[Since a fellow researcher asked a question about the Beemon/Böhm/Böhme family, I am going to break with my planned topic and see if I can say anything that helps answer the question.]
The Beemon surman was probably derived from Böhm or Böhme. It is not clear when they arrived in the Robinson River Valley, but probably not long before Rev. Franck started his pastorate at the German Lutheran church in 1775. The most prominent member of the family, from the standpoint of the church books certainly, was Daniel Böhme (as he was listed in the baptismal register) and his wife Nancy. They had nine children baptized from 1777 to 1799. Since Rev. Franck was the pastor who got many people going to the church, it might have been the case that there were children before Susanna, who was born in 1777.
The nine children of Daniel and Nancy, that we know from the church books, are:
Two of the Beemon boys went to Boone Co., Kentucky, very soon after the Church there was founded, if not with the original group of people. Two of the men signed the Church Constitution at an early enough date (6 Jan 1806) to be considered charter members. Since this church is loaded with Tanners and Rouses and Criglers, the names that were passed along no doubt were a part of the Lutheran Church in Boone Co. The two Beemon signers were John and Daniel. Assuming this Daniel is from the children above, he was only fifteen years of age.
The first Beemon to appear in the Virginia Church records was Elisabetha Behm in late 1775. Daniel (alone) and Eva (alone) appeared in 1775 at Christmas time. The two women appear until 1778, and their fate is unknown, perhaps marriage. Daniel appears alone up to 1782 (three children were already born, see above). Starting in 1783, Daniel and wife Nancy appear regularly. This probably came about because Nancy was not confirmed, perhaps even not baptized, until the 1782 date. We know something about Nancy’s age, and I have assigned her a birthdate of 1756. There are no Nancys in this time period in the birth register at the Lutheran Church, so I have concluded that Nancy’s family was either not Lutheran, or they moved into the area from some location where it had not been easy to obtain baptism.
(08 Oct 02)
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.