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Teachman, the Early Years


By Joan Shurtliff, great great granddaughter of Luke Nicholas Teachman, great granddaughter of James Henry Teachman, granddaughter of William Allen Teachman. One reminder, family history is a work in progress. There is always another generation or another sibling to research. Although I and the others who have helped me and provided information strive for accuracy, occasionally there are errors. Comments, connections, corrections and suggestions are welcome.

The Teachman family has been in America since colonial times, first settling in New Jersey. Several stories have been passed down through the generations of two, or possibly three, brothers coming to America. One married a girl who was at least partially Native American.

Bestowing family names upon children was a common practice, thus a number of Teachmans share the same name. If there is some confusion, take heart in the fact that at some time or another we have all been confused. Some of the recurring names: David, Nicholas, James, Andrew, Abraham, Luke, William, Eleanor, Maria/Mary, Elizabeth. No documentation has been found linking siblings to parents in the first or second generations. Any information on the first generation will be listed on this page.

Of the individuals for whom records have located, their given name, date of birth and surmised generation are: Nicholas, b. 1755, 2nd; Nicholas, b. 1765, 2nd; David, b. 1766, 2nd; Abraham, b. 1773, 2nd or 3rd; Andrew, b. 1777, 2nd or 3rd; Luke, b. 1777, 2nd or 3rd; David, b. 1805, third; James, b. 1813, 3rd or 4th; John, b. 1813, 3rd or 4th; Luke, b. 1818, 3rd or 4th. Links to those families are listed below.

The earliest records found to date are tax lists/ratables dating to 1790 in New Jersey. In 1790, in three separate listings, Nicholas Teachman owned 20 acres of improved land and 20 acres of unimproved land. Nicholas Teachman owned 30 acres of improved land and 20 acres of unimproved land. David Teachman owned 30 acres of improved land and 20 acres of unimproved land. In 1791, Nicholas increased his holdings to 20 acres of improved land and 30 acres of unimproved land. In 1792, David dropped his holdings to 30 acres. In 1794, Abraham Teachman owned 30 acres of improved land. Deeds for these purchases have not been located.

In 1793, David and Nicholas are listed in New Jersey tax lists as living in Franklin Township, Bergen County, New Jersey. This was a time when governmental entities were in various stages of formation. Franklin Township, at that time a large area in northcentral New Jersey, no longer exists. One area where the Teachman's lived, very near the New Jersey-New York border, eventually became part of Passaic County. In the 1797 Tax Ratables for Bergan County, NJ, David was listed as living in Pompton. He had no improved land, no horses, 1 horned cattle, 1 household, no dog, and the amount of his certainties was valued at 2 pounds, 2 shillings and 3 pence. He paid 2 shillings 3 pence in state taxes, 7 pence in county taxes and 1 shilling 2 pence for poor tax.

The earliest known marriage records date to before 1800. From Elder Benedict's records, Nicholas Teachman married Charity Rhinesmith on 29 July 1792 in Warwick, New York. According to New Jersey marriage records taken from the church record at Newfoundland, Bergen County, David Teachman married Mary Miller on 27 August 1796 and Elizabeth Teachman married Aaron Moss on 17 January 1797.

One of the early descendants, Nicholas Teachman, purchased property on the east edge of Long Pond, now known as Greenwood Lake on 1 September 1803. The lake is located on the New Jersey-New York border and the record was found in Bergen County real estate transfers. The property was to remain in the family for a number of years. William N. and Mary Ann Teachman sold the property in Orange County, New York to James J. Teachman (sic?) and Isaac Cooley in May 1839. On 22 April 1831, David and Maria Teachman sold a tract of land consisting of 42 acres on the west side of Long Pond in Bergen County "30 minutes west from the dwelling house where Nicholas Teachman formerly lived on the opposite side of said pond."

Nicholas Teechman (sic) is the first U.S. Census entry found for the Teachman's. He was living in Warwick Township, Orange County, New York in 1800. Living in the household were two free white males 16-25, one white male 26-44, one white male 45 and over, three white females 16-25, and one white female 45 and over. The New Jersey U.S. Census' prior to 1830 have been lost.

The earliest death notice found to date was in the New York Columbian, 11 Dec. 1820: "At Long Pond, N.J., Nicholas Teachman, aged 106 years and 5 months; one of the first settlers of the state, leaving numerous descendants of the fourth generation. In the New Jersey Journal, 9 January 1821: "Died - At Long Pond (N.J.), Mr. Nicholas Teachman, aged 100 years and 3 months, one of the first settlers of the state, leaving numerous decendents of the fourth generation."

In the 1970s, Alfred E. Teachman and Colleen Lofrese began gathering information for a family history and tree. Not enough appreciation can be show for their efforts. Alfred left a portion of his work to the New Jersey State Historical Society in Newark, NJ. In 1978 he constructed a family tree for David Teachman, b. 1726. It can be found elsewhere on this website. One of Alfred's goals was to find a connection of the Teachmans to the American Revolution and, to this end, the tree lists only male heirs. Listed sons of the second generation are: David, b. 1763; Nicholas, b. before 1755; Abraham, b. 1773; Andrew, b. 1775; and Luke, b. 1777. These sons and their families, including wives and daughters, may be listed separately.

The Teachman family tree has been broken down into several main branches. I have tried to include a narrative with each branch including documented information. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this effort. Working together is what makes the search fun.

The papers have been viewed by Deborah, Kathy and me. We were disappointed in the lack of documentation other than the "hearsay" stories. Those stories are invaluable because of the clues they provide. However, original sources give credence to those stories. Alfred alluded to "pseudo" Teachmans in his correspondence. We did not make copies of any "pseudo" Teachman information. I personally prefer to use a different term than "pseudo" - if an individual is known by Teachman, than they are a Teachman - they just came by the name with a different set of circumstances.

As happens from time to time, there was a computer crash in Octobr 2007 and some email and, more importantly, email addresses were lost. If you have attempted to correspond with me with no response, please try again. Thank you.

The Teachman Families

Abraham b. 1773 Andrew b. 1777 David b. 1726
David b. 1766 David b. 1805 Elizabeth b. 1809
James b. 1816 John b. 1813 Luke b. 1777
Luke b. 1818 Nicholas b. ca 1755 Nicholas b. 1765

Teachmans in search of a family: Elizabeth Teachman b. 1773 m. Aaron Moss; Elenor Teachman m. William McMullen; Rebecca Teachman m. Charles A. Hunger; William N. b. 1809

Resources, stories and pictures

Teachman Deeds Teachman Data Portraits and Tombstone Pictures 28 Oct. 2008

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You are our visitor since May 2006. Thanks for stopping by. It was created, is maintained and was last updated September 2017 by Joan Shurtliff. This site would not be possible without the research and contributions of Deborah Guida, Eldon Hills, Christine Legge, Colleen Lofrese, George Teachman, Kathleen Shurtliff, Alfred Teachman, Anne Rollinson and many others who have contributed information. Copyright © 2006-2017 by Joan E. Shurtliff.

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This page was created by Joan Shurtliff and last updated September 2017.