Iman family notes

The Neighborhood

Henry Eyman lived on a 66 acre tract somewhere on Joe's Creek of Rockingham County. This was a tributary and a bit uphill toward the western headwaters of Linville Creek. Though we can’t identify the precise address, using the 1810 census for Rockingham, which were listed by census takers in household order, we can spot and explore some of the neighbors. Some owned the land they lived on; others may not have. Since most records for Rockingham county were burned during the Civil War, information is hard to come by. In compiling the following thumbnail sketches, we’ve used reconstructed census data from 1784, 1798, and 1820 as well as a Directory of Landowners for Rockingham of Virginia which Roger Ward extracted from land tax records in the Library of Virginia.

Linville Creek is a beautiful area full of curvy roads, lush valleys and meadows. The lowest part is toward the North at Broadway, where the creek merges into the North Fork of the Shenandoah. Heading west from this point to Brock's Gap, one would be headed uphill toward the steep mountain passages to West Virginia. Proceeding South on the Harpine Highway (state 42) one finds themselves at Edom within twelve miles and a bit east of the headwaters of Linville at Greenmount and Singer?s Glen.

The fertile valley of the Shenandoah early attracted the attention of the thrifty Germans of Pennsylvania. As early as 1730, settlers from Lancaster had entered this region, joining Quaker settlers, the few English who entered this area from tidewater parts of Virginia, and the Scotch-Irish frontiersmen. Some of the earliest of the German settlers bought land in what is now Page county even in advance of Jost/Joist Hite who is usually spoken of as the pioneer of the valley. Many of these early settlers were Swiss-German Mennonites whose families, like Eyman, traced back to the Pfalz. Some, particularly those from the southern regions of the Pfalz toward Alsace had taken on the closely related beliefs of Jacob Ahman (Ammish). A break-away charismatic movement (Ephrata Brethren, influenced by Mack) from the Conestoga congregation which believed in celibacy and produced high culture provided the core of closely related Brethren communities.

Settlers to Rockingham first homesteaded around Linville Creek between Edom, where William Lenvill was probably the first to build a mill -- and the spot twelve miles north where Linville Creek enters the North Fork of the Shenandoah. Abraham Brenneman was to settle where Lenvill seems to have rested while other Shanks and Eymans found themselves a mile or two north where the ancestors of Daniel Boone and President Lincoln resided. Henry Eyman, who migrated toward 1790, found his land up Joe?s Creek.. a tributary of Linville which was named after a son of the first land holder in the area. This area, between Brenneman and the Eymans, and in the rolling hills and glades to the west was soon a popular among Swiss-Germans who were shrewd judged of lands they intended to work hard. Generally settlers parked along streams where they could harness power for their mills. Later and new arrivals or those less experienced in judging how fertile forested lands might be, tended to settle on thinner lands toward the heads of creeks and water courses.

There was an abundance of architectural styles used in home construction in the Linville Creek area -- from plain and functional log cabins, at times converted to slave quarters, while owners built larger estates of brick or the preferred limestone quarried from the hills with tile roofs. At times, log structures were simply faced with stone in square styles, or additions were built on to add stately dimension. If log construction was common among pioneers, second and following generations often built with stone when they could. Homes varied in style from simple box styles to gracious antebellum plantation homes full of Roman touches.

Since Mennonites and Brethren churches were slow to evolve formally, architectural styles often reproduced the homes people had known in the Rhine Valley. These houses often had huge chimneys in the middle sometimes eight feet in diameter which made fire in every room in the house possible. Fireplaces often were large enough to walk in or roast an ox. In the absence of churches, congregations often met in homes, and so it was common for walls to be hung on huge strap hinges so that they could be put out of the way an expand spaces to provide a fine meeting place for a congregation of neighbors.

Barns too reproduced the "Switzer barns" of the Rhineland. They were usually built on hillsides with stone foundations in order to produce warm stalls for livestock. Second floors were important for hay or grain. On the up-hill second story entrances, huge revolving doors were often wide enough for a team of horses to drive in with a wagon, unload, turn around, and drive out. Generally make of logs, the structures were joined by wooden pins as iron nails were hard to find, though a forge/furnace at Linville likely helped keep the horses shoed; a requirement for hill travel. Some early barns included cupola outlooks on top to serve as observation posts against Indian raiders and positions from which to launch attack.  

