Furnas |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Thomas | John | William | Martin | Rhoda |
1701-1784 | 1736-1777 | 1775-1833 | 1801-1849 | 1824-1906 |
What's New - June 2022 |
Finished exporting children to extended family pages |
My Furnas Ancestors |
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GENERATION 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Furnas (Furness) [1] was Born in 1701 in Aketon, Cumberland, England. He married Rebecca Atkinson on April 23, 1729 in Holme, England according to England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers. Rebecca died on July 03, 1762 in Wigton, Cumberland, England. Thomas died on October 28, 1784 in Wigton. The children of Thomas and Rebecca include:
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GENERATION 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
John Furnas
[1]
is the son of Thomas and Rebecca. He was born on March 5, 1736. According to the Furnas
Family genealogy book (1887) , "The first of the name of
whom he has authentic record are John and Mary Furnas, who were born in
Cumberlandshire, in the town of Standing Stone, which town derived
it's name from a large rock, fifty feet in height, which is just outside
the corporation limits. According to the English custom the eldest son of
the family falls heir to the estate. The father of John Furnas was the
owner of extensive real estate holdings and because of his wealth he was
known as a lord or peer. Among his children was John Furnas, but as he was
not the eldest son he did not come into possession of his father's
property. In the same village lived Mary Wilkinson, who was born September
19, 1742. She attracted the attention of John Furnas, who gave her his
love, and on the 24th of March, 1762, they were united in the holy bonds
of wedlock, in the Friends meeting-house in Standing Stone. In the
following October they embarked for Charleston, South Carolina, and on the
18th of February, 1763, they reached their destination. John Furnas died
at Bush River, South Carolina, on the 5th of August, 1777
, and his wife,
surviving him about five years, passed away at the same place on the 6th
of October, 1782. He was a man of fine physique, strong and well built,
and was famed for his athletic powers when a young man. The story is told
of how he managed to escape piratical slavery by a marvelous feat of
swimming. When the waters that washed the English shores were sailed by
many a private ship, John Furnas and a companion were captured by a pirate
crew. The former made a vow that he would not be a slave to such men nor
remain on board their vessel very long. Accordingly one dark night he and
his companion tied their clothing on their backs, jumped overboard and
were soon swimming toward what they supposed to be an island. They were
shot at, but miraculously escaped being hit. They swam for a long time and
at last John's mate said he could go no farther and sank to a watery
grave, while John swam on for a short distance and landed in safety on an
island. Later he was picked up by a friendly ship and returned to his
home." For a detailed chart of John's descendants from an 1899
book by Tanzy Furnas please visit the
Miami County, Ohio Genealogical Researchers website. The children of John and Mary are:
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GENERATION 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
William Furnas [1] is the son of John and Mary. According to the book 1880 History of Miami County, OH, William Furnas was born May 29, 1775, in South Carolina, married in 1797 to Rachel Wesley (or Nesley/Nesby), and died December 21, 1833. Their children are listed in "Genealogy of the Furnas Family" by Tanzy Furnas, p. 197 (image). Soon after his marriage he came with his young wife to Miami county and entered land in Newton township, securing one hundred and sixty acres, all of which was still in its primitive condition. He was a blacksmith by trade, and as there were no rolling mills at the time, iron was in the rough and was hammered out into shoes, nails and other such articles as were used in a blacksmith shop. A gristmill was erected not far from William Furnas' shop and he made all of the iron used in its construction. He was a poor man and had a hard task in providing for his family through the pioneer days, when many hardships were borne by all who lived upon the frontier. The family lived in a log cabin covered with a roof made from boards split from black walnut, and lasting many years. The house had but two rooms and was heated by a large old-fashioned fireplace. William Furnas died upon the farm which he there developed. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and in his political affiliations was a Whig." The 11 children of William and Rachel are:
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GENERATION 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Martin Furnas
[1]
is the son of
William and Rachel as listed in "Genealogy of the Furnas Family"
by Tanzy Furnas, p. 197 (image). He was born in South Carolina, February 11 1801, was
married, September 3, 1823, to Marsena
Patty, and took up his abode southeast of Pleasant Hill, Ohio, dying
of cholera on his farm on July 14,
1849.
(Source: Genealogical and Biographical Record of
Miami County Ohio (1900), p387 (image). Cholera also claimed the lives of several of his children and
brothers and sisters. Their children are listed in "Genealogy
of the Furnas Family" by Tanzy Furnas, p. 200 (image). Martin was enumerated on the 1827,
1830, 1836 census of
Newberry Township, Miami County and the 1840 census of Newton Township
Miami County Ohio. Land deeds show that he sold his property in 1845. Martin was a Quaker. His marriage to Morsena shows up in
the Miami County Ohio Quaker meeting minutes and aso listed in
FamilySearch documents (Record
and
Original image). The year after
Martin died, Morsena appears on the 1850 Census
as head of household with 4 children. The 11 children of
Martin and Morsena are:
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GENERATION 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Rhoda Furnas, [1] daughter of Martin and Morsena was born on September 01, 1824 in Miami, Ohio. She married Thomas Marshall, son of William Marshall and Charity Wright on March 23, 1843 in Miami, Ohio. The book "Genealogy of the Furnas Family" by Tanzy R. Furnas (1897) lists Thomas and Rhoda's children (see image here.) They had 7 children. Rhoda appears on the 1860 census in Randolph, Indiana and the 1870 census in Indiana (her age is incorrectly listed there as 16 and should be 46.) She is also on the 1880 census living in Kanas with her daughter Cornelia, son William Frank, and his wife Nancy Emily (Emma). Rhoda died on February 13, 1906 in Eugene, Oregon. I descend from their son William Frank Marshall who married Nancy Crewse. |
Migration pattern of my Furnas family |
England -- SC -- OH |
Furnas DNA |
My Dad currently shares DNA with 96 matches that have a listed descent from immigrant John Furnas. This is based on some of their Ancestry.com trees, futher research I have done on their lines and triangulation done with other shared DNA matches. From our shared ancestors, 54 of them descend from John Furnas/Mary Wilkinson, 22 descend from William Furnas/Rachel Wesley, and 20 descend from Martin Furnas/Marsena Patty. I also show hundreds of additional DNA matches in the category of descending from the Furnas family but their exact lines are not known at this time. Based on other male Furnas matches this surname shares the R-M467 Haplogroup. |
Books | |
1 |
Genealogy of the Furnas Family by Tanzy Reeder Furnas (1897) - currently available for download as a PDF on Familysearch.org. Print versions are hard to find. |
My Descent From The Furnas Line |
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Generation | Father | Mother |
9 | Thomas Furnas (1701-1784) | Rebecca Atkinson (1708-1762) |
8 | John Furnas (1736-1777) | Mary Wilkinson (1742-1782) |
7 | William Furnas (1775-1833) | Rachel Nesley (1778-1847) |
6 | Martin Furnas (1801-1849) | Marcena Patty (1805-1882) |
5 | Thomas Marshall (1822-1870) | Rhoda Furnas (1824-1906) |
4 | William Frank Marshall (1845-1909) | Nancy Emily Crewse (1860-1936) |
3 | William Edward Marshall (1901-1981) | Irene Sophia Schwiening (1908-1992) |
2 | William Edward Marshall | |
1 | Tod Howard Marshall |
This page was last updated on 8/17/24
Contact: todmar2@bellsouth.net