Prince / Printz Family History

Captain George Printz at Valley Forge?

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:40:00 +0000

Charles Printz noted in the book that: "George was also found on a list, dated Baltimore, MD, July 29, 1778, on General Nelson's Corps of Light Dragoons. Whether the Virginia Militia was a part of this group or not, has not been ascertained. George's name is enscribed on a brass plate at the Valley Forge Memorial Bell Tower dedicated by the NSDAR to patriots of the Revolutionary War."

I just found some new information that might help more directly connect George to Valley Forge. The following is the content of a letter from General George Washington sent from Valley Forge to General Nelson. This text comes from the University of Virginia's collection of Washington's papers, which you can search by clicking on the link above.

To BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS NELSON, JUNIOR
Head Quarters, Valley Forge, May 15, 1778.

Dear Sir: By last nights post I received your favor of the 5th. Instant.

I thank you for your exertions to raise a body of Cavalry for reinforceing and relieving those belonging to the Army, which by the severe service of the last campaign are much reduced.

As motives of generosity and duty bring your Corps to the field, I flatter myself they will render essential services, and that their conduct will be such, as to merit the approbation of their Country. With respect to Carbines, if they can be procured without much delay, it would be best, but if they cannot, I would not wish you to wait for them. The most direct route will be thro' Baltimore. However, I do not know but the Horses may be more easily subsisted on the upper road, tho' that too has been greatly frequented and the forage considerably exhausted.

There is a bit more in that letter after that but not relevant to this. Click on this link to see the full text of the letter.

The reason I think this provides one more possible proof that George was at Valley Forge is that General Washington directs Nelson to go through Baltimore on the trip. The roster where George Printz appears on Nelson's troop rolls was done in Baltimore about 10 weeks after Washington wrote this letter. Allowing for horse-based travel time for Washington's letter to go from Valley Forge to Nelson in Virginia and for Nelson's travel time to Baltimore, this would seem to be a reasonable amount of time for George Printz to be in Baltimore as part of this troop movement. This makes me believe George was on his way to Valley Forge when he was listed on the roster in Baltimore. That said, the Continental Army vacated the Valley Forge encampment in mid-June of 1778, so if George Printz's unit did go there, they probably just joined up with the forces at the very end at Valley Forge or somewhere else.

-- Victor

Printz/Prince Info at Library of Virginia Website

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:55:00 +0000

An interesting insight I had while doing the research in the microfiche room of the National Archives in DC was that a lot of the Printz/Prince family documents were not stored there because they happenened before the US federal government was established in 1789. Major documents like land deeds and such are instead held by the Commonwealth of Virginia, which did exist before the US federal government was set up. The Library of Virginia has a great website with lots of great old documents listed, some of which have images available online. You can find that by going to www.lva.va.gov and clicking on the "Search the LVA Catalog" link. If you type in "Printz" you will find references to dozens of items, some of which are clickable. You may also want to search for any names using the Prince spelling as well, as that sometimes is how it is listed. I found images for old deeds for the family homesteads. I highly recommend visiting it as part of your research.

Prince's Listed in the 1790 US Census

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:46:00 +0000

I went to the National Archives this week to see what information they had on the root of this family line in Page County, Virginia. Here is how the Princes (note the spelling) showed up in that first US census in 1790. That census only listed the head of each household and then the number of people in that household. (Note that way back then they published two numbers for each household, "White" and "Black", with the numbers showing below being "White" and no number entered for "Black.") I was fascinated to see the spelling Prince instead of Printz. I called Charles Printz right after seeing this to rib him that he has been spelling his name wrong all this time. Seems like their name often got recorded by government officials as Prince but they referred to themselves (on tombstones and such) as Printz. The original reason Charles wrote the book was to see why some of his relatives spelled their name Prince and some spelled it Printz.

Visit with Charles Printz

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:06:00 +0000

My father and I went out to visit Charles Printz and his wife this month (June 2010). Charles turns 95 years old next month and he is doing great. I took my new iPad with me and used it to show him the latest on this website. He was very impressed with all the people visiting from all over the USA and the world and especially liked to see the posts on the guestbook. He is so glad that people are still able benefit from the book on the family tree he wrote but ran out of printed copies years ago.

