. 1742-3 for naturalizing “such Foreign Protestants as are settled or shall settle within this Province who, not being of the People called Quakers, do conscientiously refuse the taking of any Oath.” In 1747 the British Parliament passed a similar act [99].

1742 – Naturalization of Jacob “Freich” of Nockamixon, Bucks County, PA, and including names of other foreigners of the people called Quakers as are settled or shall settle in any of his Majestry’s Colonies in America, and of an Act of General Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, made in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-two. From “Persons Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania, 1740-1773.”, Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997. Was Jacob of Nockamixon the same man as Jacob of Antrim?

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Furthermore, ancestry.com lists Jacob Freich in the U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, U.S. District Court, showing No. and Page of document. Note that this record is not in the German Script. After a very few occurences of the name Freich appear early on in the U.S., it disappears; perhaps it could have been changed to French.

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“A” Jacob Freich is listed in the Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985 as born 1669, died 1719 at age 50, buried 19 Aug 1719 in Grossheppach, Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg), Germany, recorded at the Evangelisches Landeskirchenamt, Stuttgart, Germany. His saint’s name was Hans, as his marriage record states Hans Jacob Freich married Anna Magdalena Leonhardt on 9 Feb 1697 in Boll, Göppingen u. Oa, Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg), Germany. However, “a” Johann Jacob Freich was born 14 Jan 1752 in Oppenweiler, Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg), Germany, after the immigration record above. Furthermore, a son named Joseph Ludwig Freich was born to Wolfgang Jacob Freich and Sybilla Länberin in 1740 in Württemberg, Germany, listed as Lutheran, and recorded at the Evangelisches Landeskirchenamt, Stuttgart, Germany. The name Freich sounds as Fry-ch. No DNA test has been taken for the surname Freich as of Feb 2016.

1743 -- Johann Jacob Schnebele/Snively (1^st) died in 1743 at the age of 84. He was born in Affoltern am Albis, Canton Zurich, Switzerland, immigrated to the new world in 1714 with his wife and children and settled in Lancaster, PA. He was naturalized in Philadelphia, PA, on 14 October 1729.

Jacob Schnebele’s son John Schnebely married Louisa (Levina) French in 1743. He changed his name to Snavely, and the next generation changed it to Snively. He was one of the executors of his father’s estate in Antrim Twp., PA, in 1766, and at the time John was married to Louisa (Levina) French. John Snively was b. 1720 and Louisa (Levina) French was b. ca. 1722, and was probably the first of Jacob French 1^st’s children. They had children Jacob, John, Michael, Anna, Mary, Catherine, Christiana, Barbara, Magdelena, Levinia, Elizabeth, Hannah. John Schnebely and his wife Louisa and family moved from Antrim, Pennsylvania to Frederick County, Maryland (which became Washington County, Maryland) about 1762, where John Snavely died in 1791; some of his children moved on to Ohio.

Jacob Snavely, b. 1745 and died in 1831, married Amanda Shirley in 1771, and had children John, George, Amanda, Hannah, Abraham, and Mary.

John Snavely married Mary Miller and had children Leah, Eliza, Rhoda, Thomas, Andrew, Lewis, Samuel, Silas, John.

Anna Snavely, b. 29 Jul 1755.

Michael Snavely, b. 25 Jan 1757.

Mary Snavely

Catherine Snavely

Christiana Snavely

Barbara Snavely married William Jackson in Lancaster, Orange Co.?, Ohio, and had children Ezra, John, Mary who m. Joseph Sheetz, Nancy who m. Daniel Swayne, Thomas who m. Shellenberger, William, and Elizabeth.

Magdelena Snavely, born 1 Jan 1766 in PA, m. Johannes Miller, d. 1802 per headsone of John Miller, Elder.

Levinia Snavely

Elizabeth Snavely

Hannah Snavely

See Snively Genealogy and Schneebeli Genealogy.

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The data above is from https://www.gengophers.com/book.html#/book/35958?page=47&given=jacob&exactGiven=false&surname=french&exactSurname=false&place=Maryland,%20United%20States&date=1740-1790&startDate=1740&endDate=1790&exactRels=false.

