Hello everyone, I cannot take credit for this info. It comes from a distant cousin, Daniel Frye. Names also mentioned are Hurley, Johnson and Noble. Generation No. 1 Joseph Fry, born Abt. 1656 in England; died 1694-1695 in Maryland. Notes for Joseph Fry: On September 28, 1675 in the city of Bristol, England, Joseph Fry was apprenticed to John Arness for the period of 4 years to pay for his passage to the Colony of Maryland and his name was then written in the register known as Servents of Foreigh Plantations. The Fry families of England had descended from the early Saxons and resided primarily in the counties of Kent, Somerset, Hants, Dorset, Sussex and Wilts. The name Fry is from the Saxon word meaning "free" and was originally used to designate this status during a time when the majority of the population was bound in serfdom. Joseph emmigrated to Maryland in 1676. On July 10, 1681, five years after Joseph Fry made the decision to come to Maryland, he witnessed the Will of Bernard Johnson, Cooper (barrel maker), of Calvert County, Maryland. Bernard Johnson was originally from Holland and at the time of his Will owned two tracts of land called Doves Nest and Doves Perch. He and his wife Elizabeth (who was possibly the daughter of Robert Dove) had 4 daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Martha and one son Bernard (II). Bernanrd Johnson died that same year and his Will was entered for probate November 14, 1681. Joseph Fry later married the widow Elizabeth Johnson and they had three children, Joseph (II), Robert and Susannah. Joseph shows up in several records in Calvert County during the next few years. On October 9, 1693, Robert Kent of Calvert County left Joseph a tract of land called Kents Chance in his oral Will that was accepted by the court on October 10, 1693. The beginning of 1694/95 must have been a terrible time for the Fry/Johnson families. On /22/1694/95 Joseph Fry was a witness to the Will of William Graves, the husband of his stepdaughter Elizabeth. Joseph wrote his Will on 1/26 and Elizabeth, his wife, hers on 2/7 (Phillip Willosey the husband of Elizabeth's daughter Mary was named executor). All three wills were recorded for probate on the same day, 2/16/1694/95, in Calvert County (in 1695 the part of Calvert where they lived became Prince George's County). The estate accounting tells that Elizabeth died one week after her husband. After this date we also find no further mention of the children; Amos Graves(the child of William and Elizabeth Graves), Susannah Fry or Bernard Johnson. The Wills of Joseph and Elizabeth Fry give us some insight as to their feelings toward their family. They wanted to make sure the children were provided for. Bernard Johnson(II), was heir to the tracts of land of Doves Nest and Doves Perch and his half brother Joseph Fry(II) was the heir of Kents Chance. The Fry's were Protestant as it is indicated a "minister" and not a "priest" preached at both funerals. With the death of their parents, the young Fry orphans, Joseph(II) and Robert, were left to be raised by one of their half sisters. Joseph and Robert both show up in the records of Maryland when they became adults. Child of Joseph Fry is: 4 i. Joseph Fry II, born Abt. 1685 in Calvert/Prince George's County, Maryland; died Abt. 1760 in Fairfax County, Virginia; married Elizabeth Lewis. Generation No. 2 4. Joseph Fry II, born Abt. 1685 in Calvert/Prince George's County, Maryland; died Abt. 1760 in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the son of 8. Joseph Fry. He married 5. Elizabeth Lewis. Notes for Joseph Fry II: Joseph Fry (II), the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Fry, would have been born between 1682 and 1694 (c.1685), in what was then Calvert County. Joseph seems to have remained close to his half sisters families and is found in several records in Prince George's County. On in particular was the inventory of Thomas Smith, where Joseph is mentioned as a "kinsman." In this document his uncle Phillip Willosey is one of the appraisers. This document also leads to speculation that he may have married a Smith prior to his marriage to Elizabeth Lewis. Joseph married Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of Thomas Lewis and Rebecca Timothy Lewis, and grandaughter of Thomas and Katherine Lewis and William and Mabella Tillsey Timothy. The oldest son, James Fry wa born c. 1718 and it is evident that there were at least two other sons, Thomas Fry and probably Joseph Fry III. There