Gottlieb Zink of Shenandoah County, Virginia

Gottlieb Zin(c)k (born about 1730) married Barbara Funkhouser in Frederick (now Shenandoah) County, Virginia, about 1752 (see web page by Donn C. Neal). Barbara was the daughter of Jacob Funkhouser, who owned property on Funk's Mill Creek (now Tumbling Run). This is a study of the area where Gottlieb probably lived upon his arrival in Frederick County, VA. The area is near Tumbling Run, to the south west.

"...since the Funkhousers had lived in Frederick County since the 1730s, there can be little doubt that Gottlieb was present there by 1752 when we judge that he and Barbara were married. We know that Gottlieb Zinck was on a list of tithables for Frederick County in 1756 and 1760 � both times with relatively small sums beside his name. Then, in 1764, he and Jacob Funkhouser are listed among those present at a sale at Sandy Hook, near Strasburg, where Tumbling Run empties into the Shenandoah River. In May of 1765 there is a reference to Gottlieb Zinck's "line" in another man's deed, but there is no evidence that he owned any property in the area specified in this deed: near the mouth of McNishes (now Pughs) Run just north of Woodstock, Virginia," - (quote from web page by Donn C. Neal).

Frederick County, VA Deed Book 10, p. 607 - 11 May 1765
[Mortgage] Between Benjamin Lemen [Layman] in the County of Frederick, Planter [to] Jacob Funkhouser of said place, Carpenter ... consideration of Twenty Pounds ... Tract of Land containing two Hundred Acres joining Godlib Sink toward the east & Philip Wisman towards the South west & Godfrey Willson towards the north west ...

Wit: Leonard Baltis                                                                                Benjamin (B) Lemen
Isaac Funkhouser
Simon Star

Recorded: 2 Oct. 1765

From the information above (abstract in book by Amelia C. Gilreath) and the tract maps presented here, it is clear that the tract mortgaged to Jacob Funkhouser was contained within the bounds of a tract of 471 acres sold by Benjamin Layman to Balsor Counts, who obtained a Fairfax grant for the tract on 1 September 1766 (Cecil O'Dell's book, "Pioneers of Old Frederick County Virginia", p. 401 states that Layman sold the 471 acre tract to Counts). Below is the list of tracts that adjoined the Balsor Counts 471 acre tract ( the names are spelled as they are in the abstracts of the grants from the Library of Virginia):

to the north - Frederick Parrett, 347 acres, granted 10 June 1767

to the north east - Charles Huddle, 201 acres, granted 8 June 1751 (in the original of the grant, only his last name is listed and the abstract gives only the year - however, in Shenandoah Co. Deed Book H, p. 464 we discover the balance of the information)

to the south east - John Lewis Selser, 528 acres, granted 2 September 1766

to the south west - Philip Weesman, 240 acres, granted 13 August 1766

also to the south west (north west of Weesman) - Frederick Woolford, 93 acres, granted 29 May 1777

to the north west - George and Godfry Wilkey, 400 acres, granted 11 September 1756

In addition, Leonard Baldis [Baltis], who signed as a witness to Jacob Funkhouser's mortgage, owned a tract in the vicinity, 435 acres granted on 27 January 1761. His tract adjoined Benjamin Layman's tract of 500 acres, granted 3 September 1766 (the Baldis tract was south of the Layman tract). Benjamin Layman's 500 acre tract adjoined John Lewis Selser's 528 acre tract (the Layman tract was south east of the Selser tract).

From the above information, it appears that Jacob Funkhouser occupied the south west portion of the 471 acre Counts tract and that Gottlieb Zink occupied at least part of the north east portion of the same tract. It is interesting to note that a David Funkhouser bought 120 acres of the Benjamin Layman 500 acre tract (Shenandoah Co. Deed Book E, p. 382 - 26 Oct. 1785). In addition, Benjamin Layman had a daughter named Barbara who married Christian Funkhouser. For each of the tracts mentioned above, further information from county deed books was examined, regarding subsequent owners of the land. In all of the grants and deeds examined in the area of the Balsor Counts 471 acre tract, Gottlieb is mentioned only in the abstract quoted above.

The identity of the Jacob Funkhouser who had land near Gottlieb Zink is under investigation, but is probably not Gottlieb's father-in-law.

Linked below are tract maps for the areas of McNishes Run and Toms Brook. There are 87 tracts of land plotted on the maps, with grant dates from 1750 to 1804. This is not an exhaustive study of the tracts granted in this area during the stated period. However, the majority of tracts are plotted. The data in the tables below should be used in conjunction with the maps for interpretation.

Complete Tract Map (lower resolution, tract boundaries only - 211 KB)

Tract Map of McNishes Run (high resolution, including topographic map background - 1.85 MB)

Tract Map of Toms Brook (high resolution, including topographic map background - 2.02 MB)

I welcome any comments and corrections to the maps and information presented here. You may contact me at the email address provided below.

