Frey Family Mysteries

Location: Pennsylvania
Surnames/tags: Frey palatine_migration pennsylvania

Who was the first Frey to settle in Lowhill Pennsylvania? (Lowhill is a township originally in Lehigh County, which was subsequently renamed Northampton County)

Many genealogies give Jacob Frey (or Fry) as the first one to settle in Lowhill in the mid 18th century. But I have never found documentation of this fact. Other sources list a Leonhard Frey as a native of Germany, presumably, then he would be the first. But his origins are obscure. Since Leonhard (or Lenert, Leonhardt, Leonard) fought in the Revolutionary war, and was a landowner, there are extensive records of him and all of his descendants.

How many Jacob Freys were in this area of Pennsylvania in the 1700s? Reverend Abraham Blumer recorded the death of a "Jacob Fry" at age 81 in 1779. These same church records indicate that Anna Maria "widow of Jacob" sponsored the baptism of one of her Frey grandchildren. An early 20th century history of the county states that a Jacob Frey "whose descendents are numerous" appears on the 1762 tax lists. That same history states that Leonard Frey was "doubtless" his son. However the previous (19th century) edition of the same history states that Leonard was "a native of Germany." Both of these statements can be true if he was born to Jacob in Germany and came over later. But is this true?

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Who was Leonhard Frey's father?

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Who were the Children of the Jacob Frey listed on tax records in Lowhill in 1862?

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Were Either Leonard or Jacob born in Germany?

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Were they related to each other?

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Is "Martin Frey" (Frey-2405), who appears in church baptism records as sponsor with Leonard, Catherine, Peter, Geoorge, etc the same Martin Frey (Frey-673) who arrived on the Brig "Betsey" which docked in Philadelphia, PA in early December 1771

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Was Leonard Frey (Frey-2014), who was a revolutionary war soldier with "Martin," and who appears on multiple tax lists and church records, a native of Germany as one 19th century source claims, or was he born in the colony of Pennsylvania? In either case, who were his parents? Many people claim he was a son of "Jacob Frey." If so, which one? Was his father the one born 2 Nov 1700 in Hockenheim, Baden, Germany (Frey-2396)

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Here are open questions about Freys. Please edit this text, upload unidentified pictures, add your questions to the bulletin board, post fuzzy memories you want to clear up, etc.