JACOB STOVER

Jacob was most likely part of the Mennonite group of Stauffers who were forced to leave Eggiwill, Switzerland and resettle in the Rhineland Palatinate in what is now Germany. However, records providing documentation of Jacob's parentage need to be provided. There were dozens of Jacob Stauffers and it is not clear which parents match this one.

What was his relationship to Peter Stover, who also settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in the town of Strasburg?

Married Sarah Boone 15 March 1714/15 at Christ Church in Philadelphia.

One list of children includes:

• Jacob b abt 1706 in PA m. Ruth
• Magdalena b abt 1706 in PA
• Barbara b. 1714 in PA, Philadelphia Co m John Lionberger, Martin Nissly, Martin Kaufmann
• Elizabeth b abt 1718 in PA m. William O'Neil
• Abraham b. abt 1720 in PA, Berks Co d.1780 m. Sarah
• Sarah b. 1722 in PA, Philadelphia Co, Philadelphia d. 12/25/1802 m. Rowland Ellis

Immigrated to the US from Switzerland in 1702?, first to Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania and then to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/stover/1999-01/091599...:

BUDDY STOVER wrote:

About Jacob and Sarah, I have an info sheet that states that at
least three children can be identified from court records of Orange County,
Virginia. The info includes the following statements/children about/of
Jacob Stover and Sarah Boone:
1. Jacob Stover Jr born in 1716 in Oley, Pennsylvania. His wife's name was
Ruth Stover. Found in a court record. Without seeing the record this is
just hearsay but at least it gives one a place to look.
2. Daniel Stover born ca. 1716 in Oley, Pennsylvania. He is named in Orange
County Will Book #2, page 20.
3. Abraham Stover, born ca 1722. Was underage of 21 years at the time of
his father's death:
"Bond of Jacob Castle and Henry Downs, Gent. unto Thomas Chew, Justice, 30
May 1741. Jacob Castle is Guardian of Abraham Stover, orphan of Jacob
Stover. (Signed) Jacob Castle and Henry Downs

Witness: Catlett Conway, Jonathan Gibson 30 May 1741. Ack. and admitted to
record. Orange County, Va., W B. #1, pp. 154/155.

I assume that the "W B." refers to will book.

As I mentioned this does not make it so, but it does give us a place to go
to verify.
January 1999

---

Excerpts from "Daniel and Squire Boone" by John Joseph Stoudt, Historical Society of Berks County, Pennsylvania

http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/squireanddanielboone.html

https://www.berkshistory.org/multimedia/articles/daniel-and-squire-...

Daniel and Squire Boone
By JOHN JOSEPH STOUDT

“When grandfather died he left eight children, fifty-two grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren-in all seventy, being as many as the house of Jacob which came into Egypt.” This significant entry in the Boone family Bible records the death of George Boone III, the head of the family which came to America, and the grandfather of the American Moses. Here is a poetic coincidence in truth that assumes the aspect of destiny because Grandson Daniel led his people into a promised land-into that rarely trodden Canaan of Kentucke. It was on November 2, 1734, that Daniel Boone was born among the patterned hills of Oley in German Pennsylvania. His father was Squire, third child of grandfather George, and he had come to America with his older brother and sister during the early months of l7l3. On November 27, 1720, he held Sarah Morgan’s hand and in a solemn manner declared to the Gwynedd Meeting that he took her to wife. In the chapter of “begats” that followed, these Quaker pioneers named their first son Israel. The parallel of coincidences was continued. …

...On July 27, 1713, only a few months after his arrival in Philadelphia, he [George Boone IV] married Deborah Howell of Haverford whom he had known and loved back home in Devonshire. After his marriage he settled down on a farm near Abington [Berks County, Pennsylvania], his brother Squire and his sister Sarah living with him-these three being the original Boone immigrants to Pennsylvania.

The records of deeds and titles for this period fail to show any transfer of lands to George Boone IV, and it must be assumed that he settled down on land not his own, probably as a tenant farmer-a situation more nearly suited to his age and condition. There are traditional rumors that he taught the Abington Meeting School, but these need verification. On October 26, 1713, he produced a certificate of his good and orderly conversation while a member of the Monthly Meeting at Bradwitch [Bradninch], Devonshire. This was well received by the Friends at Abington.

The year 1714 must have been eventful for his sister Sarah. Jacob Stover (variously spelled Stauher and Stober) purchased 500 acres of land along the Manatawney Creek in Oley. His motive is embedded in the fact that on March 15, 1714, he married Sarah in the city of Philadelphia. Stover was plain--a Mennonite.

The letters which these children sent back home fired the imagination of their persecuted Quaker father. Across the seas there was a new land, free from tyranny, where acreage was cheap and plentiful. Grandfather George decided to bring the remainder of the family to the New World, and these Boones are said to have arrived in Philadelphia on September 29, 1717. They lived for a few weeks with George Boone IV at Abington. On October 31, 1717, grandfather produced a certificate in Gwynedd Meeting of his good life and orderly conversation while a member of the Monthly Meeting at Callumpton in Great Britain. This was well received by the Friends of Gwynedd.

George Boone IV occupied the early months of 1718 by making a transcript of the Abington Meeting Records. In October he bought 400 acres along the Manatawney, near Jacob Stover's tract, at �14 per hundred acres and fourteen shillings quit rent--lands that today would bring a stunning figure. In February of this year (and it must be remembered that February was the last month) his father also purchased 400 acres of land near his son's lands at the same price.

