Three sons and two daughters were originally from Germany and settled in Eastern Virginia. The exact location is unknown in Virginia. Abraham PANCAKE, the eldest of the three sons, was married to Lucinda DUNN in Virginia in the early Spring of 1759.
Upon their journey west, the three brothers crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains into what is now known as West Virginia. Their first stop was at a small place now known as the town of Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia. After resting a while and viewing the land, Phillip decided to make this his future residence, and his brothers, Abraham and Isaac, helped him build a small cabin to protect himself against the wild beasts of the forest.
Leaving Phillip at this place, Abraham and his wife Lucinda, Isaac, and a little adopted boy named John KIMBLE proceeded to the Ohio River, going down to what is known as the city of Guyandotte, Cabell County, West Virginia.
They had with them on this journey two pack mules and a big yellow dog. They then crossed the Ohio River and were in Lawrence County, Ohio, where they found the valley wide, the land rich, and covered with dense forest trees. The next settlement they came to was Burlington, which consisted of a few small log cabins and one large hewed log house with a large door in the center. Upon asking what this was built for, they learned that this was the county seat and this large house was the courthouse.
After learning those homesteaders took up the land in this valley, they became discouraged but decided to journey down the valley and came to the town now known as the City of Ironton. There they became acquainted with a gentleman named Leo.
They later learned that he was a Primitive Baptist Preacher who told them that the land along the valley was all taken up but directed them to go six miles Northeast of his place to a Creek called Storm’s Creek. They did as directed and found the land even better than described and struck camp upon crossing the Creek.
Abraham PANCAKE, who settled in Ohio, raised a family of seven sons, as follows:
- Isaacchild: Abraham D. (A.D.) b. before 1842, Abraham (A.D.) had William on 7 May 1874-11 Jun 1959, married to Mary Belle GILLENWATER.
- Abraham moved to Minnesota.
- Joseph
- Andrew
- Samuel was a Doctor and died at the age of 28 of cholera
- John
- Jackson
- John KIMBLE (adopted)
Abraham, the father, was buried in the family graveyard at the old homestead. His wife, Lucinda, outlived her generation for several years. The following is a tribute to her:
She knew her place and occupation in her household—a gracious woman retaineth honor. Instead of being the plaything or slave of marriage, she was his helper and noblest friend. If he was her Abraham, she was his Lucinda.
She reached forth her hands to the poor and the needy. She girdeth her loins with strength and maketh strong her arms. Her lamp was kept burning by night. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her children are clothed in wool.
She smiles at days to come and openeth her mouth with wisdom. In her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ordering of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her sons raised up and praised her.
“Grandmother was a Jewel“
After her children were provided for, she sold the balance of the old homestead and went with her son, Abraham, to Minnesota, where she died. The death date is unknown. She lived as a widow for thirty-one years.
After building a small cabin and getting things in readiness so that it would be safe to leave the wife and the adopted boy, Abraham and Isaac started to the nearest land office, Chillicothe, Ohio, to enter their land. Upon the way, they crossed a large creek named Bear Creek, which emptied into the Scioto River, not far from Chillicothe.
Upon entering the land back in Lawrence county, Ohio, in the name of Abraham Pancake, Isaac, upon finding that the land at the mouth of Bear Creek had not been tendered, decided to make this place his future home and settled there. Abraham returned to his home on Storms Creek, where he resided with Lucinda and the adopted child.
Regarding the first son, Philip, who stopped in the state of West Virginia, we learned by information received from John S. PANCAKE, a great-grandson of Philip, now residing at Staunton, Virginia, that Philip’s oldest son by his first wife, went to Ross county, Ohio.
Isaac was my grandfather, and he had three sons:
- John
- Joseph
- Andrew
Joseph was my father. Isaac died in February 1963 at the age of ninety-one years. Philip’s old homestead near Romney, West Virginia, still bears his name, The Pancake Farm. My father, Joseph, died in 1874.
Signed, John S. Pancake
Speaking of the sons, they were thrifty, industrious, honest, true to their convictions, and religious. They were Baptists. In politics, they were Democrats, believing with George Washington in a government of the people, by the people, for all people.
Reader, as we look back more than a century and a half ago, we must acknowledge that we are guilty of ingratitude in not remembering the blessings that have come to us. Through the privations, toil, perils, and hardships of our ancestors, who conquered the savage and subdued the forests to make for us a home of liberty in the land of the free and the home of the brave, in our rush for wealth and notoriety, with our thrills, we have forgotten 1775-1782, seven years war with Great Britain; 1812 with England and 1847 with Mexico, in which every American citizen must bear his part, and they did it bravely. All honor to the brave ambitious American in ye olden times.
As we look back a century and a half ago, a hardy band, bringing with them their rifles and simple household goods, walked ready, willing, and eager to share the hardships, privation, toils, and perils of those who we believe were as fair and pure as any for whom in the olden time’s Lance was ever shivered or Knight un-horsed. By their rude cabins, they planted the vine, lily, and rose indications of their refinement.
Let alone, however, did this tangible evidence attest to the refinement of the people. In and about their homes was hospitality, generosity, grace, and charm, which can only spring from the hearts of women. Softened, refined, and purified by the love of humanity, dwelling in that community a century and a half ago, no wayfarer sought a place to lay his head in vain. The latch-string of the door was ever on the outside. They welcomed the coming guest heartily and were ever-thoughtful of the poor and needy.
The above sketch was written by a grandson, A.D. PANCAKE, who is now past the three-score and ten mark and resides in Ironton, Ohio.
Typed April 18, 1912, by Edith Mae Henry
July 12, 1882, A.D. PANCAKE age 36, of Lawrence County, Ohio, married Nannie HUFFMAN, age 26, of Nicholas County, WV. They were married in Cabell County, WV. An Elmer PANCAKE age 26 from Cabell County, WV, married Ellen N. COLLINS, age 17 from Lawrence County, Ohio on 17 May 1898 at Cabell County, WV.
Thanks for the interesting story. There seem to have been multiple Pancake families in the area. I look forward to further investigating this. My 3rd Great grandmother was Mary Christina Pancake, married to Richard Conway