My FRY family connection is with the “Pennsylvania-Dutch” Fry family which came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA to the Niagara area of Ontario in 1800. The “Pennsylvania-Dutch” were actually Deutsch (German) and our ancestors originated from either Southern Germany or Southern Switzerland.
They were Mennonites and as such were very religious and were pacifists. They wished to avoid being drafted into the new U.S. military.
Our Fry family built a farmhouse in 1815 and that house was later moved to the Jordan Museum grounds in the Village of Jordan, Ontario, just East of St. Catharines.
The house’s original owners were Jacob FRY and his wife Elizabeth WISMER. The eldest daughter, Mary Wismer FRY married Mose S. COUSE. One of their daughters, Anna COUSE married Neil MACGREGOR who had come over from Kinlich Rannoch, Scotkand.
I worked in many museums during my 40-year museums’ career and I always enjoyed connecting with families of the historic buildings that were in my care. It was a real treat to have the tables turned and to be the descendant of the original owners of a house and going through their home, knowing that it had belonged to MY ancestors.