Krefeld or Crefeld, Germany lies one-third of the way up the Rhine Valley from Rotterdam to Frankfurt. This small town became a refuge to Quakers and Mennonites who were heavily persecuted during the 16th and 17th centuries. William Penn, a Quaker from England, decided to make the new Pennsylvania colony in America a haven to those who were persecuted. He met Francis Daniel Pastorius, a pastor, who went on to form the group of Krefelders who were willing to leave their homeland and travel across the ocean to the New World. The group was made up of thirteen families who were counted as 33 “freights”. Because children counted as half-freights it is impossible to know exactly how many people made the crossing. The group sailed on the Concord which was reported to have carried a crew of 40 and mounted 26 guns, it was 132 feet long and 32 feet broad, and could carry 140 passengers in comfort. The vessel left Krefeld and sailed to England. It left Gravesend on July 24, 1683; they lost sight of England about three weeks later. The ocean passage took forty-nine days. The Concord sailed into Philadelphia on October 6, 1683 carrying the first group of Germans to the New World. They and their leader Pastorius founded Germantown, Pennsylvania. The group remained very religious and soon joined the Pennsylvania Society of Friends (Quakers). Pastorius and Penn went on to bring many others to the New World. The Concord has since been referred to as the “German Mayflower”. The immigrants from Krefeld were honored on May 5, 1983 by the United States Postal Service and the German Postal Service. Commemorative stamps were issued to celebrate the tricentennial of their sail.

Much of my research rests upon the wonderful work done by Athlyn Luzier of Colorado Springs whose life work was researching the CONARD/CUNARD family.

1. COENTGEN an der STAPPEN ( 1560 - 15??)

Coentgen an der STAPPEN was born about 1560 in Gladbach, Julich, in the Lower Rhine Valley, now Germany. He married Cilgen ter QUNCKELEN on 19 JAN 1585/86. Nothing is known about Cilgen’s family. The marriage date is what is known as a ‘double date’. Prior to 1582, the Julian calendar was widely used to mark the passage of time. The New Year began on March 25th. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII determined that the Julian calendar was incorrect - the human calendar was not keeping up with nature’s calendar. The Pope created the Gregorian calendar which, among other things, switched the beginning of the new year to January 1st. The Gregorian calendar was slow to be accepted. England and the American colonies did not adopt the new system until 1752. Today we use double dates for events prior to 1752 that occurred in between the two New Year dates.

At the time of Coen and Cilgen’s marriage, it would have been recorded as January 19, 1585, occurring near the end of the year. In today’s terms, the marriage would have occurred on January 19, 1586 since the year would have changed on January 1. To denote the difference in the Julian and Gregorian recordings, we use the double date of 1585/86 showing that the event occurred between the two New Year’s Days.

Notice the naming patterns of the next few generations. During this time period eldest children were generally named after their grandparents. Last names were usually formed from the first name of the father or taken from the area the family lived in. These conventions make tracking records difficult.

Coentgen was also known by the name Conrad.No records have been located to show the size of Coentgen and Cilgen’s family, or when and where they died. We know they had a son, Lens CONRADTS.

2. LENS CONRADTS (1596 - 16??)

Lens Conradts was born about 1596 to Coentgen and Cilgen an der Stappen. He reportedly married at age fourteen, on February 1, 1608/09, to Mergken Auff Scheuten. Nothing is known about her family.

Lens Conradts was also known as Laurentins Cones during his lifetime; Mergken occasionally used the name Maria.

Again, no information is available about the entire family of Lens Conradts and no details are known about the death and burial of Lens or Mergken. The only known child of this marriage is Koendort Lensen Heckers.

3. COEN LENSSEN HECKERS (~1620 - ~1691)

Also known as Lens Conradts, Conrad Heckers, Coen Lensen, and Koendort Lensen Heckers, Coen Lenssen Heckers was born between 1614 and 1628 in Munchen Gladbach, near Damme in Rhineland.

Coen Lenssen married Entgen Comes about 1652. Entgen, also known as Anna Thones, was born about 1632 in Munchen Gladbach near Alst. She was the daughter of Thonis Comes, also called Thones Comes, and Celletzen. Thonis Comes was born between 1596 and 1603 in Munchen Gladbach, the son of Gottschalk Comis and Victzen an de Heiden. Gottschalk was born between 1565 and 1571 in Munchen Gladbach near Venn. Victzen was also known as Sophia. Gottschalk Comis was the son of Thonis Comes and the grandson of Gottschalk Comes, born about 1510. No marriage or death details are known for any of Anna Thones’ ancestors.

