Israel Friend (abt. 1693 - abt. 1749)

Born about 1693 in Upland, Ridley Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Unknown) House — married 1725 in Frederick County, Maryland

Descendants

Died about 1 Apr 1749 at about age 56 in Shenandoah Valley, Shenandoah, Virginia [uncertain]

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Biography

He was born about 1693 in Pennsylvania.

Israel Frande or Friend married Sarah Catherine (unknown). ^[1]

Land Grant on 17 June 1730 from William Gooch, Lieutenant Governour and Commander in Chief of the Virginia Colony, to Isaac and John VanMetre, assignees of 42,289 acres. On 21 Aug 1734 Israel Frend received 300 acres of that. ^[2]

He died on 01 Apr 1749 in the Shenandoah Valley. ^[3]

His last Will was in probate court on 12 Aug 1749 and mentioned his wife Sarah and children, Jonas, Jacob, Charles, Catharine and Mary.

Typical Frontiersman

"Israel FRIEND, Frontiersman" by Corinne Hanna Diller

When an ancestor was the first pioneer in an area, it can be a source of bragging rights - if you can prove it. Most often the researcher curses, though, because the ancestor seems to be "lost". Such is the case of Israel Friend, who does not appear on tax lists, deeds, etc., till he was past forty years old. The trouble with being the first is that usually no records were created. There were no neighbors to sue, no estate sales to attend, not even a tax man to come around and list your assets.

I have long-suspected that Israel Friend was the first permanent white settler to come to the area along the upper Potomac, above the Shenandoah River. I believed he lived there as much as ten years before other white settlers came. Proving it has been a challenge. He had been born circa 1693, at Upland, Ridley Twp., Chester (now Delaware) County, Pennsylvania, to

Andrew Friend, alias Nilson, and his first wife Miss Rambo.(1) On 25 July 1725, Governor Calvert commissioned Israel Friend as an Indian trader and ambassador to the Shawnee tribes on the Potomac River.(2)

Little had been known about him, though he was a prominent man later in life.

On 10 January 1727, a deed was made from six chiefs, styled "Kings of the Five Nations", named Cunnawehala, Taw-Senaw, Captain Sivilite, Toile Hangee, Shoe Hays, and Callakahatt, "for love to our brother Israel Friend," for land on the Potomac River and Antietam Creek, described as 100 shoots of an arrow in such-and-such a direction, etc.(3)

This land was above Harper's Ferry, in present Washington County, Maryland. The original deed was said to have been written on birch bark. Different branches of descent claim that Israel's wife Sarah was actually "Bokavar", an Indian princess. Much has been made of the language of this deed, however nothing has been found to prove who his wife was, one way or the other.

It is his dealings with the Indians which provide the key to his early years. In 1712 in Cecil County, Maryland, Andrew Friend and Charles Mounts Anderson (both traders), were involved in a lawsuit against Anne LeTort.(4) She was the widow of Jacque LeTort, an Indian trader who lived at Conestoga, Pennsylvania.(5)

On 24 October 1720, we find a complaint in the records of the Upper House of the Maryland General Assembly which tells us "the Shaw-wan Indians have carried away three Negro slaves belonging to the petitioner; the Indians have been told by Andrew Neal and other traders that they would be given a reward for returning the slaves to the petitioner, but they have not done so."(6) The issue of the Shawnee harboring escaped slaves was to be a bone of contention for over two decades.

Their principal chief for many years was Opessa, who lived in Pennsylvania and the area of Cecil County, Maryland, circa 1697-1700. Around 1711 he moved to what became known as Opessa's Town on the upper Potomac, now Old Town.(7)

He is known to have argued against returning slaves to the whites, and his influence was felt for many years after his death, estimated at about 1720. I imagine that when his father, Andrew Neal (Friend) took the message to the Shawnee in 1720, young Israel would have wanted to be a part of the action.

