Person:John Funkhouser (5)

Early Land Acquisition in Virginia

Acquisition of Land from Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants:

• H-93: John Funkhowser of Frederick Co., 400 acres in Frederick Co. Surv. Mr. John Baylis. Where he lives, adj. Funk's Mill Run, Barnet Silver. 9 Jan. 1752. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 56].

• M-101: John Funkhouser of Frederick Co., 294 acres adj. his survey & Jacob Funkhouser in said Co. Surv. Mr. Robert Rutherford. 28 Dec. 1762. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775, Vol. 2, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 148].

1.   Wilson, Frieda Funkhouser. Funkhouser - a Swiss-American genealogy (1364-1978). (Alton, Illinois: A.F. Wilson, c1978 (Owensboro, Ky. : McDowell Publications)).

   FUNKHOUSER: A SWISS AMERICAN GENEALOGY by Frieda Wilson.
   
   Origin of the Funkhousers.
   
   JACOB FUNKHOUSER's parents, JOHN and MARY, originally came from Zurich, Switzerland to America some time between 1700 and 1740, and settled in the northern neck of Va., on the headwaters of Tumbling Run, about four miles west of Strasburg, Va, formerly Stoverstown, Dunmore Co. At that time this section was a wilderness and inhabited only by the Indians. Deer roamed through the forests and the streams abounded in fish, ducks and geese. Wild and dangerous beasts were plentiful. They were schooled in the hardships of pioneer times. They owned large grants of land from LORD THOMAS FAIRFAX, Baron of Cameron. They felled the giant oak and erected their log cabin in the wild woodlands when the track of the red man was there. They preferred such environment in a land dedicated to religious and political freedom rather than to suffer persecution in their native land. In this traditional home nine children were born, one of whom was JACOB FUNKHOUSER, who married DOROTHY HOTTEL.

2.   Wayland, John Walter. A history of Shenandoah County, Virginia. (Strasburg, Va.: Shenandoah Pub. House, 1927).

   The Funkhousers of the Shenandoah Valley trace their ancestry to two brothers, JOHN and CHRISTOPHER, who came to America from Berne, Switzerland, in 1700. They settled near Fredericksburg. A son of one of these, JOHN FUNKHOUSER, located four miles west of Strasburg in 1740. The family has been prominent in lower Shenandoah County for many years. JACOB, one of JOHN's sons, born in 1750, obtained a large tract of land on Mill Creek, a mile west of Mt. Jackson, and there built his home in 1775. This JACOB FUNKHOUSER was the great-grandfather of Dr. George and the great-great-grandfather of Charles A. Funkhouser, in this wise: The father of Charles was Casper: Casper, George, and Monroe were sons of Andrew; Andrew was a son of George; and George was a son of Jacob.
   The old homestead on Mill Creek is still in the family, being now owned by Dr. Edward B. Funkhouser of Trenton, N.J., a brother of Charles A. and a nephew of Dr. George Funkhouser.
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