Elkins, WV 6 Aug 1995

Dear Pipers:

The postal service affixed a label on your letter asking me to notify you of my new address. I have dumped my PO Box so my mailing address is now 201 Graham St, Elkins, etc.

I LIKE your idea that perhaps Abe had an earlier marriage. This would give us a tidy account for Catherine, Elizabeth and Suffnoah. I feel that it is likely that Fanny Butt was a daughter of Abe. Need 1850 census. HAVE YOU FOLLOWED THE ONES IN FRANKLIN CO YET?

QUESTION: WAS IT YOU WHO SENT ME A MARRIAGE RECORD FOR A CATHERINE BRAKE IN OHIO WHO MIGHT BE THE CATHERINE FROM PENDLETON? Have looked but cannot find it. If so, could you please refresh my memory? I hope it was you and not Nancy as I am told Nancy is no longer speaking to me. Oh well....

Here is a radical idea: The age in the bind order for the Abraham Brake corresponds to the age of Abram W. of Buckhannon. What if it is he? Captive Jacob was a grown man at the time and maybe this order does not reflect your ancestor after all, but rather Abram W. being bound to Jacob the captive. I have long suspected (without proof) two marriages for the captive, and the tax list listing as "Jacob Brake and Slaughter" may support such a line of thought. This would clear the way for a 1779/80 age for Licking County Abe.

The name of Radcliff is one of the most confused and misspelled in the region. Radcliff, Ratcliff, Ratliff, Rolliff, and a thousand variations are interchangeable. I have recently began to entertain the possibility that some of these unknowns were not Brakes at all. Brake vs See clearly proves that Michael Brake was in the habit of caring and providing for South Fork orphans. Maybe some of these folks were adoptees, or "pseudo adoptees" and took Michael's name. Don't know!

The most significant recent development is that I now feel that my Elizabeth may well have been from Hardy County, as circumstances suggest that she came to Lewis County with William Radcliff when he came directly from Brake Run in 1825. Her origins at Brake village still a mystery. Your Abe remains a possibility. Your continued interest appreciated.

David Armstrong 201 Graham St. Elkins, WV 26241

Have your letter of 17 Sep. We seem to be pretty much in agreement. The only place we disagree is on the possibility that Abe could have had three girls by one wife and then eleven boys by another. While it is true that the sperm does determine the sex of the child, the chromosome that a male sends at conception CAN change. The factors that may affect this are unknown to me. But my uncle Harold married in the '40s and had a son. He then divorced and married again and had two more sons with the second wife. He then suddenly began sending a X chromosome and had four daughters. So his kids were spit nearly half - first three sons then four daughters. So that should be enough to show that it is NOT out of the question that Abe could have had three daughters and then a bunch of sons.

Right now my "best guess" is that your Licking County Abraham Brake is the father of my Elizabeth, … she was a Brake at all. Whether from an earlier marriage (?possibly Radcliff?) or a girlfriend not known. And I ADMIT THAT THE THEORY IS NOT PROVEN! But I am finally out of Brakes to pursue and eliminate, and Abe is the best candidate. Fanny's presence in Ohio supports this. My study of the Brake family at large ends here. Henceforth further study will be in trying to find Catherine Justice (my pal in Akron had no luck) out west and prove that she was Virginia born.

Hope you will keep me informed of any new developments re Abe, Fanny, etc.... Sincerely

Regarding Balzer Flesher, I will answer your exact question, yes I am sure that he was Henry's son. However, I cannot offer proof. I CAN prove that he was an associate of the Weston family, as the minute books of Harrison County show. He WAS from present day Lewis County, as he married my aunt Mary Brown from there. These facts when considered with the fact that I have eliminated just about everyone else point strongly to Henry Sr. Let me try to illustrate: Lets say you and I are walking down a dark, woodland road, and off to our left we hear a big "BANG". I might say that it sounded like a gunshot, but you might think it was a car backfiring. We will be at an impasse, as neither one of us will be able to "prove" our case. But if we walk over toward the sound and find a spent bullet casing then my contention that it was a gunshot is considerably strengthened, although I still do not have solid proof. In my mind there are a number of spent shell casings laying around that indicate who Balzer's father was. Also, I have identified a couple in Germany (again the "spent shell casings" rather than a "smoking gun") whom I believe to be the parents of Henry Flesher. They are Balzer and Anna Fleischer. Now if Balzer is put on Henry Sr.'s sheet as the oldest child then he named his first two kids Balzer and Anna Flesher! One theory supports the other. I'll admit to anyone that I cannot technically "prove" either point but I think the preponderance of evidence is in my favor. Indeed people have been sent to the gas chamber on less evidence!

In response to your other question, I am the 3X great grandson of John Flesher who married Minerva Camden. He was a son of Henry Jr. Flesher and Sarah Butcher. John's son Robert Pindle Flesher was my 2X great grandfather. I have done extensive research on Henry Jr. and have revolutionized what is known of him.

Don't worry about me undermining your publication. My big "donation" of my materials to Salt Lake is a long way off as I have much to do to get ready - like finishing Henry Sr.'s kids and getting more on the descendants of Henry Jr. His work alone will take a while as they all went west but John and one sister.

Re Balzer Flesher: My notes show that he married my aunt, Mary Brown in Harrison County in 1789 , not 1729 as per your letter, and he left for Ohio soon after. The Harrison County minute books will show this Balzer Flesher as a close associate of our Henry Flesher Sr in the 1780's and his tombstone in Ohio shows his birth as 1761, so he was plenty young enough to be Henry Sr's son. I do not think I am confusing the Balzer Fleshers (or the Henrys as Mrs. Cosgrove once suggested). I only know of four Balzer Fleshers in the early history of our family, "Balzer" being informal for "Balthasar": 1. Balthasar Fleischer the weaver of Ober-Seemen, Germany, the father of our Henry Flesher and his brother Peter. 2. Balthasar Fleischer of Ober-Seemen, Germany and Philadelphia, PA, a first cousin of Henry Flesher on his MOTHER'S side, 1748 immigrant to America. 3. Balzer Flesher of Harrison County, WV and Ohio, mentioned above. 4. Pulsor Fleisher, bachelor son of Peter the immigrant of Pendleton County.

Having studied these four intensively I must conclude that the Balzer Flesher who married Mary Brown was Henry's son as that is the only logical conclusion, although I too once questioned the connection and I admit there is a lack of a connecting document, but then there often is in these old families.

David Armstrong, 201 Graham St, Elkins, WV 26241

Elkins, WV 18 Dec 1993

Dear Brake cousins:

This will be a joint letter to update everyone at once as I find myself without time to keep up with my correspondence. Things are happening fast in the Brake research and recent discoveries by Jeff Carr have completely re-aligned the unknown persons in the family. This letter does not profess to furnish proof of the connections suggested, but rather to put forward my latest theory as to the origins of my ancestress Elizabeth Brake Moneypenny. Most of you are probably tired of hearing this by now, as I have written all of you at one time or another saying that "until further info is available I am following such and such a theory as my Brake ancestors". But we are literally running out of Brakes, and I think each theory has a greater likelihood of being correct than the one before.

