1. ANTON1 NEUHAUS was born 1660 in Germany, possibly the Kingdom of Prussia, and died Bef. 24 Aug 1756 in Trappe, Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Notes for ANTON NEUHAUS:
Whereas this report recognizes the difficulty in obtaining complete genealogical accuracy, the data herein does represent the best information we currently have available. Much of the information, however, does come from secondary sources and needs to be verified. We do welcome and encourage updates and corrections. And, please keep in mind, all this information is subject to change, correction and embellishment. We will be updating this report as more information becomes available.
The first couple generations of this family tree are theoretical. Records show that the individuals listed actually existed, but the relationships between them are based on circumstantial evidence. While the relationships described herein are still ripe for discussion and are not absolutely proven, they appear to be reasonable and plausible based upon known evidence. And parts of this argument now have stronger substantiation in DNA testing done on modern day Newhouse cousins.
For starters, the first premise of this tree is that an Anthon Neuhaus (1660-1756) and John Newhouse (?-1756), who both lived around Trappe, Pennsylvania, in the early 1700s, were most likely father and son. It seems certain at least that they knew each other, and were likely relatives. Possibly father-son or uncle-nephew, possibly brothers, or maybe cousins. And since it's clear that records show both men died in August 1756 in the same locality, it reasons that they may even have been the same person who was identified differently by two culturally different sources.
A record of the Augustus Evangelical Lutheran Church of Trappe, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which has been documented in the Pennsylvania German Church Records, Vol. 1, by Don Yoder, indicates a 96-year-old Anthon Neuhaus (1660-1756) was buried August 24, 1756 in Augustus ground.
The 1754 will of John Newhouse (?-1756) is the most significant clue as to John's family connections. It says he lived in Providence Township, which included the community known as Trappe, Pennsylvania, in what is now Montgomery County. This puts him in the same vicinity as Anthon Neuhaus at the same time. And Anthon's death date is certainly the same timeframe as the death date of John Newhouse, whose will was probated exactly a week after Anthon's burial on August 31, 1756.
John's will states that, as of 1754, he had already been married three times. The will indicates that the first three children born to him by his first two wives had already matured into adults and were no longer in his care. But yet his last two children born to him by his third wife were still at home and not yet on their own. One would logical think these circumstances would put John's age in 1754 at somewhere between 50 and 70 years old. Since it appears he still had dependent children in 1754, it's improbable that he was as old as Anthon, who was 94 at that time.
Consequently, this genealogy file is built on the speculation that this elderly Anthon Neuhaus (1660-1756) and the John Newhouse (?-1756) of the will are most likely father and son. In his will, John Newhouse identified his eldest son as Anton. It's certainly common to name the first born after the grandfather of the baby. Their common death date and location suggests Anthon and John died together, or nearly so. At the time, Anthon was so old that he was probably infirm and living with family members in their care. In this case, presumably living with or near John. Their death dates suggest they may have died as the result of a common disease or accident. And in the 1700s, diseases often took multiple members of households in quick succession.
Yet one could still make an argument that they could have been the same person, who would most likely have been named Johann Anthon Neuhaus at birth. At that time in our history, German sons were commonly all given the first name of Johann, followed by a middle name they used in everyday business and relationships. Whole families of sons were given the first name of Johann, with the middle name used in everyday conversation to distinguish one from the other. Consequently, it appears possible that it was a Johann Anthon Neuhaus who died in Trappe in August 1756. It would follow that his local German church recorded the death by his common German name Anthon Neuhaus, but when drafting his will a few years earlier, the English recorder in the Philadelphia courthouse used his first name Johann instead and Anglicized the spelling of his name to say John Newhouse. And it could be that John's last wife was a great deal younger than he was, and was also his caretaker in his old age.
It must be emphasized that these associations may be nothing more than false speculation, as there is no conclusive evidence to make either of these associations. It could very well be that Anthon Neuhaus (1660-1756) and John Newhouse (?-1756) were brothers, cousins or uncle and nephew rather than the father-son or the same person. They may even have been unrelated individuals who happened to die during the same week in the same community. But, given the facts at hand, the father-son relationship is deemed most likely and is used here within this family genealogy file.