The dominant family trait appeared in June, 1720, when grandfather George acknowledged to the Gwynedd Meeting "his forwardness in giving consent to John Webb to keep company with his daughter (Mary) in order to marry, contrary to the established order among Friends." John Webb solved the difficulty by joining the Meeting.

The first documentary allusion to the Boones in Oley occurs in a petition to the Provincial Court in Philadelphia requesting the formation of Oley Township out of what was then Philadelphia. George Boone (III or IV?) and Jacob Stover were among the signers. The date of this document was September 5, 1720.

Seven years afterwards the inhabitants of the western part of the region petitioned for a road from Tulpehocken to Oley:

September 1727. To the Honorable Bench: We, whose names are herewith inscribed, ye inhabitants of ye northwest part of ye township of Oley & Tulpehocken & parts adjacent; having no road as yet established amongst us by means whereof we suffer diver inconveniences & a great part of ye land at present not settled, through which ye hereby petitioned road is naturally designated to go by of; whereof there will be no opposition. in ye laying it out.

Wherefore, we, your petitioners, humbly request that you will be pleased to order a highroad to be laid out, beginning at ye Lutheran Meeting House at Tulpehocken and to end at ye high road at Ye Quaker Meeting House near George Boone's mill in Oley.

And your petitioners shall ever pray!

Among the signers of this petition was Benjamin Boone, the seventh child of Grandfather George.

On December 3, 1728, Squire Boone became the owner of a tract of land in New Britain township, Bucks county, when 147 acres were deeded him by Thomas Shute of Philadelphia. Less than two years afterwards, on October 20, 1730, he purchased 158 3/4 acres from Ralph Ashton situated a mile and a half from the Oley Meeting House. Tradition holds that he moved into Oley during the spring of 1731.

With the coming of the third decade of the century the Boones increased both in numbers and in prosperity. One of their number was already in the west, for in 1730 Jacob Stover secured a conditional grant of 10,000 acres in what is now Massanutten County, Virginia. He was probably the purchasing agent for a group of Pennsylvanians who migrated there. In 1733 Grandfather George erected a large stone house to supercede the log cabin. It is said that he never lived in it, preferring the simple life. In this same year George Boone IV purchased 1,500 acres from Stover's tract, the titles of which were confirmed in December, 1735. …

… Squire Boone lived for a year and a half longer in Oley. After he had decided to move to the west he found that when he had bought his land in 1730 a certain legal confirmation of sale had inadvertently been omitted. This was rectified April 10, 1750. On the next day he sold to William Maugridge “a certain messuage or Tenement and tract of land containing 158 3/4 acres.” A few weeks later he moved into the Carolinas, stopping for a few months with his widowed sister Sarah in Virginia.

This whole affair ends in the record-book-just as we of the twentieth century feel it should-with a tinge of poetry that again takes on the aspect of destiny. Sarah Boone, the mother of Daniel, requested from the women’s Meeting at Exeter her certificate as traveling minister. She was granted it, inscribed to “Friends in Virginia, Carolina and elsewhere.”

This article appeared in the July 1936 issue of the Historical Review of Berks County.

The Daniel Boone Homestead is located in eastern Berks County Pennsylvania.
Daniel Boone Homestead
400 Daniel Boone Rd.
Birdsboro PA 19508
610-582-4900

Was one of the first settlers to penetrate into the Shenandoah Valley of VA , according to James G. Leyburn, "The Scotch-Irish".

from "Virginia Genealogy, Sources & Resources," by Carol McGinnis (page 128):

Germans (and Swiss) from Pennsylvania begain entering the Shenandoah Valley in the 1720s. In 1726 Jacob Stover led some settlers to the Shenandoah River, Then in 1727 Adam Miller (Muller), a Palatine from Lancaster Co. Pa., settled in present Page County and established the Massanutten Settlement. In 1732, Jost (Joist) Hite brought more that 10 families from Pennsylvania "to settle on the 40,000 acres granted by the Governor to John and Isaac Van Meter of Pennsylvania."

The Germans "concentrated in Page, Shenandoah, and Rockingham Counties, along the Massanutten mountains, with lesser numbers in Madison, Rappahannock, Prince William, Botetourt, and Culpeper. Strasburg, {once called Stover Town,}--named for the captial of Alsace--Luray--{named by Peter Stover}, Newmarket, and Harrisonburg were trading centers. Most of these German settlers were Lutheran, but other were members of the Reformed Church, Dunkers (Church of the Brethren), Mennonites and Amish. By 1860, about 25 percent of the population of Virginia were Germans. For more information on the German migration into Virginia, see Klaus Wust's, The Virginia Germans; and Herrmann Schuricht's History of the German Element in Virginia. Other printed sources for German ancestors include the 14 volumes of the Germanna Record, the official publication of the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies.

--------------------------------------

"History of Shenandoah" (Town of Shenandoah, Virginia) http://www.townofshenandoah.com/index.php/component/content/article...

...At this time, in 1722 the whites and the Indians met peaceably at Albany, New York, to make terms for friendly living. The Indians agreed to move their north-south road from the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west side of those same mountains. This gave to our present Page Valley the important Indian road which passed through here.

In 1726, Adam Miller, a German came to make his home in this garden spot of the world. He received his land patent through a Swiss land agent, Jacob Stover. He came here in a covered wagon from Pennsylvania and built a log house four miles south of the spot where the town of Shenandoah is now situated. The homestead is still standing, occupied through the intervening years by descendants of Adam Miller.

