Hanss Lohnes was born in Odenwald, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1540. Around 1562, he married Veronica (last name unknown), and their son Leonard was born in 1565.

Leonard Lohnes was born in Pfirschbach, Hoechest, Germany in 1565. He married Margaret around 1587, and their son Hans was born in 1590. Leonard died in Pfirschbach in 1610, and Margaret died in 1622.

Hans Lohnes was born in Pfirschbach, Hoechest, Germany in 1590. On August 7, 1614, he married Eva Trinkhaus. Their son Johann Hans was born in 1619 in Hoechest.

Johann Hans Lohnes was born February 17, 1619, in Goechest, Germany. He married Catharina Reeg on September 7, 1640, and the couple had six children born between 1846 and 1881: Johanus Hanss, Elizabethn, Leonhard, Anna, Hicrongmus, and Peter. Johann died in Hessen, Germany, August 6, 1678; and Catharina died in Hessen December 20, 1667.

Johanus Hanss Lohnes was born October 18, 1646, in Hoechest, Germany. On February 10, 1669, he married Anna Catharina Meissner. Nine children were born to the couple between the years of 1671 and 1691: Anna Barbara, Johanns, Magretta, Hicrong, Barbara, Martin, Johann Leonardt, Johann Nicholaus, and Eva. Anna died on June 10, 1691, less than a month after the birth of her last child Eva. Johanus lived until December 28, 1721. Both died in Hoechest, Germany.

Johann Leonardt Lohnes was born February 25, 1679, in Hoechst Odenwald, Starkenburg, Hessen, Germany. He married Anna Catharina Barth on February 8, 1711. Between 1714 and 1726, the couple had six children: Johann Georg Adameus, Anna Catharina, Johannes Peter, Anna Elizabetha, Johann Nicklaus, and Margaretta, all born in Hessen. (At least one son, Johannes Peter, migrated to Nova Scotia, where he died in 1794.) Johann Leonardt died in Hoechest on January 27, 1733, and Anna Catharina on April 5, 1761.

Johann Georg Adameus Lohnes was born August 24, 1714, in Starkenburg, Hessen, Germany. Sometime prior to 1737, he and Catharina Elisabeth Kahler were married. They had seven children between the years of 1737 and 1750: Johann Peter, Johann Georg, Johann G, Johann Leonhard, George Adam, Anna Elizabeth, and Charlotta, all born in Hessen, Germany. Johann Georg Adameus was a Captain in the 8th German Regiment and fought against the British in the American Revolution. It is not known if he then returned to Germany or if he stayed in America. His son George Adam immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Johann Georg's brother, Johannes Nicholas (b 1724). Nicholas brought some nephews to Philadelphis in 1753 on the ship Two Brothers. It is not known for sure how many nephews came to America with Nicholas, and it is not known where or when Johann Georg Adameus died.

*Germany to America*
George Adam Lones was born October 21, 1740, in Starkenburg, Hessen, Germany, but in 1753, at the age of 13, he immigrated to America with an uncle, Johan Nicklaus Lohnes, on the ship Two Brothers and initially settled west of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. At the age of 24, he is listed on the April 6,1764, Pennsylvania Naturalizations List* as John George Lowness, Cusshahoppen Township, Bucks County. In the month following his Naturalization, on May 29th, George married Eva Fasin. A son, George Henry, was born to the couple in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on September 4, 1765, but the young mother Eva died just three days later (possibly from childbirth complications). Sometime within the next year, George married Rosina Dellinger, and deed records indicate that over the next while the couple bought & sold land in Lower Milford Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was here that their son Jacob was born in 1767.   (Jacob Lones was the great-great grandfather of Fred Seiber.)

George Adam and Rosina then migrated from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Frederick County, Virginia, where two more children were born to them, Margaret in 1769 and Adam in 1771. Soon after the birth of Adam, the family of six moved to Shenandoah County, Virginia--where they again bought and sold land and multiplied their holdings over the next several years. Another son, George, was born in 1773. Although George Adam obviously had prospered materially, by 1789 he was feeling weak and infirm to the point of preparing a will. By the time of his death in 1793 (at the age of 53), George owned a 350 acre plantation in Shenandoah worth around $2500, which he left to his eldest son Henry. As shown in the will below, Rosina's needs were to be provided for by her step-son, Henry. Adam was to be given 10 pounds and daughter Margaret 3 pounds. Two sons, Jacob and George, are not mentioned by name in the will*. George Adam died in Shenandoah County, Virginia, on March 12, 1793. Rosina died in 1814.

