The Richards family, as descended from Nicholas Richards, a coal miner who emigrated from England to Shamokin, Pennsylvania, is now entering its seventh generation in the United States. The members of the Richards family who are descendants of Nicholas’ grandson, William Henry Richards, have expanded across the United States from the Pennsylvania anthracite region.

Nicholas Richards was born between 1820 and 1830 in England, where both of his parents were also born. He married Sarah E., who was born in Pennsylvania between 1831 and 1836. Sarah’s parents were also born in Pennsylvania. The range of birth dates is due to inconsistent information in various census records

Nicholas and Sarah’s eldest known son James was born in 1855, so it is estimated that Nicholas immigrated sometime around 1850 and married Sarah shortly thereafter. The 1870 and 1880 U.S. censuses show Nicholas and Sarah living in Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and document that Nicholas was a coal miner. At the time of the 1880 census Nicholas had not worked during the previous year due to asthma. Shamokin cemetery records indicate that he died that same year and give the cause of his death as being miner’s consumption. Nicholas is buried in an unmarked grave in the Shamokin public cemetery.

Sarah remarried about 1885 to Philip Meyer, who was born in Germany in 1860 and became a naturarized citizen in 1880. At the time of the 1900 census they were living in Shamokin with Sarah’s youngest son, George E. That census indicated that Sarah had 14 children, 8 of whom were living in 1900.

From the 1870 and 1880 census records and Shamokin cemetery records we know something about ten children born to Nicholas and Sarah. Two of these ten children died in their first year of infancy. The children were:

James, born in 1855;

Herbert W., born in 1859;

Charles S., born in 1863;

William H., born in 1866;

Goben R., born in 1867;

Nicholas, born and died in 1870;

Dora, born in 1873;

John F., born in 1875;

An unnamed child, born and died in 1877;

George E., born in 1879.

Other than James, our knowledge of the sons and daughters of Nicholas and Sarah E. Richards is limited. We do not know of the four additional children refered to in the 1900 census. Since none other than George were living with Philip and Sarah Richards Meyer, it is likely they were all children of Nicholas, unless Sarah had been married more than twice. Unless one or more were older than James and had moved away before 1870, it would be assumed all had died in infancy and were not included in censuses.

Herbert W. Richards married Fredericka E. and lived until 1909. They appear in Shamokin in the 1900 census with a 17 year old daughter, Lottie. Fredericka was born in Pennsylvania and both of her parents were born in Germany. They had five other children, all of whom had died before 1900. Herbert is buried in the Shamokin cemetery. The cemetery records indicate that he died of tuberculosis. William H. Richards is also buried in the Shamokin cemetery, having died in 1941 of influenza/pneumonia. Two of the known children of Nicholas and Sarah Richards who died in infancy are also buried in the Shamokin cemetery.

Goben R. Richards married Emma, born in 1871, in 1888 and they had three children, John, Philip, and Mary. They were living at 29 S. 2^nd Street in Shamokin at the time of the 1900 census.

James Richards, the eldest child of Nicholas and Sarah E. Richards, married Ida Schlagel and was a coal miner in Shamokin. By the 1900 census, Ida was living at 428 North Chestnut Street in Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania. According to that census, Ida was a widow and six of James and her nine children were living. Four (William, George, Howard and Florence) were with her in the three story twin home which is still standing to this day. We know nothing of three of the children who passed away in infancy. Another child, Daniel, born in 1887, died of croup at the age of three, and was buried in the Shamokin cemetery, within his uncle Herbert W. Richards’ plot, in 1891. The fact that as many as six of Nicholas and Sarah’s children and four of James and Ida’s children passed away in early childhood is testament to the conditions and high infant mortality in the nineteenth century Pennsylvania coal mining regions.

There is some speculation within the Richards family, as relayed by Sheila Devine Larkin from her mother Violet Richards Devine (James and Ida’s granddaughter) that Ida was not widowed in 1900, but that James had left the family to pursue copper mining in Colorado. James had evidently done well in this venture and on his death had a significant estate to pass on to his heirs. His son William Henry, unable to reconcile with his father’s abandonment of the family, refused to accept any of this inheritance. In the 1900 census, James’ mother Sarah indicates that 8 of her children were still living. Unless one of the four unknown children of Nicholas and Sarah did not die in infancy as surmised, this would imply James was still living.

Whether due to James’ death, or his wanderlust, Ida Schlagel was left in her early forties to care for the family. She was certainly provided moral, if not financial, support by her brother Isaac. By 1910, he occupied 430 North Chestnut Street, the other half of the twin home, with his wife Maggie, five natural children, and an adopted son Raymond. We do not presently know any more of Ida’s and Isaac’s parents except that they were born in Pennsylvania.

Isaac Schlagel, the brother of Ida Schlagel Richards, was born in 1858 and worked as a teamster for the coal mining companies near Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania. His wife, Maggie, was born in 1842 and they had at least five children:

George, born in 1878;

William, born in 1883;

Ida, born in 1885;

Daniel, born in 1886;

Edna, born in 1896.

George worked as a laborer in the mines and William was a coal miner. In 1920 William was living at 203 South Walnut Street in Mt. Carmel.

The five children of James and Ida Schlagel Richards who grew to adulthood were:

Elizabeth, born in 1878;

William Henry, born in December 1879;

George, born in 1881;

Howard, born in 1883;

Florence, born in 1893.

Elizabeth married a Betz (possibly George) and had at least two children. William Henry had two wives, Minnie E. Yost and Abbie Garver, and it is the descendants of William and Minnie who constitute this particular line of the Richards family. George supposedly moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia. By 1920, Howard was renting the home at 428 North Chestnut Street in Mt. Carmel where he had grown up. Boarding with him as they worked in the mines was an uncle, John Minnick. Based on the family members whom we know, John Minnick would be married to Howard’s aunt Dora. Perhaps more likely is that John would be married to an unknown sister of Ida, as we do not know of any of James’ brothers and sisters moving from Shamokin to Mt. Carmel as Ida did. Other than these details, we know nothing more of the status of William Henry Richards’ brothers and sisters.

William Henry Richards, like his father, grandfather, and most of his male relatives, was a Pennsylvania anthracite coal miner. This area contains most of the world’s hard coal. The promise of economic prosperity brought an influx of people, from the rich owners, to the operators, miners, and laborers, along with all kinds of activity to support the mines. Ignoring geologists warnings about the inaccessibility and therefore marginal ability to mine most of the seams of coal, owners cut costs in safety, ventilation, and operating practices. Underground conditions were grim and dangerous. An excellent description of mining in the area, from the door boys and slatepickers, to the mine bosses and landowners, is given by Anthony F. C. Wallace in his book, St. Clair. An actual mine has been transformed into a museum in Ashland. These provide us with some idea of the lifestyle and conditions the first three generations of the Richards family in America had to live with on a daily basis.

Minnie E. Yost, the wife of William Henry Richards, was born in January 1885, the daughter of Daniel P. Yost and Dorothea Mader. The Yost family is a long-standing family in America, having immigrated from Germany in 1738. Minnie represents the sixth generation of the Yost family in America, and there are two additional generations that we know of in Germany. Caspar Jost, living from 1633-1711 is the earliest known ancestor of Minnie. The Yost family also holds an annual family picnic and much of their family history is documented and described in later chapters.

Minnie E. Yost’s mother, Dorothea Mader, was born in Blythe Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania on May 5, 1849, and married Daniel P. Yost (born July 2, 1848) in 1882. Her parents, Jacob and Catherine, were German immigrants who settled in Blythe Township. Jacob was a coal miner. In the 1860 census, two additional Mader widows, Dorothea, aged 60 and Rachel, aged 66, were living in nearby Tuscarora and might be relatives. When William Henry and Minnie E. Yost Richards married, they were living next door to her parents, and they were still renting nearby at the time of the 1920 census.

The ten children of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost form the focus of the Richards family as we present members of this line know it today. Although this generation did, for the most part, leave the Pennsylvania coal mining area, they maintained a sense of family unity, coming together at family events, during vacations, and at reunion picnics.

CHAPTER TWO - THE FAMILY TODAY

There are over 100 living descendants and their spouses of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost. They comprise the branch of the Richards family with which we are familiar. All ten of the children of William and Minnie married and had children. Fifteen of the twenty grandchildren of William and Minnie have had issue, and since the 1980's at least a dozen great-great-grandchildren have been born.

The eldest child of William Henry and Minnie E. Yost Richards was Violet, born the twelfth of November, 1907, in Tuscarora, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Known as Vi, she married Robert E. Devine (born April 18, 1911) on December 19, 1934, and lived in Lynwood, the Highland Park section of Chester, and Brookhaven, all in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Vi and Robert had two children, Robert Jr., born May 9, 1936, and Sheila Anne. Vi died on June 27, 1975, followed six years later by her husband on June 19, 1980. Vi and Robert Devine are both buried in the Mount Hope Church cemetery in Aston, Pennsylvania.

Robert Devine, Jr., grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, and attended St. James High School. He married Mary McGartland. After the birth of their first child, Mandy Marie, they moved to Maryland. Two additional children, Christine and Robert (III) were born in Maryland. Robert Devine, Jr., and Mary McGartland separated, and Robert moved to Washington, D.C. He died in Washington on September 1, 1995.

Each of Robert Devine, Jr., and Mary McGartland’s children married. Mandy Marie married Aubrey Edwards and they have two children, Angela Mary and Aubrey, Jr. Angela Mary Edwards is the first great-great-grandchild of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost. Christine Devine married Craig Dickson and has one child. Robert Devine, III, has married and his wife’s name is Diane.

Sheila Anne Devine married Peter Larkin, born October 8, 1939. Sheila is a registered nurse and, until his death on April 15, 1997, Peter was an oil refinery worker. Their two children are Tricia and Peter, Jr. Tricia has married twice, first to William Hobis, and following a divorce, to Dennis Schriver. Tricia and Dennis have three children, Stephen, Cali Elizabeth, and Demery Violet.

William Lester Richards was the second child of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost, born April 16, 1909, in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania. Known as Les, he was a teacher in the Haverford, Pennsylvania, school district, where he lived and was a member of the Masons. He married Amy Herr, who was born September 20, 1914, on June 4, 1938. Les and Amy had two daughters, Betty Ann and Jane. Les passed away on January 18, 1981, in West Goshen, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Amy Herr Richards died February 14, 1987.

Betty Ann Richards grew up in Haverford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Haverford High School. She has been married twice, having three sons from her first marriage. Betty Ann’s first husband was Irv Steiley. James Steiley was born to them has married and has a son, Aaron. Jeffrey Steiley was their second child. Steven Steiley was their third child, has a wife, Shannon, and a son, Kammeron. Betty Ann and Irv divorced, and she subsequently married John Wieand.

Jane Richards also grew up in Haverford and graduated from Haverford High School. Jane married Nick Liepold Jane works for a law firm and Nick for Verizon, Inc. They have three children, Janet, Thomas, and David John.

Ellsworth Daniel Richards was born on December 29, 1910, in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania, the third child of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost. Known as "Peck" to the family, he lived in Washington, D.C., and later in the Maryland suburb of Takoma Park. Peck had two wives, Marie Fox, born October 8, 1914, with whom he had three children, and after Marie’s death (May 13, 1973) he married Mickey Gilligan. Peck and Marie’s three children were all born in Washington, D.C., and were Ann Marie, born October 8, 1933; Jean Ellen, and Thomas. Peck worked in the Surgeon General’s office and enjoyed square dancing. He died on November 8, 1988, in Takoma Park.

Ann Marie Richards, known as Nancy, married Charles (Chuck) Richard White. Chuck was a corporate lawyer for General Motors. Chuck and Nancy lived in Michigan and had two children. Charles married Tina Dillon and have a son, Charles. Chuck and Nancy’s daughter is Jean Marie. Ann Marie was involved in a very serious automobile accident and spent the last several years of her life in a coma. She died in Michigan on August 8, 1996.

Jean Ellen Richards married John Dudley. They have three children, Robert John, Susan Marie, and Karen Ann. Robert John Dudley married Carol Emshwiller and they have three children, Preston John; Caylin Ann and Erin Nicole. Susan Marie Dudley married Michael Resutek and they have two children: Kristen Jean, and Lauren Marie. Karen Ann Dudley married Timothy Donohue and they have two children: John Ellsworth and Hannah Marie.

Thomas Richards has married twice. His first wife was Roberta Rossin of Stamford, Connecticut, who was born March 18, 1945. They had three children. Their children are Christopher Scott; Alyson Blake; and Lauren Fox. Tom graduated from George Washington University and works for KPMG Peat Marwick. He and Roberta divorced. She died in 1990. Tom has remarried, to Carol Nebel.

The fourth child of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost is Ronald Arlington Richards. Known as "Tut," he was born on May 10, 1913, in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania, and was a teacher, who graduated from Millersville State College. He married twice, first marrying Sarah Spots, born September 16, 1915, in Schuylkill County (died 1991). Tut and Sarah divorced and he then married Betty Marlino. Tut and Betty have one daughter, Barbara Ann. Barbara married Donald Marshall. Barbara and Don have had four children, Jesse, Cody, Chelsea, and Tucker. The Marshalls are all avid skiers.

