Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance

Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance Paul Sumner Frick* OHN FRICK (1712/1713-1794) of Milford Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, wrote three wills —in 1785, 1788, and 1791. In the 1785 will, he named his wife Salome his sole beneficiary. John and Salome were childless. After her death, their estate was to go to the children of John's brother, Jacob Frick, a resident of Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The 1788 will also devised his estate to Salome. This document contained detailed instructions for the Fricke tenant farmer, David Shelly, to provide for Salome's material needs for the rest of her life. Following her death, David Shelly was to inherit the Ricks' estate. Salome predeceased her husband. The 1791 will, written after her death, also bequeathed John Frick's estate to David Shelly. On the same day that he signed his third will, John Frick sold his land, one hundred fortynine acres fifty perches, to David Shelly for £25 and Shelly's promise to care for him in his old age. Sometime thereafter, John Frick moved from his Milford Township farm to the Coventry Township, Chester County, home of either his nephew, John Frick, or his niece and her husband, John J *Editor's Note: The author, a native of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, graduated in .1950 from Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., with a bachelor's degire in history and political science, and in 1954 removed his master's degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona, Tucson. He currently resides in Arizona City, Arizona. His publications include A History of the Frick Family (1970), and A History of Flicks Locks, Vol. 1: The Hans Grumbacher Family of Coventry Township, 1733-1814 (1993). The present study is a revised version of another paper under the same title written by Mr. Frick; the earlier monograph was published privately ty the author, who also controlled its limited circulation. This revised version appears in AGM with permission from the author. Mr. Frick acknowledges the assistance for various aspects of the research and preparation of this manuscript to Teny A. McNealy and Frances W Waite ofthe Spruance Library, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and to. ohn L. MacGowan, .Esq., Attorney-at-Law, Cocpersbuig Pennsylvania. 129 130 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine and Hannah Frick Rinehart. The nieces and nephews, with John Rinehart as their spokesman, took two courses of action: first, they filed an Action of Ejectment to nullify the sale of the land to David Shelly, and, second, after John Frick's death in 1794, they probated his first will, forcing David Shelly to contest it by bringing in the third will. The nieces and nephews, it is believed, thought that John Frick was senile when he wrote his second and third wills and when he sold his property to Shelly. David Shelly apparently felt that the receipt ofJohn Frick's inheritance was just compensation for taking care of the Fricks during their last years, and that John Frick was of sound mind when he took those actions. Following brief biographical sketches of John Frick and his brother, Jacob, the three wills of John Frick are described here in detail, along with a chronological recounting of events and results of proceedings that took place in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas and the office of the Register of Wills. On 18 September 1733, John Frick arrived at Philadelphia from Switzerland with his younger brother Jacob. John was either twenty or twenty-one years old and Jacob was either sixteen or seventeen.' Possibly indentured to pay for their passage across the Atlantic, John settled in Milford Township in northwestern Bucks County, and Jacob in New Hanover Township, Philadelphia (today Montgonnery) County, near present-day Pottstown.2 In 1769 the Jacob Frick family moved to a farm near Valley Forge in Tredyffrin Townes ship, Chester County.5john married Salome ; they had no issue.5 Jacob had two wives,6 Elizabeth Urner and Catharine , and ten children.? In 1735 John and his wife were baptized into membership of the Great Swamp German Baptist Brethren Church located in upper Bucks County. The minister, Abraham Duboy, died in 1748, and John Frick was called to be the church's unordained minister, a position he held for many years. Since the small congregation had no meeting house, services were usually held in the Fricks' home.8 John Frick, in 1750, purchased a tract of land (one hundred acres fifty perches) located along the west side of Old Bethlehem Pike at the southwestern edge of today's Zion Hill. The rectangular-shaped property was situated at the northwest corner of today's intersection of Grant Road and Old Bethlehem Pike.9 In 1760, they bought fortynine acres about one and one-half miles to the east, in adjacent _ 4 Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance 131 Richland Township.