The Monkee Tree | homeSurname Origin
William MUNCUS was born about 1720 . In 1741 Benjamin Clement, of Amelia, patented land on Sycamore Creek of Staunton River, where a few years later he made his home.(William Muncus (Pittsylvania Co.) listed as the land buyer from Halifax County.) He was a land speculator, buying land, improving upon it, then selling it. The names of William Blevin, Richard Echols and William Muncus, three first settlers, appear on the surveyor's record at this time; also Mary, Henry and Ephriam Sizemore, one of whose patents was on Peter Mitchell's Creek, beginning at "the Roads"; and another included the place on which Ephraim lived. (Ref.THE HISTORY of PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY VIRGINIA CHAPTER III FIRST SETTLEMENT) He was listed in the tithtables of PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY VIRGINIA in 1767. In 1769, there is a reference made to him in a description of where a church is located in that same county. Somewhere around 1767-76 he was listed as a land buyer from Halifax Co. His will was dated Feb.22,1796, in Surry Co. North Carolina.William had 2 family's. His first wife I have no information about. His second wife was named Elizabeth. He died some time after Feb 1798 in Surrey Co, NC.(probably about 1809, which is when his will was probated) Here is his Will.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF WILLIAM MUNCAS
In the name of God amen: William Muncus of the County of Surry being very sick and weak in or in perfect health of body but or and of perfect mind and memory thanks be given unto God calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men to die do make and order this my last will and testament that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it as pleased God to bless me in this life I give demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form.
First I give and bequeath to my two youngest sons Elijah Muncus and Henry Muncus my lands; Elijah I give fifty on the east and more or less beginning at Philip Pritcherd corner tree and running to a steep point to the south side of the creek which I live on: I also give to my two youngest sons Elijah and Henry the hundred acre entry adjoining my old tract.
Also I give to my son James Muncus a young bay horse
Also I give to my son Benjamin Muncus a black horse.
and each of my three daughters a bed apiece (Nancy, Mary, Lucy) and my son Peter Muncus is to have a horse creature out of my estate. And John Muncus one dollar and Will Muncus one dollar and Elizabeth Adams one dollar and also my three youngest sons must have a horse creature as they grow up.
And the remainder of the property I leave to my wife during her widowhood and if she never marries during her life she has it. James when he comes of age has the management of the plantation as he stays with them and takes care of them and all the boys the same. When he leaves them Peter takes place and when Peter leaves then Benjamin takes place and so on till they all come of age.
And I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke, and disannul all and every other former testament, wills, legacies, bequests and executors by me in any wise before named, willed and bequeathed ratified and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament
Signed, sealed, published, pronounced and declared by
William Muncus
Declared by the said William Muncus as his last will and testament in the presents of us who in his presents and in the presents of each other have hereto subscribed our names, James Carty, James Smith, Hezekiah Smith. Executors Elizabeth Muncus and James Muncus.
State of North Carolina Surry County, May session A.D. 1806, James Smith (one of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing last will and testament of William Muncus ) make oath that he saw the said William Muncus, sign, publish and declare the same to be his last will and testament , that he was of sound mind and memory and at the same time they saw John Carty and Hezekiah Smith sign the same as witnesses to the same which was ordered to be recorded.
A.J. Williams, Clerk
Source: Will of William Muncus
Written 22 February 1796
Proved May 1806
Surry Co., NC Book 3, Page 73
Letter From Gerry
SCDB E. 128. 18 May 1789,
NC grant to William Munkes, 100 A on Beaver Dame Creek, waters of Fishers
River. The Surry Co. 1789 tax list of Capt Edwards shows William Munkos with 100 A, 1 wp.
SCDB means Surry County Deed Book "E".
I don't know what the wp at the end means!
And MUNKOS....that's a new one. I don't have a map of NC that shows a Fisher's River or Beaver Dame Creek, wonder if that sould be Beaver Dam? Anyway, something to look into. And it places him in Surry Co positively in 1789.
