Samuel Gann (1703 - abt. 1760)

Born 1703 in Frederick County, Virginia

Descendants

Died about 1760 at about age 57 in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia

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It has been proven through DNA and paper research by the Gann Historical Society and Library that Samuel Gann is not the son of Johannes and Regina Heinrich Gannes. At present, his parents remain unidentified.

Biography

When Samuel Gann was born in ca. 1703 in Frederick, Virginia. He married Elizabeth (mnu) on September 18, 1751. They had six children in 22 years. He died in 1762 at the age of 59, and was buried in his hometown.

The coastal land of Frederick County had been settled early by colonists arriving in the American Colonies. However, the interior of Frederick County was still a vast wilderness in the northern neck of Virginia. It was in this backwater area that Samuel and Elizabeth were living when their first child was born in 1727. Lord Fairfax of England had acquired large holdings in the area from the Crown. His nephew was directed to recruit surveyors and apprentices to begin tract surveys upon request. Among those he recruited was a young neighbor, George Washington.

VIRGINIA LAND RECORDS - "December 14, 1752, Land surveyed for Aaron Price, in Frederick County, Virginia. Surveyor, Robert Rutherford, Chainmen, Sam'l and Nathan Gann." (Samuel(I) and son, Nathan(I)). Samuel(I) and Elizabeth had six known children, five sons and one daughter. Samuel(I) died in 1760 and on March 22, 1764, his widow, Elizabeth, executed a sworn statement that she sold a tract of land to Andrew Longacre of Frederick County lying under the North Mountain on the drains of Cedar Creek, joining the property of John Blair. Wit: Adam Gan, Joseph Longacre.

Sons of Samuel(I) and Elizabeth were among the early pioneers that moved to new frontiers as land opened for settlement. The colonies were in rebellion over taxation and representation in 1776 when the eldest son, Adam(I) bought several hundred acres of land in Halifax County, Virginia, just over the border from North Carolina. He died over thirty years later in Jefferson County, Tennessee. Other sons joined Nathan(I) in settling the timbered interior of Georgia. In time, a third great grandson of this pioneer, Samuel Gann(I), would lead his extended family across the mighty Mississippi and settled in far away Texas and a fourth great granddaughter, would homestead on the Llano Estacado in the Territory of New Mexico.

Spouse: Elizabeth (mnu) (1707 - ____)

Children of Samuel and Elizabeth Gann:

• Adam Gann(I) 1727-1812
• Nathan Gann(I) 1729-1832
• Clement Gann(I) 1733-1735
• John Gann(I) 1736-1817
• Samuel Gann(II) 1748-1845
• Nancy Gann 1749-

Notes

There is a loose organization of Gann descendants in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Texas and New Mexico who researched and shared family data in the 1980s. Groups met regularly in local libraries, newsletters were published, family reunions held, and memorial services took place in scattered cemeteries over the country. Much of the history of Samuel Gann(I) and his descendants would not have been recorded without the dedicated work of these researchers.^[1]

Sources

• http://gannhistoricalsociety.com/dna/

1. ↑ Blanche Keating Collie, 7G granddaughter

Acknowledgments

• Sissy Kennedy created Gann-196 on 7 Aug 13.
• Tanya Bergeron started this profile.
• Unsourced family tree handed down to John Anno.