° The exact location of this property, by today's landmarks, has not. been determined. It is likely that John Frick took a young man named David Shelly as a turner apprentice. About 1788, Shelly married Asenath Rothrock, daughter of German Baptists John and Mary Kreiling Rothrock, and they lived as tenant farmers on the one-hundred-acre fifty-perch Frick farm. The U.S. Census of 1790 indicates that one male over sixteen and two females (ages not determined) lived within David Shelly's household." John Frick wrote a Last Will and Testament on 15 October 1785, in which he bequeathed his entire estate to his wife Salome. After Salome's death, her executors were to sell the land, buildings, and personal property, and dispose of the proceeds as follows: gifts of £50 each to three German Baptist congregations (Germantown, Coventry, and Conestogai2) to be used for care of the poor and needy; £25 to widow Eva Demuth; £15 to widow Elizabeth Greiling; and, £25 to Henry Kuhn of Springfield Township. The remainder of his estate was to be equally divided by the children of his brother, Jacob. John Frick's executors for this document were Abraham Stout of Rockhill Township and Jacob Rothrock of Springfield Township. David Shelly and Daniel Harwick witnessed the signing of this will, wherein John signed his name 'Johannes Frick.'" John wrote a second will on 15 December 1788. In it he described Salome's legacy in detail. She was to have two cows, the bed and bedstead, as much of the household furniture as she needed, and the choice of living either in their house or in the upper back room of David Shelly's house, located on the Frick farm. Shelly was to deliver to Salome, annually, ten bushels ofwheat, five bushels of rye, three bushels of corn, ten pounds of Hetshelt flax, five pounds of wool, one barrel of good cider, four bushels of potatoes, two bushels of turnips, hay sufficient for two cows, enough firewood, as many apples and pears as she needed, and £6.10 in gold and silver coin. Shelly was also to provide room in the kitchen garden for Salome's use, feed her cows and do her sowing if she was unable, and to pay the physician when she became sick." He bequeathed £0.5.0 each, "if they call for it," to his siblings: Jacob, who at that time resided in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County,15 and to Henry, Hyry (or Herry), and Elizabeth, who probably lived in Switzerland"; two years after his decease, £10 each to 132 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine widow Eva Demuth and her son, Samuel Demuth; and, three years after his death, £10 to widow Elizabeth Greiling. If Elizabeth were dead, her lame daughter was to receive the legacy." John devised to David Shelly his two properties, the buildings on them, and the personal property not bequeathed to Salome, provided that Shelly faithfully discharge the terms of the will. After Salome's death, David Shelly was to inherit the remaining estate. John appointed Jacob and David Rothrock as executors, and revoked his previous will. The signing was witnessed by John Bey, Daniel Preis, and John Rothrock.18 It is reasonable to conclude that Salome Frick died between 15 December 1788, the date of John's second will, and 16 May 1791, the date ofJohn's third will, in which she is not mentioned. Salome was probably buried in nearby Brecht Cemetery, which is no longer in existence.19 In his third and final will, dated 16 May 1791, John Frick gave cash gifts of E0.5.0 each to his brothers, Jacob, Henry, and Herry, and to his sister Elizabeth, "if they call for it"; two years after his death, £10 each to widow Eva Demuth and her son, Samuel Demuth; and, three years after his decease, £10 to widow Elizabeth Greiling. If Elizabeth Greiling.were.deceased, the money was to go to her lame daughter. The remainder of his estate he gave to "my beloved friend, David Shelly, the son of Joseph Shelly." John named David and Isaac Rothrock as his executors and revoked all previous