First of all, there is a complete copy of the text of Josiah Kerr's 1783 will, I believe in the USGENWEB files for York County. If you can't locate it I can find and send a copy or the link. It is the one cited in the will abstract summary Sandra posted. I also found a burial reference to Josiah from 1784: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886 Part III, History of Adams County, Pages 333-341 CHAPTER XLV. STRABAN TOWNSHIP. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/adams/ "The "Pines" Presbyterian Church, a pioneer concern indeed, was contemporary with the old church of "Great Conowago." In the eastern end of the present St. Paul's Cemetery this church stood until 1803, when it was removed to give place to the first Union log church building at that point. Among the Irish Presbyterians interred there, headstones were erected to those named in the following list, name and date of death being given: William Long, 1806; John Monteith, 1789; Jennet, his wife, 1791; Alex McIntire, 1786; Marget Kerr, 1753; Archibald Douglass, 1762; Hugh Caldwell, 1785; Josiah Kerr, 1784; Mary, his wife, 1801; Mary Kerr, 1814; George Horn, 1832; Arch Coulter, 1806; Susanna Coulter, 1814; ELinor Coulter, 1815; Martha Coulter, 1811; Robert Sturgeon, 1759; Robert Lorimer, 1773; Margaret, wife of Robert McCorkle, 1809; William McFarland, 1782; Thomas McCauslin, 1789; Nanie McFarland, 1782." I have an interest in Kerrs and Carrs, specifically in William Kerr whose daughter Rachel married William Steele of Drumore, Sadsbury Twp, Lancaster County PA. Rachel CARR Sex: F Birth: 1726 in MD Death: 8 APR 1798 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Burial: Lower Cemetery, Chestnut Level Presyberian Church, Lancaster County, PA Marriage 1 William STEELE b: 1715 in Lancaster County, PA . Married: ABT 1740 in PA Children Archibald STEELE b: 1741 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Ann STEELE b: 26 MAR 1744 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Rachel STEELE b: ABT 1746 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Elizabeth STEELE b: 1748 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA William STEELE b: 30 JUL 1750 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Leah STEELE b: 7 JUN 1755 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA John Francis STEELE b: 5 JUN 1758 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Samuel STEELE b: 20 AUG 1760 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Mary STEELE b: 9 JUL 1763 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA James STEELE b: 1765 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA Joseph STEELE b: 11 JUL 1768 in Chestnut Level, Drumore Township, Lancaster County, PA I suspect that my William Kerr is related to the Scottish Covenanter Walter Ker who was banished from Scotland in 1685 and settled in New Jersey, though I have no evidence of this yet. After seeing many refernces such as "Walter Ker of Dalserf, Lanarkshire, banished in 1685, settled in Freehold, and was active in organizing the Presbyterian Church there, one of the oldest in New Jersey." I know that some the Kerrs I find info in the 18ths century PA area were Presbyterian Reverends and I see some evidence of them being involved in various Presbyterian churches. I can't find my book on Head of Christiana Church in Delaware but I am fairly sure a Kerr is referenced as an early Church Elder there. Per Egle's Notes and Queries, Donegal Church in 1776 had a William, Mary, Samuel, Joseph, Ruth & Elizbeth Kerr on pew 92. William married Mary Bayley, dughter of Thomas and Mary Bayley. This Mary Kerr was a sister of James and John Bayley and Ruth Anderson. I have a lot more info on Bayleys I didn't finish compiling yet that was intended as a follow-up on some recent queries and some of my own Bailey family research. There's an autobiographical book by Stephen Collins, M.D., online at the LIbrary of Congress, who notes that his mother was the great granddaughter of Walter Ker. There may be some interesting info on that line in his book, found here: <http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbcb:@field(DOCID+@lit(lhbcb29992 ))> The LOC added a footnote there: "Walter Ker came to America from Scotland in 1685, when in the thirtieth year of his age. The vessel, the Caledonia, was stranded on the coast of New Jersey, near Freehold, where the passengers settled and erected a church. The ruins of the old building and a graveyard are still there. He died in the ninety-ninth year of his age." There is a book on this family and CD versions