My object is a grandfather clock. It all starts way back with John Linville, who was the first member of my family to migrate to the United States. He was born in Sussex, England, in 1677. Around 1683, he immigrated to the village of Chester in Penn’s colony with his mother. Around 1700, he bought 58 acres of land in Pennsylvania. He was later a signatory on the petition to create Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In the mid-1730s, they left PA for the Shenandoah Valley. Thomas (son of John) moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains in VA for a time. Thomas’ brother William Linville legally acquired 1500 acres of land in 1746 and sold Thomas 500. This land is what became Winston-Salem, and a plaque at Tanglewood commemorates him. After 1747, Thomas settled in the area that is now Dan River, Blues Creek, Granville County, Surry, Stokes, and Forsyth Counties. Richard (son of Thomas) raised his family in Stokes County and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Richard commissioned the grandfather clock for his estate in 1789 from the prolific clockmaker Daniel Burnap. Richard passed the clock down to his son, David. David lived in Stokes County.  William Moses Linville (son of David) lived in Kernersville. His son, William Alexander Linville, lived in Kernersville but ended up in Winston-Salem. William Alexander's daughter Carrie Linville married John David Slawter, and he was an attorney. John David Slawter’s son, William Linville Slawter, was my great-grandfather and namesake. His wife, Phyllis Slawter, gave the clock to me. 

– LP

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more