1744 -- Will of John Miller witnessed by John Snevely Sr., living in Manheim, PA, in 1744 before John Snevely bought land in Antrim in 1748. Most of this family were Mennonites, if not all of them.

Will of John Miller Lancaster County Courthouse, Lancaster, PA
ABSTRACT
A-1-98
signed 11 Mar 1744/1745
probate 21 Jun 1745
"taylor"
sister Margret, wife of Christian Sensenick of "Erltown"
brother Adam in High Germany
"to the poor of those people called Mennonites in county Lancaster"
exec: John Snevely Sr of Manheim
Daniel Eshleman of Hempfield Twp

witnesses:
    Andrew Hirsha
    Jacob Snebeli
    George Honey

1746 Mar 19 – Henry Avey acquired 202 acres of land called “Scotch Lott and Resurvey” in Western Maryland in what is now Washington County, MD, from John Davis. Note that Washington County was created on September 06, 1776 from Frederick County. On March 19, 1746, he had it patented with a resurvey to include two more acres for a total of 202 acres. In Henry's will he divides this land among his three sons, John, Joseph and Jacob. The Administration Accounts of Henry Ebby's estate located at the Maryland State Archives at Annapolis, Maryland, shows that he had children: Catharine, John, Margaret, Jacob, Barbara, Mary, Fononya, Joseph, and Ann. Apparently daughter Lisabeth is not mentioned either because she had married or died.

http://interactive.ancestry.com/7662/7662-HistWestMD-1882-v2-0211/211?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults&rc=1521,137,1783,176;777,1061,856,1093;523,1198,575,1225;1739,1360,1819,1393;1742,1523,1824,1556;806,2175,885,2206;901,2177,961,2209;808,2227,886,2260;902,2229,961,2262#?imageId=7662-HistWestMD-1882-v2-0212

1746 May 30, Philadelphia, PA, John Snively was living in Lancaster County, PA.

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George French’s Naturalization and Land Deeds

1747 Oct 20 -- George French, was naturalized in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, with a group of Mennonites from Washington County, MD, to “petition for naturalization”, indicating that the family was not from Great British, but most likely German or Dutch or Irish. These men traveled either by foot or wagon to Annapolis, but they did not remain there; they returned to Washington County, MD*. These men had to live in the country for 7 years before they could be naturalized [170].

* This fact is only to separate this line from George French of FFA Chart #166 who remained in the Annapolis/Baltimore area.

Described in the court records as “being of the People called Quakers” they asked to affirm their allegiance to the British monarch. The nine men were all Germans and in all likelihood were Mennonites. The judge, no doubt unconcerned about the niceties of sectarian distinctions, associated them with the Quakers because of the common testimony against swearing oaths, but they might not have all been Quakers. Also, it would have been convenient to do so in a legal sense, since Quakers had the privilege under English law to affirm rather than to swear. Most of them were Mennonites or Quakers from Germany, Switzerland, France, or Holland. Provencial Court Judgements, Liber EI, 10: 657 (pg 71).

From “Colonial Maryland Naturalizations” by Jeffrey A. Wyand and Florence L. Wyand, Annapolis, April 1975. Note that Peter Hoofman was from Holland and Christian Kemp was from Scotland. Gilbert Kemp wrote his will on 24 Jun 1791 in Frederick County, Maryland. Henry Avey (probably Jr.) was in the 1790 census of Upper Anietam Hundred, Washington County, Maryland. The names are spelled slightly different on this document.

Description: naturalization

Note that most of these men were born early in the 18^th century. There was a Georg Ammann born 4 Aug 1694 in Evangelisch, Rottenacker, Donaukreis, Wuerttemberg, son of Hans and Barbara Ammann, shown in index format on ancestry.com. The Ammann/Hamman family and this French family share the same DNA.