Dorothea Ida Richards was William and Minnie Richards’ fifth child. Dot married Karl Ludwig Franck (born March 10, 1910). Dot was the only one of the ten children of William and Minnie to remain in the anthracite coal mining region of Pennsylvania where the first three generations of the Richards family in the United States had lived. Dot and Karl have one daughter, Karen Marie Franck. Karen married Donald Schaeffer. They havedivorced. Karen and Don have two children, Lori Ann and Ty Michael.

LeRoy Harrison Richards was born in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania, on November 11, 1915, the sixth child of William and Minnie Richards. LeRoy served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, in North Africa and Italy. Following the war he met Mildred Easley Richards, born September 18, 1923, in Crewe, Virginia, and they were married in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 1947. LeRoy and Mildred lived in Aston, Pennsylvania, where he was an autoworker, first for Ford Motor Company in Chester and later for White Motor Company in Exton, Pennsylvania. Mildred, a graduate of Madison College in Harrisonburg, Virginia, was the head dietician for Chester Hospital and later for the Penn-Delco School District. Mildred died of cancer on November 29, 1971. LeRoy died of complications from Parkinson’s Disease on February 3, 1997. Both are buried in the Glenwood Memorial Gardens, Broomall, Pennsylvania.

LeRoy and Mildred Richards had two sons, William Gregory and Daniel Keith. William graduated from Drexel University and worked for the City of Philadelphia Water Department and later for an environmental engineering consulting firm. While attending Drexel he met Denise Mary Colonna and they married. Denise worked for Campbell Soup Company in Camden, New Jersey, and the PNC Bank. Bill and Denise have two daughters, Nicole Marie and Melissa Kaye. Nicole graduated from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with a major in International Relations and Melissa from the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Information Science. LeRoy and Mildred’s son Daniel directs aquatic programs at swim clubs when he is not acting.

Between 1915 and 1917, William Henry Richards became a manager for a mining company and he and Minnie moved a short distance from Tuscarora to Kaska, Pennsylvania. Their four youngest children were born in Kaska. The first of these was Mildred Louise, born May 10, 1917. Mildred married Edward Shannon (born October 5, 1914) on February 14, 1942, and they lived in Chester, Pennsylvania, one block from her sister Violet. Edward died December 2, 1981, and Mildred passed away February 26, 1997. Both are buried in the Mount Hope Church cemetery in Aston, Pennsylvania. Mill and Ed had two children, Patricia, and Edward, Jr. Patricia Shannon married Carlo Milito and has two children, Brian Vincent and Carla. Edward Shannon, Jr., married Fran Fannin.

Lillian Sarah Richards is the eighth child of William and Minnie Richards, born in Kaska, Pennsylvania. She married George Unsworth, who worked as a contractor and was born on December 11, 1913, and they lived in Wheaton, Maryland. George died in 1990. Lill and George Unsworth have two children, George, Jr. and Sandra. George Unsworth, Jr., married Gail Everly. Sandra married Wayne Steinhilber.

The ninth child of William and Minnie Richards is Florence Elizabeth Richards, born in Kaska, Pennsylvania. Florence married twice, her first husband being Joseph Campbell, born April 2, 1918. Joseph and Florence had two children, Joseph N. A. Campbell and Cheryl. Joseph N. A. Campbell married Debi and they have three children, Joseph Michael, Elizabeth Louise, and Tyler Vincent. Cheryl Campbell married Donald McCoy. They have three children, Donald, Jr., Ryan Todd, and Kimberly Ann. Florence Elizabeth and Joseph Campbell divorced. She then married Mahlon "Red" Ames.

The youngest child of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost is Gladys Alma. Gladys married Oliver T. Reep, born on July 20, 1923. Gladys and Oliver had three children, Wayne, Linda, and Donna. Gladys and Oliver divorced, and he died on May 28, 1982. Wayne Reep has not married. Linda Reep married Nick Garufi. Nick died shortly after their son Anthony James was born. Donna Reep married Gary Fischer and they have three children, twins Kyle and Eric, and Alyssa.

CHAPTER THREE - THE JOST GERMAN ANCESTRY

Minnie E. Yost was the mother of the ten brothers and sisters who make up the Richards family from whom we are descended. Minnie married William Henry Richards in Schuylkill County in 1907. Her ancestors were a German family who left the Palatinate in the Rhine Valley in Germany and came to Pennsylvania in 1738.

Minnie was born in Schuylkill County (probably Tuscarora Village) in January, 1885. She was the second of five children of Daniel P. Yost, born July 2, 1848, and a coal miner and laborer in Tuscarora, and Dorothea Mader, who was born May 5, 1849, in Blythe Township. Her older brother Joseph, born in April 1883, was the minister for the Reformed Church in Tuscarora. Her younger brothers were John Harrison (born December 1888), Roy H. (born May 1891), and Oliver J. (born June 1893). Her brother John Harrison did not marry. Joe married a Brown. Roy married Marguerite Faust (born 1898) and their three children were Arlen (born 1919), Ernest R., and Lois. Ernest R. Yost married Helen and they had five children, Priscilla, Daniel E., John H., Phillip R., and Peter W. Minnie’s brother Oliver had three children, Oliver, Jr., born in 1924, Joy, born in 1928, and Phyllis, who married an Anchorstar.

William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost lived close to her parents in Tuscarora after they married. In the 1920 census the two families were separated by only a few entries. Minnie and William were enumerated with their nine oldest children. The five oldest had been attending school that year. Nearby, Minnie’s father Daniel was enumerated with his sister Sarah, and sons John Harrison, Roy, and Oliver. Roy’s wife Marguerite and oldest child, Arlen, were also living with Daniel. Minnie’s mother, Dorothea, passed away on June 12, 1912. Her father lived until March 12, 1923.

In 1988 the Yost family held a reunion picnic to celebrate the 250th anniversary of their arrival in America. Minnie’s brother Oliver was in attendance at the age of 95, accompanied by his daughter, Phyllis Anchorstar. Much of the family’s early ancestry was described by Israel A. S. Yost, the family genealogist. Over at least two decades, Israel compiled information and located sources on the Yost family, both in America and in Germany. The Yost family continues to hold an annual family picnic reunion.

Hans Peter Jost (the name was to be Anglicized to Yost by his grandchildren’s generation) made the trip to colonial America in 1738 with his wife, son, step-daughter, and her husband. This group arrived in Philadelphia on September ninth on the English ship "Glasgow", which sailed out of Rotterdam, Holland. They probably traveled down the Rhine from the German Palatinate in the spring of that year to make a summer crossing, a common practice of many emigrating Germans at that time. The family settled in Upper Frederick Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Hans Peter had been born in Mambachel, Germany, in 1683. He married Anna Rosina Haus Muller, the widow of Hans Adam Muller, on February 29, 1720. She had a daughter from her first marriage named Margaretha Barbara, who married William Mumbauer. Hans Peter and Anna Rosina had a son, Johannes, who was born in Mambachel in May 21, 1721, and christened seven days later.

Through the efforts of Israel A. S. Yost, we have learned of the two Jost generations preceding Hans Peter Jost in Germany. Hans Peter’s father was Hans Nickel Jost, who lived in Baumholder, Germany, part of the Rhineland Palatinate. Hans Peter’s mother was Maria Margretha Kirsch Jost, daughter of Johannes Kirsch, a censor in Berschweiler, Germany. Hans Nickel and Maria Margretha were married March 21, 1683. From those marriage records it is known that Hans Nickel Jost’s father is Caspar Jost, a burger (district official) in the Rhineland-Pfalz area of Germany. Caspar was 78 years old at his death, and was buried on January 15, 1711, indicating he was born in 1633.

From the information obtained by Israel Yost about the family in Germany, we may make some educated speculation on the living conditions and background of the Yosts. As burgers and censors, Caspar Jost and Johannes Kirsch were definitely free citizens at the time many Germans remained serfs. By arriving in America in September, Hans Peter and his family traveled at the time most favorable to the Atlantic passage. They joined one of the growing German Reform congregations sponsored by the Reverend George Weiss, who encouraged German immigration to Pennsylvania. From this it may be reasoned that the Jost family was more educated and well-off than the average German Rhinelanders, although they were far from upper class.

The names of family members also raises speculation as to where Caspar may have originated. Jost is both a German and a Swiss name. There were many Swiss Josts who repopulated the Rhineland following the devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The male forenames of Hans and Johan (which shows up in following generations) and the female forenames of Maria and Anna were used frequently, and served almost as titles. The second names in such cases were the names that differentiated individuals. Furthermore Hans and Maria are Swiss tradition, while Johan and Anna were German. This mixture in the Jost family has led to consideration of the possibility that Caspar Jost may have originated in Switzerland and moved to Germany following the Thirty Years War.

Hans Nickel Jost was Caspar’s only known son. Hans Nickel’s first wife, Maria Margretha died following childbirth difficulties shortly after the baptism of she and their third child, Abraham. The baptism was on February 18, 1867, Abraham was buried on February 20, and her burial was on February 23. Hans Nickel married Anna Margretha Mumbauer on June twentieth of that same year. Her father was Peter Mumbauer. The children of Hans Nickel Jost by his two wives are:

by Maria Margretha Kirsch,

Hans Peter, born 1662;

Anna Margretha, baptized November 28, 1683;

Abraham (see dates above);

by Anna Margretha Mumbauer,

Hans Caspar, baptized December 26, 1688;

Hans Wilhelm, baptized April 28, 1690, buried

March 28, 1697;

Hans Caspar, baptized March 5, 1692;

Johan Abraham, baptized December 20, 1693,

buried February 5, 1694;

Johannes, baptized November 28, 1694;

Anna Catherina, baptized June 17, 1696; Anna Margretha, baptized September 25, 1698;

Johan Jacob, baptized August 31, 1800.

Note that child mortality was high and the re-naming of children with the names of earlier siblings who died was a common practice.

Let us return to the five Josts traveling to America (Hans Peter, his wife Anna Rosina, his son Johannes, his step-daughter Margretha Barbara, and her husband Wilhelm Mumbauer). It appears that Peter knew what to expect when he planned to leave for America. Many Rhinelanders had been emigrating and sending favorable reports back to their homeland. Church leaders sponsored members of congregations to move to a land with more religious freedom and toleration. The Jost group had to proceed 250 miles to Rotterdam, Holland, timing the trip so as to arrive in Rotterdam in June and cross the Atlantic during the favorable summer weather. In the Dutch port they embarked upon the "Glasgow", a merchant ship with William Stirling as captain. Since this was an English ship, it was required to put into an English port before going to the colonies, and did so at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

The "Glasgow" arrived in Philadelphia on September 9, 1738. At that time all male immigrants 16 years and older had to sign a list repudiating allegiance to all other rulers other than the British sovereign, and specifically decline allegiance to the Pope (religious toleration only went so far). Two such lists existed for this crossing, as well as Captain Stirling’s list of transported adult males. Johannes, Peter, and Wilhelm are on all three, however Peter’s signature appears different on the two "allegiance" lists. Perhaps a clerk recorded his name on one. Captain Stirling recorded the last names of Peter and Johannes as "Joost".

Peter, Johannes, and the Mumbauers settled in Upper Frederick Township, Montgomery (then Philadelphia) County, Pennsylvania. Wilhelm’s will was executed there in 1750, with Johannes Jost as a witness, so we know the families had been established at this location by that time. In 1749 Johannes married Maria Elizabeth Schneider, who went by the name of "Creth". Five members of the Schneider family (Jacob, Sarah, Creth, Susannah, and Veronica) took first communion at the Old Goshenhoppen Church at the same time. It may be that Jacob and Sarah are the parents, listed first, or that all five are siblings.

The Old Goshenhoppen Church in Upper Salford Township in upper Montgomery County is still an active church. The Josts were members of this church and in 1758 Johannes was the first head of household listed among members. Johannes was naturalized (we assume as a British citizen) in 1761. By 1765 he was a deacon of the Falkner Swamp Reformed congregation. That church is also still in existence, on Swamp Pike just south of Route 663. Many members of the Schneider family are buried there. Johannes’ farm fronted on what is now known as Yost Road in Upper Frederick Township, just south of the township line near Snyder Road. He was a constable in 1767 and 1792, and an overseer of township highways in 1757 and 1770. His property was assessed at 3600 pounds in 1778, and his assets were valued at 440 pounds at his death in 1811. He was outlived by his wife, Creth.

Johannes and Creth Jost had eight children. They are:

It is this generation of the family that adopted the Anglicized version of the family name, Yost.

Johannes Yost, the eldest son of Johannes and Creth Jost, married Benigna Dotterer in 1779. Benigna was a granddaughter of Henry and Christina Antes, an important family in Frederick Township. Benigna’s mother was Elizabeth Antes, Henry and Christina’s daughter, who had married George Phillip Dotterer. Johannes was baptized as an adult on April 9, 1770, in the Old Goshenhoppen Church. He was a Revolutionary War veteran commissioned as a second lieutenant on May 12, 1777, in the sixth battalion of the Philadelphia County militia. Johannes is enumerated as a head of household in Montgomery County in both the 1790 and 1800 censuses. In 1790 he had two sons and one daughter under the age of 16. In 1800 he had one son over 16, one son under 10, two daughters between 10-16, and three daughters under 10.

