Notes |
- 01 April 2007
E-mail sent to: AFoxwo6901@aol.com
Aaron,
I now have some proof of George Corn's family being from PalatineGermany. My son Michael actually pointed it out to me yesterday. Heand I have been doing research on his father's family. We came acrossa book last year that we copied for his family records that was aboutthe Shenandoah Valley mostly written about a Jost Hite and his familywho with several business partners had two huge land grants inVirginia and settled many pioneers into the Valley there. We weregoing over some of the research I had uncovered recently on Michael'sfamily and I had told him about George Corn and what I had found onhim so far. Michael said, "Well, Mom, this is probably him right heresince his family were the only "Corn's" known to be in the Colonies atthe time." Michael had pointed out something significant on page 9 ofthe book. I'm not sure that you will find this book just any where. Wewere fortunate to have it in our genealogical library in Davenport,Iowa, Davenport Public Library, 321 Main Street, Davenport, Iowa52801.
German Origins of Jost Hite Virginia Pioneer 1685 - 1761, by Henry Z.Jones, Jr., Ralph Connor and Klaus Wust; Shenandoah GenealogicalSource Book No. 3; Shenandoah History, Publishers Edinburg, Virginia(SC 975.5 Jon); pages 8-9.
Page 8
"The first documents studied were the Rotterdam Embarkation Lists of1709. Unlike faulty published versions, the originals of thesefascinating manuscripts broke the names of German emigrants down intoprecise shiploads of passengers: as emigrants usually left withneighbors from the same region, many times certain ships were crowdedwith travelers from the same geographic area. In the 5th party ofPalatines on a vessel commanded by Captain William Newton ....""...originated in Germany in the Kraichgau, a lovely region betweenthe Rhine and Neckar southeast of Heidelberg, ..." (It also talked ofhow they landed in New York, lived in Ulster County for a short timeand that they did move to a village of all German emigrants from thePalatinate area of what we now call Germany located in the Lancasterarea, of Pennsylvania and all of the villagers were from Palatinate.They were not known as Germans in 1709, but as Palatinate's. I do notknow which one of the 5 ships the Corn's were on as yet. FromLancaster, Pennsylvania approximately 100 families moved with JostHite and his business partners and their families to the ShenandoahVirginia Valley in 1732. In 1734, the area became known as OrangeCounty, Virginia. Orange County broke down into Frederick County,etc... very early on in the mid 1700's, and some of the other northernneck counties were formed also around that time from Orange County.)
Page 9
"In addition to remaining close to his German "neighbors" after hisarrival on civil records, church records also yielded an importantfact relating to Hite; ..."
"These same Kingston (Kingston Dutch Reformed Church) records alsorevealed the baptisms of two of the children of Jost and Anna MariaHite:
1). Elizabeth, baptized 4 November 1711, to Johann Joost Hayt and wifeAnna-Maria; SPONSORS WERE CORN. Elten and Rebekka Elten; ...etc"(This took place in Kingston, Ulster County, New York) (My son Michaelsaid that since they were the only Corn Family in the group of Germancolonists no first name was probably mentioned, because everyone knewwho they were at the time, and the church records no doubt have thatinformation since they would have a listing of their congregation.)(This puts George Corn's family in New York in 1711 in a Palatinatecommunity, in Pennsylvania between 1712 - 1731, and his fatherprobably came over on ship shortly before 1711 from the Palatinate,and that and he knew or was related in some way to Joost Hite. Being asponsor would mean the same as a God Parent does today.)
"With the overall Kraichau region emerging as the prime theorized areaof German origin..."
All that needs to be done by a researcher now is to check the churchrecords and immigration records of the ship loads of Palatinatepassengers between 1700-1711; The search should reveal a definitiveanswer as to George Corn's origins then, and possibly who his fatherand mother were.
[Personal Correspondence re. George Corn: 01 April 2007, SLJuhl,compiler]
Please check this: CONC The Revolution, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, 1775-1783, by John H.
CONC Gwathmey, Intro. by, Dr. H. J. Eckenrode, Director of the Virginia
CONC Division of History and Archeology, Baltimore Genealogical Publishing
CONC Co., Inc., 1979.
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