.

Here, gathered in our beloved South Dakota, are a few members of our Williamson / Mattson Clan. Charles and Luella are to be blamed (be kind, they didn't know what they were doing). We're generally a happy bunch and somewhat intelligent (notwithstanding our tenuous grasp on reality). I'm also proud to say that most of us still have our teeth.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

More On Our 5th Great Grandfather John Nossaman, Revolutionary War Veteran (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
     The posts to the blog are few and far between. I've exhausted most avenues of online research and wait for additional information to appear. The good news is that there is new information on our 5th Great Grandparents on the Williamson line; John and Catherine Nossaman (Nosseman).  This comes from the Find a Grave project's website. 
     We will start with the Relationship Chart for reference:

Relationship Chart
 
5th Great Grandparents 
John Conrad Nosseman
Married Catherine
to
Catherine Nosseman
Married Bennett Willis
to 
Jonathan Willis
Married Anabella Phlegar
to
Margaret Ann Willis.
Married George Matthew Williamson
to
William J. Williamson
Married Effie Helen Victor
to
Vennie, Ima Della, Inez, Lillie Ethel, Josie, Emmett, Walt, Charles, Maurice.
to 
Charles married first Elda Kay Vercellino and second Elsie Jensen
to
US 

The following is the biography of John Nossaman from the Find a Grave Project.

Birth: Jan., 1751, Germany 
Death: 1827 West Virginia, USA
     Family genealogists concur that this is the grave of John Nossaman, Sr., honored by his family and friends w/ old style Roman lettering of his headstone. He was christened Johan Conrad Nasseman, 25 Jan 1751 in Mainz, Germany, the son of Heinrich and Anna Marie (Gretz) Nasseman. At the age of 22 he struck out by himself and emigrated from Germany to America, arriving in Philadelphia on the ship "Sally" on August 23, 1773. Soon after arriving, he Americanized his name to John Nossaman. During a six year indenture he served to pay for the passage, he won his wife, Cathrina, and enlisted in the Lancaster County Pennsylvania Militia. He served in that unit continually during the Revolutionary War, first as a substitute, then as his own man, from 1777 through 1784. He mustered out of the 7th battalion, 5th Company of the Lancaster County Militia in 1784, just a few months after the Treaty of Paris was signed. 
     By 1785, he had purchased 10 acres in Lancaster County. Along with many other German immigrants, he then moved with his wife Cathrina and growing family, likely down the Wilderness Trail, to the Virginia frontier, arriving in Greenbrier County prior to 1789. It was less than a decade after the last of the Indian Wars, although periodic troubles continued through at least 1781. He acquired land on Indian Creek in Greenbrier County, VA in 1789 and farmed several plots in the region, without slave labor. By this time, he had dropped "Conrad" from his name. 
     He bought, farmed and sold various plots on Indian Creek, Rich Creek, and Brush Creek in newly formed Monroe County, and later in life across the New River in Giles County. At his homesteads in Monroe County he raised a family of four daughters and a son, nurturing them to maturity with his spouse Cathrina, and saw them marry well.

      Catherine, b. 1779 PA, m. Bennett Willis in VA 1800, d. 1843, VA (8 children) 
      Elizabeth, b. 1782 PA, m. David Paine in VA 1801 VA, d. 1815, VA (>5 children) 
      John, Jr. b. 1786 PA, m. Abigail Wylie in VA 1809 VA, m. Luresa Meadows, 1821, KY, d. 1849, IN (13 children) 
      Susannah, b. abt 1790, VA, m. William Pennington, Jr. 1808 in VA, d. 1834, KY (11 children) 
      Sidney, b. 1796 VA, m. John Belcher in VA 1816, VA, d. 1850, IN (11 children) 

      The record indicates he was successful as a tobacco farmer, businessman, and family man: he and Cathrina celebrated more than 40 years of marriage together, and they became grandparents of at least 48 grandchildren. There are consistent indications in the record that he was literate, enterprising, entrepreneurial, individualistic, industrious, vigorous in acquiring and defending his property, and respected by his neighbors, the founding settlers of Peterstown. 
     Today his descendants number more than 20,000 across eight generations, with 8000 or more living today, including many with surnames of Pennington, Willis, Paine, Belcher, Sytsma, and many others. He is the patriarch of the Nossaman family name in the United States.