Tag: Immigrant

January 13, 2018 Dennis Ayers

Before there was slavery in America, there was indentured servitude. The rapid growth of the colonies before 1700 created a tremendous need for labor. Without the aid of modern machinery, human sweat and blood was necessary for the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of tobacco and other cash crops. It is estimated that up to two-thirds of the European immigrants during this time were indentured servants. Gradually, however, by the late 1600s, slavery became the preferred method of obtaining cheap labor.

 

Against this backdrop, William JACKSON, arrived in Surry County, of the Virginia colony in 1679 as a 25 yr old indentured servant. Whether he came willingly or unwillingly to escape poverty or some other condition is unknown, but evidently he could not afford to pay his own passage. Instead he agreed to a 7 year contract to bind his labor in America in exchange for his passage as was customary in such cases. From lists of Tithables (taxable persons), he is listed in three different households between 1679 and 1686, so his contract was apparently sold or traded around. He was a husbandman, someone who cares after livestock. Beginning in 1687 he is listed as head of his own household, no doubt, after fulfilling his servitude contract. He is also on the roster of Surry County Militia of 1687.

 

Subsequently, William became a successful planter in Surry County, which is on the south side of the James River about halfway between the mouth of the river on the lower Chesapeake Bay, and the town that would later become Richmond, VA. It is believed his wife was Elizabeth O’hara.

 

William Jackson was born around 1654 in Hertfordshire, England, and was christened in the Anglican Church of England. This Church of England also became the religion of the Virginia colony. All colonists were to go to church twice every Sunday. William died in Jan 1710 in Surry County, VA. His will proven in Feb 1710 divides his estate between his wife and his children.

February 1, 2013 Dennis No comments exist

ImmigrantAs mentioned, Walter Depew migrated from France to Ludlow, England around 1695. We do not know who Walter married, but he had a son, John, who was born near Ludlow castle “in the North of England” in 1726. Thanks to the research of others including Josephine Depew Shelton a descendant, we believe that John came to America in 1748 while the  colonies were still under British rule. So, John was our American immigrant for the Depew line.

 

Also, in 1748, John married Catherine Shepherd in Princeton, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Later, they lived for a while in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, as records show there was a lawsuit in 1770 in which “John Depew Senr” was a party, and also in Lancaster County where “John Depew, freeman” was taxed 15 shillings in 1771 as a resident. John and Catherine had eight children.

 

Like many other Pennsylvania families, sometime prior to the Revolutionary War the familyPatriot moved southward and finally settled in Botetourt County, VA. John is then listed on Rev War roles as an officer in Captain Henry Heith’s Independent Company of Virginia Troops stationed at Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania in 1777 and 1778. So, it was ironic that John took up the fight as a colonist after being born as a British citizen.

 

After his war service, the earliest record of John Depew in Botetourt County shows that he surveyed a road there in September, 1778. Residents of the county were responsible for maintaining roads for the five miles nearest their property, and all men between the ages of 18 and 65 were required to work on the roads, and could be fined for not doing so.

 

Later, in Aug 1798, there was a survey for John Depew Sen’r of 370 acres on Glade Creek, on both sides of the Great Road (perhaps the Great Wagon Road?). John died at age 85 in April, 1811, after leaving a will made in June 1809. His wife, Catherine, also died that same year at age 80.

 

Botetourt
Botetourt County, Virginia

December 13, 2011 Dennis Ayers 3 comments

The British encouraged Protestant groups to settle in their American colonies, and in particular, Pennsylvania and North Carolina actively sought German and Swiss Palatines who were eager to become colonists.

 

Three Dürrenberger brothers, Hans Stephan, Hans Jacob and Hans Michael arrived in America on the ship Robert and Alice which sailed from Rotterdam, Holland making a call at Dover, England and arriving at Philadelphia on 11 September 1738. On board were 159 German and Swiss Palatines. Upon disembarkation, they were required to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.

 

Passenger records of that time were not very complete or accurate. There is no record proof, but it is believed that the three brother’s father, Johann Peter Dürrenberger, along with his wife, Eva Catharina, and five of his other children probably also immigrated to the colonies at the same time, since they all disappear from Alsatian records after that. Therefore, this suggests that Johann Peter Dürrenberger was perhaps the first, or “The Immigrant”, of our Derrie ancestors to come to America.