*A possible explanation for George Adam's failure to include Jacob and George (Jr) in his will may be found in the following facts. Sometime prior to and including the year of 1790, Jacob and one of his brothers were away on an exploratory trip to scout lands south of the Ohio River. They were seemingly pleased with what they found, for they made land purchases. The original indenture for the Knox County, Tennessee, property which later became known as the Dowell farm (Dowell Springs) was recorded in 1790 by Jacob Lones. Other deeds followed: one from the state of North Carolina, and another from the state of Franklin (now Tennessee). Sometime after these land purchases, the Lohnes brothers returned to Virginia. Their father, George Adam, died in March of 1793; and by September 25, 1793, the date of the Cavet Station Massacre (near present-day Farragut), the Lones brothers were already living in what is now Knox County, Tennessee, just two miles from Cavet Station. (PERHAPS Jacob and George Jr had been away for so long when George Adam wrote his will that he believed they would never return. He may have been dead or incapacitated by the time they actually did return for a visit.)
Three of the sons--Henry, Adam, and George each married a Helsley sister, thus three brothers married three sisters.

Jacob Lones was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1767, to George Adam Lones and Rosina Dellinger Lones. (Although Jacob was the first child born to them, George Adam already had a two-year-old son, Henry, whose mother, Eva Fasin, had died just three days after giving birth.) Jacob grew up in Shenandoah, Virginia, and it was there on April 12, 1786, that he married Mary Stickley. Jacob was 19 and Mary, 14 at the time of their wedding. Between 1787 and 1790, the couple had three children born in Shenandoah County, Virginia: George, Henry, and Betsy. Sometime prior to 1790, Jacob and one of his brothers made an exploratory trip to scout lands south of the Ohio River. A deed was recorded in 1790 by Jacob for the Knox County, Tennessee property which later became known as the Dowell Farm (Dowell Springs). Other deeds followed--from North Carolina and from Franklin (now Tennessee). By the time of the Cavet Station Massacre** (September 25, 1793), the Lones brothers were established in Knox County, living just two miles from Cavet Station. It was there between 1796 and 1814, that Jacob and Mary had seven more children: Jesse, Mary Ann, Nancy, Isaac, Daniel, Charles David, and Charlotte. Mary died January 21, 1825, in Knox County, Tennessee, at the age of 53. Jacob lived to the age of 90, and died in 1857, the year the family first occupied "the brick house." See link: Lones Property

**Cavett Station Massacre                                                                                                        As Related by Mary Dowell (great-granddaughter of Jacob Lones)                          Return to Top

The Cherokees had crossed Clinch River from the Indian Territory, now known as Anderson County, with the design to attack and burn Knoxville. They halted upon the question of whether to massacre the entire settlement there or only the men. One of the chiefs, Hanging Maw, who was a leader in the councils of his people opposed the move. It is also related that Van, another chief, carried a little white captive boy behind him on his horse. A third chief picked a quarrel with Van, and in retaliation for his treatment, killed the child. This dispute caused a delay which made it too late for the band to reach Knoxville before daybreak.  To avoid complete failure of their expedition, they attacked the Cavett home, massacring 13 members of the home and burning the cabin. The only one to escape was a child named Nancy, who crept out and hid in the weeds. I (Mary Dowell) was told by Nancy's daughter that the savages disemboweled their victims and strung the intestines on the garden fence. It is said that Jacob Lones saw the flames redden the sky. The next morning, calling together his men, brothers, and slaves, Jacob followed the Indians as far as Clinch River, near the present-day Solway Bridge. Arriving at the brink of the river, they could see the hoof prints of the Indians' horses with water still in them.

Charles David Lones - See link: Charles and Rebecca Lones

Benjamin Franklin Seiber - See link Benjamin and Mary (Lones) Seiber