Glaittli

Friday, April 9, 2010

Yeager/Wilhoite

Thanks, Betty, for the excellent information! We have used these in researching our Germanna lines, and there are two more we have found useful: Articles by A.L. Keith in the William & Mary Quarterly. The first of them can be found in vol XXVI 190ff, and a later one brings many members of the family up to around 1840. (The cover sheet for the later one is
missing—I'll try to find and post the volume number later.) I think these may have been a major source for Holtzclaw. The other source is the Garr Genealogy, which is valuable to Yeager and other Germanna descendants who married members of the Garr family.

Keith's work was done in the early 1900s, and it is the probably source of the information that Nicholas Yeager was married to Mary Wilhoit. He wrote, "Tradition insists that 'Old Nick's' first wife was a Wilhite (Wilhoit) whom he married in Germany. Proof of this will have to be sought in Germany. The Wilhite family does not appear on the Germanna records
until about 1728. There were literally scores of intermarriages between the Yeagers and the Wilhites. . . ."

It now appears the the proof in Germany did not exist and that Nicholas was never married to Mary Wilhite (Wilhoit).

The Garr Genealogy was compiled in the late 1800s by John C. Garr. It is an incredibly detailed listing of the descendants of John Gar, born in Bavaria Nov. 17, 1657. John Gar's grandson, John Adam Gaar, and John Adam's wife Elizabeth "are the first names in the old Lutheran Church books of Madison County, Va, of date 1776." According to the information, John
Adam Gaar, son of Andreas Gaar, was born November 24, 1711.

As Keith said about Yeagers and Wilhites, there were many intermarriages between descendants of the Garrs, Yeagers, Wilhite or Wilhoits, Blankenbakers, and other Germanna families. John C. Garr's work is a wonderful source of information on these marriages.

Some of you may not know that the Second Germanna Colony arrived in Virginia in less than fortuitious circumstances. The English sea captain they had paid for their passage had fallen on hard times. Keith says that the ship was blown off course and ended up in Virginia, where the captain insisted they had not paid for their passage. (He says that could be
true because the passage took longer than expected.) The captain demanded payment from Governor Spotswood, and the colonists signed a contract, apparently not realizing its content. At any rate, they were held in indenture to Governor Spotswood for eight years, one year longer than normal indenture, before they were allowed to gain their freedom.

Marjorie Walraven
Yeager listowner

http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/YEAGER/2001-03/0985383507

No comments:

Post a Comment