thank you sara some of that may be my lines and any help you could find would be most happy thank Linda Sara Patton <[email protected]> wrote:I have no idea about your Couchmans in Berkeley Co but you may be interested in the following report on the Couchmans who settled in the South Branch (of the Potomac) Valley just west of Berkeley county in the late 18th century. (Spelling may vary-Crouchman/ Couchman/Kautzman). While you still have to fill in some blanks, this may help you on your way. John Tevebaugh is a retired history professor. I will send your plea on to him. Sara Patton THE COUCHMAN/KAUTZMAN FAMILY of the SOUTH BRANCH of the POTOMAC A Preliminary Report by John L. Tevebaugh With two important exceptions, this family's surname on the South Branch of the Potomac, between 1756 and 1800, was recorded in English as Couchman, whether in Augusta, Hampshire or Hardy County's public records. The initial exception was first recorded in June 1778 in a deed of land from Samuel Beall to Charles Lynch, which noted that Beall's land was adjacent to that of "the heirs of Coutzman."(1) This surname variation continued through subsequent deeds to that tract: Feb 1779, Aug 1785 and Feb 1792. The second exception appears on Michael Stump's Hampshire County, Virginia, census lists of 1782 and 1784. In each of these entries for the son, Adam, Stump submitted the name as "Coutzman." Throughout all these same years, all other references to Adam and his sisters, Susannah and Margaret, were with the Couchman surname. Attempts to find the Coutzman surname (or its probable German equivalent, Kautzmann) in 18th century Virginia have proved futile. However, recent Couchman research in Indiana not only has found the sister, Susannah, but also has provided very strong evidence for the German equivalent as the original name.(2) From Sullivan County, Indiana, vital records, censuses, and their two subscription county histories, we find daughter Susannah, nearly 20 years after the death of her husband, John Wilson, who died in Greene County, Tennessee, in 1809. She and 4 of her sons and a married daughter all left Greene County at various times during the years 1828 and 1831 and settled in Sullivan County. The descendants of those children always identified Susannah's maiden name as "Kautzman," and that surname appears as a given middle name for some of her grandsons.(3) This use of the German form of the surname, plus the very long life-span of Susannah (she died in 1857 at age 94), gives full support to its existence and use in that family. The husband/father of this family was Henry Couchman/Kautzmann, who was first recorded as being in the South Branch Valley at the sale of the estate of one Christian Dousher at Michael Stump's on 03 Dec 1757. At that time, that location was under the jurisdiction of Augusta County, VA.(4) At some time between that and 1764, Henry purchased land from Eve Thorn, widow of Tobias.(5) By the time Henry drew and signed his will on 04 Sep 1767, he had married a Susannah [surname unknown], and they had produced three children: John Adam (b. ca1762), Susannah (b. ca1763) and Margaret (b. ca1765). Henry died before the end of 1767.(6) John Adam Couchman/Kautzman seems to have been the first child of Susannah and Henry, born about 1762. He was a blacksmith by trade.(7) By 1782 he had married Phebe See (d/o George See and Grisena/Christina Bogard); they would have 2 children, neither of whom lived more than 3 years. One was a daughter, the other of unidentified gender.(8) John Adam died sometime between 13 Jan 1786, when he deeded all claim to his rights as heir of his father to the husband of his sister Margaret Couchman Reed, and the 17th of March 1786, when his will was proved in Hardy County.(9) Phebe, soon childless, remained a widow; she signed her will on 25 Sep 1832, leaving her entire estate to the children of her sister Mary Ann Craigen [Mrs. John]; and died shortly thereafter.(10) Phebe may have gone to live with Mary Ann after John Adam's death. Susanna[h] Couchman/Kautzman also was born between 1760 and 1767, perhaps in 1763.(11) Sometime before 1784 she married a John Wilson, most likely in the valley of the South Branch in Hampshire Co., VA [now WV]. Family tradition has her carrying their first-born, Adam Wilson, "on horseback the entire distance" from VA to "East Tennessee" in 1785.(12) Like her sister, Margaret and her husband, George Reed [Riedt?], Susannah and John Wilson moved from the South Branch to what became Tennessee [first it was called the State of Frankland, soon changed to Franklin, then while in federal government hands as the Territory South of the River Ohio, and finally the new state of Tennessee]. Susannah and John settled there in Greene County, where they remained for many years. Their children increased to 11 by 1805: Adam, b. 1784 in VA; David, b. ca1786 in Greene Co.; John, b. ca1788; Elizabeth, b. ca1790; Peter, b. 1792; Susanna, b. ca1794; Margret, b. ca 1796; Millea [Amelia], b. ca1798; George, b. ca1800;, Charlotte, b. ca1802; and Enoch, b. ca1805.(13) Further research in Greene Co. public records should provide more specific data for these children, their marriages and their children. Late in 1828, of the above, Peter and John Wilson, along with their sister, Millea, and her husband, George Welty, and their families, having left Greene Co. earlier, arrived in Sullivan County, Indiana. Shortly after 1830 they were joined there by their mother, brother Adam and his family, and [probably] brother George.(14) Apparently the other children married and remained in Tennessee, although some family members thought that a few had moved up to Kentucky. Here, again, more intense research in both states should provide a clearer picture. The Direct and Reverse Deed Indexes for Greene Co., 1785-1871, indicate that much additional data should be found in the family deed activity at the time of John Wilson's death in 1809 and after. The indexes also suggest that sons David and Enoch remained there, and that David died there in the late 1860s. These indexes also suggest that they would be very helpful to Wilson family historians in sorting out members of the several Wilson families there with similar male given names. Margaret Couchman/Kautzman, like the others, was born between 1760 and 1767, probably about 1764.