is a possibility that the Joseph Fry III and his wife Elizabeth were really Joseph Fry II and his wife, if Joseph II's Elizabeth were a much younger, second wife. Joseph was a planter and in posession of a 100 acre tract called Kent's Chance, inherited from his father and tracts of land called Birch Den in Charles County and Battersea in Prince George's County, that his wife Elizabeth had inherited. On August 9, 1738 Joseph also purchased 100 acres from George Clagett. This property, called Friends Goodwill, passed on to his oldest son, James. In 1755, when Joseph an Elizabeth sold the properties they inherited from their parents and resided in Fairfax County, Virginia. James, their oldest son was in posession of the property of Friends Goodwill, enlarged it to 235 acres and renamed it Fry's Friends Goodwill Enlarged. With James in posession of this property in 1760, we can assume that Joseph Fry II had died before this date. Children of Joseph Fry and Elizabeth Lewis are: i. James Fry, born 1718 in Prince George's County, Maryland; died 1774-1790 in Anson County, North Carolina; married Susannah (Bean?) 1738 in St. John's County, Maryland (?). Notes for James Fry: James, the eldest son of Joseph Fry II and Elizabeth Lewis Fry, was born c. 1718 in Prince George's County, Maryland. He married Susannah (Bean?) about 1738. The births of their children were recorded in the St. John's Church, Upper Chapel, Parish Vestry Book, page 273: Thomas Fry b. 10/13/1739, Rachel Fry b. 1741, Joseph Fry b.1/26/1746, Mary Fry b. 6/24/1749, George Fry b. 10/27/1751, Benjamin Fry b. 12/15/1753. On 11/22/1766, James sold the family farm, Fry's Friends Goodwill Enlarged, to Thomas Allen and moved to Anson County, North Carolina., James appears in the Anson County records of 10/15/1767, when he purchased 100 acres from John and Lydia Blaylock on Beaver Dam Creek. During this period of time, several related Prince George's families had started to migrate south and settle in Anson County. The Beans had moved earlier in the late 1750's and the Hurleys in the mid to late 1760's. James and Susannahs daughter Rachel, had married Edmund Hurley. The land and court records of Anson County show James, his sons and at least on of his brothers, Thomas and his family through the late 1770's or early 1780's. Prior to 1775, we find James and a James Jr. in the records, after that date only one James is shown. It is apparent that the senior James died sometime after 1775 and before the 1790 census. 2 ii. Thomas Fry, born Abt. 1720 in Prince George's County, Maryland; died 1790-1800 in Anson/Montgomery County, North Carolina; married Elizabeth Abt. 1745 in St. John's County, Maryland (?). iii. Joseph Fry III, born Abt. 1722 in Prince George's County, Maryland; married Elizabeth Unknown Abt. 1745 in St. John's County, Maryland (?). Notes for Joseph Fry III: Joseph, the 3rd son of Joseph Fry II and Elizabeth Lewis Fry was born c. 1722 in Prince George's County, Maryland. He married Elizabeth Unknown c.1745. Joseph Fry III and his family seem to have remained in Prince George's County. (This is the same Joseph where there is some speculation that he is not the son of Joseph Fry II but Joseph Fry II himself and that Elizabeth Lewis might have been a younger wife of the above mentioned children.) Generation No. 3 2. Thomas Fry, born Abt. 1720 in Prince George's County, Maryland; died 1790-1800 in Anson/Montgomery County, North Carolina. He was the son of 4. Joseph Fry II and 5. Elizabeth Lewis. He married 3. Elizabeth Abt. 1745 in St. John's County, Maryland (?). Notes for Thomas Fry: Thomas and his family relocated to Anson County, North Carolina with other members of his family in 1766 or 1767. In the records of Anson County he is referred to as Thomas Fry and his nephew, son of his brother James, as Thomas Fry Jr. Thomas appears on the 1790 census for Montgomery County, North Carolina with 3 females. He does not appear on the 1800 census, indicating that he died during those years. Children of Thomas Fry and Elizabeth are: i. James Fry, born October 1746. ii. Sarah Fry, born February 12, 1758 in Virginia/North Carolina (?); died November 20, 1846 in Rushville, Rush Co., Indiana/Fayette Co. Indiana; married David Noble June 25, 1776 in Anson Co., North Carolina. iii. Ann Fry, born September 20, 1762. iv. Eleanor Fry, born September 12, 1764. -- tarrantcory@netscape.net __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. 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