Major Jacob Forney, Jr

Notes:

 

These sketches were originally written by Col Thomas George Walton (1815-1905). 1st published in the old Morganton Herald in 1894

Major JACOB FORNEY,(Jr.) an old pioneer, was the son of JACOB FORNEY who came to the United States from the Canton of Berne in Switzerland. Landing in Pennsylvania, he moved to Lincoln County, North Carolina, then Tryon County, in 1754. He married a Swiss girl, MARIA BERGNER. By her he had three sons, JACOB, PETER and ABRAM. JACOB, the oldest son, was the owner of a splendid tract of land on Upper Creek, now divided and owned by his descendants. Major JACOB FORNEY, Jr., (born in 1754 and died in 1840) was one of the first settlers of Burke County, and married MARY CORPENING (born in 1788 and died in 1867), the eldest daughter of ALBERT CORPENING. His good wife, as well as himself, were much esteemed by the best people of the county. They lived happily together for many years, blest with a numerous family, enjoying life, and reaping the fruits of their probity and industry from their land, literally "flowing with milk and honey". At the time of his becoming a resident of Burke County, game of every species abounded. The buffalo, elk, deer, and the beaver had not been extinguished by the white man; and the Major would tell of his escape from a wounded buffalo by climbing a tree, rifle in hand, to a fork in the tree, and from this place of refuge, shooting the mad bull. I have seen well defined traces of beaver dams at Col. AVERY's place on the north Toe River, and have been told by him that within his recollection, the last beaver caught in Burke County was near this place, and the last elk was killed by JONAS DAVENPORT, on a ridge leading to the Roan or Yellow mountain, named from that fact, the "Elk Hollow Ridge." It's horns were so ponderous that they were never removed, and were seen for many years afterwards. Major FORNEY, by his wife, Mary, had seven sons and four daughters, THOMAS, NEWTON, HERVEY, ALBERT, MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, BERGNER, DANIEL, FATIMA, MARY, SONORA, AND ONE OTHER WHO DIED IN CHILDHOOD. Although marrying late in life, he lived to see his children grown. They were both buried at the family homestead."

Buried:
Find A Grave Memorial# 24353872

Died:
Aged 86 years and 1 day

Jacob married Mary E. aka Polly Corpening WFT Est 1806 1832. Mary (daughter of Coley Conners and John Perkins, daughter of Albert F. Corpening and Barbara Propst) was born 19 Oct 1778; died 24 May 1867. [Group Sheet]

Isacc married Mary Levina Corpening 11 Aug 1841. Mary (daughter of Catherine Corpening and John J Shuford, daughter of Abraham Corpening and Lettia Estes) was born 30 Dec 1812; died 10 Apr 1887. [Group Sheet]

Infant married John George Chorpening 2 Mar 1776, Washington County, Maryland. John (son of Robert Lee Bradshaw, son of Hendrick Courpenning) was born 1750, United Netherlands; died 1804, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

 

These sketches were originally written by Col Thomas George Walton

(1815-1905). 1st published in the old Morganton Herald in 1894

"DANIEL, the youngest son of Major JACOB FORNEY, was the "bravest of the

brave" I ever knew; giving evidence of this truth on more than one occasion

during the late war. When the notorious KIRK captured Camp Vance in 1863, I

was organizing a force of citizens to repel, as fast as could be done, his

sacking the town. This he learned by some means. Hurriedly leaving the camp

with his prisoners and plunder, he crossed the river made a beeline for

Tennessee, by way of the SUDDERTH place. Sending a mounted part of 25 or 30

men and placing them under the command of Lieutenants FRANK CRAIG and THOMAS

McENTIRE, who were here on a furlough from the army, I directed them to be

governed by DANIEL FORNEY in endeavoring to get ahead of KIRK, and by

ambuscade annoy and hold him in check until the footmen could overtake him.