wills. The signing was witnessed by John Bell and George Rothrock. John signed his name `Johannes Frick."" On the same day, 16 May 1791, lohn Frick, turner," sold to "David Shelly, turner," his two tracts of land totaling one hundred forty-nine acres fifty perches for "the sum of 25 pounds in hard money and also the insurance for my supportance during my natural life, it being in full for the consideration in the above contract, I say received by me, Johannes Frick." The deed was witnessed by John Bey] and Johannes Rothrock before Judge George Weicker of the Court of Common Pleas. The deed was recorded 21 May 1791.21 It has not been determined when the knowledge of John Frick's second and third wills and the sale of his land to David Shelly for £25 reached John's nieces and nephews. After they learned about it obviously while John was still living, however—they decided to petition the court to nullify the sale of the land to Shelly, and they Litigation in the 17 90s: The John Frick Inheritance 133 also transported Uncle John from Milford Township to Coventry Township, where either his nephew, John Frick, or his niece, Hannah Frick Rinehart, cared for him until his death in 1794. John Rinehart, a prominent German Baptist, became the advocate for John Frick's nieces and nephews who had been eliminated as heirs by John's second and third wills. John Rinehart's first action, it is believed, was to obtain the sery ices of Attorney Thomas Ross of the law firm of Sargeant and Ross, probably located in Bucks County. Ross's initial move was to challenge the sale of John Frick's land Co David Shelly by having Frick, on 1 May 1792, lease the two properties to Richard Fenn for ten years. The next day, 2 May 1792, David Shelly countered this action by having his lessee, John Denn, "remove" Richard Fenn from the two parcels.22 Both Richard Fenn and John Denn were fictitious names used in legal actions of this type. The stage was now set for the court to determine the rightful owner ofjohn Frick's property. Sometime later, on 1 March 1793, Attorney Thomas Ross filed an "Action of Ejectment": Richard Fenn, Lessee ofjohn Frick, Plaintiff v. John Denn, Lessee of David Shelly, Defendant, in Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in Newtoim, Pennsylvania. The suit called for the ejectment of Denn and the payment of £100 in damages." Eleven months passed before the first hearing took place. On 6 February 1794, Samuel Benezet," prothonotary of the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, issued subpoenas to Richard Jackson, Martin Urner, Jacob Landes, and Elizabeth Greiling to appear in court on 5 May 1794 to testify for the plaintiff. The witnesses were to be fined £100 for failing to appear. At the 5 May hearing, Benezet appointed five referees, or any three of them, to recommend a settlement to the court in this "Matter of Variance." The referees were Thomas Long, William Erwin, Gilbert Rodman, Col. Joseph Hart of Warwick, and John Carr, who were to decide which party should be awarded the lands, set the price the party not awarded the lands should receive, and award the "Execution of Assurances and Releases" by one party to the other.25 On 8 May 1794, subpoenas were issued by Benezet on behalf of the referees to the following persons: 134 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Michael Musselman Henry Wenich David Spinner John Stricken Abraham Stout John Demuth Martin Urner William Hicks Jacob Rothrock Richard Jackson Elizabeth Greiling Jacob Harwick Jacob Landes Jacob Slypher Daniel Cooper David Rothrock Peter Zook These people were to appear for the plaintiff on 28 July 1794 at the inn ofjohn Rothrock. No record has been located to verify what may have taken place at this hearing. John Frick died 23 May 1794 in Coventry Township, Chester County, at the age of eighty-one years. At the time of his death, he was living with either the family of his nephew, John and Catherine Grumbacher Frick, or the family of his niece, John and Hannah Frick Rinehart.27 john Frick was buried in Brower (now Oak Grove) Cemetery, located near the western edge of today's Parkerford, East Coventry Township. His brother Jacob was buried next to him in 1799.28 The month of July 1794 was a busy one for the Bucks County Register of Wills in trying to obtain copies of John Frick's wills: On 5 July, Deputy Register of Wills William Linton obtained a court order requiring George treble and Jacob Ott to report to his office in Newtown on 5 August to