Can anyone shed more light to the mystery of John Thrash (born abt. 1768 in PA)? John married Margaret Miller (of Philadelphia), them moved from Lancaster County, PA to Virginia (Rockingham County?), then in 1807, moved to Mineral-Hampshire County where we pick up his trail.
We haven't been able to find any records (without some travel) prior to 1807. Our records refer to info passed thru family tradition and extensive research and interviews by my grandparents, whose findings I have transcribed and posted at the URL listed here on this page.
Here is a synopsis of our continuing research, following that of my grandparents.............
ADDENDUM To KINFOLK - Our Thrash Origins:
Recent research by Robert M. Brady and Howard Brady has confirmed Elizabeth’s conclusion that our Thrash family has the same origins as the Thrush family of southeastern Pennsylvania and of Hampshire and Mineral Counties in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. The original German name was, variably, Dreish, Freish, or Reisch.
Two sources say the family immigrated from Switzerland, but other records have the family immigrating from Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany in 1750. (Darmstadt is a few miles south of Frankfurt). It is possible the family originated in Switzerland, but then moved to Darmstadt, before emigrating to America.
The genealogy records of Mary L. Thrush Markley (written in 1944) were posted on the web by a Donald Thrush, now deceased, at:
[familytreemaker.genealogy.com]
This record indicates that five adults immigrated from Darmstadt to America in 1750, and settled in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. Dates are for immigrant qualification by pledging oath of allegiance to the British crown:
J. J. O. Dreish Aug. 15, 1750
J. Jacob Freisch Aug. 24, 1750
J. Leon Reisch Aug. 24, 1750
Joh. Conrad Reisch Aug. 31, 1750
Jacob Frasch Sept. 29, 1750
Apparently, in spite of the variable spelling, these people were closely related, and the name “Thrush” was soon adopted. Tradition states that they were cousins and brothers. J. Jacob Freish became Jacob Thrush in subsequent records, and J. Leon Reisch became Leonard Thrush. Apparently Jacob (b. 1712) was the father of Leonard (b. 1733). Leonard was old enough at the time of emigration to take the oath of allegiance; the other children of John Jacob were not.
Based on information submitted by Donald Thrush, a tree posted at:
[worldconnect.rootsweb.com]
for this family includes a John Thrush II:
JOH. JACOB (FREISCH) THRUSH b: 1712
2 LEONARD (FREISCH) THRUSH b: 1733
2 JACOB (FREISCH) THRUSH b: 1742
2 PETER (FREISCH) THRUSH b: 1745
2 RICHARD (FREISCH) THRUSH
2 JOHN (FREISCH) THRUSH II
+ MARGRET MILLER
3 SUSAN THRUSH
+ JOHN GREENFIELD
3 MICHAEL THRUSH b: 1798 d: 18 APR 1859
+ CATHRINE UMSTOTT
3 RICHARD THRUSH b: 28 SEP 1800 d: 5 MAY 1887
+ FRANCIS ROGERS b: 26 OCT 1810 d: 5 MAY 1868
***
3 MARGRET THRUSH b. 1807 d 1889
+ GEORGE BANE
Although this tree does not include John III, it overlaps and confirms the records given by Elizabeth T. Brady in Kinfolk. Both sources state that John II married Margret/Margaret Miller, and web references and our documents confirm that she came from Philadelphia. If the combined information from two sources is correct, John II/Margaret had the following children:
Susan (m. Greenfield) [ed. Greenwalt?]
Michael b. 1798 m. Catherine Umstott b.1802
Richard b. 1800 m. Francis Rogers
John III b. 1802 m. Rachel Umstott b. 1808
Mary Ann b. 1805 m. Staggs
Margret b. 1807 m George Bane
(Another reference, given later, also lists a Nancy Catherine born in 1812.) Although the information from Donald Thrush does not include John III, the census records for Hampshire County in 1830 indicate no people named Thrush, but four Thrash Households, headed by:
John Thrash
Michael Thrash
Richard Thrash.
John Thrash Jr.
This same Hampshire census also shows five families with the last name of Umpstott, which provided spouses for Michael (Catherine) and John (Rachel). Our records suggest that Samuel Umstott was Rachel’s father, but other sources suggest that Samuel was her brother, and that her father was Jacob. It is more than likely that Smuel was Rachel's brother. Samuel was born in 1799, Rachel in 1808. Other records and sources indicate that Jacob Umstot, son of Peter Umstot (Hampshire-Mineral Co., WV) was their father. This family name is spelled in many different ways, such as “Umstadt” in the 1840 census. Additional variants are given in Kinfolk.