FORNEY, being familiar with the paths and nearcuts through the mountains, as

well as the best points for attacking the enemy, succeeded in heading him at a

gap on the south end of the Brown Mountain. FORNEY advised taking a position

in a large cluster of alders, within 20 yards of the road, but the men without

dissent, said there was great danger of their force (small as compar

KIRK's) being captured. KIRK's forces were estimated at two thousand.

FORNEY, being overruled, the men took a position safer for them and nearer

their horses. KIRK was marching at the head of the column. When fired upon,

his men, panic stricken, left the road. KIRK was shot in the arm, and a

number of the prisoners escaped. I was afterwards shown by Mr. . FORNEY where

he had proposed to place his men. It looked to me hazardous, but he would

have run the risk and, being so near, KIRK would have, in all probability,

been killed. About the time of Gen. Lee's surrender, four raiders, said to

belong to Vaughn's Tennessee command, were passing through the country taking

the best horses and mules from the people by force of arms. Having robbed Mr.

HUNT, who lived at Quaker Meadows at the time, they learned from some b

persons that DANIEL FORNEY had a fine mare. It was dark when they reached his

house, which was enclosed by a plank fence. A large gate led to the stable.

They rode up to the fence and hollered. FORNEY, coming out, asked what they

wanted. "We want your mare", they replied. "You'll not get her", responded

FORNEY. "If you attempt to go through that gate, some of you will be shot."

Immediately they commenced firing at him with their revolvers. FORNEY never

flinched, but returned fire with his double-barrel shotgun charged with

buckshot. At length one of the marauders called out, "Oh, Lord! I am killed;

don't shoot any more." Sending for his neighbor, DR. JOHN C. MCDOWELL, they

went in pursuit and found the rascals at Cherry Fields, in an outhouse of Mrs.

CALDWELL's. The wounded man, unable to ride, compelled them to stop. They

were armed with Colt army revolvers, and had a considerable amount of

greenbacks, the first I had ever seen. The wounded man had received eight or

ten buckshot in the face and breast. I told DANIEL his gun was not good, or

the man would have been killed. He said he could only account for it by it's

having been loaded for a long time, and the powder had lost it's strength. I

don't hesitate to say that there is not one man in ten, under all

circumstances, that would not have surrendered the mare. It is an old saying

that "blood will tell whether man or beast." In FORNEY's veins coursed the

blood of his grandfather, JACOB FORNEY, Sr., who according to WHEELER's

history, at one time kept at bay twelve or fifteen Indians for several hours,

protecting his wounded friends until a fort two miles distant was safely

reached."

Margret married Anna Katherine Corpening. Anna (daughter of Jacob Corpening and Elizabeth Whitner, daughter of Catherine Corpening and John J Shuford) was born 17 Dec 1816. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