We have already seen that Israel Friend was appointed as an Ambassador to the Shawnee Indians in 1725, and this fact has been widely-quoted. It would seem that both his father, and Israel, were well-enough-acquainted with the Shawnee that the Maryland Governor thought the tribes would listen to their pleas. As early as 1722, Andrew Friend's trading partner Charles Anderson had been asked to travel up the "Potomack" River to forge an agreement with the Shawnee about harboring slaves.(8)

On 20 May 1725 the Maryland Assembly had empowered John Powell and Charles Anderson "to go to Shuano town on Potomack, commonly called Opessa's Town ..."(9)

Having failed in their mission to bring the chiefs to Anderson's trading post on the Monocacy river, Israel Friend received his appointment on 25 July 1725. It was confirmed on 6 August 1725, when the Council Meeting records that "Shuano Indians not meeting his Excellency there Resolved that Israel Friend be sent up immediately to the said Indians with following instructions ... to invite Indians to next meeting of the Assembly at Annapolis on 05 Oct 1725 ..."(10)

The chiefs did not come to the Assembly Meeting held in October(11), and the issue remained up in the air for many years.

The confirmation that Israel Friend was the only permanent white settler on the upper Potomac during all this period comes from a letter to the Maryland Assembly, dated 12 January, 1731/2, which reads: "I Captain Civility make bold with these few lines, for I certainly did hear as their Intention to take the land from Us if possible ... above Andahetem (Antietam) and I heartily desire you not to do it ... for we are very much disturbed and I would have you not to press too much upon Us for We have given no body of Land yet but Israel Friend at the mouth of Andahetem ..."

mark of Captain Civility (Sivilite) and Toyl Hangue.(12)

Hence, in the words of two of the chiefs who had granted him his deed in 1727, he was the only white living in that area before 1732.

In my work on western Maryland families, I have found that it is quite common for them to have transactions, landholdings, or kinfolks in either Pennsylvania or Virginia. Boundaries are, after all, imaginary lines. Many times I've heard from people who are researching Israel Friend of Frederick County, Maryland, but can't find much about him. He did leave a Will there, and operated a forge and mill. So, who was his wife, and where are his children? And, what happened to all that land along Antietam Creek? By expanding the search slightly, we get a much fuller picture of the family.

On a map dated 1736, Israel's land along the Potomac River is indicated in Virginia downstream of Antietam Creek.(13) He is not shown on the Maryland side. On the same map, land of his brother Charles is indicated where Conococheague Creek meets the Potomac (present Williamsport, Maryland).

In Maryland, he is known to have had an iron ore furnace on Antietam Creek, and a mill south of Frederick town.(14)

One tract has been significant in tracing the family for over 60 years after it was obtained. On 3 October 1734, 300 acres was granted to Israel Friend on the south side of the Potomac, two miles north of Harper's Ferry.(15)

This land was mentioned in his Will dated in 1749, and as late as 1805 was the subject of a lawsuit involving his heirs.(16)

In 1772 the land became part of Berkeley County, Virginia, and is presently in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Under date of 12 October 1736, in the Potomac River Notebook of surveyor Benjamin Winslow is written: Israel Friend house 10 poles (165 feet) from river...paid Israel Friend's wife for wash, etc. ...(17)

This area was then part of Orange County, Virginia. Winslow noted him on the Virginia side of the river, but did not include him in his surveys of the north side of the river. Though mentioned in other places, the only place I find Israel owning land is along the Potomac, between Harper's Ferry and Williamsport, Virginia.

In the late 1730's he seems to have lived on the Virginia side of the river. In November 1736, in the deed book of Orange County, Virginia, one Patrick Sim of Prince George County, Maryland, appointed Israel Friend of Prince William County, Virginia, as his agent to collect a debt on his behalf.(18)

At this time, Orange County, Virginia included all land west of the Rappahannock River, above Spottsylvania County, including the Shenandoah Valley and Greenbrier Valley.

In the meantime, he seems to have lost title to his land along Antietam Creek. Though no documents have yet been found to verify it, the "legend" says that in 1736 the Maryland Governor declared that Natives had no right to make legally-binding documents, and hence the 1727 deed was declared invalid. The governor confiscated the land along Antietam Creek and the Potomac River, estimated by some researchers to be 72 square miles.

John Moore was recipient of a grant for 300 acres dated 04 August 1739.(19)

He called this land "Antietam Bottom" and it encompassed the lower reaches of Antietam Creek, where it met the Potomac River.