I had published in the ANCESTOR CHARTS book by ARFHS a chart suggesting that Jacob B. Brake, son of John was the father of my Elizabeth. This was based on the fact that he has a girl her age in his household in 1820 (born before his marriage) and the fact that she was almost certainly living with John Brake in 1830. It was also based in part on an assumption that her ancestry was probably going to be found on the West Fork. Nancy, you have repeatedly suggested that perhaps I should be looking in Hardy County for the answer, but being hard headed and stubborn I had never followed that angle.

I was the featured speaker in August at the reunion of the James Brake descendants in Clarksburg, and I told them that it was my opinion that the Brake association was correct, and that the father of their ancestor James Brake was Isaac Brake of Hardy County and Ohio. This was based on the "for lack of a better solution" mindset, and was the best possible theory I could come up given the information I had at that time. Nancy, you tried to tell me not to follow this angle, too, but as usual I didn't listen.

The recent discoveries have changed my thinking on both of the above points. I no longer think my Elizabeth is a child of Jacob B. Brake, and I am now quite certain that James Brake was not Isaac's. I think the evidence below will show that James Brake married Anna Mumford in Pendleton County in 1817 under the name of James Davis. I also feel it will strongly suggest that James and yet another unknown Brake named Catherine were siblings, the fruits of an illegitimate union between a parent named Brake, possibly Michael, and a parent named Davis, probably a girl of the James and Comfort Davis family. Sound crazy? Well hang onto your hats, were going for a ride!

Enclosed you will find a copy of a minute book entry from Pendleton County, showing the 1812 order binding Catherine Brake, age 10, to William Dyer. It was the discovery of this document that set a chain reaction in motion and led me to the conclusion I have suggested above.

Regarding James Brake, I have always felt that the maiden name of Mumford for his wife, based on family tradition, was accurate. It goes back at least to the 1920's, when Ford H Brake responded to Guy Tetrick's genealogy questionnaire, and Ford gave the name of Mumford for his ancestor. I have always thought that if someone were going to "guess" at a maiden name for Anna, they would have been much more likely to come up with Reger, Rohrbaugh, Hyer, Simon, etc since these are large and well known families of the Branch and Buckhannon. But they instead named a family that is somewhat obscure, who never crossed the mountains to my knowledge, and is not very numerous. So I have always thought that Mumford was accurate.

There is only one Mumford family, and they go by the name Mumford and Mumbert interchangeably, perhaps due to how the name sounded when spoken in a thick German accent, like so many persons on the South Fork would have had. They lived on the South Fork at Sweedland Hill, near the Hardy County line, and not far from the Brake home. They were from Maryland, and they all seem to be the offspring of Jacob Mumford. The records of Pendleton County show the marriage in 1817 of James Davis and Anna Mumford (as "Mumbert") The bondsman was George Mumford, he being her brother who listed his birthplace as Maryland in the 1850 census. There is no corresponding James Davis in the 1820 census, and the Maryland had me bothered for awhile since Anna Brake Young always listed Pennsylvania as her birthplace. But I followed her daughter Louisa Young Ferrell to the 1900 census, and Louisa told the census taker that her mother Anna was born in Maryland, so that should tie her to the Mumford on the South Fork. So it is clear to me that James Brake was aka James Davis.

James has to be born 1797 or before, that assumption immediately eliminates most of "the baron's" grandsons as the father. And since John, Jacob the captive, Brushy Fork Abraham, Isaac and Magdalen were all married at the time (1799-1804), we are left with Michael, the only unmarried Brake who was old enough.

Two points might tend to support such a theory. First, James Brake named a son Nimrod See, and the namesake of this child, Nimrod See of Hardy County married a daughter of Michael Brake. I had always suspected a close relationship between James and Michael. Secondly, it is at roughly the so you can all chew on this one for awhile. This is the theory I am going to pursue until I can disprove it whether folks like it or not. I intend to research the James and Comfort Davis family in depth, but it will have to wait until I can get to Hardy County.

Harriett and Jack, I apologize for the silence and for not answering your questions. I have been out of touch lately with everyone. I am sorry to say that I cannot help you with your Ohio questions, but the above should answer your questions about James Brake. I still think your Licking County Abe is Isaac's, but I cannot prove it. Please keep asking questions of me as I may yet have an answer to some of them. Also, can you tell me much about Leonard Stump, son of Magdalen Brake? You sent some nice documents but do you have a group sheet on Stump or Reger????

Thank you all for your interest and your comments are welcome, but please do not interpret the silence or lack of an answer as a lack of interest. I'm just out of touch....

Sincerely, David Armstrong

Dear Pipers:

So much is happening I barely know where to begin. But first to your question, no I do not have the record you ask about on Isaac Brake, and in fact until today I had nothing on Jacob's accounting, but today I went to Hardy County and have revolutionized my knowledge of the Brake family, and indeed I believe solved (at least half) of my Elizabeth Brake problem. Shortly I will make a suggestion that you probably will not like, but first please indulge me to outline my theory and how it developed.....

As you know a while back I began to look for Elizabeth's family from the angle of "whom did she name her kids after?" This line of inquiry led me to the Woofters, as they were near neighbors to the Browns and Nicholases (fathers of Elizabeth's illegitimate kids) and the Woofters had boys about Elizabeth's age named Jesse and William, which names she gave her first two kids. But the longer I looked at the Woofter family the less she fit. Nobody in the family to blame, many of the wrong ages, etc, etc...

The next big discovery I made was that the "loose papers" matching the minute book entries for Lewis County have survived and are indexed at WVU and in them were detailed papers on both of Elizabeth's dastardly cases. In the Nicholas case she herself testified that she had given birth to Matilda "in a little house occupied by her near William Radcliff's". So that gave me a new lead.

I began to take a look at this William Radcliff. He had a son named Jesse about Elizabeth's age, and this accounted for namesakes of both William and Jesse Brown. This Jesse lived next door to Elizabeth Brake & husband in the 1840 census. William Radcliff's son married Margaret Brown, a sister of John Brown who had the boys with Elizabeth Brake. Radcliff's granddaughter had an illegitimate child in 1832 with a Butcher, and another of his kids married a Lockhard, and relatives of BOTH of those families testified in Elizabeth's second bastard case. So the Radcliff family not only fit a "suspected pattern" of one possibly related to Elizabeth Brake, but they could be solidly proven as ASSOCIATES of her. I had to know more.

Last Sunday I was looking at Simm's index to land grants and I noticed that Isaac Brake had two land grants shown in Hardy County ADJOINING WILLIAM RADCLIFF! That got me a little excited. Gee, I thought, if I could PROVE that the Hardy County William Radcliff was the same one as the Lewis County William Radcliff, an interesting scenario would form. Well, today I went to Moorefield, and guess what - this Hardy County William Radcliff lived on BRAKE'S MILL RUN and is now PROVEN by the 1820 Hardy County census to be the same one in Lewis County so closely tied to Elizabeth Brake! More surprises were to follow...