testify about their knowledge of John Frick's will. On 28 July the will dated 15 October 1785 (the first will) was received in the Register of Wills's office. On the same day, Abraham Stout and Jacob Rothrock, executors of this will, resigned from this responsibility. The next day, 29 July 1794, David Shelly filed two letters with Register of Wills James Hanna asking him not to prove John Frick's will until he (Shelly) or his counsel could be heard, and to require Jacob Rothrock to produce what Shelly claimed was the genuine Last Will and Testament of John Frick (the third will). Shelly also asked Hanna to subpoena George Greble, who he (Shelly) said had written it, and Jacob Ott, who he (Shelly) said had witnessed it, to appear at Newtown on 5 August . Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance 135 On the same day, 29 July, Shelly filed a civil action, "Commonwealth v. Jacob Rothrock," ordering Rothrock to bring forward John Frick's third will. Subpoenas were issued to George Grebel and Jacob Ott to affirm the will. This action, called a "Same Day Caveat," was filed by David Shelly against John Frick's first will. No record has been found to document what happened on 5 August 1794 in the Register of Wills's office. It is likely that John Frick's second and third wills were produced that day, and that statements were taken from George Greble, Jacob Ott, and Jacob Rothrock. On 6 August 1794, John Rinehart, William Chapman, and josias Ferguson were appointed by James Hanna to be the administrators of John Frick's estate. They were given until 6 November 1794 to complete the inventory and appraisal, and until 6 August 1795 to complete the settling of the estate. Bond was set at L5,000.30 Prothonotary Benezet, on 7 August 1794, issued subpoenas on behalf of the referees to the following witnesses to appear for the plaintifrat the inn ofjohn Rothrock on 27 October: Michael Musselman, Henry Wenich, David Spinner, John Strider, and Richard Jackson.31 The inventory and appraisal of the small amount of personal property John Frick had with him in Coventry Township at the time of his death was completed on 11 October 1794 by Simon Meredith and Jacob Longenecker. Itwas received and affirmed on 19 October 1794 by Chester County Justice of the Peace Jonathan Pugh. The inventory and appraisal consisted of personal items totaling 09.7.6.32 On 16 October 1794, David Spinner and William Roberts submitted to the Register of Wills's office the inventory and appraisal of John Frick's Lower Milford (originally Milford, and today Milford) Township possessions. It contained numerous items totaling 0,052.12.7. The one hundred forty-nine acres fifty perches were appraised at ESN. David Shelly owed the estate 061 for seven years' back rent. At the time of his death, John Frick held notes due him from these persons: Stofel Ott, LE3.0.0; John Stoufer, £7.7.0; Jacob Rothrock, £20.0.0; Elias Bright, £16.3.1; John Landis, £4.0.0; Elizabeth Greiling, £11.15.0. The inventory and appraisal was affirmed by judge George Weicker." 136 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine No record has been located to confirm what transpired at the referees' meeting held on 27 October 1794; however, on 29 October the referees rendered a unanimous judgment for the plaintiff as to the land and premises. Costs and damages of .0.6.0 each were awarded to the plaintiff. David Shelly was to convey to the heirs of John Frick, in fee simple, the lands Frick had sold to him (Shelly) on 16 May 1791. The referees' judgment was submitted to the judges of the Court of Common Pleas for affirmation or rejection. John Rinehart agreed to pay the court costs and the costs of the hearings held at John Rothrock's inn, which totaled £52.1.10. 54 On 4 November 1794, David Shelly's attorney, J. Sitgreaves, indicated that he would file objections to the referees' judgment, and on 25 November the following exceptions were submitted by Sitgreaves: 1. The referees should not have awarded the land to the plaintiff without having discussed compensation to the defendant; 2. The award was made on the principle of the insanity ofjohn Frick at the time he sold the land to David Shelly, even though an inquisition under a commission under the nature of Mord de Idio a Inquirendo found John Frick to be of sound mind and understanding at the time; 3. The judgment was against law, as the land was awarded to the plaintiff from the defendant and was contrary to John Frick's deed to David Shelly; 4. The