Three of the sons of Johannes and Creth Jost married daughters of Conrad and Anna Margaretta Schellenberger Hillegas. Christina Yost married Jacob Schellenberger, who was an uncle to these Hillegas girls. Life in those days was centered on circles close to home and within community and church congregations. Four German Reformed congregations in upper Montgomery County were the Old Goshenhoppen Church in Upper Salford, the New Goshenhoppen Church in Upper Hanover, the Falkner Swamp in New Hanover, and the Indian Creek Church in Franconia. Marriages between families in these congregations was common.

The first Yost-Hillegas pairing occurred when Johan Peter Yost married Eva Hillegas, the eldest child of Conrad Hillegas and Anna Margaretta Schellenberger. They had at least five children, four of whom we know by name:

Johan Peter appears in Montgomery County as a head of household in both the 1790 and 1800 censuses, and according to the latter census would have another son in addition to John, who was born earlier than 1790. Johan Peter served both in the Continental Army during the Revolution, and in the War of 1812. He was also an ensign in the local militia. He evidently helped to care for his father during the last 9 years of Johannes’ life.

The second of the Yost-Hillegas marriages was Daniel Yost and Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas, on February 7, 1786. This is our family line so it will be discussed in the next chapter in more detail.

The third Yost-Hillegas marriage occurred on May 17, 1789, when Johan Adam Yost married Susanna Hillegas, the sixth child of Conrad Hillegas and Anna Margaretha Schellenberger. Susanna was born May 3, 1771, in Montgomery County. Adam was listed as a head of household living in Montgomery County in 1800, and was the first of the Yost clan to leave that County, moving in 1804 to McKeansburg, Berks (now Schuylkill) County. He was followed two years later by his brother Daniel and the two Yost-Hillegas families remained close all of their lives.

When the Yosts moved into the McKeansburg area, two established German Reformed churches attracted them and each brother apparently joined the one closest to him. Adam joined the Red Church, south of Orwigsburg, and Daniel the Friedens Church, north of McKeansburg. The baptisms of Adam and Susanna’s four children born after moving to McKeansburg are recorded at the Red Church. Later Adam and Daniel joined others in establishing an English-speaking school (they favored their children using the predominant language of their country) in McKeansburg and eventually a new church and congregation, Christ Church.

Adam and Susanna Hillegas Yost had at least eight children, four born in Montgomery County and four in Berks/Schuylkill (Schuylkill County was formed in 1811) County. We know of descendants from four of these children, Mary Margaret, Conrad, Samuel, and Adam. One descendant of Conrad, a great-great grandson named David Donmoyer, is a pharmacist living in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Following discussions at the 1988 reunion picnic, David determined that the patriarch of the Richards family, Nicholas Richards, was buried in the Shamokin cemetery.

Christina Yost, daughter of Johannes Jost and Creth Schneider, and sister of the three Yost brothers who married Hillegas sisters, married Jacob Schellenberger. The mother of the Hillegas sisters was Anna Margaretta Schellenberger, and Jacob was her brother. So he was the uncle of the Hillegas girls.

The youngest child of Johannes Jost and Creth Schneider was Johan Jacob Yost. He married Hannah Schwarzlender and in the 1800 census is listed as a head of household in Montgomery County with two elderly individuals living with them. This may indicate that his parents were living with them.

CHAPTER FOUR - JUDGE DANIEL YOST’S FAMILY

Daniel Yost, the fifth child of Johannes Jost and Marie Elizabeth Schneider, is one of the most notable members of the Yost family. Daniel made a career of public service, serving 25 years as a judge. As a youth, he served in the militia and took part in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. He moved his family from Montgomery County to what is now Schuylkill County, following his brother Adam by two years. He was a strong advocate of German Americans learning English as their primary language. He broke with his church congregation over this issue and helped in establishing Christ Church in McKeansburg. He was one of three Yost brothers who married three Hillegas sisters. Most of the Yost family of which we know of today is descended from Daniel. Some of his papers and correspondence are preserved in the Schuylkill County Historical Society in Pottsville.

Born on October 14, 1749 in upper Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Daniel married Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas (born January 8, 1767) on February 7, 1786. They lived on Hoppenville Road, just north of Green Lane in Marlborough Township and were members of the Old Goshenhoppen Church. Daniel was a member of the Pennsylvania militia when, in 1794, one of the first challenges to the authority of the new United States federal government occurred. An insurrection began in southwestern Pennsylvania over a tax imposed on distilled spirits. President George Washington called for the militia to bring this rebellion to a close. Several pages from Daniel’s notebook describe his travel as a member of the militia from his home during the first half of 1794. (As of 1988 these notes were in the possession of Calvin D. Yost, Jr.,a great-great-grandson of Daniel) The show of force of the militia was enough to end the insurrection, now known as the Whiskey Rebellion.

Daniel Yost was appointed on March 27, 1797, to be a Justice of the Peace for the Townships of Upper Hanover, Marlborough, and Upper Salford Townships in Montgomery County. In a 1795 assessment he owned 180 acres with one dwelling, two horses, and three cows. He appears enumerated in both the 1790 and 1800 censuses in Montgomery County.

Daniel and Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas Yost had ten children:

In 1806 the family moved to McKeansburg, Berks (now Schuylkill) County and Daniel built the third structure in the village, a large building later converted into a shoe factory. Therefore Benjamin was born after the move, Joseph may have been, but the other children were all born in Montgomery County. The Yost family joined the Friedens Union Church, near the present town of New Ringgold. Daniel frequently performed audits of the financial accounts of this joined Lutheran and Reformed congregation. In 1809 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for this area, a position he had also held in Montgomery County. At the time of the 1810 census, Daniel, Elizabeth Barbara, and the seven youngest children were living in Brunswick Township, Berks County.

On March 18, 1811, the present Schuylkill County was created from portions of Berks and Northampton Counties. The Yost’s home was within the new County. A judge and two associate judges were appointed for the County at the time of its creation. Daniel was appointed to one of the associate positions and served as a judge for the next 25 years. He resigned his position on December 29, 1836.

Daniel Yost was an advocate of the use of English by the Pennsylvania Germans, particularly in the schools supported by the local churches (there were no public schools as yet). When the members of the Friedens Church refused to replace German with English in their school, Daniel and others began planning for an English school. In 1813 Balthazar Bock, the father of two of Daniel’s sons-in-law, donated land in McKeansburg for a church and school with the proviso that English was used in the school. 105 people contributed to the school building and Daniel was elected as one of five trustees. Those who initiated the English school in McKeansburg remained members of the Friedens Church until 1828 when the Christ Church was organized in McKeansburg.

Judge Daniel Yost, his sons Daniel, Jr., and Jonathan, and his sons-in-law Daniel Bock, Andrew Bock, John Heiser, and George Heiser, are all enumerated as heads of household in Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, at the time of the 1820 census. Judge Yost was evidently a Whig by politics, supporting the re-election of President John Quincy Adams in 1828. In the 1830 census, Judge Yost and Elizabeth Barbara are living in Orwigsburg, with their son John next to them, Joseph nearby, and one of William or Benjamin still at home. Judge Daniel Yost died on November 2, 1839, and his wife Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas Yost died February 8, 1847. Both are buried in the Christ Church cemetery in McKeansburg, their tombstones printed in German.

Maria Elizabeth Yost, the eldest child of Daniel and Elizabeth Hillegas Yost, married Daniel Bock, a son of Balthazar Bock and Susanna Margretha Bolich. Maria Elizabeth’s sister Barbara also married a Bock, Daniel’s brother Andrew (born in 1792). Barbara was Andrew’s second wife. Many of the Bock descendants have remained in the McKeansburg-Orwigsburg area, and others have moved to Missouri, Kansas and California.

The second and third daughters of Judge Daniel Yost also married brothers. Anna Maria married George Heiser and Catherine married John Heiser. George and Anna Maria were living in Orwigburg in 1810. At the time of the 1820 census, the two Bock-Yost families and the two Heiser-Yost families were all residing in Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County. George and Anna Maria lived in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1829. Both Heiser-Yost families appear in Schuylkill County in the 1840 census. In the 1860 census, John and Catherine Heiser are enumerated, both aged in their 70's. Both Heiser families have descendants.

Daniel Yost, Jr., the eldest son of Judge Daniel Yost, married Susanna Rothermel, who lived from October 12, 1799, to June 6, 1871. Daniel, Jr., held tavern licenses in the years 1820, 21, 25, 26, and 27. He was on a committee of correspondence to re-elect John Quincy Adams as President in 1828. He may have been a postmaster in McKeansburg in the 1830's. Daniel, Jr., and Susanna are buried in the Schuylkill Haven cemetery. They did have children.

The fifth child of Judge Yost and Elizabeth Barbara was Jonathan Yost. By far, the greatest number of Yost descendants known to us today are descendants of Jonathan and his wife Mary Kleckner. These descendants include Calvin D. Yost and Israel A. S. Yost, now both deceased, who did most of the genealogy of the Yost family. Family accounts indicate that Jonathan learned blacksmithing, but became a farmer. His homestead is only a short distance from the present Smith’s Country Inn on the road to Hecla, near McKeansburg. In 1819 he married Mary (born March 10, 1800), a daughter of Andrew Kleckner. Jonathan was a deacon of Christ Church, McKeansburg. Jonathan is enumerated in the 1860 census living in East Brunswick township, Schuylkill County. Jonathan died January 17, 1865, and Mary died on October 5, 1878. Both are buried in the Christ Church cemetery.

William Yost, a son of Judge Daniel Yost, married Elizabeth Maltz. The 1840 census places them in East Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, with children. They were members of the Red Church (the same one that William’s uncle Johan Adam had joined in 1804) and at least one child’s baptism is recorded there.

Judge Daniel and Elizabeth Barbara Yost’s son Joseph was confirmed in 1821 at the Friedens Church and later married Rebecca Miller (born 1809). They had children. The 1830 census places them in Brunswick Township (Schuylkill Co.) and the 1840 census in West Brunswick Township. In 1850, Joseph is enumerated next to his brother John and his wife Elizabeth, and Joseph is employed as a hotel keeper. In the 1860 census, Joseph is listed with Charles Blew, an innkeeper.

Benjamin Yost was the youngest child of Judge Daniel Yost and Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas. He married Mary Stamm who was born in 1816. They had several children and appear in every census between 1840 and 1870 living in either Schuylkill Township, or East Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County. Benjamin was a hotel keeper. He died on June 14, 1887, and Mary passed away November 23, 1875. One of their children, Benjamin Franklin, played an unwilling role in the history of the Molly Maguires, a group of Irish militants in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal mining area. Benjamin’s story enlightens us on some of the violence and living conditions of those times.

Benjamin Franklin Yost, grandson of Judge Daniel Yost, married Henrietta Boyer, daughter of Joshua Boyer, and had two sons. He had been a Union soldier during the Civil War, serving in Company I of the 48th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. He enlisted in both 1861 and 1864. Following the War he became a policeman in the Borough of Tamaqua. It was as a Tamaqua policeman that he would meet a violent death, and the investigation and trial of his murder would be key in the downfall of the Irish secret society, the Molly Maguires.

The story is taken from Wayne G. Broehl, Jr.’s book, The Molly Maguires. On the night of July 5, 1875, Tamaqua was still stirring from the Independence Day celebration, the day before. Many people, including several visitors, were in the streets. Tamaqua had two policemen, Benjamin F. Yost and Barney McCarron. Benjamin had experienced considerable trouble with a James Kerrigan, an unemployed Irish miner, and the Tamaqua leader of the Molly Maguires. Yost had arrested Kerrigan for drunkenness several times, and had at least once used his club to subdue Kerrigan.

It was the duty of the two policemen to extinguish the town’s gas street lamps while on evening patrol. On the evening of July fifth, they looked in at Carroll’s tavern, and then at the hotel, where Kerrigan provided them a drink. The last gas light they were to put out was the one in front of Yost’s house. While doing so, Benjamin was downed by two shots. McCarron emptied his own pistol chasing two assailants, who escaped.

As he passed in and out of consciousness during the evening, Yost and McCarron confirmed the assailants were two strangers they had seen at the tavern before their drink with Kerrigan. Kerrigan did not carry out the murder. Seven hours after the shooting, Benjamin Franklin Yost died.

The killing brought a wave of indignation over all of Schuylkill County. This was a respected officer of the law who had been gunned down. The funeral at the Odd Fellow’s cemetery at the end of town was attended by a huge number of people and most were of the opinion expressed by the newspaper’s (Miner’s Journal) editor that the assassins should be "remorselessly hunted down." Despite the indignation, the town fathers would not provide a headstone and the grave remains unmarked to this day.

A committee formed to track down those responsible for the killing approached the Pinkerton detective agency. This agency had already been employed by many of the mine owners and had infiltrated the Molly Maguires with an Irish operative, James McParlan, going under the name of Jim McKenna. McParlan learned from within the organization what had actually happened.

