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George F. Hupp, who bought the interest of the heirs of Joseph Stover, deceased, in the "Stover home place," was born 14 Aug. 1792 and died 23 Dec. 1885. He was the son of John Hupp and his wife, Sarah Rader, who were married in Shenandoah County, VA, 22 April 1790. She was the daughter of George Rader (often spelled Reader or even Reeder in County records). The Hupp family has records naming John and Sarah as George's parents and various deeds and court records prove that George F. Hupp was indeed, the son of John and Sarah Rader Hupp. Sarah's father, George Rader/Reader, was a major landowner in southern Shenandoah County, Rockingham County and Greenbrier County (now WV).
John Hupp was born in 1766 (from family records) and died in 1807. His estate records show that he died in that year and was survived by his widow, Sarah, and two children: George and Mary (called "Polly"). Sarah (called Sally) was administrator of his estate and his son, George, being over age 14, chose Martin Hupp as his guardian. Martin Hupp was appointed guardian of Polly since she was under age 14. In January 1810 Sarah Hupp, widow of John, married Philip Snapp, a farmer and landowner, who lived near present-day Mt. Olive, about 3 miles southwest of Strasburg. Her daughter, Mary, married John Lee, 27 Feb. 1811, and Martin Hupp, her guardian signed permission. George Hupp married Catherine Spengler of Strasburg, 22 Feb. 1814.
The personal property tax records of Shenandoah County and records of land ownership show that John Hupp lived in southern Shenandoah County his entire life. The 1787 personal property tax records, which were more detailed that year than most, lists him as John "Hoop" and his neighbors were Reuben Moore, Abraham Harpine, Henry Reader (Rader), and Mary Holman (widow of Jacob). All of these folks lived near present day Quicksburg, Virginia. There were no other John Hoops, Hupps or Hups listed in the tax list, which included all males 21 or over.
12 June 1798, John Hupp and Sarah his wife, sell to Martin Hupp "brother of said John Hupp", 230 acres on the west side of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, part of 490 acres granted to the said John Hupp as heir of Casper Hupp, deceased, 11 Aug. 1789, corner to Dr. John Henry Neff and Jacob Holman. (Shenandoah County Deed Book, L, p. 253). The Neff and Holman land was near the mouth of Holman's Creek and so this places this land near present-day Shenandoah Caverns.
7 April 1800, John and Sally Hupp sold, 261 acres to his brother, Samuel Hupp, on the North Fork of the Shenandoah, part of it from a tract of 107 acres conveyed to Casper Hupp, deceased, "father of the said John Hupp", by William Clark in 1763, part from a 490 acre tract granted to said John Hupp, 11 Aug. 1789 and part from a 65 acre tract patented to said John in October, 1799. The deed mentions a survey in which the properties were divided (Shenandoah County, Deed Book M, p. 167). These deeds show that John Hupp, who was married to Sarah (Sally), was son of Casper Hupp, deceased and that he had brothers, Samuel and Martin.
The following statements made in a chancery suit, Barnes vs. Hupp's Adm. and the deed to John Click, leaves no doubt that this is the same John and Sarah Hupp who were parents of George F. Hupp.
"Answer of Philip Snapp and Sally, late Sally Hupp, widow of John Hupp, acknowledges that her husband had a claim against the plaintiff, but understood that it had been passed by her late husband to his brother, Martin Hupp."
Barnes was suing the Hupp estate to recover money he said was owed to him by John Hupp. There is no dispute that the mother of George and Polly Hupp married Philip Snapp and therefore this is the same Sarah Hupp who was the wife of John Hupp, son of Casper, as named in the deeds listed above. Martin Hupp, guardian of George and Polly was their uncle.
Sarah (Sally) Rader Hupp was born 23 Feb. 1772 and died 21 Oct. 1828. She is buried with her daughter and son-in-law, John and Mary Lee in the old Stickley cemetery on Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg, VA. John and Mary (Polly) Lee had five children: John H., Daniel, Lucy Ann, Elizabeth and Sarah Jane Lee. Lucy Ann m. Philip Machir and died soon after. John H. lived for a while in Strasburg.
Martin Hupp, born in 1775, was a physician, who set up practice in Woodstock, shortly after he married Clara Rader, in June, 1801. Clara was a sister of Sarah, wife of John Hupp. Martin Hupp's practice covered all of northern Shenandoah County, and he doctored the first wife of Philip Snapp and his son, Abraham, both of whom died in 1808. It was through the friendship of Martin Hupp with Philip Snapp that John Hupp's widow met Snapp and married him in 1810. Snapp sold part of his land to Martin Hupp shortly before he died in 1812 and from that point on Martin Hupp lived on the old Snapp farm near Mt. Hebron Church, a few miles from Strasburg. This explains how George Hupp met Catherine Spengler and settled down in the Strasburg area. John Lee and his wife, Mary (Polly) also live in the area, settling on a farm on Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg. George, Polly and their mother, eventually sold all their lands and property in southern Shenandoah County (Shenandoah County Deed Book CC, p. 493, 15 Dec. 1823).