Jeffrey La Favre
jlafavre@gmail.com

Return to master page on Gottlieb Zink and George Brock

last updated August 21, 2008

Name of Grantee

Assignee of:

Alldoerfer, Frederick

Jacob Rife, John Lewis

Baldis, Leonard

Peter Rafure/Raffio

Bauden, Runard (Borden)

Baylis, Col. John

Beck, Stephen

Black, Peter

Joseph Reedingour

Black, Peter

Bowman, George

John Denton Sr. & Jr.
& Thomas Palmer

Bowman, George

Bozzerman, Frederick

George Weaver

Cap, Andreas

Philip Shaver/Shefer,
Jacob Rife

Coughman, Isaac

Abraham Denton Sr.

Counts, Balsor

Benjamin Lehman

Craybill, Christian

Andrew Yager

Creybill, John

Crybiel, John

Darlinger, Adam (Dartinger)

Lewis Tacket

Denton, Abraham

Denton, Benjamin

Denton, Benjamin

Denton, Benjamin

John Moss

Denton, Capt. John

Denton, John

Funk, Adam

Funk, Ann

Funk, John

Funk, John Jr.

Barbara Funk,
John Funk Sr.

Funk, Martin

Gfeller, Adam

Giveler, Christian

George Epler

Hammon, George M.

George Hoffman,
Caleb Odle

Hanger, Peter

Harrison, Burr Jr.

Hockman, Christian

Hockman, Jacob

Simon Dehart/Deheart

Hoyser, Henry

Huddle, Charles

Huddle, Charles

James Denton

Huddle, Charles

Huddle, Henry

Huddle, John

Huddle, John
(son of Charles Huddle)

Jordon, John

Keller, John

Henry Fravel,
John Morial/Morrah

Kelp, John Adam

Kelp, John William

Peter Bowman

Knibert, Christopher

Layman, Benjamin

heirs of
John Baughman

Little, Jonas

Little, Mary, George & John

Mauk, John

George Summerwalt/
Sumvolt/

Mauk, Peter

Miller, Christina

Miller, Jacob

Miller, Jacob

Nehemiah Odell

Miller, Jacob
(a portion of this survey
was granted to J. B. Reedy -
see his entry)

Palmer, Thomas

Palmer, Thomas

Parrett, Frederick

Pugh, Joseph

Leonard Baldis

Reedy, John Bernard
(this tract was part of 302
acres surveyed for
Jacob Miller - see his
entry)

Rife, Jacob

Mathias Gabbord/
Gabbbert

Roller, Martin
(a major portion of this tract
was previously granted to
Joseph Funk - 205 acres -
12 JUN 1751)

Selser, John Lewis

Benjamin Lehman,
John Baughman

Slotzer, Conrod

Henry Black

Smith, Daniel

Spengler, Peter

John Stonebridge

Stoner, Wolrick
(this tract later granted to
Henry Snarr, who married
Anna, former wife of W. Stoner
- grant date: 23 JUL 1787)

Stover, Jacob

Strickler, Jacob

John Barnat Ready/
Reedy

Summer, George

John B. Reidy/Reedy,
Samuel Dyer

Summers, Michael

Henry Summerwalt

Tackitt, Mary & Lewis

Tartinger, Adam
(Dartinger/Derting)

Tartinger, Philip
(Dartinger/Derting)

Vendall, Philip (Wendal)

Christopher Vendall

Wandall, Augustine

Wandell, Christopher

Wandell, Valentine

Weaver, George

Weaver, Philip

Weddle, John
(heir of Daniel Weddle)

Weesman, Philip

Wilkey, George & Godfry

Witsell, Nicholas

Adam Fox

Woolford, Frederick

John Gleek/Clock

Zomwald, Henry & Christopher
(forfeited by Thomas Gray)

NW = No Warrant

In Assignee column, if there was more than one, the names are separated by commas (e.g. Benjamin Lehman, John Baughman should be understood as: John Lewis Selser was the assignee of Benjamin Lehman, who was the assignee of John Baughman)

Most Assignee Names, Warrant Dates and Survey Dates were obtained from Peggy Shomo Joyner's books "Abstracts of Virginia's Northern Neck Warrants & Surveys." A few were obtained from Cecil O'Dell's book "Pioneers of Old Frederick County Virginia."

Grantee Names and Grant Dates were obtained from the original grants (digital images available online at the Library of Virginia). The names are spelled as they are in the grants. As is commonly known, the spellings of names, especially last names, varied considerably between documents for some individuals. Thus, a single individual may be represented by a number of spelling variations. The author of these maps did not attempt to sort out individuals, but rather has presented names as they appear in the grants. In some instances, alternative spellings are supplied in parentheses.

Corner and Line Key for Surveys on McNishes Run and Toms Brook

The surveys list trees and geographical features for most corners. In addition, some information may be supplied for a line (e.g. "crossing a creek" or "running along a ridge"). A number located near a corner is a label for the nearby corner. A number near a line, but not near a corner, is a label for that line. If a line is said to cross a creek, usually the exact location of crossing is not indicated. Thus, a number label for a line should not be interpreted to mark the exact location of a described feature on the line.

