Shenandoah Co is where my Mom’s homeplace is. Many German names there. Prob these farmer came from PA but may have been resettled Hession or German troops. I have an old York Co history which says they were marched to VA and let go.I have not the smarts to research my family.
I know several people whose ancestors came up the valley, ending up in northwestern North Carolina, whose genealogical trails just sort of end there in the Shenandoah, with legendary Hessian mercenaries. All surname Smith, coincidentally or not, tall, slim, dark hair, blue or grey eyes, some Cherokee too but then again most who are really “from” here do or have legends of it.
Choosing Smith or Smythe in colonial or early statehood Virginia would be the equivalent of choosing Jones now (or Smith come to think of it), so there would be a certain logic to doing so if that were indeed the case.
I know quite a bit about another Tory/Loyalist/British prisoner of war camp, that being the paling fort at “Moravian Old Town” (Bethabara) here in NC, which was originally erected by the Brethren for the protection of settlers from frequent indian raids. Two of my seven however-many-greats great grandfathers with Revolutionary service served as guards there late in the war, according to various accounts as well as their Rev. pension applications.
Bethabara has been kept up as a park for a very long time, most of it restored or accurate historical recreations based upon ample detailed records of the Brethren as well as archaeological efforts. The paling fort is a striking and popular site there. Not many are aware of it’s role as a POW camp. Fending off marauding Cherokee from within it is more romantic I guess.
This site has a short history as well as a very striking, fairly recent photo of the fort in a misty dawn with the Gemeinhaus looming beyond at the treeline, if you or anyone else is interested:
http://www.cityofws.org/Home/Departments/RecreationAndParks/BethabaraPark/Articles/BethabaraPark
York isn’t all that far from the northern settlement, I wonder if there are detailed records permitting Camp Security to be recreated as much of Bethabara was?
Sure you do. Start with what you know and then go back a generation, to your parents. Ancestry.com is a good place to start, once you get to the grandparents on both sides.
You can get what is called a "5-Generation" work sheet on Ancestry.com, and begin to fill it in. You will be surprised at how much you already know, and actually, how easy it is to find more. Don't be afraid to ask questions of all your known relatives.
Good luck, and good hunting! I will be interested to know how you do! (I'm also here to offer my help to you, since I do genealogy...)
;o]
'Face
You don’t need “smarts” or any special know-how to research your family.
1. Go to ancestry.com and plug your family names into the search engines there.
2. Join some of the rootsweb groups for your family names and watch the discussion for awhile.
3. Just use Google to chase down the names. Google is putting a lot of old books and records online free of charge.
4. The Mormons have tremendous resources for genealogy that are free. They’re very helpful. It’s not just for Mormons.
Good luck! It’s really fascinating and involving. You will probably end up finding lovely people who are your distant cousins, people you never knew existed but who share common blood. Very cool experience. Have fun with it.