In the estate sale of Jacob Brake (the "Baron") this Radcliff was a purchaser. So was one Mary Ann Radcliff. So here we have a female Radcliff old enough to make a purchase in her own right at the Brake estate sale, and since William's wife was a Catherine this cannot be her. After this I went to the Circuit Clerk's office and read a very interesting chancery file called Brake vs See, and lo and behold, this Mary Ann was still in Hardy in the late 1820's and her chickens were tearing up the corn on the Michael Brake farm!! (It says so in the chancery file)

I now believe that my Elizabeth Brake is a granddaughter of William Radcliff. I believe that she was born at Brake Mill, Hardy County, probably to this Mary Ann Radcliff, and that she came with William to Lewis County in 1825. (He testifies in Lewis County Court to the year he came and incidentally it is the same year Elizabeth gets pregnant with the first John Brown son) I should have listened to Nancy Von Brecht three years age when she suggested that Elizabeth was from Hardy. Now to the part that will make waves. Please forgive me for what I am about to say......

Another fringe benefit of the reading of "Brake vs See is that I now have a good, solid group sheet on Michael Brake. Regardless of how many people were living in his house in the 1820 census, he in fact had only three kids: Leonard, Magdalen, and Elizabeth. The testimony of numerous persons in Brake vs See is clear on that fact. So some of these dreamed up group sheets that try to give a Brake name to all of those 1820 census listings just do not hold up. Michael Brake had the three kids and that is that. I am glad to have clarified his family grouping. So that said, IF Elizabeth's father was a Brake at all (I'll elaborate on that below) then there are now only two feasible possibilities for her father: Michael and Licking County Abraham.

Let me say that I do not intend to "Assign" Elizabeth your ancestor without proof. Since Abraham is your ancestor, I will defer to your more cautious approach to research and decline to say for sure who I think her father was. But I hope you will indulge me and follow while I try to explain why I think that Abraham is the more likely of the two... In 1805, Elizabeth Brake's (now certain in my mind) ancestor, William Radcliff, is living on Brake's Mill Run and his NEXT DOOR neighbor, (proven in a deed) is Isaac Brake. Possibly in Isaac's household, or at least SOMEWHERE on Brake Run, is a young, unmarried man named Abraham Brake. Young Abe is aged about 18-22, depending on which date of birth we accept. He does not marry until 1807. Does it not seem at least POSSIBLE that he was Elizabeth's father, provided we acknowledge that there is no proof? YOUR COMMENTS, PLEASE.

The only other possibility is Michael Brake. He did not marry until 1804, and if he was the father he would have had to have Ms. Radcliff pregnant about the time he married Elizabeth Dasher. A possible scenario, and my wife's own father comes to mind, but I think somewhat less likely than Abraham. I might add that I now think that whomever Elizabeth's father was he was also the father of the Catherine who was bound to William Dyer in 1812. Catherine Brake may well have been named for Catherine Radcliff.

Finally, to the remark I made above about IF her father was a Brake at all... we still have the problem of James Brake. I spent the weekend researching the Davis family and have clarified them a good deal. It is now clear that the James Davis who married Ann Mumford is the eldest child listed in the 1810 census listing for John and Mary (Morrall) Davis on the South Fork in Pendleton County. This John is the only possibility and his listing fits perfectly with the Davis - Mumford marriage, and he lived next door (again in a record) to Jacob Mumford. So James Davis who married Ann Mumford comes from his family. So was he James Brake? I still think so. My reason? This weekend I have been able to show that no matter WHICH William Dyer had the bound child Catherine Brake, Dyer was a cousin of this James Davis! Both of the William Dyers were. So I can show that the James Davis who married Ann Mumford had a cousin (and close neighbor) with a bound child named Brake! I can also show that James Davis was born circa 1792, if his father's census record is absolutely accurate.

Maybe John Davis' wife had James by a Brake prior to their marriage. Maybe not. Maybe James was a Brake who was adopted into the Davis family. Maybe not. Maybe James Davis is not James Brake, but I now know enough about the Mumfords to show that if not then James Brake's wife was not Ann Mumford. Brake vs See gives many, many day to day details about the goings on at the Brake Mill. It seems to have been quite a little village. Michael had a blacksmith shop ran by his slave man. There was a carpenter shop where they made coffins and bedsteads. A saw and grist mill ran full time. People seem to have drifted in and out, hanging around, living for a time, working on the place. At least one by marriage relative of the Brakes had an illegitimate child raised there. Mary Ann Radcliff's chickens had to be chased out of the corn, and the place was quite crowded in the 1820 census. Yes, this was a small village, later a post office. Perhaps not everybody was sure who their fathers were. Maybe some of the kids took the name of Brake after the PLACE where they were born and not after the family. This may be one way to explain the apparent futility of assigning parents to James, Catherine and Elizabeth. Maybe not. But I have nothing better to offer. After five years of chasing this lady I submit that Elizabeth Brake Moneypenny was a Radcliff, born at Brake Mill in 1804, father unknown, and brought across the mountains in 1825 by William Radcliff.

Until now I have been looking for a Brake relative with whom I could "fit" Elizabeth. In other words, I have been trying to build a scenario, to fit a square peg in a round hole. Not so with this new scenario.

And I'll bet it is a long time before it changes! It would seem to explain a lot. It would explain why Elizabeth is not with any of the Brakes on the West Fork in 1810 or 1820. It would seem to explain the lack of a feasible Brake parent in the west, although now we have this same problem on the South Fork. We still have three unknown Brakes, just a little closer together. It gives to me a feasible family for Elizabeth in the Radcliffs, and at that a family that I can clearly associate with her! So in my mind a Radcliff she is until some more competent researcher can prove otherwise. My study of the Brakes will continue...

Comments, criticisms, & hits over the head welcome....

David Armstrong 201 Graham St Elkins, WV 26241

Elkins, WV 16 Aug 1994 (update 28 Nov)

I have gone through several files and pulled the information that proves your connection to Michael Bush. It seems to be scattered about the house. I hope I did not mislead you as per Xeroxes of original documents, as in most cases what I have are typed or published copies, but I enclose what I have. Your ancestor George Bush's connection as Michael Bush's son can be proven by the following documents:

RECORD OF COMMISSIONERS OF UNPATENTED LANDS, Monongalia County Courthouse, page 457, 1780 "George Bush, heir of Michael Bush, certified for 400 acres on Buckhannon River, adjoining lands of George Jackson, to include his settlement made in 1775.

It must be remembered that under Virginia law of the time any person who made a settlement on western waters prior to 1 Jan 1778 was entitled to 400 acres of land, and that in certificates such as the one above the "settlement before 1775" or whatever refers to the ORIGINAL settler, so in this case MICHAEL BUSH made a settlement in 1775 on the Buckhannon, proving that he COULD NOT have died in 1774 at the Battle of Point Pleasant. The land was certified in 1780 for George Bush, although he was a child not old enough to act in his own behalf.

