The family of George Valentine Clapp 1702-1773

George Valentine Clapp is also an immigrant ancestor, as he was about 25 years old when he immigrated with his parents, Johann Jost and Anna Margaretha Stauder Clapp, and other family members from Germany to Pennsylvania.  And here we go again-there is considerable confusion and intermixing of Clapp children with other Clapp families.  It's believed that Valentine married Anna Barbara Stiess, daughter of Philip Steiss, but some trees show that he married either before or after Barbara.  The most common name I've seen for a second wife is Mary Albright or Albrecht.  I believe that marriage is for a later Valentine Clapp, but I am still trying to verify that.  

Valentine and Barbara (Barbary) had at least 12 children.  If I accept all the names I've found on various sites, there may have been as many as 18.  I don't think that there were as many as 18, so then the question is, which of the 18 names are actually included in the 12 children that the most seasoned researchers have mentioned?  Part of the confusion may be because of the move the family made from Berks County, Pennsylvania to Guilford County, North Carolina, in about 1754.  Did all of the children also move south, and if so, did they all end up in Guilford County?  There seem to be Clapps left in Pennsylvania, but were they of this family?  It's confusing!  

There is a listing on the FamilySearch site for Maria Christina, born in 1723 and died June 12, 1725.  Valentine and Barbara was married August 24, 1723, so this raises some questions.   

Barbara was born in 1725, in Germany, and apparently died as an infant.  There is no further record of her.

Maria Elizabeth was born in 1726, also in Germany.  There is one suggestion that she married a Peter Gortner or Cortner, and died in 1768 in Forestville, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.  I cannot substantiate that, and the dates don't seem to work.  I would love to fill in the dash after her birth, hoping that she lived a long and happy life.  

John Philip was born in 1731 in Berks County, and died in 1798 in Whittsett, Guilford County, North Carolina.  His wife is uncertain, but has long been thought to be Barbara Clapp, the daughter of John Ludwig and Anna Margaret Strader Clapp.  There is considerable controversy here, because many researchers adamantly say that cousins did not intermarry in this culture, and John Philip and Barbara are both grandchildren of Jost and Anna Margaretha Clapp.  (I will write a blog post about John Ludwig's children at some point, in case the attribution of Barbara Clapp is correct, but for now I will continue to follow this line, and John Phillip's family will be the subject of my next post.)  It appears that Philip's children are Valentine, Adam, Anna Christina, Mary Barbara, Mary Magdalena, Anna Maria, Eve, Ludwig, and  Catherine, who married Adam Brown.  

Maria Veronica was born in 1733, and again, there is no consensus, or even an idea, as to her life or lifespan.   

Joseph (Jost) was born in 1732 or possibly 1741 and died in 1816. He may have been married to an Anna Maria, but I've not been able to find even a suggestion of who she might be.  His children are Margaret, Jacob, John, George, Anna Margaret, Valentine, William, Mary, Daniel and Isaac.  It is possible that he married a second time, to a Maria Julian.  If so, their children are Mary Magdalena, David, Jacob, Mary Ann, and Sarah.

Jacob was born in 1734 and died in 1800 in Guilford County, North Carolina.  He married Barbara Foust in 1772, which was a little late for a first marriage, so there may be an earlier marriage.  I have not found any mention of children for him.   

George Tobias was born in 1735 and died in 1800 in Guilford County, NC.  He married Anna Maria Glass or Gleiss, daughter of John Philip and Anna Maria Glass.  Their children are Elizabeth, Maria Sophia, Margaret, Daniel, and Tobias.  He may have also married Mary Christina  

George Valentine, often seen as Felty, was born in 1739 and died in 1806 in Guilford County, NC.  He married Anna Elizabeth Albright or Albrecht, daughter of Christian and Elizabeth Rick Albright.  Their children are Maria Sophia, Dorothea, Jacob, Elizabeth, Anna Margaret, Anna Maria, William Henry, and Daniel.  His second wife is Maria Christina, so far not further identified.  Their children are Magdalena, Barbara, Laura, Anne Marie, John George, and Isaac.

This makes nine children, not enough to make the twelve mentioned at the outset of this post.  There are various other possibilities.  

Joseph may have been born about 1741.  There is a Joseph Clapp who died in 1817 in South Carolina, but I am not yet convinced this is the same Joseph.  At the moment, he is still a mystery to me.   

Daniel was born about 1746 and died in 1835 He married Elizabeth Coble, the daughter of Antonius and Anna Maria Coble.  There are at least two children, Rosa Ann, and Joseph.  

Alvin Louis was born in 1747 and that's all I could learn of him.  

There may be a John, born in 1742 and died in 1798.  I have seen him identified with John Philip, above, although he is said to have married someone named Sally.  The list of his children includes John George, Valentine, Adam, Anna Christina, Mary Barbara, Mary Magdalena, Anna Maria, Eve, and Ludwig Lewis.  This list is so similar to that of John Philip that I am not at all confident that there were two different men.  John may have married Sally, but did he really have children with the same names, and in the same order, as John Philip?

Finally, there is a Maria Barbara, born in either 1733 or 1742, who married George Cortner or Gortner, son of Peter and Mary Cortner.. She died about 1807 in Guilford County, North Carolina. They do have children,  including Daniel, Eve, George, Matthias, Barbara, Mary Elizabeth, Maria Magdalena, Samuel, and John Matthew.  I am not totally convinced, but I think it likely that she is the daughter of Valentine and Barbara.  

What do you think?  Have you researched this family? Do you have the same questions I do?  The stories I've found are quite interesting.  Some were involved in what was basically a massacre of four peaceful Cherokee natives. They were actually looking for Shawnee warriors at the time, who had been attacking settlers during the French and Indian war.  Some of them were involved in the Regulator movement of 1772 in North Carolina, and some were Revolutionary War militia or soldiers.  We need to understand the family so we can honor the men who served our country well, and learn from the ones who may have been less honorable.