Benjamin F. Yost had been involved the previous winter in two incidents involving Kerrigan and another Molly Maguire, Thomas Duffy. A drunken Duffy had threatened Yost before Kerrigan drug him out of harm’s way. A few days later, again drunk, Duffy got into a fight in the street with another Irishman by the name of Flynn. Kerrigan was again with Duffy. The two policemen, Yost and McCarron, came by and Duffy went for Benjamin. The two policemen beat up Duffy in subduing him, and threw him in jail. Kerrigan was knifed by Flynn, later claiming McCarron was holding him when it happened. Kerrigan and Duffy later offered the Coaldale Molly Maguires ten dollars to do away with Yost. This task was carried out by Hugh McGehan and James Boyle in trade for the Tamaqua Mollies murdering a Lansford mine boss, named Jones. Kerrigan planned the deed, choosing the spot, detaining Yost with a drink, and planning the escape route. The Pinkerton agent reported all of this by July seventeenth, only 12 days after the murder.

The trial for the Jones murder occurred first, ending in February in a conviction. Following that, Kerrigan turned informant, trying to place most of the blame on Duffy, McGehan, and Boyle in order to avoid hanging. Kerrigan was granted immunity for his testimony that corroborated McParlan’s. He also implicated Carroll, the tavern owner, and James Roarity, the Coaldale Mollie with whom he arranged the trade.

The first Yost murder trial began on May 4, 1876. For it James McParlan came out of hiding to present his testimony. The defense tried to discredit McParlan and Kerrigan as professional and professed informers, respectively. Even Kerrigan’s wife and family pointed to him as the murderer and turncoat to help the defendants. The case was heavily reported in the newspapers and would today come under criticism as being tried in the press. In the end, this first case was suspended, as a juror became ill and died. Although the case would have to be re-tried, it was this first case that brought the details to light and broke the back of the Molly Maguires as an organization.

In the second round of trials, Duffy was granted a trial separate from the other four. Kerrigan’s wife did not testify for the defense and eventually reconciled with her husband. All five defendants were convicted, the first four on July 24, 1876, and Duffy on September nineteenth. All five were hung on the same day in 1877.

CHAPTER FIVE - JOHN YOST AND DESCENDANTS

The seventh child of Judge Daniel Yost and the grandfather of Minnie E. Yost was John Yost. Thus all of the Richards family today are descended from this line. John was born on August 14, 1800, in upper Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He moved with his family to Berks County in 1806, and that area became part of the newly created Schuylkill County in 1811. John was a shoemaker and he married Elizabeth Williams, who according to the 1840 census, could not read or write. They had eight children, the eldest being a daughter who’s name we do not know. The remaining children were:

John and Elizabeth are enumerated in the 1830 census living in Orwigsburg next to his father Daniel Yost. Living nearby was a widow aged 40-50, also named Elizabeth Williams, who may be Elizabeth’s mother or a relative. At this time John and Elizabeth had a female child under five years of age (who’s name is unknown) and had a 10-15 year old male youth boarding with them.

By the 1840 census, John, Elizabeth, and the family had moved to Schuylkill Township, where our Yost ancestors were to remain until the children of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost started to move away. At this time the census indicates 3 males and 5 females in the household, consistent with what we know. In 1850 the family is again in Schuylkill Township, two entries away from the hotel run by John’s brother Joseph. By this time, the eldest daughter has left the household, presumably having married.

The 1860 and 1870 census enumerates the family in Tuscarora Village, Schuylkill Township. Since the 1840 and 1850 censuses do not indicate where within Schuylkill Township the family lived, they may have been in Tuscarora from the start. Four generations of the Yost-Richards family therefore lived in Tuscarora, from John, to Daniel P., to Minnie E., to the first six Richards children before William Henry and Minnie E. Yost Richards moved a few miles west to Kaska (in Blythe Township). By the 1870 census, only Sarah, Abraham, and Daniel P. are still at home, although Nathaniel and his family are living next door. Sarah is working as a seamstress, Abraham and Daniel are working as coal miners. John’s personal estate is valued at $500.00 according to the census.

Because of inconsistent information in censuses, we cannot be sure of Elizabeth’s year of birth, but it would be between 1807 and 1810. We do not know when John and Elizabeth passed away (although it must be after 1870) nor where they are buried.

Nathaniel Yost, a son of John and Elizabeth Williams Yost, was married to Dianna (born 1836). Nathaniel was a plasterer living next door to his parents in 1870 and was a store manager in Schuylkill Township in 1870. They had at least four children:

Abraham Yost, another son of John and Elizabeth Yost, married Catharine (Katie) Gimbi. They had three children:

Roy C. Yost married Marion R. Wehr. Their children were Dorothy (married Monroe Miller), Roxie (married Daniel O’Leary), Glenn, and Ihaon.

We do not know of any marriages or descendants of Brietta, Joseph, Anna or Sarah Yost.

Daniel P. Yost was the youngest child of John and Elizabeth Williams Yost. Daniel married Dorothea Mader, the daughter of Jacob and Catherine Mader. The Mader’s settled in Blythe Township (just west of Schuylkill Township) after emigrating from Germany. Daniel worked as a coal miner and as a laborer, and he and Dorothea were living in Tuscarora in 1900 and 1910. Daniel was a widower by 1920. Daniel P. and Dorothea Mader Yost’s children were:

The eldest son of Daniel P. and Dorothea Mader Yost was Joseph, and he married a Brown. They had no children. Joseph was an agent selling soap and patent medicines in 1880, and later was a minister for the Reformed Church in Tuscarora. The second son, John Harrison, was a bachelor and a school principal in Schuylkill Township.

The third son of Daniel and Dorothea was Roy H. Yost. Roy married Marguerite Faust and they had three children, Arlen, Ernest, and Lois. Ernest married, his wife’s name was Helen, and they had five children:

Oliver J. Yost was the youngest child of Daniel P. and Dorothea Mader Yost. He had three children, Oliver, Jr., born in 1924, Joy, born in 1928, and Phyllis, who married an Anchorstar. Phyllis Anchorstar accompanied her father, Oliver J. Yost, who was then in his 90's, to the Yost 250th anniversary picnic in 1988.

The only daughter of Daniel P. and Dorothea Yost was Minnie E. Yost, who married William Henry Richards. Their family was described in Chapter 2.

CHAPTER SIX - THE HILLEGAS CONNECTION

The third significant ancestral branch of the Richards-Yost family is the Hillegas family. The members of the Hillegas branch are the ancestors of Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas, who was the great-grandmother of Minnie E. Yost and the wife of Judge Daniel Yost. Elizabeth Barbara was born in 1767 and died in 1847. Our knowledge of her ancestors include three generations of the Hillegas family and two of the Schellenberger family.

The earliest known Hillegas ancestor is Peter Hillegas, a citizen and wagonmaker of Sinsheim, Germany. Records from that town indicate that on September 7, 1708, Anna Regina, the wife of Peter Hillegas, died at the age of 55. They also indicate that on October 12, 1719, Peter Hillegas died at the age of 70.

The Eppingen Reformed Church records in Germany show that Johan Frederick Hillegas, wagonmaker and son of Peter Hillegas, was married on August 28, 1712, to Elizabeth Barbara Triegel, daughter of George Triegel, a citizen of Eppingen. The Sinsheim Reformed Church records indicate that Hans Frederick Hillegas was confirmed on April 19, 1699 at the age of fourteen. With the relative ease of use in the family of the surnames Hans and Johan, we assume that both of these records refer to our ancestor, who we know as John Frederick Hillegas.

John Frederick Hillegas (1686-1765) and his wife Elizabeth Barbara (-1759), and John Frederick’s sister (name unknown), arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "William and Sarah" from Rotterdam, by way of Dover, England, on September 18, 1727. This was the very first ship where passengers to Pennsylvania were required to sign an oath of allegiance to the King of England. Captain William Hill recorded John Frederick as responsible for 4 ½ souls. Since children were considered as ½, this 4 ½ could mean John Frederick with his wife, his sister, and three of their six children born before 1727. The three children would be Frederick, Eva Elizabeth, and Anna Margaret, since Leopold and John Adam both emigrated individually, after the rest of their family, and since Johan Martin died young. A Jacob Jost was also on this ship, and he returned to Germany, but his relationship, if any, to either the Hillegas or Yost family is unknown.

John Frederick Hillegas had two brothers who proceeded him to Pennsylvania and were merchants in Philadelphia. One of these was Michael Hillegas (1696-1749), who’s son Michael Hillegas, Jr., became the very first Treasurer of the United States. The other brother was George Peter Hillegas (1690-1745).

Sometime prior to 1734, John Frederick Hillegas purchased 150 acres in the Goshenhoppen area of upper Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. On February 6, 1738, he bought a grist mill and 165 acres from George Gowen. In 1749 he added 363 acres in a purchase from William Parsons. John Frederick and Elizabeth Barbara lived near East Greenville, Pennsylvania during the Revolution. Sons Leopold and Conrad served in the Continental Army. Son George Peter may be Peter Hillegas, Sr., deacon of the New Goshenhoppen Church and enumerated in the 1790 census in Montgomery County. Sons Johan Adam (as Adam), George Peter (as Peter) and Conrad appear in the 1800 census.

The children of John Frederick and Elizabeth Barbara Triegel Hillegas were:

A prominent tombstone has been erected in the cemetery in front of the New Goshenhoppen Church, where the family were members, to both John Frederick and Elizabeth Barbara. It reads:

Pioneer Settlers 1727

John Frederick Elizabeth Barbara

Hillegas Hillegas

Jan. 6, 1765 March 4, 1759

branch of the Hillegas family now distributed over the

Erected by his descendants 1907.

The Hillegas family had believed their ancestors to be French Protestant Huguenots who fled from Alsace, France to Germany before coming to Pennsylvania.

Several of John Frederick and Elizabeth Barbara’s children married. John Adam Hillegas married Margaret Hallman, and after her death married Anna Catherine Bitting. Anna Margaret Hillegas married Mathys Reichard. Nicolaus Jeger married Creth Hillegas and after her death he married her sister, Ann Regina Hillegas.. Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas married John Frey. George Peter Hillegas married Anna Barbara Hornecker.

Conrad Hillegas married Anna Margaretta Schellenberger, the daughter of Johannes Schellenberger and Maria Margaret Radelein, and the sister of Carl Schellenberger, who married Conrad’s niece Anna Margaret (a daughter of John Adam Hillegas and Anna Catherine Bitting). Anna Margaretta was born July 2, 1742 in Hatfield Township, near Souderton, Pennsylvania. Her father, Johannes, was a substantial landowner in Hatfield Township and a founding member of the Indian Creek German Reformed Church in Franconia Township.

Johannes Schellenberger (born June 24, 1712, in Germany) arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam on the ship "Pennsylvania Merchant" on September 11, 1732, at the age of 20. He married Margaret (born April 26, 1722) by 1744, and she is believed to be the sister of Jacob and John Radelein, of the Tohickon Church area in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Johannes purchased property in Hatfield Township from two of William Penn’s sons, acting as the Proprietors of Pennsylvania, under their fathers grant from the King. The property eventually consisted of 250 acres of the northernmost portion of Hatfield Township, on either side of the present railroad.

Johannes was naturalized on September 25, 1740 along with a number of men who helped found the Indian Creek Church. His name appears on a cornerstone of the Church, dated 1754, that is still part of the present church building. Each of his sons served in the Hatfield Township Company of the Philadelphia Militia during the Revolutionary War. He and his wife are buried in the Leidy burial ground, across Leidy Road from the Immanuel Leidy Church, southwest of Souderton. Johannes died March 31, 1795, and Margaret died March 3, 1800.

The children of Johannes and Margaret Schellenberger were:

Conrad and Anna Margaretta Schellenberger Hillegas had twelve children, as recorded in the 1790 and 1800 censuses. We know the names of ten of these children. The records of the New Goshenhoppen Church, of which they were members, indicates one daughter, Maria Catherina Hillegas, being born the very same day in 1787 that another daughter, also named Maria Catherina Hillegas, who had been born in 1883, was buried. This is another example of these families regularly naming newborn children after older siblings who had died. As we have described in the earlier chapters on the Yost family, three of Conrad’s and Anna Margaretta’s daughters married three sons of Johannes and Creth Yost. This included Elizabeth Barbara Hillegas and Daniel Yost (our line of ancestry), Eva Hillegas and Johan Peter Yost, and Susanna Hillegas and Johan Adam Yost. The known children of Conrad and Anna Margaretta Schellenberger Hillegas are:

Conrad and Anna Margaretta resided in Upper Hanover Township near the covered bridge on Knight Road. Conrad left his land, his Bible, and his gun to his surviving son, Johannes.

PART TWO - THE GREGORY FAMILY OF VIRGINIA

CHAPTER SEVEN - COLONIAL TIMES TO THE CIVIL WAR

The Gregory family has resided in Virginia since 1620, and shares the history of the Colony and Commonwealth of Virginia. The family that is described consists of the ancestors of Mildred Easley Gregory, born in Crewe, VA, on September 18, 1923. Mildred grew up on the family farm outside of Crewe with her parents, Thomas Hutcherson Gregory and Sallie Richard Easley, her two sisters, Mary Catherine and Annie Elizabeth, and her brother, Thomas Harold. This narrative describes the history of the Gregory family, and several important branches of the ancestry of Mildred E. Gregory, namely the Pigg, Griggs, Easley, Blair, and Motley families.

