Bashore - French Huguenot

Much of this information on the early origins of this line were obtained from this web site. The author of this work is David Beshore. Thanks for all the fine research David.

From this site:

On July 4, 1710, our first ancestor arrived in present day United States. He was Hans Jacob Boshaar, who crossed the Atlantic from Palatine Germany (southwestern Germany near the Lorraine), via England, with his wife and 6 children to arrive in New York City. He and his family were indentured servants of the Queen of England for several years (a 4 year commitment). In 1710, after a few months in New York City, they traveled up the Hudson at an English naval tar-producing location called West Camp (Elizabethtown) across the Hudson River from Germantown, NY.

In 1713, they trekked into Mohawk Indian territory of the Schoharie Valley to claim the 40 acres of farmland promised them by the Queen. Disputes over legal title with the local Indians and New York politics were common and led to disenchantment.

Around 1719, George Boshaar took the family to Pennsylvania via the Susquehanna and the Swatara rivers to what is today Bethel, PA (was initially Millersburg). It is believed that Hans Jacob either did not go to Schoharie or died on route to Pennsylvania as noted by his burial in Hurley NY (near Kingston), south of Elizabethtown.

The American spelling of the Boshaar family first appears in the first U.S. Census of 1790 as 'Beshore'. There are over 80 different spellings of family names who came from the Boshaars (Frances C. Francis). Many of George's descendants still live in Bethel PA just 30 miles east of Harrisburg...their names are spelled 'Bashore'.

A legend in the family, Jacques Milne Le Baiseur, once lived in the southwestern area of Guyenne, France where Bordeaux and La Rochelle are today. The Baise River runs into the Garonne River at Agen, FR. The Garonne then proceeds northward through Bordeaux. As of today we do not know directly how this individual (who escaped religious persecution in France by escaping to England in a barge around 1610) is related to the Boshaars in Germany.

At the turn of the first millennium, 'baisseur' meant 'builder' as we know from Fulk III, the 'grand baisseur', one of the great military rulers in France in 1000 AD. However 'the Baise' also meant 'low' from 1500 to 1800 A.D. and can refer to the lower Dutch, which places them in the Netherlands or Belgium. Today 'le baisseur' is a vulgar French term and few people have this surname.

Rupp (famous historian and ancestor of the Beshores) claims that Jacques returned to the Palatinate. Also, George Boshaar (b. 1716) has stated that his great grandfather was Jacques Milne Le Baiseur (coincidently in our family tree this also marks Hans Jacob Boshaar I as George's great grandfather).

The furthest back we can go today in the family tree is Jacob Boshaar in (b. 1590) from Zwiebrucken (once called Deux Ponts during French control) who in 1624 held the position of Mayor (More Palatine Families - Henry Z. Jones). Jacob also means Jacques in French. Perhaps Jacques and Jacob were the same individual, but this is not verified

Bethel Township History

Bethel Township is located in the northwestern portion of Berks County. The area contains about twenty seven thousand acres.

In 1723 the land lying west of the Swatara Creek and to the South of the Blue Mountain was known by the name of Lebanon and to the east and south as Tulpehocken Manor. In 1729 this area became part of Lancaster County. In 1739, the court at Lancaster ordered the township of Lebanon to be divided, the southern division to be called Lebanon and the northern section Bethel.

The township was named after a Moravian Meeting House which was erected in that locality not far from the Swatara Creek. When Berks County was erected in 1752, the county line extended through this township and divided it into two nearly equal parts. The western half being a part of what is now Lebanon County and the eastern section Berks County. In 1791 the northern boundary on top of the mountain was established by a survey and Court Proceedings.

The topography of the land is mainly gently rolling hills and valleys bounded on the north by the range of the Blue Mountains. The Mountain Round Head, as it was known in the early days of our history or Round Top as it is now commonly called by the local people, forms a beautiful backdrop for the village of Bethel and area farms.

The early settlers referred to the mountain in German as "Rund Koph" (Round Head). It was through this pass in the mountain that the Indians slipped through during their frequent attacks on Bethel Township. It was at the base of this mountain that Dietrick Six settled and later Fort Henry was built.

Fort Henry was begun in January of 1756 by Captain Busse under the orders of Gov. Morris. Prior to this time the people of the area are believed to have sought refuge at the Six residence and a "watch" had been established there by Conrad Weiser and the local people.

While constructing the fort the men lived in an encampment and on several occasions where attacked by Indians with some lives lost. According to some sources the fort was not completed and occupied until March of 1756.

By about 1759 the outrages by the Indians ceased and there was peace throughout the valley. The fort was allowed to fall into decay and the land returned to the plow, so that today all that remains is a memory and a stone marking its location.

Publication: History of Bethel and Tulpehocken Townships, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Generation One

Jacob Bashore, md. Agnes _____.

Children: Hans Albrecht Bashore.

Generation Two

Hans Albrecht Bashore, born Breitenbach, Germany, md. Anna Margaretha ______.

Generation Three

Johann Jacob Bashore, b. circa 1647, breitenbach, Germany. He was a cooper by trade from Tweibrucken. He married first January 20 1681 in Tweibrucken, Pfalz, Germany. Anna Gertrude Meyer, b. 17 Oct 1647, Tweibrucken, Pfalz, Germany. She was the daughter of Hans Laux Meyer nd Benigna _____. Anna died 4 March 1693. Johann married second 30 June 1693, in Zweibrucken, Germany, Anna Christina Maurer, born Hoog-duytsland, Germany. She was the daughter of Samuel Maurer and ______. Johann died before December 6, 1719, Hurley, Ulster Co., N. . Came to America 1709-10 and settled in Ulter County, New York.