The second basic premise of this lineage suggests that the most prominent premise of John Richey Newhouse's Newhouse Family History of 1914 was incorrect. In his book, John Richey Newhouse stated that Anthony Newhouse (1740-1780) was the father of the Loudoun County, Virginia, Newhouse family of the 1770s and thus the forbearer of all Newhouse descendants documented in that book. Instead, the argument here is that the original Loudoun County ancestor of all the Newhouse descendants mentioned in the Newhouse Family History of 1914 was not Anthony Newhouse (1740-1780) but actually a David Newhouse, who records show actually lived in Loudoun County at that time.
In John Newhouse's will, his oldest son, is named Antony. This makes John Newhouse most likely the father of Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63), who lived as an adult in Germantown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Given all the information in the will, it appears that John's oldest son Antony was at least 30 years old or older in 1754, at the time the John Newhouse will was recorded. And probably at least 35 or 40 years old in 1754. This would put Antony's birth at 1724 or earlier. Anthony Newhouse of Germantown (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) started his own family in 1743. But the actual birth date of the Anthony Newhouse of Germantown is unknown.
According to John Richey Newhouse's 1914 history of "The Newhouse Family", a resident of Loudoun County, Virginia, named Anthony Newhouse was born about 1740. At first glance, it does not seem likely that an Anthony Newhouse (1740-1780) of Loudoun County could be the same as John Newhouse's son Antony, but it's possible that they really were the same person, perhaps born somewhat earlier, like around 1730. However, other than John Richey Newhouse's genealogy, there is no direct evidence that anyone by the name of Anthony Newhouse lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, in the 1750-1780 timeframe. But there are records of a David Newhouse who paid taxes in Loudoun County, Virginia, during that time.
The evidence for a connection between the Loudoun County Newhouse, be it Anthony or David, and John Newhouse's son Antony, the Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown, lies first in the chance meeting of two Newhouse cousins in the 1820s in Indiana. One cousin is known to be a descendant of Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown, and the other cousin is known to be a descendant of the Loudoun County Newhouse family. Additionally, in early 2006, direct descendants of Anthony Newhouse of Germantown and direct descendants of the Loudoun County Newhouse family completed DNA testing of their Y chromosome markings to trace their paternal lineage. The Newhouse descendants on both sides matched sufficiently to prove their recent common ancestry -- a 71% likelihood within the last 8 generations and a near certainty within the last 12 generations or so. Given the documented evidence, it appears most likely that common ancestor would be seven generations back in the person of Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown.
The will of Mary Newhouse, the wife of Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown, does not mention an Anthony as a son, but it does mention a son named David, as well as three other sons named Jacob, Isaac and Jonathan. It appears likely then that this David Newhouse moved to Loudoun County, Virginia, and begot the Loudoun County Newhouse family and its subsequent lineage. There are no records in Pennsylvania showing a David Newhouse as an adult during David's adult years, but a David Newhouse did live and pay taxes in Loudoun County, Virginia, during that timeframe. There is also absolute proof that two of his brothers Isaac and Jonathan both did move to neighboring areas in Virginia and raise their families there. There are only records of a Jacob Newhouse still living in and around Philadelphia during the adult years of the Newhouse sons named Jacob, David, Isaac and Jonathan. This appears to indicate that the eldest son Jacob remained in Pennsylvania, probably to care for his mother and inherit the remains of his father's property, while the other sons David, Isaac and Jonathan all struck out on their own and moved to Virginia. And, it is believed here that this Loudoun County David Newhouse was most likely the son David born around 1745 to Anthony Newhouse of Germantown and his wife Mary.
As a result, this genealogy file follows the idea that David Newhouse of Loudoun County was born in Philadelphia around 1745 to Anthony and Mary Newhouse of Germantown, and as an adult, moved to Loudoun County, Virginia, where he fathered the Loudoun County Newhouse family in the 1770s.