HARRISON COUNTY MARRIAGE BOND, Harrison County Courthouse, Bk 1 page 339 George Bush Jr and Jacob Wolf bond for marriage of George with Mary Wolf, daughter of Jacob, bond dated 17 June 1799

This will identify the George Bush who married Mary Wolf as "Junior", which is important when additional information is considered:

RANDOLPH COUNTY SURVEY RECORD 1 page 202, Surveyed for George Bush 10 Oct 1797 77 acres by virtue of a certificate in right of settlement for 400 acres granted by the land commission to include his settlement on Buckhannon in 1775, adjoining George Jackson, and others.

This is the settlement right mentioned in the Land Commission record above, which had shrunk by survey to 77 acres. While the above does say so, my research has shown independently that the 77 acres did adjoin George Jackson, and that this is the only possible survey that could be the Michael Bush Land Commission settlement right. But was this the George Bush who married Mary Wolf? Yes. The grant for the tract proves it:

RANDOLPH COUNTY GRANTS BOOK 2 page 195, West Virginia State Auditor's Office, Charleston WV, George Bush Jr granted 77 acres Buckhannon River

This last record when considered with the Survey Record ties the 77 acres tract back to Michael Bush and identifies the grantee as George Bush Jr. The marriage bond of George Bush and Mary Wolf identifies the groom as George Bush Jr, linking your ancestor to the other three documents!

The documentation I mentioned on page 1 of this letter is plenty to show that YOUR George Bush is a son of Michael Bush.

I no longer think that this Michael Bush is a son of George Adam. He was of majority by 1766, so he was TOO OLD to be George Adam's. I rather suspect a younger brother as he was definitely some relation, but I can offer no proof. This Michael Bush lived on the South Branch in the 1760's with Eva Bush (while George Adam lived on the South FORK in the next valley), in the Tygart Valley at present day Valley Bend in the early 1770's, and finally on the Buckhannon. I used to think that South Branch Michael and Tygart Valley/Buckhannon Michael were different men, but the 1769 militia list from the Virginia House of Burgesses records that I copied in Richmond shows him in a company with Samuel Pringle and Henry Delay, and Pringle was an early Buckhannon settler while Delay was an early Valley Bend settler, so this document ties it all together as ONE Michael Bush.

It was my original hope that your two hour payment would allow me to computerize and send ALL of my Michael Bush information, but I have more than the two hours in pulling this information from several places and preparing this report. But I think I have answered your most prominent question, that of how to connect your George to Michael Bush. I am enclosing copies of the documents I mentioned, such as I have them, plus a few others.

David Armstrong 201 Graham St Elkins, WV 26241

1769 Hampshire County militia payments for scouts employed on the frontier, claims of: William Westfall, MICHAEL BUSH, John Robinson, Henry Delloy, Samuel Pringle, Daniel Shoehan Jr, David Corn, Edward Corn Jr, George Miller, John Bell, Garrett Reasner, John Ratan, Jacob Sinks, Abraham Blue employed the present year. Kennedy, John Pendleton, ed., JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES OF VIRGINIA 1766- 1769, Richmond, Va MCMVI (Note: The presence of Henry Delay and Samuel Pringle in this list with Bush presents evidence that the Michael Bush at Valley Bend and Buckhannon are the same person, and would seem to give him a birth date of circa 1751-53 if he is Geroge Adam's, so he must be from the Katterman line)

1788 vouchers in Robert Harrison's Company, Rockingham Militia: Lewis Bush, l horse, Michael Bush 5 horses, Leonard Bush 6 horses (adjacent in list between Thos Bland, Samuel Skidmore

Oct 1788 Michael and Leonard Bush, George Teter view road from Capt Stratton's to Andrew Johnson. PCOB1 p 13

22 Dec 1803 Petition asking for a tax to finance bounty on wolves signed by (adjacent signatures) Pauser Bucher, George Bucher, Jacob Bush, John Bucher, Charles Fisher, Peter Bush, John Alkiah, Henery Bush

9 Dec 1801 Inhab of Buckhannon River in Randolph County petition for their portion of the county to be annexed to Harrison, signed by George Bush. Randolph County Legislative petitions, Virginia State Archives

10 Dec 1805 Petition to create new county out of upper end of Harrison County signed by Jacob, Peter and Henry Bush. A8473 Harrison County Legislative Petitions, Virginia State Archives

10 Dec 1807 Petition to create new county called Page County from upper end of Harrison signed by Peter Bush, Michael Bush, Jacob Bush, William Bush, James Bush, George Bush, Jacob Bush Sr, Paulser Bush. Harrison County Petitions, ibid.

24 Dec 1807 Petition of inhabitants of remote section asking that legislature not repeal additional rewards on wolf scalps, signed by (adjacent signatures): Jacob Bush, Alex: White, Peter Bush, Michel Bush, Lenard Bush, George Fisher, George Conley, Valentin Butcher, Palser Butcher. Harrison County petitions, ibid.

David Armstrong 201 Graham St Elkins, WV 26241

1 Feb 1995

Dear Jennie:

Thank you for the bible record. It will run in June This is the kind of submission I am looking for and if you come across other such items I would be very glad to publish them.

RE your pedigree chart - I am doing Vol II now and I have a chart of yours to put in it. In case there are any additions you may want to resubmit. If you send the chart directly to me I will see that it is included in the upcoming Vol II.

Thanks too for sending me the William Currence group sheet. Your interest is appreciated, although I cannot find the words to express the frustration I feel in seeing it again.

It is clear to those of us who work closely on the history and genealogy of the Tygart Valley that SOMEONE is fabricating genealogy on our local families. There are some suspicions about who it may be, but no proof. The lady who sent you the Currence sheet is NOT suspected. It is quite probable that she is a victim.

That Currence group sheet is like a persistent ghost -no matter how hard we try to exorcise it, it still rears it's head from time to time. I traced it back to the lady who sent it to you, and she told me that she gets materials in libraries and a lot of places and does not write down her sources so she could not say where some of the information comes from.

Attached to this letter is a copy of that sheet that I made some months ago and on it I have noted in handwriting some of the areas where the sheet can be PROVEN wrong. I am quite certain that other information on it is outright fabrication but without a document to disprove such things as the mother's maiden name in Ireland etc, etc the enclosed corrections are the only ones provable. But I ASSURE you that there has been some embroidery here.

The sheet DOES represent some good quality research on William Currence Sr. Almost as thorough as work completed by Bill Rice and myself from source documents. But somebody has fabricated an answer to fill each of the blanks. It seems that no matter how hard we work from source documents, how many times we visit Richmond and Washington and pour over dusty records in the local courthouses, there is always some "researcher" living 2000 miles from the source who has done all of their work by mail from their kitchen table who has more information. I dealt with this briefly in my editorial "Imaginary Genealogy" (ARA Vol 2 # 2).

