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     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.

9.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.

10. 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.
~. Joseph Flory was born in 1682. He died in October 1741 at Lancaster Co., PA, USA.

     A Mary Florey, whose age was 21, appears on the ship list of "The Hope." Nothing else is known about her.~. Mary Flory was born in 1712.

     Joseph Flory was born in 1714. He died in 1785.

     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.~. Hanliey Flory was born in 1716.

     John Flory was born in 1718. He died in November 1781.

     Jacob Flory was born circa 1727. He died in 1796.

     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.~. Barbara Flory was born circa 1732.

     While there is no official record connecting Katherine with Joseph. There is a baptismal certificate, dated September 8, 1733 with the name of Katherine Florin on it, "Florin" being a feminine variant of "Flory." Naff family tradition indicates that she was born on "The Hope" when it came to America. There are some reminiscences of her in an unpublished manuscript by her grandson, Isaac Naff. He knew her as "Eva."

Katherine's birth certificate, which is in German, does not list the names of her parents or the place of her birth. If Katherine is, indeed, the daughter of Joseph, there are problems with some traditional speculations about Joseph's religious beliefs. Some feel that he was an Anabaptist or Dunker, who came here to this country to find religious freedom. However, Anabaptists did not believe in infant baptism. Did Joseph temporarily put aside his beliefs to have his daughter baptized in his new country? Was he an Anabaptist on his arrival in this country? Several of his sons were baptized at the Conestoga Congregation but Joseph himself was not. Was he a Dunker already, or, as this certificate suggests, was he a member of one of the more mainstream faiths. The Katherine Florin listed on the certificate may not have been his daughter, but that brings up the problem of who else's daughter could she possibly be?

~. Katherina Flory was born on 8 September 1733. She married Jacob Naff in 1755. Katherina Flory died in 1821.

     Abraham Flory was born in 1735 at Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., PA, USA. He died in 1827 at Madison Twp., Montgomery Co., OH, USA.

     Abraham Flory was born in 1764 at Somerset Co., PA, USA. He died in 1796.

     John Flory was born on 28 August 1766 at Rockingham Co., VA, USA. He died on 20 February 1845 at age 78.

     Susanna Flory was born on 14 March 1768 at Franklin Co., PA, USA. She died on 21 November 1856 at Somerset Co., PA, USA, at age 88.

     John Beeghly was born on 26 June 1768 at Germantown, PA, USA. He died on 10 October 1844 at Salisbury, PA, USA, at age 76.

     Jonas Flory was born in 1793.

     Abraham Flory was born on 16 July 1794.

     Joseph Flory was born on 16 July 1794.

     Catherine Garber was born on 15 March 1771. She died in September 1838 at age 67.

     Joseph Flory was born on 29 December 1769 at Franklin Co., PA, USA. He died on 30 October 1823 at age 53.

     Elizabeth Beeghley was born on 17 February 1778.

     He was a Dunker minister and farmer.~. Emanuel Flory was born on 13 July 1776 at Franklin Co., PA, USA. He married Elizabeth Blocker Royer on 16 December 1823. Emanuel Flory died on 9 March 1849 at age 72.

     Sarah Keagy died in 1822.

     Elizabeth Blocker Royer was born circa 1780. She married Emanuel Flory, son of Abraham Flory and Catherine Blocker, on 16 December 1823. Elizabeth Blocker Royer died on 20 September 1855.

     Henry Flory was born circa 1777 at Franklin Co., PA, USA. He died on 24 November 1824 at Montgomery Co., OH, USA.

     Anna Keagy was born at York Co., PA, USA. She died before 1828.

     Catherine Zollinger died in 1793.

     David Flory was born circa 1739 at Lancaster Co., PA, USA. He died in 1795.

     Abraham Flory was born circa 1739 at Rapho Township, Lancaster Co., PA, USA. He died on 19 January 1796.