In 1733 St. Peter’s Lutheran Church was founded on Naked Creek. It is the second oldest Lutheran congregation in the state. In 1747 it was moved to the west side of the Shenandoah River near Humes Run, one and one half miles west of the river where the old St. Peter’s Church Building now stands. Under the pulpit was found the name of its builder, Christian Konrad, and the names of the building committee, John Mueller (Miller), William Beiderfisch, John Ziegler, Frederick Ziegler, and Gerhard Koyte (probably pronounced George Kite).

Jacob Stover the Swiss land agent sold land in 1735 to George Boone, Uncle of Daniel Boone, on the west side of the river opposite the Bear Lithia Springs. Jacob Stover married Sarah Boone, aunt and only teacher of Daniel Boone. Jacob and Sarah Boone Stover lived near St. Peter’s Church, one and a half miles west of Shenandoah.

---------------------------------------------

(from web page of Abigail Stover <genotree@gte.net>)

Patent (5000 acres) on 15 Dec 1733 to JACOB STOVER on Shenando and this land descended to JACOB STOVER, JR., son and heir--but JACOB, JR. failed to pay rents and in 1746, William RUSSELL got an order from the General Court forfeiting same. [from Chalkley, Lyman, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Setllement in VA (Augusta County Court Records), Vol 1].

Also from Chalkey, as transcribed by Abigail Stover:

Patent to JACOB STOVER, 5000 acres in Spotsylvania dated 15 Dec 1733: In St. Marks's Parish, on west side of the Great Mountains, and bounded: black walnuts and a hickory on Shenandoah River, two sycamores, to foot of a naked mountain at upper end of a large island, white oak, Spanish oak, three pine, a red oak, three locust trees. Consideration: The importation of one hundred persons to dwell within our Colony and Dominion of Virginia, whose names are: Jacob, Catherine, Abraham, Christian, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Mathew, Sarah, Cahterine, Ann, Susanna, Barbary, Dorothy, Rachel MILLER, Jacob Anna, Isaac, Abraham, John, Jacob, Joseph, Peter, George, Calkins, Christopher, Anna, Rachel, Cahterine, Sarah, Susanna, Barbary, Dorothy, John, Anna, Jacob, John, Abraham, Isaac, Rosina, Susanna, Catherine, Ragley Mire (Nure), Henry Catherine, Henry, John, Isaac, Cahterine, Anna, Rachel Sowder, Henry, Christaina, Jacob, Henry, Paul, Rudy, Joseph, Peter, Isaac, John, Hamudy, Stophar, Susanna, Rachel, Barbara, Claplir, Margaret, Elizabeth HAIN, John, Barbal, Rudy, Chr, John, Mathew, Jospeh, Isaac, Peter, David, Willia, Anna, Jacob Frina, Christain, John, Isaac, Rudy, Mathew, Stopher, Peter, Joseph, David, Jacob, Jane Dorothy, Chrisitiana, SOWDER.

Contributed by Abigail Stover genotree@gte.net

---------------------------------

From: NadineChristall <bchristall@stoutinternet.com> wrote on 9 Apr 2000 on VAROOTS-L@rootsweb.com

Subject: [VAROOTS] "Padding" for Land Deed

In the book, "The German Element of the Shenandoah Valley" by John W. Wayland copyright 1907, Wayland well documents that the Van Meters, the Hites and the Stovers placed the names of cows, chickens, hogs, etc on the list of immigrant names to justify his quota of immigrants to gain land at and near the Shenandoah Valley. pg.33 "These patents were issued upon proof that the required number of families had been brought in.."

pg 39 "Jacob Stover, a native of Switzerland, obtained for himself and'diver Germans & Swiss Families, his Associates," from Virginia Colonial Council a grant for 10,000 acres of land on the Shenandoah River, in such tracts as he should select, upon the condition that within two years he should settle upon it the required number of families. He succeeded, by methods fair or false, in getting this grant confirmed to him by two deeds bearing date of December 15, 1733, each for 5000 acres"

----------------------------------

Charles E. Kemper, "The Settlement of the Valley," in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 30 (1922), pp. 169-182; following excerpt from pp.173-174:

In 1729, Jacob Stover, a native of Switzerland, visited the Shenandoah Valley and on June 5, 1730, obtained from the Virginia Council, two grants of land on the Shenandoah and its tributaries. The lower grant commenced about one mile below Bear Lithia Spring in the present Rockingham county and extended down the river to about the present Massanutten in present Page county. The upper grant commenced at the mouth of Cub Run in present Rockingham county and extended up the Shenandoah to the present Port Republic, and then up South River near the present Weyers Cave.'

The upper grant also included the Cub Run valley to the foot of the Peaked Mountain, near present Penn Laird, and the Mill Creek valley to the present Hering estate on the Keezletown road one and one-half miles northeast of Cross Keys, and some of the finest farming land is in these two grants. In the year 1730, Adam Miiller was joined by other settlers who came to Virginia from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Their names were Abram Strickler, Mathias Selzer, Phillip Lung (Long), Paul Lung (Long), John Rood (Rhodes), and Michael Kauffman. They purchased 4000 acres of the lower grant from Jacob Stover, and their homes were on and near the Shenandoah river from a point about a mile below Bear Lithia Spring in the present Rockingham county to the present Massanutten in Page county, Virginia. This locality took and retained its Indian name, Massanutten, and the evidence of the records gives to it precedence as the place of first settlement in the Valley of Virginia made by white men."