And once something like this sheet begins to circulate it is nearly impossible to get it stopped. Even though we have proven CONCLUSIVELY that there was no "Currnece Fort" at Mill Creek (ARA Vol 2 #1) the national office of the DAR is STILL taking applications based on William Currence Sr. having provided a fort. Likewise I feel that the name of Ann McCracken will continue forever to appear as the mother of William Cuurrence Sr. although NOTHING has been offered to show how such information could be obtained.

I have been making some progress on the early life of Currence Sr. I strongly suspect that regardless of where he came from in Europe he came HERE from Albemarle County, Va. Our earliest direct document of him shows him in debt to Carter and Trent, who were merchants in Albemarle. This in itself would not be enough but the Shaw family who married into the Currences can also be traced to Albemarle. This is as close as we can get from solid evidence as to the early life of William Sr. So please be alert to fabricated information floating around and please try and help us defend against it.

There are a number of families I want to get with you about. Jeff Carr says that you are quite knowledgeable about a number of surnames of my interest. Perhaps next summer we can get together. You should try to get over here for the "Family History Share Day" being sponsored by ARA on April 8. Details in the March journal. I will be working so I may not be there but I could meet with you in the evening if you wanted to.

Thanks again for the Bible record. If I can be of assistance feel free to write or phone anytime.

David Armstrong

David Armstrong 201 Graham St Elkins, WV 26241

14 Mar 1995

Dear Trissa:

Thank you for your letter and well thought out questions. I will attempt to answer all of them in the order that they were asked.

RE the transported William Currence. At one time I was quite CONVINCED that this English criminal was the William Currence who came to the Tygart Valley. This was partly due to the fact that I had looked at a number of source records from Ireland through the LDS and was unable to find ANY reference to ANYONE named Currence in that country (still haven't). So I assumed that since there is no recoverable record of a Currence in Ireland that the transported English William must be our relative. But then I found another William Currence in Maryland roughly contemporary with ours. Enclosed is a group sheet on this other William. He mostly spelled his name "Currens" in Maryland but when his sons get to Kentucky they are shown as "Currence". So it could be this other William that was transported for theft and ours may be from Ireland as Maxwell said. There is no way to say for sure.

You mention that William may have been in the disputed territory of Md and Pa. I agree. The only record of his being in PA is William Jr's pension file in which he says that he was a "native of Pennsylvania". At one time the state of Delaware was part of Pennsylvania, and since New Castle was a major port of entry for Irish in the 1700's I theorize that maybe William came into the country at New Castle, Del when it was part of Pennsylvania. I went to the State Archives in Dover and did find a record of a Currence family in New Castle in 1779, so maybe these were relatives of our William. Traditional (and undocumented) accounts have placed William in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, however, so here again we are left with more questions than answers.

You are correct that Smith Currence was too young to be a juror in 1788. I should have checked that before writing to you, but I am so pressed for time it is difficult to properly respond at times. I went over to the courthouse and made a copy of the record Maxwell cites - he misread it. It actually says Anthony Smith and William Currence. Copy is enclosed that should put "Smith Currence " to rest.

RE John Steel and the Dodrill group sheet. Oh that sheet is like a bad rash - the more you scratch it the more it comes back! Enclosed is a copy of that sheet and of a letter I wrote to Jennie Hott about it. Make no mistake, somebody is fabricating history in this region. That group sheet is an example of some pure embroidery. I do not think Mrs. Dodrill is the one. She told me that she got the sheet in a "library somewhere" and cannot say where so she is apparently a victim like the rest of us. Attached to the Hott letter is a copy of the sheet. On it I have made some notations regarding places I can PROVE the sheet to be wrong. I assure you that it is wrong in other places. No, I do not accept the parentage information on that sheet for Lydia Steel or for William Currence. But unfortunately since someone has seen fit to start this false information going around we probably will never be rid of it. I am also enclosing a copy of my family group sheet on William Sr. It is built strictly from SOURCE RECORDS and reflects EVERY record I can find re William Sr. This sheet is what the record actually shows. Someone has "filled in the blanks" on the Dodrill sheet.

Regardless of where Currence came from in Europe or PA, I have a theory that he came HERE from Albemarle County, Va. The EARLIEST DIRECT DOCUMENT concerning him is a store bill from the establishment of Carter and Trent, merchants of Albemarle County. It is not out of the question that he was over the mountain in the Shenandoah Valley when he incurred that debt, but the Shaws who married his children are proven to be from Albemarle so it makes me wonder if they didn't all come here together. I think the Carter and Trent bill is from when he was getting supplies together to make his pioneer settlement here in the Tygart Valley.

continued 22 March 1995

Oh the delays - it is amazing that it has taken me two weeks to get back to this. Oh well, better late than never.

You are correct that there is more activity here nowadays in genealogy. Unfortunately much of the activity between the late 1800s and the 1980s has been faulty, an example being the old "Currence Fort" myth. See copy enclosed. Can you believe that a local gal read that article, and changed her DAR application so as to enter under Jr rathwer than Sr (since it was apparent that Sr did not provide a fort) and the DAR MARKED OUT JR AND PUT SR BACK!!! The myth lives on.

I am THRILLED to have the Conrad chart. Who did you use to do the research? Would you be willing to send me copies of the researchers reports? I love to read things like that. One of my specialties is European research, particularly German and Swedish. I plan to run that Conrad chart in the June ARA unless you write and stop me.

I hope the above and the enclosed helps to increase your knowledge of William Currence Sr. Documenting his life has been very important to me as my children descend from three of his sons and I (through adoption) from a daughter. I have been meaning to write an article about him for the journal, but there never seems to be enough time and there is always one more record that I want to get...but I probably should go ahead. since my sister turned up with cancer a year ago I have become painfully aware that it is quite likely "later than we think" and I have moved more into a preservation mode than a research mode. I have written about 25 pages in the past two weeks. So maybe I'll sit down soon and get Currence out of the way.

Finally, I hope you out of staters are not too put off by my constant carping about "amateurs" and "researchers 1000 miles from the source". I realize that not everyone is able to drop everything and come east to dig in the courthouses, and I further realize that it is not fair to attack "amateurs" as they too often turn up helpful information that we in the area miss. So if I have seemed disrespectful I apologize. I have been frustrated in the past by the fact that often after I work very hard to produce quality records from source documents I come under attack from persons who have not done as much work or who want to cling to erroneous, traditional accounts. My frustration I am sure comes through in my writings. Watch for an editorial in a future issue.

Again, thanks for your Conrad info and for your questions. If I can be of further assistance feel free to write anytime.

Sincerely, David Armstrong

Elkins, WV 22 Aug 1994

Dear Harriett & Jack:

Thanks for the last 3 letters.

I am now quite convinced that your Licking County Abraham Brake had some kids prior to his marriage to Ms. Smith. Your letter showing that Sophronia "Fanny" Brake Butt's kids were living with Abe's daughter Nancy in 1850 PROVES to me that she belongs in his family, like you had said. So we have THREE Brake girls on the South Fork, all unknown, all born within a few years of each other: Catherine, born 1802, Elizabeth, born 1804, and Fanny, born ?c1806?. Your idea that perhaps Abe had a marriage prior to Ms. Smith is quite likely....I am now following this line of questioning until a better scenario is presented (boy, how many times have I said THAT?!)

