Person:Johann Ambrose (2)

From Family Tree Maker site: HomePage of Steve Ambrose:

NOTE: The following is quoted from Mary Ambrose's work.

There is no proof that our Frederick Ambrose is indeed the Son of Mathias Ambrose, but most circumstantial evidence suggests that he was. Mathias' son, Joh. Friederich, b. 20 Jun 1741, was baptized by Pastor Johann Casper Stover at the Monocacy church. However, the birth date on Fredrick's tombstone in Brant Cemetery is 4 May 1738. This discrepancy is probably an error on the tombstone.

Frederick married Maria Margaretha, b. 1 Jan 1742, whose maiden name is unknown. One researcher [Irma Ruth Anderson] believes that she was a Countryman because the famines were friends-which they were years later in Somerset Co., PA. There is no mention of the Countryman family in the Monocacy area in the two very definitive books by Tracey and Dern [Pioneers of the Old Monocacy] and Schildknecht [Monocacy and Catocin]. The earliest known Countryman record in the area is the marriage of Ceorge Countryman and Rachel Milhaus in Frederick, MD, in 1745.

A descendant of Frederick's son Henry, said that Frederick was not a farmer but a hunter. This may be true, as he never settled down until late in his life. Family tradition reinforced by two printed biographies, [see references in "Facts"] states that Frederick was a farmer in Fulton Co., and that his oldest son was born there in 1762. But he was not there for long, as in 1764 he purchased two parcels of land on Little Pipe Creek, known as "Truro," not far from "Arnold's Chance" which was purchased by Mathias for three of his children. Frederick sold this land in 1768, and unfortunately, in the record of the sale there is a blank where the name of his wife should have been. During this time his second son was baptized by Pastor Lischy, an itinerant pastor based in York, PA.

About 1770 there was a migration of families from the Monocacy-Frederick area, first to the Conocheague Valley beyond Hagarstown, and from there up to Brothers Valley township, Bedford Co., PA. At that time, Brothers Valley township included all of the area known as Somerset Co. Along with Frederick Ambrose, those moving included the MilIhouse, Walker, Weller, and Mathews famlies. Frederick may not have stopped in the Conocheague Valley, as by 1772 he appeared on the first tax list for Bedford Co., PA. where he was listed as the owner of 200 acres, 8 acres cleared.

Confusing land records exist in which Henry Ambrose and Frederick Ambrose each obtained warrants for 300 acres of land. [see reference in "Facts"] However, when they had adjacent tracts of land situated "on the waters of Castleman River" in Brothers Valley township surveyed on 17 Feb 1785, Henry's tract contained [approximately] 171 acres and Frederick's [approximately] 236 acres. Then in 1789 an error occurred. According to the land record Henry divided his 236 acres between his sons, John and Henry. But the size of the tract indicates that it was Frederick whose land was divided. If we assume that a mistake was made in the name of the man whose land was divided, no problem exists. Both John and Henry, sons of Fredrick, were old enough at that time to be landowners, and the Henry who had the warrant next to Frederick must have been his son.

Frederick served in the Revolution as First Lieutenant, Capt. Henry Rhoads Co., recruited in Brothers Valley Township, Bedford Co., Dec 10, 1777. He Was also elected as Assessor of Bedford Co., on 12 Oct 1780.

It is not known just when the Ambrose families moved from Somerset Co. to Westmoreland Co., but it was certainly soon after 1790 when Frederick and John were counted on the census in Somerset Co. Frederick does not appear to have purchased land in Westoreland Co. until 1798, when he bought 247 acres. called "Freedom" from Christian Herr. This land he later sold to his son, George. By 1800 Frederick was living in Donegal township with his wife and son, George, and a girl between 10 and 16. This may have been a second daughter (Mary had died in 1787), or a servant.

Frederick settled south of the town of Ligonier, in what is now Ligonier township, which was formed in 1822 from Donegal and Fairfield townships. Henry and John were also in Westmoreland Co, Henry in East Huntingdon township and John in Donegal township. By 1810 Henry had purchased a Fairfield township farm which is still in the family, but neither he nor Frederick are on the census.

Maria Margaretha died 11 Sep 1809, and Frederick 29 Jul 1821. Both are buried at Brants Cemetery, now in a field a ten miles south of Ligonier, west of Route 711. A small stone marked only "R. A." is next to their stones. Could this have been another child?

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Brøderbund Software, Inc. World Family Tree Vol. 6, Ed. 1. (Release date: August 22, 1996)
   Tree #2743.

   Date of Import: Jan 25, 1999

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 wft6-2743.FTW.

   Date of Import: Jan 25, 1999

3. ↑ Martin Family Home Page - (http:www.qni.com/suni.homepage.htm).
4. ↑ Ragar, Janice - Sedalia, Missouri.

   "Old and New Westmoreland" says Frederick was born 5/4/1738.

5.   Tracey, Grace L. and Dern, John P. Pioneers of Old Monocacy, The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland, 1721-1743. (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987)
   pg. 377.
6.   Sara's Roots and Twigs, site of Sara Stewart (http:/www.cybercomm.net/~sarakay/).