His name was originally Ulrich Kuhnrad but upon hearing the Germanpron unciation it is easy to understand how it evolved into WoolrickCoonrod .
Residences & events:
Berne, Switzerland
1749 Rotterdam. The family began the migration. "The foreignerswhos e names are underwritten, imported in the ship isaac, Capt.Robert Mitc hell, from Rotterdam, but last from Cowes in England, didthis day thak e the Oaths to the Government. From the Palatine, byList 79.206 freig hts." Listed among the passengers were HansConrath, sick, Ully Kunrat h and Hans Kunrad."
9/27/1749 Philadelphia, PA He and 78 others signed oaths to thegover nment upon arrival. He settled on the North Banks of thePotomac River b ut remained there only a short while before moving on.
1753 South Banks of the Potomac, Augusta Co, VA, now Pendleton Co,WVA . He was listed among Settlers before 1760 as arriving before ordurin g the period of the Indian war.
240 (acres) - Conrad, Ulrich - N. Deer Run P.O. --P(atent), 1761
From Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776
County: Augusta County
Date: Sep 1758
Name: Woolrey Coonrod
Rank: Militia
In Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish in VA (Augusta County) is:
1757 Switcher's Run, WV. He received a land grant of 50 acres.
3/19/1758 Raid on the Upper Tract settlement: "Peter Moser, wholived o pposite the mouth of Mallow's Run, was shot dead whileunloading corn a t his crib. Nicholas, Frank and John Conrad werealso killed, George M oser and Adam Harper were wounded and JohnCunningham and two other per sons were captured."
9/1758 He drew 16 shillings as payment for service in the Augusta Com ilitia.
November 26, 1758
Wolrick Conrad qualified admr. of Hance Conrad, being brother andheir- at-law.
12/16/1758 Augusta Co, Va. From court records: " Wolrick Conradqual ified admr. of Hance Conrad, being brother and heir-at-law."
From Early Settlers of the South Branch of the Potomac River, AugustCo unty, VA:
Page 462.--29th May, 1761. Same (Mary Wood, of Frederick, James andMos es Green, of Culpeper), to Uldrick (Ulrich) Conrod (Conrad),£55.12, 27 8 acres at same place(on North Fork of South Branch ofPotowmack), part o f 370 acres patented to Robert Green, 12th January,1746. Delivered to s ame (Andrew Johnston, June, 1767).
1761 He received a second grant at Switcher's Run, this one for 240ac res.
From Augusta Co, VA court records:
Page 462.--29th May, 1761. Page 456.--29th May, 1761. Mary Wood, ofFre derick, James and Moses Green, of Culpeper, to Joseph Skidmore,Jr., £5 0.15, on North Fork of South Branch of Potowmack, 203 acres,part of 66 0 acres patented to Robert Green, 25th June, 1747. Teste.Mathew Patton , Michael Prop. Same to Uldrick Conrod, £55.12, 278acres at same pla ce, part of 370 acres patented to Robert Green, 12thJanuary, 1746. Del ivered to same.
Page 75.--19th August. 1761. Daniel Smith's settlement of estate ofJac ob Sivers approved--Paid Woolrick Conrod, Gabriel Kyle and others
5/18/1762 August Co, VA. His name appeared in a list of those who"pr oduced a certificate of their having received the sacrament, andtook t he usual oaths to his majesty's person and government,subscribed the a bjuration oath and test, which is ordered to becertified in order to t heir obtaining warrants of naturalization."Others receiving certificat es of naturalization that same day wererelatives of in-laws and cousin s, Gabriel Kyle (Kile/Coil) and GeorgeHammer.
Page 174.--13th May, 1762. Andrew Smith's will: to wife, Mary, 1sermon b ook; to children, books. Teste: Henry Banniger, WoolrickConrod, Valen tine Gile (Coil). Proved, 18th August, 1762, by Conrod.Henry Penniger q ualifies administrator c. t. a., with WoolrickConrod, Sebastian Hover. P roved, 18th November, 1762, by ValentineCoil."
Page 263.--28th June, 1763. Walreck Conrad, planter, and Margaret(sign ed in German) to Samuel Morral, Jr., of Amherst Co., planter,£40, 240 a cres on the Mountain between South Fork and South Branchof Potomac, on S witcher's branch, now in possession of said SamuelMorrall. Delivered: S amuel Morrall, 25th June, 1787."