===================================================

also see Kercheval's History of the Valley of Virginia and Leigh's Revise Code of Virginia

===================================================

Excerpts from The German element of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia By John Walter Wayland

http://books.google.com/books/download/The_German_element_of_the_Sh...

pp. 35-36: In order to get the case before us fully and authoritatively, several documents from Palmer's Calendar of State Papers and other sources are herewith presented.

To the Honble William Gooch Esqr Lieutenant Governor &c &c— The petition of the Subscribers humbly shew— That about four years past, they purchased five thousand acres of land, of one Jacob Stover, and paid him a great Sum of Money for the same, Amounting to Upwards of four hundred pounds: that yr: petitioners were informed & believed the sd: Stover had a good right & title in the said land—that immediately after the sd: * * * all their lands & sevll other things in the County of Lancaster & Province of Pensylvania, where they then lived, & came & seated on the land they had bought of the sd Stover; and cleared sevl Plantations & made great Improvements thereon—Since which, they have been Informed that the sd: land (known by the name of Massannutting) is Claimed by one Wm Beverly Gent—& that the sd: Beverly hath brought suit agst the sd: Stover for the same, in the Honble the Generall Court—Yr Petitioners further shew that should the sd: Beverley recover the sd: land, that he will turn yr: Petrs out of Doors, or oblige them to give much more for their lands & plantations than they are worth, Which will entirely ruin yr Petrs—And yor Petrs cannot recover anything of the sd Stover, to make them amends for the Loss of their sd: lands, plantations &c, he being very poor, and is Daily Expected to Run away. Wherefore yr Petitioners humbly hope that as they are not Privy to any fraud done by the sd: Stover in obtaining the sd: Land & yor petrs being Dutchmen & not acquainted with the laws here concerning lands & Imagined the sd: Stover's right to be good & have Run the hazard of their lives & estates in removing from Pensylvania to the sd: land, being above two hundred miles & at a time when there was very few Inhabitants in them parts of Shenando, & they frequently visited by the Indians. And at this time yr petrs have nine Plantations, fifty one people, old & young, thereon & Expect to have two more familys to seat on the sd: land this spring, (none of which are any of the persons the sd: Stover swore was on the sd: land when he obtained the sd: Patent as yr petrs have been informed) nor did yr petrs hear of the sd: Beverleys' claiming the said land 'til they had made plantations thereon—And yr petrs have also paid his Majesties Quit rents for the said land, ever since they bought the sd: land of the sd: Jacob Stover, that Your Honrs taking all & Singular, the premisses into yr: Consideration, will be pleased to make such order or Decree thereon, that yr: petrs may Quietly Injoy the said land, And yr: petr will every pray &c MILHART RANGDMANN ABRAHAM MATHEW FOLK ADAM MULLER M CRIMSART.12 [Palmer's Calendar of State Papers, Vol. I, pp. 219, 220.]

This petition is not dated; but it is placed in the Calendar in the year 1733, which is proved by various circumstances to be the correct date.13 Moreover, it was presented early in the year, as is shown in the paper itself by the reference, "this spring." The original petition is still in existence, on file in the State Library at Richmond; and the signatures, fully and correctly given, are as follows: Adam Mueller, Abram Strickler, Mathias Selzer, Philip Lang (Long), Paul Lung (Long), Michael Rinehart, Hans Rood, Michael Kaufman.14 The following letter, written November 28, 1733, refers to the German petitioners and their interests, and fits the circumstances already detailed: Sir, This is to Inform you that I was at the great mountains & saw several dutchmen that Came from Pencelvania and they told me they had agreed with Stover for Land on Sherando, but since they came they heard that Col: Wm. Beverley was at Law for it, therefore they would not settle it, unless Stover could make them a right to it, which if he did they would settle it directly—Which is the needfull from Sr yr Humble servt

    To Commd 

FRA: THORNTON. To Mr. William Robertson, at Williamsburg &c.15

...German petitioners had bought their five thousand acres of land of Jacob Stover. In 1729, or thereabouts, there were not many—but there were a few—inhabitants in the valley of the Shenandoah, in the vicinity of Massanutting. That Adam Miller, one of the petitioners of 1733, was one of the few there in 1729, and that he had located in that district two or three years before 1729, are facts proved by his naturalization paper, which states that he had been an inhabitant there for fifteen years prior to 1741-2:19 that is, as early as 1726-7. At this date, therefore, we may place the beginning of the Massanutten settlement; and Adam Miller must have been one of the first settlers, if not the very first.

p. 39-40: On June 17. 1730, Jacob Stover, a native of Switzerland, obtained for himself and "divers Germans and Swiss Families, his Associates," from the Virginia Colonial Council a grant for 10,000 acres of land on the Shenandoah River, in such tracts as he should select, upon the condition that within two years he should settle upon it the required number of families. He succeeded, by methods fair or false,20 in getting this grant confirmed to him by two deeds bearing date of December 15, 1733, each for 5000 acres.21 Both of these 5000-acre tracts were on the Shenandoah River: one in the vicinity of Lynnwood and Lewiston, now in Rockingham County; the other southwest of Luray, now in Page County. It is likely that each was partly on both sides of the river; and each must have extended along the course of the river for several miles. The tract near Luray was doubtless identical with the 5000 acres purchased of Stover in 1729,—possibly before he actually obtained the grant,—or in 1730, the year in which the grant was obtained, by Adam Miller, Abram Strickler, Mathias Selzer, Philip Long, and the rest; for their purchase was called Massanutting, as they relate in their petition; and Stover's lower grant of 5000 acres was on Massanutting Creek,22 and so must have included at least part of the little valley of the said creek, on the west side of the river, known as Massanutten to this day. A village and post office, bearing the same name, are on the east side of the river, opposite the said valley and creek.

