Person:Philip Fox (12)

Philip Fuchs (german for FOX) and his wife, Amelia Rosenboom came to USA on Aug 15, 1750 on the "Royal Union", from Rotterdam, Holland, arriving in Philadelphia,PA. They settled in Plumstead township, Bucks Co.,PA by 1759. Philip served in the American Revolution and migrated with numberous family members to NC in 1783.

I believe that Philip Fuchs was born in Germany and it is probable that his wife Amelia Catherina (Rosenbom?) was also. What is known is that they arrived in Philiadelphia on August 15, 1750, on the ship Royal Union from Rotterdam by way of Cowes, Isle of Wight, in southern England. During the 1700's, it was common practice for Germans to ride homemade rafts down the Rhine River into Holland, and there make travel arrangements to America. I have seen Amelia's last name written in only one place--in the margin of a page of Eliza Love's "Greenbook" as "Miss Rosenbom."

Philip and Amelia Fox spent about 8 years in the Philadelphia area where they left records of the baptism of their early children at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Germantown. About 1758, they purchased a farm in Plumstead Township of Bucks Co., PA. Philip and his first son Jacob are credited with fighting for American Independence from Bucks Co.

In the early 1780's, one Anthony Hinckle talked the whole family into moving to North Carolina, into Rowan Co., a few miles SE of Winston Salem. There it is documented that Philip was active in a local Lutheran Church. I believe that church to be Bethany (was Lutheran but not now) and that Philip and Amelia are buried in an associated cemetery, though their stones have not survived. Philip Fox is mentioned in several places in the diary of Rev. Paul Hinckle, a Lutheran minister.

The original land grant papers and surveys for two pieces of property acquired in Rowan Co. by Philip Fox still exist in the NC Archives in Raleigh. Also Philip left a will dated 1792 and probated in 1796. The original of that will along with his original signature is available for viewing in the NC Arhives. He signed that will "Philip Fox." The script compares favorably with his signature "Philip Fuchs" required upon demarcation from the Royal Union in 1750.

Philip's will specified that his youngest living son, John Fox, be responsible for his mother's well being. By 1800, John had sold his parent's NC property. This and other documents indicate that Amelia had passed away by that time.