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Archiver > GERMANNA_COLONIES > 2000-02 > 0949488584


From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: (808)Germanna Colonies, History of
Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2000 05:49:44 -0500


The eight hundred and eighth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

There is no question but that several Germans came in 1719 to Virginia.
Still, there were hardly enough to constitute a colony, especially in the
numbers that have been mentioned in some histories. I am intrigued more by
the reasons that they came. Frederick Kabler, we saw, was a friend of
Christopher Zimmerman. Also, I find the process of communication
fascinating. It seems so primitive to us yet it worked.

Another family who appears to have come in 1719 was the Wayland family.
Thomas Wayland was granted land in 1728 in the Robinson River Valley. He was
not sued by Spotswood. His importation statement is silent on the subject. I
have wondered if the Waylands and the Blankenbakers were friends in Germany.
In Virginia there was an early marriage between the two families. There was
a Blanckenbücher-Wieland marriage in Germany not long after the original
families left Germany. It makes one wonder.

Thomas Wieland married Maria Barbara Seppach in 1711 in Willsbach,
Württemberg. Then two children were born in Waldbach, also in Württemberg.
These two villages are neighbhors and about five to six miles east of
Heilbronn. Thus, they become one the most easterly points from which the
emigrants left. Since the Blanckenbühlers were the western most point in
Baden-Württemberg, there was a good separation between the two families in
Germany. The Blanckenbühler-Wieland marriage in Germany took place in
Unteröwisheim, a village much closer to the Blankenbakers than to the
villages above for the Waylands. Nicholas Blankenbaker married Catharina
Barbara Wayland in 1738 or 1739. He was a weaver. Unfortunately for the
name, he died in 1742. With a name like Blankenbaker, Nicholas was probably
related to the family that came to Virginia but we do not know how. Whether
Catharina Barbara was related to the Virginia Waylands is unknown.

The Wieland family in Willsbach and Waldbach had a history which goes back
several decades in that geographical vicinity. The history of the family is
quite rich on several branches though the depth back in time is not
extensive. For more information, one should consult the Before Germanna
booklets, number 12 in particular. The marriage and death information about
Nicholas Blankenbaker was found by Jean Strand.

Note: When Thomas Wayland patented his land in Virginia, his patent included
all of the land of John Broyles who was two years earlier. In a lawsuit
which followed, Wayland lost all of the land that Broyles had patented. How
this could come about is a mystery.

John Blankenbaker ()
P.O. Box 120, Chadds Ford, PA 19317-0120 USA
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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