Henry Avey -- Henry Avey was b. ca. 1702 in Switzerland, wrote his will on 2 Mar 1763 in Frederick Co., MD, and d. 25 Apr 1763. Andrew Eavey recorded 25 June, 1770...between Jacob French 2^nd of Frederick County, for £150 sells a tract of land part of Huckleberry Hall...signed Jacob French in German script..... Magdalena, wife of Jacob French 2^nd relinquished dower rights, which means her name was not on the deed plus her husband was not naturalized or she would not have to sell the land. (FCMD Land Records, Liber N p 29). See details at Avey Family.

Jacob Stull – he lived in Leitersburg near Joseph Wolgamot’s mill. Name may have been spelled Wohlgemut as there was a Joseph Wohlgemuth who immigrated on the ship Harle on 1 Sep 1736 with Christian Snively. Joseph Wolgamot was also naturalized at this time.

Jacob 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 Jürgen Miller, Christian Miller, John Miller, Joseph Miller, and Hans Miller. Various French women married Miller men. Jacob Miller is listed as a surety for the death record of Walter Dodson on 16 Jun 1736 of Charles County, Maryland (not the same county as George French); he had to be at least 21 years of age or born 1715 or before.

Lodowick Miller – born ca. 1724, died ca. 1792, m. Barbara.

Martain Keisner – his name was probably erroneously written and could have been Martin Reisner.

Isaac Simmons -- Isaac Simon’s widow Feronica bought four small lots totaling 98 acres from George French. Over the next ten years as her sons reached maturity she distributed the land to them. “An” Isaac Simmons made his will 22 Jun 1733 in Anne Arundel, MD, probated 10 Jun 1741, death year ca 1741, father was Abraham. He gave to his brothers Samuel, Abraham, Benjamin, and to sisters Sarah, Martha, Elianor who was married to Fisher, and to kinsman Isaac. Isaac’s widow Feronica spells her name with an “F” but it is really Veronica, a very popular German name. Here we say “V”olks”w”agen, but in Germany it is Folksvagen. They pronounce a “V” like an “F” and a “W” like a “V”. The word actually means a Folk’s wagon. So, we might look for the name Vrench or Vranch or Veransch or something similar. Those names look a lot more German than “French”. The same “W” and “V” should be considered with the following surname Wolgamot.

Joseph Wolgamot – or Vulgamot, b. ca. 1716 in Fehraltorf, Zurich, Switzerland, and lived in Frederick, Maryland where his daughter was born ca. 1744, d. 25 Dec 1775, was a farmer with 520 acres and a miller in Hagerstown, Maryland. The mill is now an inn: “The Old Mill”. He immigrated to Philadelphia on 1 Sep 1736 from Rotterdam, Holland, on the ship “Harle”. See http://www.shoreheritage.com/quick/indiI581.html or http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/palship24.shtml. From Deb, Ref. [1]: From the list of men above naturalized with George French -- along with Joseph Wolgamot (aka Vulgamot) on the Palatine ship Harle in 1736, there was also "Jonadan Heger" on the same voyage. The ship left from Rotterdam to Cowes to London to Philadelphia and 53 men were named Jacob. Name may have been spelled Wohlgemut as there was a Joseph Wohlgemuth who immigrated on the ship Harle on 1 Sep 1736 with Christian Snively.

Jacob Rohrer – Rohrerstown or Rohrersville was a village located 3 miles east of Lancaster, PA. Other villages were Cavetown, Leitersburg, Chewsville, Sandy Hook, and Morganville. John Rohrer, son of Jacob Rohrer, was one of the first Mennonists to return to the valley in Pennsylvania from Maryland in 1757 after people fled in 1755 because of the dangerous conditions related to the French and Indian War (1754-1763). John Jacob Rohrer purchased “Warm Indian”, a 500-acre tract from George French. John Jacob Rohrer was born in 1696, having lived in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Alsace, France, exactly the place and time when Jakob Ammann lived there; Jacob Rohrer and died in 1771 in Lancaster County, PA. He had owned “Penny Hill”, 320 acres of land in Washington County, MD. John Rohrer may have married Mary Groff. See details at Rohrer Family.

