THE PEACH/PEACHEY PROJECT The Electronic Peach Tree Issue 10 Editor: John Harding Peach Peachroot@aol.com

Thanks for all the encouraging and helpful comments I have received from many of our passengers since Issue 9. TODD PEACH was quick to remind me of an error that may have already frustrated some of you. I left something out on the web page address. So here is the correct version, I hope: http://home1.gte.net/tpeach/Genealogy/Genealogy.htm

Our next leg of the cruise will be from Le Havre, Normandy, to Pevensey Bay, England. This was the route William the Conqueror, descendant of Rollo the Norwegian Viking, took in 1066 AD when he led his fanatical forces to capture England at the Battle of Hastings.

But before we cruise again, I would like to take some time to get to know some more of those on board, including those who have joined us since landing at Normandy.

The eyes and ears of the world have been focused on Nova Scotia in the eastern part of Canada for the past few weeks. Off the coast of Peggy's Cove in the Atlantic, SwissAir 111 plunged into the watery grave with 229 precious souls aboard.

During this time, I have focused my attention on the 14 passengers we have on board the H.M.S.Peachey who are from Canada. The recent two Peach Trees that never made it from my computer to yours highlighted these folks. Sorry to say, those are lost forever. However, I will do my best to recreate the background of our Canadian kinfolk, who next to the U.S.A. has the largest representation on board.

But first, I would like to introduce you to some folks that you just need to meet as soon as possible. They have overwhelmed me with their highly-energized interest in this Peach/Peachey Project and have flooded me with a vast assortment of information that helped bridge the gap between their families and branches I have previously identified.

DR. WILLIAM SAMUEL PEACHY of Saudi Arabia

Before this project began, I had no knowledge of any Peche descendants in the entire continent of Asia, except for a missionary in Israel. But as soon as Dr. William Samuel Peachy found out about this endeavor, he emailed me from his home in Saudi Arabia. Since that time, he has brought his entire family on board, including his wife, Nuriye, and his three daughters: Ayla, Leyla and Miriam. His son, Solomon, lives in Georgia, U.S.A. and is also on board.

Recently, Dr. Peachy bought about everything I had produced on the Peach/Peachey subject. For those who complain about prices on things in America, we don't realize how well we have it until we have to pay $35 to ship a package of two books and a video to Saudi Arabia. And that is without any insurance or certified mail costs, as the post office wouldn't even provide these services to this middle eastern country.

Dr. Peachy and family have been in Saudi Arabia for 11 years. His grandfather, also WILLIAM SAMUEL PEACHY, lived in Virginia where Peachys have lived since his immigrant ancestor came from England in the 1600s. Dr. Peachy is a professor at a university in Saudi. He writes,

"The Virginia Peachys have been mostly Episcopalian, as was my own father, FREDERIC PEACHY. But starting with me and my wife, NURIYE, Islam (and all my children) has become a religion for Peachys.

"When I first came to the Middle East, I went to teach English in a small Turkish town in Anatolia. Having learned a little Turkish, I knew that the word 'PEACH' in Turkish meant 'BASTARD'....I told everyone there my name was pronounced 'PESHY', which had no unfortunate meaning, and I thought was closer to our Norman French name as well. (In college, by the way, I was given the nickname, 'La Peche.')

"All went well until Nuriye and I were awaiting the arrival of our wedding guests. Other Americans, who didn't know of the pronounciation change, arrived in their scores, asking for those American BASTARDS! Was that the original sin of the family in Scandinavia or Normandy?" (Editor's note: Yes, William, it was. William de Peche I was an illegitimate son, the reason he was called "de Peche.")

"Now when we got to Saudi Arabia," Dr. Peachy continues, "where the dialects are all Arabic, the 'p' for Peachy becomes 'b' , and the name is pronounced 'BITCHY' (cf. PETER BITSCHE from Switzerland). For thos who know English here, and the number of them is great, it's irritating to be called the 'BITCHES'....

"Now we've also lived in Iran, where Solomon and Miriam were born, and the peach is a Persian fruit....I hope the cruise stays in the North Atlantic for a while, as the weather here in Riyadh has been 120+ lately. Best wishes to everyone else on the ship, and Bon Voyage!"