The section of Hampshire County where these families lived later became Mineral County, WV. It is unfortunate that U.S. census records include only the name of the head of each family before 1850.
We are confident that John Thrash (Sr.) in the Hampshire 1830 census is the same as John Thrush II, in both the Thrush family records and in Kinfolk, and, of course, John Jr. is the same person as we’ve been identifying as John III. It still leaves open the question of the parentage of the person we’ve been identifying as John II.
In the 1840 Census of Hampshire County, the first three Thrash households are still present, but John Jr. is missing. However, a John Thrash does show up in the Harrison County census in 1840, It is virtually certain that this is the same person as John Jr. in the 1830 Hampshire census. It is also virtually certain that he was living in a section that was split from Harrison County in 1843 to form the western part of Barbour County. In the 1850 Barbour census, John Thrash is listed with his wife Rachel and children with names that match our family records, as given in Kinfolk.
Another problem in these early records is conflict in the assumptions about in the parentage of John II. Kinfolk sources list the children of John I as:
Martin R.
Barney [prob. Barnabas]
Richard
Daughter [Susan?] (m. Greenwalt)
Daughter (m. Fry)
Daughter (m. Andrew Foor)
(This should probably be Andrew Foose, based on other records)
John II
John II was said to be the youngest son, and the only son born in America. The record suggests that he emigrated to America with three sons, and the daughters were also born in America. However, this list of siblings does not match the information given by Donald Thrush for sons of John Jacob Thrush (i.e. Leonard 1733, Jacob 1742, Peter 1745, Richard and John.)
Another listing of persons named John Thrush is at:
[worldconnect.rootsweb.com]
THRUSH, John b: 1712 in Switzerland d: 1782 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
THRUSH, John b: 1768 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania d: 1848 in Hampshire County, Virginia
The 1768 birth date of John II fits reasonably with the birth dates of his children (1798-1812). The place and date of his death also are supported by census records, i.e. he appears in the 1840 census of Hampshire County, but not in the 1850 census.
However, if John II is the child of John Jacob Thrush 1712, then John Jacob I would have been about 56 years old at the time of John II’s birth. His oldest brother would be 35 years older than John II. This is possible, of course. John II had children born over a 34 year range, by two successive wives. However, the age gap reduces the odds that John 1768 is the son of John Jacob 1712.
Several given names are used repeatedly within the family, which can be very confusing for researchers. For example, Leonard 1733 has children named Barnabas, Richard, Martin, and Susannah, which fits, more or less, with Elizabeth’s list of John II’s siblings. However, Leonard’s children also include David, Peter, Cathrine, Rosanna, Jacob and Leonard (II). Leonard II, who was apparently the youngest, was born in 1760. And no child named John or Johannes is listed in the rather exhaustive records for Leonard 1733.
The frequent use of the same given names (e.g. Richard, Michael, Barnabas, Martin, Jacob, Catherine, Susan/Susannah), in both our and Donald Thrush’s records confirms that we are, beyond any doubt, related to one of the families that emigrated in 1750. Within the genealogy given by Donald Thrush, there are also marriage links to the Fry and Umstott families, which are also mentioned in Kinfolk.
However, the mismatch in the two siblings lists suggests that there is an error in either the genealogy given by the Thrush family, or that given by Elizabeth. Further, the mismatch between the birth date of John II (1768) and the known birth dates for other children of John Jacob (i.e. 1733, 1742, 1745) suggests that the Error may be in Donald’s materials, rather than in Kinfolk.
In addition, if we were to assume Donald’s records are correct, we must throw out Elizabeth’s list of siblings for John II. Since this list has several given names that show up repeatedly in the Thrush genealogy given by Donald, it is likely to be valid.
The extensive records of Donald Thrush deal primarily with the descendants of Leonard Thrush 1733, and Peter Thrush 1791, and they seem to be complete. We apparently are not descended in either of these lines. That leaves other possibilities:
John II 1768 may be the child of one of the other original five immigrants, most likely either J. J. O. Dreish, or Joh. Conrad Reisch, if we assume that the John Thrush who married Margaret Miller had a father also named John, making him John Thrush II.
Or John II may a grandchild of John Jacob, either through Jacob 1742, Peter 1745 or Richard (birth year not known).
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