C LINE

JOSEPH FLORIEY AND HIS DESCENDANTS

 

The Joseph Flory Project--Richard Gethmann has been hard at work developing Web files for every known descendant of Joseph Flory.  In taking on this project, he has been assisted by Flory family historian, John Marcinkowski.  They have been given permission also to use David Blocher's extensive files on the family.  At this point, the first  links to many of Joseph's lines are up, those pertaining to Abraham, David,  John, Katherine, Mary, Joseph and Peter, the sons and daughters of Joseph II, and eleven children of his brother John. You can access these files by clicking on  Abraham,  David, John, Joseph, Peter, (sons of Joseph II) and Mary, and Katherine (daughters of Joseph II) or the following sons and daughters of John, including Rachel, Abraham, Elizabeth, Anna, Barbara, Catharina, John, Daniel, Maria, Magdalena, and Salome here, or you can click on these files in the descendant chart below. Because of the large number of descendants of Jacob, Richard Gethmann has made some changes. In his words:

 "Because of the large number of descendants of Jacob, rather than posting lines from each of his children, we will be posting lines starting with either his children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren, depending on the number of descendants. If you go to the "Joseph the immigrant" page <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gethmann/1.JF/JosephFlory.htm> and scroll down to his offspring, you see a link to son Jacob's first child, Jacob Jr. (1760-) and to his four children. If you click on Jacob Jr., you will go to a homepage for Jacob Jr. with links to the four children of Jacob Jr. from the Joseph page."


When the project is finished, each of Joseph's grandchildren  who continue the line will have a file of all of their known descendants.  It is a time consuming process, and I would like to thank Dick for agreeing to do it.

       The English ship “The Hope,” which was under the direction of Master Daniel Reid, stopped at Rotterdam and the Palatinate among other ports on its way to its final destination in Philadelphia on August 28, 1733.  Recorded on the ship’s list were Joseph Floriey, age 51, his wife, Anna Maria Bugh, 40, and his children, Maria Floriey, 21, Joseph Floriey, 19, Hanliey Floriey, 17, and John Floriey, 15. What was a little bit out of the ordinary with this list is that most ships did not bother recording the names of female passengers at all, sometimes listing women and children under 16 merely as "freight."  Pictured here on a photocopy of one of those lists are the original signature marks of Joseph Flory and his family (apparently all were illiterate), including his wife, who went by her maiden name as is characteristic of Swiss tradition:



         For a complete listing of all of the recorded passengers on The Hope that was transcribed by Richard Gethmann, click on Hope Passenger List .  

      Until recently, no one quite knew where Joseph came from in Europe.  Family traditions seemed to agree that he lived in a small town somewhere in the Rhine Valley near Switzerland, but  the name of this town is has not as yet been uncovered, although there is some speculation that it may have been in the region of Zweibrucken. Moreover, even if he came from a small town in Germany, there is no reason to assume that he was necessarily born in this town.  Recent scholarship, seems to indicate that Joseph may have been Swiss, and that he possibly was born i in or near either the Canton of Solothurn or the Canton of Berne where there were a number of Flory or Fluri families.  

       Walter Bunderman believes that several other Floriey children also came here with Joseph,  a son named Jacob, and a daughter named Barbara.  According to Naff family tradition,  Joseph may have had a child named Eva born on ship during the transatlantic voyage (Bunderman calls this child Katherine).  Anna Maria Bugh (her family name), apparently, had one more son with Joseph, an Abraham Floriey in 1735, the only known child of Joseph’s to have been born in America. 

      The only other time Joseph’s wife’s name appears on a public document is on a bond which she had to sign at her husband’s death in 1741 indicating that she would provide a full list of his goods to authorities within six months for the purpose of taxation.  To view both the original bond and the inventory of Joseph's estate, click on bond.

      Joseph brought his family from Philadelphia to Rapho Township in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.  The area was known for its Dunker activity, and several of Joseph’s own children were baptized at the Conestoga Congregation a short distance from his home.  Rapho
adjoins Hempfield Twp. which was originally settled in 1715 entirely by Mennonites, including the Neff family. Joseph Floriey, the Younger, was baptized at Conestoga in 1741 at the age of 27, his brother John in 1747 at 29, Jacob on May 1, 1748, and the previously unknown Barbara in 1754.   For a list of those who were baptized by Elder Michael Frantz of Conestoga from 1739-1747, click Conestoga.  Sooner or later, anyone doing research into the history of Joseph and his descendants will want to know something about the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers).  An excellent web site outlining the history and beliefs of that church can be found by clicking on Dunkers.  This site links into other interesting sites on the Mennonites and Anabaptists, among others.  You might also be interested in  Huguenots.

