BIOGRAPHIC SKETCHES - WATSON ANCESTORS YOHO Little is known about the history of this family. There were YOHOS in Maryland at the time my 4G Grandfather 92-George LEMLEY was living there which leads one to believe that he and 93-Catherine Yoho may have been married before he left Maryland for Southwestern Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, Henry and Peter YOHO served in Captain John Guthrie's company of The Washington County Militia at the same time 92-George LEMLEY was with Captain James ARCHER’S company, and they are thought to have been brothers of Catherine. The YOHOS were probably of Swiss descent while George LEMLEY, Catherine's husband, was of German descent. Most of the spouses of their children were of German descent and their children and many of their grandchildren were taught to speak German fluently. SUPPLEMENTAL BIOGRAPHIC MATERIAL - YOHO
(Added after initial printing) The following is “new” information concerning my 4G Grandmother 93-Catherine YOHO (1744-1825), wife of 92-George LEMLEY (1741-1813). This includes my first knowledge of my 5G Grandparents 186-Jonannes JOHO (1701-1795) and 187-Susanna LAU (1694- ), 6G Grandparents 372-Johannes JOHO (1678- ) and 373-Susanna GELKER and 6G Grandfather 374-Theobold LAU. The first recorded
evidence of YOHO immigrants to the US was in 1738.
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN PIONEERS (Genealogical Publishing Company 1966)
recorded a list of all of the Palatine passengers on board the ship
"Snow Two Sisters", James MARSHALL, Master, from Rotterdam, last from
Cowes in England, in the year 1738. The ship landed in
Philadelphia. Among the passengers were 186-Johannes JOHO age 37
and 187-Susanna (Lau) JOHO age 44.
Johannes was reportedly born in Alsace, a region and former province of East France between the Rhine and Vosges Rivers, in 1701. His father, also named 372-Johannes, was born in 1678 and was a Meat Cutter. He was reported to have served as a soldier in Alsace. He married 373-Susanna GELKER and they had at least four children: Johannes Conrad born 1705 died 1729, Johannes Michael born 1718 died 1735, 186-Johannes (the first immigrant), and Anna Maria born 1714 with death date unknown. 373-Susanna, born in 1694, and was the daughter of 374-Theobald LAU who was a blacksmith in Sulzthal, Alsace. The date of her death and burial site is not known. Johannes and Susanna moved to Conewago in Adams/York County, Pennsylvania. Conewago is an Iroquois name meaning below the riffles. Martin KITZMILLER first purchased this land in a proprietary tract known as "Digges Choice" in 1737. The tract as surveyed contained 6,822 acres and was described as lying on "Little Conewago Creek". It principally lay in what is now Adams County, but passed into York County. In this county it comprised the present limits of Germany and Conowago Townships. In August 1745, a re-survey was made and 3,679 acres were added to the former survey. This tract was 4 miles north of the temporary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland surveyed in 1732. Subsequent disagreements led to the murder of Dudley DIGGES by Jacob KITZMILLER in Feb 1752. From 1735 to 1752 Germans came into this area by the thousands. In the fall of 1749 no less than 20 ships arrived in Philadelphia bringing 12,000 German passengers. While living in Conewago, Johannes and Susanna had 2 daughters, Maria Christina and Eva Catarina. Maria Christina was born March 14 1740. She was baptized on May 20 1740 with her sponsors being Janeslaus WUCHTEL and Maria Christina BAUMANN. There is no known record of her marriage or death. Eva Catarina (93-Catherine) was born May 26 1741. She was baptized June 25 1741 by Lutheran minister Johann Casper STOEVER with her sponsors being Wentzel BUCHTRUECKEL and wife. Catherine married 94-George LEMLEY. George settled just north of the Mason Dixon Line along Dunkard Creek in 1797 on a tract of land named in the patent "Cheval-de-Frise". Family tradition says he was born in Germany about 1742. He died June 11, 1813. Eva Catarina (Catherine) his second wife, bore him eleven children. She died Nov 5, 1825. Johannes and Susanna moved to near Winchester, Virginia. The date is unknown but must have been approximately 1745. Their oldest son Peter was born in 1745 eighteen miles from Winchester. The exact location of their land may be near or on a tract sold by another son John, to Alexander Machir, in 1771. Seven additional sons and daughters were born to Johannes and Susanna while they lived near Winchester -- • Peter: Born 1745 died 1823; Married Margaret BAKER. Buried in Yoho Cemetery near Graysville, Marshall Co., West Virginia. John: Born ca 1746. Death date unknown. • George: Birth date unknown. Reportedly killed by Indians in Ohio County, Virginia in 1795. He reportedly bought 400 acres in Fayette County, PA on Feb. 4, 1794 that was sold for taxes on Dec. 10, 1822. There is no record of his marriage. • Henry: Born 1752 Died March 12, 1845; Married Catharine BAKER. • Prudence: Birth and Death dates unknown; Married Vincent PARSONS. • Jacob: Born July 8, 1765. Died Aug 24, 1851 Guernsey Co. Ohio. Buried in Yoho Cemetery. Jacob brought his family from Vintondale, Cambria County, PA and went to Noble Co. (now Wayne Twp., Guernsey Co., Ohio), where they settled on Willis Creek in 1808. They had twelve children: James, Jacob, John, William, Peter, Mary (YOHO) CARPENTER, Barbara (YOHO) HAGUE, Elizabeth (YOHO) WATSON, Ellen (YOHO) WATSON, Sarah (YOHO) WILSON, Margaret (YOHO) GILMORE, and Nancy (YOHO) MORGAN. • Barbara: Born 1765 Died March 10 1816 in Whitely Twp., Greene Co., PA.; Married James BRADFORD. They had 10 children: John, Robert, James, Jacob, Henry, William, Mary (BRADFORD) PETHTEL, Margaret (BRADFORD) BOWERS and Barbara (BRADFORD) LEMLEY. The final move of Johannes and Susanna was to Western Virginia (now West Virginia). They settled in what is now Marshall Co. near Fish Creek in the Ohio Valley which is in the northern panhandle of the state. They probably arrived sometime shortly prior to the Revolutionary War. Their son John sold his land near Winchester in 1771 and probably joined his family in Western Virginia. Virginia tax records of 1785 and 1795 lists John, Jacob, Peter, and Henry as living near Fish Creek. Johannes died in 1795 and is thought to be buried in the Yoho Cemetery. Susanna's death date is not known, probably also buried in the Yoho Cemetery. SOURCES: CRONICLES OF THE CORE FAMILY (1760-1960) by Earl L.
CORE
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