New Posts on Guestbooks

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:51:50 +0000

Hey folks. You may notice that I haven't posted anything on this part of the site for a while. Instead of doing the Q&A as a blog, I just post replies to Guestbook entries on the Guestbook itself. It is just a more simple way to do it. Check out the Guestbook for more information.

Thanks,
Victor

Prince / Printz's of Piqua, Ohio

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:44:11 +0000

Question: hello! As you can see my last name is printz my whole family is from Ohio, Piqua actually. My great-grandfather Joesph Printz was also from Piqua. And my grandfather James, my dad Jim, his sister and my aunt jan, and I all were born in Piqua (And we are all Printzs). I was just wondering if we were related and if this was our families history too. please email me back and let me know if you know anything about the Printz's from Piqua, Ohio. thanks so much.

Answer: Yes, there are a bunch of family members listed in the book as living in Piqua, Ohio. Here is what is in there.
1B3C5A2. William Prince, born 1834 in Page Co., VA; died 1877. He married Mary , born 1839; died . William was a physician and was a graduate the Eclectic Medical Inst. of
Cincinnati. He moved his family in 1864 to Piqua, Ohio where he spent the remainder of his
life. Children: 1B3C5A2A. William J. Prince, born 1861 in New Bremen, Auglaise Co., Ohio; died 1919 in Piqua, Ohio. He married in 1887 to Jeanette Snyder, of Washington, DC, born 1864 in NJ; died William attended schools in Piqua, Ohio and at Pickering Inst.; and took courses at Wittenberg College and entered, in 1883, Eclectic Medical
Institute of Cincinnati where he graduated in 1887. Following graduation, he returned to
Piqua where he built up a large general practice. He was active in various medical
societies, served as health officer of Miami Co., Ohio; School Board, Board of Public
Safety, President of the Ohio Board of Education, the Masons, Elks, and the Red Men.

1B3C5I2. Charles I. Prince, born May 29, 1869 in Millerstown, Champaign Co., OH; died 1958. He married on Apr. 29, 1896 in Millerstown, OH to Eva Taylor, born Feb. 1877; died , daughter of and Louise Taylor, born Nov. 1849; died Charles and Eva first lived in Urbana, Ohio, but moved later to Piqua, Ohio, where he was employed by the U. S. Railway Mail Service working trains between Pittsburgh, PA and Indianapolis, IN. Children:
1B3C5I2A. Hazel P. Prince, born Oct. 1896; died 1979. She married Charles Collins, of Piqua, OH, born ; died . She is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Champaign Co., OH.
1B3C5I2B. Lillian G. Prince, born Dec. 1898; died . She married Zellers, of Piqua, OH,
born ; died 1B3C5I2C. Pauline Prince, born ; died 1B3C5I2D. Hubert Taylor Prince, born ; died

1B3C5I4. John Hayes Prince, born June 7, 1876 in Millerstown, OH; died 1950. He married Edith Ginn, born 1886; died . He graduated from Ohio State University and Ohio Medical School. He practiced medicine in Piqua, Ohio. In 1920, they were living in Piqua, OH. They may have had no children.

1B3H1C3B. Charles C. Prince, born June 19, 1865; died 1948. He married on Apr. 13, 1891 to Mary Rosa Brandenburg, born 1873; died 1963. They lived in Piqua, OH. They are buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Adams Twp., Champaign Co., OH. Children: 1B3H1C3B1. Hazel M. Prince, born 1891; died 1B3H1C3B2. Faye Prince, born ; died 1B3H1C3B3. C. Cloyd Prince, born 1901; died 1940 and buried in Rosedale Cemetery. 1B3H1C3B4. Grace E. Prince, born 1906; died 1B3H1B3B5. Elsie Prince, born ; died 1895 and buried in Rosedale Cemetery.

