Johann Jacob Flick (abt. 1756 - 1820)

Born about Oct 1756 in York, Pennsylvania Colony, British America

Husband of Mary Catherine (Mathews) Flick — married 1777 in Cumberland, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 15 Nov 1820 at about age 64 in Middlesex, Butler, Pennsylvania

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Larry Kokx [send private message]

Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Birth

Birth:

User ID: 519C0917EE48D493D0040CA416395F1C

Record ID Number: MH:IF326

Date: ABT 1761

Place: Rotterdam, Rheinland, Preussen

Military Service

Jacob served as a private in Captain Nathan Smith's Company from June 1, 1776, one month and fifteen days at Martha's Vineyard to defend the seacoast. 86 He was drafted for militia duty in Brothers Valley, Bedford county, in 1789.^[1]

Death

Death:

User ID: 519C0917EE4CD493E0040CA416395F1C

Record ID Number: MH:IF327

Date: 15 NOV 1820

Place: Middlesex twp, Butle Co, Penn

Record ID Number

Record ID Number: MH:I170

User ID

User ID: 519C0917EE50E493F0040CA416395F1C

UPD

UPD 21 MAY 2013 16:53:59 GMT-7

Sources

1. ↑ Captain Gerlach Paul Flick, Pennsylvania Pioneer by Alexander C. Flick, LITT.D., Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, volume 53, number 3, (1929), pp 230-268 citing Mass. Soldiers and Sailors in the Rev., V, 786. and Pa. Arch. 6" Ser. I l l , 43.

• y-DNA Results page: Flick/Fleck/Fleek/Fleak y-DNA Project on FamilyTreeDNA states that a "project member who traces their paternal line back to Johann Heinrich Sr. was an identical Y-chromosome DNA match [37 markers] to descendants of a Jacob Flick who lived in Butler County, PA from the late 1790s to 1820. This Jacob Flick shows up in the census records for Middlesex Twp, Butler County in 1800 and was married to Mary Katherine (or Catherine) Mathews."

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Mike Ormsby for creating WikiTree profile Flick-351 through the import of Ormsby Family Tree.ged on Jul 9, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Mike and others.

History of Butler Co. Pennsylvania-R.C. Brown & Co., Publishers -1895 -Pg. 927-928.

"Jacob Flick was born in eastern Pennsylvania in 1721, grew to manhood in that part of the State, and served in the Revolutionary war. He married Miss Mary Matthews, also a native of Pennsylvania, and settled in what is now Middlesex township, Butler Co, in 1801, where he resided until his death in 1809. His widow survived until 1842. They were the parents of eight children, all of who are dead. Their names are as follows: George; John: Henry; Joseph; Elizabeth, who married William Kennedy; Catherine, who married Thomas Kennedy; Sarah, who married William Leedom, and Rachel who married Samuel Phillips. Mr. Flick was one of the very earliest settlers of Butler county, and endured all the privations and dangers incident to that period".

No written records from Jacob Flick's time have yet been uncovered which establish definitively his date and place of birth. Most genealogists have used the date of 1721 given in the History of Butler County (hereafter referred to as the History) written in 1895 (at least 70 years after Jacob's death). This date of 1721 must not be taken for granted as his true date of birth, however, considering other facts of his life that are known. .

First, records like the Leedom Family Bible show his wife Catherine (Mathews) Flick died in 1842, and that she was aged 81 years at her death. This would make her date of birth around 1761. This would make her 40 years younger than Jacob if his date of birth was 1721. Such a difference in age for a couple is not impossible, but unlikely. Look at the differences in age between the married couples in the rest of your family tree and I would imagine you will not find anything even approaching 40 years. (I would note that the History recorded Catherine's death as 1843, when it was in fact 1842 according to her family's bible. The accuracy, or inaccuracy, of the History is a key point in this matter, as will be discussed later.).

Second, the date of Jacob's death gives us some evidence that 1721 is far too early to be his date of birth. The History states that his death occurred in 1809. However, I have visited the Butler County Library's Genealogy Department and have seen and copied Jacob's last will and testament, which was written in 1820. Therefore Jacob could not have died in 1809. Now, if Jacob was born in 1721 (as the History states) and he died in or soon after 1820 (when his will was written) this would make him 99 years old at death. For the time this would have been an accomplishment, and something notable that likely would have been recorded in the History..

Third, the 1810 census lists a "Jacob Fleck" aged over 45 years residing in Middlesex Township, Butler County. It is extremely unlikely that there was another person named Jacob Flick/Fleck living in Middlesex Township at the time. Again, this is one year after the History claims Jacob died. Additionally, the 1800 census record shows Jacob to be over 45 years old. If he was over 45 years in 1800, that would put his date of birth sometime before 1755. .

Therefore, I find it far more reasonable that Jacob's birth took place sometime not long before 1755. This is of course an estimate, but one based on the totality of the historical evidence. In recent years, another genealogist researching a different line of Flicks has hypothesized that Jacob could have been born in York, PA in 1756, where there is a baptism record for a Johan Jacob Flick. In this same church and to the same parents, a Johann Heinrich (Henry) Flick and Johann Adam Flick were baptized in 1753 and 1759 respectively. This Henry Flick (who married Susannah Varner) lived for some time in Somerset County, where it is has been recorded that some of the children of Jacob Flick (of Butler County) were born before moving to Butler County with their father. Then in 1791 there is a record of an Adam and Jacob Flick living in Hampshire County, Virginia, (now Mineral County, WV). According to the research of this other genealogist, by 1794 the Jacob Flick in WV sold his lands there. The theory is that this is when Jacob Flick left to settle in Butler County. Incidentally, the first record we have of Jacob living in Butler County comes from the 1800 census. .

It is thus possible that this genealogist's theory is correct. In over 10 years of researching this Flick family, I have seen no theory on the siblings or parents of Jacob Flick with more promise than what this genealogist has put forward. Again, this is not my theory, but that of another researcher whom I have not named simply out of respect for her privacy and because I have not asked for her permission to release her name here. If others would like to get in touch with this genealogist, I would ask you to send me an email at ******** and I will forward your information to her. I also welcome any questions or comments in reaction to the above. -Keith Flick .