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Archiver > GERMANNA_COLONIES > 1999-11 > 0942056747


From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: (746)Germanna Colonies, History of
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 05:25:47 -0500


The seven hundred and forty-sixth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

The Rucker family was just another family for me until some bits and pieces
started pointing to the need for more investigation of the family. I did
know they lived on the edge of the German community and then I started
wondering if they were a part of the German community. Looking at the German
atlas, I found the name Rucker, especially as a part of a combination name,
was not unusual. The telephone directory confirmed that it was a family
name. So when I saw that the name, in Virginia, occurred several times with
German names (as I judged they might be), I begin to seriously wonder. When
I have read that Peter Rucker was naturalized in 1704 (though I have not
seen the documents) I considered that it was extremely likely that the
Rucker family was German. I do not have any proof that John Rucker was the
son of Peter.

Two of the associated families, not normally considered in the Germanna
literature, who were probably Germans were the Offills and Cofers.

The Offill name is spelled in many ways, a fact which I often considered as
indicative of a non-English origin. Some of the ways for spelling the name
include Offield, Aufil, and Oppill. All of these are believable spellings by
an English clerk of the German Apfel, meaning "apple." This is not an
unusual name in Germany. William Offill married Mary Rucker, daughter of
Peter Rucker who died in 1743.

Another family, with multiple spellings, is the Cofer, Copher, Coffer
family. The Cofer family was perhaps not as early as the Rucker family.
Thomas Cofer bought 70 acres on Elk Run in 1745, just south of John Rucker.
One notable item, to me, about this name is the close similarity to the name
Käfer. This is a name that is known in the Germanna community for Michael
Kaifer (as the name is often spelled) lived a couple of miles, perhaps
slightly more, to the north of Elk Run. In Germany, very little is known
about the Käfer family. We know that John Nicholas Blankenbaker married
Appolonia Käfer and that when they came to America that her brother Michael
came with them. Later he married Anna Maria Blankenbaker after her husband
John Thomas died. Michael had five daughters but no sons so the name died
out with him. Hence the spelling in America is most uncertain. The book,
"The Boone Family," by Spraker in 1922 says that Thomas Cofer was born in
Pennsylvania and settled in Virginia.

According to the Boone book, Thomas Cofer was born bc1715-1720 in
Pennsylvania and moved to Madison Co., Virginia (then a part of Orange Co.).
He died in 1791 so apparently his final records would be in Culpeper Co.
George and Joel Cofer, attributed as sons of Thomas, were in the Culpeper
Classes of 1781.

John Blankenbaker ()
P.O. Box 120, Chadds Ford, PA 19317-0120
http://www.germanna.com
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhis1.html
for information on a CD of the Germanna History

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