Same year, South Branch of Potomac, Augusta Co, VA. A patent of 660ac res by Robert Green was sold to Conrad and Skidmore.
From Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish in VA (Augusta Co):
May 18, 1762
Following received certificates for naturalization: Henry Stone,Sebas tian Hover, Gabriel Kyle, Henry Peninger, Woolrick Coonrod, MackSwadle y, John Dunkle, Michael mallow, Michael Props, George Hammer,Nicholas H avenor, Henry Pickle, Ludwick Havener, Frederick Easter.
June 28th, 1763.
Walreck Conrad, planter, and Margaret (signed in German) to SamuelMorr al, Jr., of Amherst Co., planter, £40, 240 acres on the Mountainbetwee n South Fork and South Branch of Potomac, on Switcher's branch,now in p ossession of said Samuel Morrall. Delivered: Samuel Morrall,25th June , 1787.
From the History of Pendleton Co, WV:
"At the mouth of Thorn Ulrich Conrad had built a mill in 1766, or verys oon afterward....Gabriel Kile was well up the Black Thorn."
8/19/1767 He received cash from the settlement of Valentine Coil'sest ate.
1767-68 Woolrey, Conrad, Jacob and George "Gunrod" were listed in theA ugusta Co Parish Vestry Book.
5/12/1770 He received a patent on 6 acres on Black Thorn Creek.
Page 491.--21st March, 1772. Recorded. George Dice's (estate)appraisem ent by Ulrunk (Alrunk?) Conrat, Jacob Freind.
Page 190.--2d August, 1773. Estate of Jacob Caplenger, of SouthBranch, a ppraised by Jacob Conrad, Jacob Friend, Wolrie Conrad.
Page 377.--3d and 4th August, 1773. George Caplinger's (of SouthBranch ) estate sold at vendue--To Leonard Probst, Jacob Caplinger,Danl. Prob st, Henry Caplinger, Catherine Caplinger, ElizabethCaplinger, John Cap linger, Geo. Caplinger, Adam Caplinger, MichaelAlkeir, Ulrick Conrad, C hristian Pickle, Stovel Low, Valentine Post,John Skidmore; to Doctor
Neal, Chas. Bowers, Peter Caphart, Aron Skyhaw, Zachoriah Rexrode.Geo. C aplinger (2 crout tubs), Joseph Skidmore, Elizabeth Harbold,Jacob Rude , Jobb Velton, George Ganker, Thomas Willmott, Aron Vansye,Martin Coyl e, Danl. Richardson, Danl. Hornbeck.
8/18/1775 Court records show he put in a claim for furnishingsupplies t o the soldiers in Dunmore's War of 1774 and also for thosein the Revol ution. The supplies were probably products of his mill.
3/19/1776 His name, as witness, was on the will of Jacob Conradproved t hat date.
Page 462.--18th March, 1777. Ulrick Conrad, Sr., to Ulrick Conrad,Jr., h is son, at mouth of Black Thorn on South Branch of Potowmack, 6acres w ith mill seat thereon erected, patented to Ulrick 12th May,1770.
1782-87 Wooldrick Conrod, Sr and Jr, and John Conrod were listedamong c ounty taxpayers.
7/17/1787 "Owley Conrad" Sr and Jr and 35 others were reported asrefu sing to give their taxes to the comissioner.
5/18/1778 James Trimble's executors (John, Isaac and James Trimble),o f Rockbridge County, to Woolderick Conrod, Jr. Delivered: JacobConro d, son of Wooldruck Conrod, 23d May, ...on South Branch ofPotpmac.
From A History of Pendleton Co, VA:
"In June of 1788 the first county court of Pendleton met at the houseo f Captain Stratton, six miles below the Evicks...The Evicks had beenli ving here about twenty years, yet the neighborhood was thinlypeopled. U p the river the nearest neighbors appear to have beenUlrich Conrad and H enry Peninger. Conrad built a mill at the mouthof the Thorn about the t ime the Evicks came."
And again:
"The organization of the county government was perfected by thefollowi ng selections:
Overseers of the Poor, James Dyer, John Skidmore, Christian Ruleman,Ul rich Conrad, John Dunkle."
1789 This year he added 2 more plots of land through grants, both atB lack Thorn. One was for 78 acres, the other for 450.