report was partial, unequal, and not mutual, since it ordered the defendant to execute a deed to the land to representatives of John Frick without canceling the bond given by Shelly to Frick for the same land; 5. No judgment can be rendered to persons of uncertain descriptions who are not parties to the suit. David Shelly on that day, 25 November 1794, swore to Samuel Benezet that the facts in the execeptions were true. On 4 February 1795, Prothonotary Benezet issued subpoenas to Joseph Hart and John Carr to appear for the plaintiff before the justices to testify that day in the case of "Lessee of John Frick, Plaintiff v. David Shelle, Defendant." Records of the procedures and events of that hearing do not appear within the Bucks County court papers for the Action of Ejectment.56 On 5 February 1795, subpoenas were issued by Benezet to William Erwin, Gilbert Rodman, Col. Joseph Hart, and John Carr to appear for the plaintiff at court on 4 May 1795. There is no record of what transpired at this proceeding. On 7 May 1795, subpoenas were issued to Gilbert Rodman, Col. Joseph Hart, and John Carr to appear Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance 137 at 10:00 A.M., 6 August 1795, to testify in the case of "Richard Fenn, Lessee of John Frick, Plaintiff v. John Dann—David Shelle, Defendant." Once again, there is no record of what took place at the hearing.37 The 6 August 1795 hearing in Bucks County Common Pleas Court was, according to the documents in case file no. 13888, the final event involving the referees in the Action of Ejectment. Although there is no record in the file to confirm their action, it is probably accurate to conclude that on or about this date the judges affirmed the referees' judgment for the plaintiff.38 Similarly, there is no document in Bucks County probate file no. 2508 indicating that Register of Wills James Hanna had ruled in favor ofJohn Frick's 1785 will. There is no doubt that he did, how ever, because the seals were cut from John's 1788 and 1791 wills, while the seal on the 1785 will was left intact." On 5 November 1795, Deputy Register of Wills William Linton, on behalf of Prothonotary Samuel Benezet, presented to John Rinehart a bill of costs and court costs totaling £43.11.3 for the court terms of February and May of 1794, and February, May, and August, 1795. Expenses included serving subpoenas, mileage of witnesses at £0.0.2 per mile, and the payment to witnesses of 0.2.0 per diern.4° John Rinehart reported to the court on 3 February 1796 that he had presented a "Deed of Conveyance" to David Shelly on 25 January and 27 January 1796, according to the court's judgment, and that Shelly had refused to execute it. Rinehart's statement was affirmed in open court by William Linton. On the same day, 3 February 1796, Attorney Thomas Ross filed a motion for "Rule on David Shelly" requiring Shelly to show cause why the court should not issue an attachment against him for not executing the deed of conveyance. Ross's motion was accepted for the court by William Linton, Deputy Register of Wills.41 Although David Shelly had not signed the deed of conveyance, John Rinehart, acting as the heirs' agent with the authority of a letter of attorney signed by each of them, on 1 March 1796 sold the fortynine-acre Richland Township tract to George Eckerman of Lower Milford Township for £400. Rinehart, on 7 March 1796, again act ing as agent for the heirs, sold the one-hundred-acre fifty-perch Lower Milford Township farm to Samuel Hamrick for £1,235. Both deeds identified the heirs as: John Rinehart and Hanna of Coventry 138 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Township; Elizabeth Crumbacher, widow of Abraham Crumbacher of Pipe Creek Hundred, Frederick County, Maryland; David Zubley and Susanna of Vincent Township, Chester Countyjohn Nailer and Ann of Pikeland Township, Chester County; John Frick of Coventry Township; Nathaniel Jones and Christena of Tredyffrin Township; Nathaniel Miles and Mary of Catawissa Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania; and Rebecca Frick, spinster, of Tredyffrin Township. Both deeds indicated that John Rinehart, as the administrator ofjohn Frick's estate, was acting in conformance with Frick's 1785 will:12 On 3 May 1796 in Bucks County Common Pleas Court, John Rinehart, being duly affirmed, "saith that he served David Shelly with a copy of the above Rule of Court and at the same time showed him the above that the said service was more than two months ago and that