      It is interesting to speculate as to  why Joseph, at the age of 51, decided to immigrate to America.  He appears to have been relatively prosperous.  He had money enough to pay for a minimum of six passages over here.  Approximately half of the Germans who emigrated, incurred debts along the way, and were auctioned off in Philadelphia into a servitude that lasted from 3 ½ to 7 years.  Mary had to post a bond of approximately 200 pounds on his death due to the extent of his goods.  Because of Joseph’s age and because of his prosperity, many assume that he came here for religious reasons.  He did settle in an area that was known for its non-orthodox religious fervor and was near an area that had been settled earlier by Mennonites.  Family genealogists have speculated for a number of years that Joseph may have been an Anabaptist, fleeing from religious persecution. Recent evidence suggests that he came over here together with at least 14 other Mennonite families aboard the Hope, at least some of which were from Zweibrucken, near the source of the Saare River in the Duchy of Pfalz.

      There are questions still regarding Joseph, although some of them appear to be on their way towards being solved: (1) who were his parents?  (2) how many wives did he have?  (3) are all the children that Bunderman attributes to him necessarily his?  There are also questions surrounding the 1733 "baptismal" certificate for "Kathleen Florin," who, Bunderman and others believe, may have been Joseph's daughter, although most discount his reading of the name on the document as "Kathleen."  Roxann Flora Rhea's study of possible Zodiac signs on this certificate may be seen by clicking on the following link -- Zodiac Signs and Family History.

     Whatever the case, Joseph descendants today form, by far, the largest grouping of Florys in America.  If you are a Flory and if your ancestors were Northern and did not come from Northampton County, Pennsylvania, you probably are a descendant of Joseph.

 

 

 

Descendants of Joseph Flory

Generation No. 1

1. JOSEPH1 FLORY was born 1682, and died October 1741 in Lancaster Co., Pa. He married ANNA MARIA (MARY) BUGH.

      Two major developments have recently come forth with respect to the story of Joseph Flory and his wife, Mary: (1) strong evidence that when Joseph emigrated from Germany on the Hope in 1733 that he was part of a contingent of Mennonite refugees, at least some of whom were from Zweibruecken, a region near the source of the Saare River in the Duchy of Pfalz; and that many of these refugees, wherever they were living in 1733, were born in Switzerland; and (2) reasonable certainty that the full name of Joseph's wife Mary, the subject of so much speculation, was Anna Maria Bugh (Buch).

     These developments were researched and published by Richard W. Davis on his subscription website, MennoSearch.com. Mr. Davis' site is devoted to research of the Mennonite families of Switzerland and Germany. It tracks them and their descendants who immigrated to America from the year 1709 to the early 1800's. Mr. Davis has written 4 books on the subject, all of which are included on the site, and has done research for further studies. He is considered to be a leading authority in this area, and his hypotheses have to be considered seriously.

    Davis' focus is on the relationship between 27 Mennonite families in Zweibruecken and the departure of the Hope in 1733. While his attention was not drawn specifically to Joseph Flory, Joseph's name and family do figure into his hypotheses. 

     1.The Hope was a Mennonite ship in the sense that a group of Anabaptists came over together on it in 1733. Joseph was one of those Anabaptists. 

     2. The evidence for the above was that there was a Mennonite congregation of about 27 families living in Zweibruecken in 1732. This was confirmed by a census report sent to Mennonite leaders in Amsterdam in Holland. The report indicates that the Zweibruecken congregation was made up of exiles from Alsace in 1713. Many of these exiles were apparently born in Switzerland. Unfortunately, individual family names are not given on this list, but we do know that the ministers were Hans Grundtbacher, Hans Hieruli, and Christian Martin. The deacon was Christian Stouder. 

     3.At least two of these leaders' names (Hans Grundtbacher and Christian Stouder) appear on the passenger lists of the Hope. 

     4.Davis can find no evidence that Mennonites were living in Zweibruecken after 1732. He theorizes that most, if not all, left as a group on the Hope in 1733. Because the census list of 1732 does not list names of the 27 Mennonite families then living in Zweibruecken, it is difficult to determine how many of the passengers on the Hope did indeed come from that area beyond the minister and deacon named above. Davis does find evidence that at least one other passenger onboard the Hope in 1733, Ulrich Longenecker (who settled in Rapho Township), was from Zweibruecken. In a quick search through the Internet, I found another Mennonite passenger, Henry Gerber, who was also from that region. 

