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The Fike Family
Excerpts from Hoye's pioneer families of Garrett County, Charles E Hoye, Garrett County Historical Society, Parsons, WV: McClain Print. Co., 1988. Pages 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227 and 228.
The Fike or Feige (from the German meaning, "a net") ancestor emigrated from Germany -- probably from Hanover -- to Pennsylvania before the American Revolution. He was of the Amish faith and a weaver by trade, but we do not know his name or where he lived.
Christian Fike I, the first of the family of whom we have a definite record, settled in Bedford, now Somerset County, Pa., near Elk Lick. He united with the Church of the Brethern [sic] (Dunkard), and since his time most of the Fike family have adhered to that denomination.
Christian's known children were John, Christian and Jacob.
Jacob Fike moved into the Markleysburg, Pa., neighborhood when a young man. Later he removed to Preston County, W. Va., where, in 1835, built a massive stone house about one mile north of Brandonville.
Christian Fike II was born in 1761 and died in 1851, 89 years, 7 months, 29 days. He married Christina Livengood (1770-1857), whose parents had moved into a forest, now the site of West Salisbury, Pa. During their first summer there the Livengoods lived under and oak tree, where one daughter was born.
Christian Fike resided on the family homestead between Elk Lick and Meyersdale. His children were: (1) Barbara, m. Jacob Schrock. (2) John, m. Katy Miller. (3) Jacob, m. Susan Lichty. (4) _____ m. _______ Beeghly. (5) Joseph, m. Sallie Miller. (6) Peter, m. Magdalene Arnold. (7) Elizabeth, m. John Lichty.
Peter Fike (b. Nov. 3, 1794, d. Nov. 28, 1871), son of Christian II, in 1818 married the daughter of Elder Same Arnold, minister of the Brethren Church, the first to preach to the congregation near Sunnyside, Md., a very active man -- known as "the preacher with a beard."
Peter settled near Somerset, Pa., then moved to Maple Grove, Md. In 1837 he removed to New Germany, then to Indian Creek, Pa. We find him next at Sang Run, Md., where he operated the Browning Mill three years; finally, in 1854, he located permanently on a farm of 101 acres near Eglon, W. Va. This farm, between the disputed State lines, is now the property of his grandson, E. T. Fike, and others.
Peter Fike was an intelligent and pious man. He attended school only two month, but read and wrote Germany ad English., the former being the language used in his home. Among his numerous descendants and those whom they married, are sixty ministers, all except one, of the Church of the Brethren.
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John Fike Sr., son of Christian I, was one of the earliest settlers of the Selbysport neighborhood. He was born near Elk Lick, Pa., and it is said that he lived as a young man in the vicinity of Markleysburg, but before 1798 he was seated on the old Fike homestead on top of Fike Hill, which towers high above Mill Run and the Youghiogheny. His farm was a little way north of the old Morgantown Mud Pike, and was later owned by his son John, known as the Faucett place, and now the property, we understad, of John Fike's descendant, Dorsey Guard.
This pioneer Fike lived in a good log house, but late in life built a brick residence, which was town down about 1870.
In the census of 1800 John Fike, Sr. was head of a family of nine; his nearest neighbors were John Stuck, Peter Stuck, and Jacob Welsh.
In 1798, John Fike, Sr. was assessed with 2 horses, 9 cattle, etc. -- value £109, 5c [sic]*; also with real estate, viz., five lots, Nos. 2821-2-3-4-5, and "Bad Is The Best Of It," -- total 370 acres -- valued at £140, 16s, 8d. For his time and place, he was a wealthy man.
*I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be "s" for shillings or "d" for pence.
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The early Fikes at Selbysport spoke German or Dutch. They were Dunkards, their nearest church being at Markleysburg; but the annual "Love Fest" was often held in the big Fike barn. Most of the later generations in this section are Methodists.
The early members of the family are said to have been Democrats. They were Union men during the Civil War.
In addition to being extensive farmers, the Fikes operated a large whiskey distillery.
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Forgotten Pioneers
Most of the Garrett County pioneers are almost forgotten -- many entirely so. They are generally buried in unmarked graves and the present generation sees no signs of those who cleared the land and blazed the trails. Some are even unknown to their own descendants of today.
John Fike, Sr. seems to have been one of these "forgotten men," due in part to confusing him with his son and heir, John Jr. But the pioneer Fike was a man of note and position in his neighborhood, as well as father of a large family, so we find his name recorded in the records of his county.
His remains doubtless rest by those of his "beloved wife, Barbara," in the old Fike graveyard on the farm he settled before 1798; also here rest John Jr. and Nancy and many others in unmarked graves. In this graveyard there are monuments to Christian Fike, to Nora, young wife of Oliver Poland, and any unlettered field stones. The Fike graveyard is better kept than some, which have been plowed over; it is fences, but much overgrown, the home of birds and wild animals -- and the dead. But such is the fate of the early pioneers of our county.
"Bad Is The Best Of It"
This is one of the earliest land surveys in what is now Garrett County. Why so named, we do not know. Surveyed when nearly all of this region was the property of Lord Baltimore, and recently opened to settlement, it must have been a choice piece of property.
"Bad Is The Best Of It," 120 acres, then in Frederick County, began at a white oak about 170 perches from where Bear Camp Run empties into the Youghiogheny, north of Selbysport. It was surveyed for, and patented to, Jacob Froman in 1771....
But in 1798 "Bad Is The Best Of It" was assessed in the name of John Fike, Sr., tho Fike was only a renter at that time; this is clear from a deed, dated May 28, 1814, from Jacob Froman and Barbara, his wife, to Woodford County, Kentucky, to John Fike, Sr. for this tract with its improvements; consideration, $3000. Land was then cheap, so the improvements much have been valuable; perhaps a grist mill.
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John Fike, Sr., son of Christian I, prior to 1798, settled on the Froman mill property at the mouth of Bear Camp or Mill Run, below Shelby's Port. He was a well-to-do miller and farmer.
| Owner/Source | Garrett County Historical Society |
| Date | 6 Nov 2020 |
| Linked to | Magdalene Arnold; Barbara Dellenbach; Ann Fike; Ann Fike; Barbara Fike; Barbara Fike; Barbara Fike; Catherine Fike; Catherine Fike; Christian Fike, Sr.; Christian Fike, Jr.; Christian Fike, III; Christian Fike; Elizabeth Fike; Elizabeth Fike; Frances Fike; Jacob Fike; Jacob Fike; Jacob Fike; John Fike, Sr; John Fike; John Fike, Jr.; Margaret Fike; Mary Fike; Mary Fike; Peter Fike; Peter Fike; John Lichty; Susan Lichty; Christiana Livengood; Katy Miller; Barbara MNU; Jacob Schrock |
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