Children by Anna Gertrude Meyer:

i	Johann Jacob Bashore, b. 1681.
ii	Child Bashore, b. Mar 1684
iii	Anna Margaretha Bashore, b. 23 Mar 1687

Children by Anna Christina Maurer:

i	Johann George, b. June 1694
ii	Johann Daniel Bashore
iii	Johann Bernard Bashore
iv	Anna Margaretha Bashore
v	Johannes Bashore
vi	Johann Wilhelm Bashore
vii	Maria Catherine Bashore
viii	Magdalena Elisabetha Bashore

Generation Four

Johan George Bashore - Born on 7 Jun 1694 in Zweibrucken Germany. Johan George probably died in Leacock Twp., Lancaster Co., PA aft 1734, he was 39. Buried prob Bashore Cemetery, Leacock Twp., PA. On 7 Aug 1716 when Johan George was 22, he married Maria Elisabeth Wenrich, daughter of Balthaser Wenrich & Magdalena Elizabeth Unknown. Born in b. c 1693 in "Der Plalz", Germany. Maria Elisabeth died in PA aft 1732, she was 39.

Barnard Bashore was probably born circa 1728, based on his land warrant in Lancaster, PA 25 Oct 1749. Apparently he fled around 1756 because of Indian uprisings and massacres. Barnard is listed as a patriot for providing wheat for the Revolutionary cause when he resided in Falling Waters, Berkeley Co., VA left. He bought land in Falling Waters, Berkeley County, VA, Nov 1768.

They had the following children:

i	Bernhardt Bashore ca 1728-1800
ii	Jacob Bashore
iii	Anna Margaretha
iv	Baltzer
v	Matthias
vi	Maria Magdalena
vii	George
viii	Johannes
iv	Elizabeth

Generation Two

Bernhardt Bashore was born in Berks Co., PA. Bernhardt circa 1728 and died ca 1800 in Berkeley Co., W Va. Bernhardt first married Carolina Unknown. Bernhardt second married Catherine Unknown.

Catherine and Bernhardt Bashore had the following children:

i	Anna Maria "Mary" Bashore (1755-?)
ii	John Bashore
iii	George Bashore
iv	Peter Bashore
v	Michael Bashore
vi	Maria Catherine Bashore
vii	Margaret Bashore

Barnard Bashore's Will, per "Following a Kentucky Trace by Carol Flaherty ~

2 April 1800

The will of Barnard Bashore was proven in court and recorded in Will Book 3, Page 284, Berkeley County, Martinsburg, West Virginia. In it he gave

... to my well beloved wife Catherine all my out standing debts all my stock of Horned Cattle Sheep and hogs Horses and Household Furniture together ... during her natural life and no longer then to be equally divided between my four Sons George, John, Peter and Michael and my three daughters Mary, Catherine and Margaret.

... and pay my daughter Mary Shively two hundred pounds Pennsylvania currency. I also give and bequeath to my daughter Catherine one hundred and fifty pounds ... and also fifty pounds like money to be equally divided between her and Sd. Catherine's surviving heirs of Peter Swingley Decd. I also give and bequeath to my grand son Barney of George five pounds ... to my grand son Barney of John five pounds ... to my grandson Henry of Michael five pounds ... the remaining part of my estate shall be equally divided between my four sons George, John, Peter and Michael and my daughter Margaret or their surviving heirs. Given under my hand and seal this 27 day October in the year of our Lord 1799, I constitute my son John Beasore and my son in law George Moody my Executors ... I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presents of Henry Klinger, John Blackbill and Jacob Davis. Signed by Brney Bashore ("Besore") his mark.

Per "A Kentucky Trace" by Carol Flaherty, "Bashore's land had cornered that of Michael Shively's on the Potomac River according to a conveyance of 100 acres of that land from Michael to Christian Shively in Berkeley County Deed Book 4, pg. 453-455, 21 March 1778. This may be part of the same 400 acres that Philip Shively settled and improved in 1774. Philip's land was on Scott's Run, Cass District of Monongalia County. A. S. Freed says that Philip was the grandfather of Michael Shively. The story went that Philip Shively, at the age of 93 split 100 rails in a day."

Background on the Palatinate

According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica Gumbsweiler and Buborn lie in a part of Germany known as the Pfalz, specifically, in the Lower Palatinate. After World War II, this area was joined with a part of the Rhineland to form the German state of Rhineland-Pfalz with the capitol of Mainz. The Pfalz, however, is historically identified with the Upper and Lower Palatinate, a region with an extremely complex history. In early medieval Germany, these were the lands of a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire, the count palatinate. Starting with Louis I in 1214, the rulers of the Palatinate were from the Bavarian dynasty and eventually achieved the right to participate in the election of the Emperor.

In the 1560s, under Elector Frederick III, the Palatinate adopted Calvinism and became the bulwark of the Protestant cause in Germany. In 1608 his son, Elector Frederick IV, became the head of the Protestant Union, a military alliance. The Thirty Years War began around 1618 with a quarrel between supporters of Frederick V and the recently crowned Roman Catholic King of Bohemia, Ferdinand. The Palatinate, along with Germany, was plunged into a devastating conflict that left much of the land desolate. Before the end of this war, France, several German states, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands all had become involved. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 restored the Rhenish, or Lower, Palatinate to Frederick's son, Charles Louis.

The Palatinate was to face another assault from France near the end of the 17th Century. The War of the Grand Alliance involved Louis XIV of France, which was claiming part of the Palatinate, pitted against the League of Augsburg, a coalition of European princes. It lasted from 1689-1687. The Treaty of Ryswick restored the contested lands, but the land was so ravaged that many of the early German settlers of America, including the Pennsylvania Dutch, were refugees from the Palatinate. There appear to have been close political and cultural ties between the Palatinate and France during the 18th Century.

