Adam Hance was born in Coblin, a French province of Alsace, and, as usual with the people of that country, spoke both German and English. He came to America and settled near Germantown, Pa., in 1722, where he married a German lady, and raised a large family. His younger son, also named Adam, married a Miss Stoebuck, of Pennsylvania, in 1768, and settled in Montgomery County, Va. When the revolutionary war began, fired by the prevailing patriotic feelings of the day, he joined the American army under Washington, and served during the entire war. He was in the battles of Brandywine, Yorktown, and several others, and experienced a great deal of very hard service. He had six children, viz. Henry, Peter, Martha A., Priscilla, William, and John. Henry was Sheriff of his native County for a number of years, and afterward became a successful merchant in Newburn, N. C. Peter was married first to Elizabeth Harper, of Virginia, by whom he had Mary, Anna, Margaret, Sabrina, William, and James. After the death of his first wife, he married Mrs. Juliet Hewett, whose first husband was drowned in Kentucky about 1815. By her he had Robert, Elizabeth, Harvey, and Juliet. Mr. Hance settled in Montgomery County, Mo., in 1829, on what is now the Devault place. (Children of Peter Hance.) Mary never married, and died in Virginia at the age of sixty years. Sabrina married Isaac C. Bratton, of Virginia, who settled in Greenville, Tennessee, in 1831, and while living there had a suit of clothes made by Andrew Johnsen, who afterward became President of the United States. Mr. Bratton settled in Montgomery County, Missouri, in 1833. Several of his children live in Kansas, and his son, Peter, who is a great fox hunter and conversationalist, lives near Montgomery City. Anna Hance married Dr. Samuel H. Gordon, of Gordonville, Va., who also settled in Greenville, Tenn., in 1831, and had a suit of clothes made by Andrew Johnson. In 1836 he removed to Missouri, and settled in Montgomery County, where he practiced medicine and taught school for a number of years. In 1846 he removed to St. Louis. His children were Philip Doddridge, James H, Nathaniel D., Mary E., Louisa H., and Isabella V. Margaret Hance married William H. Alexander, of Tennessee, who settled in Montgomery County in 1833. His children were Robert, Elizabeth (Mrs. J. P. Busby), Thomas, Marston, and James G. William Hance settled in Illinois about 1825, and raised a large family. James Hance settled at the Virginia lead mines, Franklin County, in 1838, where he married Evelina Hurst, and died soon after. They had one son, James R., who was born after the death of his father, and is now an enterprising merchant of Montgomery City. Robert Hance married and settled in Rushville, Ill., and is supposed to have been killed in the Confederate army. Elizabeth Hance married Rev. Jacob Siegler, a Methodist minister, and a merchant at Shelbyville, Mo., by whom she had three children. Harvey Hance married Mary Caplinger, and settled in Hannibal, Mo., where he died. Previous to his death he was intimate with Samuel L. Clemens, better know as Mark Twain. Juliet Hance married John Marmaduke, at that time a merchant in Shelbyville, Mo., but at present a resident of Mexico, Mo. (Children of John Hance.) John, the son of Adam, and brother of Peter Hance, married Kittie Hewett, and settled in Montgomery County, Mo., in 1832. Their children were Henry W., Charles, Edward, Virginia C., Jane, Martha, and Melcina. Henry W. lives in St. Louis. Charles was in the Confederate army during the late war, and lost an arm. He is at present County Clerk of Randolph County. Edward is a painter by trade. Virginia C. married Joseph C. Brand, and is now a widow, living in St. Louis. Jane married a Mr. Freeman, and died at Glenwood, Ill. Martha married Benjamin Douglas, a farmer of St. Louis County. Melcina married Charles Lewis of St. Louis County, and is now a widow.
