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THE FISHBURNS
, by John E. FISHBURNThere are in the State Library of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg and the DAR Library, Washington, DC, copies of a remarkable hand written manuscript on the "Chronological Family Record of the Fishburns". It was written by Philip of the "4th Generation" and completed in 1893. Quoting from the second page of the DAR copy, we find:
Philip Fishburn, the Fourth, was not a learned man, and the history of the Fishburn Family, compiled by him, was the product of tremendous effort and patience. His sources of information were largely family records written in Pennsylvania German, and many of his experiences are the literal translations. It required three years of painstaking work, and, when finished. Philip Fishburn believed it to be the mission of his life. He wrote the history on loose sheets of paper - in longhand - and afterwards had it bound. The facts contained, as far as anyone has been able to ascertain, are authentic.
With no formal title, it is written in curiously fashioned longhand, on numbered pages of which there are sixty-five with no page thirty-two. He simply skipped that number. It does appear that the writer had no formal education, as there is virtually no punctuation, and the sentences run into each other. Furthermore, the spelling is irregular and inaccurate, and the capitalization seems completely at random. Philip's English and grammar may not be the best, but he was a keen observer and had a warm heart, as this piece is full of charming, sometimes poignant, passages. As a family history, it is invaluable. Philip was born August 17, 1826, and died February 11, 1898. He is buried in the very cemetery in which he labored for so many years.
The narrative starts with the introduction of contents and then proceeds with the story of one Jacob Fishburn, one of the more touching parts. It seems that Jacob came to America in 1846 in search of Fishburns who had emigrated earlier. He spent three years without success and eventually, discouraged and "Verry Loanesome", returned to Germany. Undaunted, he set out anew in the same year, 1849, and arrived at Harrisburg on Christmas to finally meet with his relations. He "Looked Over the New World Again North and South and East and West thought this is Now A Place Like a Home". He found work, married, settled down, and had a family.
There is a detailed record of Philip the Pioneer and how he found his land, married, and built a house. Details concerning his children and their descendants follow for many pages. There are delightful descriptions of how people spent their daily lives in the early 1800s, and the trials that they had to face. School life is given in detail with such lines as,
Some teachers Wer not temperence Not Sober from Morning till Night and Some of the teachers Wer wel fortified with Heavy Whips Or Kind of a Hooppole to take the Dust Out of the Schollars Cloathing.
Again, on the sane page twenty-nine, the reader will find:
Their Was a Place for the Little Ones to Sit On from Morning till Noon and from Noon till Eavening and when they had to Say their Lesions they had to Come to the teacher to the Desk Saying their Lesson the A.B.C. and the A to Z And they had no Prop On the back of the bench to Lean back they had to Sit Up Strate and Have to hold their Priimier in their Hand And for Some was the bench to high Some of them Couldent Reach Down with their feet On the Floor And Sometimes they got So Tierd to Sitting So Long and fall assleep and fell from the bench Down On the Floor And Sometimes when the teacher was not in A good humer he had Wake than up with his wip.
Starting on page thirty is a long description of an early meeting house. In 1846, there were a thousand people present at the dedication of the "Fishburns United Breatheran in Christ Church" which was used by various denominations over the years. A wonderful line on this building process reads:
So we youngers had a first Rate Sport and Jolly Times Amoungst Us to carry those Logs Work Did not Seem hard to Us as we wer full of fun and all Kind of Desent Sport we had made to Chear the Older Ones Up a Little in their Minds.
A long record begins on page forty-nine of the "Fishburns UB Church Cemetery together with a list of many pages of all the interments. One of Philip's jobs was the digging of the graves for this burial ground. A description follows of how they were measured, the tools used, and how later some of the "corps" were removed to other locations.
The last few pages are taken up with scenes from the writer's early days, including visits to town and country. Such lines appear as, "Game was Plenty Such as Dears he had Often Seen them coming to the Water to Drink and Sometimes they wer five or six in Number Comming to Run and Jumbing and Hopping Over the Briers". As the reader may see. grammatical faults fade away in this delightful and valuable piece of Fishburniana (see Appendix 8).
Philip B. Fishburn's manuscript has long been regarded as the primary source for information on Philip the Pioneer and his descendants. It has been used over the years as a reference for admission to the DAR and other genealogical societies. Considering this, it seems incumbent upon the careful researcher to examine the manuscript for accuracy and completeness. Errors in spelling and grammar and lack of punctuation have already been noted. These add, in a way, to the charm of the document, but in at least one case, on page 16, the phonetic spelling of Hawk for Hoch has persisted down through the years. On pages 8 and 19, Anthony's age is given as twenty-six years and his death date as 1788. This is at variance with the cemetery record of twenty years and 1782 (see page 17). On page 10, Philip states that Henry went out west and "got" his wife ( c1830 ) . He was actually married long before going west (1812). On page 23, Anthony's wife, Magdalena, is stated to have died in 1862 at the age of seventy-two with her birth date given as 1799. This was a subtraction error and the dates and age do not fit. The correct date is 1789 (see page 11). All internal evidence, and the DAR copy, indicate that Philip completed his work in 1893. On page 23, however, there is the date of June 13, 1894, which does not jibe with the data given and would appear, therefore, to be incorrect.
All of the above examples, and there are others, are relatively minor. There is one error of more importance, however, on pages 12 and 17 in which are listed the battles of the Revolution in which Ludwig and his brother, Philip, participated, including Valley Forge. The pension records of both men, in the National Archives, do not support Philip's family hyperbole. According to these primary sources, Ludwig did not participate in any of the engagements cited, and Philip in only two - Brandywine and Germantown. Neither was at Valley Forge.
Of more importance to the researcher are the omissions in Philip's document. They can be excused in that the author was not aware of them or did not have access to the information. If this manuscript is used as a pri many source, however, these omissions became very pertinent. Starting with Philip the Pioneer, no mention is made of any of his forebears nor of his second marriage to Margaret Worst. Deterick's and Peter's wives are not listed nor is their Revolutionary War service mentioned. Peter's son, John, is the only child given, whereas there were three others. The children of Deterick, Anna Maria. Catharine. Magdalena, and Margaret are not listed.
From the above, it becomes very apparent that the researcher must look elsewhere for supplemental information on Philip the Pioneer and his immediate descendants. This criticism is not meant to detract from the value of the manuscript, but rather to point out its limitations. Fortunately, other sources are available to complete the genealogical picture.
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