 

In old records the German naming convention was for sons to precede the given name with either Hans or Johann (both of which translate to John), and for girls to precede the given name with the mother’s name. So, Johann Peter would most likely have been called Peter. The family was from a region were the pronunciation (i.e.: D = T, and ü = erh, with silent r’s) makes “Dürrenberger” sound strangely close to “Terryberry.” Subsequently, as was common of the period, a wide variation in spelling ensued. Both family surnames, Dürrenberger and Terryberry are thus reported in colonial documents in a variety of spellings. Soon Derryberry was added to the mix. Thanks to recent DNA test data, a bloodline connection has been proven, and Derryberry, Derreberry, etc. are considered to be derivatives of Dürrenberger. Furthermore, as you will see in later posts, Derry and Derrie are also known derivatives of the bloodline.

 

After arrival in Philadelphia, the Dürrenbergers made their way up the Delaware and Musconetcong Rivers of West Jersey to the German Valley, now Morris County, New Jersey, where they settled rather than in Pennsylvania. As mentioned before for the Ayers line, records in northern New Jersey from that time period are scarce. From information available it appears that Peter probably died in Morris County sometime after 1749. Research has accounted for his son Stephen’s death in Morris County and all his descendants. Peter’s son Jacob died in New Jersey in 1794 with no children mentioned in his will. The whereabouts of the third son, Michael, after 1749 are unknown due to lack of records.

 

Other Gemans who immigrated with the Dürrenbergers in 1738 on the ship Robert and Alice, landing in Philadelphia, are known to have made their way south to western North Carolina. It is now thought by some family historians, that Michael also later made his way to western North Carolina perhaps by way of the Carolina Road (see post dated 31 March 2011), or the Great Wagon Road through the Shenandoah Valley to become the originator of the Derryberry families of Burke County.

 

Burke County, North Carolina 

March 16, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Before 1660, most of America’s immigrants came from England and, like most of those that would follow them, they brought their beliefs and traditions with them. They established the language, the laws, and the culture that would evolve into America. Our AYERS ancestors were among those that led the way.

 

John AYRE (or sometimes written AYER) was our first ancestor to arrive in America, and in genealogical terms he is called “The Immigrant” for this bloodline. Like many other immigrants of the time, John and his family most likely came primarily for religious freedom. It must have taken great courage to travel to the new world when he was already in his forties with a half grown family.  They arrived in the Massachusetts colony in 1635 just 15 years after the Mayflower in 1620, and when there were only about 1000 people in the colony.  Most Massachusetts colonists were Puritans who wished to reform the established church of England, and largely Congregationalists who believed in forming churches through voluntary compacts.

 

Thanks to books and records preserved about the early New England colonists, other researchers have pieced together some interesting facts about John Ayre’s life.  I have provided several summaries on the Family Tree website (see link or right).  However, the best summary I have found is on the website of Janson Ayer and I’ll repeat selected portions below.

 

The Story of John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts

This is the story, to the best of my (Janson Ayer) knowledge, of John Ayer and his time in Haverhill, MA. I want to thank people like Willis Brown, Robert Ayers, and Warren Ayer for sharing so much of their research and knowledge. Clearly their input has helped my research significantly and made this website possible.

 

The immigrant John Ayer was said to have come from England, arriving on The James in 1635 with his wife Hannah and their first 4 children – Thomas, Rebecca, Robert, and Peter. There is no documentation found for his journey, but in John’s case he came with money, and perhaps was one of the people who were not allowed to leave without surrendering money and property to the Crown. Per Willis Brown’s research, we place him on the James because of his later close association with other listed passengers on that ship, such as the Pike family, and his kinsman, John Evered alias Webb.

 

The James itself is a part of history, surviving the Great Hurricane of 1635. The James, out of Bristol, England, met the hurricane off the Isles of Shoals, (near the New England coast) there losing three anchors and being forced to put to sea, for no canvas or rope would hold. The storm winds drove her to within feet of the Pascataquack rocks. “At this moment,” wrote Increase Mather (his father, mother, and four brothers being among the one hundred passengers), “their lives were given up for lost; but then, in an instant of time, God turned the wind about, which carried them from the rocks of death before their eyes.” On Aug 13, 1635, The James manages to make it to Boston Harbor proper with “…her sails rent in sunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been rotten ragges…”

So were the parents of’ a great American family delivered from death at the hands of the tempest. Of the one hundred plus aboard the James, none were lost.

Pilgrim House

 

A farmer, John Ayre and his family resided in Salisbury, Massachusetts  from 1640 – 1646, and then moved to Haverhill in 1647, where they were one of the first families to own land.  John and Hannah had 5 more children – Mary, John Jr., Nathanial, Hannah, and Obadiah.

 

According to the “New England Heritage” John was made a freeman, and was a well respected member of Haverhill.  A freeman in those days was not the opposite of a slave. A freeman was more of a citizen with benefits in the Puritan culture. The Church had to vote on who became a freeman, and the process and questions were excruciating.