There's one potential hitch in this theory. Anthony Newhouse of Germantown had a half brother named John Newhouse. He's mentioned in the will of his father John Newhouse (?-1756), who was discussed above. There are some records of a John Newhouse in the 1750s in the Bedford County area of Pennsylvania that may point to this half brother John Newhouse. There's a record of a letter from the papers of Colonel Bouquet from General John Forbes' 1758 British expedition across Pennsylvania to take what became Fort Pitt from the French that mentions John Newhouse: it happened that a John Newhouse rejoined the Forbes expedition in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after having deserted earlier. The letter appears to have been written from Fort Loudoun, Pennsylvania. A John Newhouse was also later reported as killed in action months later in October during the Forbes expedition.
Genetically, and in line with the DNA test results, it's just as likely that a John Newhouse such as this could be the father of David Newhouse of Loudoun County, Virginia, and thus the ancestor for the Loudoun County Newhouse family.
Or, possibly instead, this John Newhouse fathered a son named Anthony Newhouse (1740-1780), who moved to Loudoun County, had a family there from 1767-1777, and joined the Virginia State Navy during the Revolution and died in service just as stated in the John Richey Newhouse genealogy. There are no records of such, but after all, the Virginia Navy seaman Anthony Newhouse (1740-1780) obviously had parents and hometown roots somewhere. Most likely in Virginia. Even though there's no documented evidence of such, those roots could have been Loudoun County, Virginia, as well as any other location in Virginia.
If either one of these cases is true, that would make the most recent common ancestor for the Newhouse cousins, who recently had their DNA tested, John Newhouse (?-1756). He's the father of the papermaker Anthony Newhouse and his half-brother John Newhouse of Germantown, and that would be John Newhouse (?-1756) who wrote the will in 1754.
The lack of documented evidence for either a John Newhouse or Anthony Newhouse in Loudoun County, Virginia, may actually enhance this notion. At that time, Loudoun County, Virginia, was very remote country and very much the frontier. Certainly many undocumented families lived in this area at that time and there are no surviving records to prove or disprove their existence. But given the documented evidence that does exist, the John Newhouse possibility appears to be slim at best, and the possible connection between David Newhouse in the Philadelphia will of Mary Newhouse and the David Newhouse in Loudoun County appears to fit too well for simple coincidence. So this lineage sticks with the idea that the David Newhouse recorded in Loudoun County at that time was in fact born in Philadelphia to Anthony and Mary Newhouse and moved to Loudoun County, Virginia, where he fathered the Loudoun County Newhouse family in the 1770s.
The cousins who John Richey Newhouse stated that met in 1825 in Flat Rock, Indiana were Anthony Newhouse of a later generation (1772-1851) and a James Newhouse, a Baptist minister. The Newhouse Family History of 1914 indicates this was a minister named John Newhouse rather than James Newhouse, but James was the Baptist minister in Flat Rock at the time and James did have a brother named John who may have been in Flat Rock at the same time. This suggests some minor confusion of details in the story passed down from Anthony Newhouse (1772-1851) to John Richey Newhouse, the author of the Newhouse Family History of 1914. Upon meeting each other, Anthony Newhouse (1772-1851) and James Newhouse determined that they were in fact actually "full cousins".
At this vantage point in time, it seems most likely that the phrase "full cousins" means first cousins. If so, that necessarily makes Anthony Newhouse of Germantown the common grandfather of these full cousins, and would rule out the possibility that the Loudoun County Newhouses were instead grandchildren of the half brother of Anthony Newhouse of Germantown, which would have been the John already discussed. If this John Newhouse was David's father, that would make the 1825 Flat Rock, Indiana, meeting a meeting of 2nd cousins.
Restated, this lineage focuses on Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown, Pennsylvania, but also suggests that John Newhouse (?-1756) and the elderly Anthon Neuhaus (1660-1756) were the father and grandfather of Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown. Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown had four sons, one being David Newhouse, who went to Loudoun County, Virginia, and another being Isaac Newhouse, who begot James Newhouse, the Baptist minister, who went to Flat Rock, Indiana. This lineage states that David Newhouse fathered the family of four sons and one daughter Eura Newhouse in Loudoun County, Virginia. The four sons included the Anthony Newhouse (1772-1851) who met James Newhouse, the Baptist minister in Indiana. So the David Newhouse of Loudoun County, Virginia, begot the Newhouse lineage described in the "Newhouse Family History" of 1914.