1789 marked the French Revolution, but within the decade, Napoleon executed his European conquests. The Brittanica says "During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Palatinate's lands on the west bank of the Rhine were incorporated into France, while its eastern lands were divided largely between neighbouring Baden and Hesse." Individual states were dissolved and religious holdings were secularized. However, with the Battle of Waterloo and the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, "the region was divided by the Congress of Vienna among Prussia, Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Nassau." This can be seen in the map of Germany immediately below.

In fact, a very close look at this map renders comprehensible the apparent conflict between the census report that Margaretha was from Prussia and Abraham was from Bavaria, on the one hand, and what the present day map tells us, namely that they were just a few miles from one another. For, apparently, at that time a tongue of Prussia south of Koblenz cut across the northern section of the Rhenish Palatinate. If we had access to a more accurate map of that time and place, the border between Prussia and Bavaria just might have separated Buborn and Gumbsweiler.In another place on the Internet, I once read that the border between Prussia and Bavaria crossed the 8 km between Buborn and Odenbach no less than eight times. Odenbach was the birthplace of a Moellendick ancestor, written about in another part of this website.

This very brief and simplified telling of the history of the Palatinate has brought us up almost to the time that Abraham and Margaretha emigrated to America. In a wonderfully detailed article by Heinrich Becker, About the Forgotten Daughters and Sons of Dittweiler (which I have translated from the German) we find a history of the tiny part of the Great Wave of emigration that occurred from the Kohlbach Valley in the Pfalz from 1830-1880. According to Mr. Becker, in addition to the political upheaval that residents of the Palatinate had endured for centuries, there were the additional stresses of agricultural depletion of the land and continued population expansion. He documents how several families transported themselves from the Pfalz to Washington County, Ohio over a period of years. Many times older married couples left their married children in the "old country" and reestablished themselves in the new world. As they encountered the freedom, the rich lands and the opportunity for acquiring them, these settlers wrote letters exhorting those remaining behind to come and join them.

1614 - Canterbury, England

1634 - Wasquehal, Toucouring, MARCQ-EN-BAROEUL, Flers, Annappes, Lille St. Etienne, and Mouscron, France.

Summary

Foulques III "Nerra" , Comte d'Anjou - le Grand Bâisseur (The Great Builder)
Fulk III Nerra, Fulk the Black or Foulques le Noir, Count of Anjou (987-1040), the most powerful of the early rulers of the Angevin dynasty. Exposed at first to the attacks of the counts of Brittany, Fulk had to fight for a long time to defend his frontiers, finally driving the Bretons back beyond the frontiers of Anjou. having made himself master in the west, he turned his attention to the east and came into conflict with the count of Blois, Eudes II, over the territory of Saumur and a considerable part of Touraine. He defeated Eudes at Pontlevoy in 1016, and surprised and took Saumur 10 years later.

A ruthless warrior who burned and pillaged the monasteries in his path, Fulk nevertheless felt the need for pennance, making three pilgrimages to the Holy Land and founding or restoring several abbeys, including those in or near Angers, Loches and Saumur. He also built strongly fortified castles of stone (instead of wood) along the borders of his territory. For this reason he was called le Grand Bâisseur (The Great Builder).
[Enc. Brit. 5:44]

Pennsylvania and New York:

We have not found direct evidence of the connection between Jacques Milne Le Bâisseur and Boshaars, other than one written record in "History of the Brethren of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania" 1915, p.517, that claimed that George Beshor's great grandfather was Jacques Milne la Baseaur and 'settled' in New York (this was probably misinterpreted by the "History...", somewhat, as you read on). George's son Matthias died in 1901 and is in the Frystown cemetery. George was the son of Hans Jacob II. Hans George Beashor, father of Hans Jacob, immigrated to US before 1738. If we are to believe George, then Jacques was Hans Jacob II's father, Hans Jacob.

France:

Le Bâisseur <- ? <- Hans George <- Hans Jacob <-George, as we try to establish lineage in time. This would put Jacques in the right time period, and certainly identify him in Norwich in the early 1600s. However it is recorded (haven't found it myself yet) that Jacques is buried in Norwich, which would indicate that Hans George made the journey (maybe) and Jacque's never left Norwich. Hans Albrecht is the ? above, indicating that a birth date of Jacques before 1600 is reasonable. Was Hans Albrecht the only German-born son of Jacques?

Canterbury and Norwich England:

Note below in the table (after you click on her name) that Sara's (No. 71 -1623) Father is Jaques Le Bâisseur, who supposedly immigrated from Guyenne France in 1610 to Norwich. Ester (52) , Elizees (51), and Benjamin (50) have listed Jacques as their father, also. So the issue is did Jacques emigrate from Guyenne (where he was born) or is he also from Duex Ponts (Zweibruken, where Hans Albrecht is recorded having been born)? The English born children, assumed the French name, and apparently continued on until the 1700s...then the descendants migrated back, to the Palatine and America, and assumed German names?

Conclusion:

My theory (very speculative) is that Jacob Boshaar and Jacque Bâisseur are one in the same person. BTW: Jacques = Jacob translated. So we have assumed that in our genealogy tree that Jacob Boshaar (abt. 1590) is the oldest identified ancestor on the Beshore side. Agnes was the name of the wife of both....Jacob Boshaar's wife's name was Agnes Pasour (sounds like Baisseur).
---

Background

Many Americans have German ancestry, or perhaps better stated, have ancestors who at one time lived in what is today Germany. Although the concept of a Germaniæ Historica {east of the Rhine and north of the Danube} has been undisputed for over 2000 years, modern Germany, as a sovereign entity, did not exist 150 years ago. Moreover, as most people know, major border changes have occurred three times, just in the 20th century alone, the most recent being the reunification, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the communist government in East Germany. Frankfurt and Hessen were in the American Zone after the Second World War.