Emily Emma Prince

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:24:24 +0000

Question: My great great grandfather Alexander Alter was married to Emily Emma Prince on September 11, 1895 in Dodge City,Kansas. She was his third wife.They split up when she left Alexander for another man named William Wright in about 1897 or 1898. How many children did Emily have? What was the date of Emily's death?

Answer: Here is what the book has on Emily - 1B3C5J7. Emily Emma Prince, born Oct. 13, 1865 near Urbana, Champaign Co., OH; died (unknown). She married on June 19, 1899 to a widower, William Wright, born ; died . They had no children, but prior to her marriage, she had a son, Clyde Parnell Prince (no further information on him). They lived in Rushyvania, OH. William had several children by his first marriage.

Printz and Prince Reunion

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:11:13 +0000

My mom and dad and I had a wonderful visit in April 2008 with Charles Printz and Jean Printz. Both Charles and Jean are descendants of Captain George Printz. My dad and I are descendants of George's brother, Cutlip (also a Revolutionary War veteran.) Jean was one of the last Printz family members to spend time on Captain George Printz's home in Stony Man, Virginia, as her uncle Lorenzo Printz was the last Printz to live in that house. I added a couple of pictures at the end of the photo album on this site from that visit.

Gottfried (Godfrey) Printz

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:13:46 +0000

Question: My 4th great grandfather was Godfrey Prince married to Hannah. Godfrey died in Nov 1840 in Washington Co IN. I believe Gottleib and George Printz were his brothers. Note that Godfrey was a soldier in the Revolutionary War which would qualify you and your relatives for inclusion in the Sons of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Answer: Indeed, they were brothers. Here is Godfrey's information from the book:
1B3I. Gottfried(Godfrey) Brentz7, born Mar. 7, 1754 at York, York Co., Pa.; bp Apr. 14, 1754 at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, witnesses Gottlieb and h. w. Anna Maria; died Nov. 1, 1840 in Washington Co., IN. He married c!780 to Martha Hannah Lozenia _ .... , born 1755; died c!855. It is possible that Hannah was the daughter of Lawrence Lassenna or Lassanay who had purchased 300 acres of land from Samuel Short in Shenandoah Co., VA which adjoined the 'Information on Gottfried Printz ( Prince ) and his descendants was taken mostly from manuscripts of Dr. Russell Bidlack, of Ann Arbor, MI and Sharon A. Huffman, of Wichita, KS. The first record of Gottfried or Godfrey as he was known, was in May 8, 1787, when he was visited by a tax collector and found that he owned a horse and four cattle. There are no records to show that he owned any land in Shenandoah Co. VA. Godfrey served during the Revolutionary War, in the 8th Regiment, VA Militia. He apparently left Shenandoah Co., VA about 1800 joining the many families who were
going west. He purchased two tracts of land (40 acres and 10 acres) in Botetourt Co., VA on June 10, 1800, the former for 56 pounds, current money. This land was located on Tinker Creek. He paid 65 dollars current money for the 10 acres which was located on Barreans Creek, a branch of Tinker Creek and a branch of Roanoke River. Probably, a house and other buildings were on the 10 acre plot. Godfrey was taxed on this land until Aug. 14, 1816 when he sold for $850 all of his land to Peter Frantz, from whom he had purchased the 10 acres. Godfrey and Hannah purchased 160 acres of land in Washington Co., IN for $640 on Oct. 16, 1816 from Demcey Morris and Gemima Morris. Their land was near the village of Kussuth, IN. He gave notice on Sept. 15, 1827 to the elected trustees of the county that he was giving a deed for a lot to, "build a Meeting House for the M.E. Church and to be used by the neighborhood as a school house". The deed was executed on May 21, 1828. Godfrey and Hannah's children probably attended the common schools of VA and probably learned to read and write in English-which is probably more than the parents were able to accomplish. Godfrey's will was written on Apr. 5, 1827 and was probated on Nov. 11, 1840. The will names only his wife, Hannah. Hannah's will, dated Nov. 13, 1844 was probated on Jan. 7, 1856 and names her son David and her daughter Dianna. It mentioned
"all my children".

