Andrew Shoop of Warrington Township

Susannah Shoop, who married William Howe of Warrington Township, York County, was the daughter of Andrew Shoop, also of York County. There are few records of Andrew, only a land warrant and his will. The name of his wife is not known. The name is a common one in the German areas of Pennsylvania, but the various branches do not seem to be connected. 1

Andrew was probably German, but there is no emigration record that can be definitely assigned to him. There was an Andreas Schopp who emigrated in 1754 on the Halifax along with a shipload of other Germans, mostly Protestants.2 They arrived in Philadelphia on October 22. Andreas Schopp was listed on the manifest as sick. William Egle claimed that this Andreas moved to Dauphin County, and had sons Bernard, Jacob and Adam.3

In April 1773 Andrew Shoup got a warrant for 50 acres in Penn Township, Northumberland County.4 He still owned the land in 1784 when he wrote his will. In it he called himself “of the County of York.” He may have moved there recently, because he does not appear in the tax lists from 1779 to 1781.5

His wife must have died before March 1784 when Andrew wrote the will, as he made no provision for her. in the will, proved in December 1789, he named three sons, a daughter, and a son-in-law William Howe.6  He gave to William Howe, “All my Lands situated in Penns Township in the County of Northumberland Adjoining to the South and East of of Stophel Brunks Land”. The daughter Dorrity and the three sons, Peter, Mathias, and Christian, each received one shilling. He must have divided the bulk of his estate before he died; it seems unlikely that the land in Northumberland was his only asset or he would have ordered it to be sold and divided.

The executors of the will were William Howe and Matthias Holopeter. Some researchers have speculated that Matthias was Andrew’s brother-in-law, based on his role as executor and some overlap in the names of their children (Susanna, Mathias, Andrew).7 This seems unlikely. The wording in the will was, “My Son in Law William How and my friend Mathias Holopeter”. If Mathias had been a kinsman, Andrew must likely would have said so.8 Mathias and Barbara Holopeter had four of their children baptized in the Lutheran Church; none of the sponsors were named Shoop. Did Andrew have his children baptized? There are no church records for him; could he have been a Mennonite?

Children of Andrew:9

Susannah, b. 26 September 1761, d. 1825, m. before 1784 William Howe; moved to Perry County

Dorrity, alive in 1784, no further information

Peter, alive in 1784, no further information

Mathias, alive in 1784, no further information unless he is the Matthias Shoup in Frederick County, Maryland in the 1790 census10

Christian, alive in 1784, no further information unless he is the Christian Shoup in Frederick County, Maryland in the 1790 census.

  1. There were many variant spellings of the name including Shope, Shoop, Shupp, Schuppe, Shop, and Schopp. Some researchers claim that there are at least six distinct ancestral lines. (Ref: Mary Shantz, John and Elizabeth Shope and Descendants; posts on the Schupp family forum on GenForum; Roxanna Shope, Bratwurst, bagpipes and tea.) The most informative post was on March 18, 2001 on the Schupp Family Forum on GenForum; it was especially concerned with the family in Dauphin County, as was Roxanna Shope.
  2. Rupp, Thirty thousand names…, p. 342-43, on Ancestry.
  3. William Egle, History of Dauphin and Lebanon County.
  4. PA Land Warrants and Applications 1733-1952, on Ancestry.
  5. Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Vol. XXI, on Google Books.
  6. Wills of York County 1749-1819 on ancestry.com. This is an abstract. The full text of the will is given on Familysearch.org as a Pedigree Resource File, under Andrew Shoup. (Search for Andrew Shoup, died 1789 in York County.) Mathias Holopeter was a witness as well as executor, probably father and son.
  7. Post on the Shoop Family Gen Forum on 9/20/1998. Mathias died in Warrington Township in 1792 with wife Barbara, and children Mary, Susanna, Christiana, Barbara, John, Mathias, Frederick, Andrew and one other. Matthias was born in 1728, about the same generation as Andrew, owned land in Warringtown Township in 1754, married Barbara Rusz in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, had ten known children. (The Hollopeter Family Record, online)
  8. One of William and Susanna’s sons, Edward, married Catharine Halapeter and moved to Ohio. Edward was not born until 1794, after Andrew was dead.
  9. From his will.
  10. Frederick County is just across the border in Maryland, not far from York County.

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