The German Theory
I don't completely discount this theory, though I do not lean towards it either. It is really based on the Munkres Munkers spelling of the name, and the early spellings had no r sound at all. I am not saying this because my name has no r, because I really wanted to believe this one when I first started my search. The Munker (German) Theory would have been great because it is already so well documented, but after all my studies I just can't see it. I have found Moncus families in England and France before 1700, and this leads me to believe that the Munker family is unrelated to ours. I do know that there are Munker families in the US that came about the same time as ours, (or before) but they never had an s on their name, and ours always seems to have the s. (unless is was misspelled by some official when one of us was getting married, died, or joined the Army)
Monicher (Munker) is a name first used in conection with the convent Meer near Krefeld in 1166. The Countess (Grafin) Hildegrunde from Liedberg/Meer bestowed the name upon the family who donated land to the convent in the year 929. In the year 1201 the land was returned to the Munker family. It is not stated why the land was returned.
By the year 1271, 20% of the Krefeld district was owned by the family MUNKER. Between 1201 and 1560 the family donated land to the church (es) in Siegen, Dillenberg, Weidenau, Bernberg, and Eisterfeld.
At least one member of each generation was usually a member of the priesthood, but not always in the Catholic Church. It appears that having a son in the church was a way to insure that the orders for iron and other ornamentation from the foundries kept coming to the family. The family was very well educated for their time, as well as preachers, the family were business men, teachers, lawyers and engineers. It was almost as if one section of the family supported the other. There was a lengthy lawsuit filed in Krefeld district court in 1544, which was not resolved until 1549. It concerned the quality of goods delivered to the Count of Dillenberg by the Munkershutte (Munkers foundry). The family won the lawsuit, but it was very expensive. They did not receive as much business as they were used to during the five year long legal battle.
It was during this time that the family branched out into the wine selling business, and bought several more foundries in the area, most were controlled by the family, however, the names of the foundries did not change until the lawsuit was over. The idea being to get the business, but not let everyone know who was making the money.
By 1559 the family had also purchased a GASTHAUS (Bed and Breakfast , with restaurant) in Weidenau, near Siegen. They were involved in a little bit of everything so to speak.
From 1475 to 1624 the STAMMVATER (guild leader) was always a member of the Munker family.
One of the earliest ironworks to give benefits to the workers was the Munkershutte, they paid better than most of the other foundries and supplied many of the employees with places to live. They even guaranteed a three month notice to workers if their services would no longer be needed. The census listing for 1563 states that Jakob Muncker had the following:
one house one horse
his woman fourteen cows
one servant nineteen beef cows
six children six pigs
twenty four sheep three wagons
The law at the time stated that women could not own property when Thonges Munker disappeared in 1560, his share of the ironworks was inherited by his son-in-law Peter Flender, who by 1563 had legally changed his last name to Munker. This was probably due to pressure from the other owners of the foundry, who were either sons or brothers of Thonges.
There were several spellings in the family even as far back as the middle ages, among them:
MUNKER MONICHER
MUNCKER MENKELER
MONCKER MUENKER
MONCKERT MUENKERS
MONCKLER
As of 1987, the city maps of Siegen show MUENKERSHUTTE to be an operating foundry still known by that name. Branches of the family are also involved in a brewery (Mounkes ) and furniture manufacturing (Munker) in Germany today.
The "ch" was dropped from the spelling of the name by 1785 except for a small branch that settled in Switzerland. This branch remains mostly Catholic while the remainder of the family is predominately protestant.
Most of the documentation comes from the ironworker and blacksmiths tax lists. Some of the family information comes from the elected historian of the MUNKER family in Germany.
By 1645 more than twenty foundries were owned wholly or in part by the family.
Records state that HEYNE MUNKER owned or was in possession of more than 1200 measures (acres of land), which at the time was a substantial amount. His grandson was the TILLMAN MUENKER mentioned in the early family history.
