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This is the second blog of a two blog series about searching for our colonial ancestors during a visit to New England and the Mid-Atlantic States. I recommend that you start by reading the first blog at
In Search of Colonial Ancestors in New England.
Before recounting our visits to ancestral sites a little background is necessary. I thought that I would try to follow the various branches of our family tree from the beginnings at the ports founded on the Delaware River, as they would merge with other branches in the westward migration across Pennsylvania.
I selected my Ross ancestors as the main family to which other would intermarry. I did so because the Ross family of my great grandmother, Anna Elizabeth Ross, can be traced directly, without going through spouses, to the progenitor, Sir Farquhar MacTaggart (Mac an t-Sagairt Ó Beólláin), Mormaer (Earl) of Ross, Lord of Skye and Lewis, who was born in 1170 in Ross, Ross-shire, Scotland who is my 23rd great grandfather. He is Linda's 26th great grandfather; one of many intersections of our family trees. This blog will cover the Ross family from the time they arrived in New Castle, Delaware in 1705 until now. The next blog will cover
Immanuel Episcopal Church, New Castle, DE
Founded by Rev. George Aeneus Ross, 5th Laird of Balblair in 1705the period before 1705 when we go to Scotland in 2022.
Back in 1638, Sweden, which was then a strong European power, decided to play the game of the other great powers by establishing the New Sweden Colony at the mouth of the Delaware river as far north as present day Philadelphia. The
Old Swedes Church remains from that time. My ancestors, Samuel Nils Nilsson (9th great grandfather), his son Jonas Nilsson and his wife Gertrude (8th great grandparents), and Gertrude's parents, Sven Svensson Gunnarsson and wife Brigitta (9th great grandparents), all of whom immigrated from Skaraborg, Dalarnas, Sweden were among the first Swedish colonizers. However, the Dutch who had colonized New Netherlands (the Hudson River Valley) and New Amsterdam (Manhattan) also laid claim to this area, and reclaimed it by force in 1655. In 1681, the English took New Netherlands, which included New Sweden, by force followed by a treaty that had the British cede Banda Island in the East Indies (the only place that the very valuable spice nutmeg grew) to the Dutch. The British established two colonies, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the northern border of which is a 12 mile radius from the corner of New Castle
DE court house.
Starting with Delaware, Rev. George Aeneas Ross, 5th Laird of Balblair arrived at New Castle DE from Balblair, Scotland in 1705. He was the founder and first rector of
Emmanuel Church, the first Anglican church in Delaware. Construction began in 1702 and was completed in 1708 under his supervision. His wife was Joanna Williams. They are my 6th great grandparents. George served there until his death in 1754. They had six children, including Jacob Jasper Ross (5th great grandfather). His second wife, Anna Catherine van Gezel, had two sons; one of whom, John, married Elizabeth Griscom, also known as Betsy Ross, the seamstress who created the first Stars and Stripes flag; and the second son, George, who was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.
Turning to Pennsylvania, William Penn sought to establish a colony for religious minorities, and in particular the Quakers, of which he was one. He purchased the land which Philadelphia now occupies from the aforementioned ancestor, Sven Svensson Gunnarsson. After the Pennsylvania Colony was established, William Penn granted Berks County to the Swedes to encourage them to move away from Philadelphia which he reserved for the Quakers. Both Linda and I
have Quaker ancestors who came to Pennsylvania from Ireland, Scotland, and England, but that's another story.
Returning to Jonas Nilsson, his son, Mounce (Måns) Jonasson and his wife Gertude Svensdotter (daughter of Sven Svensson Gunnarsson) (7th great grandparents), were early settlers of
Douglassville, Berks County. Their son Peter married a local girl, Elizabeth Henry (6th great grandparents), and anglicized their name from Jonasson to Jones. Their son, 1st Lt. Peter Jones married Ruth Henton (5th great grandparents). Ruth was the daughter or George Henton and Persis Boone (6th great grandparents) who had immigrated from Stoke Cannon, Devonshire, England to Berks County in 1717. Persis and her brother George Boone, the grandfather of Daniel Boone, were the forebears of the
Boone Family in Berks County. They were Quakers. George Henton's father, Capt. William Henton, would become neighbors of the Boone clan when they moved to Kentucky.
Berks County was also settled by Mennonites and Moravians. 1st Lt Peter Jones and Ruth Henton's daughter, Persis Jones would marry Matthias Zimmerman (4th great grandparents), whose great grandfather was Rev. Johann Jacob Zimmerman (7th great grandfather), born in Vaihingen, Germany (where I worked from 1980 to 1984). He was a non-conformist (Mennonite)
theologian, astronomer, and mathematician (mentioned in book 3 of Isaac Newton's "Principia Mathematica"). He is also 8th great grandparent to Josh Groban, as featured on the TV series "Who Do You Think You Are." He died in Rotterdam in 1693 just before his family along with another 11 Mennonite families boarded a ship to Germantown, Philadelphia. Matthias and Persis's daughter, Ruth Zimmerman would marry John Weaver (3rd great grandparents) in 1809.