The earliest known ancestor carrying the Gregory name is believed to be Richard Gregory, who arrived in the Jamestown settlement in colonial Virginia in 1620. Richard was born in England in 1584, and may have resided in Yorkshire before venturing to the New World. He arrived on the ship "Temperance" as an indentured servant to Sir George Yeardley, who later became the first governor of colonial Virginia. We believe Richard left his wife and newly born (or yet unborn) son, Thomas, behind in England and that his son joined him in Virginia 15 years later.

There were two methods for Englishmen who could not afford to pay for the Atlantic passage to make the voyage to Virginia. The first was indentured servitude. A person could place themselves in servitude to a master for a period of seven years, in return for the payment of passage and 50 acres of land upon completion of the indenture. The second method was for an Englishman of means to pay for the passage of others who wanted to emigrate, and that gentleman then received 50 acres of land in Virginia for each paid passage. The immigrants arrived with no financial liability, but also without any land. Richard used the method of indentured servitude. His presumed son, Thomas, used the second method.

Richard Gregory arrived in Jamestown only 13 years after its founding, and at a time the settlement’s survival was still in doubt. This was the year of the arrival of the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay, which was the only English speaking colony, other than Jamestown and the settlements along the James River, on the entire American mainland. Richard survived the Virginia Indian massacre of 1622. There are two surviving musters of persons and property in Virginia Colony from 1624 and 1625, and Richard is listed on both first among Sir George Yeardley’s many servants, and as the oldest of the servants. As such, he was probably Yeardley’s indoor servant (similar to a butler).

Following his indenture, Richard Gregory resided on or near Flowerdew Hundred. This was part of the original land grant to Yeardley, so it is possible the land was part of the indenture contract, even though Yeardley had sold his Flowerdew holdings before 1627. Yeardley himself never set foot on Flowerdew Hundred, but one of the households that have been investigated by archaeologists, dated to the time Richard or his son may have been there, did contain artifacts tied to Yeardley. At present there is a museum and ongoing archaeologic digs at Flowerdew Hundred, located on the south side of the James River, southeast of Richmond.

Thomas Gregory, born in 1620 in England, and therefore a teen of 15, arrived in Virginia in 1635 on the "Globe" out of London. His passage was one of seven paid for by Captain Thomas Paulett, an English gentleman, in return for 50 acres of land for each of the seven. Thus Thomas arrived in Virginia quite young and with no land, yet by 1655, only 20 years later, when he met with an early death, he owned a plantation at Flowerdew Hundred and employed both indentured servants and sharecroppers. Why did this teen come to this location and how was he so successful at a young age?

Because of the name Gregory, his age, the location of his residence, and his success, we believe him to be Richard’s son. It is plausible to contemplate him joining his father when he was old enough to cross the Atlantic, perhaps having his father’s assistance (or even Yeardley’s) in arranging for someone to obtain land for his passage, and using his father’s land (from the indenture) to obtain prosperity. The time at which he did prosper coincides with when tobacco became a cash crop in Virginia, making the fortune of many farmers. And tobacco is known to have been farmed at Flowerdew Hundred. It is difficult to conceive a 15-year-old coming to Virginia entirely on his on, and becoming successful in a short period of time, without help.

Thomas Gregory married Jane Mosby, and had one son, Thomas, Jr. Charles City County records show Jane Gregory as a widow, and then remarrying, to Joseph Parsons. This family left Flowerdew Hundred and moved to the north side of the James River to Weyanoke. Weyanoke was also part of George Yeardley’s land grant from the Crown and Minge’s ferry operated between Flowerdew Hundred and Weyanoke. Joseph Parsons and Jane’s marriage was very short, as Jane was widowed again and married John Drury Stith in 1656. In 1662, John Stith confirmed in Charles City County court, that a horse grazing in Weyanoke was a gift from Joseph Parsons to his stepson, Thomas Gregory, Jr.

John Drury Stith was born in 1638 in Gloucester, England. Stith family genealogies differ as to whether Jane Mosby was born in Prince George County, VA, in 1633, or was born in England. John and Jane had four children, Drury (born 1670), William, John, and Ann (born 1661). One descendant of Jane Mosby Gregory Stith, through her daughter Ann’s line, is George Herbert Walker Bush. Thus, the children, nieces, and nephews of Mildred Easley Gregory are all eleventh cousins of the first President Bush. Their children are twelth cousins of President George W. Bush.

The first American-born Gregory was Thomas Gregory, Jr., the son of Thomas Gregory and Jane Mosby. He was born in Flowerdew Hundred and moved to Weyanoke when his widowed mother remarried. As an adult, he broke with the Anglican Church (the Church of England) and became the overseer of the Quaker church at Weyanoke. He evidently dedicated his career to this role as on January 1, 1720 he requested stepping down as the Quaker overseer due to his "being ainchant." He apparently died that same year. We know little of his family except that he had at least one son, Thomas (III).

Thomas Gregory (III) was born in Weyanoke, VA, and resided there until 1717 when he purchased 100 acres of land in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, VA, on the north side of Bayles Run, from Daniel Nance. At about this time he married his first wife (of three), Elizabeth Nance. It is assumed there is a relationship between Daniel and Elizabeth Nance, but that has not been determined. Elizabeth was born about 1695 and is the daughter of John Nance and Sarah Gooking. John Nance was born about 1650 in Henrico County, VA, the son of Richard (born in England) and Alice Nance, and died in 1716 in Prince George County. Richard Nance was the son of John Nance, born in 1580. Sarah Gooking was born about 1660 in Prince George County, the daughter of Samuel (born about 1642) and Mary Gooking. John Nance and Sarah Gooking married before 1694 in Prince George County.

On November 10, 1719, Thomas and Elizabeth Gregory had their first child and named him Nance (died 1783 in Brunswick Co., VA), his mother’s maiden name. In 1720 Thomas Gregory (III) had 250 acres of land around the White Oak Swamp in Prince George County surveyed, and in 1721 purchased 50 acres of that land. On January 1, 1722, in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Thomas and Elizabeth’s son John was born, and their daughter Mary was born on September 1, 1724. It is presumed that Elizabeth Nance Gregory died between the birth of her daughter Mary and the birth of Thomas’ daughter Lucey on July 1, 1734, born to his second wife, Jane. Thomas Gregory (III) made a third purchase of land, 250 acres on both sides of the White Oak Swamp, in 1731. He had a third wife, Mary, who bore him four children, Thomas, Samuel, William, and James. Thomas Gregory (III) died in 1739 in Amelia County, VA. He may have moved to Amelia, or the land on which he was living may have been in that part of Amelia County taken from Prince George County when Amelia was created in 1734.

John Gregory, the second child of Thomas Gregory (III) and Elizabeth Nance, married twice. His first wife was a Sherman, and they had five children, John, Jr., Ann, Mary, Samuel, and Thomas. John Gregory, Jr. was killed in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Brandywine. John Gregory, Sr. also married Mary Clark in 1760 in Amelia County, VA. They resided on a 90-acre tract that he purchased in 1761 on the east side of Cellar Creek. John was a slave owner. John and Mary had one son, William, who was born in 1760. John Gregory died in 1767. After John died, Mary Clark Gregory married John Keatts. On August 28, 1777, William Gregory appeared in Amelia County court and declared John Keatts, his stepfather, as his guardian.

John Keatts was born in Chesterfield County, the son of Curtis and Tabitha Keatts. Curtis Keatts was born in 1710 and lived in Prince George County and then Chesterfield County, VA, where he married Tabitha sometime before 1751. Curtis and Tabitha’s children were Martha, John, Charles, Mary, Tabitha, James, and William, and all were probably born in Chesterfield County. Two of the Keatts daughters, Martha and Tabitha, married brothers, Robert W. and William Tucker, respectively. These brothers were the sons of George and Catherine Tucker. The third daughter, Mary, married another William Tucker, the son of Robert, Jr. and Frances Tucker and grandson of Robert and Martha Tucker. The precise relationship between these Tuckers has not been determined. But the Tuckers are believed to descend from the same Tucker family of whom some were at the original Jamestown settlement, and others settled on Bermuda.

The Keatts moved to Amelia County from Chesterfield. John Keatts purchased land in Amelia County from his sister Tabitha and her husband William Tucker on April 27, 1768. John Keatts married Mary Clark Gregory that same year. John and Mary had eight children:

Richard, who had a daughter Martha, born Jan. 13, 1818;

Patsy, married Daniel Shelton, died after 1837;

Tabitha, married Lester Archer;

Henry C., married Eunice Bailey May 22, 1817;

Martha, married a Shelton.

On June 12, 1777, John Keatts (William Gregory’s stepfather) was given 200 acres in Lunenburg County by his father, Curtis Keatts. In anticipation of this John and Mary had sold their Amelia property on May 21, 1777. Shortly after this, some of the Keatts family continued moving west, as that is where William Gregory purchases property and marries in 1781. The 1782 census shows John Keatts, his brother William, his son Richard, and stepson William Gregory, all as heads of households in the same portion of Pittsylvania County.

The timing of the move of many of the Keatts family to Pittsylvania County coincides with the Revolutionary War. When John and Mary Gregory Keatts sold their Amelia County property, they sold it for considerably less than its purchase price. They either did not use, or stayed only briefly on their Lunenburg County land before moving to Pittsylvania. Many people were moving west, to get inland, potentially away from possible damage from the British.

We have no evidence that William Gregory, or any of the Tucker or Keatts family served during the Revolution. But events of 1781 give us evidence of their sympathies. Following the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, in nearby North Carolina, on March 15, British Colonel Banastre Tarleton led raids on the Virginia countryside, and encamped on the plantation of Reverend James Craig in Lunenburg County. After butchering Craig’s hogs for his troops, Tarleton forced the Reverend to sign a parole agreeing not to support the American cause in any manner. Curtis Keatts, his son James, and William Tucker, all signed a petition to the governor of Virginia on August 12, requesting that Reverend Craig be released from his parole since it was coerced.

William Gregory married Martha Tucker, the daughter of Robert W. Tucker and Martha Keatts, therefore the niece of his stepfather John Keatts. William and Martha purchased property on the south side of the Bannister River, near the headwaters of Stinking River, in Pittsylvania County. He was a slave owner. William and Martha had nine children:

John K., born June 10, 1782, married Elizabeth H. Corder;

Maryan P. (Polly), born 1784, married William Payne;

Robert T.;

Martha (Patsy), married William Pickeral;

William, born 1789, married Sarah M. Keatts;

Lowry, born 1793, married Amelia Richeson;

Elizabeth, born 1795, married Randolph Keatts;

Nancy, born 1797, married William T. Keatts;

Richard Dennis, born 1798,married Elizabeth H. Pigg.

William Gregory died in 1800, leaving Martha to manage a plantation, with slaves, and nine children, the oldest in his teens. This she was able to do with her oldest children’s and neighboring family member’s support until her own death in 1812. Before her death she had arranged for her cousin Nelson Tucker to act as executor. Her daughters, Nancy and Elizabeth chose their brother-in-law William Payne as their guardian. The two youngest sons, Lowry and Richard Dennis, chose their oldest brother, John K., as their guardian. Each child received a share of the 750 acres in the estate, a slave, and cash, the amount of cash varying in order to equalize the inheritance, taking into account the amount of land and the value of the slaves.

The censuses from 1820 to 1840 show most of the sons and sons-in-law of William and Martha Gregory living in Pittsylvania County. In 1820 John K. Gregory, Randolph Keatts, and William Pickeral are listed as heads of households in the County. In 1830 all sons and sons-in-law are enumerated except Lowry (died) and Robert (moved away). In 1840 we again see all except Lowry, Robert, and William Pickeral.

John K. Gregory, the eldest son of William Gregory and Martha Tucker, married Elizabeth H. Corder on June 17, 1818. John received 75 acres on the Stinking River and a slave Jerry, valued at 120 pounds from his parents estate. On Jan. 20, 1817, John had purchased additional property on the White Thorn Creek in Pittsylvania County, bringing his total holdings to 104 acres. The family lived there until midwinter 1830-31, when on Jan. 18, 1831 he sold that land and purchased 235 acres from Benjamin Butcher on both sides of White Thorn Creek. The family apparently lived there until his death on May 28, 1843. After her husband’s death, by 1848, Elizabeth moved the family to Tazewell County, VA. John K Gregory and Elizabeth H. Corder had nine children.

Maryan P. (Polly) Gregory, the second child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker, married William Payne on March 1, 1802. William was born in 1776. Polly inherited 114 acres on Reed Creek, and a slave named Tom valued at 110 pounds. Polly and William had eight children. William died in 1857 and Polly before February 1858. Two of their sons evidently disputed the settlement of their estate.

Robert T. Gregory was the third child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker. He received 29 acres on the Stinking River, and a slave named Toomber valued at 12 pounds, in his inheritance. On Sep. 12, 1814 he bought 79 acres from his sister Martha and husband William Pickeral. On Feb. 26 he sold 10 acres to his brother William. On June 17, 1816, he bought 70 acres from his brother John K. Then on May 15, 1820, he sold all his property to his brother Lowry and apparently moved away.