p. 41-50: On June 17, 1730, Jacob Stover obtained his two grants on the Shenandoah River of 5000 acres each, the lower one of which included the holdings of Adam Miller and his friends. Either shortly before or shortly after June 17, 1730, Miller and his friends bought this 5000-acre tract (the Massanutting tract) of Stover for 400 pounds or more. On April 30, 1732, William Beverley wrote to a friend in Williamsburg, asking him to secure for him a grant of 15,000 acres on both sides of the "main River of Shenondore," including an "old field, called and known by ye name of Massanutting Town";25 on May 5, 1732, Beverley was granted 15,000 acres on the northwest side of the river, "including a place called Massanutting Town, provided the same do not interfere with any of the Tracts already granted in that part of the Colony."20 In the early part of l733, Miller, Strickler, Selzer, and the rest petitioned for a confirmation of their right through Stover, as against Beverly, who was trying to oust them, or upset their title; on December 12, 1733, Beverley's caveat against Stover was dismissed: Stover's grants were confirmed; and the deeds were issued to him three days later—December 15, 1733.27

Among the Germans who thus early obtained large grants or land, Jost Hite and Jacob Stover are the most prominent. Both have been spoken of repeatedly in the foregoing pages; yet it may be well at this juncture to present a few additional facts in regard to each of them. ,

The rather uncomplimentary suggestions made with reference to some of Stover's methods in securing his land grants, will be understood from the following story, related by Kercheval:

On his application to the executive for his grant, he was refused unless he could give satisfactory assurance that he would have the land settled with the requisite number of families within a given time. Being unable to do this, he forthwith passed over to England, petitioned the King to direct his grant to be issued, and in order to insure success, had given human names to every horse, cow, hog and dog he owned, and which he represented as heads of families, ready to migrate and settle the land. By this disingenious trick he succeeded in obtaining directions from the King and Council for securing his grant; on obtaining which he immediately sold out his land in small divisions, at three pounds (equal to ten dollars) per hundred, and went off with the money.47

This story appears to be strengthened by several statements in the petition of 1733, of Adam Miller, Abram Stickler, and the rest; for they declare that none of their fifty-one inhabitants at Massanutting, or of the two other families soon expected, were "any of the persons the sd: Stover swore was on the sd: land when he obtained the sd: Patent as yr petrs have been informed."48 They also assert that the said Stover is very poor, "and is Daily Expected to Run away." Kercheval's assertion, that he did run away, is, however, probably a mistake; for the public records show that he was in the country almost continuously until his death, which occurred about 1740.

The deeds received by Stover, December 15, 1733, for the two grants of 5000 acres each, obtained over three years before, are said to be the first crown patents issued for lands in Virginia west of the Blue Ridge.49 By the time these patents were issued he seems to have had the required number of bona fide settlers on the lower tract, and possibly on the upper one also.

But it was not long until Stover either got back his Massanutten tract, or secured other tracts very close to it. On September 17, 1735, he sold to Christian Clemon 550 acres on the south side of the Shenandoah, adjoining the 'upper corner of his lower five thousand Tract.'50 On November 10, 1735, he sold to George Boone two tracts, of 1000 acres and 500 acres respectively, situated on a 'small branch of Sharrando River'—part of 5000 acres laid out for him by the Virginia Council, June 17, 1730.51 These 1500 acres sold to Boone were evidently part of the 5000-acre tract that the petitioners of 1733 had bought. The grant seems to have been capable of indefinite expansion. But more is to come. On December 15, 16, 1735, Stover sold to five men, Henry Sowter, Abraham Strickler, Ludwick Stone, John Brubaker, and Mathias Selser, ten tracts of land, aggregating 3400 acres. Sowter got 300 acres on the south side of the river, "near the mouth of Mesenuttin Creek"; Strickler got 1000 acres at "Mesenuttin on Gerundo"; Stone got three tracts of 400 acres, 400 acres, and 300 acres, respectively, "on Gerundo River"; Brubaker got two tracts, one of 300 acres, one of 200 acres, on the river—the larger tract adjoining Mathias Selser; Selser got three tracts, two of 200 acres each, one of 100 acres, "on Gerundo River."52

The capacious extensions of "Massanutten" may be explained, perhaps, by recalling that the term was sometimes applied to the whole Page valley; but how shall we explain Stover's repeated possession of the original 5000-acre tract, or at least large parts of it? Observe, in addition to the above, the two following cases: On September 20, 21, 1736, Stover sold to Peter Bowman 400 acres on the west side of the river, part of the 5000 acres granted to Stover, and the part he then lived on53; and on March 20, 21, 1738, he sold to Christopher Franciscus 3000 acres, with the mansion house, the land adjoining Peter Bowman on the river, and being part of the 5000-acre tract patented by Jacob Stover, December 15, 1733.54 Evidently, by purchase or otherwise. Stover must have come into a second possession of the greater part of the land sold to the petitioners of 1733. In 1737 and 1738 there was some litigation between Stover and Ludwig Stone and others, concerning land; and a complete record might explain much of the foregoing; but unfortunately some of the papers relating to these legal proceedings appear to be lost.55