Has the 1880 statewide soundex for Indiana and Ohio been checked for Fanny Butt? If not, I will do that. Please let me know. My pal in Akron is checking some census for Ike Justice now.

I have not done any work on the land you ask about, but I must guess that it was called "Shepler-Stump" after some past owners. Sorry I can't be of more help there. Yes, apparently the "Brake vs See" is the suit mentioned by Leonard Brake. Have not seen his will. But it fits.

Yes, I have the Rockingham County marriages. I have always assumed that the 1822 Michael is a son to the 1802 John, but cannot say for sure. It would be tempting to blame this John for Catherine and Elizabeth, but he does not seem to have any connection (that I know of) to the South Fork family, while Catherine and Elizabeth seem to, so I have never followed him. I might add that John is not in the 1820 statewide index, but I am learning in a hurry that these indexes have a few omissions.

Thank you for the info on Fanny and Catherine. Acn always use some more fuel for the fire!

Have submitted an article on Brake vs See and Michael Brake to the Hackers Creek Journal. Joy says it will run.

David Armstrong 201 Graham St Elkins, WV 26241

The records of Augusta County, Virginia published by Lyman Chalkley will show that Henry Flesher was in Augusta by 1759 when George Puffenbarger's orphan was bound to him.

Regarding Bush, oh I could write a book on this one. What a can of worms. I will begin by saying that the evidence of the mother of Henry Flesher's children is INCONCLUSIVE but that I have decided to my own satisfaction that she was a daughter of George Adam Bush. This Bush family is very complicated and hard to work with, records seem to be contradictory and old George Adam himself was something of a shady character, an alcoholic, and had some questionable business dealings so he may well have been the kind of a person who would have been evasive about family identities, legal documents and the like. I favor Bush instead of Hagle as I can document Henry Flesher and George Adam Bush as associates about the time Henry married, and I find NO RECORD of the Hagles in West Virginia prior to their settlement on the Buckhannon in the 1770's, two decades after Henry Flesher married. Since I find no record of Henry Flesher's wife ELizabeth prior to the 1790's I cannot be certain that she was his only wife, and the Bush he married may have been the daughter that we can show George Adam Bush had by his first (or second????) wife Catherina Sutmp at Tulpehocken, Pa prior to removing to West Virginia. Formulating a proper answer to your question about Bush would take several hours, so that will have to wait, but I am following George Adam Bush as the grandfather of my ancestor Henry Flesher Jr until someone can prove otherwise. I might add that I have probably done more work with the early Bush family than anyone, and if you know of anybody that you feel knows more about that family than I do I would love to hear from them.

I hope I have shed some light on some of my conclusions. If at any time you get a hold of something (an article, group sheet, etc.) produced by me please check with me to see how up to date it is. My records change drastically as I dig up new evidence.

Yes I have been trying for several years to solve some of these problems of ours, and I have been so fortunate to come up with some new ideas. Alas, many of these, especially the Bush family need further work and may never be completely solved. I am a family historian and not a genealogist, so I have spent a good deal of time and money tracking these folks in records both of a genealogical and non-genealogical nature. Yes, I think some answers will be forthcoming. But I challenge anyone to duplicate the amount of work I have produced and come up with better conclusions. If you ever see something among my notes that you can prove wrong, please feel free to write and ask for clarification or to correct me.

David Armstrong, 201 Graham St, Elkins, WV 26241

Dear Linda:

If I had to render my "best educated guesses" as to the parentage of the unknown persons in the Brake families, as of today my best guesses would be:

JAMES BRAKE: Based on marriage info uncovered by Jeff Carr and the fact that Michael Brake was single circa 1800 I think James is possibly a son of Michael by a Davis girl, probably a daughter of a member of the James and Comfort (Blizzard) Davis family. May or may not be illegitimate. CATHERINE BRAKE: same as above for same reasons

ELIZABETH BRAKE MONEYPENNY: Now most likely a relative of George Woofter of Freemans Creek and a Brake by marriage. Theoretical Woofter connection based on George's 1820 census listing, her naming of so many children after persons in his family, the location of the George Woofter farm between the Brown and Nicholas farms, and the burial of the Brown brothers in the Woofter cemetery. Possibly had a brief and unrecorded marriage to a Brake male, circa 1821/22, probably Edward, Cummins, or Jefferson, sons of BF Abe. Edward and Elizabeth Jackson's presence on Freeman's Creek affords ample opportunity for a Brake male to meet a girl from Freemansburg, especially given the double relationship of the Jackson household to the Brake family.

Please bear in mind that the above are THEORY and may change if better information becomes available.

Sincerely David Armstrong

Elkins, WV

24 Feb 1994

Dear Harriett & Jack:

Have your 2 letters. Thanks.

Commodore may be an honorary title as you suggest. That death certificate is still hard evidence of Cummins Brake's family. Also, the West Fork River at Clarksburg and Brushy Fork are very small streams - not large enough for a boat with a "Captain".

Yes, I have Edward Brake listed as Cummins and Mary's son (eldest).

Enclosed is your letter of 20 Feb, typos circled. What date do you favor for Abe's birth? I do not know if the minute book was typed correctly or not but I can tell you for sure that the age in that bind order reflected the age at the binding out in 1789, not at some point three years earlier. However, these ages do not always seem accurate.

The only definite protocol for "Jr." in a family was that there was another of the same name in the family (or the area -maybe not even related) who was older. A title to distinguish two persons of the same name - no definite genealogical relationship discernible from "jr."

I think I understand your theories about the origins of Licking County Abe. While I realize that we do not yet know the parents of James Brake and Catherine Brake, could I ask you, based on the available and current info, who do you favor as the parents of James Brake if you had to render your "best educated guess?"

Nancy is determined not to accept the Davis/Brake coupling. I hope I was not too hard on her in that last letter. My wife says I was sarcastic. Maybe... it is frustrating to me to constantly defend my theories against all manor of ideas put forward by persons from thousands of miles away with no first hand experience in WV research. At any rate, I promise not to lash out at you if your "best guess" on James Brake differs from mine...

Sorry, I have no contacts with Berkeley County experience. Sincerely,

David Armstrong 201 Graham St Elkins, WV 26241

5 Apr 1995 Dear Harriett:

Enclosed is the S. D. Butt info from 1880, via a friend of mine. Notice that his mother is shown as Virginia born. That should be enough to connect her to Abe, and we also know that Catherine Brake who married Isac Justice is Virginia born. Sisters of Elizabeth? Don't' know, but I may have a lead on the mother....

On a recent trip to Hardy County I found out from Marjorie Zirk that Nimrod Thorn was a child of Mary Ann Radcliff. That won't in itself mean much, but let me ramble a bit...

I am quite convinced that my Elizabeth Brake came to Lewis County from Brake Run with William Radcliff. She named her first two children William and Jesse, after Radcliff males. She said in her own testimony that she gave birth to her third child at William Radcliff's. The Radcliffs were having illegitimate children at William's house at the same time, and named one Elizabeth. I have for a while now suspected a family connection between Elizabeth Brake and the Radcliffs.