(15) Sometime before 1785 she married George Reed[perhaps Riedt earlier].(16) Early in 1786, Margaret and George sold their land rights and titles on the South Branch and joined a number of their neighbors on the trek south to seek the new opportunities offered by the new State of Frankland. They may even have made the journey with Susannah and John Wilson. After a few months in the neighboring county of Washington they returned to Hardy County, VA [now WV].(17) Their re-establishment was not to be permanent, however, for by 1793 they had begun to sell off lands and interests inherited from their respective fathers. By the Fall of 1795, they frequently were referred to as "of Bourbon Bounty," Kentucky in various deed records.(18) They were legal residents of Kentucky by the end of 1796, and would remain there the rest of their lives.(19) Little is known about their children [at this point, at least], but the 1810 Census of Bourbon County lists George and his wife with 9 young people in their home, 3 males and 6 females. The age categories seem not to show young married couples among them. We anticipate that further research in Bourbon County public records will disclose names and approximate ages of the children, and, importantly, the eventual dates of death for the parents. This concludes the preliminary report about this family. Please consult the endnotes that follow. One last point: some family searchers working with South Branch families have maintained that there was a fourth Couchman/Kautzman child named Michael. There is absolutely no valid, extant evidence of such a child; and the name does not appear in the families of John Adam, Susanna[h] or Margaret, while the others are frequently found. John L. Tevebaugh January, 2001 Endnotes 1. Hampshire Co., VA[now WV] Deeds, Bk. 5, p. 122. 2. Wolfe, Thomas J., ed., A History of Sullivan County, Indiana; �. (2 vols., Lewis Pub. Co., 1909), pp. 76-77, 134-135; and History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana;�. (Goodspeed Bros. & Co, 1884), pp. 704, 763-764. Most of the search in Indiana is the work of Donna Cooper, a descendant. 3. See the two county histories in note 2 above. 4. Augusta Co., VA, Wills, Bk. 2, p. 307. 5. Augusta Co., VA, Superior Court of Chancery, 1796-1806 [Circuit Court Cases Ended], Opinion and Decree, 1799, in the case of Craigen & Couchman vs. Thorn. 6. op. cit., Deposition of Craigen & Couchman, 1799; Deposition of George See, 1798. Henry's will was described in the chancery case, but apparently was among the Hampshire County records destroyed during the Civil War. Henry's wife, Susannah, married Daniel Tevebaugh a year or two later. She was the mother of his five sons. 7. Hampshire Co., Wills, Bk. 2, p. 33, Will of Conrad Slagel, 08 Feb 1782. Slagel apprenticed his son to Adam to "learn the Smith trade." 8. Augusta Co. Chancery case, as above; and Hardy Co. VA[now WV], Wills, Bk. 1, p. 1, the Will of Adam Couchman, probated 17 Mar 1786. 9. Hardy Co., Deeds, Bk. 1, p. 19, Adam Couchman to George Reed, 13 Jan 1786; and Adam's will as cited in note 8 above. 10. Hardy Co., Circuit Court Will Book 2, p. 31, the 25 Sep 1832 will of Phebe Couchman. 11. The two county histories cited above in note 2 give her birth year as 1763 and her death date as 17 Jul 1857, at age 94. 12. Hardy Co., Deeds, Bk. 4, p. 25; History of Greene and Sullivan Counties as cited above in note 2. 13. These children all are named in John Wilson's will, signed on 08 Aug 1808 and probated 25 Apr 1809; see Greene Co., TN, County Court Minutes, Oct 1802-Apr 1810, pp. 268-272, from Tennessee State Library and Archives microfilm Roll # 147, entitled Greene County Settlements. Family tradition in Indiana has John Wilson b. 16 Jun 1761 in what now is Hardy Co., WV. 14. See note 2 above; also 1850 Census, Sullivan County, Jackson Twp., pp. 509, 525-526, and Haddon Twp., pp. 422-423. Confirmation of birth places and ages are in computations made from these census enumerations. The 1830 Census of Sullivan Co. shows only Peter and John and the Welty's. 15. Bourbon Co., KY, Censuses of 1810 and 1830. The earlier one lists her as born on or before 1765; the latter as being born between 1760 and 1769 [her father's death in 1767 limits this range]. 16. Hardy Co., Deeds, Bk. 1, p. 12. George, in 1786 was once identified as "Jr.," indicating another of that name in the area. George was one of 2 sons born to Elizabeth and John Reed [Riedt?] of the South Branch; the younger son was John. It is possible that George's surname had been Riedt and that his father had come to the South Branch from the Tulpehocken Creek Palatine settlement in Pennsylvania. 17. Hardy Co., Deeds, Bk. 1, pp. 12, 19, 38, 134 and 167. 18. Hardy Co., Deeds, Bk. 4, pp. 24-25, 26, 28 and 61. 19. Hardy Co., Deeds, Bk. 4, p. 439; and Bk. 5, pp. 38 and 325-327. Garret Glenn Clift found George Reed on an 1800 Bourbon County tax list; see his "Second Census" of Kentucky - 1800, �.(Genealogical Pub. Co., 1982). Entries there are arranged alphabetically. See also the Bourbon Co., Federal censuses of 1810 and 1830. At 09:58 AM 1/17/03 -0800, you wrote: >This goes out to anyone living in the Berkley county WV area that just >might beable to look around and find something on Benedict Couchman SR. >and his wife Catherine ? maiden name unknow. Have been working on this >line for a long time with others and we all cannot get past Berkley >co. This is a very big brick wall that seams to be unable to knock >down. So Please can someone give us a lead. Looking for his siblins and >who is Catherine? Help please. Linda Summers P.S. we have >all his children documented. > > >==== WVBERKEL Mailing List ==== >Address your BERKELEY County List >messages to:[email protected]