Page 75 - Foy

It is generally believed that the first FOY on the Trent River in Craven County,
North Carolina was the THOMAS FOY who, with his wife REBECCA nee
PUTTEE, had five sons, JOHN; THOMAS, JR; JAMES; JACOB; and
FREDERICK. These are the FOYs of most interest to the Cisco Clan of FOYs.
These are the FOYs who are the foundation, the beginning, the first FOYs of
record upon which most all the FOY research discussed in this book has its
origin.

But, let us continue with a little more history about Craven County because that
region is important to the early American history of the FOYs themselves.

The region later named Craven County was, as mentioned earlier, originally a
part of an extremely large area called Bath County. While that region was at
first explored and surveyed for settlement by English, German and French
people it was the Swiss who first populated the area in great numbers. Many of
these Swiss did not come to the New World willingly.

In the early 1700s in Bern, Switzerland the citizens and government were
interested in ridding themselves of unwanted paupers and other undesirables.
Among these “undesirables” were various religious sects such as the Baptist, the
Anabaptist and the Mennonites, which were causing problems with the
established church.

A group of Swiss promoters, who had been unable to secure land in Virginia,
turned their attention to the North Carolina territory and, in particular, the
region around the Neuse River. In about 1709 this group successfully obtained
the rights to lands between the Neuse and on both sides of the Trent River and
began organized settlements in those regions. A part of their settlement plans

included forcing the “undesirables” in Bern Switzerland to move to the New
World.

The circumstances and difficullties of moving people into the new region from
Switzerland has been described by historians as “unimaginable hardships”,
“almost indescribable misery”. Less than half the people who set out for the
territory arrived alive.

The first established community was named after Bern, Switzerland, thus, New

Ch. 7 Pg. 4