The Neighors

Robert Hemphill

Robert Hemphill, who appeared as early as 1798 census, was the son of a Samuel and had a brother named John who was the eldest son. Mary, sis sister, married a Samuel C. Johnson, and in 1805 filed a bill for divorce in court. Robert inherited some of Samuel's lands and sold them to Henry Smith in 1817. In 1815, the land from the estate of his father was found at Cooks Creek, 1.5 miles Southwest of Harrisonburg where apparently his brother John lived. By 1815, there were no land records for Robert. John persisted and appeared in the 1820 census. Other parts of the family had migrated to Cooks Creek and was residing south and west of Harrisonburg.

Jacob Roudebush

This is likely the Jacob Roudebush born 1752 in Pennsylvania of a German immigrant who ultimately migrated to Carroll of Ohio. Jacob and his wife Anna Mary had ten children born at York of Pennsylvania, Washington County of Pennsylvania, or after 1800, Virginia. Tobias Roudebush, their eldest son, had 19 children. Most members of this family seem to have migrated into Ohio by 1815, although there were Jacob with similar last names living on Smith's Creek and Dry Fork to the Northeast toward Smith Creek and perhaps New Market.

William Louk

This is likely William Lough (also known as Loak or Loch), the youngest son of Nicholas and Barbara (Ott) Loch, was born August 15, 1781 in Woodstock, Virginia (not long after his parents John Nicholas Loch and Barbara Ott moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania). He was the youngest child of his family and was conceived when his father was 50 years of age. William grew up in Virginia and spoke German until learning English when he attended school. At 27 years of age, he married Elizabeth Shoup, age 17, in 1808 in Rockingham, Virginia. William and his young wife were married by the Rev. William Bryan, a descendant of Cornelius and his Thomas Bryan. On the third of February 1809, they had a son named Levi Lough. Shortly thereafter, on the 15th of November 1810, less than three years after her marriage, his wife Elizabeth died. After the death of his young wife, William took his infant son to his father's home in Woodstock, Virginia, where he put him I charge of his sister, Betsy, who was unmarried. Aunt Betsy never did marry and she continued to live with Levi even after his marriage. After the death of his wife, Elizabeth, in November 1810, William apparently went to Kentucky where some members of his family had already moved. Evidently he did not want to settle there for he returned to the Virginia valley. Then in 1818, he moved with his father, Nicholas, his Aunt Betsy, and other members of his family, including his infant son, Levi, into Ohio. She also stated that Levi was carried in his father's arms as he rode horseback. With Elizabeth gone, William later married Mary Ann Bowman, age 21, on 15 June 1813. William served in the militia during the War of 1812.By 1815 there seemed to be no members of this family in Rockingham land inventories.

Philip Bear

Perhaps the son of a Christian/Henry Bear /Bare whose estate property was listed on the Rockingham land inventory for 1815. Court records show Abraham Brannaman (Brenneman) and David Brumfield as bondsmen in relation to a will, where Philip Bear and David Coffman were listed as executors. Coffman subsequently deeded 100 acres along Linville Creek to Philip "agreeable to the last will and testament of Christian Bare, dec'd". Philip and his wife Barbara sold the property to Jacob Grimm near 1811 and moved to Westmoreland.

Charles Chrisman

Born 1775, Charles Chrisman married Catherine, the daughter of Jacob Custer who lived up in Brock's Gap. Jacob was a predecessor of the famous General Custer who took a hard stand against Indians. The Custer family were widely known and respected woodmen and trappers who roamed the hills of what became West Virginia. There were a number of Chrismans in Rockingham for 1810, though none appeared as property owners in 1815. Apparently we have another family which for one reason or another were involved in westward migration. Charles apparently died in 1812. He was the son of George Chrisman (see below), son of the union of Joist Hite's daughter Madeline and Jacob Chrisman. From the early days, Chrismans had owned substantial lands south of those of Lincoln and Bryan. His mother was part of family which produced many soldiers and hunters, including the General Armstrong Custer of the Battle of the Big Horn.

Conrad Depoy/Deppoy

Little can be found for members of this family though and Isaac Depoy and a Jacob Deppoy were married in Rockingham in 1794. In 1815, Conrad was at Sapling Ridge, 5 miles northeast of Harrisonburg. This was quite near an estate property for an Isaac Deppoy at Post Road, 4.5 miles northeast of Harrisonburg. In 1820, families for both a Jacob and a Conrad 'Depoy' appeared census.

