Description
This book is a genealogical study of the ancestors and descendants of Daniel Nash and his wife Maria Shaffer who lived and raised their family in Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the 19th century. The family history is told through biographical sketches and anecdotal stories of direct ancestors and descendants of Daniel and Maria, tracing each generation back to the earliest known ancestor of each branch, and forward to descendants in current latest generations. In addition to the personal stories, there are also chapters that provide context with a history of events that involved some of the family members, and other chapters that explore the places where they lived.
Relationships of the Nash family to other families are included, with chapters on ancestral relations by marriage to surnames Colley, Clark, Carter, Dietrich, Evans, Heebner, Hoffman, Huston, Johnson, Prichard, Schultz, Urffer, Yeakle, Yarnall, and of descendant relations by marriage to surnames Bishop, Brown, Castor, Duran, Esbester, Fox, James, McMullin, Myers, Palme, Palmer, Parry, Tippin and Trumbore.
The Nash family lineage is traced back to John Nash, a resident of Philadelphia within the first decade of its founding, and his wife Anne Colley, a Quaker who came to Philadelphia with her parents in 1683. Historical context is provided in chapters about the persecution of Quakers in England and about William Penn and the founding of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
Daniel Nash, at the center of the study, was born in 1775 near Edge Hill on his parent's farm in Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, PA. His parents were Joseph Nash who was a grandson of John Nash and Anne Colley, and Sarah Evans, a daughter of Methusalem Evans and Ann Evans. When Daniel Nash was a year old, the Nash homestead found itself in the middle of the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Nash home suffered damage by the British during that encounter. Historical background is provided in a chapter about that Revolutionary War battle.
The family history of Methusalem Evans, Daniel Nash's grandfather, is also documented. Methusalem came to Pennsylvania from Carmarthenshire, Wales with his parents and brother, Mark, in 1711. There is a chapter on the story of Methusalem's brother Mark Evans, an adventurous pioneer who was involved in Cresap's War and who was an original settler of what became Roanoke, Virginia. Another chapter relates the story of Methusalem's son John Evans, a pioneer who left Pennsylvania and became an original settler of Nashville, TN and a signer of the Cumberland Compact.
Daniel Nash's son Joseph Nash married Emily Yeakle who was a descendant of Christopher Yeakel, a Schwenkfelder who came to Pennsylvania from Silesia in 1734. There is a chapter that provides a brief history of the Schwenkfelders, their persecution in Silesia and the six migrations that brought them all to Pennsylvania in the early 18th century.
The book is illustrated with numerous maps and photos of family members, artifacts, documents and residences, as well as images of family record pages from several family bibles. Joseph Nash Myers, one of the descendants, was on PT191 in World War II. An appendix of the book includes a transcription of his journal written during his time on the PT boat from May 1944 – July 1945, including participation in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. There are chapters that provide descriptions and histories of places where family members lived include Fort Washington, PA; Flourtown, PA; Erdenheim, PA; Oreland, PA; Norriton Township, PA; Springettsbury Manor, PA; Broad Axe, Pa; the Shenandoah Valley; Roanoke, VA; Nashville, TN; Harpersdorf, Silesia; Carmarthenshire, Wales.