     5. There were definitely other Mennonites on the Hope other than the four individuals named above. The ship lists were not a alphabetical listings. As indicated earlier, men and women are divided into two lists by gender. However, within these lists, families are grouped together (husbands with sons, and wives, apparently, with daughters, mothers, and sisters).

     5.Beginning with the first name on the ship list of males, that of Ulrich Wissler, running down to that of Christian Blank, Davis finds that the first 13 families all have Mennonite connections. Of these first 13 families at least 3, as we have seen, came from Zweibruecken (it is important to again note that he does not believe that these families were born there, but they probably immigrated there, and that many of them were Swiss). 

     6.When he runs down the corresponding list for the women, the first 13 families there seem to pretty much match the first 13 male families, at least when it comes to names of daughters (Steinman, Zimmerman, Flory). However, there are 5 or 6 women who correspond in age to the men on the male list, but who don't appear to have husbands anywhere on the ship. This would have been highly unusual. Women did not travel alone. 

     7.Davis's explanation is a simple one. They were following the Swiss tradition of going by their family names, not by their husbands' names. Ulrich Wissler, 36 (the first male name listed), for example, may have been married to Anna Ester (25) (the first female listed), Ulrich Reinhard (29) to Barbara Bechtel (29), Hans Grumbacher (26) to Barbara Reinhart (23), Hans Steinman (49) to Anna Grebel (48), Christian Stouter (45) to Elisabeth Schnebeli (44), etc. There may be one or two people out of place on this chart, but when daughter's names are factored in, the idea that the families were charted together, with two lists kept for the sexes, seems pretty clear. When the male in question was old enough to have daughters 16 years or older (some children under this age were listed separately), the corresponding woman in question was generally listed before those daughters, in the place where one would expect to find a mother's name.

     8.The name of Anna Maria Bugh appears just prior to the names of Mary Flory (21) and Hanliey Flory (17) on the ship list (and in the same handwriting as that used to transcribe the names of the Flory children). Her age of 40 is appropriate for that of the wife of Joseph (51). There is no male aboard the Hope with the name of Bugh, so she was not traveling with a husband by that name. Moreover, as you know, German women as well as men went by their middle names rather than their first names. Anna Maria would have been called Maria, or Mary. She was Joseph's wife. Flory researchers have been searching for the missing Mary Flory for decades, and it appears that she was in full sight all along. We just did not recognize her for what she was.

     9. The alternative to this theory would be Bunderman's, that somehow Mary was "overlooked" on the ship list--or perhaps that Joseph married Mary in America (eliminating the possibility that Catherine was his child) or that Joseph married a 21 year old woman (the 21 year old Mary on the ship list). The most obvious answer is probably the correct one. Swiss women were listed by their maiden names, and Anna Maria Bugh was Mary Flory. 

Children of JOSEPH FLORY and ANNA MARIA (MARY) BUGH are:

1.1. MARY2 FLORY, b. 1712.

A Mary Florey, whose age was 21, appears on the ship list of "The Hope." Nothing else is known about her. Because her age is 21, she may have been born to a mother other than Anna Maria Bugh (whose age is listed as 40 on the ship lists of "The Hope"), who would have to have been no older than 18 when she was married to have a child at 19.

1.2. JOSEPH FLORY, b. 1714; d. 1785.

1.3. HANLIEY FLORY, b. 1716.

A Hanliey Flory, age 17, appears on the ship list of "The Hope" in 1733. The name of "Hanliey" is unknown in Germany, and this may be an affectionate name for her by the members of the family or it could be the result of faulty transcription by an English recorder on ship.  There is a Swiss name of Anneli, which roughly means "little Anna."  This could be Hanliey's actual name, indicating that the family was ultimately Swiss.

1.4. JOHN FLORY, b. 1718; d. November 1781.

1.5. JACOB FLORY, b. Abt. 1727; d. 1796.  Jacob's grandson, JOHN FLORA, constructed the first settlement in Monroe Township, Indiana, near where the town of Flora, so named in his honor, stands today.  To see modern ephemera from this town from the collection of Eric E. Flora, click on Ephemera.