---translated and compiled by Larry and Dru Mounkes
This information comes by way of Earl Perry, taken from information found by Loleeda
NASSAU-SIEGEN IMMIGRANTS TO VIRGINIA
Tillman Muenker was born at Eiserfeld about 1475 and died at Muenkershuetten in the Weidenau township 1535/38. The name Muenker is perhaps derived from "Moencher" i.e. "Monk-Man", a person connected with a farm belonging to a monastery. Tillmann Muenker's father was Ewert Muenker of Eiserfeld (born ca. 1440/45) (D: after 1503) shown by the tax lists 1467-1503 as an owner of iron works property and son-in-law and heir of Tillmann Dilthey of Siegen, a prosperous ironmaster of Eiserfeld and Siegen. Tillman Muenker married before 1500, Treina (Catherina) (B: ca 1475-D: after 1538) daughter of Tonies Fick. Through her he inherited the Hammer founded by her great great grandfather Fick in the Wiedenau township, called Fickenhuetten in 1417, but later known as Muenkershuetten. Tillman Muenker was one of the wealthiest ironmasters of his day. By about 1530 he had bought out the other heirs and was sole owner of the Hammer which later bore his name. In 1512 he made a gift of iron for the repair of St. Martin's church in Siegen, and sold large amounts of iron to the county. In addition to the Muenkershuetten iron works, he also owned land in Weidenau and Eisborn, and houses in both Siegen and Krombach. In 1535 he was an Associate Justice of the Court of Hain (Siegen District Court) but was dead by 1538. Tillmann and Treina (Fick) Muenker had the following children: Jacob, Toenges (Anton), Jost, Hans, and Leisgen (Elizabeth) who married Tillmann Schuette, and probably Else, who married Herman Wenderer. The sons were quite prosperous, Jost being particularly so and becoming an Associate Justice of the Hain Court in 1563, the Chief Justice 1577/78. all the children lived at Muenkershuetten except the Schuettes, who lived at the Hardt.
By way of George Monks
This theory gains credibility when you find out that his son Thomas Monkes (his spelling) came to the US before our William was born. Also, George Monks was granted land in thanks for helping bring the Stuarts back onto the throne. (Stuart was sometimes called the pretender. Look it up, it's an interesting story!) This story loses credibility when you realize that there were MONCUS' in England (with that spelling) before Thomas Monkes was even born.
This from Loleeda
According to the History of Northwest Missouri and information given by James Franklin Munkres the Munkers family originated from Cornwall, England. I was also told by several people from different branches of the family that they came from somewhere in Europe, then Ireland and Scotland, then England and then to the United States. In the Historical Index of Virginia and also in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography our family name is spelled Munkers.
To Give Credibility to the Irish theory
My dad, Ronnie Theo Moncus, told me that his dad, Kermit Roosevelt Moncus, said that his great-grandaddy, James Logan Moncus, had such a brogue when he was angry that you could not understand him. (Ronnie> Kermit> Andrew Jackson> James Logan> Benjamin> Old William) This may not make sense considering he was at least two generations removed from the original immigration. Consider this, even today (and moreso in the earlier years of the US) people live in areas where everyone talks like them, like Germans might live in Germantown. Also, children tend to talk like their parents. Now does the theory gain more credibility? I have also pointed out to my dad that the accent could have been Scottish, since my Grandaddy was just a little boy at the time he could have been mistaken, wouldn't they both sound alike to a little boy? On the other hand, he might have been told by someone else (like his mom or dad) that the accent was Irish, because he always said that it was Irish.
I just recently got an email from Traci Moncus from Lagrange GA
kim,
my name is traci moncus .i live in lagrange , ga. please write and
give info on family members in your area. there are so few of us.
planning reunion in pine mountain georgia soon. any interest. i have
great stories of how my family came from scotland to georgia.keep in
touch. tracimoncus@hotmail.com
NEXT LETTER
i saw several sites. please let me know the best site. yes, most all of us
are related, since only two brothers came from edinburgh scotland. that's
where we are from. that's commom knowledge. we do need to get together, i
have several family members here, but most of our wtitten records are kept in
a house in clay co. alabama.i think that's right. i have seen some marriage
records from mid 1800s. it would be great to find more people. if you know
any, please have them contact me. keep in touch.
traci moncus
So, Maybe When our communications continue, I will find out more. MAYBE she is from a family that actually TOLD their children something and passed it down from generation to generation.. Wouldn't that be lovely? Everyone I have talked to on the MONCUS side of the family says basically the same thing, that their parents and grandparents just didn't talk about the family's history. (ashamed? too busy? unimportant to them? who knows?)
