Opening Remarks at Fancher Reunion - 1905

Address by W. S. Potter at the reunion of the Fancher families held at Olentangy Park,
Columbus,OH, September 20, 1905.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I shall briefly sketch the lines of the Fancher families in America as far as I have been able to
trace them in the four years I have spent in gathering the records and history of this family.

The first authentic record we have of the name Fancher in this County is the marriage of a Hannah
Fancher in 1728 at Stamford, Conn. Of this Hannah Fancher I have been unable to get farther trace
but from the other records collected there is no question but that she belongs to the family whom
we have descended.

Of John Fancher, I have the following from one of his descendants: "John Fancher, landed at
Lloyds Cove L. I. N. Y. sometime about 1730 and went from there to Pound Ridge, Westchester
Co N. Y." This is the first and only information as to his landing place that I have been able to
gather…

(Authors Note-Copy of this speech is in W. H. Fancher Collection at New England Historic
Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.)
(F-4613)

(Authors note: In this speech, Mr. Potter only spoke about John Fancher and Hannah (Fancher) Garnsey, two of the six earliest Fancher people to come to Connecticut. A few other more recent people were also mentioned in the speech. This shows that in 1905 W. S. Potter was not aware of other Fanchers, e.g., Catherine, William, David, Richard, and Joseph. Mr. Potter was obviously not aware of the fact that Richard Fancher was in Stamford, CT in 1728, the same year as Hannah, or that the baptism records in the Canaan Parish Church in CT include the records for both John and Richard’s children. John Fancher did remove to Pound Ridge, NY, but it was circa 1757/8, after living in Stamford, CT for approximately 23 years. The first authentic record of "Fancher" in this country is actually the marriage of Catherine Fancher to Ebenezer Elwell in Branford, CT 1717, which predates Hannah Fancher’s marriage in Stamford by 11 years.)

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