The Mennonite register of 1654 year lists Coen and Anna Lenssen as living in Damme, having one child and 3 acres of land. Coen made his living as a linen weaver.

In a 1669 register, Coentgen Heckers lived in Krefeld with his family. He was listed as an Anabaptist, about 52 years old, with a wife and three children, all Anabaptists. They had moved to Krefeld (Germany) in 1654.

Coen and Anna Lenssen had both died by April 20, 1691, probably in Munchen Gladbach, near Damme. Their children sold the Heckers farm on April 20, 1691. The children are not specifically named in the transaction. Only their second child, Thones Kunders, who was in America and could not be present at the sale, was mentioned by name.

4. THONES KUNDERS (1653 - 1729)

Thones Kunders was born about 1653 in Cresheim (Germany), the second child of Coen Lenssen Heckers and his wife Entgen. During his lifetime he was also known as Tunis Konders and Dennis Kunders.

Thones was baptized a Mennonite at Goch on July 9, 1673. He married Elin Teissen in Krefeld on May 31, 1677 in a Reformed Church.

Elin Teissen, sometimes referred to as Lentgen Mattheisen or Helene Theissen, was the fifth of nine children of Theis Doors and his wife Agnes. She was born about 1650 in Kaldenkirchen (Germany). Elin’s brothers were Peter, Reiner, and Herman; her sisters were Anna/Entgen, Gertrud, Johanna, Elisabeth, and Margarita. Elin was baptized in Goch as a Mennonite on May 20, 1670.

Thones and Elin Kunders had seven children: Coenraed, Matdis, Jan, an unknown child, Anna, Agnes, and Hendrik. The unknown child died in Krefeld and was buried June 2, 1683. The coffin cloth cost 7 schillings 6 heller. Coenraed, Matdis, and Jan were born in Krefeld, the others in Germantown, PA.

In 1681, Thones and Elin attended a wedding and signed a marriage certificate as witnesses. As far as is known, this is the only extant marriage certificate issued by a Meeting of Friends (Quakers) on the continent of Europe. The document is written in Dutch, thus suggesting Dutch ancestry for the signers. Our ancestors signed the document as Tunnes Keunen and lijntijen teissen. A transcript of this document follows:

Today a historical marker is outside the former residence of Thones Kunders commemorating the actions of the signers of the protest document.

The marker reads:FIRST PROTEST AGAINST SLAVERY

Here in 1688, at the home of Tunes Kunders, an eloquent protest was written by a group of German Quakers. Signed by Pastorius and three others, it preceded by 92 years Pennsylvania’s passage of the nation’s first state abolition law.

In 1691 Thones Kunders was naturalized and took the name Dennis Cunrads. Dennis and Elin’s three sons were also naturalized, but not until 1713. They became known as Conrad Conrads, Matthis Cunrads, and John Cunrads.

Dennis Cunrads was very involved in the Germantown settlement. He served as a charter burgess in 1689, as the town recorder in 1696, and as juror in 1704. He is mentioned again as a burgess in 1703 and 1706. He was also a devout Friend, serving as “an overseer of ye Church” before 1702. He was again Overseer of Germantown Meeting in 1716 and 1720. He was appointed to attend the Quarterly Meeting in 1717. In his will of 1729, Dennis leaves “The bed and furniture standing in the New Room to be for the use of friends”.

Dennis Cunrads was a blue-dyer by trade. Many of those in Krefeld were craftsmen and many who settled Germantown worked with linen in some capacity. They were said to make “Very fine German Linen, such as no Person of Quality need be ashamed to wear”.

In 1719/20 Dennis and Elin Cunrads sold approximately 80 acres of land to the “Congregation of the Brethren”, more popularly known as the Dunkards or Tunkers.

Dennis Cunrads died at approximately 76 years of age. It was near the close of September 1729. The meeting held at the time of his death was large with many of the early settlers of Pennsylvania attending. Dennis was remembered by Thomas Chalkey as “a man of an inoffensive life, much given to hospitality, and left a good report behind him.” In his will, Dennis mentions the tools of his blue-dying trade: his “Out-houses, stills, and Dying Kettle, Worms and Wormtubbs...”. As Elin Cunrads was not mentioned in her husband’s will, she may have died before him.

It can be assumed that Dennis and Elin Cunrads were buried in the graveyard next to the Germantown Friends Meeting House, but an exact location is not known.