1790 Listed in the Tithables list of all males over age 16 wereUlrich S r, Jacob, Ulrich Jr, and Adam and George.
1794 One final grant at Black Thorn gave him another 40 acres.
An interesting letter from the Frain Family Genealogy, by JosephRichar d Frain says:
"I have a letter written in May 1917 by Oliver Coonrod in Washington,C .H. Ohio. Here it is -
About the year of 1742, they came to this country from Switzerland orB aden, Germany and settled in the North banks of the Potomac River inth e State of Maryland. The family of this history had one son bornabout t he time they arrived in this country. They called himJosephas. After l iving a short time in Maryland they went to theSouth bank and from the nce they journeyed up to Moorefield on theSouth bank of the Potomac in w hat is now Hardy County, West Virginia.They continued to push their wa y up the South Branch of the Potomacuntil in 1758 they were in Pendlet on at a place now called FortSiebut. In May 1758, after they had plant ed their spring crop, theheads of the families joined together and wen t a long distance to asalt works to lay a supply of salt and other nec essities for theirfamilies to last the year. Before leaving for the sa lt works, theybuilt a block house. The house was made by joining one h ouse withanother. There were about forty women and children left in th e fortwhile the men went to the salt works. Among those in the house w erefive Coonrods; mother, two sons and two daughters. After the men ha dbeen gone for some time, a band of Shawnee Indians from the West of the Ohio River crossed over the Allegheny Mountains, and attacked thefo rt. The Indians set a siege of the inmated fort. They sent a flagof tr uce and said "if you will surrender we will spare you. If notall will b e killed". To shorten a long story, when the Indians werelet in a mass acre ensued. The chief tried to keep his word andprotected some of the w omen and children. The Coonrod women andchildren were spared but were t aken away. The baby boy was killedduring the trip to Illinois. Josephu s got away. After 2 months hefound his way home and found his father. F ather and son followed thetrail of the Indians and found that the moth er had been turned overto the French at St. Genenever, Missouri. The f ather purchased hiswife for $50. Mother, father and son returned to We st Virginia.Josephas married and had a son named Felix. Felix's son wa s AdamCoonrod and Adam's son was Oliver. Oliver is the writer of the l etterfrom which this history is taken. Oliver was from Circleville, Oh io."
And this from Rick Strickler at GenForum followed by a huge discussionw ith Rufus Cox questioning its veracity:
"It appears that the letter written by Oliver Coonrod is mistaken init s assertion that Josephus Coonrod was captured/escapedduring/following t he raid on Fort Seybert, Augusta Co., VA. The youngman in question was J ames Dyer. The Roger Dyer Family Associationpublished a book titled "T he Dyer Settlement, The Fort SeybertMassacre", in 1937 which was repri nted in 1992 by theHarrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society.
There was, in fact, a Coonrod family at Ft. Seybert. The book mentionst hat Woolrick (Ulrich) Coonrod was naturalized in 1762 as a residentof t he South Fork in Augusta Co. It also mentions that before onecould be n aturalized they would have had to reside in the county for7 years whic h would put Ulrich in the vicinity of the settlement in1758 when the a ttack on the fort occurred.
This information on Ulrich is also consistent with the genealogydescri bed by Don Coonrod. His post stated that Oliver's greatgrandfather was n ot Felix, but rather Ulrich, Jr. son of Ulrich, Sr.(tht Ulrich at Augu sta Co.). This information comes from this bookwritten by John Woolery C oonrod titled "Coonrod Family Genealogy."
I suspect that Oliver did not deliberately alter the story but rathert hat the story probably got embellished as it was handed down throughth e family."
Some say Ulrich died 1794 in Augusta Co, VA with sons, John &Frederick , as co-executors of his estate.
However the following will seems to be by this man.
From Pendleton Co, WV Probate Records:
9/July 1802. Will of Ulrick Coonrod Sr. Very Weak in body. SonUlrick C oonrod: all lands, he to pay daughter Elizabeth Sumwalt (orher husban d John, for their children, if she is deceased) L250 VA incattle or ho rses, at his discretion, on a schedule here described.Daughter Elizabe th Sumwalt: 10 cattle. If Elizabeth, her husband,or her heirs should b e dissatisfied with this will and commence asuit against executor, the n her legacy to be 25 cents.
Executor son Ulrick.
Signed Ulrick (X) Coonrod.
Witnesses: Henrich Banninger, Barbara (X) Banninger, Z Dyer.
Proved by Henry and Barbara Banninger, 7 September 1802.