<p> </p><p><p>He came to America in 1732, arriving in Philadelphia on the pink (ship) John and William on Octobert 17, 1732. He came with his brother Philipp Jacob (and family) and his sister Elisabetha Margaretha (and her husband). Since winter's onset was near, they probably remained in Philadelphia over the winter, gathering supplies and equipment, and left for the Allemaengle in early spring.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>When he came to America, he was already 31 years old. Since it would be most unusual for a man not to have married and started a family in his early 20s, it is possible that he already done that, and left a wife and some children behind. It is possible they might have died, and that released him to come to America, or he might have been so driven to start a new life he just left them behind. They might not have wanted to face the unknowns of the American wilderness. However, according to German records, in 1727 Michael was a travelling potter, not married, and was listed on the ship's manifest as still single when he emigrated, so it is assumed that he did not marry in Germany.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Another record says his birth date was Mar 13 1707. This must have been a mis-reading of the German script "1" which often looks like a "7". The 1701 birth date is verified in the baptismal records in Kandel and in the Lineage Succession List from Kandel.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Sometime between his arrival in Philadelphia and mid-1735, Johann Michael married. He might have married during the winter in Philadelphia, or might have found his future wife in the Allemaengle. Birth and baptismal records of his children indicate that her name was Maria or Anna Maria, a name quite common in those days. The marriage record has not been found, and her maiden name is still unproven; several long-time Brobst researchers believe her maiden name to be Kerr (or Kehr), and that is what is shown here.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>William Crouch believes her name was Anna Maria Grimm, but there is apparently no supporting evidence for this.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>For a long time, it has been assumed that her name was Anna Maria Keller, but that hypothesis has been proven wrong. Anna Maria Keller was the widow of Peter Keller, and she lived in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County in the early 1730s. Her marriage to Johann Michael Probst is recorded at the Muddy Creek Lutheran Church on December 25, 1733. That was not "this" Johann Michael Probst.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>In order for that to be true, it would have meant that Johann Michael left his brother and sister and their families and went to Lancaster Co instead of Berks/Lehigh Co. Why would he have done such a thing? And then to come to Berks/Lehigh Co a year or so after his marriage, for his first child was born in Lynn Twp in 1836. Would he have left his family with whom he had been through so much and struck off on his own to find a wife in Lancaster County, rather than accompanying his family to the Allemaengle and looking for a wife there? And, in fact, that was not the case.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>It was once thought that Johann Michael may have met Anna Maria Keller on the ship enroute to America, but there was no Keller, and no Anna Maria, listed on the ship's manifest. There is no indication that he had any knowledge of Anna Maria Keller prior to or during the voyage, or in Philadelphia over the winter. Given that, there would be no reason for him to go to Lancaster to marry her and bring her to Lynn Township, Lehigh County. There is no evidence that he even knew she existed.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>There is no evidence that Johann Michael Probst ever went to Lancaster, nor that if he did he stayed in Lancaster County for some time, perhaps a year, and then moved to Lynn Twp, Northampton (Lehigh) Co, PA to rejoin the rest of his immigrant family. All indications are that he left Philadelphia with his brother and sister in the spring of 1733 and moved directly to Lynn Twp. His children are all recorded as having been born in Northampton (Lehigh) County.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>So who was the Johann Michael Probst who married Anna Maria Keller in Lancaster County? Johann Michael Propst (b abt 1712) arrived in America in 1733 on the ship "Samuel", and moved to Lancaster County with his parents and sister. This Johann Michael Propst actually signed his name "Probst", not "Propst" on his immigration and oath of allegiance papers, and apparently used that same spelling on the marriage record in Lancaster County. His signature is quite clear written with the "Probst" spelling. He remained in Lancaster County for some years, and had four children with Anna Maria Keller from 1735 to 1738. After Anna Maria died in 1738, he quickly married a second time there, before migrating southward to what is now Pendleton County, West Virginia. Accordingly, I have recorded the marriage of Anna Maria Keller to Johan Michael Propst in the Propst family file.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>History still has to tell us something about this wife -- Anna Maria Kehr/Kerr -- of Johann Michael Probst. We do know that Johann Michael and Anna Maria lived in Lehigh County, having founded the village of what became Hynemansville.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>He received his citizenship papers on September 10 1761 in Philadelphia.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>His farm was in Lynn Township, Northampton County (now Lehigh County), about 7 miles southeast of his brother's (Philipp Jacob's) farm which was in Albany Twp.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p>His death date is not certain. Most records show "about 1771"; one says "after 1790". His death location is also uncertain, but was most likely in a private cemetery on his farmsite</p>

Johann married Anna Maria Kerr Between 1732 and 1735, Muddy Creek Lutheran Church in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, PA. Anna was born Between 1710 and 1715. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

 

In Lawrence Jenkins book "Christian Ankeny Family" on page 8, he discusses this marriage. Quote from his book:

"The name was probably written in German, and the form in that period, would add the letters'in' to a woman's name to make it feminine. Thus the Ankeny name would appear as 'Angnsin'. This would look like the name Ingrason in the German script.....All evidence..shows John Chorpenning married Anna Maria Ankeny, the youngest daughter of Dewalt Ankeny's first family."

