The Fry family is not one unitary genealogical entity, but rather many separate families with distinct genetic profiles and geographic origins.
Notable families
One such distinct Fry Family was prominent in England, especially Bristol, in the Society of Friends, and in the confectionery/Chocolate business in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, described at Fry family. Another prominent Fry family is that associated with Col. Joshua Fry of US Revolutionary War fame. This family has been zealously documented for its many contributions to the founding of the United States, its role in the histories of Washington, D.C., Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as in the establishment of institutions of higher learning. Although well-documented, there are many misconceptions regarding the descendants of Col. Joshua Fry. In recent years, advanced genealogical work and genetic testing have dispelled some of these misconceptions Henrich Frey is considered the progenitor of another notable Fry family in the United States. Having arrived in Pennsylvania around 1685, Heinrich Frey and his family is credited with holding the first charter for the land that became Philadelphia and building what is considered today the historical "Old Town" section of that city. The Heinrich Frey Family Association is dedicated to promoting genealogical research and fostering connections between the descendants of Heinrich Frey.
Origins
The name Fry has many spelling variations including Frey, Frye and Frei, all of which probably started out as a designation for someone who was free. The Old English root frig, meaning "free born", is associated with the name. Thus, anyone earning their freedom or who wished to be known for their free-born status, was potentially known by that name. Although the traditional no "e" spelling of Fry is typically associated with any number of British, Fry lines, it is by no means exclusive to those lines. In Britain, the earliest records of this surname appear mainly in the west country. Thomas le Frye, recorded in the Wiltshire rolls of 1273 and the Malmesbury region of North Wiltshire, provides one such example. The surname Fry is further associated with an inherent nobility of freedom. That is to say, the designation of freedom, as separable from serfdom, gave the individual bearing the name certain rights and privileges. In its earliest forms, depending on the source of the designation, the name could also have included land ownership, knighthood, title or other privilege. It could also have been a designation bestowed upon a master craftsman who was "free" to travel to exercise his craft. Later, those seeking religious and political freedom took the name themselves as an expression of their desire and love for freedom or as a nickname given by others, whose story was recounted in the Pennsylvania church records of Rev. Traugott Frederick Illing Other names of similar social class include "Franklin", which also survives as a surname, "Freeman", Free, Fries, Freeze, and Froese.
Fry lines
Johann Valentine Frey, who was born 9 May 1721 in Wingen, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, married Anna Maria Binckele, and died 13 Sep 1798 in Hope, Stokes County, NC. The patriarch of this family is Gregorious Frey who was born in Zurich about 1610 and married Varena Oberdorfer. Johann Valentine Frey immigrated to Pennsylvania aboard the Ship Samuel in 1733 and migrated to the Townfork Settlement of what was originally Rowan, then Surry, then Stokes County, North Carolina. These are the Moravian Frey's that are buried in the Friedberg Moravian Church Cemetery & the Hope Moravian Church Graveyard. Heinrich Frey was one of the earliest German immigrants to the American Colonies. He came to Pennsylvania about 1685 and married Anna Catherine Levering there in 1692. Johannes Frey who came to Pennsylvania in 1731 on the Ship Brittania along with his wife Johaneva and young son Nicholas. Nicholas married Maria Elizabeth Pabst at Moselem Lutheran Church inBerks County, PA, in 1744, moved his family to Burke County, NC, which became Lincoln County, and died there in 1784. Henry Fry Sr who acquired land on the west side of Abbotts Creek in what was then Rowan County in 1778. He died there in 1821.