On 16 April 1741, a deed in Prince George County, Maryland, from John Moore to Israel Friend refers to the latter as "of Orange County, Virginia, planter".(20)

This tract is described as 50 acres called "Friend's Purches", being part of "Anteatum Bottom" at the mouth of Anteatum creek where it falls into the Potomac River, near Teagg's (Taylor's) Ferry. This appears to be part of the land he had purchased in 1727 from the Natives. That he had to re-purchase part of it back again indicates his previous loss of the land.

He had returned to Maryland by 1742 when he sold 40 acres of "Antietam Bottom" to John House.(21)

He is described as a Maryland resident on this deed. On the 1756 debt books for Frederick County, John House's heirs are in arrears on 50 acres of "Antietam Bottom".(22)

Perhaps he had sold the entire 50 acres, and the 1742 deed was copied wrong.

On 06 May 1746, a deed from Israel Friend of Frederick County, Virginia, to William Stroop sells 100 acres originally patented 12 Nov 1735 on the west side of the Cohongo (aka Potomac) River, taken from the south end of his tract.(23)

Dower was released by his wife Sarah, and this is the only known record found of her given name before his death.

It is said that Israel Friend had been a guide for Lord Fairfax's surveyors, and was present when the Fairfax stone was placed in 1746, marking the source of the Potomac River, and the boundary of Fairfax's lands. His initials were supposedly carved onto a tree, along with those of the surveyors.(23a)

Israel had many family members who followed him to the Potomac area, including two siblings. Charles Friend (1699-1751) lived in the area that is now Williamsport, Washington County, Maryland.(24)

Mary Friend had been married in 1727 in Cecil County, Maryland to Robert Turner, who is found in Frederick County, Maryland deed records as late as 1769.(25)

On 12 August 1749, Israel Friend, styling himself "of Frederick County, Maryland" made his last Will.(26)

To his wife Sarah he left one third of his estate, excluding lands. To his eldest son Jonas he left land. To his second son Jacob he left the land where Israel lived. To his youngest son Charles he left 120 acres. He also left legacies to daughters Catherine and Mary. His Negroes were to be equally divided between his three sons. The executors were his "brother" Charles Friend, and Capt. Thomas Swearingen. Witnesses were Nathan Shepherd, Isaac Horsey, Sr. and Anne Lennard.

On 9 May 1750, in Frederick County, Virginia, administration of the estate of Israel Friend was filed by executrix Sarah Friend.(27)

His inventory was filed on 10 Nov 1750 in Frederick County, Virginia, total personal assets being L.168.7.1.(28)

At his Virginia plantation his assets included much livestock, including 14 horses (but no buggy or wagon), 3 female Negroes and 1 female Negro child, 3 spinning wheels, 2 sets of bed and bedding, one book "The Whole Duty of Man", and a violin.

This represents only part of his estate. That he had assets in Maryland is evidenced by the fact that his Will was also proved in that place.

Inventories and accounts in Maryland have not yet been found, though.

From 1754, through 1790, land of Israel Friend along the Potomac River is mentioned in no fewer than ten deeds as adjoining land that was being sold. Though his children scattered, his name seems to have lived on as a reference point in the neighborhood. It was common in Virginia to maintain an estate intact until after the death of the widow. Whether she was still alive as late as 1790 cannot be said. At any rate, Israel's Will had excluded his lands from her share of the estate.

On 08 Sep 1754, Jonas Friend and wife Sarah, of Augusta County, Virginia, sold 66 ½ acres of land from his father.(29)

This was part of the 300 acres that Israel received in 1734.

Israel's sons had followed their father's example, and had moved to the leading edges of the frontier to find their fortunes.

Eldest son Jonas Friend was born circa 1725. He had lived at Friend's Fort, now Elkins, Randolph County, West Virginia, where he died 15 Nov 1807.(30)

He had married by 1754 to Sarah Skidmore in Rockingham County, Virginia, and they had five children.

Second son Jacob Friend was born circa 1727. He lived in Rockingham, later Pendleton, County, Virginia. He died in 1818.(31)

He had married in 1756 to Elizabeth Skidmore, sister of Sarah, and they had at least nine children.