Among the descendants of Dennis Cunrads is Samuel Cunard, who left America for England in the early 1800’s. He founded the first regular steamship service across the Atlantic in 1838. The Cunard Liners now count amongst their ships the Queen Elizabeth II.

5. JOHN CUNRADS (1681 - ~1763)

Jan Kunders was born August 3, 1681 in Krefeld (Germany), the third child of Thones and Elin Kunders. At two years of age, Jan crossed the Atlantic with his parents aboard the Concord. They arrived and founded Germantown, PA in October 1683.

When Jan was 25, he married 20-year old Alice Lukens, once known as Ealsje Lucken, the daughter of Jan Lucken and Mary Tyson. Alice was born July 10, 1686 in Germantown, PA. They married on July 29, 1706 at the Abingdon Monthly Meeting in Montgomery County, PA.

Jan Kunders was naturalized in 1713 so that he could hold and enjoy lands. He became known as John Cunrads.

During his lifetime, John moved from Germantown to Upper Dublin Township in Montgomery County, PA. John and Alice Cunrads had seven children: Dennis, Mary, Henry, Magdalene, Alice, Sarah, and John.

On December 31, 1716, John Conrad purchased 273 acres in Horsham Township, PA. This land appears to have been intended for the use of his children, as his main farm was in Upper Dublin Township. It is unclear who was a tenant on this property until John’s children came of age.

Alice Cunrads died at age 40 in 1726, probably in Montgomery County, PA. John remarried on April 28, 1728 at the Abingdon Monthly Meeting. He married Elizabeth Dennis, 43, daughter of Abraham and Bethsheba Tunis.

John’s date of death cannot be exactly pinpointed. He wrote his will in April 1762 and added a codicil in December 1764. The will was proven (probated) on March 21, 1765. Between the time of the codicil and probation, John was approximately 84 years old. He had outlived three of his children: Henry, John Jr., and Alice.

In writing his will, John Cunrads seems to favor his son Henry and Henry’s children. Henry was left a 213-acre plantation for which he had to pay £600 to the other children. In addition to the land, he would still receive an equal share of the estate. John Cunrads added the codicil to his will to acknowledge the early death of his son Henry, and to note that he himself had moved to Horsham Township, PA.

Closer examination of John’s dealings reveals that he was more fair with his sons than his will suggests. In 1748, 100 acres of the Horsham land was deeded to John Conrad, Jr. Six years later, John Jr. received an additional 71 acres. John died without children in 1760. His landed estate reverted to his brother Dennis Conrad. Thus, Dennis Conrad held 171 acres and Henry Cunrads stood to receive 213 acres, a much more equal distribution than could be thought if only John’s will was examined.

No mention is made of when or where John Cunrads’ widow Elizabeth died.

6. HENRY CUNRADS (~1711 - 1763)

Henry Cunrads was one of the seven children of John and Alice Cunrads. No birth date is known, but 1711 is a general estimate. He was probably born near the Abingdon Monthly Meeting House in Montgomery County, PA, of which his parents were members.

Henry married Jane Jones. Nothing is known about Jane’s background or her family. The marriage took place in August 1742 at the Abingdon Monthly Meeting .

Henry and Jane Cunrads had 4 sons and 4 daughters: John, Edward (who lived only three years), Catherine, Edward, Elizabeth, Alice, Henry, and Abigail.

Henry Cunrads died in 1763 at age 52 and is buried in Upper Dublin Township, PA. He died shortly before his father John. Apparently, Henry was ill for a time before he died. John Cunrads’ will specifically mentioned the possibility of Henry’s death prior to John’s own death. Because Henry died first, the plantation of 213 acres was to be sold unless £600 was paid to the executors of John’s estate. John’s codicil gave £35 to each of Henry’s sons when they came of age.

Jane Cunrads presumably survived her husband, but nothing more is known about her.

7. EDWARD CUNARD (1749/50 - 1827)

Edward Cunard was born February 24, 1749/50 in Montgomery County, PA. He was the fifth of Henry and Jane Cunrads’ eight children. Edward was born after the death of their second child, also called Edward. The reason for the child’s death is not known.

At the age of 23, Edward married Judith Hirst on June 24, 1772 in Loudoun County, VA. Judith was the daughter of John Hirst of Buckingham, Bucks County, VA. She was born May 5, 1746 in Buckingham and was 26 years old when she married.

Edward and Judith had seven children: Sarah, Ann Beth, Edward Jr., Pamela/Tamela, John, Henry, and Jarret/Gerrard. One source mentions an eighth child, Morris; however, this child is not in family Bible records or any other source.