One must be careful in matching corners of adjacent tracts by the tree descriptions because they can vary between surveys for the same point. The geographical descriptions may vary as well (for example, in one survey a corner may be described as "on a hill" and in another survey the same corner may be described as "on a ridge"). In any case, the descriptions of trees are of no value when attempting to apply survey lines to a modern topographical map. However, the geographical descriptions can be useful. For this reason, the geographical descriptions for corners and lines are included in the maps, marked by number labels. Use the key below to translate the numbers to descriptions. One must keep in mind that some features may change over a period of time, particularly the course of a river or creek, when running through relatively flat terrain. Thus, we must not demand that a 250-year-old survey describe all points of geographical interest at the locations that match a modern topographical map. Here I must remark, however, at the surprising accuracy of some of the surveys, which match very well with the current banks of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River in this region. Perhaps this should not be surprising due to the deep canyon that the river has cut in this region. But here I wish rather to marvel at the skill of the surveyor of the time, who really could do a good job of surveying along a river. But when we analyze surveys in rough terrain, the surveyor of the day can be seen to be limited by his equipment. It is difficult to measure the distance between two points when one is tramping up and down the hills, trying to sight with a compass through the trees. Thus, it is no wonder that surveys away from the river suffer considerably in accuracy. In attempting to apply these old surveys to the terrain, as visualized on a topographic map, I have tried my best to position the surveys near their true locations. However hard one may try, this is not possible to a high degree of accuracy, due to a lack of sufficient data. For those who need to know the exact location of a tract, these maps will fail in most cases. Nevertheless, they probably provide a relatively close approximation to the true locations in many cases. And perhaps more importantly, they provide information on the neighbors of many families.

1. south side of a hill
2. on a point
3. point of another hill
4. crossing the Great Wagon Road
5. on a knowle; on a knoll
6. near Toms Brook
7. near and on the west side of the Great Wagon Road
8. point of a hill
9. on a hillside near the River
10. on a hillside; side of a hill
11. on a ridge
12. north side of a hill
13. in a drain
14. by a gully
15. on a hill
16. on a level; on level land
17. by said branch
18. by forks of a branch
19. bank of the North River (of Shenandoah); bank of River; on the River
20. by a steep valley; near a steep valley
21. foot of a steep hill
22. side of a ridge
23. steep hillside
24. crossing a branch
25. on a high hill
26. on the River at foot of a large hill
27. crossing branch of McNishes Run; crossing McNishes Run
28. brow of a small hill
29. on a small knoll
30. rocky point near branch
31. on a large ridge
32. crossing the Great Wagon Road and McNishes Run
33. south west side of McNishes Run by the Great Wagon Road on a hillside
34. near a valley; by a valley
35. south west side of Toms Brook about 1 � poles
36. about 2 poles east side county road
37. north side of a branch on a hillside
38. steep bank
39. crossing Toms Brook
40. amongst cliff rocks near River
41. crossing River by an island
42. bank of North Shannandoah at or near foot of North Mountain of Powels Fort
43. spur of the mountain
44. on a flat ridge
45. by a road
46. in a valley
47. in a great valley
48. head of a drain of Bohmans Run otherwise called McNishes
49. on the south bank of a branch
50. east side of branch of McNishes Run and south side of a ridge
51. near a very small ridge or knoll
52. top of a ridge
53. on point of a small ridge near branch of McNishes Run
54. in a small valley between a ledge of rocks and a stony knoll
55. west side of a branch of McNishes Run and side of a small ridge

56. point of a ridge or hill
57. on a very small ridge
58. crossing the River (North River of Shenandoah)
59. flat point
60. foot of a hill near a pond
61. turn of the River
62. along the side of the mountain
63. end of a point
64. side of a steep hill near the mountain
65. crossing the River twice
66. top of a hill
67. foot of a point near a pond
68. on a decent
69. head of a drain
70. small drain
71. deep drain
72. on a steep hill abutting the River
73. by a drain
74. foot of a large hill
75. spur of a ridge
76. crossing the Great Wagon Road
77. 2 poles below the mouth of a branch
78. at the Great Wagon Road
79. brink of the River at the foot os a very steep hill
80. side of a rocky ridge
81. on the rising of a steep knowl
82. on a small ridge
83. south side of Toms Brook in a small round hollow
84. point of a small ridge
85. head of a small valley near the Great Wagon Road
86. foot of a hill
87. crossing the main road
88. foot of a hill on south side of Toms Brook
89. by a deep drain
90. from the south corner of the tract, the N44E line intersects Toms Brook at 46 poles
91. from the north corner of the tract, the S44W line intersects Toms Brook at 68 poles
92. upon a cliff north west side of the River
93. on a bank near a valley or drain
94. brow of a small knoll
95. on a hillside east side of a meadow
96. crossing Lick Valley
97. mouth of a valley
98. side of a small hill
99. south side of Lick Valley on the bank of a ridge between 2 small valleys
100. north side of a steep valley
101. low ground
102. high spur of the mountain
103. west side of a steep hill
104. brow of a hill
105. edge of a small valley
106. on a small hill
107. north side of a spring on McNishes Run
108. on a large point
109. 20 poles north east of a pond
110. near the main road
111. head of a valley
112. gap of a rich hill by a road
113. small hillside near a valley
114. bank of Toms Brook