Andrew Friend Potomac
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Andrew Friend and His Family: The Earliest Pioneers of the Potomac River 2nd Edition by Patty (Friend) Thompson and Patrick T. Smith 2 Printed 2013 in the United States of America by Emma Gus Press Copyright © by Patrick T. Smith and Patty (Friend) Thompson, the authors. All Rights Reserved by the author. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. Edited by Patrick T. Smith and Patty (Friend) Thompson Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Andrew Friend and his Family. The Earliest Pioneers of the Potomac River, 2nd Edition. Patty (Friend) Thompson and Patrick T. Smith 2nd Edition Includes references and index ISBN: 978-1-4675-1323-4 LCCN: 2012931903 1. Genealogy of the Friend Family, 2. Patty (Friend) Thompson, et al. 3. Andrew Friend, 4. Potomac River Cover: Part of the Map from the 1736 Survey of the Potomac River by Benjmain Winslow, obtained from the Librabry of Congress. The homesites of two of Andrew Friend’s sons (Israel and Charles Friend) are located on this portion of the map. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments 7 Dedication 9 Introduction 11 Comments on the US Census 15 Chapter I Nils (Nicholas) Larsson Friend (Frande) 23 Anna Andersdotter Andersson 23 Family of Nils (Nicholas) Larsson Friend (Frande) 23 Details on the children of Nils (Nicholas) Larsson Friend (Frande) Brigitta Nilsdotter Friend (Frande) 24 Anders Nilsson (Andrew) Friend (Frande) 24 Catherine Nilsdotter Friend (Frande) 24 Anna Maria Nilsdotter Friend (Frande) 25 Johannes Nilsson Friend (Frande) 26 Susanna Nilsdotter Friend (Frande) 27 Sarah Nilsdotter Friend (Frande) 27 Gabriel Nilsson Friend (Frande) 28 Lawrence Nilsson Friend (Frande) 28 Barbara Nilsdotter Friend (Frande) 29 Chapter II Anders Nilsson (Andrew) Friend (Frande) 33 Miss Rambo 33 Rebecca Helm 33 Isabel (possibly Stidham/ Steddom) 33 Family of Anders Nilsson (Andrew) Friend (Frande) Mary (Marie) Friend 33 Israel Friend 33 Charles Friend 33 Notes on Anders Nilsson (Andrew) Friend (Frande) 34 6 Table of Contents page Chapter III Mary (Marie) Friend 51 Robert Turner 51 Israel Friend 51 Sarah (unknown) 51 Family of Israel Friend 51 Last Will and Testament 52 Final Appraisal of Estate 53 Notes on Israel Friend 55 Addendum to Israel Friend Home 83 Land Deeds of Israel Friend 91 Details on the children of Israel Friend Jonas Friend 105 Jacob Friend 528 Charles Friend 529 Catherine Friend 530 Mary Friend 530 Charles Friend 531 Gertrude Carthery/Cantery 531 Children of Charles Friend Gabriel Friend 531 Jacob Friend 531 Charles Friend Jr. 531 Index 533 Information on the Friend Family Assocaition of America 569 Ordering Additional Books 573 About the Author 575 7 Acknowledgments We would like to thank the many contributors who permitted us to include their work. We would like to thank (alphabetically), Mark Friend, Thomas Friend, William Rice, Warren Skidmore and Glen Swartz for the use of their invaluable research. We sadly acknowledge the passing of Dr. Peter S. Craig, November 2009. His research has extended our knowledge of the Friend family immensely. Dr. Craig was always ready to share his knowledge by assisting all researchers. He was extremely patience with “beginners” in genealogy and very precise in his own work, checking time and again for possible updates and corrections. Dr. Craig will be deeply missed by many who came to know him through the Friend reseach. We wish to acknowledge and extend a sincere thank you to all genealogists who have assisted over the years with additions and/or corrections to their families records included in this book. We have made every attempt to assign credit whenever possible. However, we fear that recognition for some sources may have been missed. Often the same information can be found in several places, making it difficult to cite the original source. Some of the genealogical work was found at the FFAA library and many donations to the organization were submitted unsigned. If we have failed to assign credit for any work included in this publication, it was not an intentional act. We would like to thank Ina Hicks and Shirley Drent, the former librarians at the FFAA Library in Friendsville, MD. 11 Introduction The Europeans that traveled to the New World in the early 17th century did so at great risk. Their pioneering spirit and sense of adventure drew them away from the known world and sent them into a pristine environment filled with opportunity and hardships. It is difficult to imagine the Eastern United States as a wilderness; yet, this region was a vast uncharted territory for these explorers. Our ancestors survived harrowing ordeals as well as personal tragedies when venturing into this new world. Why did these people risk so much? We believe our ancestors came to America for a better way of life