David Cordonnier FANCHER

                   Richard Fancher lived in Roxbury Twn., Morris County, New Jersey where hedied in 1764. When he made his will October 29, 1764 he was in illhealth, and he died before November 12, 1764 when the will was probatedin Morris County, New Jersey. His will named his wife Martha and children.

Fanchers have been in America for almost three hundred years, and now arefound in almost every state in the Union. The original spelling of thename in colonial America was FANCHER, but significant branches have takenother spellings Fansher, Fanchier, and Fanshier--which are all pronouncedalike.
Changes in the spelling were unintentional, but were madein the veryearly days of our country when clerks, teachers, officials, and otherswith little formal education spelled the name phonetically when preparingofficial records.

The family's earliest records in North America are in the early 1700s inWestchester County, New York and Fairfield County, Connecticutt, butother immigrants arrived later.  Most of the family descend from the NewYork-Connecticutt family and are distantly related.

There is no known record of when the first Fanchers arrived. There is afamily story told by a lady in the 1900s, who was a fourth generationfamily member, that she had been told by her father that the family wasFrench Hugenout and had come into this country at Lloyds Neck, LongIsland, New York. Various people have done research but have not linkedthis family to any in Europe at this time.

The earliest know reference in Colonial America is the marriage of oneCatherine Fancher in 1717in Bramford, Connecticutt. It appears theoriginal family consisted of two sisters, Catherine and Hannah, and fourbrothers, William, Richard, John, and David.  There was a Joseph Fancherin Cape May, New Jersey area who was a contempory of this family.

As of 1996, the parents of these six children had not been identified.