In total, eighteen persons were naturalized that day, as certified by Rev. Thomas Bacon. The naturalization papers state, as was established via a 1740 English Parliament "act for naturalizing foreign Protestants," that candidates for citizenship must "have been inhabitants in some of his majesty's Plantations 7 years and have not been absent out of said Colonies for longer than 3 months." A record of the naturalization papers can be viewed in the book of Provincial Court Judgments Records for 1762, Book DD2, Page 89 at the Maryland State Archives, located at 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, MD 21401, which can be reached by phone at (410) 260-6400. Peter Finger was originally a German speaker. I observed on my March 2006 visit to Stone (St. Jacob's) Union Church cemetery that many tombstones, even well into the nineteenth century, are inscribed in German. It is likely that Peter Finger associated almost exclusively with other German-speakers, especially during his years in Pennsylvania. For example, the families surrounding his farm in Pennsylvania were surnamed Nunemaker, Brunkart, Slough, Derwechter, Raiser, Marsteller and Foreman/Fuhrman. That Peter Finger associated primarily with other German-speakers is further evidenced by the German surnames of his extended family and children's spouses, which were:
| Child | Birth Date | Spouse | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob | ca.1754 | Schramm, Maria Christina | ||
| Catharine | 1757 | No record of marriage | ||
| Johannes ("John") | ca.1758 | Cansler, Maria Catharine "Caty" | Cansler is an Anglicized version of the German "Genßler" or "Gentzler" | |
| Elizabeth | 1762 | No record of marriage | ||
| Susannah | ca.1764 | Carpenter, Jacob "Fallston" | Carpenter was probably Anglicized from Zimmerman, which means the same thing in German | |
| Daniel | 1767 | Heltebrand, Elizabeth | ||
| Barbara | ca.1772 | Blackburn, Elias | Elias was the son of Robert Blackburn, a surveyor, Justice of the Peace of Tryon County, and North Carolina Assemblyman of Scotch-Irish descent. According to Alfred Nixon's 1903 sketch The Finger Family of Lincoln County, N.C., Robert was "a prominent and useful man in his day, enjoying the confidence of his neighbors, and most for their wills and deeds were written by him." Peter Finger's will appears to be one of those written by Robert Blackburn. | |
| Heinrich ("Henry") | ca.1774 | Cline, Julianna "Uly" | Klein means "little" in German | |
| Margaretha | May 20, 1776 | Cansler, George M. | See above |
Peter Finger and his family moved to North Carolina in late 1777 or early 1778, bringing with them a letter of introduction (which you can read in James Avery Finger's book) dated September 1777 and settling in Lincoln County. It is very likely that they chose to settle in this area because Peter's wife Barbara's brother, Christian Reinhardt, had moved to Lincoln County in the early 1750s. It is noteworthy that Peter Finger names Christian Reinhardt as executor of his will, referring to Christian as his "trusty friend."