On March 21, 1738, Jacob Stover and his wife Margaret gave their bond to Christopher Franciscus for £700; later in the same year they gave another bond for £1000; and, in security, mortgaged 5000 acres of land on both sides of the Shenandoah River.56 This may have been the upper tract, obtained in 1730. On December 13, 1738, Stover got a grant of 800 acres on the Shenandoah, near or adjoining his upper tract of 5000 acres.57 On June 25, 1740, he conveyed to Christopher Francisco, Sr., 3100 acres of land a few miles below Port Republic.58 This was evidently part of the upper 5000-acre tract, and the conveyance was likely made to satisfy the mortgage of 1738. In 1751 Christopher Francisco, probably the younger, who had come into possession of at least 470 acres of the upper Stover tracts, sold that amount to Thomas Lewis;59 and the same year (1751), Jacob Strover—probably Jacob Stover, Jr.—owned a 5000-acre tract on the upper Shenandoah.60 Jacob Stover, Sr., died near the end of 1740, or early in 1741. On March 22, 1741, Jacob Stover [Jr.], with Henry Downs and Jacob Castle, gave bond for administering the estate.

pp. 54-55 One of the most interesting characters of the class and period under consideration is Christopher Franciscus, some of whose dealings with Jacob Stover have already been noticed. He, with other Germans and Swiss, located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1709.70 On March 21, 1738, he bought of Jacob Stover 3000 acres of land, with the mansion house, for £350 5s.; the same day he appears to have loaned Stover £700, and later the same year, £1000, to secure which he took a mortgage on 5000 acres of Stover's land. By these transactions he seems to have come into possession of large estates within the present limits of both Page County and Rockingham. Most of his land appears to have been along the Shenandoah River between Elkton and Port Republic. On December 13, 1738, he bought of Jacob Stover in this vicinity 470 acres, which he sold in 1751 to Thomas Lewis, who was the eldest son of the pioneer, John Lewis, and a brother to Gen. Andrew and Col. Charles Lewis. The tract of 3100 acres below Port Republic, conveyed to Franciscus by Stover in 1740, was probably to satisfy the mortgage of 1738, securing the loan of £1700.

pp. 60-72

1735. From Orange County Deed Book No. 1. July 14, 15:10—Henry Willis sells to Jacob Funks for £100 5s.11 2030 A., commonly called Stony Lick, on Tumbling Run, on the N. side of the N. Branch of Sherando: granted to Henry Willis, Aug. 21, 1734. Sept. 17:—Jacob Stover (his mark) sells to Christian Clemon for £28 5s. 550 A., on a small run, on the S. side of Gerundo River, adjoining the upper corner of Stover's lower 5000 A. tract.—Witnesses, G. Home (?), Thomas Hill, W. Russell. Nov. 10, 11:—Jacob Stover (Stauber) sells for £29 5s., Pennsylvania money, to George Boone two tracts of land. 500 A. and 1000 A., 'situate near the end of the North Mountain, so-called, on a small branch of Sherrando River': part of 5000 A. laid out for Stauber by the Va. Council, June 17, 1730.—Witnesses, Mordecai Simon, S. Hughes.—Boone was from Oley, Pa. Boone's Run, which heads in Peaked Mt., runs east, and flows into the Shen. R. about 2 miles below Elkton, was probably named after him. Dec. 15, 16:—Jacob Stover sells to Ludwick Stone for £84 5s. three tracts of land, 400 A., 400 A., 300 A., on Gerundo River. 10. The double dates are owing to the legal requirements of the time. Upon the first date the parcel of ground was leased, usually for a year; upon the next day the "release" was given, and "use" was transferred into "possession." 11. The sum of 5 shillings is in almost every case the "consideration" in the earlier instrument—the "lease." Dec. 15, 16:—Jacob Stover sells to Mathias Selser for £41 5s. three tracts of land, 200 A., 200 A., 100 A., on Gerundo River. Dec. 15, 16:—Jacob Stover sells to John Prupecker (Brubaker) of Pa., for £41 5s., two tracts of land: 300 A. on the N. side of Gerundo River, adjoining Mathias Selser; 200 A. on Gerundo River.—Witnesses, John Bramham, Gideon Marr, William Ferrell. Dec. 15, 16:—Jacob Stover sells to Abraham Strickler of Pa., for £84 5s., 1000 A. at "Mesenuttin on Gerundo," apparently on the N. side of the river. Dec. 15, 16:—Jacob Stover sells to Henry Sowter (?) for £15 5s. 300 A. on the S. side of Gerundo, near the mouth of Mesenuttin Creek.