The French King's conquests not only finally secured Strasbourg and Alsace, but also laid strong claim to Lorraine, thereby assuring nearly another 300 years of war, first with the War of Spanish Succession(1701-1714), primarily fought in Bavaria and western Germany. Lorraine was part of the German Empire when seized by Louis XIV in 1678. It was restored in 1697, but France regained possession, by reversion, upon the death of Stanislaus of Poland (1766). In that time it was formally incorporated, but a portion returned to Germany in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War. See Trier. It was one of the sources of irritation leading to the second as well as first World Wars of this century. Many towns in Alsace and Lorraine have two names, of which one is usually the translation of the other. (e.g. Thionville and Diedenhoffen -- Betstein and Bassompierre -- Mainz and Mayence). The House of Cleves also is associated closely to this region. Duex Ponts and ZweiBrachen is another example.

Pennsylvania emerged during this time of extreme turmoil as one of the safe-havens for Protestant Germans, who did not fit the Lutheran mold or could not remain safely in French occupied lands. Established by Quaker William Penn, under authority of the Britsh government, Penn’s woods furnished fine productive land to those who would clear and farm it. It also became a place where “out-of-favor” communities could flourish in freedom. The Georgia Colony also gave refuge to the persecuted in the first years of its existence (circa 1733).

Below is a map showing the Franken and German tribes after the first millennium. The map names Mainz as Moguntiacum and Bonn as Bonna. Across the river from Bonn it shows the Tencteri tribe. North of them are the Sugambri and to the west of the Tencteri are the Chatten. It shows the tribe of the Turones east of Frankfurt. The Main river is designated as the "Moenus". The Turones live in an area where Germanic tribes of the Rhine-Weser group lived: Tencteri, Sugambri, Bructeri, Cherusci and Chatten. Therefore, I assume, that all these tribes are Germanic ones, including the Turones. On the other side of the Rhine, in what is today Belgium and France, there lived Celtic-Germanic mixed tribes like Treveri, Condrusi, Nervii. These groups lived together with "pure" Celtic tribes like Mediomatrices and Eberones. In relatively close distance to, but west of Mainz lived the Treveri.

Le Baisseuir or La Baisseur is of French origin meaning "one who kisses." Various spellings over the years include: Beshore, Baisseur, Besor, Bashair, Beashore, Basehore, Boeshoren and Boeshore as a few (Frances Bashore Francis Geneological Document has over 70 different spellings).

The earliest ancestor found to date is Jacques Milne La Baisseur, a French Huguenot, who fled his home in Guyenne (Aquitaine) in southwest France to England about 1610. In 1614 he is listed as a member of the French Huguenot Church in Norwich, England. About 100 years later, in 1708, some of his his desendents emmigrated to the Schoharie Valley along the Hudson River in New York State. Queen Anne financed such emigration to populate the Hudson River Valley to provide a better defense against marauding French and Indians (Queen Anne's French & Indian War).

The Boeshore family met other Palatines and Huguenots in NY in 1720 and moved with them to the Tulpehocken country in Berks Co., PA. (They followed Lake Oswego, then the Susquehanna River, then up the Swatara.)

Other descendents of Jaques Milne La Baisseuir returned to the Alsace and Bas Rhine are from Norwich, England about 1700 after the end of the Thirty Years War which reduced religious persecution. Among them was Jacob Baisseur or Boeshaar as listed on this the ships passenger list.

Medieval France: Portion of Aquataine (Guyenne), showing areas of population is shown below (Possible locations of where Jacques lived):

Baiseur Geneology

Oldest Known Marriage
Coinne - Le Baiseur
Jaques Coinne, a native of Ron, near Lille, France
married to Christienne Baseu (or le Baiseur) of Fourcoin, France
July 27, 1614.

Oldest Ancestor

Susannah le Baseur - International Genealogical Index / BI
Gender: Female Birth: 1570 Norwich, Norfolk, England

On July 4, 1710, our first ancestor arrived in present day United States. He was Hans Jacob Boshaar, who crossed the Atlantic from Palatine Germany (southwestern Germany near the Lorraine, via England, with his wife and 6 children to arrive in New York City. He and his family were indentured servants of the Queen of England for several years (a 4 year commitment). In 1710, after a few months in New York City, they traveled up the Hudson at an English naval tar-producing location called West Camp (Elizabethtown) across the Hudson River from Germantown, NY.

In 1713, they trekked into Mohawk Indian territory of the Schoharie Valley to claim the 40 acres of farmland promised them by the Queen. Disputes over legal title with the local Indians and New York politics were common and led to disenchantment.

Around 1719, George Boshaar took the family to Pennsylvania via the Susquehanna and the Swatara rivers to what is today Bethel, PA (was initially Millersburg). It is believed that Hans Jacob either did not go to Schoharie or died on route to Pennsylvania as noted by his burial in Hurley NY (near Kingston), south of Elizabethtown.

The American spelling of the Boshaar family first appears in the first U.S. Census of 1790 as 'Beshore'. There are over 80 different spellings of family names who came from the Boshaars (Frances C. Francis). Many of George's descendants still live in Bethel PA just 30 miles east of Harrisburg...their names are spelled 'Bashore'.

A legend in the family, Jacques Milne Le Baiseur, once lived in the southwestern area of Guyenne, France where Bordeaux and La Rochelle are today. The Baise River runs into the Garonne River at Agen, FR. The Garonne then proceeds northward through Bordeaux. As of today we do not know directly how this individual (who escaped religious persecution in France by escaping to England in a barge around 1610) is related to the Boshaars in Germany.

At the turn of the first millennium, 'baisseur' meant 'builder' as we know from Fulk III, the 'grand baisseur', one of the great military rulers in France in 1000 AD. However 'the Baise' also meant 'low' from 1500 to 1800 A.D. and can refer to the lower Dutch, which places them in the Netherlands or Belgium. Today 'le baisseur' is a vulgar French term and few people have this surname.

