Peach Genealogy - Newsletter, Issue 18


THE PEACH/PEACHEY PROJECT
The Electronic Peach Tree Issue 18
Editor: John Harding Peach Peachroot@aol.com
WEB PAGE: http://home1.gte.net/tpeach/Genealogy/Genealogy.htm

THE PENNSYLVANIA - KANSAS CONNECTION

On page 244 of THE PEACH/PEACHEY MIGRATIONS, I wrote, "The first Peach listed in the Pennsylvania records was JACOB PEACH, who sailed from Bristol, England in 1756 and settled in Philadelphia. Originally, he lived at Graves Inn, London. He must have later migrated to Virginia because of his listing in the book, EARLY VIRGINIA IMMIGRANTS by George C. Green.

"However, it was a second JACOB PEACH, who is recognized as father of 'The Pennsylvania Branch' of Peaches. Being born in Virginia, it seems quite possible that he was the son of the first JACOB PEACH mentioned above."

The first Jacob was born in 1756; the second in 1785; making the first 29 years old when the second was born. The second Jacob was born and raised and got married in Virginia, but moved to Pennsylvania in 1809 before later settling in Ohio. If Jacob was the son of the Jacob of 1756, his father had lived in Pennsylvania and perhaps inspired his son to move there.

And look at where the second Jacob lived in Virginia. At that time West Virginia had not been created from Virginia. Thus, to be in what is now West Virginia now was the same as being in Virginia then. If you look at a map, you will note that Pennsylvania borders West Virginia, or the Virginia of Jacob's era. The area that the second Jacob got married was within two counties removed from Pennsylvania in what is now called West Virginia.

I am now going to make one broad stroke and attempt to form a connection between what I have called THE PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH and what was identified as THE KANSAS BRANCH. So much evidence has been provided to me lately by those on board that in my mind these branches must be the same family.

If so, then they would both begin with the same common ancestor. If the first JACOB PEACH was the father of the second JACOB PEACH, father of the Pennsylvania Branch, then he must also be the father of CHARLES PEACH, father of the Kansas Branch. If this is the case, then the Kansas Branch can also trace their origin to Graves Inn, London.

We have representing the Kansas Branch on board CONNIE MINCY. DONALD RATEKIN was with us for awhile, and I wish he would rejoin our tour, as he is the foremost authority on this branch. We really miss him.

Representing the Pennsylvania Branch on board are CARAL M. BENNETT, DAN GIFFIN, THERESA JANCZAK, KEN REESE, and CAROL NIKIELSKI. Most of these have provided me with much information on their lineage, enabling me to establish the full picture and paint the following broad stroke.

Let's look at the reasons these two separate branches are more than likely the same family.

1. Charles and the second Jacob were both born in Virginia within three years of each other. Jacob, the oldest, was born in 1785 and Charles in 1788. 2. Charles got married in Hardy Co., Virginia (now W.VA). Jacob got married to two women (sisters) who lived in what is now Hampshire Co., W.VA. These counties border each other. Therefore, these two "brothers" could have lived within miles of each other or even in the same home. Just because they got married to women in two bordering counties didn't mean they had to live in the county of their marriage.

3. And the only county separating these from Pennsylvania is Morgan. It was quite typical for those who migrated to Pennsylvania during the colonial days to head southward looking for a place to settle. One of the largest, historical migrations was made down the Shenandoah Valley along the Appalachian Mountains. This was the same path these two Peaches traveled when they went to Virginia.

4. Apparently, these "brothers" left Virginia together and moved to Ohio. For in the 1820 census they are both in Lawrence Twp. in Stark Co. There, the census taker spelled both their last names as "Patch". (It was typical for these early census takers to make spelling errors). For instance, in the 1830 census these two who were "Patch" in 1820 are now listed in the same township, same county, as "Peaches". (CARAL BENNETT says it is printed "Peaches" in the census book, but appears to be originally handwritten by the census taker as "Peachy"). Then in the 1840 and 1850 censuses Jacob is in neighboring Summit Co. (Bath Twp.) with his last name spelled "Peach" each time.

Well, these similarities between these two branches continue. But for lack of time and space, I must come to a stopping point. Hopefully, just from these four reasons, you will be able to see why I believe these two branches are connected to the same ancestor and in the same family.

There are those who don't socialize much on the tour. Perhaps, they just are sitting back taking it all in. However, DAN GIFFIN is not one of those. He has freely shared on numerous occasions while on our cruise. His parents are shown on p.258 of THE PEACH/PEACHEY MIGRATIONS. His line comes from Jacob Peach (PA Branch), through his son, JOHN PEACH and his second wife, AMANDA (HAYES) LANDIS, and their son, WARIE LANDIS PEACH (p.248).

Dan says that when Warie moved from Ohio to Colorado he left the Brethren Church to join the Methodists. His reason was because he didn't like the practice of the Brethren to greet one another with a holy kiss, especially because men chewed tobacco and had tobacco juice dripping down their faces while in church. He had a problem kissing these faces. I loved that story and felt you would really enjoy it.


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