Casper Hupp or Hoop, father of John, Samuel and Martin, purchased 212 acres of land on the east side of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River from William and Susanna Clark, 2 May 1762. This was part of a 462 acres tract Fairfax granted to William Clark Sr. father of the above William Clark in 1749 (this land was part of the river bottom land now known as Meems Bottom, south of Mt. Jackson, VA).
A year later Casper Hupp purchased 107 acres from Clark on the west side of the river, across from his earlier purchase. He purchased a total of 319 acres of land from Clark. (Frederick County, deed books 7, p. 189 and 8, p. 291-3.). Casper "Hope" returned a survey for Peter Cook to Fairfax's office in Mar. 1773 and Jacob Holman certified that it was signed by Cook. In Mar. 1775 Casper Hop was chain carrier for a survey for Jackson Allen on Smith Creek (near New Market) and at the same time had a tract of 490 acres surveyed adjoining his property, John Henry Neff and others. He died before receiving the actual grant and that was not released until 1788, after his son John turned 21. Casper Hupp was deceased by November, 1778, when a survey for land on Holman's Creek was made for Conrad Pence. The survey was for land adjoining the land of "the heirs of Casper Hope, deceased." In 1787, John Hupp turned 21 and became guardian of his younger brothers, Samuel and Martin.
Mary widow of Casper Hoop married Charles Taylor in Shenandoah County, 3 December, 1781. The 1785 census of Shenandoah County shows a Charles Taylor near Mt. Jackson. Taylor died by 1800 and on 5 Oct. 1801, Mary, widow of Charles Taylor married Sebastian Steigler. Mary Steigler wrote a will, 22 December, 1808, and named the following children by "my first husband, Casper Hup, deceased." Daughters: Barbara Moffett, Mary Dundore and Elizabeth Thomas. Sons: John Hup, deceased, Samuel Hup and Martin Hup. George Hupp was one of the witnesses to the will, which was probated 7 May, 1810 (Shenandoah County Will Book, G, p. 463). Her son John had died the year before she wrote her will.
Casper Hoop/Hope/ Hupp, is probably the "Casper Hop" who arrived in Philadelphia from Germany on the ship "Eastern Branch," 3 October, 1753, along with a Johannes Hop. The English clerk gave the name as "Hop" but both Casper and Johannes signed the oath as "Hopff."
There was a Peter Hoop /Hupp living at Woodstock, where he died in 1773. His widow, Magdalena, married Adam Funk, who lived in the "Seven Bends" near Woodstock, in 1774 and when Funk died in 1778 she married Jacob Cook.
There is no known connection between the Peter Hoop/Hupp family and that of Casper Hupp but it is possible they are related. There was also a Balser Hupp in southern Shenandoah County who was chain carrier on the 1775 survey for Casper "Hope" and he purchased land in the same neighborhood as Casper in 1776. There was also a Philip Hupp who died in Culpeper County in 1761 and in his will he named children: George, Philip, Baltser and Elizabeth. This may be the Philip Hopff who arrived in Philadelphia in October, 1747 aboard the "Restauration." Philip owned land on the Hazel River in what is now Rappahannock County (formed in 1833 from Culpeper), not far from Thornton Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, so it is likely that the Hupps came into the Shenandoah Valley by way of the Thornton Gap Road, which crosses the Massanutten range just north of New Market, rather than coming down the Valley from Pennsylvania.
No records have been found in Shenandoah County or Frederick County that puts any of these Hoops, Hups or Hupps in the area of Strasburg or any where in the northern Shenandoah Valley, before 1805 at which time payments to "Dr. Martin Hupp" begin to show up in some estate records. The first record of George F. Hupp owning property in the area is his purchase of a lot in Strasburg in 1817. He made a deed of trust on the "Joseph Stover home place" with William Morris, who had married Joseph Stover's widow, in 1831 and may have occupied the property soon after that (see below). By 1835 Morris had defaulted on his deed of trust and Hupp obtained full ownership of the property, except for the shares of several Stover heirs who had not sold their interest to Morris.
The legend that the "Frontier Fort" was settled and built by the Hupp family appears to be of fairly recent origin. The two most reliable sources on early Shenandoah Valley history both mention George F. Hupp, as a prominent landowner and businessman in the Strasburg area, but say nothing of his ancestors. Samuel Kercheval in his History of the Valley of Virginia, published in 1833 mentions the cave on the land of George F. Hupp, Esq, "…the former residence of Mr. Joseph Stover, near Strasburg." John W. Wayland in his History of Shenandoah County, Virginia, published in 1927, has a paragraph on the "Hupp Homestead" in which he states "[it]…was for years the residence of George F. Hupp, whose wife was a Miss Spengler. The buildings, it is said, were erected by the Spenglers, Mrs. Hupp's ancestors." Obviously he had made some investigation and learned that Hupp has acquired it through his wife, Catherine, daughter of Philip and Regina Stover Spengler, but did not explore the land records that would have clearly shown that the earliest owners and occupants were the Funk and Stover families, not the Hupps or the Spenglers.
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