Rupp (famous historian and ancestor of the Beshores) claims that Jacques returned to the Palatinate. Also, George Boshaar (b. 1716) has stated that his great grandfather was Jacques Milne Le Baiseur (coincidently in our family tree this also marks Hans Jacob Boshaar I as George's great grandfather).

The furthest back we can go today in the family tree is Jacob Boshaar in (b. 1590) from Zwiebrucken (once called Deux Ponts during French control) who in 1624 held the position of Mayor (More Palatine Families - Henry Z. Jones). Jacob also means Jacques in French. Perhaps Jacques and Jacob were the same individual, but this is not verified.

The Wagner's sailed with the Boshaars to America and also settled the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York. Nancy Wagoner Dixon wrote about the adventures and the hard times of her family, the Wagners. From records, the Boshaars probably endured the same voyage and strife with the Wagners. Her book is Palatine Roots: The 1710 German Settlement in New York as Experience by Johann Peter Wagner, Picton Press, 1994. Families normally stayed with the same Ship Listmaster (Gurlach on the 'James and Elizabeth').

The Boshaars were on the James and Elizabeth along with the Wagners - an excellent book on the life during those times is Palatine Roots: The 1710 German Settlement in New York as Experienced by Johann Peter Wagner by Nancy Wagoner Dixon. The Palatines (West Germans) escaped to Holland, with the help of the Queen and a new beginning in New York Boshaar literally means 'BAD HAIR'....now on with their story!!! How they are related to the Baisseurs (kissers) has not be documented. However, many books show the Boshaars who arrived on the Hunter's Lists claimed the relationship and heritage.

Hanß Jacob Bößhaar, son of the late Haß Albrecht Bößhaar at Breitenbach, married, 20 Jan 1681, Anna Gertrudt Meyer (Meier), daughter of the late Hanß Laux Meyer, Court Gardener at Zweibrücken. They had three children. Anna died around 1692/3.

The same Hanß Jacob Bößhaar, citizen and cooper here, widower, then married Christina, daughter of the late Samuel Maurer - citizen and linen weaver at Hornbach, 30 July 1693. They had 9 children.

Hanß Jacob Bößhaar, a cooper from the town of Zweibrücken was an emigrant from the Dutchy of Zweibrücken in 1709. Hanß Jacob Bößhaar, his wife and 6 children (out of 9 total, who were to be born later in New York) were in the 6th party sailing on the ship of Captain Johan Facit, 3 Jul 1709. In 1710, three large groups of Palatines sailed from London. Hanß Jacob Bößhaar, died in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY in 1719.

The Boeshaar family was sent to New York with the new Governor, Robert Hunter, courtesy of, Her Majesty the Queen. There were 3,000 Palatines on 10 ships that sailed for NY and approximately 470 died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival.

In NY, the Palatines were expected to work for the British authorities, producing naval stores [tar and pitch] for the navy in return for their passage to NY. They were also expected to act as a buffer between the French and Native Americans on the northern frontier and the English colonies to the south and east. Things didn't go as well as hoped, for any of the parties involved in the plan.

From "The Conditions, grievances, and oppressions of the Germans in His Majestys province of New York in America 1720”: "In the year 1709 was her late Majesty Queen Anne most graciously pleased to send a body of between 3000 and 4000 Germans to New York under the Inspection and Care of Robert Hunter then Governor there with particular orders and instructions to settle them on lands belonging to the Crown, and such as were most proper for raising pitch, tar, and other naval stores. Before they left England they were promised 5 pounds in money per head of which they have received nothing at all. It was likewise promised that on their arrival there, each of them should receive clothes, utensils, tools, and other Conveniency's belonging to Husbandry, all which were sent with them from England for their use, but of these they received but very little. They were moreover to have a Grant of 40 acres of land to each person, but it was never performed.

On their landing at New York they were quartered in tents on the Common and divided in six companies over each of which was a Captain appointed to command them (of which number John Conrad Weiser arriv'd here in London 1718) with an allowance of 15f per annum each, but not one farthing has been hither paid them about the same time the said Govern'r without and against their consent took many children from them, bound them to several of the Inhabitants of that province till they should arrive to the age of 21 years. Particularly two Sons from Capt. Weiser one of the twelve and another of 13 years of age, by which means they were deprived of the Comfort of their Children's company and education as well as the assistance and Support they might in a small time have reasonably expected from them. In the fall of that year those that were living (then It must be observed that a great number of them were dead,) were removed to a tract of land belonging to one Mr. Livingston, where they lived in houses erected by themselves till the spring following when they were ordered to the woods to make pitch and tar and continued there near two years but as the land was improper to raise any sort o! naval stores in any Considerable quantity, their labors terra to a different account and the profits of building and improving the lands fell to a private person, they being not able to make more than near 200 barrels of pitch and tar.

The small prospect they had of being on a capacity to serge the nation and the Impossibility there was of raising Corn, Cattell and other provisions for their subsistence on such ordinary and almost barren land obliged them to petition the aforesaid Governor that they might be put in possession, and settle on .the land Call'd Schorie which Indians had given to the late Queen Anne for their use he answer'd that the the land was theirs, he could nor would no take it from them, neither could he settle them there because it would oblige him to maintain to many Garrisons.

The said Governor thought well some time after to visit all the Villages where they were settled and view the people there who with one consent applied to him again, humbly praying they might go and inhabit the above promised land, upon which he in a passion stamped upon the ground and said, here is your land (meaning the almost barren Rocks) where you must live and die.

The second year (in the woods) were orders sent to detach 300 able men to serve on expedition against Canada which they did and on their return, their arms were taken from them, they were put on the Establishment of New York and New Jersey and the money received by the said Governor they marched home, where they found their families almost starved, no provision having been given them during their absence.

They petitioned (Coll.) Gove. Hunter for full allowance of provisions. He promised to send some, about 8 days after came message from him that he had not received any subsistence for them from England and therefore every one of them must shift for himself, but not out of the Province.