 

To the best of our knowledge, our John was married once, to Hannah, whose maiden name is lost to history. She survived her husband, and was the mother of all of his children, easily proven by the land deeds of MA.

 

John passed away in Haverhill in 1657, his will was dated March 12, 1656.   His wife, Hannah, survived him, and died Oct. 8, 1688, having remained his widow. John AYER devised his homestead to his oldest son John Jr., a common practice for those times.

 

Note from Dennis:  The town of Ayer, Massachusetts, which in reality is a part of Haverhill, was named after the early AYER settlers.  No doubt it was because John AYER was one of the most prosperous land owners in the area. Below is a picture of the sign entering town which I took when Sheryl and I visited in Oct 2007.

 

March 16, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Before 1660, most of America’s immigrants came from England and, like most of those that would follow them, they brought their beliefs and traditions with them. They established the language, the laws, and the culture that would evolve into America. Our AYERS ancestors were among those that led the way.

John AYRE (or sometimes written AYER) was our first ancestor to arrive in America, and in genealogical terms he is called “The Immigrant” for this bloodline. Like many other immigrants of the time, John and his family most likely came primarily for religious freedom. It must have taken great courage to travel to the new world when he was already in his forties with a half-grown family.  They arrived in the Massachusetts colony in 1635 just 15 years after the Mayflower in 1620, and when there were only about 1000 people in the colony.  Most Massachusetts colonists were Puritans who wished to reform the established church of England, and largely Congregationalists who believed in forming churches through voluntary compacts.

Thanks to books and records preserved about the early New England colonists, other researchers have pieced together some interesting facts about John Ayre’s life.  I have provided several summaries on the Family Tree website (see link or right).  However, the best summary I have found is on the website of Janson Ayer and I’ll repeat selected portions below.

The Story of John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts

This is the story, to the best of my (Janson Ayer) knowledge, of John Ayer and his time in Haverhill, MA. I want to thank people like Willis Brown, Robert Ayers, and Warren Ayer for sharing so much of their research and knowledge. Clearly their input has helped my research significantly and made this website possible.

The immigrant John Ayer was said to have come from England, arriving on The James in 1635 with his wife Hannah and their first 4 children – Thomas, Rebecca, Robert, and Peter. There is no documentation found for his journey, but in John’s case he came with money, and perhaps was one of the people who were not allowed to leave without surrendering money and property to the Crown. Per Willis Brown’s research, we place him on the James because of his later close association with other listed passengers on that ship, such as the Pike family, and his kinsman, John Evered alias Webb.

The James itself is a part of history, surviving the Great Hurricane of 1635. The James, out of Bristol, England, met the hurricane off the Isles of Shoals, (near the New England coast) there losing three anchors and being forced to put to sea, for no canvas or rope would hold. The storm winds drove her to within feet of the Pascataquack rocks. “At this moment,” wrote Increase Mather (his father, mother, and four brothers being among the one hundred passengers), “their lives were given up for lost; but then, in an instant of time, God turned the wind about, which carried them from the rocks of death before their eyes.” On Aug 13, 1635, The James manages to make it to Boston Harbor proper with “…her sails rent in sunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been rotten ragges…”

So were the parents of’ a great American family delivered from death at the hands of the tempest. Of the one hundred plus aboard the James, none were lost.

Pilgrim House

A farmer, John Ayre and his family resided in Salisbury, Massachusetts  from 1640 – 1646, and then moved to Haverhill in 1647, where they were one of the first families to own land.  John and Hannah had 5 more children – Mary, John Jr., Nathanial, Hannah, and Obadiah.

According to the “New England Heritage” John was made a freeman, and was a well-respected member of Haverhill.  A freeman in those days was not the opposite of a slave. A freeman was more of a citizen with benefits in the Puritan culture. The Church had to vote on who became a freeman, and the process and questions were excruciating.

To the best of our knowledge, our John was married once, to Hannah, whose maiden name is lost to history. She survived her husband, and was the mother of all of his children, easily proven by the land deeds of MA.

John passed away in Haverhill in 1657, his will was dated March 12, 1656.   His wife, Hannah, survived him, and died Oct. 8, 1688, having remained his widow. John AYER devised his homestead to his oldest son John Jr., a common practice for those times.

Note from Dennis:  The town of Ayer, Massachusetts, which in reality is a part of Haverhill, was named after the early AYER settlers.  No doubt it was because John AYER was one of the most prosperous land owners in the area. Below is a picture of the sign entering town which I took when Sheryl and I visited in Oct 2007.