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Around 1765, a group of families converged on Bedford County, Pennsylvania, settling in or near Belfast Township (in modern Fulton County, Pennsylvania). Many of these families were known to be Baptists. Others seem to have been Baptists insofar as they were largely buried in a primitive Baptist Cemetery in the town.
This families originated in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Staten Island, New York, and Middlesex County, New Jersey. In some cases, migrants stopped for a time in places like Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or even in northern Maryland.
Many of the migrant families eventually left Bedford County and headed further west. Belmont County, Ohio, was a typical secondary destination. But many stayed behind in what is now Fulton County, and adjoining Bedford and Somerset Counties.
This project is about identifying known and suspected Baptist families who made this migration, and if possible to determine whether the purpose of the migration was to establish a Baptist enclave in middle Pennsylvania.
Profiles attached to this project represent individuals who made the migration, all or in part. Family surnames who were involved include:
- Parmer, later Palmer (Freehold, NJ, and Staten Island, NY). We know this family was Baptist for several reasons - most succinctly, that a grandson of the immigrant couple was kicked out of the Upper Freehold Baptist Society in 1809: Jacob Parmer (see attached source). Also, in England, the family made heavy use of "nonconformist" churches. Finally, for this migration, we find evidence that the family continued to use the "Parmer" surname even as far as Ohio, as seen in the will attached as a source to Peter Michael Palmer .
- Daniels (Woodbridge, NJ, Morris, NJ, Staten Island, NY)
- Wood (Staten Island, NY, by way of Bucks County, PA). The family of Jacob Wood seemingly were Baptists; a daughter of Jacob married a son of the Parmers, and much of the family participated in the immigration to Bedford County, along with some closely-related Daniels family members.
- Clevenger (Monmouth and Burlington Counties, NJ), e.g. Abraham Clevenger
- Mellott (Burlington County, NJ, by way of Maryland), e.g. Theodoreus Mellott
- Truax (Monmouth County, NJ), e.g. Benjamin Phillip Truax, Sr
- Perrine (Staten Island, NY)
- Pittman (Monmouth and Burlington Counties, NJ), e.g. Rebecca Pitman
- Sipes
Others will be added, with their places of origin as this project proceeds.