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v^„ 1 \ THE N PUBLIC J RY ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN i . L OF GEOGRAPHICAL VlL.lt> Map Showing Siegen, Germany, and its Vicinity. GENEALOGY OF THE FISHBACK FAMILY IN AMERICA THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN FISHBACK, THE EMIGRANT, WITH AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF HIS FAMILY AND OF THE COLONY AT GERMANNA AND GERMANTOWN, VIRGINIA 1714-1914 COMPILED AND EDITED BY WILLIS MILLER KEMPER CINCINNATI ILLUSTRATED PUBLISHED BY THOMAS MADISON TAYLOR Twelve West Forty-Foukth Street NEW YORK 1914 PRESS OF THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY LANCASTER, PA. PREFACE A greater number of years than the compiler cares to acknowledge has been spent in collecting the data contained in the pages of this book. When first interested in the Colony at Germanna there was no assurance that there were any records in existence concerning its origin in Europe, the cause and manner of emigration; its establishment upon the frontier of Virginia, or its early history there; and the prospect of preparing a true chronicle did not seem promising. However, actuated and encouraged by the discovery of a few reliable records, it was felt that by diligent effort it would be possible to assemble sufficient material for an authentic history. The undertaking has been tedious and the search a long one, but it is hoped that the facts here presented will prove of interest and value to every descendant of a member of the Germanna Colony, as well as to students of Colonial Virginia. Exact references to only the more important sources of information consulted have been given, but great care has been exercised to avoid inaccuracies of statement. In places when it seemed essential to discuss records not indubitably established, pains have been taken to indicate clearly that there is some uncertainty. At least one personal journey to the district of Germany from wheoce the immigrants! came, and various visits to the several homes of the colonists in Virginia were made, before this historical, sketch could be concluded. A few portraits and several view:? of S'egeii and its vicinity have been introduced with the hope of adding interest to the pages. A convenient index containing both given and family names completes the volume. Compiling the genealogical records of a family for over two hundred years and assembling the names of 2300 members thereof in their order with correct dates and proper spelling iii IV PKEFACE. is do small task. Mud) indifference was encountered among those from whom data were expected and when requested to prepare biographic sketches of the more distinguished members Hi their families their inertia was remarkable indeed. On the other hand the loyal and energetic cooperation of a large Dumber of cootributors who pursued the lines into almost every State and Territory of our Country has made this work pos>il>!e. To them is largely due the successful accomplish- ment of our undertaking. W. M. K. Cincinnati, August, 1914. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE. Historical Sketch of the Fishback Family 1 Early German Pedigree 5 • Nassau-Siegen . 6 Autobiography of Christopher de Graffenried 14 Governor Spottswood's Letters to the Lords Commis- sioners of Trade 19 Exemption of the Colonists from Taxation 27 List of Colonists in Spottsylvania Co. Will Book 36 The Germantown Patent 41 Henry Hager's Will 49 Inventory of Henry Hager's Estate 50 John Fishback's Will 55 Genealogy of the Fishback Family 77 Directions for Consulting the Genealogy 79 List of Abbreviations Used 80 First Generation 81 Second Generation 83 Third Generation 88 Biography of Jacob Fishback 90 Biography of Phebe Fishback 99 Fourth Generation 110 Biography of Judge Owen T. Fishback 130 Fifth Generation 143 Biography of Gov. William Meade Fishback 196 Sixth Generation 213 Seventh Generation 295 Eighth Generation 345 Index 349 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE FISHBACK FAMILY. It will, perhaps, be a surprise to many to know, that in Virginia, the land of the Cavaliers, the first settled, and in many respects the most English of England's colonies in America, there was seated as early as 1714 an organized German colony. Nevertheless it is true. It was born of religious and economical troubles in Germany, brought to Virginia to exploit her iron mines for the benefit of her rulers, and was the forerunner of a numerous and virile element of her population. It is time that the fame of this colony, and the German element in Virginia's population, should be trumpeted abroad. Great events in the world's history have usually had their chroniclers, in some form or other. What a volume of history is to be found in The Catalogue of the Ships or on the Bayeux Tapestry! Comparing small things with large, one would expect to find that the first organized German colony to come to the territory, later to be known as the United States of America, should have had its contemporary historian. If such it had, the story he wrote has not survived these two hundred years, and until quite recently, this colony with its twelve sturdy German families was almost entirely forgotten. However, within this century the diligent and persistent efforts of a few interested persons, have brought to light, from many widely scattered sources in both America and Europe, a surprising number of documents and historical items, relating to this colony, from which its story can be largely recon- structed. It is the writer's purpose to gather all these docu- ments and shreds of history, together, into this sketch, hoping again to bring to life this German colony, with which our ancestor John Fishback came to America; for its history is his history. It will also be seen as we progress, that much has been 2 1 2 THE FISHBACK FAMILY. learned aboul the emigrant himself and his immediate family; but the writer must caution Ins readers that not too much must be expected in this direction, and for reasons easily seen. No connections of the family can now be found in Germany; and l>nt little can be learned from the records or other public sources, there. Even in this country, excepting the wills of the emigrant and some of his sons, and a deed or two, fortu- nately preserved upon the records of Prince William, Fauquier and ( 'nlpeper counties, no writings of the first two generations of the family in this country are now known to be extant. Doubtless there were such, but owing to the destruction of the early family homes, the scattering of the people, and the ravages of the civil war, they cannot now be found. There is no family record of the first two generations known. We can be sure that there was once such a record in this country. A large Bible in which its record was kept was ever present in every Protestant German family of that time. Other families in the colony in which our ancestor came are known to have had such a Bible, why not John Fishback? We read that the Kemper German Bible weighed fifty-three pound-. Its record began with a short verse calling down the blessings of the Almighty upon the newly wedded pair. John Hoffman, another member of this colony, had such a Bible. So much store was set by it that he provided in his will that it should remain with the eldest of his fourteen children the first year; pass to the second child for the next year, and so on forever. If John Hoffman had such a Bible, doubtless his co-trustee and brother-in-law John Fishback had one. What would we not give to find it? The emigrant's home was broken up at an early date by the death of his first wife, and although he soon remarried, he did not live long thereafter. It seems almost certain that after hi- death there was soon a separation of the two seta of children, tor there is still a tradition that the fir-t wife'- children were reared by their Hager and Rector relatives. In all this confusion, in those primitive years, the greal Bible was forever lost. HISTORICAL SKETCH. 3 Historical documents even down to the fourth generation are scarce, and while they are full of information as to that generation, they tell little of the early history of the family, simply saying that it came from Germany. Like so many documents of the kind, the writers take it for granted that every one knows about the family at that time. So if this historical essay is not as full and interesting as some of Macau- lay's, the writer begs the indulgence of his readers, for he thinks he has done as well as could be done with the mate- rials at hand. The earliest data known with reference to the family of John Fishback are to be found in the records of the Reformed Church of Siegen, in the present Prussian province of West- phalia, Germany. In those records the name is always spelled "Fischbach." The names of the two little German villages just west of Siegen are also spelled Fischbach. This is good German. The English equivalent of the word is "fish-brook." The original possessor of the name plainly lived upon a little stream, in which fish could be caught. To distinguish it from other streams, in which there were no fish, it was called "the fishbrook," and there was a man named Johannes living upon its banks, who, to distinguish him from some other Johannes, was called Johannes of the Fishbrook. When surnames came into fashion, and so many surnames were taken from the place where the party lived, this man came to be called Johannes Fischbach.

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