John Cears Kear Family
A History of the Cears/Kear family
Catherine Frysinger Kear
The Frysinger and Frisinger surnames are American adaptations of the German name, Freisinger, which translated means "free singer." Other members of the family who resided in Van Wert County spelled the name Frisinger.
The Frysinger family began in America with the arrival of Ludwig Frederick Frysinger on October 16, 1754 on the ship, Peggy. He landed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after having emigrated from the Palatine area of Bavaria [note 1]. His family settled on the Conewago Creek, near the town of Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania [note 2].
A year after the death of her husband, Catherine Frysinger brouight her family to Ohio with a caravan of friends. The family's expenses probably were paid for by Christian Boody or Bodey, who married the eldest daughter, Elizabeth (born 20 May 1700). He was a relatively wealthy man, and furnished wagons, teams and provisions for several families [note 3].
In addition to Elizabeth and our subject, the other children were: Jacob, died 10 April 1836, Sarah born 3 January 1800, Margaret (Rebecca) born 28 March 1802 and died 10 February 1891, John born 20 January or 28 March 1807, Mary Ann (Anna Marie) born 25 December 1807 and died 30 June 1893, Peter born 2 September 1810 and died in February 1892, and Noah born 28 September 1813 [note 4].
Sometime
after arriving in Champaign County,
Ohio, Catharine Frysinger
married Peter Runkle, a
widower with children. One of
his children, David, married her daughter, Mary Ann. Catharine
died in Champaign County, and was buried in the Christian
Bodey cemetery [note
5].
1. Pennsylvania German Pioneers,
ed. by
William
John Hinke, (Pennsylvania German Society Publisher, 1934), Vol.
1, 1727-1775, pp. 638 & 640. [Return
to text]
2. Wiley Kear's paper; copy of unsigned letter,
Lewistown, Pa., August 29, 1927 (probably by George W. Frisinger,
President Emeritus, Mifflin County Historical Society. [Return
to text]
3. Wiley Kear's paper. [Return
to text]
4. Wiley's paper and letter from Helen Gehres to
Donald L. Kear, June 20, 1980 [Return
to text]
5. Letter, May 10, 1900, Peter Bodey to Wiley
Kear.
Copyright
Information
on this site related to the Kear
family is from The John Cears Kear Family
compiled,
written and edited by Donald L. Kear, copyright © 1984.
Copyright © 2000 - 2006 by Donald L. Kear. All rights
reserved. Portions of the pages on this site may be reproduced for
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