he refused to execute a Deed of Conveyance agreeable to the Report and Jud't of the Court in the above action and still refuses to do it." Rinehart's statement was affirmed and subscribed to before Prothonotary Francis Murray. The last notation in the file reads: "In the case of Frick v. Shelle Rule. Rule made absolute and attachment awarded."'" David Shelly finally complied with the court's judgment, and on 30 May 1796 sold the two tracts to John Frick's heirs for £0.1.0.44 On 9 November 1796, John Rinehart, administrator of John Frick's estate, filed his account with the Register of Wills's office at Newtown, Bucks County. The estate totaled £1,988.13.3. Expenses totaled 032.11.1. Items of interest among the expenses were £1 to Peter Rinehart, John's brother, for the coffin; L161 to David Shelly for "Taking Care of the mould People in the Time they Lived with him"; £50 each to the Meetings at Germantown, Coventry, and Conestoga; £25 to Eve Demud; £15 to Elizabeth Krilling; L411.12.11 to John Rinehart "as a Debt Due Him from the Deceased"; £0.7.6 to Dr. Van Leer; and £99.8.8, the commission on £1,988.13.3 at five percent. The total due the eight heirs was £1,056.2.2. On the same day, 9 November 1796, Register ofWills James Hanna affirmed that, "This account [was] examined passed and filed."45 Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance 139 Epilogue The author has been unable to uncover any evidence to indicate where the David Shelly family lived after the spring of 1796. His name does not appear in the U.S. Census records for Lower Milford (later Milford) Township in either 1800, 1810, or 1820. An examination of the census records for the nearby townships in Bucks, Montgomery, and Northampton (later Lehigh) counties also produced negative results." David Shelly's name was not recorded in any Bucks County deeds after 1796,47 nor did his name appear in the Bucks County Estates (probate) Index. A search for the Shelly family graves in many of the local cemeteries has, thus far, proved unsuccessful. In his 1982 article, Ken Hottle wrote that "Mary (Kreiling) Rothrock (1728-1810) . died in Mifflin Co., Pa."49 An examination of the U.S. Census records for 1800-1830 in Mifflin County, located in central Pennsylvania, shows that by 1830, thirteen Rothrock and two Shelly families lived there. The two Shelly heads of households were named Henry and tvlichael.5° It appears that around 1800 the Great Swamp German Baptist Brethren Church had gone out of existence. Ken Hottle believed that, after minister John Frick's death, the membership either joined the local Mennonite churches, helped to establish today's Church of the Brethren in Springfield Township, Bucks County, or migrated westward to areas such as Mifflin County.51 Samuel Harwick, who in 1796 bought the one-hundred-acre fiftyperch John Frick farm from Frick's heirs, died intestate about 1826. Harwick's heirs sold the western half of the property to Samuel's son, John, and the eastern half to his daughter, Hannah, who married John Stauffer. In 1831 the Stauffers sold their half to Samuel Landis. By 1860 both halves were owned by Jonathan Fret; who purchased additional acreage along the farm's northern border. The western half of the farm, which probably contained the site of the former Frick residence, passed to descendants of Jonathan Fretz. In the 1980s, the property, then known as the Spring Creek Farm, was owned by David and Lorena Fretz Short. The eastern half in the 1980s was the dairy farm of Isaac and Edna Geissinger.52 140 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine According to David Short, the Fretz family story as passed traditionally to succeeding generations held that sometime during the mid-1800s Jonathan Fretz demolished an old, one or two-story log house that stood about two hundred feet northwest of the Fretz residence which was the Short home in the 1980s." This log structure may have been occupied by either the John Frick family or the David Shelly family in the 1700s. Notes 1. Ralph B. Strassburger and William J. Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 3 vols. (Norristown, Pa.: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934), 1:124. Jacob's name appears on the captain's list under children's names (List 32A, ship Pensilvania Merchant,John Stedman, Commander, from Rotterdam, "but last from Plymouth," qualified 18 September 1733), while John's name has not been found on any list. Computations made from the date on Jacob's and John's tombstones in Oak Grove Cemetery, Parkerford, East Coventry Twp., Chester Co., reveal that on the day they arrived at Philadelphia, Jacob was sixteen or seventeen and John was twenty or twentyone. 