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Start My Family Tree Welcome to Geni, home of the world's largest family tree.

Join Geni to explore your genealogy and family history in the World's Largest Family Tree.

Town Founders

French: Fondateurs de patelins

Fondateurs de patelins

English (default): Town Founders

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Profiles

Ernest Daniel Flemming (1865 - 1952)
Founder of the city of Bena, Cass County, Minnesota
James Carlin Montgomery (1811 - 1877)
He was the founder of the city of Montgomery. James C. Montgomery represented the people of Raleigh and Fayette Counties in the state legislature for three terms. He was the oldest son of Major Henry M...
Lt. Colonel Thomas Dorsey Taliaferro (CSA) (1831 - 1909)
Thomas Dorsey (sometimes called Darcy) Taliaferro, lawyer and Confederate officer, was born in Upperville, Fauquier County, Virginia, on September 10, 1831, to Dr. William Thomas Warren Taliaferro and ...
George Washington Wright (1809 - 1877)
George Washington Wright, merchant and Republic of Texas legislator, was born near Carthage, Tennessee, on December 11, 1809, the son of Elizabeth (Travis) and Claiborne Wright. In 1816 Claiborne broug...
David J. Woodward (1864 - 1925)
David J. “D. J.” Woodward, businessman, land developer, and rancher, was born on May 23, 1864, in Benela, Mississippi, to John Samuel Woodward and Nancy Addie (Rice) Woodward. The Woodward family moved...

About

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Objective

A project to honor the founders of our towns and cities worldwide. These men and women are our civil and religious leaders that built a community though their hard work, leadership, vision, and pioneer spirit.
The profiles that are added should include a description of their role in the creation of the town. The photo on the right is a picture of Hershey, PA, which was founded and planned by Milton S. Hershey. http://www.mhskids.org/about/school-history/hershey-pa-history/

Example Profile

Schaefferstown was founded in June 1758 by German immigrant Alexander Mayer Schaeffer. He called his new village Heidelberg, but it was not long before people began referring to it simply as “Schaeffer’s Town.”

The town Schaeffer planned was very much like those he had known in Europe. Building lots for homes and businesses were arranged around a large central square, at the intersection of two main roads, one running east to west, from Harris’s Ferry (Harrisburg) and Hummelstown to Ephrata via the Cornwall Iron Furnace, and the other north and south, connecting Conrad Weiser’s settlement at Tulpehocken with Lancaster, passing by Elizabeth Furnace.

Because of its prominent location near larger settlements and iron sites there was much traffic through the town, and stores and taverns sprang up to cater to travelers and residents alike. In 1761 an advertiser in the Pennsylvania Gazette announced that a post rider would take mail each Monday between Lancaster and Lebanon, with the tavern kept by Paul Gemberling on the square in “Heidelberg Town” (now known as the Gemberling-Rex House) as one of the regular stops. By the end of the 18th century there was also an open-sided wooden market house on the north side of the square.

To provide water for the town, Schaeffer installed underground wooden pipes connecting a spring at the north end of Market Street to the square. In 1763, Schaeffer deeded the reservoir property (now known as Fountain Park) and the water system itself to residents of Market Street. Homeowners on that street today are automatically members of the Schaefferstown Water Company, whose responsibility it is to maintain the park, and the two “fountains.”

After laying out the town, Schaeffer began immediately to sell lots, but he reserved the right to collect an annual ground rent of a few shillings from the buyers. He kept one of the best lots on the square for himself, and there he built a large limestone building where he ran a general store and a tavern. This building, still operating as a tavern, was once called the King George. After the American Revolution it was given its present name, Franklin House.

http://www.hsimuseum.org/