Jacob Cohenour

This may be a Jacob Cohenour, known to be a native of Virginia who was raised on a farm, who went to Ohio and from there into Illinois, He had 12 children, two of whom served the Union in the Civil War. His youngest son, also named Jacob was raised on a farm, spent years in military service, and became a lineman on roads, and later an engineer working the engines of a hominy mill in Illinois. No family of this name appeared in the 1815 land inventory for Rockingham County.

Benjamin Linville

One of the first land owners at Linville Creek or in Augusta County was William Lenivell, after whom the creek was likely named, perhaps in an erroneous spelling in a deed, though the town of Linville and family seem to have adopted the new name. Lenivell sold land to George Bowman, Joseph Bryan, Thomas Lenivell (likely a son), and Jacob Chrisman, the son of the son-in-law of Jost /Joist Hite, the major promoter of German settlers for Virginina. William Lenivell had taken 1500 acres, and most of his sub-divisions in 1746 to the key land owners along Linville Creek were about 500 acres. The Bryan land seems to have been the source of Lincoln lands though this is a bit confusing since there were several Bryans in the area. Morgan Bryan, much of whose family intermarried with Daniel Boone's people lived first at Winchester where he had 100,000 for a Quaker settlement, and then moved to the Linville Creek area and resided near the family associated with Cornelius O'Bryan. The Bowman land, probably around the head of Linville Creek, likely included the site of the Bowman's Mill.
As indicated above, there were surely other Linvilles and Linvels in the area.

A different Linville family in Rockingham seems to descend from Henry, British though born in France and resident of Berks County of Pennsylvania. One construction suggest that Henry had a son Joseph Linville, (resident in Berks) who had a son Benjamin who lived in Virginia and first came to Ohio in 1812, returned to Virginia, and went back to Ohio a second time to settle in 1815 in Rush Creek Township of Fairfield. An alternative theory suggests that three brothers from Wales involved a Benjamin with sons and a grandson, as well as William at Linville Creek by 1756. An Ohio genealogy of the Joseph Linville of Ohio noted that he was the son of a Benjamin Linville who died in Virginia. Genealogy of the Parrot family has Joseph marrying in Rockingham in 1813 as the son of Benjamin Linville and Ann Matthews. In any case, most Linvilles had migrated to North Carolina, and were deeply involved with Boone and Bryan families. No Linvilled appeared in the Rockingham census for 1820. Descendants of the Benjamin who migrated to Ohio intermarried with Eymans.

In 1815, a Benjamin Linvel was living up at Brock's Gap on the way to the mountains of West Virginia. Many Linvilles went to Richland of Fairfield County in Ohio by 1820 where they were farmers, though some became involved in serving local office such as county treasurer, and one of Benjamin's son in addition to raising stock set up a mill, became a distiller, and subsequently became a druggist. Linvilles intermarried with Eymans in Fairfield. Though we have not traced Linville back in time, there is a strong likelihood that one would find direct links to the land owner before the Lincolns, Bryans, and others, after whom the creek itself was named.

John Young

Little in known about this John Young found to be a neighbor of Henry Eyman in 1810, although a John Young appeared in the 1798 Rockingham census. He may have migrated or died between this time and 1815 for which there is the inventory of land owners used for this study of neighbors. During 1815, there was a Frederick Young living about seven miles away and southwest of Harrisonburg. It's thought that a Jonathan (John) Young Jr. married Elizabeth Barkley, in Rockingham Co. on August 30, 1804. He's said in web postings to have been born 1779. They had a son named Henry Jackson Young, born about 1835 in Rockingham Co., Virginia. Perhaps Henry had an older brother by the name of Frederick. In 1814 a Frederick Young was taken to court and fined for failing to march -- signs of a strong Mennonite or Brethren orientation. This may also be the Christian Young who was found to be about 40 years with a farming family in Bloom township of Fairfield County of Ohio in 1830.

Christian Young

Nothing is known about this Christian Young, though given the adjacency in census rolls for 1810 it's likely that this is a close relative of the John Young next door. I land records, a Joseph Winger, who had 13 acres adjoining Adam Shank and Joseph Kratzer also had ten acres adjoining Kratzer and Christopher Young.

Daniel Lowry

In 1813, the personal property tax roll provided an inventory of free blacks, and Daniel was listed as a laborer with 1 horse. Fourteen free blacks were listed for Rockingham that year, although interestingly one can read accounts of Rockingham for the period which suggest that there were no free slaves in the area at this time. Daniel on the 1810 tax record, Daniel was over 45. There was no evidence of property ownership for him in 1815. The only Lowry to appear in the 1820 census seems to appear as an elderly free white widow with a son who was just then coming of age.

