Sharon, I looked on the Berks site for the name Barefoot, and what came up was your queries. Seeing their connection to Ross and Robinson, and seeing where they lived -- Morgantown, Douglassville, Amity and Caernarvon Twp, and the dates, I think you can assume they are Quakers. This is good news; the Quakers kept great records. Look for the earliest names you know. It's very possible that the family ceased to be Quakers around the time of the Revolution, or even earlier. You mention their having a connection to the early iron industry. This was pioneered by Quakers in Berks County. Good luck, Karen Sharon Sheldon wrote: > Hey Folks, > > Here's one for ya: in a dictated autobiography my distant uncle made the > following remarks about the progenitor of our Barefoot line: "Dr. Benjamin > Barefoot, came over from the North of Ireland in the last years of the 18th > century and located among the Pennsylvania Germans in German County." > > Now I know there's no such thing as German County, and Germantown isn't a > possibility, either, according to their historical society. In 1785 my > Benjamin Barefoot first appears on the tax records in West Nantmeal Twp., > Chester Co., PA. A man I believe is his brother, Samuel Barefoot, is on the > tax list as well. Does anyone have any comments on where would be a good > place in Chester Co. that would earn the designation of German County by > one who would not know any better? > > As an aside, the best I can find on this family (or even this surname) shows > activity in the 1760's off and on in Douglassville, Amity Twp. & West > Nantmeal. There's also a James Barefoot who would be a contemporary of > these two listed on the tax records in Nottingham Twp. In the 1770's there > were a few Barefoots who were in the Caernarvon Twp. area of Berks Co. as > well, but I can't find evidence of them in Berks earlier than that. > > This is my first foray into anything German in PA. Any clues, anyone? :) > > Thanks a bunch for reading this. > > Sharon > No. VA > > ==== PACHESTE Mailing List ==== > Stop by our associated website for Chester County Genealogy at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacheste/chester.htm