Johann Wilhelm (William) Franck, born 1731 in Germany, arrived in America 9 Sept 1749 in Philadelphia on the ship St. Andrew, from Rotterdam, consisting entirely of German immigrants. Shortly after arrival, he joined the steady stream of German and Scotch-Irish immigrants who came down the "Great Wagon Road" from the Lancaster-Yorktown area of Pennsylvania, through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, into the Piedmont of North Carolina. There he married Barbara Walk.

John William bought 200 acres of land on Abbotts Creek, then Rowan County (now Davidson County). He owned 400 acres when his name was included on the first list of Taxable Persons in Rowan County in 1759. He left 4 tracts of land, totaling 1,120 acres to his 4 sons in his will which was probated in 1805. The couple had 13 children: Martin, Elizabeth, John, Sarah, Hannah, Barbara, Anna Maria, Susannah, Eve, William Jr., Catherine, Rebecca, and John Peter.

Recognized as a Revolutionary War patriot by the DAR (however, he didn't serve in the military so he is not a veteran):

FRANK, WILLIAM DAR Ancestor

Service:  NORTH CAROLINA   Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE, PATRIOTIC SERVICE

Birth:  4-15-1731   CRAVEN PCT NORTH CAROLINA

Death:  11-15-1804    ROWAN CO NORTH CAROLINA

Service Source:  HAUN, NC REV ARMY ACCTS, BOOK A, PART XII, P 1607, VOUCHER #403; LINN, ABSTRACTS OF THE MIN OF THE CT OF PLEAS AND QTR SESSIONS, ROWAN CO, NC 1775-1789, VOL III, P 45

Service Description: 1) FURNISHED SUPPLIES; CONSTABLE, 1778

RESIDENCE  1) County: ROWAN CO - State: NORTH CAROLINA

SPOUSE  1) BARBARA WALK 

Notice: PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED WITH AT LEAST ONE PREVIOUSLY VERIFIED PAPER - SEE ANCESTOR'S FULL RECORD 

COMMENTS(Overview)

   1) EL - PETER FRANK WHO MARRIED MARGARET RICKARD WAS NOT A CHILD OF THE PATRIOT.

  2) SEE DATACF. 12/2014

Children documented in the DAR records:

BARBARA[1] JOHN CHARLES GRIMES 

SUSANNA[1] HENRY CONRAD 

MARTIN[1] BARBARA BOSS 

EVA[1] PETER BYERLY 

In error:

PETER 1784-1869 [2] MARGARET RICKARD 1797-1856