1736. From Orange County Deed Book No. 1. Feb. 23, 24:—Ludwig Stein (Stone) sells to Michael Cryter of Pa., for £100 5s., three tracts of land, 217 A., 200 A., 100 A., on Gerundo R.—Witnesses, Gideon Marr (perhaps More), John Newport.—For the sake of the names of persons and places, the description of these lots is copied below: Three parcels or tracts of land situate lying & being on Gerundo River. The first tract contains 200 acres & lies on the South side Gerundo between Matthias Selser & Michael Coffman. The other tract is the uppermost of the Mesenutten Lotts and joins at the upper side of Martin Coffman's upper tract and contains 200 acres. The other piece lies near Elk Lick on ye north Side Gerundo adjoining to Martin Coffman and John Prupecker.—(From the Lease.) The next tract fthe second] begins at the uppermost corner of Stover's survey and runeth from the river N 5 E 490 poles to ye uppermost corner at the mountain thence N 80 E 48 poles to two corner white oaks & ash thence S 7 E 540 poles to river thence up ye sd River to the beginning. The third tract is an hundred acre tract adjoining to Martin Coffman's tract at Elk Lick and Prupecker's lower tract.—(From the Release. There appear to be a few discrepancies in the statements of quantity.) Feb. 23:—Ludowick Stein sells to Michael Coffman for£40 5s. 217 A. on Gerundo R.: part of the land formerly granted to Jacob Stover. Mar. 20, 21:—Jost Hite sells to Christian Niswanger for £16 435 A. on the W. side of Sherrendo: part of 3395 A. granted to Hite, June 12, 1734. Mar. 23, 24:—Jost Hite sells to Stephen Hunsenbella for £14 5s. 450 A. on the W. side of Shen. R., on Opeckon Creek, near the head thereof: part of 5012 A. granted to Hite, Oct. 3, 1734. Mar. 23:—Jost Hite sells to John Van Metre for £205 475 A. on Opeckon Creek: part of the tract "on which John Selbour [ ?] lives." Mar. 25, 26:—Jost Hite, Gentleman, and Mary his wife sell to Robert Dwarfe for £7 15s. 300 A. on the W. side of Sherrendo R., on a branch of the said river running into the N. Branch thereof at a place called the Long Meadow: part of 2160 A. granted to Hite, Oct. 3, 1734. Sept. 20, 21:12—Jacob Stover sells to Peter Bowman for £30 5s. 400 A. on the W. side of Sherundo R.: part of 5000 A. granted to Jacob Stover: likewise the part that the said Stover then lived on.—Witnesses, G. Lightfoot, Thomas Nicholls. Sept. 25, 26:—Henry Sowter sells to Ludwig Stine for £25 5s. about 300 A. on the S. (?) side of Gerundo R.—This is likely the same tract that Sowter bought of Jacob Stover, Dec. 15, 1735, for £15 5s. If so, he sold at a gain of over 65 per cent, in less than a year.

... Feb. 23, 24:—Ludwig Stein sells to Martin Coffman of Pa., for £200 5s., three tracts of land: 300 A. on the S. side of Shen. R.; 217 A. on the N. side; 100 A. on the N. side of Gerundo at Elk Lick, part of 200 A. granted to Stone by Jacob Stover. Mar. 25, 26:—Jost and Mary Hite sell to Lewis Stussy ( ?) for £10 5s. 339 A. on the W. side of Shen. R., near the head of Crooked Run. May 25, 26:—William Russell, Gent., sells to Christian Bowman, Farmer, for £47 10s., 675 A. on the S. side of the N. River Sherundore, at the mouth of a run. Oct. 22:—Peter Bowman sells to Christian Redlicksberger for £30 5s. 400 A. on Shen. R. 1738. From County Records of Orange and Augusta. Feb. 22, 23:—William Russell sells to John Funks for £21 5s. 320 A. on the E. side of the N. River Shenandoare, adjoining Christian Bowman.—Orange County Deed Book No. 2, pp. 222-228 (0 C D B 2—222-228. Mar. 20, 21:—Jacob Stover sells to Christopher Franciski for £350 5s. 3000 A., with the mansion house, adjoining Peter Bowman on the river: part of 5000 A. patented to Jacob Stover, Dec. 15, 1733.—O C D B 2—229-232. Mar. 21:—Jacob Stover and wife Margaret give bond to Christopher Franciski for £700. The same year they give Franciski another bond for £1000. They mortgage 5000 A. on both sides of Shen. R.—O C D B 2—233, 234. Mar. 22, 23:—Ludwig Stein sells to Philip Long (who signs in German) for £100 5s. two tracts of land, 205 A. and 800 A., on Shen. R.—Witnesses, John Newport, Christian Kleman.—O C D B 2—260. May 24, 25:—Jacob Funk sells to John Funk for £18 5s. 180 A.—O C D B 2—343. Dec. 13:—Jacob Stover obtains a grant of 800 A.— Augusta Co. Deed Book 4, pp. 58, 65, etc.—This land was on the S. Shenandoah, below Port Republic, and was at least in part on the S. side of the river, opposite the "Great Island." This island, containing about 60 A., was bought of the Franciscos on Aug. 31, 1751, by Thomas Lewis. Two days earlier, Aug. 28, 1751, Lewis had bought of the Franciscos a tract of 470 A., on the S. side of the river, part of the 800 A. tract granted to Stover in 1738.—,4 C D B A—58-62; etc. 1739....

1741. Mar. 22:—Jacob Stover, Jr., with Henry Downs and Jacob Castle as sureties, gives bond and qualifies as administrator of the estate of Jacob Stover, dec'd.—O C W B 1—140....

1746. From Augusta County Records. Apr. 10, 11:—Peter Ruffner of "Orange Co." sells to Christopher Comber for £40 5s. about 271 A. on the Hawksbill: formerly belonging to Francis Thornton.—Witnesses, John Newport, Richard Price, Isaac Strickler. The last signed in German.—In the four instruments made on this date by Ruffner to Comber and Daniel Stover, Ruffner's name is written "Peter Ruffnaugh" in the body of the papers; but Ruffner, signing in German, spells his name as follows: Pether Ruffner (twice); Pether Ruffnerdt (twice). Apr. 10, 11:—Peter Ruffner sells to Daniel Stover for £10 5s. 196 A. on Sharando R., at the mouth of the Hawksbill Creek: part of 250 A. patented to John Landrum.—Witnesses, John Newport, Richard Price, Isaac Strickler. Apr. 14:—Peter Ruffenough, with Mathias Selzer and John Lionberger as sureties, qualifies as administrator of the estate of Abraham Strickler, dec'd.16....