The first Weaver to immigrate to America was Johannes Weber and his wife Elizabetha Gertraud (5th great grandparents). They were Moravians. They immigrated from Siegen-Wittgenstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 1744 to
Muddy Creek, Lancaster County. John's son, also John, but now with his last name anglicized from Weber to Weaver, had a falling out with the Moravians as they did not approve of his choice for a wife, Jean Davis (4th great grandparents). They were married in Philadelphia in May 1777 and moved to Northampton County. Their son John was born there in 1780. He married Ruth Zimmerman, as mentioned above. They and their sons moved to Union County on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. One of these sons John Weaver married Margaret McGee in June
1853.
Margaret McGee's's paternal grandfather Col. John McGee (my 4th great grandfather) immigrated from Islemagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland to Center County PA in about 1780. Her maternal 2nd great grandfather, Rev Johann Heinrich “Henry" Antes (my 6th great grandfather), immigrated from Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (where I enjoyed "wine probes" in the late 1970s) to Germantown, Philadelphia in 1726. Henry Antes would marry Christina Dewees (6th great grandmother), the daughter of William Dewees and his wife Anna Mehls (7th great grandparents) who immigrated from Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands to Germantown PA in about 1700.
Count Zinzendorf appointed Henry Antes to be the leader of the Moravian Church in America. Henry founded a Moravian
herrnhut (a community of believers under the protection of God) in Bethlehem PA, and was
baumeister (construction manager) of the first mill on the Monocacy River in 1743, the Single Brethren House and the Sisters House in 1744, the Bell House in 1748 and its two additions in 1748 and 1749, the Brethren House or Colonial Hall in 1748, the Crown Inn, and numerous mills and industrial buildings. He also built the
Henry Antes House for his family in Frederick Township, Montgomery County PA where
he passed away in 1755. I inherited his construction management genes!
Henry Antes partnered with William Dewees to build the second paper mill in America. William also partnered with Issac Potts to build an iron forge at what became known as
Valley Forge. The forge on Valley Creek eventually was a source of military materials with the arrival of war, and despite his being a Quaker, Henry Antes' son Col. John Antes married Anna Maria Paul who immigrated from Hanover, Germany (5th great grandparents). He and Isaac Potts devoted a large part of the production from the forge to the war effort. The production of munitions from this location was cause for the British to make it a stop on their way to Philadelphia in 1777. Following their victory at the Battle of Brandywine, a contingent of British forces reached Valley Forge on September 18th where they carried off the "rebel stores" and burned the forge and all the structures except the gristmill. John Antes was a colonel of the Pennsylvania militia. At Col. John Antes invitation, General George Washington stayed at the Henry Antes house from 23-26 Sep 1777. Washington paid £10.12.6 for his stay...he was very scrupulous
about recording expenses! General Washington arrived at Valley Forge on December 19, 1777 with his troops, wintering in miserable conditions, until June 1778. While there Washington stayed at the Potts house for which he paid £100.
William Dewees was also a spy for Washington, having written to to him the following:
"Hond Sir I Have Just Recd Information which I Beleive to be the Best Can be Obtaind that the British Army had Last Night Packd up all their Baggage & each Man four Days Provision Coock’d; their Horses hitchd to their Artillery & every Appearance of marching out Immediately But something happening which is Not accounted for the orders were Countermanded; the Reason Assignd to me is they Expect our army to move their Camp very soon as they Have Recievd such Information and think they will Do Better to attack when your army moves as they have heard you are advantagiously Posted; But it is Expected they are Determind to Attack you where you Now Are; on Saturday morning Next I Expect I shall be Able to Inform you Exactly when they will Attack for Beyound all Doubt they are Determind to Attack at all Events;
1 I Have the Hounour to be Sir Your Most Obedt Humble Servt
⟨Wm Dewees, Jun.⟩" In 1776 Col. Antes of the Pennsylvania militia built Antes Fort on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River to protect the western boundary of Pennsylvania from the Iroquois. However, the fort was destroyed by the British army and their Loyalists and Iroquois allies during the Great Runaway; a mass evacuation in June and July 1778 of settlers from the frontier areas of north central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River. Among those settlers who evacuated were John Valentine Ross and his wife Suzanna Bray (4th great grandparents) and their son Maj. John Ross and his wife Anna Barnhart (3rd great grandparents) who had just moved from New Jersey to avoid the Revolutionary battles across that state. Anna Barnhart was the daughter of Philip Barnhart, whose ancestors came from Meisenheim, Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany (the state where Linda and I lived from 1977-80), and Elizabeth Marie Antes (4th great grandparents), daughter of the aforementioned Col. John Antes, thus bringing these two branches together . Gen. Sullivan responded to these attacks by destroying 40 Iroquois villages, after which the settlers returned to rebuild their
homes.