The fourth child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker was Martha (Patsy) Gregory. She married William Pickeral on July 14, 1812. She inherited 79 acres and a slave named Binney, valued at 60 pounds, from her parents.

William Gregory, Jr. was the fifth child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker. He inherited 80 acres and a slave named Phillis, valued at 60 pounds. He married Sarah M. Keatts on March 9, 1829. Sarah was the daughter of Richard Keatts and Elizabeth Waller. Her grandfather, Paschall Keatts, was William, Jr.’s mother’s cousin. They had at least three children. They lived on their inherited land until they sold it in 1856. In 1860 they lived on a farm valued at $200. They were also in Pittsylvania County at the time of the 1870 census.

The sixth child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker was Lowry Gregory. He inherited 82 acres and a slave named Jordan, valued at 120 pounds. Lowry married Amelia Richeson and they had at least three children. On Oct. 16, 1816 he bought 267 acres from his father’s stepbrother, James Gower Keatts. On May 15, 1820, he bought 236 acres from his brother Robert. On March 18, 1825, Lowry bought a lot in Lynchburg, VA and moved there, holding onto his Pittsylvania land. Before dying, he appointed his father-in-law, Jesse Richeson, a large landowner in Amherst County, as his executor. This trust was misplaced for when Lowry died, Jesse badly handled or exploited the estate. The land was sold well below its purchase value in a time of strong economy. With debts and her father’s fees for his service as executor, Amelia and the family were left with little and these lands passed from the Gregory and Keatts families.

Elizabeth Gregory, the seventh child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker, inherited 103 acres and a slave, Martha, valued at 90 pounds. She married Randolph Keatts (born 1785), a son of Charles Keatts and a cousin to her mother, on Dec. 17, 1817. They had 10 children. Randolph died before February 1866.

The eighth child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker was Nancy Gregory. She inherited 80 acres and a slave, Olive, valued at 60 pounds. She married William C. Keatts, a stone mason, and cousin to her mother, on Nov. 1, 1818. They had five children.

Richard Dennis was the ninth and last child of William Gregory and Martha Tucker. On February 19, 1827, he married Elizabeth H. Pigg (born 1810) with Nathan Hutcherson, her stepfather serving as surety for the wedding. The Pigg family was a long-standing Virginia family and is a major branch of the Gregory family ancestry. It is described in a later chapter.

From his parent’s estate, Richard Dennis inherited 103 acres located between the Bannister River and Pudding Creek, and the slave, Pleasant, valued at 20 pounds. His brother, John K., served as his guardian after his parents died. Richard and Elizabeth lived on his inherited land until 1840 and later on land between the Sandy and Strawberry Rivers. Richard and Elizabeth are enumerated in Pittsylvania County in each of the censuses between 1830 and 1860. In 1830, they had seven slaves and Richard’s brother William was living nearby. They appeared again in 1840 with nine slaves, but one of the two oldest sons was not living with them. All of the living children were with them in 1850, and the real estate value of the farm was given as $1050.

In 1860 Richard Dennis and Elizabeth were enumerated with Richard P. (a farm laborer), Christopher (a blacksmith), Doctor J. (laborer), Thomas, Henry, and Mary at home with Mary’s husband David Keatts and their newborn child, Mary, living with them as well. Richard Dennis appears in the 1880 census with a grandson Thomas, Wilson’s child, working as a laborer, and Henry C., his wife Louvinne, and their son Walter living next door. Elizabeth had died on August 13, 1878, and Richard Dennis died on July 18, 1885.

Richard Dennis Gregory and Elizabeth H. Pigg had twelve children:

William C., born Feb. 16, 1828;

John Branch, born Dec. 15, 1829;

Nathan Lowry, born Dec. 25, 1831;

Wilson Tucker, born March 5, 1833;

Richard P., born Feb. 4, 1835;

Christopher C., born Feb. 7, 1837;

Mary A. E., born Dec. 16, 1838;

Martha A. F., born Jan. 30, 1841;

Doctor James, Dec. 17, 1842;

Larina Catherine, born July 13, 1845;

Thomas Adolphus, born Dec. 7, 1847;

Henry C., born Apr. 17, 1850.

William C. Gregory, the first child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory, died at the age of 20 in 1848 and was buried in Swansonville, VA.

John Branch Gregory, Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory’s second child, married Martha Jane Eanes on Dec. 18, 1851. Martha Jane was born in Virginia in 1831 and was the daughter of John and Delila Eanes. John and Martha had four children. The 1860 census showed the family living next to Martha’s father. John voted for the Southern Ordinance for Secession on May 23, 1861 in Whitmel, VA, and joined the Confederate Army.

Nathan Lowry Gregory was the third child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory. He married Mary (Polly) Bell before 1860 and they had three children. The 1860 census showed Nathan and Mary and two of their children living in Pittsylvania County. Nathan fought with the Confederate Army in the Civil War.

The fourth child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory was Wilson Tucker Gregory. He married Nancy T. Midkiff on December 15, 1856 and they had two children. He voted for the Ordinance of Secession on May 23, 1861 in Callands, VA, and joined the Rebel Army.

Richard P. Gregory was the fifth child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory. On February 20, 1860, he and his brother Christopher bought 105 acres on the north fork of the Sandy River. Then on May 23, 1861, he voted for Secession and joined the Confederate Army.

The sixth child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory was Christopher C. Gregory. After joining with his brother Robert in a land purchase, he also voted for Secession and joined the Southern cause in war.

Thus when the Civil War began, five of the Gregory sons joined the Confederate Army, and each served in the 38th Virginia Regiment. As Doctor J and Thomas Adolphus came of age they also joined the Rebel cause, Doctor J in the 18th Virginia Regiment, and Thomas in the 3rd Regiment of Reserves. The 38th was part of Armistead’s Brigade and saw some of the hardest fighting of the War, getting their first battle experience near Yorktown and Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign, when Union forces under General George McClellan advanced on Richmond from the East. A fierce battle occurred at Seven Pines (called Fair Oaks by the Union Army) on May 31, 1862. The 38^th was among the forces marching through a swampy forest to conduct an unsuccessful frontal assault on a strong federal position. Both Richard and Nathan Gregory died of the wounds they sustained in this battle, Richard died on June 1st and Nathan on July 1st. Both were buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond. The Rebels later succeeded in thwarting the Union drive on Richmond as Robert E. Lee took command of the Army and on July 1, 1862, the Rebels attacked the Union rear guard by charging up Malvern Hill, southeast of Richmond. In this charge, Christopher Gregory was wounded. Christopher, who was a color corporal carrying the flag, recovered and received a citation for gallantry from his commanding officer.

Not all casualties in the War were from combat. In 1862 Wilson Tucker fell ill and died on September 15 in Richmond’s Chimborazo Hospital, being buried in Hollywood Cemetery. The War continued and in 1863 Lee’s forces found themselves confronting the Union Army under General George Meade at Gettysburg, PA. The climactic moment of that battle was Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. The 38th was part of the charge and it was Armistead’s Brigade which penetrated Union lines. But the assault could not be maintained, and it ended in disaster. John Branch Gregory was killed in the charge, and Christopher was wounded for the second time. Following the war, Confederate dead were moved from the battle site to a mass grave at Hollywood Cemetery.

Christopher returned home for a period following Gettysburg, probably to recuperate. While home, he sold the land he and his now dead brother Richard had purchased. He returned to the Army and served as a blacksmith for the rest of the war. Doctor J continued to see action. At the Battle of Fredricksburg, an explosion ruptured his left ear drum. At Drewry’s Bluff Doctor J received a foot wound. When the war came to an end on April 9, 1865, of the seven sons of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory who had served, four were dead and two had been twice wounded. The Gregory family had paid a very high price for supporting the Southern cause. Christopher, Doctor J, and Thomas returned to a devastated household. John Branch’s widow Martha Jane married Ralph B. Prewett on January 18, 1869, and Wilson Tucker’s widow, Nancy married a Walker.

Christopher applied for a license to operate an Ordinary in December 1866. He ran this store on an acre and half he bought from his father. He befriended a younger neighbor, Claude Swanson, who later became governor of Virginia. He gave up on the store and returned the land to his father November 1, 1871. His father distributed most of his land to his heirs on January 1, 1872, and Christopher sold his portion to his brother Thomas the following month. Chris married Mary S. Shough, the daughter of Jonah Shough, a Methodist minister, and Lucy Fitzhugh Stuart, a great-great granddaughter of a Scots immigrant, David Stuart. They bought 450 acres in Patrick County and moved there. Christopher worked alternatively as a farmer, a miller, and a blacksmith, while fighting alcoholism. Mary died October 24, 1901 and Christopher died March 24, 1908. They had six children.

Mary A. E. Gregory, the seventh child and first daughter of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory had married David C. Keatts on November 14, 1856. David was the son of Randolph Keatts and Elizabeth Gregory, so he was Mary’s cousin. This was the fourth generation of marriages between the Gregory and Keatts families. David Keatts was listed as a miller in the 1850 census. When they first married, the family lived on Mary’s parents’ farm and moved in 1860 to Lynchburg. They were in Henry County, VA in 1870. Mary and David Keatts had three children.

Martha A. F. Gregory was the eighth child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory. She married David T. Eddy, the son of Thomas and Marinda Eddy on December 21, 1868. David was born in 1841 in Montgomery County, VA, and was a miller. They lived in Rocky Mount, VA and had several children. Martha died of cancer.

Doctor J attempted several careers following his return from the war. For a while he taught music. Then he practiced law. He received land from his father in January 1872 and sold it shortly after. He then entered Richmond Medical College and obtained a degree in dentistry. By 1877 he was a resident of Rocky Mount, VA, and he practiced dentistry in Franklin County. In those days, dentists traveled to their patients, so Doctor J made his rounds on horse. He received a state pension for his war injuries in 1907. He is credited with making a stirring political speech in support of President Woodrow Wilson on the steps of the Franklin County Courthouse in 1916. Doctor J died in the Lee Camp Soldiers Home in Richmond on May 19, 1928 and is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery. Thus, five Gregory brothers are buried there.

The tenth child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory was Larina Catherine Gregory. Larina married James Pleasant Haley on February 19, 1874, and they lived on the 40 acres that she had received from her father in January 1872, until they sold it to her brother Thomas in 1881. Later in 1881, Larina died, poisoned by a black servant. She and James had six children. James remarried, to Flora Hines. He had been a very successful farmer, but ran into adversities that caused him to lose most everything and die penniless.

The twelfth child of Richard Dennis and Elizabeth Gregory was Henry C. Gregory. Henry had been too young to serve in the Civil War. He married Louvinne A. Pigg who was born in 1858. He had received 40 acres of land from his father in January 1872 and purchased another 30 acres on November 8, 1879. Henry received another 54 acres, including the Gregory family home, in return for caring for his father in his last years. He also purchased 189 acres in 1896 from L. Riddle’s estate. Henry and Louvinne had seven children. Louvinne died in 1930 and Henry died January 23, 1931.

Thomas Adolphus Gregory, nicknamed "Tobe," was born December 7, 1847, and lived in Pittsylvania County, VA, joined the Confederate Army at the age of 16, accumulated significant property, prospered as a farmer, married twice and had nine children. His descendants constitute the present Gregory family of which this author has knowledge. Tobe is buried in the Gregory family cemetery, next to his father’s (Richard Dennis Gregory) home in Callands, Pittsylvania County. He died December 17, 1936.

Tobe Gregory was the eleventh child of Richard Dennis Gregory and Elizabeth H. Pigg. When he turned 16, he joined the Confederate Army, following the path of six older brothers, four of whom had already been killed in the Civil War. He joined the 3rd Virginia Reserves. By this time the Rebel cause was doomed, and the youth and aged were the only new source of manpower. The 3rd VA may have been constituted of such soldiers and may have been kept from serious fighting. In any event, we have no knowledge of what kind of action the teenager Tobe Gregory saw, although he witnessed the demise of the Southern cause.

Returning from the devastation of war, he helped restore the Gregory family after the loss of four of his brothers. In January of 1872, his father distributed about 40 acres each to his living children and the families of his deceased children. Tobe bought his brother Christopher’s gift of land the next month to add to his own. Chris married and moved to neighboring Patrick County. Tobe and Chris remained close, and after visiting his brother, Tobe met and married Molly A. Hylton (born 1859) on February 6, 1880, and they came to live on his land in Pittsylvania County. On October 15, 1881, Tobe bought the land his sister Larina had received from their father to add to his holdings.

Sometime before 1885, Henrietta Gregory, a daughter of Tobe’s brother Wilson, passed away, leaving her children Clement and Nora Pigg as orphans. Tobe served as their guardian until they were of age. He and Molly had two children, Annie who was born in 1882 and Nannie born in 1884. Sometime between 1884 and 1887 Molly A. Hylton Gregory died. On August 28, 1886, Tobe purchased another 181 acres. Then on April 7, 1887, he married Mary Catherine Griggs in Patrick County. Tobe had apparently met Mary Catherine while visiting his brother Christopher, as he may have with Molly seven years earlier. Tobe was 40 at the time, while Mary Catherine was 19. She had been born in Henry County on October 4, 1867, the daughter of Lewis Julius Griggs and Sarah Dandridge Maddox. The Griggs family is an important branch of the Gregory family and will be described in a later chapter. Thomas Adolphus Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs had seven children.