1749. From the Records of Augusta and Frederick. Jan. 26:—John Hockman's will written for him in German, he making his mark: his wife Barbara to have the whole estate.—Witnesses, Henry Pfifer, Henry Gnochnaur, Christian Harnish, Ulrich Hochman (mark).—A C W B 1—95. Feb. 15:—Daniel Stover, with Abraham Strickler and George Leith sureties, appointed guardian for John, Mary, and James, orphans of John Campbell, dec'd.—A C W B 1 —106.....

June 16:—Inventory made by Daniel Stover, Jacob Burner, and John Holdman of the estate of Martin Kauffman, dec'd: total amount of the invoice, £236 7s. 9d.—A C W B 1—195197.—Kauffmann's will is recorded in the same book, p. 125.....

1751. Oct. 4, 5:—Wm. Williams sells to Henry Pirkey 550 A. adjoining Jacob Strover's 5000 A.—Witnesses, Jacob Nicholas, Filty Pence.....

Footnote/References

13. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 121, 122.
14. Idem, p. 121. 15. Palmer's Calendar of State Papers, Vol. I, p. 220. 16. Perhaps Scherstein. 17. The original of this paper is now in the possession of one of Adam Miller's descendants, Miss Elizabeth B. Miller, who lives on part of the land which he owned, near Elkton, Rockingham County, Va. A copy of the document may be found printed in the William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. IX, No. 2, pp. 132, 133. 18. In 1730, more probably, as will appear a little further on. 19. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted in the British Empire until 1751, long after most other countries had been following it. In that year it was prescribed by an act of Parliament that the next year, 1752, should begin on January 1, instead of March 25; and that in the following September eleven days should be dropped, in order to adjust the Old Style to the New Style. Accordingly, the day following September 2 that year was written and known as September 14; and the loss of time has never been felt. Counting the year as ending March 25, it was near the close of the year 1741 when Adam Miller obtained his title to citizenship; but, as we now count time, it was early in the year 1742. 20. Something on the methods Stover is reported to have used will be given further on. 21. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 120-123. 22. Kercheval's History of the Valley, p. 45; Foote's Sketches, p. 15. 23. Virginia Magazine, Vol. X, No. 1, pp. 84, 85. 24. Eight miles southwest of Luray, on the Price farm, near Massanutten, is a monument with the following inscription: In memory of Philip Long founder of my paternal ancestry in America, born in Germany A. D. 1678, Died May 4, 1755. Erected by Caroline V. Long Price

      of Jefferson City, Mo., 

          July 4, 1891. 

Built Old Ft. Long

  near the heart of land estate  granted him by the English Crown 

               in 1730. 

For a copy of this inscription I am indebted to the kindness of Prof. John S. Flory, of Bridgewater, Va. 25. Palmer's Calendar of State Papers, Vol. I, pp. 217, 218. 26. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, p. 138. 27. Idem, pp. 120-122; No. 3, pp. 295-297. 28. My thanks are due at this point to Mr. Charles E. Kemper, of Washington City, for personal assistance. 29. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XI, No. 2, pp. 126, 127. 30. Hening's Statutes, Vol. VII, p. 186. 31. Palmer's Calendar, Vol. I, p. 214. 32. Palmer's Calendar, Vol. I, p. 215. . 33. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 4, pp. 354, 355. 34. Idem, No. 2, pp. 116, 117. 35. Idem, pp. 115-117. 36. Idem, pp. 118, 119. 37. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 120-123. 38. Idem, pp. 127, 128. 39. Idem, pp. 130-132. 40. Idem, pp. 132, 133. 41. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 133, 134. 42. Lewis' History of West Virginia, p. 42; Foote's Sketches, etc. 43. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, p. 138. 44. Idem, No. 3, pp. 288, 289. 45. Idem, No. 4, pp. 360-362. 46. Withers' Chronicles, p. 50; Peyton's History of Augusta, p. 65; Early Deed Books of Orange, Augusta, and Frederick. 47. Kercheval's History of the Valley, p. 46. 48. Palmer's Calendar, Vol. I, p. 220. 49. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 3, p. 297. 50. Orange County Deed Book No. 1, pp. 151-154. 51. Idem, pp. 184-188. 52. Idem, pp. 200-216. 53. Idem, pp. 353-356. 54. Orange County Deed Book No. 2, pp. 229-232. 55. See Orange County Records; also, Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 120-123. 56. Orange County Deed Book No. 2, pp. 233, 234. 57. Augusta County Deed Book No. 4, pp. 58, 65, etc. 58. Virginia Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 2, p. 120; Orange County Records. 59. Augusta County Deed Book No. 4, p. 58.

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Jacob Stover's last name may have been spelled

Stuber, Stowber

References

1. Jacob Stover in Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900 < AncestryImage > Name Jacob Stover Probate Place Shenandoah, Virginia, USA Inferred Death Place Virginia, USA Item Description Will Book, Vol 6-7, 1856-1859 Others Listed 1
2. The First 5 Generations of the George Boone Family Presented by The Boone Society, Inc. Updated August 2012 < PDF >