Andrew Hoover – Born Andreas Huber (name anglocized) 23 Jan 1722/23 in Ellerstadt, Bad Durkheim, Germany, married in 1744 in York, PA, died 1794 in Back Creek, Uwharrie, Randolph County, North Carolina, the last son of 9 children of Gregor Jonas Huber and Anna Maria Kreutzer. He was a Mennonite as per the “History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, MD. He was buried near the Uwharrie River in the Hoover Cemetery with 23 others. He married at the legal age of 21 Anna Margaretha Pfautz who was also born in Germany, and had 13 children. He arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 at the age of 16. His father Gregor was born 6 Jul 1668 in Oberkulm, Switzerland and died in Bad Durkheim, Germany. In 1772 Andrew travelled with his family by oxcart down the Great Wagon Road to settle near the Uwharrie River, Randolph County which became Rowan/Orange County, NC. Only two of his children remained in NC, and the others moved to OH, IN, and IA. He was an ancestor of 31^st President Herbert Hoover.

Valentine Groff – Andrew Groff was naturalized in Lancaster Co., PA, on 15 Sep 1751. Valentine may be the one listed below as “Felta Gratt” who is a Quaker.

Jonathan Isagar -- This appears to be Jonathan Hagar afterwhich Hagerstown, MD was named. From Wikipedia – “In 1739, Jonathan Hager, a German immigrant from Pennsylvania and a volunteer Captain of Scouts, purchased 200 acres (81 ha) of land in the great Appalachian Valley between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains in Maryland and called it “Hager’s Fancy”. In 1762, Hager officially founded the town of Elizabethtown, which he named after his wife, Elizabeth Kershner. Fourteen years later, Jonathan Hager became known as the “Father of Washington County” after his efforts helped Hagerstown become the county seat of newly created Washington County which Hager also helped create from neighboring Frederick County, Maryland.”

From Vicki, Ref. [32]: Along with Jacob Schnebele across the line in Maryland – spitting distance -- these nine men probably made up the congregation of Mennonists in the Conococheague, which Morgan Edwards said had been organized in 1743, Ref. [66], page 70. According to a historian we met in Carlisle, one didn’t pledge, affirm, or take an oath of allegiance to the British king if they were English or Ulster Scot, because you were basically traveling “in country”. You were already a subject of the king.

Washington County, Maryland, 1841.
Note Little Antietam Creek to the right of Antietam Creek.

1747-1776 – Various listings of French land do not match exactly. Here is the listing from “Settlers of Maryland, 1679-1783”, which shows at least 2 different French families. The families not from this line are Ariana, Edmund, George of Baltimore, George son the Thomas, Michael, Thomas of Annapolis, and Zerubabel of Kent.

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1747 – From Deb [1]. I doubt that the authors of Building on the Gospel Foundation... would have seen the research done by Rebecca Freeborg. Their book is well-documented and it's very focused on Mennonites of Franklin County, PA and Washington County, MD. Their statement, on p. 70, says: "At the same time other Germans continued to settle along both sides of the Antietam. One German settler, George French (or Frantz) was likely Mennonist." The statement appears to be related his purchase of "George's Venture" and "George's Mistake" but doesn't say why they give us the 2 versions of George's surname. The authors of this book regularly refer to Maryland land records from the state archives.

1747-1790 – Land owned by George French. See LandPatentOwnersWashCo1730-1830.pdf. George must have bought the first listed land immediately after he was naturalized.

50 acres, 1747, George’s Venture
10 acres, 1747, Mistake
100 acres, 1752, Sly Fox
1742 acres, 1755, Resurvey on George’s Mistake
58 acres, 1759, French’s Lott
42 acres, 1759, Sly Fox
50 acres, 1760, Add. To Sly Fox
50 acres, 1760, Waggoner’s Fancy
50 acres, 1761, Out Lot
190 acres, 1763, Burkett’s Folly
456 acres, 1775, George’s Adventure – George died ca. 1772 – this George may be the George French from FFA Chart #166.
93 acres, 1790, Homony Rock – George died ca. 1772 – this George may be the George French from FFA Chart #166.

