According to the Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot Index, Thomas Frederick was born in February 1751 in Lancaster County Pa. His father was Hans “Noah” Frederick (Hans Noah immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. Click here for more details on his family). Some researchers state his mother was Anna Margaretha Becker Frederick, others state that Thomas’ biological mother died when he was young, and that Anna Margaretha was his step-mother. I have not seen proof either way but, based on how he was treated by Anna Margaretha’s family later in life, I tend to believe she was his step-mother.
When the French and Indian War began in 1754, the Frederick family lived on the edge of the frontier in western Lancaster County, Pa. Native Americans, aided and abetted by their French allies, attacked frontier farms and settlements to try and drive away European settlers. The colony of Pennsylvania set up a series of Forts to quarter soldiers and provide shelter for civilians. The nearest Fort to the Frederick family appears to have been Fort Swatara, near modern day Lickdale, Pa.
On 12 October 1756, Noah Frederick, his son Thomas, and at least one other son, name unknown, were attacked by Native Americans (accounts vary on the number of children present during the attack). Noah was killed. Some accounts state he was tomahawked as he drank at a spring, other accounts have him attacked while plowing a field. Five year-old Thomas and at least one brother were carried away. Thomas was ultimately adopted by the Shawnee and given the name Kee-Saw-So-So. His brother was never seen or heard from again.
Thirty-one year-old Noah Frederick died without a Will. His widow, Anna Margaretha Becker Frederick, was left with the two daughters she had with Noah Frederick, Veronica and Christina, and was pregnant with Noah’s son. It is believed that all the children of Noah’s first wife (if, indeed, there was a first wife) were carried away by Native Americans or killed in the 1756 raid.
Anna Margaretha Becker Frederick and Noah Frederick’s son, Johann Georg, was born 27 March 1757. In 1758, Anna Margaretha remarried to Dewald/Dewalt Ankeny. Johann Georg (John) took the Ankeny name and, as far as I can tell, was treated as a son of Dewald/Dewalt Ankeny. Dewald/Dewalt also appears to have treated Veronica Frederick and Christine Frederick as his own daughters.
About 1762, Dewald/Dewalt Ankeny and Anna Margaretha Becker Frederick Ankeny moved their family to Clear Spring, Washington County, Md.
In 1763, at the close of the French and Indian war, Kee-Saw-So-So’s Shawnee family took him to Fort Duquesne, Pa. (Pittsburgh) and turned him over to the English authorities for a bounty payment. It is said that he cried when his Indian foster family left him. Thomas could not remember his last name, and no family came forward to claim him. Eventually he was apprenticed to Benjamin Stone, a Quaker shoemaker in Philadelphia. When his apprenticeship ended, Thomas took the last name of Stone and traveled around practicing his trade. (Here I should note that the only evidence I can find of an apprenticeship with a shoemaker is the shoemaker tools listed in the estate inventory for Thomas’ wife.)
As he traveled throughout the colony of Pa., Thomas told his life story in the hope of finding his family. Thomas had a distinctive scar on his neck where his father had lanced a boil. A former neighbor recognized the scar, and asked Thomas what he remembered of his early life. Thomas remembered a storm taking off the roof of his father’s barn. From these details, the neighbor deduced that Thomas was the son of Noah Frederick. The neighbor was able to tell Thomas that his (step) mother had remarried and moved to western Maryland. Thomas found his (step) mother, and began using the Frederick name.
If Thomas Frederick did find his (step) mother, I don’t think the reunion went well. Her second husband, Dewald/Dewalt Ankeny, was a wealthy man with hundreds of acres of property in Western Maryland. Dewald/Dewalt’s 1781 Will listed 12 children as beneficiaries, including his step-children Veronica, Christina and John. John was given the same consideration as Dewald/Dewalt’s biological sons in the Will. Anna Margaretha Ankeny, referred to as Margaret, is not given any property in the Will, but provisions are made for her home and care. Thomas is not mentioned in Dewald/Dewalt’s Will. I am unable to find a Will or Probate Record for Margaret. I find no evidence that Thomas lived near, was remembered by, or had anything to do with, the Ankeny’s for the remainder of his life.
Thomas Frederick married Ann Margaret Tibbens in 1774 in Hamlin, Lancaster County, Pa.
Thomas Frederick served in the Revolutionary War. One period of Thomas’ service was with Colonel Timothy Green’s Hanover Rifle Battalion, where he served as a Private in the Company of Richard McQuown. This unit was from York County, which neighbored Lancaster County. (Source: W.H. Eghle’s History of Lebanon County)
The remaining two periods of Thomas’ service were with Ranger units from Northumberland County – he was a Private in George Obermier’s Company of Frontier Rangers. (Source: Pa. Archives, 3rd Series, Vol 23, page 352), and a Private in Patrick Watson’s Company of Frontier Rangers. (Source: Pa. Archives, 3rd Series, Vol 23, page 352) As the name implies, the Ranger units patrolled the frontier. Given Thomas’ familiarity with Native American culture, customs and language, this service makes perfect sense.
Thomas Frederick was captured by the enemy at Fort Washington in 1776, paroled and sent home.
In 1782 a son, John Frederick, was born and baptized in Lebanon Co, Pa. (Source: Early Church Records of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania)
In 1783 a son, Jacob Frederick, was born and baptized in Lebanon Co, Pa. (Source: Early Church Records of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania)
At some point, Thomas Frederick moved his family to Laurelton, Pa., which is now in Hartley Township, Union Co., Pa. Laurelton is named for Laurel Run. (Source: The Annals of Buffalo Valley, and Wayne Ancestors, the Wayne County, Oh. Historical Society) Union County, Pa. was created in 1813 from Northumberland County. Laurelton is northwest of Lebanon County. It is quite possible that Thomas patrolled in this area when he served with the Northumberland County Ranger units.
In 1804 he moved to Columbiana County, Oh. and bought 12 sections of land – one for each of his living children. Thomas Frederick died in 1808 and is buried in the Frederick Cemetery in Centre Township, Columbiana County, Oh. When his wife, Ann Margaret (or Margaret Ann) died in 1826 the inventory of her estate included a set of shoemaker tools – these may be the tools Thomas used as a young man.
Other Sources: History of Columbiana County, Ohio, pg. 777
People in History to 1980 – Gallia county, Ohio
A Sketch of the Life and Some of the Descendants of Dewald Ankeny by Charles Ross Schultz, pg. 6