PART FOUR
APPENDICES, CHRONOLOGY, OPTIONS AND DEEDS
Rev 4, Nov2008 shown in Red
APPENDIX B
PART FOUR
APPENDICES, CHRONOLOGY, OPTIONS AND DEEDS
Rev 4, Nov2008 shown in Red
|
This appendix was developed when the focus of the effort was to try to find the NC HELMS sire in PA. That effort did not produce any useful information. Although, we did not then pursue the Conocheague Valley and the Blunston list of Settlers there, nor the Maryland leases granted in that disputed area. Both are dealt with elsewhere in this site.
Bucks County (Northern Section) 1699 - Tinicum Settled
Northampton County 1720 - Lower Saucon Settled (Nathaniel
Irish) Carbon County 1745 - Mahoning Settled by Moravians
Monroe County (Southern Section)
1720 - Paradise settled Ref: Fort Allen was built in 1750
in Franklin, Carbon County. In the string of frontier forts beyond
Blue Mountain (Penn, Norris, Henry, Allen. etc. ) See Forts list
Note: See also earlier notes and maps of the
Roads from Bethlehem to the frontier Forts built in the 1740's.
The above notes are from F. A. Godcharles,
"Pennsylvania Political, Governmental and Civil", Political and Civil
Vol. The American Historical Society, Inc. NY 1933. A complete
listing of all of the PA Forts is given in Appendix C I have prepared a layout of several
options for the genealogy of the NC Helms brothers who migrated South
to NC in 1747 from Bucks County, PA. The layout has at least four options: Case A - BARBADOS The Barbados Scenario where a Major
Thomas and a Lt. John Helme went to Barbados in the 1600's, had children
and Thomas died there in 1682. We have worked on that line with
searches in Barbados by John Medford. Wills and mentions of his
wife and children have been found, and other Helms and others with Helms
like spellings have been found. Limited passenger lists are available
and have shown a Maj. Thomas and John Helme coming to the colonies from
Barbados in the late 1600's, a son of the initial Maj. Thomas Helme,
Barraby, went back to England about then. Medford has found no
records of the Helme family in Barbados after the 1715 census.
Maj. Thomas and John were supposed to have come to MD but no definite
trace has been found there, except a Thomas in Ann Arundel County, MD
in 1708. That Thomas needs more attention. Case A would
have the brothers being born to one of the grandsons of the original
Barbados Major Thomas Helme, or the initial Lt. John Helme. A
possible connection to that line is the Thomas, Samuel and William found
in Bucks County, PA in the late 1700's and the Thomas and John at Darby
1715 taxable's lists. Very likely, the 1790 Samuel, Wm. and Thomas
are contemporaries of the NC Helms, rather than ancestors. However,
they present a Helms presence in Bucks and Chester Counties, which is
considered important. They may be from other lines. William
was at Rockhill, a German settlement, and the Thomas and Samuel names
are used broadly, see also Case C, below. A mention of "West Country"
England by Barbadian Helmes wills has led to considering the area around
Gloucester England. A presence of Helmes in Gillingham, Dorset
County, England has been connected to Barbados and backwards to Lancashire
by Susan Grimshaw, this is under study. Mrs. Grimshaw plans to
visit Dorset soon to review this. Case A has to include the possibility
that Israel Helm, Jr. went to Barbados instead of being lost at sea.
Case B - ISAAC HELMS Case B comes from Gerald Helms book
on the Helms of NC, where Isaac and Tilman were supposed to have immigrated
together. That case is silent to the other brothers. Presumably,
that is where the idea of Tilman's father being Isaac comes from.
One timely Isaacke Helme has been found at Millom, in Cumberland, presently
Cambria, England, and is currently being searched. Just now, two
additional Isaacs have been identified in England Case C - PENNSYLVANIA/DELAWARE Case C stems from finding mention
of a Samuel and an Israel having lots west of the Brandywine, in Birmingham
TWP, PA, at the DE circular boundary near Chadds Ford. No other
information has been found on that Samuel; although, the Colonial Census
listed a Samuel Helm/Helling in Bergen County, NJ in 1643 who could
have been a relative or father of the Brandywine Samuel. Israel
Helm, the other land owner mentioned, is the Swede Captain Israel Akeson
(alias, Helm) who was in the early Swedish Colony on the Delaware River.
No successful trace to the NC Helms brothers has linked that Israel.
