Person:Jeremiah Dear (1)

Jeremiah Dear (Hirsch) was one of the Early Settlers of Germanna Colony

Importation to Germanna Colony

• Martin & Johannes Hirsch (Deer) arrived in Philadelphia on the Christian in 1749. (Note: records below show that Johannes 'Jeremiah' Dear was clearly in Virginia prior to 1738, and apparently had a prior marriage to Frederick Baumgartner's widow (in abt. 1746), to a Rebeckah Unknown, prior to April 1738).

Early Land Acquisition in Orange County County, VA

Acquisition of Land from Orange County, Virginia Records:

• Pages 290-92. 24-25 April 1738. Robt. Bickers of Orange County to Jeremiah Deair of St. Mark's Parish, Orange County. Lease and release; for £20 current money. 200 acres on the west side of Beaverdam Run... by the mouth of a branch... part of a tract of 500 acres. (signed) Robert Bickers. Wit: William Wood, Sarah (X) Dollins. 27 April 1738. Acknowledged by Robert Bickers. [Orange County Virginia Deed Book 2, Dorman, pg. 50].

Records of Jeremiah Dear in Orange County, VA

• Pages 284-87. 20-21 April 1738. John Bryant of Hannover County to Robert Bickers of St. Mark's Parish, Orange County. Lease and release; for £20 sterling. 500 acrres taken up in copartnership between Joseph Hawkins and Robert Bickers and by the said Bryant lapsed from the said Joseph Hawkins and Robert Bickers and adjoining to the lands of Samuel Smith and Nathaniel Clayborne... on both sides of a branch of Pormunkey River called the Beaver Dam Run... (signed) John Bryant (Bryan). Wit: Wm. Wood, Sarah (X) Dollins, S [Sarah (X) Dollin], Jeremiah (X) Dear, Rebeckah (X) Dear. 27 April 1738. Proved by Wm. Wood, Sarah Dollings and Jeremiah Dear. [Orange County Virginia Deed Book 2, Dorman, pg. 49].

• Pages 347-50. 22-23 May 1738. Robt. Bickers of St. Mark's Parish, Orange County, to George Stewarte of same. Lease and release; for £20 sterling. 100 acres ajoyning the lands of Michael Hoolland, John Collins and Jeremiah Deair... on both sides of a branch of Purmunkey River called Beaverdam Run... (signed) Robt. Bickers. Wit: Battaile Harrison, Charles DeWitt, Edmond Manion. 25 May 1738. Acknowledged by Robt. Bickers. [Orange County Virginia Deed Book 2, Dorman, pg. 53].

Records of Johann 'Jeremiah' Dear (Hirsch)

From Germanna History Notes:

The Hirsch brothers, John and Martin, were born in Täbingen, Württemberg, in 1718 and 1715, respectively. This village is quite a way south of Stuttgart, and is not in the neighborhood of any of the villages known for the Second Colony. It is interesting to consider why the Hirsch ("Deer" in America) brothers came to the Robinson River Valley. As of now, we do not know anyone else who came from the same vicinity as the Deers. Apparently, the brothers did not come at the same time, since John Deer married the widow of Frederick Baumgartner about 1746, and Martin did not come until 1749. Cerny and Zimmerman suggest that a land sale by George Long indicated John Deer might be a son-in-law. It remains unresolved as to why John Deer came to Virginia.

Source: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhs33.html