James Brown

It seems from piecing the scant records available together that a John Brown, whose sons John (the eldest) and James were later involved in setting his estate was lost in the Revolutionary War. James was serving in 1776-77 as a Soldier in the 8th Virginia Regiment commanded first by Muhlenberg and later by Abram Brown, the famous "German Regiment". Little can be found about James Brown, and none appear in the 1815 property list, though other Browns exist then -- the closest being a Henry Brown at North Mountain, near Brock's Gap. In the 1798 Rockingham census there appeared James Brown Sr. and Jr. as well as John, a George and a Peter.

Henry Eyman

Nestled between the Browns, Henry Eyman and Mary Sager of Lampeter seem to have resided on their 66 acre plot somewhere in the Joe’s Creek neighborhood. Since census takers generally listed householders in street order, Eyman was very close to Daniel Lowry and Jacob Coffman/Kauffman. Henry was the son of Ulrich Eyman who had died soon after arriving to Conestoga in about 1763. A patriot with militia service in Lancaster, he was noted as a blacksmith and carpenter and resided for many years at Lampeter, likely close to his wife’s family since the land they owned seemed to have been inherited by Mary from her side of the family. Henry and Mary migrated to Rockingham in the 1790s and would have been close to Abraham Brenneman, and Henry’s older sister Magdalena, who had married Adam Shank. His children married, primarily in Rockingham, prior to the family’s migration into Fairfield County of Ohio around 1814.

John Browne

As noted above, this is possibly the son of a John Brown who died in military service during the Revolutionary war. There were two well known preachers in the area by the name of John Brown, though neither seems a good match for this census finding. Johannes Braun or John Brown, is thought to have been born 1771 in Germany. He became a strong anti-slavery advocate with key publications in 1818. He preached at many churches in the area. If this is the right Brown, he had to have come to America at a very young age in order to have a father who served in the "German Regiment" in 1776-77. There was also a Rev. Dr. John Brown of the Reformed church who was pastor from 1799 to 1850. In any case, there was a John Brown in Rockingham who became a leading minister of the German Reformed Church in VA. He studied theology at Chambersburg, PA and was a strong advocate of Bible societies and foreign missions. In 1815 it seems that he lived ten miles south of Harrisonburg.

Jacob Coffman/Kauffman

An early settler at Linville Creek, Jacob bought his lands in 1783. He is thought to have been born 1742 and perhaps arrived with his father, Martin -- born about 1680 in Germany. Coffman was also spelled Kauffman, and it seems that Martin and his brother Michael were both living in Rockingham and died near Linville Creek. Jacob Coffman is thought to have married Elizabeth Haldeman. He continued to purchase other lands, and was taking deeds in 1794. A Jacob Coffman had been fined in York County of Pennsylvania for refusing military service during the revolutionary war. He had a son by the name of Martin whose name appears as a bondsman in 1807 at the marriage of Andrew Coffman and Elizabeth Conrad. There were a number of Coffman/Kauffmans in the area, and a number of children in this family. Some remained Mennonite while others joined or led Brethren groups; elements of both migrated to Fairfield County of Ohio. This Coffman is thought to be closely related to the David for whom there was a very large estate at Linville Creek in 1815.

Benjamin Denton

Although little is known about him, a Benjamin Denton was charged with slandering James Henry in a court session during 1792. Both appeared on the 1810 census. He seems to have been a minister of some faith, with several weddings recorded in Rockingham during the period. Benjamin was likely part of the family of John Denton who took a large tract of land on the North Fork of the Shenandoah as early as 1735. In 1847 there was a Methodist minister by this name who joined with Lutherans to create an Armenian Union church, which was later dissolved. In 1815, a Benjamin Denton was living at Dry River, 10 miles northwest of Harrisonburg, and thus out toward Brock's Gap.

Abner Yates

Abner was related to Thomas, probably his son. Abner Yates was the executor of the Estate of Thomas Yates in Rockingham Co, 1814. A subsequent Abner Yates appears in Rockingham notes for the Germanic Sellers/Zellers family, though the was thought born about 1825. The Yates name became affiliated with the Linville Baptist congregation which met very nearby and included the Lincolns. In 1815, Abner remained on a branch of Linville Creek eight miles north of Harrisonburg.