This was the latter end of the year and winter just at hand, no provision to be had, and the people bare of Cloaths. So they sought relief from the Indians and the Indians gave them permission to settle on tract of Land called Schoharie, which the Indians had given to Queen Anne for this very purpose. All fell to work and in two weeks cleared a way through woods 15 tulles long though nearly starving and 50 Families went to Schoharie. When almost settled, Gov. Hunter sent orders that Whoever settled on that land should be declared a Rebel. However, the remainder traveling in sledges through three feet of snow, cold, and hunger, joined the 50 first families. They made other contracts, which the people of Albany tried to break. Then Gov. Hunter called in Adam Vrooman to persuade the Indians to break the agreement. In 1717 Gov. Hunter called a meeting of these German's. He declared he would hang John Conrad Weiser ordered they must agree with “the gentlemen of Albany to whom he had sold the Land for 1500 pistoles and become their tenants or leave."

From Histories, etc. Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin Bedford Adams and ferry Counties, Pa. by Israel Daniel Rupp, 1846 page 39:

“From 1700 to 1720 the Palatines endured many privations before they reached the western continent. In 1708 and 1709 upwards of ten thousand arrived in England and were there for some time in a starving miserable, sickly condition, lodged in warehouses; who had no subsistence but what they could get by their wives begging for them in the streets till some sort of provision was made for them by Queen Anne and then some were shipped to Ireland, others to America.

In the month of August, pursuant to an address to her majesty Queen Anne from the Lord Lieutenant and Council in Ireland, desiring as many as her majesty should think fit to send thither, three thousand were sent to Ireland, many of whom returned again to England, on account of the hard usage they received from the Commissary Who did not Pay them their subsistence (Journal House of Commons, England, Vol. XVI 594-98.) In the summer of 1710 several thousand Palatines who had been maintained at the Queen's expense in England were shipped to New York, some of whom afterwards came to Pennsylvania."

Somewhere between 1721 and 1734, George Bößhaar (Hanß Jacob Bößhaar's son) joined a large group of Palatines going to Pennsylvania.

Jacob (his brother?), sailed in May 29, 1735 as noted below.

Fort Klock Historic Restoration
The Book of Names
Especially Relating to The Early Palatines and the First Settlers in the
Mohawk Valley
Compiled and Arranged by Lou D. MacWethy
Published by The Enterprise and News
St. Johnsville, NY., 1933

Palatine Heads of Families
From
Governor Hunter's Ration Lists
June, 1710 to September, 1714
Compiled from the records in London and Presented to the descendants of the Palatines by
BOYD EHLE. C. E.

Historians in general and descendants of the Palatines in particular have long felt a desire for a more complete list of those Palatine emigrants who settled in New York and along the Hudson under the patronage of Queen Anne of 1710. Documentary History of New York, Vol. III gives a census of those in New York, also those in West Camp but no mention is made of those in East Camp although it is known that there were unlisted settlement on the east side.

During the summer of 1931 Mr. Boyd Ehle through his London agents caused a search of the records there with the result that the ledger accounts of Governor Hunter were consulted and all the names of heads of families drawing rations were copied. Mr. Ehle has arranged them in alphabetical order and indicated their place of residence by the symbols to be found following the name in case where residence is known as follows:

E---East Camp. Soldiers in Canadian Exposition of 1711.
W---West Camp.
N. New York City.

These locations are from the census reports in Doc. Hist., Vol 3. Those not designated are presumed to have been residents of east Camp. No census of this camp has been discovered, but by eliminating those of known location the balance must belong to East Camp.

This kindly service on the part of Mr. Ehle is duly acknowledged by the Enterprise and News on behalf of the descendants of the Palatinate. Surely no kindlier service can be imagined and not only those living today but those who will follow will find reason to be grateful for the thoughtfulness of Mr. Ehle in preserving the precious knowledge for the descendants.

London Letter

The letter accompanying the Ration Lists fromt he London compilers will be of interest and is here given:

Colonial Office Class 5

Vols. 1230-1231.

(Badly classified--1731 is first int he point of order).

These two folio volumes, clearly written and bound in undressed calf are the statement of Gov. Hunter's account against the Government for the subsistence to the Palatines 1710-1713 each having the certificates and the seal of New York in red wax, as noted in Dr. Andrew's Guide." The first is the Journal or account book, No. 1231, the other (1230) is the ledger, each name being posted up in alphabetical order. Both these show the number drawn for by the heads of families or the recipient thus:--2 adults 2 young (i.e. under 10 years): 3 adults 1 young; 1 adults, as the case may be.

Vol. 1231

This journal, as it is called is divided under the following headings:

p. 1. "New York 30 June 1719.

"The Palatines hereafter named for themselves and their families Subsistence, Debtors to the Queen's most Sacred Majesty . . . . . for 4 days subsistance distributed. . . from 27 June to this day at the rate of 6d for persons above 10 years of age and 4d per diem for children under 10 years. . .

