Introduction to Topic Our first settlers of Lancaster County arrived there before it was known as Lancaster and while still a part of Chester, arriving in 1710. They were in fact our first Americans in the Swope and Allied ascendancy [ the Howard Allied surnames being present since 1682 in Philadelphia and its environs ].   More. 
A)Description of the Frontier;
B) Lancaster County in Context of our Ancestors;
C) Brief History of Lancaster City Settlement; 
D) Our Forebears  of Lancaster and their precense by map;
E) Further Research Links 

Our first settlers of Lancaster County were in fact our first Americans in the Swope Allied ascendancy [ the Howard Allied surnames being present since 1682 in Philadelphia and its environs ]. Our first Lancaster countians  were seeking sanctuary, and the western frontier of Pennsylvania most appealed to them. They had their land surveyed in 1710 in then Chester County and soon after went to their land north of the Pequea Creek in the Conestoga Valley now pertaining to Lancaster.  See Our Mennonites of Lancaster County where their history is discussed. Our mennonites  were shortly later joined by many more of our surnames in the county, commencing in the 1720s, those being mostly Reformed and Lutheran in faith. Our Lancaster surnames include the Irish, Scotch Irish found in the McCurdy allied bundle, but most of our surnames of Lancaster are German or Swiss German  [McCurdy and Creighton being at present the only deviants ] . 

Lancaster city  was settled in 1718 before the formation of the county to which it now pertains; It  recieved its name from John Wright, one of the 1st settlers, for his native Lancashire, England  [See also Lancaster Tsp history].  Lancaster, the town, refers to itself as the oldest inland city in the United States . Because of its role in westward expansion & the opportunites relevant thereunto, Lancaster  held attraction & meaning for 18th century Americans both well known and more obscure to history. It was here, apparantly ,  that George Washington was declared the "father" of his country. 

Lancaster County was the first county formed [1729] from the original three shires or counties of Penn's proprietary established in 1681 and in 1682  involving Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia [map]  [excluding the three shires of Delaware he likewise held- In 1704 Delaware was liberated from Pennsylvania [map].  As a result of beourgeoning emmigration and expanded settlement [map]  , Lancaster was formed from Chester's backwoods 1729 [map] . Eventually Lancaster too had to be partitioned forming York in 1749  [map], with a portion of York split to form Adams in 1800.  In 1878, the counties of Penna were defined as they stand today [map].  These maps provided in the links preceeding show nicely the development of and final allocation of the lands of Lancaster as they presently stand and reveal the progress of the emmigration of our Pennsylvania forebears from Chester [Mennonite forebears and Swope and Lein family relevant before it became Lancaster] to Lancaster [see surnames involved] on to York [ also many of our lines] and finally to Adams County . "Lancaster County of today  is in the Piedmont region with occasional ridges standing above the rolling hills and limestone plains, the largest of which forms the central part of the county and is drained by the Conestoga River and Pequea Creek." ¹ See History of Lancaster City. 

Description of the frontiers Of Lancaster County at the time of our first immigrants: 

The following is relevant to our direct Herr & Brenneman ancestors, though the subject is Marie Ferree^{footnote 2}. with  the area still pertaining to Chester county at the time she appeared. She probably arrived in the Peguea Valley around 1712, and this is nearly contemporaneous with our earliest Herr [Bishop Hans]  ancestor, and about  5 years prior to our Brenneman [Melchior]  immigrant.  Rupp, in his ìHistory of Dauphin and Cumberland Countiesî etc, describes the arrival of Madam Le Fiere, a Huegenot,  and her party in arriving in the valley of the Pequea. Her land was located along the Pequea creek about 55 miles west of Philly, and was part of the 10,000 acres granted by William Penn to Martin Kindig and Abraham Herr [ arrived 1709/10] and other agents of the Mennonite colony, the families of whom include Melchior Brenneman [arrived 1717] and Swope forebear [arrived ca 1720 settling apart from this and in Leacock Township]     ìIt was on the evening of a summerís day when the Hugenots reached the verge of a hill commanding a view of the valley of Pequea; it ws a woodland scene, a forest inhabited by wild beasts, for no indication of civilized man was near; scattered along the Pequea, amidst the dark-green hazel, could be discovered the Indian wigwams, the smoke issuing therefrom in its spiral form; no sounds was heard but the songs of the birds; in silence they contemplated the beautiful propect which nature presented to their view. Suddenly a number of Indians dared from the woods; the females shrieked, when an Indian advanced, and in broken English said to Madam Ferre:îIndian no harm white;white good to Indian;go to Beaver-our chief-come to Beaver. Few were the words of the Indian. They went with him to Beaverís cabin, and Beaver, with the humanity that distinguished the Indian of that period, gave up to the immigrants hi wigwam. Next day he introduced them to Tawana, who lived on the great flats of Pequeaî At the time of the Ferree settlement in his dominions Mary Le Fiere took a present from Pennís agent to Tawana, and thus secured his friendship.