It has been said that Jonas and Jacob met their brides in Rockingham County, Virginiaa. However Joseph Skidmore (their father) is found in Frederick County, Maryland in 1750.(32)

He is also found on the 1766 list of debts owing to merchant James Dixon of Frederick, Maryland. (33)

The youngest son Charles Friend was born circa 1730, and died in 1816 in Monroe County, (West) Virginia.(34), leaving at least four children.

An irony surrounds the life of Israel Friend. He made his life trading with, and living with, the Shawnee in their upper Potomac territory. We know that others had tried to settle in this area, because in 1706 the Shawnee filed a protest with the government against two whites who had built a cabin among them.(35)

Those settlers were ejected by the authorities. Israel Friend, however, was allowed to live and build there for many years. When the level of trust was high enough, he tried to do the right thing by obtaining land via deed, instead of conquest.

For his attempt to represent his race as an honest man, he was penalized, loosing the land he thought was his. That disappointment must have played a role in his childrens' decisions to move further away to make their homes.

Footnotes:

(1) For the ancestry and family-ties of Israel Friend see:

"The Family of Nils Larsson Friend/Frande", (1988) by Peter Stebbins Craig, of Washington, DC;

"The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware", (1993) by P. S. Craig;

Swedish American Genealogist v16 (March 1996) p1-12, article 'The Odyssey of Andrew Friend's Swedish Bible' by P.S. Craig;

Swedish Colonial News, Fall 1997 issue, by the Swedish Colonial Society of Philadelphia; Rambo article by P. S. Craig; (and other titles by Craig.)

(2) Maryland Historical Magazine v30 p132.

"Archives of Maryland", Proceedings of The Assembly v25 p450-451.

(3) Prince George County, Maryland land records, Volume Q, page 169, recorded 1733; See also Clay County, WV deeds, Book#1, page 1.

(4) Cecil County, Maryland Judgments, Book E, page 204.

(5) "Monocacy and Catoctin", (1985), by Calvin E. Schildknecht, v1 p50-51.

(6) Publications of the Hall of Records Commission, Publication Number 1 (1943), Calendar of Maryland State Papers, Number 1, The Black Books, page 27.

(7) Chief Opessa is discussed in Maryland Historical Magazine v30 p7-10, 124-133.

(8) Archives of Maryland v25 p394-395.

(9) Archives of Maryland v25 p443.

(10) Archives of Maryland v25 p450-451.

(11) Archives of Maryland v25 p452.

(12) Archives of Maryland v28 p10-11.

(13) Map dated 1736 of Potomac River, published in Western Maryland Genealogy v2 p86-87.

(14) The iron ore furnace of Israel Friend is mentioned in:

"Hopewell Friends History, Frederick County, Virginia 1734-1934", (1936) Genealogical Pub. Co., pages 166, 543.

His mill is mentioned in

"New Facts About Old Families", by Millard Rice,

"Out of the Past; Prince Georgeans and their Land", (1976) by R. Lee Van Horn, page 91.

(15) Frederick County, Virginia deeds v3 p372.

See also:

> "The Fairfax Proprietary", (1959) by Josiah L. Dickinson;

> "Pioneers of Old Frederick County (Virginia)" (1995) by Cecil O'Dell, on Map 3, page 95.

(16) "Scotch-Irish Settlers on the Frontier", by Lyman Chalkley, v2 p125, (his extracts from Augusta County, Virginia Circuit Court records.)

(17) Potomac River Notebook of surveyor Benjamin Winslow, original housed at the Virginia Historical Society Library; quoted by O'Dell on page 117.

See also Western Maryland Genealogy v2 p86-87.

(18) "Pioneers of Old Frederick County (Virginia)" by O'Dell, page 99.

(19) Washington County, Maryland web site.

(20) Prince George County, Maryland deeds, volume Y, page 303;

Also, Frederick County, Maryland deeds, volume F, pages 75-76.

(21) Western Maryland Genealogy v8 p56.

(22) Western Maryland Genealogy v8 p158; v9 p31-32 This was John Valentine House Sr.

(23) Frederick County, Virginia deeds v1 p264-265.