(Then follows names and sums of money to cash).

p. 4 New York 1st July 1710. Similar heading for 4 days 28 june to this day.

p. 10 New York 4th July 1710. Similar heading 4 days 1st July to this day.

p. 14 New York 4th August 1710. Sililar heading 25 days 10th July to this day.

p. 29 New York 4 October 1710. Sililar heading. 61 days 5th August to this day.

p. 45. Mannor of Livingston 31 December 1710. The Platines hereafter named for themselves and their families subsistance debtors to the Queens most Sacred Majesty for Subsistance distributed to the said Palatines from the time of their several arrivals at this place and ye other side Hudson River (the first being ye 6 October) to this day make 89 days.

p. 55 Mannor of Lobingston 25 March 1711. . . . for 84 days from 1 January 1711.

p. 66 Mannor of Livingston 24 June 1711. . . .91 days from 26 March.

p. 78 Mannor of Livingston 29 September 1711. . . .97 days from 25 June abating 14 days during which time they had little or no provision.

p. 91. Mannor of Livingston 24 December 1711. . . . .86 days from 30 September.

p. 103. New York 24 December 1711. . . .from 5th October 1710 at New York to 5 October last . . . .N. B. Those families charged with small sums were sent up to the Settlement last fall, others with large sums were subsisted at New York in the spring following and not sent up till April and May. And the remainder being Widows and Orphans have been sussisted to this time.

p. 117. Mannor of Livinsgton 25 March 1712. . . . for 92 days from 25 October 1711 to this time.

p. 129 New York 25 March 1712. . . 172 days from 6 October 1711 to this day.

p. 130 Mannor of Livinsgton 24 June 1712. . . . .91 days from 26 March.

p. 143 Mannor of Lisvingston 13 September 1712. . . .81 days from 25 June.

A few names added under heading "New York."

P. 155 (no place given) 23 September 1713 for unequal time subsistance from 13 September 1712 to this day.

p. 156 The book is then apparently made up 27 August 1714 and certified and sealed 2 September 1714.

By Harold H. Miller , updated 29 May, 2001

Then in the winter of 1708, yet another catastrophe befell those who had not fled. An almost unprecedented cold spell across Northern Europe killed the few remaining cattle and ruined the vineyards and fruit trees that had survived the devastation of the wars. Farmers by the thousands sold what little they had and crowded their families into riverboats for the long journey down the Rhine to the Netherlands port of Rotterdam. There they camped on the outskirts of the city in crude, reed-covered shelters.

England decided it was time to take positive measures to encourage the population of its colonies in the new world. Ships bringing troops from England to the Low Countries to fight the French were instructed to transport the Palatine refugees to England on their return trip.

In England the Palatines were placed in a series of squalid refugee camps in and about London. At first the refugees were pitied and helped, but as the summer passed and more kept arriving, Londoners turned on them. On one occasion, feeling threatened by the influx of low-cost competition, London laborers armed with scythes, axes, and hammers attacked the Palatine immigrants in the overcrowded camps. Responding to this social unrest, as well as fearing the spread of disease and pestilence, some refugees, including all of the Catholics, were sent back to Holland to be returned to Germany. Later that year a few were settled elsewhere in England; others were sent to Ireland and Carolina.

In 1709 most of the pine resin used to make tar for waterproofing ships came from Sweden. Since it was important to the British Navy to have its own supply, it was proposed to ship the Palatines to New York to establish a British tar industry on land along the Mohawk or Hudson Rivers. As an added benefit, any settlement in the Mohawk area would provide a buffer between existing settlements in eastern New York and the French in Canada, as well as the hostile natives in western New York.

The refugees were promised forty acres and farm tools. In return they had to work the land and pay back the costs of their transportation and subsistence. Their contracts were in English, and a German translation was read to them. What the British commitments actually were would later be the subject of much dispute.

Toward the end of December 1709, about 3300 Palatines were packed into the holds of eleven small ships in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Incredibly, it was not until April 1710 when they finally set sail! During the ensuing two-month voyage, hundreds died of typhus.

The ships arrived in the harbor of New York in June, six months after the initial shipboard confinement of the helpless passengers. For fear that they would spread contagious diseases, the sick and half-starved refugees were kept in isolation in temporary tent camps set up on what is now Governor’s Island in the Hudson River just off New York City. There, many more became ill and died of typhus. Records of refugee marriages performed in 1710 show that about half were between widows and widowers. Orphans were made indentured servants to the Dutch colonists.

New York Governor Hunter, who the British put in charge of the refugees and the tar project, kept careful lists of the families provided subsistence, so the government could be repaid. To save money, families considered to have too many young children for the government to support, had the “excess” taken from them forcibly and given to Dutch families as indentured servants.

(Palatine Families of New York, by Henry Z Jones, Jr., is a genealogical compendium of the ancestors and descendants of the Palatines on Governor Hunter’s subsistence lists; among them were the following early Helderberg families: Ball, Becker, Bellinger, Bouck, Cassleman, Coons, Chrysler, Ecker, Enders, Kniskern, Loucks, Mann, Miller, Schafer, Schanz, Sternberger, Warner, and Young.)

Governor Hunter sent a survey team to the Schoharie Valley area to see if it was suitable for his tar project. A Mohawk “chief, when made aware of Hunter’s proposed use of the land, gave it to the Queen for “Christian settlements.” Nevertheless, although he accepted the land, Hunter later rejected its use for his tar project since it had no suitable pines.

The Governor then purchased about 6,000 acres from Robert Livingston, a Dutch Patroon with extensive land holdings on the east bank of the Hudson River. The British Crown already had possession of the land opposite it on the west side of the river. About 1,200 of the Palatines were settled in several camps on both sides of the Hudson near the juncture of present day Columbia, Green, Dutchess, and Ulster Counties. They were given small tracts of worthless land upon which to build a shelter, and set to work stripping the bark from pine trees for the tar project.

By the spring of 1711 the Palatines were extremely dissatisfied with their bleak prospects, and were on the verge of rebellion. They demanded the lands in Schoharie Valley that they believed had been given to the Queen for their settlement. Hunter replied that they could have 40 acres only after repaying with their labor the Government outlay for their transportation and subsistence; and he would decide where the land would be located. The enraged refugees’ rifles were confiscated, and they were forced to remain at the work camps under increased military surveillance.

The Palatines’ food was initially paid for by a grant from the British. When a new British administration withdrew support for the project, funds ran out and rations were reduced to a third of a loaf of bread and a quart of low-alcohol beer daily for each adult.