Now turning to Hardy County, this Mary Ann Radcliff seems to have been a free floater. She made a purchase at Baron Jacob Brake's estate sale in her own name in 1809. In 1812 she was called (with Isaac and Anna Brake) to testify when William Radcliff sued George Mongold for slander. In Brake vs See it says that her chickens had to be chased out of Michael Brake's corn. Most of this I knew already. What I DID NOT know is that this Mary Ann had a string of illegitimate kids (as did Elizabeth Brake) and Nimrod Thorn was one of these. And remember, Nimrod Thorn testified that he was RAISED FROM AGE TWELVE TO ADULTHOOD BY MICHAEL BRAKE!!! So a relative of the guy who brought Elizabeth Brake to Lewis County had illegitimate kids raised by Michael Brake!

So I suspect that Catherine, Elizabeth and Fanny Brake may have been children of this Mary Ann Radcliff, perhaps by Abraham Brake who went to Licking County. The circumstances are not clear, but the pattern is a good "fit". This may be the best guess I will ever be able to make regarding Elizabeth Brake's parents.

I would be grateful if you could send your comments on this.

Sincerely,

Elkins, WV 28 Nov 1994

Dear Mrs. Truman:

I was delighted to hear from you and to learn of another cousin on my mother's side. Yes, your husband and I are related but not through the Woofters. His great grandmother, Matilda Nichols (Mrs. George Woofter Jr.) was my aunt. Matilda's mother, Elizabeth Brake, was my 3X great grandmother.

I am enclosing a pedigree chart on your Matilda Nichols (who I carry as Matilda Ann NICHOLAS) to show what I know of her ancestry. Please keep in mind that HER GRANDFATHER BRAKE"S NAME IS NOT PROVEN, but is the best guess based on a long process of research and elimination involving a number of Brake descendants. In case my guess is correct, I have included charts herewith to show Matilda's ancestry on the Brake side back to the 1500's in Germany.

Elizabeth Brake was apparently born in Hardy County, WV and came to Lewis County about 1823 with William Radcliff and his family. What relationship may have existed between Elizabeth and Radcliff is unknown. Elizabeth Brake had two illegitimate sons (Jesse and William Brown) by John K. Brown of Freemansburg, Lewis County. William was my 2X great grandfather. She then had an illegitimate daughter by John Nicholas Jr. who was Matilda Nichols, Mrs. George Woofter Jr. Elizabeth Brake then married Edward Moneypenny and had several children by him. A family group sheet showing her children is enclosed. Please keep in mind that Moneypenny is not the father of the first three.

I at one time thought that Elizabeth may have been a relative of the Woofter family since she named her first two kids William and Jesse, and these were names in George Woofter Sr.'s household. However, it now appears that she named the sons William and Jesse after William and Jesse RADCLIFF, so my research on the Woofter line is over. I did not have anything to add to the Woofter sheets that you sent me.

I have many questions I would like to ask. For instance, has anyone ever seen a photograph of Matilda Nichols Woofter? And do you have family group sheets showing any of her other descendants? My records indicate that most of her children died young, but she did have a daughter Emeranda who married Albert Maywood West. Did they leave any offspring? According to my sheets Andrew Rhymer and Sarah Adelaide Woofter had four kids: Lelia Rhymer Spray, Roy Rhymer, Emma Rhymer Law, and Effie Ann Truman. Were there others? Did any of Effie's siblings leave descendants?

I am sorry for all of the questions. I would like to collect as much material on Elizabeth Brake's descendants as possible. I hope the enclosed is of interest to you, and if you can provide anything further I look forward to exchanging info.

Sincerely,

SANDRA JEAN, WHERE ARE YOU??

Were you born on December 9, 1952 at Buckhannon, West Virginia and given up for adoption soon after? If so your brother and sister are looking for you. Write to David Armstrong, 201 Graham St., Elkins, WV, 26241 for details.

Elkins, WV 4 Jul 1994

Dear Albert:

Hope you and yours are having a nice fourth of July. We are sitting around witching the movie "Gettysburg" and waiting to go to a picnic. Since I have a few minutes I will write and update you on some progress I have made on the Sprigg family history.

I am more convinced than ever that regardless of the specific parish of his birth, Thomas Sprigg Sr was at some point a resident of Kettering, England, had relatives there, lived there, or was in some way connected with that place. This change of heart came from a couple of minor additions to my Sprigg materials.

It has long been known that William Stone had a cousin named Hugh Hayes at Prestbury, Cheshire in England. This Hayes was transported to the colonies by Stone, but was apparently back home in 1637 when he died and his estate was administered in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. On the map of Cheshire in my 1891 Brittanica Encyclopedia there is a very small village "Hall" shown about a mile from Prestbury called "Poynton" and near there another little point called "Poynton Hall". This is of vital interest to me as Gov. Stone named a tract of land in Maryland "Poynton Manor". So here we have an example of one of the Sprigg relatives following the custom of naming a tract of land in Maryland after a place in England where there was family. In addition to this Warren Skidmore's "Stonestreet" family book shows that his ancestor Thomas Stonestreet named a tract in Maryland "Birchden", and that there is a christening record at Birchden in England for a Thomas Stonestreet that he believes to be his ancestor. So I am now satisfied (from documented evidence rather than hearsay) that these Maryland patentees WERE naming tracts of land after places in their home counties in England.

There were a good many Sprigg families in and around Kettering at the time of our Thomas Sprigg's birth. I would like to take a closer look at Thomas and Ann Sprigg who had grown children in 1641, and who in that year lived at Harrington in Northampotonshire, five miles from Kettering. This family was from Great Bowden, where the name Sprigg goes back to at least the late 1400's. This Thomas Sprigg was styled "Gent" in 1641, which fits with the fact that our Thomas was from a titled family, and this family had members named Ann, Mary and John which all are names given to children by our Maryland Thomas Sprigg.

I have three letters in England now. One is to the Northamptonshire record office asking for information on the Humphrey Sprigg who was at Kettering in the 1630's, and two to members of the Northamptonshire Family History Society who I am told will do research at the record office for four pounds per hour. If so it would be to our advantage to have them go into the record office and further check this Thomas and Ann Sprigg.

I rather think that John Nuthall was from Chesnire, and someone else has agreed at some point as he has been put there in the IGI. My suspicion that he came from there has nothing to do with the IGI listing.

Hugh Hayes is known to have had a servant boy in the 1630's called John "Nutwell" in a deposition. (See Doliante). The boy escaped for a time to the Indian villages on the Potomac. This deposition was made thirty years after the fact, and while there is no way to say for certain that this refers to John Nuthall, it is known that Nuthall was an associate of the Stone family early, was an Indian trader in Maryland early, was occasionally called "Nutwell" in other sources, and that his son was a servant showing that the family was not of so high a station in life as to be above indentured servitude. So while it is not provable, it is certainly not out of the question that this John "Nutwell" who was a servant of Hayes was our John Nuthall as a youth.

