Ari Fransen - from New Netherlands Connections, cont.

Frans/Francis DeLong comes next, born about 1717. "He appears in the Poughkeepsie court recrods as Frans De Langh, Jr. He was 'junior' to his uncle Frans. Note: I've been wanting to call Grandpa Fred Daugherty Junior, to his uncle Fred. Wasn't sure it was correct.

By 1741 Frans had married Catherine Dymant, the daughter of Edward Dymant and his wife Christina Schneider. The last record of Frans is a daughter's 1743 baptism, and he had moved to Lower Smithfield, Northampton (now Monroe) County, Pennsylvania, sometime from 1750 to 1755. On Jan. 12, 1756 'Frans delong' appears on Captain John Vanetta's Company during the French and Indian War. He presumably had married for a second time because he had three children baptized on the same day in 1763; the parents were recorded as 'Frans DeLong and Hannah Carley of Smithfield'."

The next generation is John DeLong, baptized Sept. 19, 1742 in Poughkeepsie. He died at the age of 94. In December 1755 the Indians "sacked the Danbury settlement, killing scores of settlers and burning over 40 houses and milles. John probably saw service at this time as his grave marker calls him, 'a soldier of the French and Revolutionary War.' The area became deserted except for a few hardy settlers. Dansbury was later rebuilt as Stroudsburg.

About 1763 John married Rachel Pew/Pugh. Rachel was baptized at Smithfield on May 22, 1748, the daughter of Hugh Pugh and his wife Helena Brink.

John enlisted in the Continental Line inDecember 1776 for three years, but he was not discharged until February 1781. He spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. John and Rachel sold their land in Pennsylvania in September 1806, and the Winans-Delong part reached Milton Township in Trumbull County, Ohio, on June 21, 1807. John DeLong died there on Feb. 15, 1835 and is buried in the Eckis Cemetery. John is my second cousin 6 times removed.