Martin Brill Family

Martin Brill, our progenitor in the new world, was born in a town named Bockweiler, in the district Saarpfalz-Kreis, in the state of Saarland, Germany near the current borders of France and Luxembourg. He immigrated to the English Colonies in 1754 with his wife and 6 of his 7 children. There is some confusion as to whether my great-great-great-great-grandfather was Martin's oldest son Johann Herman Brill or his second son Johann Heinrich Brill. The overwhelming evidence seems to point to the former.

Just before the American Revolution, Martin decided to move his family about 200 miles west and ended up in Loudoun County, Virginia. From then, through the 1800's, the family lived in the area of Virginia and West Virginia within about 50 miles of where my dad was born.

My grandfather, Smith Reid Brill, moved his family in 1906 to the Captain David Pugh House which was built in 1835. This building is now in the hands of a new owner who calls it Riversdell. I can recall four times that I was in this house. The first was probably when my Grandmother Brill died in 1942. I would have been seven at the time and living in Berkeley Springs which is about two hours away. The second time, I was in my teens and came with my dad; Grandfather Brill was still alive and was close to 90 years of age. JoAnn and I went to Grandfather Brill's funeral with my dad and brother. The last time I was in the house was in 2002 while JoAnn and I were on a genealogy trip with my niece, Susan Webster and brother, Bud.