Joseph and his family arrived in Philadelphia in 1733, aboard the ship “Hope”. They were traveling within a group of Mennonites. Once they settled in Lancaster County, the family became members of the Brethren. Both the Mennonites and the Brethren were part of the European anabaptist movement. The evidence we have concerning Joseph's European ancestry suggest that he was probably originally from Switzerland, but may have been living in southern Germany for some time before migrating to Pennsylvania.

Starting in 1727, captains of arriving ships were required to present a list of all passengers. For most captains, the list they presented contained only names, usually of adult male passengers only. Fortunately, the captain of the Hope prepared a list of all passengers and their ages. The original manuscript is located in the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg. (Joseph is the 12th name on the Men's list and Anna Maria Bugh is the 17th name on the Women's list).

At the time of the voyage, Joseph was 51. Accompanying him were four young adults, Maria (21), Joseph (19), Hanliey (17) and John (15). Absent from this list was his wife. Recently, the research of Richard Davis at MennoSearch has shown that during this time period, Swiss women often retained their birth name rather than taking her husband’s last name when they married. We know, from the inventory that was made following Joseph’s death in 1741, that his wife was named Mary. Thus, we now believe that the name immediately preceding the two Flory daughters on the passenger list (Anna Maria Bugh, age 40) is Joseph’s wife.

It also seems reasonable to infer that Anna Maria is Joseph’s second wife. Two lines of reasoning lead to this conclusion. First is the age difference. Based on historical records from this time period, men and women were usually about the same age for their first marriage. However, if either remarried, it was not uncommon for them to marry someone much younger than themselves. Secondly, there is the question of the age of the children. It is generally assumed that Joseph had eight children (the four listed on the passenger list and four others). The first four were born in two year intervals from 1712 to 1718. The last two were born in 1733 and 1735. The birth year of the other two is unknown. Thus, Joseph fathered four children in a seven year period, then two more over the next 15 years, then two more in a three year period. Although there certainly could have been (and probably were, given the times) some children who did not survive to adulthood, this distribution of children strongly suggests at least two wives.

Several of Joseph’s children were baptized into the Conestoga congregation of the German Baptist Brethren, but it is not clear whether Joseph himself was baptized into this congregation. There are two different lists of baptism records for the Conestoga congregation. Dwayne Wrightsman has analyzed the two lists and has generated a side by side comparison of the two. One lists “Joseph Flory, 1741” and “Joseph Flory’s wife, 1747”, while the other lists “Joseph Flory, 1741” and “Joseph Flory & wife, 1747”. Depending on which list is correct (we have no good reason to accept one list as being more accurate than the other), Joseph may have been baptized into the Brethren in the same year that he died.

Following Joseph’s death in 1741 (at the age of 59), the family appears to have remained intact until 1759, when sons Joseph and Abraham moved away. Joseph moved to Paxtang Township and Abraham moved to Franklin Co., PA. John remained on the original homestead in Rapho Township. Was it coincidental that both brothers moved away in the same year, or did this signal a major event in the family, such as Mary’s death? Mary would have been 66 in 1759.