Luther Prince who married Eva Dodson

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:22:53 +0000

Question: Do you have any info on a Luther Printz? He was married to a Eva Dodson, daughter of James Arnold Dodson. What little info I can find this was in Madison County, Va. Thanks for your help.

Answer:
1B3D1A2H1. Lawrence Luther Printz, born 1901; died . He married (1) on Apr. 16, 1919 with the Rev. M. B. Jamison, officiating, to Eva Dodson, born 1896; died c!923, daughter of and Lizzie Dodson; (2) on Oct. 14, 1924 at Hagerstown, MD at 1st Baptist Church, with the Rev. Joseph R. Irwin, officiating, to Gertrude W. Woodard, born 1905. At the time of his first marriage, Lawrence's occupation was a laborer. In 1920, they were living with his parents.

Father was:
1B3D1A2H. Thomas J. Printz, born 1863; died . He married on July 2, 1899 with the Rev. John Racer, officiating, to Ada Nichols, born 1878; died , daughter of J. Howard Nichols. At the time of his marriage, Thomas was a laborer.

Father was:
1B3D1A2. Christian Printz, born July 11, 1824; died in Hastings, NE; died Mar. 20, 1888 of consumption. He married on May 15, 1850 to Sarah (Sallie) Miller, born Oct. 5, 1826; died Oct. 9, 1903, daughter of Henry Miller and Margaret Schmelzer (1B3D5H). He was a farmer near Shenk's Mills and was a highly respected citizen. Christian obtained 81.25 acres of land at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Pass Run on Jan. 19, 1851 from William F. Bradley; land from Samuel Judd and wife on Mar. 28, 1862 and Jan. 23, 1863 on the north side of a ridge known as Seeding Ridge. He sold a tract of land on Piney Mountain between Dry Run and the Hawksbill on Mar. 3, 1863 to Noah Printz. Christian served as legal guardian for his brother, Gerhard Ambrose Printz after his father's death. Christian and Sarah were devout members of the Lutheran Church. They are buried in Morning Star Lutheran Church Cemetery. In the 1860 census, his real estate was valued at $900.00 and his personal property at $464.00. Christian served in the Confederate Army, serving as a Lt. in Co. K, 97th VA Inf.; and in 8th Christman's Battn, Virginia Reserves. Sarah's obituary stated that "She died after an illness of about six weeks. She left 8 children and 40 grandchildren. She had at the proper age connected herself with the Lutheran Church and remained faithful to her vows. As a mother, she was kind and tender; as a neighbor obliging and as a Christian, pure in heart".

Father was:
1B3D1A. David Christian Printz, born 1802; died Oct. 17, 1855. He married on Jan. 27, 1824 to Elizabeth Boulier Painter, born 1802; died 1880 at 78 yrs. 5 mos. 11 days. They are buried at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Cemetery, Stonyman, VA. In the 1850 census, he is listed as a farmer with assets of $2000. He was called "Little Dave" and she was called, "Peggy". Both were members of the Lutheran Church.

Father was:
1B3D1. John Printz, born 1765; died 1847. He married on Jan. 12, 1801 to Margareda Comer, born c!770; died before 1847, daughter of Martin Comer (the original family name was Corner and was anglicized to Comer). John's wife is not mentioned in his will so presumably she was deceased. They lived in Page Co., Va. and John's nickname was "Big John". There are records of land purchased that John made as follows: On June 14, 1810, 145 acres of land from George Gander and Anna Gander of Shenandoah Co., VA for 730 pounds current money of Virginia; on Oct. 1, 1814, 110 acres of land in Shenandoah Co., Va. from James McCollister and his wife, Margaret McCollister, James Spidler and wife Anna Spidler of Fairfield Co., Ohio and John Metz and wife, Katherine Metz, of Shenandoah Co., VA; on Oct. 6, 1825, he purchased 128 acres of land, adjacent to the Varners in Shenandoah Co., VA from George Hetick and wife, Magdalena Hetick, of Green Twp., Franklin Co., PA. John was a deacon in Grace Church.

Father was:
Captain George Printz (see Revolutionary War tab for details on George).