Anna married John George Chorpening 2 Mar 1776, Washington County, Maryland. John (son of Robert Lee Bradshaw, son of Hendrick Courpenning) was born 1750, United Netherlands; died 1804, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

 

In 1774, shortly after their marriage, Albert and Barbara began a trip to North Carolina. They were held up by a snow storm and stayed the winter with a farmer where Albert helped with the farm work for a shilling and board per day, and Barbara helped the wife. They finally arrived in Lincoln County, North Carolina, where their first child, John, was born April 3 1775.

Coming into what is now Caldwell County, NC, they purchased a large acreage on both sides of Lower Creek in the Copenhagen section on the present Calico Road from Christopher Beckman.

All of this information is from "The Heritage of Burke Co, NC", 1981, pp 149-153.

According to Elaine Schwar and Carolyn Price (noted Brobst historians), Barbara was a daughter of Johann Michael Probst (1701). Some other records do not show her in that family, but those records do not show her anywhere else, either.

Other records (Lee Ann Propst) show that she had a brother, Henry, who moved with her and Albert from Pennsylvania to Rowan County, North Carolina shortly after their marriage. Because of bad weather, they had to lay over in Western Virginia for some time before moving on to NC in 1775. But Johann Michael Probst didn't have a son named Henry. Henry may have been a cousin or a nephew.

It was once thought that she might have been a daughter of Johann Michael Propst (1712), not Probst, and so belongs to the West Virginia Propsts. However, if in fact, she was born in Lynn Township, Northampton (Lehigh) County, PA, then she is probably correctly placed in the family of Johann Michael Probst (1701). Considering the date of her reported birth -- 1754, and marriage in Penna in 1774, when Johann Michael Propst was already in Pendleton Co, WV (Rockingham Co, VA) by then, so she could not have been his daughter.

The 1713 German Bible which belonged to Barbara Probst is in a vault in the Asheville [Pack Memorial] NC Library. In that Bible, her name is shown as Probst. The Bible does not contain any ancestry data; only the statement: "Bible belonging to ancestors of Barbara Probst (Mrs. Albert Corpening) mother of David Corpening and Catherine Corpening (Mrs. John Shuford) of North Carolina".

Pending any further evidence, I have shown her as a daughter of Johann Michael Probst (1701) and Anna Maria Kerr (abt 1710).

Another record shows that she lived as a widow in Somersettown, PA, in 1796, 1804, and 1814, and died in Somerset, PA. But Albert didn't die until 1827, and she was still alive -- named in his will. This record appears clearly to be in error; must have been some other Barbara Probst/Brobst.

Her will was probated in January 1830 in Burke (now Caldwell) Co, NC.

Ancestor of Daniel Conley , Nell Wise , Nita Shephard , Charles Brinkley Sedona, AZ

Barbara married Gus Little 3 Feb 1803. (son of Lucinda Corpening and John Eli Corpening) [Group Sheet]

Barbara married Albert F. Corpening 23 Jun 1774, Northampton County, PA, USA. Albert (son of Hendrick Courpenning, son of Lucinda Corpening and John Eli Corpening) was born 16 Mar 1747, Youmpts, United Netherlands; died 30 Oct 1827, Johns River, Caldwell, North Carolina, United States; was buried , Corpening Cem., Caldwell Co., North Carolina. [Group Sheet]

Henry married Ola Tuttle WFT Est 1840 1873. Ola (daughter of Gus Little and Barbara Propst) died Aft 1827. [Group Sheet]

Henry married Mary Vernoica Schaaff 7 Apr 1801, Somerset, Pennsylvania. Mary (daughter of John Schaaff and Veronica Frederick) was born 2 May 1782, Washington County, Maryland; died 8 Oct 1855, Somerset, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet]

John married Joseph Corpening WFT Est 1840 1871. Joseph (son of Gus Little and Barbara Propst) was born 22 May 1809, Caldwell County, North Carolina; died 23 Nov 1882, Caldwell County, North Carolina. [Group Sheet]