Funkhouser Ancestry

Sources

Funkhouser: There is still a missing link in the Funkhouser line, and if found, the generations are traced back to the 1300s in Switzerland. Daniel Bly elaborates on this: "I think if we can find John Funkhouser Sr.'s father, I could link him to the Fankhausers of the Emmenthal Valley of Bern, Switzerland. I have set up a Funkhouser DNA project and have several Fankhausers from Switzerland who can trace their line back to the 1300s. The DNA evidence is that all the Funkhousers in America are definitely related to each other and to the ones in Switzerland. The problem is that in the late 1600s so many Swiss from that area were moving to other parts of Switzerland or on down to the Rhine region of Germany, looking for work and then their children were the ones who went to America. John Funkhouser was also an Anabaptist, at least here in Virginia, and like the Stauffers and Neuenschwanders and Crabills, all from that same area, some were fleeing from 1660s onward and then after 1700 some were being expelled. It is hard to find records. I think some of them moved frequently and left very little trace. Incidently- for at least three generations the Funkhousers actually signed their name as Fankhauser. I have a copy of our mutual ancestor, Abraham Funkhouser Jr's bible record where he recorded all his and Catherine's children between 1806 and 1826 and he still wrote the family name as Fankhauser. It appears in the official English records as Funkhouser because that is pretty much how it was pronounced." Abraham Funkhouser, Sr., was an older brother of Christian, and son of John Funkhauser, Sr. Abraham married Magdalena Campbell, an orphan of a man named John Campbell, who was raised by Daniel Stover, prominent Mennonite in the Massanutten region. Abraham and Magdalena had 8 children to survive, but may have lost a few as children because of the age gaps in known children. Abraham's father John Funkhauser, Sr., arrived in Philadelphia, on the "Mortonhouse" 24 Aug. 1728 and signed the manifest as Johannes Franckhauser. Refer to "Johannes Franckhauser" on p. 20 of Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Volume I, 1727-1775, a continuation of the list for "Ship Mortonhouse, John Coultas, Master, from Rotterdam, but last from Deal, as clearance thence, bearing date 15th June 1728. Subscribed the above declaration 24th Augt 1728" (p. 19). He first appears in Virginia on a road petition by settlers in Frederick County (which then included what is now Shenandoah County) dated July 1737. John took out warrant for 400 acres on Funk's Mill Run (now Tumbling Run) near present day Mt.Olive in 1749 and received patent, Jan. 1752. In 1762, he received patent for another 294 acres adjoining the 400. John wrote a will in Feb. 1760 and it was probated 5 Mar. 1765. He named his wife Barbara in the will and according to British law of the day gave his land to his oldest son, John, who was directed to give land or pay money to the other children when their mother died. In 1776, John Jr. deeded 212 acres of the land to Christian Funkhouser and another 165 to Abraham. John lived on the original homesite and Abraham and Christian built their homes on their land downstream. Christian and Barbara had 12 children, all surviving. After Barbara died, Christian married Catherine Stover whose sister Barbara Stover is another ancestor of mine - both daughters of Jacob Stover (Stauffer) and Catherine Bowman Stover. More information about the Funkhousers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia can be found at The Virginia Pioneers: Funkhouser.

Update Fall 2016: At this point no direct Swiss ancestors have been found for the three earliest Funkhousers in Virginia. DNA evidence does link them to the Fankhausers of the Emmenthal Valley, but we are pretty certain tha John Sr. Jacob Sr. and Christian were not even brothers (Source: Geni.com and Daniel Bly).

Geni.com: Shenandoah Valley Settlers


"The oral history told to Jacob Funkhouser, author of the 1902 Funkhouser History ... is that Magdalena, wife of Abraham Funkhouser was an orphaned Irish girl, raised by a very wealthy and religious German man. According to Joel Swartz, a grandson of Abraham and Magdalena, his grandmother's family name was Campbell. Intermarriage between the German speaking Mennonites and the Irish in the Shenandoah Valley was rare but there is evidence that these traditions are true. Daniel Stover, prominent Mennonite leader in the Massanutten region, was administrator of the estate of a neighbor, John Campbell, in 1748 and became the guardian of his orphans, Mary, Martha and James. In 1750 Martha became the ward of James McKay, James became the ward of Samuel Boehm, Mary remained with Stover, and grew up in his family. Samuel Boehm was also a prominent Mennonite who eventually settled in Mulberry Run, only about two miles from the Funkhousers and his daughter, Elizabeth, was the second wife, of Abraham Funkhouser's brother, David. The widow of Samuel's son, Reuben Boehm, was later the second wife of Abraham Funkhouser's brother, Christian" (Source: WikiTree: Mary Magdalena Funkhouser.)

Also see Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800, Volume 3, by Lyman Chalkley, p. 10.