In vain hope of additional funding, Hunter advanced his own money to buy food, thus keeping the pitch tar project from collapsing. Finally, in the middle of September 1712, his credit ran out and the Palatines were unexpectedly told they would have to fend for themselves. So that they could be contacted if funds became available to restart the project, they were told they must obtain permission to leave. Many remained in the area; others received permission to go to New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

About a quarter of the Palatines chose to go to Schoharie without asking permission. They sent their leaders on ahead to negotiate with the natives for a place to settle. The Indians readily agreed, since they had given the land to Queen Anne for that purpose. About 150 families immediately relocated to a temporary camp near Schenectady while they cleared a fifteen-mile path to Schoharie.

With winter imminent, a third of the families then moved into the Schoharie Valley. At times that winter they were reduced to eating roots and herbs found with the help of their helpful Indian neighbors.

The Palatines were fully aware that to obtain legal right to land one first had to buy it from the native owners, and then apply to the Governor for a grant and pay the necessary fees. Believing the Schoharie land had been given to the Queen for their use, the Palatines simply “squatted” rather than applying for a grant. When Governor Hunter heard about the Schoharie settlement, he was furious and ordered them out. With no likelihood of subsisting elsewhere, and believing they were on their “promised” land, they indignantly refused to go.

In March 1713, the families who had wintered near Schenectady loaded what little they had on crude sledges and dragged them to Schoharie to join their comrades. Following the custom back home on the Rhine, the Palatine farmers initially lived in small villages and had their fields on the outskirts. Each village along the Schoharie River consisted of small huts built of logs and earth. Certainly the first year or so they worked communally to clear the land and prepare it for crops.

In 1714, in an effort to force the squatters from Schoharie, Governor Hunter granted the flat bottomland along the Schoharie River on which they had settled to Martin Schuyler and other Dutch aristocrats. That same year an adjoining tract was granted to Adam Vrooman, a well-to-do Dutch trader from Schenectady, who had purchased it from the Indians in 1711. Schuyler tried for many years to either sell his land to the German “squatters,” sign them up on long-term leases, or evict them. In 1718, after a number of brouhahas and arrests, three of the Palatines went to England to petition for their right to remain on the Schoharie land.

By that time, deep in debt himself, Hunter had returned home to London to try to recoup his fortune. There he falsely reported that the Palatines had settled on land already granted to others. Actually the land on which they had settled in 1712 was not sold to Schuyler and his partners until 1714. While Vrooman bought the adjoining land from the Indians in 1711, the British did not grant it to him until 1714. Even so, the Palatines lost their appeal; at Hunter’s suggestion the Palatines were to be offered land elsewhere on the frontier.

As a result, in 1721 Governor Burnet gave the Palatines permission to purchase land from the Mohawks in the Mohawk Valley. Over the next few years the majority of the Palatine families in Schoharie moved to Montgomery and Herkimer Counties; others went to Pennsylvania and Canada

Those that remained in Schoharie had to lease their farms from Schuyler and his partners. Finally, in 1729, seven Palatine families bought the land they were farming, including that upon which the village of Schoharie is now located. At the time of the sale it was ostensibly to be divided into seven homesteads. However, there is evidence to suggest that, following the custom of their homeland, they continued to live close to one another rather than on separate farms. If so, they probably worked their own assigned plots on the surrounding communally held land. It was not until 1753 that they divided this large tract into individual homesteads for each family.

Because of the land troubles, it is possible that some of the early Schoharie settlers who wanted to remain in the area near friends and family, but either could not or would not pay rent, decided to move just a few miles east to what are now the Towns of Berne and Knox, in Albany County. At that time, the wilderness land there could be had for the taking. As long as they entered by the back door, so to speak, i.e. from the west, Van Rensselaer would not know they were there. Certainly, some of the new Palatine German, Swiss, and Dutch immigrants who arrived about that time with plans to settle in the Schoharie Valley, instead squatted on the “free” lands in nearby Rensselaerwyck, since they had no money to rent or buy land.

The Mercury

Voyages are listed at ship name on Ship List

May 29, 1735 The Mercury from Ship and Passenger Information:

After leaving New York the Bashore's settled in Millersburg, now Bethel PA George was born a native "American". In 1716 both Jacob Boshaar and George Stump were living in New Heesberg, Schoharie Valley. George's family moved from Schoharie to Bethel Township. Before the erection of Bethel Township, and during the reign of King George the Second, of Great Britain, George Boshaar on the 13th day of August 1738, purchased the first tract of land in Bethel Township, containing 208 acres.

This tract of land was purchased from John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard Penn, Esquires, the true and absolute proprietaries and Governors in Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania. On the 26th day of August 1765, they received from George Boshaar, the sum of seven pounds 16 shillings in money of Pennsylvania for the Quit rent for 18 years due on 208 acres of land being the tract within mentioned at Swatara Creek, formerly, Lancaster County, now Berks County.

This deed was entered for recording in the Recorder of Deeds for the City and County of Philadelphia in Patent Book A, Volume 12, page 585, October 8th, 1747. One record says George died ca 1787 but another claims his Will was written 1785, probated 1787. Catharine Stump's brothers were: John, Caspar, Michael, and Abraham and her sisters: Anna Maria and Magdalena.

Millersburg is now Bethel, PA - the location of two family cemeteries. Most of the U.S. Beshore History is in Bethel (once called Millersburg).

Location of Bethel is near Tulpehocken

From a document I have that has been copied from somewhere, but no source is noted on it.

Bashore Family - Catherine Bashore, the wife of Johann Peter Schwingel was the daughter of Barnett Bashore who made his will on 27 October 1799 in Berkeley county, Virginia. The Bashore name has many variations, such as BESORE, BAYSHORE, BOESHAAR and even PEESHOR. Tradition has it that the family were French Huguenot refugees and the name was originally Le Baiseur. One branch of the family fled to the Palatinate in Germany and then became part of the group which emigrated to New York in 1709-10.