The chart shows a possible link of those Samuels and the Samuel listed
in Bucks County to Christopher Helme, the 1632 immigrant to MA/NH/RI.
Christopher had children and grand children named Thomas and Samuel.
Christopher's genealogy is being traced by Don Strahle of Canada.
We
now think the Samuel was a typo; since it was a round trip survey coming
back to the same place, with a new name there. Case D - THOMAS and JOHN IN MD Case D stems from finding Thomas in Ann Arundel County, MD close to Annapolis in 1708. Also, there was a Thomas Helms in York County in 1790 and a Thomas, descendant of Leonard Helm, was owner of a Tavern at Williamsport, PA in 1800. The Annapolis Thomas could have been the father of the brothers; but, to complete the family tale, he or they would have had to go to Darby and or Bucks County in the early 1700's. In that way, he may relate to Case A in which a Major Thomas and John were supposed to have gone to MD when coming to the colonies. We need more on the Annapolis Thomas. The Williamsport Thomas would have been later than the brothers; but, it could be significant that Thomas was at Williamsport, the likely place that the Helms 1747 Wagon Train crossed the Potomac River in 1747. We found two John Helmes in Charles County, MD in the 1660's, and a Sarah (Meeks) Helme in Prince George County, MD in 1694. Peden, a genealogy source, had an article which said that John Helmes, with a large family, went to NC from MD. That story has not been verified.
Case E - The German Case There was a German Helm(s) presence
in NJ/PA in colonial times. Dr. Peter Craig reported finding several
German Helms births to Peter, Christian, and John Helm in 1760-1780
in PA. These parents would have immigrated or born here in about
1730-50, which is consistent with the German immigration trend then.
An earlier German group was the Palatines invited by Queen Ann to seek
refuge in England in 1708. These were subsequently dispersed to
Ireland and the American Colonies. Some were sent to NY.
I am tracing them at the present time. In
later sections this effort is expanded. Case F - The Swedish Case There were other Helms from the Swedish Captain Israel Akeson (Helm) line in the NJ and PA areas in the right time frame, (e.g. Job, Isriel, and William in Chester County, PA). None of these have been successfully connected to the NC Helms line. One needs a son of Israel Jr. to make that connection. It is feasible that Israel went to Barbados or some other place instead of being lost at sea. We have not finished with the rather large number of people with Helms like spellings which have been found in Barbados after 1715, but which have not, so far, been connected to the Major Thomas Helme line. There were major ship battles in the Caribbean in the early 1700's between the English and the French. If Israel Jr. was there in a maritime occupation, he may well have been lost at sea. He could have had a family there as well. I asked Medford to look for traces of Israel, Jr. A son of his in about 1695-1700 could conceivably be the father of the NC Helms brothers. No such person has been identified. However, an Israel Holmes is listed in the Barbados Treasury Accounts. There is much confusion of the Helmes/Holmes name spelling in Barbados records. Israel Holmes needs to be researched. We have some data for Barbadian Holmes. That needs review.
Upper Bucks County
Understanding the situation in the 1740's in upper Bucks County, PA was a focus of the search. I focused on the Smithfield area. The "Walking Purchase" in 1737 opened up the area of Northampton County between the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers. The area of particular interest to us is the valley immediately over the mountain, where Fort Penn was located at Lower Smithfield, in Stroud or Hamilton TWP in present day Monroe County, settlement there Allen, Craig, and Lower Mt. Bethel in 1728, and Stroudsburg in 1730 by LaBar, Lehigh in 1735, Stroudsburg by Broadhead in 1737, Easton in 1739, and Bethlehem and Nazareth in 1741, and Emmaus in 1742. Thus, the area was becoming populated in the 1740's. The earliest settlements above the Catatonia Mountains (Blue Mtn.) were the Smithfield and Stroudsburg settlements. Dupui's settlement is almost directly at Fort Penn. Interestingly, Broadhead Creek, associated with D. Broadhead who settled Stroudsburg is there too, (These did not originate in Penn's Colony). This emphasis on that area may not be warranted since the Thomas Helms farm in Smithfield was later found to have been in Warwick TWP, below Easton, not above it. There is a Smithfield there too. Thomas Helms/Helling farm was situated at Lower Smithfield and Samuel Helms at Upper Smithfield near Stroudsburg. William Helms was at Rockhill in 1720 in Bucks County near Quakertown. The frontier forts Penn, Norris, Henry, and Allen were built in the 1750's. Roads to those fort areas were established earlier. One of the early roads to the area
was the old Bethlehem Road in 1706 from Philadelphia (presently rte
309) which passes closely by William Helms place at Rockhill.
Another was Kings Highway, Rte 100, from Bally to Emmaus to Slatington
in 1732, and further north to Heidelberg - 1735 and through the Lehigh
Furnace Gap to Lehighton - 1746 (Ft Lehigh - 1755). The link of
Rte 100 from Wilmington to West Chester and Bally is of uncertain age.
That road passes by the Israel Helm lots at Chadds Ford in Birmingham
TWP, settled in 1686, and may be important in Helms history. At
Chadds Ford, it passes along the Brandywine Creek bank to Lenape in
Pocopson TWP and further north, where it was known as Lenape Road which
was likely an early Indian trail. Near Emmaus it splits, one branch
going NW to Slatington and on to Lehighton - 1746, the other branch
becoming Emmaus Chapel Road to Bethlehem. An old map shows a Rte
100 entering Bethlehem from Emmaus in about 1745. My wife and
I took Rte 100 from Chadds Ford to Bethlehem as described above.
It is not improved in the modern sense, but may have been an important
Colonial road. The cleared width of a King's road was 60 feet.
One Archivist said Rte 100 was built in segments, not all at once.
It is segmented now with sections being new roads. The family
story hangs together most strongly at the Brandywine area. I need
to explore land holdings there in the early 1700's. However, the
Darby/Ridley TWP's information on Helms and Broomes is also compelling.
The gap may be the transition to Buck's County and back for the trip
South. Family holdings in these areas may have permitted this
to have occurred without new deeds etc. They could have not able
to get deeds since the Penn Land Office was closed for a long time when
William Penn died in 1719. There were rental lands at the Delaware
Border which they may have farmed. Roads, from Bethlehem and Easton were keys
to going to the forts areas beyond the mountains such as Lower Smithfield
(Fort Penn). There had been Indian trails through the several
gaps through the mountains (e.g. Wind Gap at Fort Penn). Trails
also existed along the valley creeks above the mountains. Dupui
spoke of crossing the frozen Delaware by road, so he had a trail from
Smithfield across the Delaware to New Jersey/New York. And, there
were trails to Upper Smithfield near present day Stroudsburg, PA.
Roads had been built to the several forts by the 1750's. Therefore, Thomas and Samuel had access to the area above the mountains. I initially had some idea that the Helms may have participated in road building in the early 1740's. I postulate that the parents, born about 1700, and/or the sons born about that the parents, born about 1700, and/or the sons born about 1720, (and possible cousins) went to Upper Bucks County, about 1740, probably in a group. The attraction being the new land opened up by the "Walking Purchase" in 1737. The initial move could have been short of the mountains in areas like Hilltown or Rockhill where William was found, with further moves by some to the forts area as the area developed. The building of the roads, including Rte 100, is a logical additional reason for them to have gone to Upper Bucks County. An additional reason to major in the Forts area is because two of the three Helms I have found were found there, and because of the Helme family military background in Barbados. The Brothers need not have been at the forts in 1747 before they came South; but, the presence of Helms there in 1790, while not conclusive, is pretty strong evidence. It is not necessary to show that the Brothers were at the forts, but that still appears to be a good line of attack.
ROADS IN THE UPPER BUCKS COUNTY AREA
DATE - NAME OF ROAD - ROUTE - PRESENT ROAD # 1687 - Germantown - G'town-Pottstown-Reading - 422 1706 - Old Bethlehem Rd. - Philadelphia-Souderton-Perkasie - 309 to Centerville with 1713 - Sommneytown Pike L. - Gwyneod-Goshenhoppe-East - 63/29 Greenville 1732 - Emmaus-Slatington 9
1745* - Old Carriage Rd - Easton-Bath-Allen
- Newberg Rd.
* Timely Roads which the NC Helms
could have had a part in building, in the vicinity of Bethlehem, PA
in the 1740's. Appendix D:
The Anson County land records were researched by Sara Meyers and the most relevant early Helms records are extracted here. Date Grantor Grantee 7 Apr 1749
State of NC
Thomas Helms John Craig had a Deed 29 Sep 1805. |
| Rev 3, Oct 1999 |