George French, son the Jacob French 1^st, was likely a Mennonite. In December 1747, he patented two tracts, “George’s Venture” and “Mistake” about a mile or so down the White Hall Rd. south of Chewsville in Washington Co., MD [162]. These were just north east of Jacob Rohrer’s land, who was naturalized with George. We are unsure if and when his father Jacob was naturalized, as he had to have been naturalized to buy land; therefore, he probably did not buy land (need to consider that all land bought by Jacob French were bought by Jacob French 2^nd.

During the next 20 years, the Frederick County deed books document a series of land transactions between the French and the Rohrer family. George French, the son the Jacob French 1st, was granted 1742 acres of land in the Chewsville area in 1755, per Vicki, called “Resurvey on George’s Mistake”, Ref. [32]. The first deed mentioned in 1747 would mean that George French had to be born before 1726 as he had to be 21 years of age to own land.

In Dec 1747 George French patented two tracts of 50 acres called “George’s Venture, and the Barrens*” near Antietam Cr., next resurvey on Stoney Corner in Maryland. The Antietam Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River. He also bought 10 acres called “Mistake” next to the Barrens. These were just northeast of Jacob Rohrer’s land. Coldham 3:28; Tracey s.v. “George’s Venture”, “The Barrens”, Resurvey on “George’s Mistake”, and “Mistake” for 1462 acres. (pg 70). See LandPatentOwnersWashCo1730-1830.pdf.

*The Indians hunted the Cumberland Valley and burned areas to make hunting easier. These lands were called “Barrens” and went to the first settlers as they were easier to clear so you could begin to farm [74].

The middle bridge over Antietam Creek, Sep. 1862, in Franklin Co., PA, 41.7 miles long, a tributary of the Potomac River, also in Maryland. The bridge is between Keedysville and Sharpsburg during the Civil War. The Burnside Bridge in 2011 is below and in Washington County, MD.

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George French was naturalized in 1747 in Maryland, therefore not a British subject. At that time he brought witnesses with him. These people were not like witnesses to a marriage; they had to have known your ancestor for a long time and be able to testify to his moral character. They were almost always close friends or relatives. He was naturalized with his German neighbors who were mostly Mennonites. Most men with the surname French married women from Germany or Switzerland, and they lived in German communities. Mennonites were not allowed to fight in the French and Indian War for more than 6 days. Were the French among these people? Related surnames from Germany who married a French were: Ersom, Sturman/Sterman, Schmeiss/Smice/Smise/Smize, Ruhl/Rule/Rühl, Houser/Hauser, Kountz, and Hartman, Sheets/Sheetz, Trobaugh.

3 Types of Colonial Naturalization

Denization--A type of naturalization used to obtain land. You could buy and sell land, but could not hold public office. There were no political privileges associated with denization.

Oath of Allegiance--This type of naturalization during the colonial period was used to renounce all former country loyalties. This gave the immigrant full privileges, including voting and holding public office.

Collective citizenship--This naturalization process was used to naturalize a group of people without using documents. Collective naturalization happened when the United States became a country in 1776 and all those living in the country (except Native Americans and African Americans) were collectively and automatically made US citizens.

George French, son of Jacob French 1^st, 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 first son and the only son born overseas, 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. Assuming that George was born ca. 1726 overseas and that the family immigrated to Pennsylvania ca. 1727/28, his siblings would have been born in Pennsylvania after 1728. George also needed to have lived in the New Colony for 5-7 years before applying for naturalization; therefore, he immigrated before 1740. See http://www.britishislesdna.com/Immigration/US_naturalization.htm.
The “Passenger and Immigration Lists Index” on ancestry.com shows George French in 1747 in Maryland, from data derived from return-forms connected with the naturalization of “Foreign Protestants”, papers that were sent from the Colonies to the Lords’ Commissioners for Trade and Planations. Note that this may be the George French from FFA Chart #166; we need more research.

1747 Dec 1 – George French acquired 50 acres of land in Western Maryland called “George’s Venture”, near Antietam Cr. next resurvey on Stoney Corner. He also bought “Mistake”, 10 acres, next “Barrons” which was 100 acres.

