David Frazer (also sometimes spelled Fraser, Fraizer, and Frazier, depending on his mood) was the immigrant founder of our line of the Frazier clan in America.
He was born in Scotland around 1720, and would have been old enough to have joined his countrymen in the Battle of Culloden. It's unknown exactly when he made it to the colonies. The earliest written evidence shows him working a farm near a place called Marsh Creek, Pennsylvania in 1750, so it is possible he was banished to the American colonies by the English as punishment after Culloden. He later left Marsh Creek and moved southwest to a farm near a little town called Gettysburg. Therein lies a Frazier tale for another day.
He was a devout member of what became known in the colonies as the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and would have supported Bonnie Prince Charlie against the usurping Hanoverian princes. He may even have been among the first people to sing "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," which our children still sing today. He was well educated, and had a considerable library, including, among other titles, the delightfully named title to the right.
Some American Scots became ardent Patriots when the War of Independence came. Many others were Loyalists. There is a scholarly explanation of the divisions among the Scotsmen in this website.
David died in 1782, shortly before the war was won.
David died in 1782, shortly before the war was won.
Here's a painting of Bonnie Prince Charlie. He really was quite bonnie.
Funny stuff. He definitley was pretty Bonnie!
ReplyDeleteI was always told that David was born in Marsh Creek, Scotland. After years and years of research trying to find the place I was surprised to learn that Marsh Creek was here in the U.S. and later became know as Gettysburg! Rumours abound in family history and I imagine that what was told to me was of such.
I saw a lot of references to Marsh Creek, Scotland in my research as well - and I agree, it's probably one of those errors that keeps getting repeated over and over. (Though perhaps there is also a Marsh Creek in Scotland - as you know, one of the reasons some of the data is so confusing is that the names from the old country were recycled in the new.) But that's part of the fun of genealogy, too :)
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