This is a letter I got from Bob Monks, who has extensive Monk material.
Hi Kim,
So far I haven't found any relationship to your Moncus
family. If I do, I'll let you know.
Thanks for the inquiry, and happy hunting.
Bob Monk
Well, maybe this leads us further towards the England Theory! (Though these company's don't have much credibility, you never know if there might be something to this... It is from one of those places that sell name histories and Family Crests) I just found this 1/21/2000
The Origin of Monkus
The very first record of the family name Monkus was found in Northumberland , which is located in the English and Scotttish Border Ridings. The Monkus family traces their ancestral roots back to Norman origin before the year 1100. From here they branched and migrated, gaining prosperity as a notable family of the English and Scotttish Border Ridings and later other countries. AND Yes, there is a coat of arms recorded for this family name.
Components of the monkus Family Name Coat of Arms
The Shield is: Purple and green with a silver horizontal stripe on which there is a monastery and in base three monks.
The Crest is: An arm holding a sword emerging from a tower.
The motto is: "Monachus Salvador"
Northumberland is the most northerly county of England. It lies next to Scotland, on the German Ocean, and is bounded by Durham and Cumberland. It extends about 70 miles in length, and 50 in breadth; and contains 12 market towns, and 460 parishes. The air is not so cold as might be imagined from the latitude in which it lies; and the snow seldom lies long in Northumberland, except on the tops of the hills, some of which are above 2000 feet high. The soil is various; the eastern part being fruitful, having very good wheat and most sorts of corn, with rich meadows on the banks of the rivers; but the western part is generally barren, it being mostly heathy and mountainous. It yields lead; and is one of the most productive and best coal-fields in England. Iron and glass-works are its principal manufactories; and it has some fisheries. This county is well watered by rivers, the principal of which are the Tyne, Tweed, and Coquet. Alnwick is the county-town, but the largest and richest is Newcastle. Population, 250,278. It returns 8 members to parliament." [From Barclay's Complete and Universal English Dictionary, 1842]
I also got a letter from a member of the Monkhouse family (she sent me a copy of our coat of arms which may or may not apply to us as it was bought at her local Mall.)
She had this to say about our name, if you go along with the fact that our name was originally
Munkus/Monkus, then it would lead you to believe the Great Britain theory.
(with a touch of Scottish, maybe, since we're from the border according to the "Monkus family history"?)
"The origin of the Monkhouse name is Munkus, until the very late 1600s, although, obviously, the name is still being used. I have traced my line back to 1713 for sure, and possibly to about 1570. William is a very popular name among the Monkhouses, etc. I have no way to know where your William fits in. My line originates in Cumbria, near Hadrian's wall. Actually, I believe that most of the family originated there. However, you would be amazed to learn how popular the name really is in England. It is definately from the north. I have learned that the Monkhouses were either very well off or very poor. Mine were the poor ones. One strain The family owned the land they farmed and left estates. Mine were shepherds in the 18th century in Dacre, then weavers and miners in Ulverston in the 19th Century. My great-great grandparents came to NJ in 1866."
The French Connection
This is a letter I received from a french Gentleman, as you look down the page you see the Moncus family goes way back in France. The french words at the bottom are merely asking me which branch of his Moncus' am I interested in, and whether we can exchange Gedcoms.