The children of Thomas Adolphus Gregory were:

by Molly A. Hylton,

Annie, born 1882;

Nannie, born 1884;

by Mary Catherine Griggs,

Lucille, born Feb. 11, 1888;

Russell Aubrey, born June 19, 1889;

Lewis Howell, born Dec. 11, 1890;

Lottie Louise, born Feb. 25, 1892;

Thomas Hutcherson, born Sep. 27, 1893;

Frank Hylton, born 1899;

Eloise Benson, born 1904.

Tobe, Catherine, and their family appear in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses enumerated in Pittsylvania County. Their home is listed as near the Danville and Franklin turnpikes. In 1920 the children had started to move away, but Lewis, Thomas and Frank Hylton were still at home. Frank’s wife Naomi and their first child are also living in Tobe’s home.

Annie Gregory, the first daughter of Thomas A. and Molly Gregory, married a Jones. They were living in Bassett, VA in 1935. They had four children, Thomas, Mary, Paul Gregory, and Louise. Louise Jones died before 1944. Thomas Jones had a daughter, Violet. Mary Jones married a Gauldin. Paul Gregory Jones died November 9, 1993. Annie Gregory Jones died December 12, 1970.

Nannie Gregory was the second daughter of Tobe and Molly Gregory. She married Alexander Edwards. They lived in Richmond in 1937. Their only child was Ann Edwards, who married John Daniel Raidabaugh on June 22, 1943. Ann and John had one son, John Daniel Raidabaugh, Jr. Alexander Edwards died July 4, 1951. Nannie Gregory Edwards died January 10, 1962. Ann Edwards Raidabaugh died October 12, 1972. John Daniel Raidabaugh, Sr. died May 14, 1993.

The first child born to Thomas Adolphus Gregory and his second wife, Mary Catherine Griggs, was Lucille Gregory. Lucille married John Daniel Blair, the son of Samuel Britan Blair and Emily Frances Motley of Pittsylvania County, on October 11, 1911 in Danville, VA. John was born on April 23, 1877 in Chatham, VA. John and Lucille Blair moved frequently, with their first child born in Wilmington, OH, in 1915, the next two born in Bedford Co., VA, where they were still living at the time of the 1920 census, and the last two children being born in Dinwiddie County, VA. By 1935 the family was residing at Wellville, Nottoway County, VA. John Daniel Blair died in Petersburg, VA on February 4, 1941. Lucille Gregory Blair died in Richmond on July 26, 1977.

The five children of John Daniel and Lucille Gregory Blair were:

John Wilbur, born April 29, 1915;

George Thomas, born Sept. 22, 1917;

Catherine Marie;

Robert Curtiss, born May 11, 1922;

Irene Frances.

John Wilbur Blair married Marie Ritchie on November 20, 1940 in Blackstone, Va. They had one daughter, Mary Katherine Blair. Mary Katherine Blair married Tom Neville, and they had two sons, Stephen Glen and John Thomas. Stephen Glen Neville married Cynthia Hayes and they had three sons, Fred Marvin, Dennis E., and Blair C. John Thomas Neville married Tracy Coleman and they had three daughters, Laura Ann, Leslie, and Joanna L. John Wilbur Blair died on August 12, 1983, and his wife Marie Ritchie Blair died on December 15, 1985.

George Thomas Blair, the second child of John Daniel Blair and Lucille Gregory, married Mary Carol Eiker. They had two children, Pamela and Thomas Gregory. Pamela Blair married Craig Carmichael and they had two daughters, Catherine and Kristen. Thomas Gregory Blair married Sharon Mihall and they had two children, Heather and Ethan Thomas. George Thomas Blair died on September 20, 1955 in Chevy Chase, MD.

The third child of John Daniel Blair and Lucille Gregory was Catherine Marie Blair. Marie married Calvin Mitchell. Marie and Calvin had three sons, C. D., who married Pauline Griller, Blair David who married Sharon Swanek, and Stephen K.

Robert Curtiss Blair, John Daniel and Lucille Gregory Blair’s fourth child, married Beulah Rogers. They had two children, Bettie Kaye, and Robert Curtis, Jr. Bettie Kaye Blair married Everette Prosise, and they had two children, Christopher and Melanie. Robert Curtiss Blair, Sr. died July 12, 1993 in Richmond.

Irene Frances Blair, the fifth child of John Daniel Blair and Lucille Gregory, married twice. Irene’s four children were born to she and M. W. Blankenship. They were Frank Tyler, Terry Neil , Jackie Blair and Tracy Alan. Tracy Alan Blankenship died March 13, 1976. Jackie Blair Blankenship married Jeffrie B. Davis and they had two sons, Joel Brooks and Alan Tracy. Irene Frances Blair’s second husband is Barton Hagerty. Irene Frances Blair Hagerty has been investigating the Blair and Gregory ancestry and has been a valuable source of information for this history.

Russell Aubrey Gregory was the second child of Thomas Adolphus (Tobe) Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs. Russell married Geneva Rebecca Wyatt, born March 13, 1887, the daughter of J. W. and Sallie Wyatt, on December 28, 1910. In the 1920 census Russell and Geneva were enumerated on a Henry County, VA, farm, with their first six children. Geneva died on December 28, 1953 and Russell died on October 2, 1961. They had ten children:

Herman Aubrey, born Sep. 22, 1911;

Dorothy Irene, born Jan. 8, 1913;

Verna Estelle;

Clemmon Lewis;

Clifton Russell, born Dec. 16, 1915;

Wesley Thomas;

Douglas Wyatt;

Raymond Addison, born Oct. 6, 1921;

Hassell Bernard;

Helen Lucille.

Herman Aubrey Gregory married Lottie Emma Wright, and they resided in Axton, VA in 1944. They had five children, Louise Vivian, William Ray, Jackie Darrell, Nellie Lee, and Ralph Phillip. Herman Aubrey died on August 17, 1996.

Dorothy Irene Gregory was the second child of Russell Aubrey Gregory and Geneva Rebecca Wyatt. She married Bruce Reynolds, (born 1913) the son of Booker and Laura Reynolds, on March 30, 1935. They resided in Callands, VA, in 1944. Dorothy Irene Gregory and Bruce Reynolds had two daughters, Joan Teresa and June Tabitha. Joan Teresa Reynolds married twice, to a Marilla and to a King. June Tabitha Reynolds married Virgil Samuel Crider and had four daughters, Wanda Dean, who married an Adkins; Sharon, who married a Bayliss; Amy Leigh, who married a Wells; and Carmen Marie. Bruce Reynolds died September 8, 1972, and Dorothy Irene Gregory Reynolds died September 16, 1992.

The third child of Russell Aubrey Gregory and Geneva Rebecca Wyatt was Verna Estelle Gregory. Verna married twice, to Harold Reynolds, and to Russell R. Reynolds. It is not known if the two husbands were related to each other, but Russell Reynolds was the brother of Bruce Reynolds, Verna’s sister Dorothy’s husband. By Harold Reynolds, Verna had a son Dale. By Russell Reynolds, she had two children, Reta and Carl. Verna and Russell were residing in Callands, VA, in 1944.

Clemmon Lewis and Clifton Russell Gregory were twin brothers, sons of Russell Aubrey Gregory and Geneva Rebecca Wyatt. Clemmon married Dorothy Austin. Dorothy was the daughter of R. J. Austin and Annie Hatcher. Clemmon and Dorothy’s children were Kenneth and Russell. Clifton Russell Gregory married Frances Hubbard and they resided in Danville, VA, in 1944. Clifton Russell Gregory died on March 11, 1984. Frances Hubbard Gregory died on December 17, 1993.

Wesley Thomas Gregory was the sixth child of Russell Aubrey Gregory and Geneva Rebecca Wyatt. He married Louisa Aaron. Louisa was the daughter of Matthew Aaron and Grace Woodall. Their children were Elizabeth and Thomas.

The seventh child of Russell Aubrey Gregory and Geneva Rebecca Wyatt was Douglas Wyatt Gregory. He married Gladys Creasy and their children were Martha, and Walter Douglas.

Raymond Addison Gregory was the eighth child of Russell and Geneva Gregory. He served in the Army during World War II. He married Callie Williams. Raymond Addison died May 24, 1974.

The ninth child of Russell and Geneva Gregory was Hassell Bernard Gregory. He married Jane Collins. Their son was Bernard Gregory.

The tenth child of Russell Aubrey Gregory and Geneva Rebecca Wyatt was Helen Lucille Gregory. Helen married a Scarce.

Lewis Howell Gregory was the third child of Thomas Adolphus (Tobe) Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs. Lewis married Christine Francis (born 1898) on December 28, 1926. Christine was the daughter of J. E. and Myrtle Francis. Lewis Howell died in an explosion at a carbide lighting plant where he worked in Swansonville, VA, on February 22, 1935. He was buried in the Methodist Church cemetery in Swansonville. Christine lived to be 95, dying on October 24, 1993.

Lewis Howell Gregory died intestate. At the time of Lewis Howell Gregory’s death, in 1935, Virginia law was designed to keep property within the blood family of the deceased. Therefore while Christine Francis inherited her husband’s other possessions, she only inherited the right to live on and use her husband’s land, about 40 acres. Since Lewis and Christine did not have children, when she died, in 1993, it was the Virginia law that existed when Lewis died 58 years earlier that was applicable for the distribution of his land. The value of the land was therefore to be divided among descendants of Lewis’ father, Thomas Adolphus Gregory. It was split in various fractions among the descendants of the two stepsisters, and six brothers and sisters of Lewis Howell Gregory.

Lottie Louise Gregory was the fourth child of Thomas Adolphus (Tobe) Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs. She married twice, first to Benjamin Harrison Woods, who was the father to her children and died October 26, 1928, and to Harry Bates Hodnett. Harry Hodnett was the father of Margaret, who married Lottie’s son Harold. Lottie Louise Gregory Hodnett was residing in Danville, VA, in 1937. The children of Lottie and Benjamin Harrison Wood were:

Christine Katherine, married Jesse McKay Elliott (1910-79);

Benjamin Harrison, Jr., (1918-91), married Alma Dodson Pritchett;

Charlotte Benson, married Charlie Vandell Williams (1910-84);

Harold Louis, married Margaret Burke Hodnett;

Raymond Gregory, married Goldie Richardson Reynolds;

Frank Hylton Gregory was the sixth child of Tobe Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs. Frank married Naomi Elliott (1897-1992) the daughter of Peter and Susie Elliott. They resided in Danville, VA, in 1937. Frank Hylton Gregory died on October 13, 1978. Frank and Naomi’s children were:

Thelma Naomi, married Jack Lanier Oakley;

Katherine Sue, married Robert Lynwood Bailey;

Margaret Ann, married Arion Dowe Loving.

Eloise Benson Gregory was the seventh child of Thomas Adolphus Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs. Eloise married Roy Vernon Farmer on December 24, 1935. They resided in Callands, VA, in 1937. Roy died on August 28, 1948. Eloise died November 13, 1976 and is buried in Danville, VA.

Thomas Hutcherson Gregory was the fifth child of Thomas Adolphus (Tobe) Gregory and Mary Catherine Griggs. Born September 27, 1893, Thomas Hutcherson served in the U.S. Army during World War I. He married twice, first to Sallie Richard Easley, the daughter of John Watt Easley and Mary Ellen Blair. Mary Ellen was the older sister of John Daniel Blair, who married Thomas’s sister Lucille. Both the Easley and Blair families are important branches of the Gregory family and will be described in later chapters. Thomas Hutcherson and Sallie lived originally in Callands, VA, where their first child, Mary Catherine, was born on June 22, 1921. By September 18, 1923, when their second child, Mildred Easley, was born in Nottoway County, VA. Here their two other children were born, Thomas Harold and Annie Elizabeth.

All three of Thomas and Sallie’s daughters graduated from James Madison College in Harrisonburg, VA. Sallie Richard Easley Gregory died on July 5, 1946. Thomas Hutcherson remarried Mabel Powell on May 25, 1949. When Thomas Hutcherson retired from farming, he and Mabel moved into a house in Crewe, and he gave the farm to his son Harold. Thomas Hutcherson Gregory died in November of 1977 and is buried in the Gregory family plot in Callands, VA.

Mary Catherine Gregory married Edward Kite Roseberry. Kite was born December 17, 1919, in Virginia. Mary was a schoolteacher. Kite was a farmer, having been a minor league baseball player, and a bomber pilot over Europe in World War II. Kite died on December 21, 1990 and is buried in the Manassas Battlefield Memorial Gardens.

Mary and Kite Roseberry had two children. Edward Kite Roseberry, Jr. who married Virginia Marie Vance and Catherine Roseberry who married Robert Womack. Cathy and Bob have a daughter, Cassie

Mildred Easley Gregory married LeRoy Harrison Richards in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 1947. LeRoy was born in Tuscarora, PA, on November 11, 1915, the son of William Henry Richards and Minnie E. Yost. LeRoy served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, in North Africa and Italy. Mildred and LeRoy lived in Aston, PA, where he was an autoworker for Ford Motor Company in Chester, PA, and later for White Motor Company in Exton, PA. Mildred was the head dietician for Chester Hospital and later for the Penn-Delco School District. Mildred died of cancer on November 29, 1971. LeRoy died of complications from Parkinson’s Disease on February 3, 1997. Both are buried in the Glenwood Memorial Gardens, Broomall, PA.