of this are circulating on Ebay: The Kerr Clan of New Jersey : beginning with Walter Ker of Freehold and including other related lines Compiled by William C. Armstrong Morrison, Ill.: Shawver Pub. Co., 1931, 200 pgs. Table of Contents Walter Ker of Freehold, N. J. Indians at Freehold, N. J. Walter Ker's grandchildren Joseph Kerr and Elsie Hampton Ira Kerr and Phebe Read George Kerr and Emaline Ross Whiskey insurrection Aaron Kerr and Sarah Peppard Joseph Kerr of the yellow frame Walter Craig Kerr Rev. Francis peppard of yellow frame James Kerr of Florence, Washington County, PA. Kerrs of Gettysburg, and of Harrison Co., Ohio Kerrs of Venango County, PA. Mathew Kerr of Perry County, PA. Kerrs of Erie County, PA. Kerrs From Selkirk, Scotland George Kerr of Old Deer, Scotland Kerrs of Chillisquaque, PA. David Kerr of Tennessee and Indiana Kerrs from Londonderry, Ireland Kerrs of Beaver County, PA. David Kerr and Cornelia Chamberlain The crippled Sspie Kerns at Forks of Delaware Indian troubles at the works Captain Rosburgh murdered Rev. Francis Peppard at the Forks James Kerr of the Forks David Kerr of the Forks Jean Kerr Horner Prominent family of the South Willaim Kerr of Carlisle, PA. James Kerr of Pigeon Creek, PA. Kerrs in the Catskills Karrs of Warren Co., N. J. Six Kerr brothers of Philadelphia James Kerr of Ivy Creek, Albemarle County, VA. William Kerr and Sarah Dial of Ramsey, ALA. I included that whole TOC because it shows some of the possible scope of related families. While I was researching PA Wills I noticed that one Kerns had left property to his "namesake" who had same first name and middle initial but the last name of Kerr. That implied, and the TOC for the book also suggests that the name Kerns is a variant. I recently made a list of almost all wills referencing Kerr and Carr in early PA wills. There are quite a few and I'm sure many are not related to the above. There are too many to post but I can email a summary to anyone interetsed in these surnames. I didn't try searching for any under Ker or Kerns, and I skipped most of the ones referencing Kerr witnesses only and a few 1800's wills. There were far too many and I was mostly focused on the early ones. There are Kerr reverends in the Early Presbyterian pages I host, found at: http://mal.net/EarlyPresbyterians/presbiol.htm#Rev.%20Jacob%20Ker Rev. Jacob Ker (pre 1740-1795) He was a grandson of the well-known Walter Ker, of Freehold, New Jersey who was banished from Scotland in 1685 "for his faithful adherence to God and His truth, as professed by the Church of Scotland." The subject of this sketch after graduating at Princeton, acted as a Tutor from 1760 to 1762. In 1763 he was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, an was ordained by the same Presbytery in 1764. On the 29th of August, in the same year, he was installed pastor of the churches of Monokin and Wicomico, Maryland, where he remained until his death, July 29th, 1795. Rev. Nathan Ker (pre 1740-1804) He went to Princeton College, from the congregation of William Tennent, of Freehold, New Jersey. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1762, and ordained August 17th, 1763, and in 1766 was settled as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Goshen, New York where he remained until his death, December 14th, 1804. Mr. Ker served for some time as a volunteer chaplain in the army. Hon. John Kerr (b. 1796) He was born in the vicinity of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, April 1st, 1796. He lived and died upon the farm on which he was born. His name appears on the records of Presbytery as the elder representing the congregations of Huntingdon, early in the year 1823, when he was only twenty-seven years of age, and almost continuously from that time his name appears on the minutes of Presbytery as the elder representing the congregation. He gave his time and money without stint to the church. Mr. Kerr was appointed one of the Associate Judges of the county of Huntingdon, as is believed, by a Governor who was not of the same party in politics with himself. Rev. William Kerr (1777-1823) He was born in Bart Township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1777; was educated at the Institution which afterwards became Jefferson College, studied theology, partly under the Rev. Dr. Sample, and partly at Princeton, was settled in the ministry at Donegal, Lancaster co., Pennsylvania, about 1809, and died in 1823, in his forty-seventh year. Here is a bio for Rev. Cuthbertson since he wsa also referencd in the Kerr query regarding property in Lancaster: Rev. John Cutherbertson (d 1791) >From National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol XX. No. 4. December, 1932, pp. 16-18. COVENANTERS AND THE WORK OF REV. JOHN CUTHBERTSON By Miss S. Helen Fields, Washington, D.C. ... Into the midst of these distressed but brave people came John Cuthbertson, sent by the Presbytery of Scotland because of their leading for an Under Shepherd. He set foot on American soil at New Castle, Delaware, August 5, 1751. With him came his sister, Mrs. Archibald Bourne, with her husband and infant son John, and a colony of Covenanters. Mr. Cuthbertson was the First Reformed Presbyterian Missionary to come to America. Young, fearless, and imbued with a God-like spirit, he began his work without delay, and throughout the years strubbled long distances on horseback and on foot (usually from his headquarters at Middle Octorara, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) over mountain and stream, to bring consolation to his fellow countrymen and to others. He frequently speaks of being cold, sick, hungry, distressed in body and mind, molested, but still never faltered in the task he had set before him. We find him, old and broken, carrying on up to a few months before his death in 1791. Sandra noted previously on this query a year or two ago: "I have excerpts from the Diary of the Rev. John Cuthbertson, 1751-1781. He was a reformed Pres. minister in Adams, York and Lancaster. Most Presbyterians of this region belonged to the main branch of colonial Presbyterianism as represented by the Synod of Philadelphia, but there was also a congregation of Reformed Presbyterians, or Covenanters. Rev Dr John Cuthertson was sent from Scotland to minister to Scottish Covenanters in America, in 1751, the first Reformed Presbyterian missionary to come to the Americas. He kept a diary from the date he arrived in America up to 1791. The Register of Marriages and Baptisms performed by Rev John Cuthbertson, by S. Hellen Fields, was originally printed in 1934, reprinted 1983 by Genealogical Publishing Co, Baltimore." Back to Walter Ker and NJ, another bio of a descendant noted: "The original emigrant of the family to America was Walter Ker (name was formerly written with one r), who was born in Scotland in 1657, and settled in Freehold, New Jersey, in 1686. Two of his sons were Samuel and William. One of whom, Samuel Ker, was the father of Joseph Kerr, who was the father of Samuel, Lewis, William, Aaron and Jacob Kerr." Two of trhe other will abrastracts I found curious are below. The one is in Sadsbury, where I find the William Steele family of Drumore, and the other has Cecil County ties and a curious reference to a mother that apparently remarried as a Thompson. Thompsons are an allied line of my Robert Bailey line and marry ihis daughter, who was also of Sadsbury, and my other ties to the Kerrs via Steeles have some ties to Cecil County and those Baileys. The other two just struck me as curious because of the ealy dates close to the dates of death of John Carr/Kerr. KERR, DANIEL. May 30, 1754. Sadsbury. Adm. to Robert & Thomas Kerr. CARR, WILLIAM. City of Phila. Boat Builder. April 18, 1786. May 9, 1786. T.322. Estate in Cecil Co., Maryland. Mother: Elizabeth Thompson. Mother's Children by her present Husband John Thompson. Sister: Sarah Carr. Exec: Uncle George Ord, Sarah Carr. Wit: Anthony Pearson, John Hunn, R. Whitehead. Pennsylvania Wills, 1682-1834 May 19, 1748 July 27, 1748 KERR, JAMES Wife. (name omitted). Children: John, Joseph, William, Mary, James and Nathaniel. Ex. James Morrison and Thomas Elder. Paxton Twp. KERR, THOMAS. City of Philadelphia. Plasterer. September 9, 1744. September 19, 1744. G.143. Wife: Elizabeth. Children: John, James and Thomas. Exec: Elizabeth Kerr. Witnesses: John Stephen, John McKnight and James Forster.

I have Rev. Cuthbertson's register 1751-1791, and the only one of the Kerr surname, or Carr......is the following; J. Brownlie and Jean Ker., m. May 2, 1758. (I found it interesting that, in both the inclusion, PLUS in the Index, her name is Ker., Jean there is a period after the surname, and this isn't done with other names I can see....could it be an indication that it is shortened, perhaps from Kerr? just a guess on my part. I checked on the Kern folks in a book I have on York Co church records, and all the Kerns included were Germanic....with given names like Friederich and Johannes, etc.....and in Lutheran churches....so, I wouldn't just accept Kern as a variation of Kerr S. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.4/375 - Release Date: 6/25/2006