HAND STORY MANUSCRIPT CHAPTER 1

THE HAND FAMILY STORY
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CHAPTER 1

THE EARLIESTANCESTORS

DANIEL HAND and his wife, ELIZABETH, are the first reported ancestors in the HAND lineage. Documented records are not available, at the present, establishing the existence of this couple. The only information regarding this couple is from mention by BERTHA HAND, in her genealogical notes, as being the information she received from ROSS LOWELL HAND, Sr. DANIEL HAND is presumed to have been raised in New Jersey and was of German descent. His parentage, birth date and place of birth are unconfirmed. ELIZABETH is believed to have been raised in New Jersey but was of Welsh descent. Her maiden name is also unknown.

ROSS LOWELL HAND, Sr. stated that the surname of HAND was originally spelled HANDT and was changed to HAND. This may have been done to present a more American pronunciation, a common practice among immigrants. When, or if, this change in the spelling of the HANDT name actually took place is unknown, however, it probably occurred prior to the birth of DANIEL HAND.

The lineage of the majority of HAND families living in New Jersey at the same time as DANIEL and ELIZABETH HAND was primarily English and not German. It is known that many of the HAND families in New Jersey came from New York, primarily Long Island. DANIEL would have been living among other HANDS with lineages much different than his own if he were of German descent. Many of the other HANDS in the area were related to each other, however they were English. HANDwas a very common name in Cape May and Cumberland Counties, New Jersey in the 18th and19th centuries and there were many by the name of DANIEL and ELIZABETH.

All research, so far, has not produced a record of a DANIEL HAND and ELIZABETH HAND in New Jersey. There are many by the name of DANIEL and ELIZABETH, however, none are to be found together. The FIRST CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES was taken in 1790, unfortunately, the NEW JERSEY CENSUS was destroyed by fire. The 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830 and 1840 CENSUS records contain only the name of the head of the household with all other members of the family tallied only by sex and age. It was not until the 1850 CENSUS that family members were all listed by name. The variation of given names that we enjoy today was unknown in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since Biblical names were very popular, many persons in large families would have the same name. This duplication of surnames compounds the research problem when trying to distinguish persons based on very limited information. Prior to the 1850 CENSUS, it is, many times, difficult to identify a particular family and a guess, at best, whether or not the family sought was even counted in a census. The closest match located so far is a marriage record from Gloucester County, New Jersey for a DANIEL HANN and ELIZABETH STEWART, April 10, 1810. There is a remote possibility of this being the couple as the name HANN is german in origin and may represent the name HANDT or HAND in transition or a mistake on the part of the records clerk in spelling HAND. The name STEWART is certainly English or Scottish, though not primarily Welsh in origin. As a note, there was a large group of families by the name of HANN living in New Jersey at the same time and were of German origin. This may have been the marriage of those individuals. The name HANN will appear in the HAND genealogical record later on with its origins also in New Jersey. In the event the son of this couple was THOMAS LEE HAND, born 1820, then it would have been ten years from their marriage before he was born. There is a strong possibility that THOMAS LEE HAND was actually born in 1824. The latter date would make his birth fourteen years after the marriage. This time span would not be unusual when parents frequently had families of twelve to eighteen children. In the event this couple is correct, it is purely guess work as to their origin. If their parents were immigrants, they probably did not settle first in New Jersey. It would seem more likely that they would find other people of their own heritage and settle with them until such time as they could learn the language or become familiar with the country. There were a number of communities near the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that were congregating points for German and Welsh immigrants. Philadelphia proper is just across the Delaware River from Burlington, New Jersey where the two were married. West of Philadelphia was the town of new Hanover which was a German/Swedish/Welsh settlement.

The earliest immigrant found, so far, that could possibly be an ancestor earlier than DANIEL HAND is a German, JOHANN NICHOLAS HANDT, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the ship Adventure, commanded by Captain Joseph Jackson. The port of origin was Hamburg, Germany with a stop in Portsmouth, England. JOHANN NICHOLAS HANDT was from Franconia, an old designation for an area of Germany, the capital of which was Nuremberg. He appeared before a magistrate on September 25, 1754, in Philadelphia, to take his oath of allegiance to the United States.

Whether or not JOHANN NICHOLAS HANDT from the ship Adventure is an ancestor in the HAND lineage, is only a guess. The name JOHANN NICHOLAS was very common in the German community. If this could be the right person, then he most likely had a son or grandson who was the father of DANIEL HAND.

DANIEL and ELIZABETH HAND were in Cumberland County, Ewing's Neck, New Jersey in 1820 as the birth of their son, THOMAS LEE HAND, supposedly occurred in that year.

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