Also see Funkhouser Notes from WikiTree sources, compiled by Dan Hylton, descendant of Joseph Funkhouser, son of Abraham (Jr.) and Catherine (Coffman) Funkhouser.

 

 

 

 

Any family tree showing an extensive ancestry (such as this one) for John Campbell, who died in Massanutten in 1748, is completely without merit because there are no known documentary records regarding this John Campbell and any connections he might have with other 18th century Campbell families in America.

John Campbell of Massanutten, died in 1748, leaving four under age children: Martha, John Jr. Mary and James. Daniel Stauffer (Stover), qualified as administrator of his estate and in 1750, Martha and John were bound to James McKay, Mary (Magdalena), age six, bound to Daniel Stover, and James, to Samuel Boehm.

Source: Daniel Bly - WikiTree: John Campbell (d. 1748)
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  John Campbell   Barbara
(maiden name unknown)

Per Daniel Bly: "There [are] no documentary records whatever of her family name- in spite of the fact that she is listed on some trees as another Barbara Habegger and others as Maria Barbara Rine."

  John Funkhouser, Sr.
(Johannes Fankhauser)

signatures
(Source: WikiTree)
   
  b. ?
d. 1748, Massanutten region, Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
  b. ca. 1710, likely in Trub, Signau, Canton of Bern, Switzerland
d. between 1774 and 1776, Tumbling Run, Shenandoah County, Virginia
m. ?

Learn about the house built by John Funkhouser, Sr.

Learn about his settling in the Shenandoah Valley in The Virginia Pioneers: Funkhouser

b. ca. 1700-1710, likely in Trub, Signau, Canton of Bern, Switzerland
d. 1 January-5 March 1765, Tumbling Run, Shenandoah County, Virginia
According to FamilySearch, Benjamin Lehman's parents were Johan Benedict Lehman and Veronica Ann Miller while Barbara Baughman Lehman's parents were John Baughman and Barbara Dagen. For both sets of parents, FamilySearch traces back ancestry much further, but research needs to be substantiated.
John Baugman
b. probably in Switzerland
d. 1763, Hempfield, Lancaster Co., PA
Benjamin Layman (Lehman)
b. 1710
d. in Shenandoah Co., VA
Barbara Ann Baughman
b. ca. 1726, Shenandoah Co., VA
d. 1782, Shenandoah Co., VA
m.
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Funkhouser Notes from WikiTree sources, compiled by Dan Hylton, descendant of Joseph Funkhouser, son of Abraham (Jr.) and Catherine (Coffman) Funkhouser. |
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Mary Magdalena Campbell Magdalena was made a ward of Daniel Stover (Stauffer) in 1749. She had the following children: Daniel Henry Funkhouser (1769-1846), Abraham Funkhouser (1778-1855) and Regina Funkhouser Swartz (1788-1848) (Source: Find-A-Grave). Also see Chalkley, p. 10 and The German element of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia by John Walter Wayland, B.A., Ph.D., p. 71. Abraham Funkhouser, Sr. Picture: the Abraham Funkhouser, Sr., home on the south branch of Tumbling Run, west of Fishers Hill, Shenandoah County, VA. The section on the left was the original German style house built over the spring (about 1765). The long north wing (on the right) was build by Abraham Jr. in the 1820s (Source: Geni.com and Daniel Bly). More: The Abraham Funkhouser Home (Shenandoah County GenWeb Project) Christian Funkhouser, Sr.   Barbara Lehman (Layman)
b. 1744, Virginia
d. 1835, Shenandoah County, Virginia
Burial: Abraham Funkhouser Cemetery, Shenandoah County, Virginia
m. ?

FamilySearch has a marriage document for their daughter which shows them.

b. 1742, Virginia
d. 1796, Shenandoah Co., Virginia

Notes: Abraham Funkhouser prepared by Jane Hunter Hogsdon
The descendants of these two brothers would unite in the marriage of Charles Florence Fisher and Mary Elizabeth Pifer. b. 1745, Tumbling Run, Shenandoah County, VA
d. 1818, Tumbling Run, Shenandoah County, VA
m. 21 June 1774 b. 1756, Shenandoah Co., Virginia
d. ca. 1804 (before 1805), Shenandoah Co., VA
   

I have a DNA match with whom I share common ancestors Abraham Funkhouser, Sr., and Mary Magdalena (Campbell) Funkhouser. Sunny Sprague, daughter of
Mr. Sprague, son of
Twila Irene (Patterson) Sprague, daughter of
Mabel Edith (Miller) Patterson, daughter of
John Wesley Miller, son of
Rebecca Ann (Swartz) Miller, daughter of
Regina (Funkhouser) Swartz, daughter of
Abraham Funkhouser, Sr., and Mary Magdalena (Campbell) Funkhouser.
[X] close

DNA matches with whom I potentially share common ancestors Abraham and Mary Magdalena (Campbell) Funkhouser: John Rusnak and Hillary Reed.