Evan Thomas

It's thought that an Evan Thomas married Rebecca Green about 1764 in Pennsylvania. He then moved to Frederick Co., and after the war (he was in the Continental Line Army), he and Rebecca lived in Rockingham. She died 1835, He died about 1836 or 1840. Many of the Thomases are said to have been officers of the Baptist Church. The Evan Thomases remained at the head of Joe's Creek in 1815. On the 1815 roster of owners were a total of four listings, and two of these (Jacob Thomas, Peter Thomas) were estates -- suggesting deceased ancestors of the Joe's Creek family. According to land records for Rockingham, a Jacob Thomas was granted 90 acres in 1800 (which had been surveyed in 1796) in Rockingham Co VA "... Beginning at three lynns on the south side of piney ridge Run corner to Paul Pross ... corner to Lemon's land ... bank of the piney ridge Run thence up with the several courses of the same ..." In additon, the Abstracts for Augusta Grant Surveys shows a 1774 grant to a John Brunk at Cedar Run (a mile or so North) which is said to adjoin land of Joseph Lemen, Henry Bear, and James Thomas.

In 1756, a John Thomas and his brother James were both baptized at the Linville Baptist Church. This church was about one and a half miles west of the Lincoln Homestead. It has been described as a 'Menonist Baptist' church and came to include Bare, Bowman, Brumfield, Custer, Gum, Harrison, Lincoln, Sager, Thomas, and Yates. At the time there were only nine members of the church. According to church records, one of the first members of this church was a Rees Thomas who had settled early near Linville on Brock's Creek. He filed a request in Augusta court to build a mill on Brock's Creek sometime between 1745 and 1800. Thomas was likely the son of a Rees Thomas born in Wales. In 1750-51 his name appeared on a petition for a road in the area.

Rees Thomas may have died n 1793. On June 10 of that year there was a published request by an Evan Thomas for those indebted to the estate of Rees Thomas, deceased, to make payment. This suggests that Rees had a number of children including John, Jacob, and Evan.

John Terry

A john Terry appeared in the 1798 census with a moderate tax, along the lines of that received by Henry Eyman. He also appeared with wife and no children in 1820 census, though no Terry's were listed in the 1815 land inventory

John Peoples

Th e Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia notes a John Peoples Sr. of Bath (his wife's name was Frances) who had a son John Jr. who moved to Kentucky, and a son Thomas, whose destination was Missouri. There were no Peoples listed in Rockingham land Inventories for 1815. None had appeared in earlier census reports than 1810, and none appeared in later census records.

George Chrisman

The Chrisman family was closely related to Lincoln and was a large land holder in the area. George Chrisman was Captain of the Rockingham militia in 1781. The year before, in 1780, he witnessed for Abraham Lincoln in the deeding of property to Michael Shank. Chrisman had numerous properties in 1815 at Linville Creek, North Mountain, Brushey Hills, and on Joe's Creek. The Joe's Creek property at 5341 Shaver Mill Road of Rockingham seems to have been his home place. This location on Joe's Creek is quite near the outlet of the stream into Linville Creek.

Daniel Falls

Litttle is known of Daniel Falls except that a person of this name went to Ohio at some time after 1810 and had married a daughter of Patrick Crawford. Before migrating, however, Daniel Falls was appointed guardian, with Alexander Crawford, for Daniel and Rudolph, who were orphans of the Gasper Moyers who had purchased land from Bryans which is easy to confuse with deed descriptions for the land which Christian and Susanna Eyman secured and finally sold to Jacob Lincoln. Crawford was a Presbyterian and an Iron worker who had seen much battle during the revolutionary war. He participated in the battle of Cowpens and was said to be engaged in all the expeditions of his day against the Indians, including Point Pleasant. Crawford's brother Edward had received a degree from Princeton in 1775 and was licensed as a preacher. He served to moderate church affairs at Harrisonburg and traveled to serve congregations in Harrison county and over in the Tygart Valley toward Ohio. There are no earlier or later census records other than the 1810 listing for Falls; there were no land records for the family found in Rockingham for 1815.

Jacob Conrod

A Jacob Conrod appeared in the 1784 census with twelve people in his house though by 1797 the house seem to have been reduced to a couple of souls. In the 1810 census, however there were many Conrad households, and two of them were headed by Jacobs who look to have been seniors.. In 1763, a person of this name (whose father's name was Wooldruck Conrod) had purchased 457 acres on the South Branch of the Potomac. A person by this name was receiving pension from 1820-1824 for his service as a private in the Virginia Line during the revolutionary war. In 1815, Conrods lived throughout the area, though an estate for Jacob Conrad existed at North Mountain 10 miles northwest of Harrisonburg and therefore toward Brock's Gap from the heart of Linville District..