Part 2, Issue 10 of Electronic Peach Tree, THE PEACH/PEACHEY PROJECT

Before I try to continue this issue that I started five days ago, I need to send out a public apology to all my faithful passengers. For the past two months, I have replied to every email you have sent me, even if it was only an aknowledgement that you wanted to be on board the cruise.

However, I was devastated and bordering on being suicidal when I found that AOL hasn't been sending my mail I have sent through my Flashsession feature. In other words, I usually reply to my email offline. Then I use the Flashsession to send all my mail and retrieve all my mail in one easy step.

Yesterday, I just happened to open my Outgoing Mail file, which normally would be empty. And there was close to 100 emails that hadn't been sent. They were all to you folks, the last people in the world I would want to offend or ignore. Worst yet, the text on these emails is now unavailable. I can't even open them to resend them to you. In fact, I don't even know what they said. So I can't retype them.

But I am determined to go back to the emails that have been sent to me over the past two months and reply to them again, one by one. This will take a long time, but I am determined to respond to these. Please be patient with me.

Meanwhile, if you sent me an email, and you didn't receive a response from me, then you will know why and hopefully will forgive me. From now on, I am going to check this Outgoing Mail box regularly to see if my Flashmail was not sent. Better yet, I am going to try to compose my emails online.

The only positive thing about finding this lost email box was that I found the two issues of The Electronic Peach Tree that I thought were lost. I will now use the material I prepared in those Peach Trees to put in the next issue. Now to get onto better things, let's continue where I left off five days ago.

THE PEACHY GENEOLOGY

All those aboard with the "Peachy" surname are those of the Dr. William S. Peachy family. These are not to be confused with those of the "PeachEy" surname. Why is there a difference in the spelling of Peachy and Peachey? Does this mean these are from some different branch of the Peche? Based on the information AYLA, Dr. William S. Peachy's daughter sent, the answer is negative.

I have reason to believe that Peachy and Peachey are of the same lineage. Somewhere along the way, apparently, someone dropped the "e" from the name. This could have been done by mistake by irresponsible clerks keeping records. Or it could have been there was no standard way of spelling the name in earlier centuries.

Nevertheless, Ayla's information she sent about the family below is identical with much of the information about the origin of the Peachey family (with an "e") in America. She writes:

"According to my grandfather, FREDERIC PEACHY, we are direct descendants of ROBERT PEACHY of Mildenhall, Suffolk, England. Robert's son, SAMUEL PEACHY, migrated to Richmond Co., Virginia in 1659. One of Samuel's sons, WILLIAM PEACHY, married and had a son whom he named SAMUEL PEACHY. Then he had a son named THOMAS GRIFFIN PEACHY. Thomas G. named his son WILLIAM SAMUEL PEACHY.

"This WM.SAML.PEACHY served as a general in the Revolutionary War in the Continental Army under Gen.George Washington. His son, THOMAS GRIFFIN PEACHY, named his son WILLIAM SAMUEL PEACHY. (This repetitive naming is a family tradition. Every other generation has the name, WILLIAM SAMUEL PEACHY. Hence, this is how my father got his name.)

"Continuing the above, William Saml. Peachy had a son, WILLIAM DANGERFIELD PEACHY, who had seven children. One of these was named WM. SAML. PEACHY, who was the father of FREDERIC PEACHY (my grandfather).

"Frederic was born in Seattle, Washington, USA. As his father died when he was four and his mother remarried and moved abroad, he lost contact with many of his Virginia relatives. My father is one of his four children.

"Unfortunately, the tree isn't complete, since I don't have the names of many of the siblings of the Peachy ancestors. Maybe through this project, we can piece together the details. My regards to all on board, AYLA PEACHY."

On pages 93, 94 of THE PEACH/PEACHEY MIGRATIONS book, I refer to the immigrant ancestor of this family, SAMUEL PEACHY. In his will Samuel's name was spelled "PEACHEY" (with an "e"). There was another will found by a descendant of the this Samuel, whose surname was spelled "PEACHIE." I still believe there were several variant spellings for the family, and at that point when they were doing their best simply to survive and stay alive, the way they spelled their surname was quite irrevelant.

Until the next newsletter, I am sincerely yours, Captain John H. Peach

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