The Quakers, or Society of Friends, were a peace-loving group. Like the Mennonites, they believed almost literally in beating swords into plowshares. They were strict pacifists, even during the War for Independence. Edward Cunard and his brothers Henry and John were disowned by the Society of Friends for their service during the War. Edward and John served as Privates in the Virginia militia. Henry was a soldier in Pennsylvania.

Edward and Judith Cunard moved their family from Pennsylvania to the Gunpowder Monthly Meeting in Maryland in the early 1780’s. On August 23, 1783 Judith and her four children were accepted on certificate from the Gunpowder Monthly Meeting of Maryland into the Fairfax Monthly Meeting in Virginia. Edward had apparently been expelled by this time as he was not allowed to join the Meeting in Fairfax.

In 1785, the Goose Creek Monthly Meeting of Virginia was established and Judith Cunard and her children were moved to the new congregation. It wasn’t until June 24, 1797 that Judith and her five minor children were actually received on certificate from the Fairfax group. Her two oldest daughters, Sarah and Ann, were also received as adult members.

This generation of Cunard children separated from the Quaker church and began spreading across the country. John Cunard (#196) went from Virginia to Georgia in the early 1810’s. Henry Cunard was disowned by the Friends for fathering an illegitimate child in 1810. He went west to Ohio and Indiana. Gerrard Cunard was also disowned by the Friends for signing up as a substitute in the Virginia Militia in 1814. He left the area for parts unknown.

Judith Cunard died on January 24, 1815 at Hillsboro in Loudoun County,VA. She was buried at the Old Ebenezer Baptist Church near Round Hill in Loudoun County, VA. She was almost 72 years old.

Edward Cunard died at age 78 on January 12, 1827. He is buried with his wife at Old Ebenezer Baptist near Round Hill in Loudoun County, VA.

8. JOHN CUNARD (1786 - 1870)

John Cunard was born on February 15, 1786 in Loudoun County, VA. He was the fifth child of Edward and Judith Cunard. John’s family was moving around Loudoun County during his early childhood. They were members of several congregations of the Society of Friends. John was mainly a part of the Goose Creek Monthly Meeting.

Although several of John’s relatives, including his father, uncle, and later his brothers, were disowned by the Society of Friends for acts against the Friends' beliefs, it is unclear if John was ever expelled. Whatever the situation was, John did leave Virginia for Georgia around 1810 and did not join a Meeting there.

John Cunard was in Hancock County, GA by 1812, when he was a taxpayer in Captain Sanford’s District. No further details are given in this tax record.

On April 24, 1815 John Cunard married Mary Comfort Cannon in Hancock County, GA. Comfort was born on October 13, 1794 in Georgia to Jesse Cannon and Frances Hardesty.

John and Comfort Cannon were 29 and 20 respectively when they married. They had ten children, born from 1815 to 1831: Manervia Ann, Frances N., Jumina, Columbus, Eveline, John Jr., Mary, Matilda, Nancy, and Mathias/Matthew.

John and Comfort moved to Jasper County, GA immediately after they married. They purchased 162½ acres in District 18, Lot number 77 for $1200. This land is near Prospect and Eudora and the New Rocky Creek Baptist Church, now on Georgia Highway 11 north of Monticello. All of the children were born at the Cunard homeplace.

Comfort Cannon died at age 37 on September 19, 1832. She may have died trying to give birth to her eleventh child. She was buried on the Cunard homeplace in Jasper County, GA.

John Cunard remained unmarried for two and one-half years.

He married Nancy Johnson on April 30, 1835 in Newton County, GA. John’s oldest children were almost adults, seventeen to twenty years old; his youngest were seven and four.

Nancy Johnson was born on August 4, 1806 to George and Susanna Johnson.

John and Nancy Cunard, then 49 and 29, had nine children of their own from 1836 until 1853: Susan Ann/Susanna, Elbert, Eliza Jane, Sarah Ann, Caroline, Marthena, Newton, Henry, and James Clark.

In all, John Cunard fathered nineteen children, eight sons and eleven daughters. All but three lived at least to adulthood, several living into their sixties and seventies.

In 1850, John’s household consisted of himself and his wife and ten children. He and John Jr. farmed his land which was valued at $300. By 1860, John and Nancy only had six children living with them. Their land was valued at $2800, with other personal property worth another $1600.