Bonjour,
Le nom de MONCUS apparaît à trois endroits dans ma généalogie :
(1) Jeanne MONCUS ° 02/01/1734 Roscoff (Finistère)
+ 05/05/1816 Roscoff
x 23/02/1756 Roscoff x Alexis DANIELOU
(2) Jean MONCUS ° 15/03/1701 Roscoff
+ 31/05/1763 Roscoff
x 28/02/1729 Roscoff
(3) Marguerite JAFFRES ° 30/08/1703 Plouzévédé (Finistère)
+ 13/03/1781 Roscoff
(4) Jean MONCUS ° 20/08/1671 Saint Pol de Léon (Finistère)
+ 20/01/1741 Roscoff
x 10/09/1695 Roscoff
(5) Marguerite LESPAGNOL ° 08/02/1671 Henvic (Finistère)
+ 22/11/1746 Roscoff
(8) Jean MONCUS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Marie Jeanne MONCUS ° 28/09/1731 Roscoff
+ 31/07/1787 Roscoff
x 31/07/1755 Roscoff x Hervé NICOL
(2) Bernard MONCUS ° 10/12/1690 Santec (Finistère)
+ 30/08/1755 Roscoff
x 27/01/1718 Roscoff
(3) Françoise CABIOCH ° 15/03/1695 Roscoff
+ 01/08/1774 Roscoff
(4) Morvan MONCUS ° vers 1660
+ 23/05/1714 Santec
x Claudine LEGLIDIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Louise MONCUS x 29/07/1722 Saint Pol de léon x Charles LE GODEC
(2) Paul MONCUS
(3) Anne QUERNE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J'ai d'autres choses que je pourrai vous envoyer si vous me précisez quelle
est la branche qui vous intéresse .
Si vous avez des éléments concernant ces ancêtres je suis intéressé .
Pouvons-nous communiquer par fichier Gedcom ?
Merci d'avance et à bientôt
Then, the second letter from him
Thank you for your exposes on the family Moncus. He/it is very interesting but,
unfortunately, I possess less data that you on this name.
For me the Moncus is from Brittany, and more especially of the department of
Finistère (Region of Roscoff, Saint Pol of Léon, Island of Batz). But can be
that, while going back up sufficiently far, one would find that this name comes
from Big Brittany and was implanted in France has the continuation of the
successive invasions of the English. If I learn something on this name I will
transmit it to you.
Enclosed my Gedcom file and I would be happy, in return, to receive the your.
Georges THE DEROFF
This was taken from a letter I received from a nice french lady, whom I found on a non- genealocical discussion board. Her name is Domonique, and she is very nice.
Before knowing you and your research I always thought -that my family came
from England but without any proof nor confirmation.
But, you know, Clement is a french name (we had a pope with this name in
France in the middle age I think).
According to what my grandmother told me, "my" Moncus family comes from Ile
de Bath (Bath Island) in Brittany at the very west of France near the town
call Roscoff. She is a super old gaelic woman who speaks more gaelic than
french and it is a problem for me because I don't speak gaelic and she lost
her mind.
I can confirm that a lot of Moncus different families are currently living
in this island. In the old times, there was a traditionnal trip from Britanny to England for
poor people of brittany to go to sell onions to english people and it is a
possible link between your family and mine.
That is all I can tell you at this time but your mail is going to boost my
own research that I had in mind since the beginning of my father's health
problems; he went to America in the 50's with the french navy but did not
make any "settlement" at this occasion.
If you are interested with photos, just tell me , I will digitalize a few of
them and send them to you.
Nice to have news from american Moncus' and bybye (sorry for my mistakes in
my english speaking).
Dominique MONCUS
This is from another very nice French lady. She is sending me all her Moncus info
Michèle FERRY
Good evening,
I received your message well, I was on vacation.
My godmother's branch is on the Querné " patronymic ".
Did I find some " Moncus " during my research on the island of Batz, notably a marriage Querné Moncus, but I don't know if there is a relation with the branch that I study?
On the other hand I can tell you that I visited on the island of Batz the cemetery has a lot of Moncus indeed. Maybe in relation with yours?
I live in Versailles and I cannot make some research in the 29 before a long time....
On the other hand if to give me to you your address I can send you the photocopy of all acts that I possess with the Moncus patronymic.
Will it help you maybe????
I went to visit your site quickly, I will return there later to see if we have a common point.
Regards.
MICHÈLE FERRY