There is a very thorough history of Lancaster County from the  Lancaster County Historical Society entitled "LANCASTER COUNTY Diversity of People, Ideas and Economy" written  by John Ward Willson Loose, F.L.C.H.S. President Emeritus, Lancaster County Historical Society. From it, which includes far more information, the following few paragraphs are taken. Within these paragraphs we can find reference to our ancestors experience in general, and to a few of our ancestors in particular. 
I have included comments in  brackets. It states: 

"When Lancaster County was established on May 10, 1729, it became the prototype for the sixty-three counties to follow....The tide of settlement was not to be stopped, however. As early as 1709, a Scot had established himself in present-day  Salisbury Township [James McCurdy Relevant] , and an English Quaker family was living in Little Britain Township. It was not until 1710, however,  that the first community within the present borders of the county was established. In that year, a group of Swiss Mennonites--the families of Herr, Mylin and Kendig--built a settlement a few miles south-east of present-day Lancaster city. ^{[ed note: see footnote 1]} Two years later a band of French Huguenots led by Marie Ferree settled near Strasburg. Two more years passed before the Scot Presbyterians arrived in two waves, one settling in the Donegal area of northwestern Lancaster County and the other occupying land in the south.These Scots, often called the "Scotch-Irish," came from Ulster in Ireland after being  "planted" there by the English in an attempt to subdue the Irish......By August 5, 1729, the settled portions of the county had been organized into seventeen townships with names chosen by the usual jockeying for honors: 
Two honored the Welsh (Caernarvon and Lampeter); two had Indian names (Conestoga & Peshtank (or Paxtang, Paxton); six were English (Warwick, Lancaster, Martic, Sadsbury, Salisbury and Hempfield); four kept the Ulstermen happy (Donegal, Drumore, Derry, and Leacock); one was German (Manheim); one came from the Bible (Lebanon); and one was the Anglicization of the family name Graf or Groff (Earl).  Late in 1729, an eighteenth township was created: Cocalico, an Indian name.....
"Further immigration into the large region of then Lancaster County  led to the formation of new townships in what are today York, Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon and Berks counties. Beginning in 1749 with the creation of York County, Lancaster was carved up to provide land for new counties.Cumberland County was formed in 1750 [map] , ending Lancaster County's farflung western territory; Berks' creation in 1752 further reduced Lancaster County [map]  and in 1772 the formation of Northumberland County took away the northern tip [map]. With the establishment of Dauphin County in 1785 [map],  Lancaster County was cut down to its present size (945 square miles) except for a tiny sliver of land given up when  Lebanon County was formed in 1813 [map]" ¹

• Swope

Yost Swope Arrived ca 1720 to Chester County [that portion that now pertains to Lancaster County] .  The Swope line  is evident in   Upper Leacock Twp,  Lancaster Co, PA having first been found on the  Assessment Rolls Of Conestoga Township, Chester County (described in  its history  and now all that portion of Lancaster County west of Octorara Creek and north to the Conestoga Creek) for the years 1724-1725. Yost's son Johannes died 1780 in Bird In Hand, Lancaster Co, PA (Upper Leacock Township ). Johannes's son Johann Conrad "Conrad" Swope moved from Lancaster by 1758 at which time he is found in York County [Hanover-then  region of Digges Choice and with some church records relating to him appearing indexed under Adams County, Penna which was formed less than 1 year after his death in 1799].
[ìThe Pequa Valley, when 1st settled was in Chester Co.. At the 1st assessment 1718 it was Conestoga Township. In 1720 West Conestoga Township was formed on the west side of Pequa Creek. Lancaster Co, formed from Chester Co. 1729. Later it became part of Strasburg Township and from 1843 to present is Paradise Township ì ² ]
• Line, Lein LEIHN or Lyne, John

 An early settler in Leacock Township, John Lein was Elder of the earliest Reformed Church, which at first was called The Hill Church and later Hellers, now officially called Salem. Naturalized October 14, 1729  in company with John Swope,  his son in law and our direct mentioned above. Our last direct LINE ancestor, his daughter Anna Dorothea Line , died in or before 1742 in Upper Leacock, Lancaster County. She left her husband John Swope   a widower .
• Hoke [Hoch] , Johann Jacob

Weaver;Minister  Of Lancaster City; [lay preacher of the First German Reformed Church from 1733 to  1736] [ ministered at the New Holland Church of Lancaster, PA] .1st Pastor Of First German Reformed Church At Lancaster Founded June 1736 [ordained as that church's first minister on June 20, 1736.]  It was the first church building erected in Lancaster, antedating Trinity Lutheran Church by two years. He died  before 21 Jun 1766 in Manchester Township in the County of York. His [presumed] daughter married Swope and emmigrated to the Digges choice region with her husband.  J J Hoke's son Andreus or Andrew, also our direct, like his presumed sister who married Swope, is  Listed in Manchester Twp., York Co., PA in 1790 Census. He migrated to Kentucky in 1795.