2. Moses Auge, "Hon. Benjamin Frick," in Lives of the Eminent Dead andBiographical Notices of Prominent Living Citizens of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, (Norristown, Pa., 1879), 193. Benjamin, Jacob's grandson and a former state senator, explained his family's history in a letter dated 10 March 1864 to a Col. Jacob Frick. Benjamin wrote, "My grandfather's name was Jacob, and he died in 1799, aged 82. He and his brother John, four years his senior, came into this country about V40 from Switzerland. John Frick never married, but settled in Bucks county, where he acquired a farm and died in 1794, aged 81 years. My grandfather, on marrying, settled about one mile east of Pottstown, where my father was born; but in his early boyhood they moved to Chester Valley about two miles from the Valley Forge camp ground. . . Grandfather had three sons, of whom only John (my father) left descendants. Jacob, the oldest, was drowned when about 21 years old, and David, a younger brother, died at the age of 12." Benjamin Frick's statement, that John Frick "never married," is erroneous, i.e., Benjamin either knew nothing of his grandfather's brother's mathage, or he suffered a lapse of memory when writing the letter in 1864. See note 4. 3. Deed Bk. G2:83, Chester County iirchives and Records Services, West Chester, Pa.; hereafter cited as CCA & RS. Jacob Frick bought 100 acres on 31 July 1769 from John Meredith for £442. 4. Interestingly, the only primary sources found in which Salome's name is mentioned are John's first and second wills. Her name, however, does appear in a variety of secondary sources. Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance 141 5. An examination of relevant documents at the Spruance library and Bucks Co. offices of deeds and wills reveals no evidence of either sons or daughters. There is a possibility, of course, that undocumented children of John and Salome died at an early age and that birth or baptismal records, if they exist, have not been uncovered. 6.Jacob's first wife, Elizabeth Urner (1724-1757), is buried in Urner Cemetery, North Coventry Twp., Chester Co., Pa.; Jacob's second wife, Catharine (1731-1813), is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Parkerford, East Coventry Twp. 7. Will Bk. K10:78, CCA & RS. Jacob's will, dated 16 January 1793, lists his eight living children: Elizabeth, Susanna, Hannah, Anna, John, Christiana, Mary, and Rebecca. Sons Jacob and David had predeceased their father. See note 2. 8. Martin Grove Brumbaugh, A History of the German Baptist Brethren in Europe and America, (Mount Morris, Ill.: Brethren Publishing House, 1899), 296-97. 9. Patent Bk. A15:576, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pa. John is referred to as "Hans Frick" in the deed. He paid 1.53.2.2 for the land. 10. Patent Bk. A20:308, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pa. He is referred to as lohn Frick" in this deed. Both parcels, bought from the Penn family, were part of the large tract known as Richland Manor. John paid £49 for this tract 11. Heads of Families at the First Census of the U.S Taken in the Year 1790, 56. The male over sixteen was obviously David Shelly; the two females were probably Shelly's wife and, possibly, a daughter, mother, or mother-in-law. 12. Germantown is located ten miles northwest of Philadelphia; Coventry, one mile south of Pottstown; Conestoga, in northern Lancaster County. 13. Probate file no. 2508, Office of the Register of Wills, Bucks Co. Courthouse, Doylestown, Pa. 14. Ibid. 15. Pennsylvania Colonial Record.% 2d ser., vol. 14 (Harrisburg, Pa.: Theo. Fenn & Co., 1853); Tredyffrin Twp. tax records for the years 1771, 1774, 1780, 1781, and 1781. Jacob Frkk's will (see note 6) opens with words that also confirm his place of residence: "In the name of God, Amen, Jacob Frick of the Township of Tredyffrin County of Chester in Pennsylvania. . ." 16. John Frick's second and third wills are the only known references to his siblings, Henry, Hyry (or Herry), and Elizabeth. That they probably lived in Switzerland is based on the family tradition stating that John and Jacob were born there and were the only family members to emigrate. 