1747-1776 George French bought land beginning at age 21 or afterwards; therefore, this George must have been born ca. 1726 or before. We are unsure if this list is all the same George French or two different men named George French. For example, the George French who owned land in Baltimore is definitely George French from FFA Chart #166, in that his tract of land of 714 acres named “Vale” was added to by his son, who bought 913 more acres called “Vale”. We do not believe that Chart #195 ever lived or owned land in Baltimore County. However, both men named George French from FFA Chart #195 (non-British) and from FFA Chart #166 (British) owned land in Frederick Co., MD. The original land for Frederick Co. was formed in 1748 from Prince George’s Co. Then in 1776, Frederick Co. was partially divided into 3 smaller sections: Montgomery, Washington, and Frederick Counties. FFA Chart #195 resided in Montgomery Co., and FFA Chart #166 resided in Washington Co., which were both originally Frederick Co. before 1776, so that is where the confusion lies in trying to differentiate land deeds of these two men with the same name, George French. George French of this line was never in Baltimore (Bal); those lands were bought by George French of FFA Chart #166.

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View this list on this website at LandPatentOwnersWashCo1730-1830.pdf. Other surnames on this list that have a connection to this French family are: Daniel Dulaney, James Davis, John Miller, Henry and John Schnebley, Henry and Jacob and John Saveley, Henry and John Snively (these names could have been the same persons but with different spellings).

It also shows that the Henry, Jacob, Michael, and John Funk family are not connected to the French family (not a misspelling of French), and that their lands are in other areas of Washington Co., MD. Furthermore, the name Michael does not appear in the French family; however, this Michael Funk also has a connection with Daniel Dulaney.

Some other idiosyncrasies found in this list, after searching the entire file for the word “French”, I find that David Funck had an alternative name as David French, and that the land he owned as David Funck was “Lucky Stripe” in 1789 and “Rockey Stripe” in 1789; one could conclude that he was the same person, and he is mentioned only once with the name “French”.

Then, Andrew Grimm owned 990 acres of land called “Frenches Vineyard” in 1753 and 1759 with a certificate on the land saying Peter French. From Deb [1]: I have a note saying that Andrew Grim bought land called “Dry Bottom” from Peter French, too. These transactions might mean that the two men could be related by marriage. Maybe a look at Andrew Grim would give us some clues about Peter French. Peter’s father, John French, died in Hagerstown, Washington County, MD on 22 Dec 1787.

Then, George French, William Paca, and Samuel Chase did a resurvey on “Three Springs” in 1760. Henry Pitner and James Macky made a resurvey on “Frenches Vineyard” in 1760, and so did Peter Rench and Daniel Dulaney in 1746. John Beard made a resurvey on “Frenches Venture” in 1759. George French made a resurvey on “Balsher’s Misfortune” owned by Christopher Burkhead, 115 acres, from the “History of Western Maryland including Biographical Sketches” 1968 Vol 2, page 984.

Look at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lesa&id=I27591 search for French and others. From Lesa, email: lesapfrommer@cox.net.

1747-1790 -- The following lands are listed for the surname French:

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LandPatentOwnersWashCo1730-1830.pdf. “A” David Funck died 27 Aug 1799 in Washington County, MD. Also in the Land Patent of Washington County document are Henry Avery, “Scotch Lot”, 202 acres, origin 1745, final 1746. Also John Felker, “Schnebley’s Improvement”, 125 acres, 1818. Although the surnames Funck, Funk, and Founk appear various times, no dates or lot names or other names relate these surnames to the surname French.

1748 -- The western portions of Maryland (including present Washington County) were incorporated into Prince George's County in 1696. This original county included six current counties. The first to be created was Frederick, separated from Prince George's County in 1748. Washington County was formed on September 6, 1776 by the division of Frederick County

Contents

Chronology, 1700-1826

Analysis against Jacob French 1st

Schnebele Family

Rohrer Family

Avey or Ebby Family

French Family

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

George French’s Naturalization and Land Deeds

Analysis against Jacob French 1^st