In contrast to the solid story about the Gaar family that I have been reporting, a story about the Fisher family came to my attention. For the sheer mass of malarkey, this family takes the prize.
With some variations, the story usually goes as follows.
Baron Fisher was a member of the Head Counsellor's [sic] of Frederick the Great. One of his sons was Adam Fisher, from whom the American heirs claimed title to the vast [Fisher] estate. The Baron's other sons died, leaving no immediate heirs. Traditions which have been handed down in the family for centuries tell the same story . . . to the same effect, that Adam Fisher, while out hunting, shot a deer on the King's forest preserve, a thing which usually meant death to the offender; but, since Baron Fisher was one of Frederick's chief advisers, no action was taken against young Adam. The Baron, however, considered the deed a disgrace to the family and sent the son away.
Adam Fisher came to America in the ship "Mary", and landed in New York. There, his first son, Daniel, was born. Adam then moved to Philadelphia, and later to the Valley of the Schuykill River in Pennsylvania. This was in 1742. [At this point you might like to remember that Frederick the Great only came to the throne in 1740, so Adam was moving very fast.] Within ten miles of the city of Philadelphia, his other children were born, Jacob, Lewis, Abraham, and Adam.
Ten years after he had settled in Pennsylvania, Adam Fisher started for Europe to claim his father's estate, but while waiting for the ship, he was attacked by smallpox and became blind.
Adam Fisher never went back to Europe. When he died his widow bound the youngest son, Lewis, as an apprentice to a blacksmith. Lewis ran away from his master and settled in Culpeper Court House, VA. Lewis had four sons, Stephan, Barnett, Caleb, and Adam.
Adam II (son of Lewis) married Elizabeth Garr. Simeon, Adam's and Elizabeth's son, went back to Germany to claim the estate and mysteriously disappeared. A daughter of Adam and Elizabeth, Susanna, married Joseph Schooling. A son, Jeremiah, married Mary Backner Slaughter. A daughter, Elizabeth, married Daniel Crump. A son, Adam III, married Nancy Waller. A daughter married Peter Watts. A daughter, Anna, married Henry Kalfus.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.