17. Brumbaugh, 297. Among the members of the Great Swamp German Baptist Brethren congregation in 1770, according to the survey taken that year by Baptist historian Morgan Edwards, were Henry Kun (Kuhn), widow Crayling (Kreiling), and John Demud (Demuth) and wife—possibly, in 1788, widow Eva Demuth. 18. Probate file no. 2508. 19. Ken Hottle, "John Frick, 'Dunker,' of Greatswamp," Mennonite Family History 1 (no. 4, Oct. 1982), 27. Hottle, in his note 43, quotes the Histtny of the Church of the Brethren of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Knightstown, Indiana: Bookmart, 1977), 283: "The little cemetery . is said to be full, but not a stone is marked." By today's description, Brecht (Bright) Cemetery was located in western Springfield Twp. along both sides of West Chem Rd. about one-quarter mile east of Old 142 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Bethlehem Pike. No tombstones or graves are visible today—only a small piece of unplowed land along the south side of the road. 20. Probate file no. 2508. 21. Deed Bk. 26:121-22, Bucks Co. Courthouse, Doylestown, Pa. 22. File no. 13888, Action of Ejectment, Richard Fenn, Lessee of John Frick, Plaintiff v. John Denn, Lessee of David Shelly, Defendant, Bucks Co. Court of Common Pleas, Newtown, Pa.; hereafter cited as AE 13888. The numerous documents in this file range in date from the May court term of 1793 to the May court term of 17%. The file can be found in the collections of the Spruance Library, Doylestown, Pa. See also, Hottle, 24, 26. Mr. Houle, now deceased, lived in Allentown, Pa., when he wrote his article for Mennonite Family History, at which time he had not found the case file containing the Action of Ejectment. 23. Ibid. 24.Samuel Benezees official title does not appear in any of the court documents. Frances W. Waite, Library Assistant at Spruance Library, in her research on Samuel Benezet and Francis Murray, found that Samuel Benezet was a prothonotary from 1795 to 1800, as was Francis Murray in 1790 and 1792, in the Bucks Co. Court of Common Pleas (J. H. Battle, ed., History of Bucks County," [Spartanburg, S.C.: The Reprint Co., 1985]; *wig. pub!. Philadelphia, Pa. 1887), 683. Based on this information, it can be assumed that Samuel Benezet and Francis Murray were prothonotaries in the Bucks Co. Court of Common Pleas during the Frick v. Shelly Action of Ejectment. Webster Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1936, s.v. "prothonotary": In law, a chief clerk in the Court of Common Pleas and in the King's Bench; there were formerly three such officers in the former court, and one in the latter. This office is rarely found in United States courts today, although the office of prothonotary still exists in several Pennsylvania counties. George Weicker, whose name appears at the bottom of the deed by which John Frick sold his property to David Shelly in 1791, is the only person named in the records who can be identified as having served as a judge in the Common Pleas Court. 25. AE 13888. 26. Ibid, 27. No records have been found to indicate when John Frick moved from Lower Milford Twp., Bucks Co., to Coventry Twp., Chester Co. 28. Tombstone inscriptions, Oak Grove Cemetery, Parkerford, East Coventry Twp. 29. Probate file no. 2508 (hereafter P 2508) . 30. Ibid. The cover of the Action of Ejectment states that "Wm. Chapman, Shff." served David Shelly with notice of the law suit; this notation would seem to indicate that Chapman was probably Sheriff of Bucks Co. at the time. 31. AE 13888. 32. P 2508. 33. Ibid. 34. AE 13888. 35. Ibid. Litigation in the 1790s: The John Frick Inheritance 143 36. Ibid. 37. Ibid. 38. Ibid. 39. P 2508. 40. AE 13888. 41. Ibid. 42. Bucks Co. Deed Bk. 29:155-57,159-60. 43. AE 13888. 44. Bucks Co. Deed Bk. 29:157-59. 45. P 2508. 46. U.S. Census records, 1800,1810, and 1820, for Bucks, Montgomery, Northampton, and Lehigh counties in Pennsylvania, microfilm. 47. A search at the office of the Recorder of Deeds, Bucks Co. Courthouse, Doylestown, Pa., failed to reveal any deeds recorded by David Shelly after 1796. 48. Information supplied by Frances W. Waite, Library Assistant, Spruance Library, Doylestown, Pa. 49. Houle, 27, note 45. 50. U.S. Census, 1830, Mifflin Co., Pa., microfilm. 51. Houle, 27. 52. A history of the property transactions (1796-1980) for the farm that John Frick passed to his heirs can be found in Bucks Co. Deed Bk. 29:155-57, Deed Bk. 53:413-15, Deed Bk. 107:305-07, Deed Bk, 176:491-92, Deed Bk. D1767:35-36, and Deed Bk. D1826:870-71. 53. David Emmett Short, conversation with the author, 1 July 1983 at Spring Creek Farm.