Now back to the Ross ancestors. Jacob Jasper Ross married Jane Sayre, whose family originally immigrated to Massachusetts, then to New Jersey. Their son, Jacob Valentine Ross married Susannah Bray whose ancestors first moved to Canada. They along with their son Major John Ross moved from New Jersey to Buffalo Crossroads, Union County PA. The aforementioned Maj. John Ross and his wife Anna Barnhart (3rd great grandparents) were the parents of John Minshall Ross. John was born August 1831 in Boalsburg, Center County (a very lovely colonial town just south of State College on the Colonial Road which linked Philadelphia to Pittsburgh). In 1859 John married Nancy Mahaffey (2nd great grandparents), whose ancestors came from Donegal, Ireland, just before they moved to Mahaffey, Clearfield County PA, at the headwaters of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Here James McGee Weaver married Anna Elizabeth Ross (great grandparents) in 1881. It appears that all branches of my family tree were moving west by following the Susquehanna River, and when they reached the headwaters in 1859 they stopped. My grandmother, Anna Elizabeth Weaver, born in 1897 and died in 1968, is buried at the
Mount Zion Church, a church built
by her grandfather and great grandfather in 1831. My father is buried next to her.
With this background I can now recount our trip across Pennsylvania.
3-4 May 2021 Monday and Tuesday. We left Ridgefield bright and early as this would be a long day. Our first stop was Immanuel Episcopal Church, New Castle DE. I walked around the church and found the door unlocked, so I went in. I found the memorial to Rev. George Aeneas Ross. The old part of New Castle is a lovely colonial town on the banks of the Delaware River. Our next stop was Old Swedes Church in Wilmington DE. It now is surrounded by the poor part of town. It was closed so all I could get is a picture from outside. From there we drove through Valley Forge as it was closed due to the Covid virus, and the weather was pouring rain. We continued on to the Henry Antes House, but it was also closed. There was no sign indicating the historical significance of the house which sat alone on the Colonial Road. Our next stop was historic St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church in Douglasville, Berks. I got out an
searched the graveyard for ancestors' tombstones. I recognized many names. We then drove to the nearby Daniel Boone Homestead in Amity Township, Berks which was also closed. I just took a quick snap shot. Our last stop on the ancestor trail that day was to Muddy Creek, Lancaster County where Johannes Weber/John Weaver had immigrated to from Germany. It is an area, not a village so we entered Muddy Creek into our GPS and ended up at a muddy creek, of which I took a picture. At least we got to see the land he moved to. We stayed the night in Boalsburg, Center County where John Minshall Ross was born. If there is any place we would consider moving to in the northeast, this was it.
The next morning we continued on to Mt. Zion Church, near Mahaffey, Clearfield County. It didn't take long to find the tombstone for my father and grandmother. I used my comb to scrape off the lichen so I could read their names and get a picture. Also buried there are my direct ancestors James McGee Weaver (great grandfather), John Weaver and Margaret Gregg (2nd great grandparents), John Weaver (3rd great grandfather), James
McGee (3rd great grandfather and Mary Ann Barnhart (3rd great grand grandparents), and John McGee (4th great grandfather). In the nearby Washington Cemetery are buried John Menshall Ross and Nancy Jane Mahaffey (2nd great grandparents), and John Ross (3rd great grandfather).
On the way to Linda's childhood home in New Castle PA we went through Ford City for her to see the home of one of her favorite aunts. We arrived home in the early afternoon.
5-10 May 2021 Wednesday through Monday. We visited Linda's mom, brother Jon and sister Melody, and friends Buz and Kathy, who visited us many times when we lived in Europe. The weather was bad the whole week, but we still got to see the sights and shop at an Amish cheese factory. Many Amish have farms just north of New Castle. Linda was able to visit her mom in the nursing home twice, including Mothers Day, something she was unable to do her last visit because of the Covid lock-down.
11 May 2021 Tuesday. Turning to Linda's ancestors, today we visited the
Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery and the
Claysville Cemetery where generations of Linda's ancestors are buried, which we did
not have enough to explore last time (see
Visiting Family Back East, Including the New Born and the Old Dead). At the Pigeon Creek Cemetery, we found the tombstone of Linda's first colonial ancestors, James Hair, who immigrated from New Cumnock, Scotland, and Mary Greer from the Gunpowder River Colony MD, are buried. They were married in Lancaster County PA in 1755 and then moved west to Washington County PA along the National Road. Mary Greer's grandfather, James Greer, immigrated from Capenock, Scotland to the Gunpowder River Colony north of Baltimore MD in November 1684.
Our day ended with a 6:30 PM flight home. We arrived at about 10 PM and Tamara picked us up. It was a great trip! We will be visiting the sites of our Scottish ancestors in Scotland at the end of August 2021.
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Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
Travelling and exploring
Making travels and at the same time having some kind of goal or theme that takes you off the beaten track can be very rewarding. You get to see things and visit places that you normally wouldn't and we find that those places often are just as interesting as the ones you visit by following the recommendations in the guidebooks. Also it was interesting to hear about Old Sweden. One of very few colonies Sweden has ever had. One day we have to go there ourselves to have a look. /Ake