Of John’s children, Elbert and Newton served the Confederacy. Elbert first enlisted as a Private in Company B, 4th Regiment of the Georgia Volunteer Infantry. He was discharged with a disability in 1862. He almost immediately re-enlisted as a Private in Company A, 32nd Regiment of the Georgia Volunteer Infantry, joining his brother Newton in this outfit. They served together for the remainder of the War, surrendering on April 26, 1865 at Greensboro, NC. Jumina Cunard (#98) is reported to have served the South, but no supporting documentation has been located.

In 1866 John Cunard's taxes told quite a story about the Reconstruction Era. He had sixty white men over 16 years of age living on his property. He also reported two dogs, two children between six and eighteen, and one hand 12 to 65 years old. He held 240 acres with the total value of his estate at $1714, down significantly from before the War. In 1868, only two year later, John’s holdings had increased to 242 acres, but had further devalued to only $968.

John Cunard lived only two more years, dying on January 16, 1870, one month short of his 84th birthday. He was buried at the homeplace in Jasper County.

Nancy Cunard lived until June of 1886, when she was almost 80. She too is thought to be buried at the homeplace in Jasper County.

Susanna Cunard, John and Nancy Cunard’s oldest child, married James Cornelius Aaron, a prominent man in Jasper County. Today, Helen Aaron Johnson, a descendant of theirs, lives about three miles from Emily Gilstrap in Chamblee, GA.

The Cunard homeplace remained in the Cunard family at least until 1952. It was the site of many Cunard-Aaron family reunions.

9. JUMINA CUNARD (1819 - 1872)

Jumina Cunard was born March 11, 1819 in Jasper County, GA, the third of John and Comfort Cunard’s ten children and their first son. He was thirteen years old when his mother died and sixteen when his father remarried.

On December 29, 1843 Jumina Cunard married Martha Allen of Jasper County, GA. Nothing is known of Martha’s background.

Jumina and Martha had one son, William H. Cunard, born about 1844. Martha died around 1846; she is presumed buried in Jasper County, GA.

Jumina Cunard, called Juie, remarried on April 20, 1848 in Newton County, GA. His bride was Lucinda Whitehead, the daughter of Samuel Whitehead and Rebekah A. E. Patton.

Jumina and Lucinda Cunard had eight children together:

1. Mary Ann
2. John Samuel “Sammy”
3. Rebecca Frances “Beckie”
4. Syntha Zipporah “Zip”
5. Nancy Eveline
6. Lucius W.
7. Alford C.
8. Sarah Martha.

In 1850, Jumina and his then small family farmed the land adjacent to his father’s farm. Their land was valued at $250. By 1860, the family had grown to eight children. Jumina and William worked the farm, valued now at $2200. Their personal goods were worth an additional $800.

Jumina is reported to have served the Confederacy. No documentation has been found to support this. The story is that when he returned home from the War he was ill and that he never fully regained his health.

The 1866 tax records show that Jumina Cunard retained a large land holding following the War. He reported himself as the only white male over sixteen. He also reported two coloreds, 23 sheep (one of which was killed by a dog during the year), two dogs, six children between six and eighteen, two hands 12 to 65, and 476 acres for a total estate valued at $3472. As Reconstruction took it’s toll, two years later Jumina reported 471 acres valued at only $2564.

Jumina Cunard died at age 53 in September 1872. He was buried in the Cunard Cemetery in Jasper County. Unfortunately his grave is unmarked.

Jumina left his estate in the care of his executors until all his children reached their majority. At that time, everything was to be sold and divided equally amongst his children. When it was inventoried in November 1872, the estate entailed 473½ acres of land valued at $3500. Also itemized were two horses, Dock and Fanny, and two iron grey mules, York and Chief.

Lucinda Cunard survived her husband. It is not clear exactly how much longer she lived. She is buried with her husband in the Cunard Family Cemetery, also in an unmarked grave.

Beckie Cunard, third child of Jumina and Lucinda Cunard, married John M. Aaron providing another link to the family of Helen Aaron Johnson.

10. MARY ANN CUNARD (1848 - ~1879)

MARY Ann Cunard was born about 1848 in Jasper County, GA. She was the oldest child of Jumina and Lucinda Cunard.

Mary Ann was raised in the Prospect and Eudora area of Jasper County in what is now called the Rocky Creek Area. It is located up present Georgia Highway 11 north of Monticello.

At about 20 years of age, Mary Ann Cunard married 26 year old John B. Gilstrap in Jasper County, GA.

More details about John and Mary Gilstrap can be found in the Gilstrap Family Section.

LAST EDIT *** 20 JULY 2015 ***