Abraham Stapp (ca. 1650-1714) acquired land in old Rappahannock (now Essex) Co., Virginia in 1670. Contents: Origin and distribution. --The colonial background. --Pioneer Kentucky Stapps. --The Southern Stapps/Stepps. --The mid-west and western Stapps/Stepps. --Moses Stepp. --Probing the unsettled valleys. --An area gropes for destiny. --The Joseph Stepp allied families. --Biographies.

The family of Barnabas Horton, Puritans who suffered the indignities of religious intolerance and persecution in England, sailed for America in 1635 on the ship, Swallow. In America they met and coped with all the challenges of frontier life, as they journeyed from New England to Virginia, then further west to Indiana, Kansas, and Indian territory. Joseph Horton, born in 1578, is believed to have been the father of Barnabas Horton. Barnabas was born...

Lucas Peterson (d.1686) came as a sailor to the Delaware country on the ship Charitas of the third Swedish Expedition in 1641. He is listed as a taxable with two sons in New Castle Co. He was the father of seven children. His son Peter Peterson (d.1735) died on the Morris River, Salem Co., NJ. He was the father of ten children. A descendant, Thomas Peterson (1756-1825) settled in Jefferson Co., Ohio. He married Anne (Hannah) Gammel abt. 1777. They...

Charles Fulk (ca. 1794-1881), son of John and Eve (Biller?) Fulk, married 1826 Sarah "Sally" Custer in Rockingham Co., Va. She was the daughter of Richard Custer, Sr. and Jane Humble. She was born ca. 1794 and died 1869 of old age in Brocks Gap, Rockingham Co., Va. Charles and Sarah lived on a farm which she had inherited from her father in Brocks Gap in what is now the Riverside Church area of Fulks Run. Descendants live in Virginia, Maryland, Illinois,...

John Stepp was born in about 1710. His parents were Joshua Stepp and Martha Coffey. He married Ann Salmon March 27, 1731. They had at least five children. John died in 1751 in Culpepper County, Virginia. His son, James, was born in 1733 in Orange County, Virginia. He married Lucy Gholston. They had eight children. James died in Madison County, Kentucky. Descendants and relatives lived in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and elsewhere.

Johann Peter von Kennen/von Konnen/Voncannon (1722-between 1800-1810) was born at Steinsfurt, Germany, the son of Hans Martin von Kennen/Kennel (1698-1754) and a descendant of Conrad von Kaenel (b. ca. 1532) of Aeschi, Switzerland. He immigrated to America in 1748 and died in Randolph County, North Carolina. His son, John Voncannon/Fincannon (ca. 1750-ca. 1841), a Revolutionary War soldier, moved to Burke County, North Carolina, ca. 1775. He and...

Benjamin Wages/Wagers (d. 1844), a Revolutionary War soldier, and his wife, Mary, were married in Rowan County, North Carolina, ca. 1779. They had at least four sons and two daughters. Benjamin and Mary died in Morgan County, Kentucky. Their son, William Wages (b. ca. 1784), was the father of three know sons, ca. 1813-1822, at least the first two born in North Carolina. His family migrated from Kentucky to Arkansas, ca. 1835. Descendants listed,...

Benjamin Stiles was born between 1745 and 1750. He married and had one known son, John. He married Katherine McCabe in 1794 in Newton, North Carolina and had two known daughters, Katherine and Nancy. He married Susannah Conner in 1803 and had no known children. John married and had seven children. Descendants and relatives lived mainly in North Carolina. Zebedee Morris (1828-1897), son of Elias and Sarah Morris of Montgomery County, North Carolina,...

William Scott was born in 1720 in Prince Georges County, Maryland. He married Lucretia Lucy James, daughter of Thomas James and Alice Garland. They had twelve children. He died in 1794 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Descendants and relatives lived mainly in Kentucky and Missouri.