1.6. BARBARA FLORY, b. Abt. 1732.

Barbara Flory was baptized at the Conestoga Congregration in 1754. This is the only time her name appears on public record. While there is nothing to directly link her to Joseph, Walter Bunderman in his 1948 study assumes that she is his daughter. The congregation was a short distance from Joseph's place of residence in Rapho Township, and there was no other Flory family in the immediate area from which she could have come. There are several alternative explanations, but since Barabara has been accepted by tradition as being Joseph's daughter, she will be placed so here.  Roxann Rhea notes that there are two possible references to Barbara elsewhere.  A Barbara Flohr of Rapho Township married and Adam Bach, Jr., of Lebanon Township on May 2, 1769.  A Maria Barbara Florin married a Johan Bartolomaeus Shuh in Philadelphia on September 19, 1757.  This latter record is from an Evangelical Lutheran Record, and the former from a Reformed Record from the Pastoral Records of John Casper Stoever.  The existence of Rapho Township Barbara Flohr opens up a number of possibilities, one of which is that a Flohr family and a Flori family could have become confused. Was it a Flohr and not a Flori who was baptized at Conestoga?

1.7. KATHRINNA (EVA)  FLORY, b. September 08, 1733; d. 1821. Bunderman in his study on the family calls her Katherina or Kathleen, although evidence from Naff family (reference to her in an unpublished autobiography by her grandson, Isaac) suggests that her name may have been Eva.

1.8. ABRAHAM FLORY, b. 1735, Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., Pa; d. 1827, Madison Twp., Montgomery Co., Ohio.

 

Generation No. 2

 

1.2. JOSEPH2 FLORY (JOSEPH1) was born 1714, and died 1785. He married CATHERINE ZOLLINGER.

Children of JOSEPH FLORY and CATHERINE ZOLLINGER are:

1.2.1. ABRAHAM3 FLORY, b. Abt. 1739, Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., Pa; d. January 19, 1796.

1.2.2. DAVID FLORY, b. Abt. 1739, Lancaster Co., Pa; d. 1795; m. EVA.  Click on the above link for a listing of all known descendants.

1.2.3. JOHN FLORY, b. Abt. 1743, Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., Pa; d. 1797; m. MARY APOLLONIA.

1.2.4. MARY FLORY, b. Abt. 1744. Married Michael Bomberger (b 1737) in 1762. They moved to Maryland and had at least two sons. There is no Michael Bomberger (or any Bomberger) in the 1790 federal census in Maryland. Michael was the brother of John Bomberger, who married Mary's sister, Katherine. Nothing else is known about Mary, including the names of her descendants..

1.2.5. KATHERINE FLORY, b. Abt. 1745.

1.2.6. JOSEPH FLORY, b. February 06, 1751/52; d. January 10, 1795, Middletown, PA; m. EVA CATHERINE TOOT, June 23, 1777.

1.2.7. PETER FLORY, b. Abt. 1755; d. 1830-1839; m. (1) CHRISTINA GERTRUDE; m. (2) ?.

1.4. JOHN2 FLORY (JOSEPH1) was born 1718, and died November 1781. He married ANNA MARIE DANKERS.

Children of JOHN FLORY and ANNA MARIE DANKERS are:

1.4.1. ELIZABETH3 FLORY, b. May 1741.

1.4.2. ANNA FLORY, b. April 1744.

1.4.3. BARBARA FLORY, b. August 21, 1745.

1.4.4. ABRAHAM FLORY, b. June 02, 1749.

1.4.5. CATHARINA FLORY, b. May 10, 1750.

1.4.6. FANNY FLORY, b. July 31, 1751.

1.4.7. JOHANNES (JOHN) FLORY, b. May 03, 1753.

1.4.8. DANIEL FLORY, b. August 08, 1754.

1.4.9. MARIA FLORY, b. March 02, 1756.

1.4.10. MAGDALENA FLORY, b. July 13, 1757.

1.4.11. CHRISTINA FLORY, b. July 20, 1758.

1.4.12. SALOME FLORY, b. October 24, 1759.

1.4.13. ESTHER FLORY, b. January 26, 1750/51.

1.4.14. JUDITH FLORY, b. February 11, 1762.

1.4.15. ROSINA FLORY, b. March 13, 1763.

1.4.16. REGINA FLORY, b. March 09, 1764.

1.4.17. JOSEPH FLORY, b. July 18, 1765.

1.4.18. MICHAEL FLORY, b. December 18, 1766.

1.4.19. HEINRICH FLORY, b. October 25, 1768.

1.4.20. RACHEL FLORY, b. February 18, 1771. For a complete listing of Rachel's descendants, click on the above link.

1.5. JACOB2 FLORY (JOSEPH1) was born Abt. 1727, and died 1796.

Children of JACOB FLORY are:

1.5.1. JACOB3 FLORY, b. 1760; d. 1838.

1.5.2. JOSEPH FLORY, b. 1761; d. 1841.

1.5.3. SAMUEL FLORY, b. Abt. 1768; d. 1843.

1.5.4. ELIZABETH CHRISTINA FLORY, b. March 24, 1774, Frederick County., MD; d. 1809, Franklin Co., VA.  Married Henry Brubaker on March 19, 1795 in Franklin Co., VA.  Elizabeth had 9 children, one of whom was Jonathan Brubaker.  One of these lines proceeds from Jonathan to Jacob Brubaker to Elizabeth Brubaker (married George Shull) to Peter Shull to Ann Marie Shull (married Daniel Forney) to Ruth Elizabeth Forney (married Harlan Jesse Brooks) to Betty Jeanne Brooks (married Glen Campbell) to Philip Campbell to Christopher and Colleen Campbell.

1.5.5. ABRAHAM FLORY, b. 1776; d. 1858.

1.7. KATHRINNA2? (EVA?) FLORY (JOSEPH1) was born September 08, 1733, and died 1821. She married JACOB NAFF 1755.

   If Joseph and his wife had a daughter on ship when they crossed the Atlantic, her name may have been Eva and not Katherine.  This is the name by which her grandson, Isaac Naff refers to her. The name "Katherine" comes from a reading  of a birth document that Walter Bunderman had access to in his research of the family for his 1948 book.  For a discussion of this issue, click on the mysteries section and read the second entry.  You may also wish to read a discussion of the Zodiac signs on this document.  If so, click on Roxann Rhea's article at  Zodiac Signs and Family History. 

Children of KATHRINNA? (EVA?) FLORY and JACOB NAFF are:

1.7.1. MARY3 NAFF, b. 1756.

1.7.2. ABRAHAM NAFF, b. February 22, 1758.

1.7.3. SARAH NAFF, b. 1762.

1.7.4. ISAAC NAFF, b. 1763.

1.7.5. ELIZABETH NAFF, b. 1765.

1.7.6. JACOB NAFF, b. Abt. 1768.

1.7.7. JOSEPH NAFF, b. 1769.

1.7.8. JONATHAN NAFF, b. 1771.

1.7.9. SUSANNAH NAFF, b. 1773.

1.7.10. CATHERINE NAFF, b. 1777.

1.7.11. DAVID NAFF, b. 1780.

1.8. ABRAHAM2 FLORY (JOSEPH1) was born 1735 in Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., Pa, and died 1827 in Madison Twp., Montgomery Co., Ohio. He married ANNA CATHERINA BLOCKER circa 1759.

Children of ABRAHAM FLORY and ANNA CATHERINA BLOCKER are:

                              1.8.1. CATHERINE 3 FLORY, b. November 25,1761; d. July 25,1846)  m. 
                              FREDERICK BLOCHER  (1765--1844)

1.8.2. RACHEL FLORY, b. December 6, 1763; d. July 19, 1841. m HENRY MILLER SR.. (ca1750--1812)

1.8.3. MARY FLORY, b. ca 1765; d. April 11, 1856; m. ca1789 MICHAEL MILLER, SR d. ca1817

1.8.4. JOHN FLORY, b. August 28, 1766, Rockingham Co., VA; d. February 20, 1845; m. CATHERINE GARBER.

1.8.5. SUSANNA FLORY, b. March 14, 1768, Franklin Co., PA; d. November 21, 1856, Somerset Co., PA; m. JOHN BEEGHLY.

1.8.6. JOSEPH FLORY, b. December 29, 1769, Franklin Co., PA; d. October 30, 1823; m. ELIZABETH BEEGHLEY.

1.8.7. ABRAHAM FLORY, b. 1774, Somerset Co., PA; d. March 14, 1796.  m. Mary .........

1.8.8. EMANUEL FLORY, b. July 13, 1776, Franklin Co., PA; d. March 09, 1849; m. (1) SARAH KEAGY; m. (2) ELIZABETH BLOCKER ROYER, December 16, 1823.

Emanuel  was a Dunker minister and farmer.

1.8.9. HENRY FLORY, b. Abt. 1777, Franklin Co., PA; d. November 24, 1824, Montgomery Co., OH; m. ANNA KEAGY.

1.8.10.  SARAH FLORY/FLORA (1780--1810) m. ca1805 ABRAHAM HORNER

 

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