Consequently, this lineage requires that the most prominent premise of John Richey Newhouse's Newhouse Family History of 1914 was incorrect and that Anthony Newhouse (1740-1780) was not the forbearer of all Newhouse descendants in his book. Instead, the original Loudoun County ancestor of all the Newhouse descendants mentioned in the Newhouse Family History of 1914 was actually a David Newhouse of Loudoun County. And, the name of Anthony Newhouse, passed down to John Richey Newhouse as the forbearer of the Newhouses mentioned in John's "Newhouse Family History" of 1912, was really a reference to David's father, Anthony Newhouse (b. 1700/1725 & d. 1762/63) of Germantown. It is assumed that over time, John Richey Newhouse confused the name of his great grandfather David Newhouse with that of his grandfather Anthony and that of his great, great grandfather, also named Anthony.
Given the basic premise stated here, it also follows that the Revolutionary War records of a Virginia seaman named Anthony Newhouse, who died in service of the Virginia State Navy in 1780, refers to an Anthony Newhouse that has no known connection to this family. And while there are no known records to support it, it may be that David Newhouse of Loudoun County, Virginia, also served in the Revolution. This idea is based on the assumption of an oral family tradition of a Revolutionary role by his great grandfather that led to the John Richey Newhouse contention that his great grandfather served in the Revolution. John Richey Newhouse presumed that the seaman Anthony Newhouse was his great grandfather, but his book did not provide any proof connecting the seaman Anthony Newhouse to Loudoun County, Virginia, and to the Newhouse family that descended from there.
A currently living cousin, Verne Frederick Newhouse has shared a copy of a letter dated July 15, 1912 that was sent to John Richey Newhouse by Verne's grandfather, John Lafayette Newhouse, who was an attorney at the time John Richey Newhouse published his final Newhouse Family History two years later in July of 1914. In the letter, it's clear there was no existing evidence tying the Virginia State Navy seaman Anthony Newhouse to the Loudoun County Newhouse family. John Lafayette Newhouse tells John Richey Newhouse that he's willing to go to Virginia to find proof that the seaman Anthony Newhouse was their common ancestor if some of his basic expenses were shared. There's no indication that John Lafaytte Newhouse ever made that trip nor any indication that such proof was ever found. Still, two years later, John Richey Newhouse published his family history and stated as fact the claimed connection to seaman Anthony Newhouse without providing any real substantiation in the published work. Unfortunately, the uncertainty expressed in this letter casts further doubt on the most basic premise in his book. However, that stated, the remainder of John Richey Newhouse's book accurately documented later Newhouse generations and has proven to be a reliable and valuable resource for all affected Newhouse descendants.
Additional notes: That Anthon Neuhaus came from a German culture is self evident in the spelling of his name. "Neuhaus" is German or Deutsch for "Newhouse". Anthon Neuhaus was buried on the grounds of a Lutheran church. The Lutheran faith at that time derived solely from a German speaking culture.
A check of records in early Germany via the Mormon Church's online genealogy search engine shows the name Antony Neuhaus, and variations of the name such as Antonius and Anton, to be very common in German states from 1650-1750. Additionally, these Antony Neuhaus variations seem to come predominantly from the Kingdom of Prussia within German speaking areas of Europe. A similar search of records in early England did not show a single Anthony Newhouse, or anything resembling Anthony for all the Newhouse records searched. So, John Richey Newhouse's assertion that this Newhouse family's roots lay in England appears to be incorrect. Possibly, though, the English roots suggested come for the undocumented maternal side.
More About ANTON NEUHAUS:
Burial: 24 Aug 1756, Trappe, Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Cause of Death: Unknown
Child of ANTON NEUHAUS is:
