The Facts About John Friggs/Frakes, Sr. of Nelson County, KY
[Message to Michael K. Smith and Lenore Akerson, and Posted on another message board.Reposted here for information exchange.]
Hello Michael --
Charles Frakes here.I ran across this posting of yours on a Shelby Co., IL message board....couldn't tell from the posting how old it is....
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You said:". . . and I keep seeing this *assertion* that the father of John Frakes (c.1750-1846) who married Elizabeth Unseld was the son of another John
Frakes, who was born in Maryland. It's repeated these days all over the web, but quantity does NOT equal quality and assumptions do NOT equal
fact. As it happens, I descend from John's son, John Frakes ("Jr.") who married Elizabeth Dodson, so this is of great interest to me. Could
someone PLEASE cite me a real, honest-to-god *source* demonstrating that John FRIGGS of Maryland was John FRAKES, and that he was the father of
the documented John Frakes whom we DO know about?"
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I think we've connected before.I've got plenty of data on this issue....And I share all of your misgivings about this type of misinformation...
1.Let's start with the premise that we are talking about a man named John Friggs, and sometimes he was recorded as Frakes, who lived in Nelson County KY in the 1790s.
2.You are 100% absolutely correct there is not one shred of documentary evidence to indicate this man came from Maryland or was born in Maryland.Nor is there any documentary evidence he was born between 1725-30.(Both bits of information are speculation published in Joseph I. Frakes 1998 book Early Frakes Records, 1000AD-1820AD, privately published, but nearly 500 copies distributed over the years.)
Joe's theory is based on the idea that there is a "pattern of migration" of six Freaks/Friggs/Frakes men across western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania during the 1700s that parallels the alleged migration of a man he identifies as Henry Friggs, Jr. (or II) who originated in Somerset county, MD.He speculates, without documentary proof, that these six men are sons of Henry II.
Problem 1 with this theory is that my own comprehensive research shows there are no birth records or other records that prove a connection between these six men and Henry Freaks/Friggs, Jr. of Somerset county, MD.(The only evidence we have of a son for Henry II is a 1729 Somerset county clerk's record of an apprenticeship for the son of Henry Freaks. The sons name is also Henry Freaks, and the son is referred to as 7 years old this April 22, making his birth date April 22, 1722.Since Henry I died sometime before 1723, this father Henry is presumed to be Henry II, and this son Henry is presumed to be Henry III.I have a copy of the original record to prove this.
So we have proof of a Henry II and Henry III, father-son relationship, in Somerset county, MD in 1729.We don't have any proof this is the same man who showed up in Prince Georges co., MD or Frederick co., MD in the 1730's , nor can we prove this is the same father-son tandem that have land further up the Potomac in the 1750s and 1760s, nor can we prove this is the same tandem that shows up in the area of Washington/Greene co., PA in the 1780s.All of those connections are speculative.
Bottom line at this time is there is no documentary proof this Henry Freaks/Friggs II, or his son Henry III, is/are the father of the John Friggs/Frakes who was later in Nelson county, KY.Its just a theory.
3.One of these six men thought by Joe Frakes to be a son of Henry Freaks/Friggs II is a John Friggs who shows up in the Turkeyfoot region, and Brothers Valley, Pennsylvania between 1767 and 1773.There is no documentary proof of that.This is also just a theory.There is one secondary record of a Brothers Valley Tax List that I have seen that alleges both a John Friggs, Sr. and a John Friggs, Jr. were on the same list one year.I have not seen the primary source record, a copy of the refenced original tax list that is, so it is not verified as far as I am concerned.But this nugget of information is important to keep in mind.
4.There is no documentary proof the two men named John Friggs/Frakes who show up on petitions in the area of Washington/Greene counties in sw PA in the 1780s are the same men as were in Brothers Valley, PA in the 1770s.Its also just a theory based on patterns of migration.There is also no documentary proof one of these men is the John Friggs/Frakes who was in Nelson co., KY in the late 1780s and early 1790s.
5.Just when these "Johns" disappear from records in PA, a group of three different John Friggs/Frakes show up on tax lists for Nelson County, KY in the late 1780s and early 1790s.One of them is believed to be the John Frakes who married Massey Case and who is believed to have later moved to Washington co. IN.At least one secondary reference, a history text, alleges he migrated there from South Carolina, but ignores the the fact that he was in KY.The other two John Frakes/Friggs in Nelson county appear in such a way on the tax lists, on the same or consecutive lines, that they are interpreted as being father and son.Hence one is referred to as John Sr., and the other John Jr.The John Sr. is the man I referred to in item #1 above.He is our baseline guy.No proof of where he was born, or of where he lived before showing up on these tax lists.(To confuse matters further a fourth John Frakes was in Bourbon county, KY at this time, a presumed son of Nathan Frakes.)
6.From an analysis of the Nelson and Hardin county Tax list records it appears John Jr. of 1780s-90s Nelson county, KY moved to Hardin county, KY, and later made his way into southern Indiana.We are reasonably sure this is the man who a revolutionary war vet who was born in 1750, died in 1846, and married an Elizabeth.It is interesting that I have yet to find one piece of documentary evidence proving his wife's last name--it is bantered about as both Timberlake and Unseld/Unceldt/Uncel.I have repeatedly challenged people over the years to show me evidence of her maiden name, and no one yet has produced any. Just a lame story about a family bible that was lost and of which no photocopies were ever made.
The fact that there might have been two John Friggs/Frakes in Brothers Valley, PA in the 1770s, and then in southwest PA in the 1780s, and then in Nelson co., KY in the late 1780s and early 1790s, goes a long way in support of the idea that these could be records for the same father-son tandem, but it is just a theory and not proven by documentary evidence.
7.The presumed father, John Sr. of Nelson co. KY married a woman known only by her first name, Catron.Not Catherine.Not a last name of Cartron.Just a first name of Catron.This is only known from a letter of consent provided for the 1797 Hardin county wedding of their underage daughter Elizabeth to Matthew Turner.A double-wedding, actually, with Elizabeth's brother Peter Frakes marrying Elizabeth's sister Nancy Jane Turner that same day.Parents Joseph and Chloe Turner also gave consent for Nancy Jane.Durham Turner was a witness.I have copies of these documents.It is speculative to say Catron was Dutch based on her name only, but many have done that also, as if it were fact.There is no documentary evidence that this John Friggs/Frakes, Sr. came from Maryland.There is no documentary evidence he was born along the Potomac River or in Somerset county, MD.There is no documentary evidence he was the son of Henry Freaks/Friggs, Jr. of Somerset county, MD.
8.Just last year a Marksberry family researcher brought to my attention a copy of an original 1793 Lincoln Co. KY marriage record for a Caty Fraikes to a John Marksberry.The letter of consent for underage Caty is signed by her parents, John and Caty Fraikes.I have interpreted this to be the same parents as the John and Catron Frakes mentioned in item 7 above.The other option is that this is a previously unidentified John and Caty Frakes in KY at this time, for which we would have no other linking records.With all of the other John Frakes' in KY at this time, the four mentioned above, it is just too horrible for me to believe there was a fifth!So we now know, we think we know, that Catron Frakes was also possibly called Caty.
Well, that's enough for now.Let me know what you think.Any areas where you strongly agree or disagree?Any new or additional info to add? Let's keep up the dialog.
Charles Frakes
Scotts Valley, CA
More Replies:
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Re: The Facts About John Friggs/Frakes, Sr. of Nelson County, KY
Lee Kirkwood 12/03/08
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Re: The Facts About John Friggs/Frakes, Sr. of Nelson County, KY
Charles Frakes 12/07/08
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Re: The Facts About John Friggs/Frakes, Sr. of Nelson County, KY