Mildred and LeRoy had two sons, William Gregory and Daniel Keith. William graduated from Drexel University and worked for the Philadelphia Water Department and later for an environmental consulting firm. While attending Drexel he met Denise Mary Colonna, the daughter of George Anthony Colonna and Rosemary Louise Monks. Bill and Denise were married. Denise worked for Campbell Soup Company, in Camden, NJ, and for PNC Bank. Bill and Denise have two daughters, Nicole Marie and Melissa Kaye. Nicole graduated from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with a degree in International Relations, and Melissa from the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Information Science. Mildred and LeRoy’s son Daniel directs aquatic programs at swim club when he is not acting.

Thomas Harold Gregory was the third child of Thomas Hutcherson Gregory and Sallie Richard Easley. He married Carrie Tuttle McDaniel. Since his father’s retirement, Harold has managed the 300-acre family farm. Harold and Carrie have four children, Sallie Gale, Deborah Ann, Linda Irene, and Thomas Harold, Jr

Sallie Gale Gregory married Gregory Frazier Frost. They have three children, Sallie Jane, Carrie Lydia, and Wesley Frazier.

Deborah Ann Gregory, a daughter of Thomas Harold and Carrie Gregory, married William Hardison Wilson. Their children are Monica Ann and Adam Gregory.

Linda Irene Gregory is the third child of Thomas Harold and Carrie Gregory. She married Alan Wayne Mechelik, and is a nurse. They have two children, Jason and Christopher.

Thomas Harold, Jr., is the fourth child of Thomas Harold and Carrie Gregory. He married Daphne Dawn Versar and they had two children, Christopher Channing, and James Lance. Harold and Daphne divorced and Harold remarried, to Holly. They have a son, Hunter.

Annie Elizabeth Gregory was the fourth child of Thomas Hutcherson Gregory and Sallie Richard Easley. Elizabeth married Robert McCloud Breen. Bob had been born on Christmas day, 1925. They operated the Willowbank Motel in Harrisonburg, VA, where Elizabeth and her sisters had graduated from James Madison College. Robert Breen died in 1992. Elizabeth and Bob had two daughters, Robin Elizabeth, and Susan.

Robin Elizabeth Breen married Robert Lewis Johnson. Both Robin and Bob have made military careers as officers in the Army. They have two daughters, Alexis Michelle, and Meredith Anne. Susan Breen has married Drew Collins and they have divorced. She has one child.

The Pigg family as it relates to the Gregory family refers to the ancestors of Elizabeth H. Pigg (1810-1873). Elizabeth was the wife of Richard Dennis Gregory of Pittsylvania County, VA, and the great-grandmother of Mildred Easley Gregory of Crewe, VA, and Aston, PA. Elizabeth represents the seventh generation of the Pigg family in Virginia. Pigg family genealogies also provide the names, but no details, of five earlier generations of the family in England.

The first members of this family to come to America were two brothers, John and Robert Pigg. John is believed to have been born about 1630 in England. Both John and Robert were Cavaliers, or supporters of King Charles I, during the English Civil War (1642-48). Both were members of the Church of England, the Anglican Church, and their lives were probably made unpleasant during the reign of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans (1649-60). Robert was granted a pass to depart England on April 9, 1650. John received grants of land in both New Kent County, VA (now part of King and Queen County) and in Old Rappahannock County, VA (now Essex County) between 1658 and 1683. These grants were obtained by John’s paying for the transport of English immigrants to the Virginia colony. John probably came to Virginia when he obtained his first grants in New Kent. Thus it appears the Piggs were brothers of some wealth, who felt obliged to leave England due to the oppression of the Cromwell Republic.

Robert and John Pigg’s father was Charles Pigg. Their aunts and uncles were Ann, Rachel, Margaret, Ursula, Thomas, Mary, Robert and Oliver Pigg. Charles’ father (John and Robert’s grandfather) was Richard Pigg, and he had a brother, Oliver. Richard’s father was Hugh Pigg. Hugh’s father was Thomas Pigg, and his grandfather was also named Thomas. We know only the names of these English ancestors at this time. Thus the earliest known Pigg ancestor is Thomas Pigg, the great-great-great grandfather of the Cavalier and immigrant brothers, Robert and John Pigg, and Thomas represents eleven generations before the birth of Elizabeth H. Pigg.

John Pigg, the immigrant to Virginia, resided in present King and Queen County, VA, probably in the lower section along the north bank of the Mattapony River. He married, with his wife’s name being Jane. John and Jane Pigg had at least five children, John, Jr., Elizabeth, Ellen, Edward, and Henry. We cannot be sure of the extent of John’s land holdings, or how much he may have disposed of over time, but he received upwards of 12,000 acres over the years for paying for the transport of immigrants and was certainly one of the largest landowners in King and Queen County. Jane died about 1684, and John died about 1700.

John Pigg, Jr., was born after 1653. It is not known for sure if he was born in England or Virginia. In the spring of 1702, 51 of the most prominent citizens (including John Pigg, Jr.) of King and Queen County sent a declaration of loyalty to King William III. This was William of Orange, and the declaration was probably made because of French efforts to promote "Bonnie Prince Charles," the son of James II, who William and Mary had deposed, as the rightful English monarch. This declaration points out the difficulties and delays in communication between England and the colony, as William had died in February 1702, and this was clearly unknown to those making the declaration.

In 1702, John Pigg, Jr. was serving as the Deputy Sheriff for King and Queen County. In 1729 he was serving as Clerk of the Vestry for the Stratton Major Parish of the Anglican Church.

He was married and his wife’s name was Jane. There are surviving records of John Pigg, Jr. obtaining at least 3000 acres in King and Queen and King William (present Caroline County) Counties by paying for the transport of English immigrants to Virginia between 1703 and 1730. He died in 1730. Two sons of John (Jr.) and Jane Pigg are known, Paul and George. George Pigg continued to live in King and Queen County, and he was a member of the Stratton Major Parish, being assigned pew #seven when a new church was built in 1767.

Paul Pigg, a son of John (Jr.) and Jane Pigg, was born about 1688 in King and Queen County, VA. Paul spent part of his early adulthood exploring the mostly uninhabited portion of western Virginia. He traveled westward to the Blue Ridge mountains, and then southward, investigating the area around present Pittsylvania County, where he was to return late in his life. Pigg River in the Pittsylvania area was named after him, based upon these explorations.

Paul Pigg married twice, his first wife being Elizabeth Osborne, born in 1692 in Amelia County, VA, and the daughter of William Osborne. Paul and Elizabeth lived in King and Queen County and had three children there, born between 1714-1718. Apparently Elizabeth died, and Paul married Sarah, with whom he had seven additional children. The children of Paul Pigg, by his two wives, were:

By Elizabeth Osborne,

Paul, Jr., born 1714, married Rebecca Clements,

John, born 1716, married Ann Clement,

Elizabeth, born 1718, married an Osten,

by Sarah (Pigg),

James,

Richard,

Pattia,

Sarah,

Ann,

Mary,

William, born 1735, married Mary (Polly) Fields.

One of the four daughters (by Sarah) married Robert Adams, but we do not know which one.

Paul and Sarah Pigg lived in that portion of King William County which became Caroline County in 1723, and continued to reside there until 1734. Paul had continued to obtain property by paying for the transport of immigrants to the colony, as had his father and grandfather. From 1734 on, his transfers and acquisition of property appear to be from straightforward sales and purchases. In that year he sold his Caroline County land and purchased 400 acres (at a cost of 40 shillings) in Prince George County (present Amelia County) and in 1737 another 400 acres (for the same cost of 40 shillings) in Goochland County (present Cumberland County). In fact, these two tracts of land are on opposite sides of the Appomattox River.

In 1756, Paul and Sarah Pigg sold the last of their property on the Appomattox River and moved to Halifax County (present Pittsylvania), buying land on Great Cherrystone Creek and the Bannister River, near the present town of Chatham. He and Sarah lived here until he died on November 27, 1767. At the time of his death he owned 1000 acres and an estimated 500 pounds of additional property, including 10 slaves. All of Paul’s children, except for Paul, Jr. and Elizabeth (Osten) came west to Halifax with him. Richard lived with his mother Sarah, following his father’s death and apparently obtained the family home. William Pigg followed his father’s practice of moving west, going to Kentucky in 1799, where he died in Clay County, KY some time before August 2, 1824.

John Pigg was the second son of Paul Pigg and Elizabeth Osborne. He bought some of his father’s property in Amelia County in 1742 when he married Ann Clement. Ann was born in 1712 in King William County, a daughter of William and Ann Taylor Clement. William Clement (1691-1760) had purchased land in Amelia County in 1735, neighboring that of Paul Pigg. William was a judge and later Sherif of Amelia County, where he died.

William Clement was the son of Benjamin Clement (born about 1650 in Gloucester Co., VA) and Grizelle Coleman (born about 1650). Benjamin’s parents were Francis Clement (about 1630-1719) and Elizabeth Meriweather (about 1630-1710). Francis was born in Gloucester Co., VA and died in Isle of Wight Co., VA. Elizabeth was born in James City (Jamestown). Francis’ parents were Jeremiah and Edy Clement, Jeremiah being born on Nov. 8, 1607 in London and died in 1636 in James City, VA. Jeremiah’s parents were Geoffrey Clement and Elizabeth Fuller of London. Elizabeth’s father was Culbert Fuller.

Elizabeth Meriweather’s ancestors trace back to the Norman invasion of England. Her parents were Nicolas Meriweather and Elizabeth Woodhouse. Elizabeth Woodhouse’s father, Henry, III (about 1608-1644) was born on Bermuda and died in Norfolk, VA. Captain Henry Woodhouse, Jr., born about 1573 in Wayham, England, married Frances G. Pembrookshire. Sir Henry Woodhouse, Sr., (born about 1557) married Ann Bacon (born about 1546 in Chiselhurst, England). The Bacon line is known about twelve additional generations to Grimbaldus Bacon, a Norman who after the invasion lived and died in Norfolk County, England.

John Pigg was a miller. He is believed to have built the first mill on the Appomattox River, which later became known as the Clement Town Mill. In 1763, John and Ann sold their Amelia property and moved to Pittsylvania County, near his father. John Pigg then built a mill on the Bannister River, and subsequently on Pudding Creek in Pittsylvania County. He was a substantial landowner in Pittsylvania County, and was one of the leading churchmen in the Anglican Church. John Pigg was a captain in the local militia, and in 1768 took an oath of loyalty to the King of England, and the English government.

As the events leading up to the Revolutionary War occurred, John Pigg’s loyalty to England and the Established Church of England, got him in trouble with the local Committee of Public Safety, the committees which formed the backbone of opposition to the Crown. On Feb. 22, 1775 the local committee condemned John Pigg. His offenses were the use of East India Tea (the same tea which was taxed by England and for which the Boston Tea Party occurred), and then refusing to appear before the committee to answer its charges. For these offenses he was branded a traitor to his country by the committee. As the war proceeded, he continued to serve as a vestryman for the Anglican Church parish, as more and more dissenters left the Church of England. It is difficult to determine from this whether John Pigg was sympathetic to the English side (a Tory), or just neutral, but it appears unlikely he was a supporter of the Revolution.

In 1782, John Pigg was enumerated in the Virginia census as a head of household in Pittsylvania County. In 1785, the year of his death, he is not listed. John Pigg and Ann Clement had four children, all born in Amelia County:

Hezekiah Ford, born 1742;

Keziah, born 1744,

Elizabeth, born 1748.

Keziah Pigg married John Hubbard, who had been born in Amelia County about 1740, on Feb. 24, 1769. Eady Pigg married John William Owen, born about 1750 in Halifax County, on March 28, 1771. Elizabeth Pigg married Jesse Robertson, born about 1751, and whose parents resided in Prince Edward County. The weddings of all three daughters of John and Ann Pigg took place in Pittsylvania County.

Hezekiah Ford Pigg was named for his uncle, Captain Hezekiah Ford of Amelia, the second husband of Ann Clement’s sister Elizabeth. Captain Ford’s son, Hezekiah Ford Jr. (Hezekiah Ford Pigg’s cousin) was very active on the American side in the Revolution, serving on the staff of General Light Horse Harry Lee and as an aide to Benjamin Franklin on his mission to secure assistance from France.

Hezekiah Ford Pigg was the son of John Pigg and Ann Clement, born in Amelia County in 1742. He married Elizabeth Nash, whose family resided in Prince Edward County, in 1763, and moved with his father that same year to Pittsylvania County. In 1771 he purchased more than 2800 acres in Pittsylvania County in the vicinity of Chatham and his father’s property. In 1793 he purchased, sight unseen, 2000 acres of land in Kentucky, along the Wilderness Road, which passed through the Cumberland Gap, a primary migration route for settlers. He was one of the largest landowners in Pittsylvania and owned slaves. He was enumerated as a head of household in Pittsylvania County in both the 1782 and 1785 Vi