  Funkhouser Notes from WikiTree sources, compiled by Dan Hylton, descendant of Joseph Funkhouser, son of Abraham (Jr.) and Catherine (Coffman) Funkhouser. After Barbara died, Christian Funkhouser married Catherine Stover, daughter of my ancestors, Jacob and Catherine Bowman Stover. The daughter Catherine Stover's first husband Reuben Boehm had died. - James Arthur Johnson DNA match Leslie Marangoni and I share common ancestor Christian Funkhouser. The following DNA matches share Christian and potentially Barbara as common ancestors: Terri Gould, Kintina Chapman, William Mault, Kathleen Martin, Linda Lynch, Pamela Young, Carol Farmer, Sharon Cardona, Anna Thaell, Willa Clements, S. Ford, Lisa Totten, Catherine HiattTerry Brown and Kelly OBeirne. DNA match Kristi Mathias only matches Christian Funkhouser.  
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    descendants through son Abraham Funkhouser, Jr., via his marriage to Catherine Coffman   descendants through daughter Esther (Ester) Funkhouser via her marriage to Emmanuel Pitman  

Abraham (Jr.) and Catherine (Coffman) Funkhouser Bible Records

Much thanks to Daniel Bly for providing much of this information!

Funkhouser Ancestry

There is still a missing link in the Funkhouser line, and if found, the generations are traced back to the 1300s in Switzerland. Daniel Bly elaborates on this: "I think if we can find John Funkhouser Sr.'s father, I could link him to the Fankhausers of the Emmenthal Valley of Bern, Switzerland. I have set up a Funkhouser DNA project and have several Fankhausers from Switzerland who can trace their line back to the 1300s. The DNA evidence is that all the Funkhouser in America are definitely related to each other and to the ones in Switzerland. The problem is that in the late 1600s so many Swiss from that area were moving to other parts of Switzerland or on down to the Rhine region of Germany, looking for work and then their children were the ones who went to America. John Funkhouser, was also an Anabaptist, at least here in Virginia, and like the Stauffers and Neuenschwanders and Crabills, all from that same area, some were fleeing from 1660s onward and then after 1700 some were being expelled. It is hard to find records. I think some of them moved frequently and left very little trace. Incidently- for at least three generations the Funkhousers actually signed their name as Fankhauser. I have a copy of our mutual ancestor, Abraham Funkhouser Jr's bible record where he recorded all his and Catherine's children between 1806 and 1826 and he still wrote the family name as Fankhauser. It appears in the official English records as Funkhouser because that is pretty much how it was pronounced." Abraham Funkhouser, Sr., was an older brother of Christian, and son of John Funkhauser, Sr. Abraham married Magdalena Campbell, an orphan of a man named John Campbell, who was raised by Daniel Stover, prominent Mennonite in the Massanutten region. Abraham and Magdalena had 8 children to survive, but may have lost a few as children because of the age gaps in known children. Abraham's father John Funkhauser, Sr., arrived in Philadelphia, on the "Mortonhouse" 23 Aug. 1728 and signed the manifest as Johannes Fankhauser. He first appears in Virginia on a road petition by settlers in Frederick County (which then included what is now Shenandoah County) dated July 1737. John took out warrant for 400 acres on Funk's Mill Run (now Tumbling Run) near present day Mt.Olive in 1749 and received patent, Jan. 1752. In 1762, he received patent for another 294 acres adjoining the 400. John wrote a will in Feb. 1760 and it was probated 5 Mar. 1765. He named his wife Barbara in the will and according to British law of the day gave his land to his oldest son, John, who was directed to give land or pay money to the other children when their mother died. In 1776, John Jr. deeded 212 acres of the land to Christian Funkhouser and another 165 to Abraham. John lived on the original homesite and Abraham and Christian built their homes on their land downstream. Christian and Barbara had 12 children, all surviving. After Barbara died, Christian married Catherine Stover whose sister Barbara Stover is another ancestor of mine - both daughters of Jacob Stover (Stauffer) and Catherine Bowman Stover.


John Campbell Barbara ? + John Funkhouser, Sr. | | (Johannes Fankhauser) | | | +----------+------------+ | | | | | | Magdalena Campbell + Abraham Funkhouser, Sr. Christian Funkhouser + Barbara Lehman (Layman) b. 1748 b. 1742 b. 1745-55 b. 1745-55 d. 1830s d. 1796 d. 1818 d. before 1805 Abraham (Jr.) and Catherine (Coffman) Funkhouser Bible Records

Much thanks to Daniel Bly for providing this information!