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Friday, May 16, 2014

Daniel Joseph and Miss Hanger



The father of John Joseph was named Daniel Joseph. His wife was a Miss Hanger. John Joseph was my great grandfather so he is your great Grandfather.

“Copied from the old bible”

These words are how Rachel Joseph began telling the history of her family. She sent handwritten notes to her cousin James McFall Joseph (my grandfather) many years ago. Rachel Jane Joseph was born March 28, 1896 in Augusta County, Virginia to Henry Milton Joseph and Lillie Jane Barger. She passed April 1981 in Virginia. I’m grateful ‘Ray’ shared her family history with us.

I’ve been able to add to Rachel’s family history and collected many documents for Daniel Joseph which I will share in future blog posts. Today is just a few facts to rouse your curiosity.  

4th Great-grandfather Daniel Joseph was the progenitor of the Joseph family and resided in Augusta County, Virginia. I’ve estimated his birth between 1755 and 1760. He married Eve Hanger, daughter of Frederic Hanger also from Augusta County, Virginia and died between July 27, 1795 and Feb. 22, 1796. A daughter, Eve Joseph, was born Sept. 8, 1785 followed by my ancestor, John Joseph born Aug. 4, 1787, and then Margaret Joseph born about 1795. Daniel Joseph Jr. was the youngest child.

Daniel served in the Augusta Militia during the American Revolution. He probably came to Augusta County with some savings as he bought and sold properties. In June of 1783, his name started to appear in the Rockingham Co., Virginia Minute Books and Rockingham Co., Virginia Judgment books in court suits.  Daniel was quite often the plaintiff (party who starts lawsuit) and just as often the defendant. He wasn’t in the Rockingham County personal property tax lists making me believe his home was in Augusta County with a business in Rockingham.

The Augusta Court Fee Books dated 1780 provided a welcome clue about his heritage. Daniel Joseph was identified as “Jew” which was a surprise to my branch of the family.[1] As far as I’ve been able to determine, none of Daniel’s descendants practiced the Jewish faith.


[1] Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish, Vol. II, p. 410

4 comments:

  1. Jeanette McIntyreMay 17, 2014 at 5:17 PM

    I also experienced documents scattered over Hampshire, Augusta and Frederick counties with a forebear of our lines. Checking the history of county evolution at http://www.mapofus.org/virginia/ really helps sort it all out. These evolving maps show when the changes were made, which really cleared a lot of confusion up for us.

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  2. Thank you Jeanette. I've already visited Maps of Virginia and watched the boundary changes for Augusta County. I wonder if very early Augusta County records might be located in neighboring counties also.

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  3. According to the Handy Book for Genealogists (Everton), Augusta County was formed out of Orange County 1 August 1738. Orange County was formed out of Spotsylvania County 1 February 1734, and the list goes on. This appears to be a period of rapid county formation in Virginia. If you don't have the Handy Book, I highly recommend it as it also gives a quick overview of surviving records.

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  4. I don't own Everton's Handy Book but you prompted me to dig out my copy of Redbook. Thanks for the reminder.

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