 
• Eichelberger [Phililp Friederich] and his daughter Barbara [our Direct who married HOKE]

Pertained to Lancaster Pa/  York Co., Manheim Twp., PA. [On September 13, 1743, he obtained a land warrant from the proprietaries of Pennsylvania for 175 acres of land in Manheim Township, Lancaster Co., Penn.  He remained in Lancaster County until 1754, when, on April 28, 1761, he purchased a warrant of Conrad Low for 220 acres of land in Manheim Township, York Co., Penn.] Dtr Barbara married J J Hoke and migrated to Kentucky with her husband in 1795.
• McCurdy

[James  McCurdy settled in Salisbury Twp, Lancaster County with his wife Polly Cooke.  Their  son Robert  served for Leacock Township, Lancaster County  in the Revolution before emmigrating to what is now Adams County , but was at the time of his removal part of York. He lived to see Adams formed from York thus inhabiting three counties of Penna though is known to have moved only twice. His grandaughter Nancy Moor[e] McCurdy married a Swope of Gettysburg, at which time our McCurdy line moved as a result of marriage to Gettysburg proper and away from the land her grandfather had obtained in Adams County's southern aspects near Marsh Creek and at one time part of The Manor Of Maske.
• Creighton, William

Present in Leacock Twp Lancaster County by 1752 at which time he advertised a runaway indentured servant. His daughter Anne Creighton was born there and emmigrated with husband Robert McCurdy to Cumberland Twp, York County [now Adams] to the region formerly part of the disputed [and squatted]  Manor Of Maske.
• Bentz, Johannes

arrived 1732 settling with his wife in that portion of Lancaster now known as York .On November 22,1749 John Bentz of Dover Twp. In the new county of York, was given a Proprietors Warrant for 163 acres of land in Manchester Twp. His son through to his g g grandaughter were born in York County. The G G Grandaughter, Anna Kate Stair, emmigrated to Gettysburg in marriage with her Swope Husband of that place.

 
• Quickel, Johann Michael  immigrated to America arriving in Philadelphia Penna Oct 19,1736  The Quickel family in York County, descend from this Michael Quickel, the founder of Quickel's Church, in Conewago Township, Newberry Twp, York, PA about the middle of the eighteenth century. [This portion of Lancaster became york?- NEED TO CHECK THIS OUT]. Son Johannes was born in Lancaster County 1762, [baptized Staryer's (Salem) Lutheran Church Lancastar County, Penna] and died in Manchester twp, York county in 1831
• Brenneman, Melchior, son Christian and Christian's own son Christian, our directs.

These Mennonite forebears  pertained to Chester County in region now known as Lancaster in form of Melchior [ New Danville, Lancaster Co., Penna-(Conestoga Township?) and Melchior's son Christian  who died 1757 in  Conestoga Twp., Lancaster Co., Pa.] and Christian's son also named Christian who died in 1771 in Lancaster County, Penna. [See page herein entitled  The Mennonites in Lancaster] 
• Herr, Bishop Hans

[he and other of our Mennonites purchased 10,000 acres of land on the south side of Pequea Creek in then Chester, now  Lancaster PA.in what was then wild frontier Penna and are among the first residents of now Lancaster county ]  . His wife Barbel KUNDIG accompanied him to Pennsylvania-her nephew was Martin Kendig, land agent of the Conestoga settlement who had sealed the 10000 acre deal with Penn. Barbel and Hans'  son Abraham  died Conestoga Twp, Chester Co, PA [in what is now Lancaster County] , Abrahams son Rudolph  died Manor Twp, Lanc Co, PA  and Rudolph's daughter Anna [born Manor Township, Lancaster County]  married Christian Brenneman above mentioned who died in 1771. [See page herein entitled  The Mennonites in Lancaster] 

Brubaker, Barbara
Her Ascendancy and position as wife and mother is Under research. Older sources show her the wife to  Rudolf HERR  born in 1701, and she is said to be born the same year.  According to the older sources, Their children are noted being born commencing in the early 1720s in Lancaster County, Penna. It is not known if she married her purported husband in America or not, but given their ages, it is assumed so as it is also assumed that her husband came with his father 1717 to America to join Rudolf's grandfather Bishop Hans Herr, .