for themselves and future generations. We are the fortunate recipients of those actions and are eternally grateful. Nils Larsson Friend (Frande) was one of those early adventurers who traveled from Sweden to Upland (West Chester, PA) in 1648. Nils Friend’s adventurous spirit was instilled in his children who were the first “New Americans” to explore Southern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland and Virginia. This book will focus on Andrew Friend (Anders Nilsson Frande), son of Nils Larsson Friend (Frande) and many of his descendants. The records of Andrew Friend and his family are vast and unfortunately, contradictory at times. We have attempted to collect and correlate the information that has been published to date. It is difficult to sort between facts and the logical conjectures of past Friend researchers. First and foremost, there is a great deal of confusion concerning the wife, wives and children of Andrew Friend. Many researchers believe Andrew Friend had one wife, either a Miss Rambo or Rebecca Helm. Other suggests that both women were the wives of Andrew Friend, while a few propose that Andrew Friend had a third wife (Isabel Stidham/ Steddom). We have found multiple combinations of the 12 three different women as wives. It would appear that a two-wife theory is most often presented, although we can find no clear consensus or conformation on the matter. The number of children Andrew may have fathered and the relationship to the mother or mothers is an entirely different dilemma. After a great deal of thought, we do not feel confident in any attempt to sort out the mother/ child relationships. There appear to be three children (Mary, Israel and Charles) commonly presented with most histories of Andrew Friend. We have focused on these three, although we do not discount the probability that there were more children. The first edition of this work was published in 2006 and contained fewer than two hundred pages. We found the available information on Andrew Friend had expanded exponentially, exceeding well over fifteen thousand pages when compiling this edition. Organizing this information has proven to be a challenge. We have decided this work will focus on Andrew Friend, his daughter Mary (Marie), his son Israel Friend as well as Israel’s children, Jonas, Catherine and Mary Friend. Jonas and his descendants will comprise the majority of the book. Andrew Friend’s son Charles as well as several grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren will be chronicled in their own books or series because of the volume of material. These people and their immediate families will be briefly outlined in the book. Andrew Friend’s grandsons, Jacob Friend and Charles Friend, the sons of Israel Friend, will be presented in two separate series known as Jacob Friend, Elizabeth Skidmore and Their Descendants and Charles Friend of Missouri, Son of Israel Friend, respectively. While Andrew Friend’s grandson, Jonas Friend will be covered in this book, his daughters, Nancy and Sarah (the great granddaughters of Andrew Friend) will presented in: 13 Nancy Friend, John Currence and Their Descendants and Sarah Friend, William Wilson, Jr. and Their Descendants. Andrew Friend’s great great granddaughters Mary Davisson Friend, Sarah Friend and Mary Wilson are presented in Mary Davisson Friend, William D. Arthur (Arters) and Their Descendants of Webster County, WV Books I, II, III and IV (2013), Sarah Friend, James Canter and Their Descendants of Mason/ Jackson Counties, WV (2013) and Mary “Polly” Wilson, Robert Fletcher and Their Descendants of Arkansas. Andrew Friend’s son, Charles Friend, will be presented in Charles Friend of Swede’s Delight. This book shall be offered in an outline format, with numerous footnotes to maintain and clarify the lineages. We have attempted to chronicle a part of the life of Andrew Friend and his descendants in the hope of preserving this information before it lost to the winds of time. Pat Smith (2013) 33 Andrew Friend (Anders Nilsson Friend) 11 a. Birth: Abt 1659, Upland (New Sweden), Delaware Co., PA b. Death: 1748, Swede's Delight (Williamsport), MD c. possible wife of Andrew Friend: Miss Rambo 1. Birth: unknown 2. Death: unknown d. possible wife of Andrew Friend: Rebecca Helm 1. Birth: 1670, PA 2. Death: Bef 1699 e. possible wife of Andrew Friend: Isabel (possibly Stidham/ Steddom) 1. Birth: Abt 1661, PA 2. Death: Aft 1726 3. married: Bef 1699 (possibly 1689) f. children of Andrew Friend 1. Mary Friend 2. Israel Friend 3. Charles Friend g. Comments on Andrew Friend’s wives and his children. 1. There is an ongoing debate among Friend researchers as to the name and/or names of Andrew Friend’s wives. The ‘two wife history’ is most often presented. Dr. Peter Craig has presented the only documentation, we have found, that lists Andrew Friend’s wife was Isabel.