James Frame

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207518183/james-frame

James was the son of Thomas George Frame and Isabel Crawford of County Armagh, Ireland.
He came to America about 1750 and married Susanna Downard about 1753 in Chester Co, PA.

Early on in their marriage the young couple moved from Chester County to Fayette County PA, where the names of 'James and Susan Fraim' appear in the session book of the Presbyterian Church at Dunlap's creek. They raised 7 children. Six were: David Downard Frame, William "Judge Billy" Frame, Thomas Frame, John Frame, Susannah Frame, and James York Frame, Jr.

The name James Frame appears in some early text lists in Chester County PA starting in 1754. He was named in the Genealogy.com Magazine in the "Some Pennsylvanians in 1772, Settlers in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties, under Springhill Twp." James owned a tract of land called "Frame Park" located in the Townships of Luzerne, German and Menallen.

By a patent dated 25 Feb 1785, James was granted 384 acres in Fayette County PA, where he spent the rest of his life. He died without distributing the land among his heirs, and on 29 December 1795 six of his children (all adults) sold their shares to 7th, James Jr, and the relevant deed provides contemporary proof of the parentage of his children.

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ALSO, THIS: From the Journals of Josiah VanKirk Thompson Volume 7, page 391, in a 1922 interview of Roland S. Frame (son of Thomas, grandson of Moses Frame):

“The Frames came from Ireland by reason of the conflict with the Catholics & settled about Philadelphia, he thought in the Kishacoquillas Valley (which is in Mifflin Co Pa) & from there got out to Fayette Co Pa & from there came here.

“The story goes: George Frame, an ancestor of these lived in County Donegal, Ireland & one night a knock on the door was thought by his wife who was a Thompson to be ominous & she plead with him to not open the door, but he replied that he supposed it was some of his neighbors & upon his opening the door the Catholics rushed in, knocked him flat & killed his wife's brother who was there, a Thompson, & his wife, who was in a delicate condition seeing her brother killed & thinking her husband killed, also died from fright. They stuck a knife into his leg to test whether he was dead or not & he never flinched whereupon they left. When they had gone, he got up & taking his little boy & little girl, fled to a neighbor's & then slipped off with them in a vessel bound for America. He says he can't tell the descent from him to his great grandfather Thomas. I will see if my Penna Archives disclose anything. He said Thomas died at the age of 92 yrs, Moses at 84 & his father Thomas at 51 from typhoid fever.”

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About this little family cemetery where James and wife Susannah are buried: it is today overgrown with weeds and wildlife, so although there were at least 10 burials here, only 2 stones are easily visible at this time, and James' isn’t one of them. However, Ann Downard's burial was documented by JV Thompson writer and genealogist, plus these burials were notated in Frame family Bible pages as well.

The tradition of the family is that the Frames were Covenantors who due to persecutions, left Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland. Later on some of them came from there to America and in 1754, the names of David and James Frame appear for the first time on the assessment list of New Londonw Township, Chester County, PA. It is possible they were brothers. David is listed as a Freeman, (showing he was not married) hence was born in or before 1732. He and James are listed from 1754 to 1757, then they are transferred to the new Garden Township list where David is listed from 1758 to 1766. His name appears again in the same township in 1781 and 1785. The name of James Frame appears on the New Garden Twp list up to 1763, after which his name disappears from the listings.

from Scotland, think he went to Ireland (Armagh County) got beat up returned to Scotland then to the US, settled in sw Pa Fayette. He and his wife, Susannah, are named in the Dunlap Creek Presbyterian Church - Seminary Library in Merrittstown, PA (organized around 1775). Dr. Jacob Jennings was the pastor from 1792 to 1813. Most of the family moved from Fayette Co, PA to Guernsey Co, OH somewhere between 1805 - 1811. Of James and Susannah's 10 children, 7 reached maturity.

Excerpt from History of Inez Frame Patterson:

The original spelling of the "Frame" name is believed to have been Fram, Fraim or Fraime. The Frames were Covenanters, who, due to their Calvinistic Creed were persecuted, and left Scotland and settled in Ireland. Family tradition states that George Frame, our Frame ancestor, was badly beaten and left for dead by his Catholic neighbors; his wife and their baby were murdered in their bed. George pretended he was dead as he had seen two of his other children escape out a back door.

Available information from most sources indicates that our first known ancestor to arrive in America was James Frame, nicknamed "Irish Jimmy" who came to this shore around 1750 with a brother, David. James and David Frame were both listed for the first time on the 1754 assessment list in New London Twp, Chester County, PA. "Frame", Julia Locke Frame Bunce, 1953, contains a letter written by Rev. Reuben Frame in 1875: "My Grandfather settled in Chester County, PA and his brother went west, as i understand, near line between Pennsylvania and what is now West Virginia." That would be Fayette Co., PA.

A different explanation is in a Frame reunion book dated Aug 18, 1904, kept by John Shannon Frame, a great-grandson of "Irish Jimmy". "James Frame, 21, with three of his uncle's came to America about the year 1750 from Scotland. Two of the uncles came to America and settled in Phila, PA and one of them in New York state; whilst James (Irish Jimmy), after his marrying, settled in Fayette Co., PA. His father while on a visit to America died of ship fever and was buried in PA, USA. His mother and sister afterwards came to Phila, PA. The sister married a man by the name of Buchannon. To James were born five sons: namely, David, William, Thomas, James and John and two daughters, named Susannah (Baird), Nancy (Laughlin), all of whom, sons and daughters, came to that part of Eastern OH now known (the year 1804) as Guernsey Co. and in Wills Township.

From Gertrude Frame Retz: "The Frames were descended from Scottish people who moved to County Armagh, Ireland, and then to the United States. The Frame family was from Lanarkshire, a sub-clan, permitted to wear either the Baird or Hamilton tartans."

When James Frame was born in November 1729, in Lanarkshire, Scotland, his father, William Frame, was 29 and his mother, Isabell Crawford, was 29. He married Susannah Downard in 1752, in Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 11 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Luzerne, Luzerne Township, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States for about 4 years. He died on 22 May 1794, in Merrittstown, Redstone Township, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 64, and was buried in German Township, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States.