(23a) "History of West Virginia; Old and New in One Volume", by James Morton Callahan (1923) American Historical Society, Inc., page 53, placing of Fairfax Stone in 1746, and subsequent surveying by G. Washington for new settlers.

(24) Will of Charles Friend, dated 27 Feb. 1750/1, proved 20 March 1751; names Robert Turner as executor; and in an account of his estate, Robert Turner and Gabriel Turner sign as next of kin. (Liber#50 p94)

(25) "Early Anglican Church Records of Cecil Co.", (1990), by Henry C. Peden; Found on tax rolls, such as the 1756 debt books published in Western Maryland Genealogy v7 p133. Frederick County, Maryland deeds, book M, page 549, deed dated 1769.

(26) Will recorded 05 June 1753 in Frederick County, Maryland Will book A, page 3; Also recorded in Frederick County, Virginia, book#2, p92 on 05 June 1763; and Augusta County, Virginia Will book#2 p125.

(27) Administration Bond of estate of Israel Friend, Frederick County, Virginia Account Book#1 p390-391.

(28) Inventory of estate of Israel Friend, Frederick County, Virginia Account Book#1 p418-419. (copies in my files)

(29) Frederick County, Virginia deeds book#3 p372 & Augusta County, Virginia deeds book#21 p456.

(30) "History of West Virginia, Old and New" (1923) by American Hist. Society v3 p358; and essay: "Jonas Friend and Friend's Fort" by Warren Skidmore, published in the Magazine of History & Biography of the Randolph County, West Virginia Historical Society, Dec 1954 #11 p19-22.

(31) "Pendleton County, West Virginia, Past and Present" (1991) pages 108-109.

(32) "Inhabitants of Frederick County, Maryland", (1998), by Stefanie R. Shaffer v1 (1750-1790) pages 9, 19, 27.

(33) "Abstracts of Inventories of the Prerogative Court" v14 (1991) by V.L. Skinner, pages 71-76; the inventory includes 1,737 names of people who owed debts to Dixon.

(34) For more information about Charles Friend, see: "Nicholas Friend Family" (1999) by Corinne Hanna Diller, housed at theFamily History Center at Salt Lake City; pages 60-80 document his life.

(35) Schildknecht v1 p50.

Corinne Hanna Diller, 8443 Sonneville Drive. Houston, TX 77080-3638, Cdiller@juno.com

Research Notes

Profile indicates he was born 1693 and married in 1709 which leads to a marriage at age 16.

A source is needed to confirm whether his death location was in Maryland or at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

Information about Israel and his children came from Mark Friend with a lot of the research compiled by Dr. Peter Craig, a noted historian of the Friend Family. Mark Friend is the Administrator of the Friend Family site on myfamily.com (Doreen Aug 2005)

Note by Mark Friend ... Israel Friend's Will probated 12 Aug 1749, named wife Sarah and children, Jonas, Jacob, Charles, Catharine, and Mary. Mother was Rambo more than likely. In Dr. Peter S. Craig's research it's possible that Israel Friend was named after Israel Helm's eldest son, Israel Helm, Jr., who was a close buddy of Anders Frande in his youth. Their fathers, Nils Larssson and Israel Helm, Sr., had obtained adjoining lots on the Delaware River in Bucks County, probably intending that their eldest sons would occupy this land. However, William Penn took both lots for his Pennsbury Estate and gave them other land on the Brandywine River in exchange. The friendship between Andrew Friend and Israel Helms Jr., ended when the latter went to sea and was never heard from again.) Israel had many family members who followed him to the Potomac area, including two siblings. Charles Friend (1699-1751) lived in the area that is now Williamsport, Washington County, Maryland. Mary Friend had been married in 1727 in Cecil County, Maryland to Robert Turner, who is found in Frederick County, Maryland, deed records as late as 1769.

Sources

1. ↑ 1709 US Marriage Record
2. ↑ Fairfax Land Suit p174
3. ↑ "Andrew Friend and his Families: Earliest Pioneers on the Potomac River" by Pat Thompson and Dr. Smith (d.t. 25 Apr 2007) d: Shenandoah Valley

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