The History of The Frederick Family of Wayne and Medina County, Ohio

A short history of the Frederick family who came from the Rhine Palatinate in the early eighteenth century to Pennsylvania and finally Wayne and Medina County, Ohio

Frederick Family History

The original form of the name was Friederich, from German meaning "son of a peaceful ruler", derived from frid "peace" and ric "ruler, power". Several rulers of Prussia, Germany and the Holy Roman Empire have borne this name, including the 13th-century patron of the arts Frederick II of Germany, and the 18th-century Frederick II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great. In the early records of Pennsylvania the name is spelled as Friederich.

Our ancestor Johann George Friederick was born in the Rhine Palatinate (pronounced Pul-lat-in-ATE) probably about 1710. The area was given its name when Emperor Frederick I bestowed the title of Count Palatine on his half-brother Conrad in 1156. The area covers about 2,100 square miles from the left bank of the Rhine River and borders France on the south and Saarland and Luxembourg on the west. Today it is known for its wines. The Rhine Palatinate flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Thirty Years War and the war with Louis XIV devastated the region. In the early 18th century many Germans known as the Palatinates left the region for America.

George Frederick and at least one son, Noah, made their way from Germany to Rotterdam in 1732. They sailed aboard the "Loyal Judith" crossing the Atlantic and sailing up the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River to Philadelphia, arriving on September 25, 1732. The journey would have taken several months. George took the oath of allegiance to Pennsylvania as was required by all foreign immigrants and apparently settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He died in Earle Township in 1771 outliving his son Noah by fifteen years.

Noah was probably born a few years before his father brought him to America. He married Margaretha Becker in 1751. In 1756 a raiding party of Shawnee, as part of their alliance with the French, attacked many of the farms and settlements in the area of Lancaster County, at that time located on the leading edge of the American frontier. During one of these attacks, on October 12, 1756 Noah was fatally wounded while plowing his field. Noah died shortly after but was able to first make a will, which was probated in Lancaster County three years after his death. Hearsay evidence says that Noah’s wife Margaretha and daughters survived the attack. Margaretha later moved to Baltimore and remarried.

A few days after the attack on Noah and his family, Adam Read of Lancaster County wrote to the Pennsylvania Provincial Council pleading for assistance and protection from the attacks. He wrote, "Friends and fellow subjects, I send you, in a few lines, the melancholy condition of the frontiers of this county. Last Tuesday, the 12th of this month ten Indians came on Noah Frederick plowing in his field, killed and scalped him and carried away three of his children that was with him, the eldest but nine years old, plundered his house and carried away everything that suited their purpose, such as cloths, bread, butter a saddle and a good rifle gun [his house] being two short miles from Captain Smith's fort at Swatawro Gap, and a little better than two from my house."

Thomas Frederick lived among the Indians for several years during the French and Indian War. He was given the Shawnee name Keesawsoso. In 1763 when he was twelve and the French and Indian war had ended, the British made the Shawnee give back their white prisoners. Thomas was forced to go and was upset at having to lose his foster Shawnee family.

Some of this story is anecdotal and was give to me by Ms. Maggie Dipietra, a descendant of Thomas. She hopes at some time to be able to document the details that follow.

The British took the former prisoners to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to be reclaimed. There was no one in Lancaster to claim young twelve-year-old Thomas, and a Quaker shoemaker named Benjamin Stone took him in and cared for him. Thomas took on the Stone name and as a young man traveled as a shoe repairman.

The story goes that he talked about his past in the hopes of finding his mother. Someone who knew his mother eventually heard his story and took him to her. Supposedly, his mother recognized Thomas by a scar on his neck from a boil that had been lanced by his father. Thomas then resumed using the Frederick name. He married Ann Margaret Tibbins about 1773 and settled for a while in Laurelton, Union County. He was a soldier in the Revolution as part of the Pennsylvania Militia Frontier Rangers. After the war, he and his family lived in Northumberland County. He lived near a river and was able to sell farm goods by moving them on barges downstream.

Thomas moved his family west following the American frontier and settled in the newly opened land of Ohio. In 1807 he acquired a section of land in Columbiana County, near Lisbon, Ohio. Thomas and Ann had eight sons, Thomas, Jacob, George, Henry, William, Noah, John and Samuel. The names of his four daughters are uncertain but it is likely three were Elizabeth, Margaret and Polly (Mary). All of his children were probably born in Pennsylvania. Thomas Sr. died in Columbiana County in 1808 at the age of fifty-seven. Shortly before he died, he purchased twelve parcels of land, one for each of his children.

Thomas Jr. was born probably in Union County, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution on December 1, 1778. On May 2, 1804 he married Elizabeth Shank. On August 24, 1812 he joined Captain Samuel Martin's Company, 2nd Regiment (Hindman's) of the Ohio Militia to protect the Ohio frontier the Indian allies of the British. His brothers Jacob and Noah also served during the War of 1812. Noah served in the same company and the same dates as his brother Thomas. Jacob was a Major in charge of supplies for General William Henry Harrison during Harrison's campaign in the Northwest Territories (Ohio, Indiana and Illinois) during the autumn of 1812. Thomas and Noah were discharged from the militia on November 30, 1812. Thomas applied for a pension based on his service in 1812 years later. He filed three applications, in 1854, 1855 and 1871. Thomas and his family removed from Columbiana County to Chippewa Township, Wayne County, Ohio in 1813 and was one of the earliest settlers in northern Wayne County. Ben Douglass' History of Wayne County, Ohio, published in 1878 says of Thomas, "He planted the first cherry-tree in the township, which grew to the height of one-hundred feet and is now living. …He was a famous pedestrian, and equally famous hunter, killing bears, wolves, deer in immense numbers. He was a member of the Lutheran church and a worthy citizen and Christian Man." On February 2, 1836 Thomas bought land in the north half of section 69 in Sharon Township and owned the land until his death in 1871. He died in the home of his son Henry in Chippewa Township. His will was probated on August 11, 1871. His estate was appraised at over $34,000 a large sum at that time. His wife Elizabeth died some years before Thomas. The children of Thomas and Elizabeth were Harriet, Margaret, Reason, Dorothy, Rachael, Mathew E., William F., Henry, Catherine, Sarah A., Elizabeth, Mary A., Jacob and Sophia.

Sophia Frederick was born about 1808 in Columbiana County, Ohio and grew up mostly in Chippewa Township in Wayne County. She married Charles Wall on December 17, 1829 in Baughman Township, Wayne County. She died on August 23, 1886 in Sharon Township, Medina County. She is buried in the cemetery south of Sharon Center. Sophia and Charles had ten children, Jonas, John, Christian, Saloma, Thomas, Reason, Charles who died in infancy, William who died at the age of four, Margaret who died at the age of one and Franklin Wall.

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