This Nuthall is known in the 1640's to have had a father, mother, and sister at London. Or at least known to a man in London. But the Merchant class of London were coming from EVERYWHERE, and in fact if one's ancestor was a merchant at London there is a better than average chance that the family had not lived at London for more than a few years. It has been published in a couple of sources that our John Nuthall's father was another John Nuthall, and a power of attorney in 1658 in St Andrews Holburne parish in London may bear that out. It refers to "John Nuthall of London, Merchant", and since our Nuthall had been a resident of Virginia for many years at that time this may refer to ANOTHER John Nuthall, and may be evidence of the father at London.

Our John Nuthall signed a deed at "The White Horse" on Cateaton Street in the Parish of St Lawrence Jewry in London in 1661, and this is interesting because that establishment had been owned by Thomas Stone, uncle of the Governor in the 1640's. So here is yet another hypothetical connection between Nuthall and the Stones. This with the possible presence of Nuthall with Hugh Hayes mentioned above, makes me suspect that he could have been from up in Cheshire, and in fact there is a Nuthall family there (in the area where Hugh Hayes lived) at the right time. In fact, the Parish register of St Mary's, Stockport, Cheshire, shows a baptism for a John Nuthall, son of John Nuthall, in 1619! IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS IS OUR JOHN! There was a branch of the Nuthalls in Cheshire who married into a titled family and has a pedigree going back to the 1300's, and these may be relatives although I think our branch will turn out to be common folks and they probably will not be found among the gentry or titled classes. A friend is going to check some Cheshire sources and get back to me. Your comments are welcome.

David Armstrong, 201 Graham St, Elkins WV, 26241

(IGI) Elizabeth Sprigg christened 5 May 1578 Great Oakley No parent listed

(IGI) Margaret Sprigg christened 11 Mar 1581 Great Oakley No parent listed

(IGI) Margarets Sprigg married Henry Tibbot 29 Oct 1585 Great Oakley

(IGI) Margaret Sprigg married Henry Dexter 25 Oct 1589 Cottingham

(IGI) Henrie Sprigg born ?1611? of Northampton No parent listed ( married Eliz Sargent 1632)

(IGI) John Sprigg married Jane Colliar 1613 Great Oakley

(IGI) William Sprigg christened 20 Apr 1614 Woodnewton, son of Symond Sprigg

(IGI) Elizabeth Sprigg married Robert Dexter 30 Jan 1616 Cottingham

(IGI) Rebecca Sprigg christened 17 Jan 1623 Weston by Welland, daughter of Henry Sprigg

(IGI) Alice Sprigg married James Ingeram 20 Jan 1626 Cottingham

(IGI) John Sprigg married Elizabeth Chapman 13 May 1626 Weston by Welland

(IGI) Anthony Sprigg married Anne Marson 14 May 1629 East Farndon

(IGI) Susanna Sprigg married Henry Plough 22 May 1630 Rothwell (parish next to Kettering)

(IGI) Ailce Sprigg married Robert Bate 2 Feb 1636 Castor

(IGI) Oliver Sprigg married Frances Vice 25 Jul 1636 Marston Trussle

(IGI) Anne Sprigg married William Ireland 22 Oct 1637 Kings Cliffe

(IGI) Grace Sprigg married Thomas Gardner 24 Jun 1639 Castor

(IGI) Catherine Sprigg married Thomas Gardner 20 Nov 1640 Easton on the Hill

(IGI) Isabel Sprigg married Robert Clark 23 Jun 1642 Tansor

Elkins, WV 4 May 1994

Dear Bill:

Enclosed are the materials we talked about on the Kittles and Waggoners. I should not ever quote history from memory, as I had the wrong petition, it was not the September 1776 petition that showed Abraham Kittle but the 1780 one (enclosed). Also, I had told you that he had to be in the Tygart Valley as the law required settlement before 1 Jan 1778 to get a land grant, but I have looked back at the land commission record and notice that Kittle's lands were certified as assignee of others, so he may not have arrived before 1780.

Also find enclosed the material on the Waggoner ("Wagner") family in Germany. I assert that the connection is proven and that the Waggoners and Fleshers are cousins. The snag is the listing of Wilhelm Wagner's wife as "Anna Elizabeth" in the 1749 baptism in Pennsylvania. But one must keep in mind that MISTAKES DO HAPPEN in church records, see HCJ Vol X #3 page 109 for a mention of a similar mistake in my family.

To understand the Wagner connection look at the enclosed family group sheet on the family of Andreas Fleischer of Ober-Seemen, Germany. Notice that the brother of Agnes Fleischer Wagner is Balser Fleischer. The baptism in PA that show Mrs. Wagner as Anna ELizabeth has Balser Fleischer as a sponsor. Also, they are adjacent in the ship list. Now look at the enclosed FGS on Wilhelm Wagner. Notice that the Germany documentation accounts for the older son Peter Wagner and for Mary (as "Anna Maria"). I would also point out that I studied the Ober-Seemen church record in detail and that Wilhelm and Agnes (Fleischer) Wagner drop out of the record over there the year your Wilhelm Wagner and Balser Fleischer show up on ship at Philadelphia.

I have been fortunate to have had a good deal of training and experience in German genealogy and that experience tells me that the Waggoner connection to Germany as detailed above is proven.

I still cannot find evidence of that first captivity or of the killing of Wilhelm Waggoner by Indians. If you ever find out where that came from I hope you will let me know.

If I can be of further assistance let me know.

Sincerely

Elkins, WV 29 Jun 1994 Dear Beverly Haas:

Thank you for your nice letter and positive comments about my Fleischer family article. I am enclosing some charts and materials that should explain themselves.

Yes, I had noticed the connection with the Wagner family and I feel I have also documented their roots in Germany.

However, in 1749 Wilhelm Wagner baptized a child at Philadelphia and Balser Fleischer was a witness. But the minister showed Wilhelm's wife as Anna Elizabeth. For this reason many Wagner researchers have concluded that Wilhelm had two wives, the first named Anna ELizabeth and the second Agmes. THIS IS AN ERROR. I have shown in my research into other families that sometimes ministers can make mistakes when listing names in church records, as one did for the wife on my ancestor Valentine Butcher. His wife was listed wrong in one church record. This is what has happened in the Wagner church record. WILHELM WAGNER ONLY HAD ONE WIFE - AND THAT WIFE WAS AGNES FLEISCHER OF OBER-SEEMEN, GERMANY. A close examination of the documentation in Germany and America leaves no room for any other conclusion.

Alas, it is difficult for some to change their minds once they have believed that a piece information is fact. It is nearly impossible to get an error corrected once it appears in print. For this reason some Wagner researchers will not accept my assignment of Agnes Fleischer as the mother of John Wagner, and this is a pity - for they are missing out on a genealogical breakthrough that could take them back an additional century and a half!

Your further comments are welcome. Thanks for writing. I am keeping my PO Box but for the time being please send future communications to the home address below:

Sincerely,

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