Georg Heinrich Weidner (1717 - 1792)

Born 9 Oct 1717 in Heiliges Römisches Reich [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Catherina (Mull) Weidner — married about 1749 in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 31 Jul 1792 at age 74 in Lincoln County, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Myth: Heinrich Weidner's “Noble” Birth

Apparently, the idea that North Carolina pioneer Heinrich Weidner (a.k.a. Whitener, Weitiner) was of noble birth sprang from The Wideners in America, quoted below. Note that the informant did not know the name of the alleged ancestor.

“Mrs. Sarah Biddle Boggs [granddaughter of Peter Weidner Jr.] furnishes the following Tradition.

Some one of my [unknown] ancestors (male or female) was born in a foreign land, probably Holland or Germany, and was of a family of the Nobility, or family closely connected with the ruling family of that land. A civil war was in progress and all the family were killed except this child and the old nurse brought this child to America.

This [unknown] person used to tell how he or she remembered one scene of its childhood, which was firmly impressed on its mind, and that scene was, while a battle was taking place around the home in the foreign land, the nurse who was in hiding with the child in the attic, walked to the window with it and the sight of the fighting and bloodshed made such a deep impression on the child, that it never forgot it.

Miss Hannah Widener, late of Rochester, New York (daughter of John Widener, son of Leonard Widener) told a story of similar import, but not in detail.”^[1]

A great deal of lore has grown up around North Carolina pioneer George Heinrich "Henry" Weidner, and his "noble birth" is a story often repeated. Judge Matthew L. McCorkle, a keynote speaker at the 1894 Henry Weidner Memorial Service, added his version to the myth:

He was a Saxon, from Coburg, Saxony, and left that country when he was a young man, on account of some troubles between him and his brothers about the Crown of that Government, and came to America. He landed first in Philadelphia, then came to North Carolina. Henry Weidner was a brother of Prince Albert’s father, whose original name was Wetner.^[2]

No evidence has been found to support Judge McCorkle's speculations about Henry Weidner's origins. Common sense is that nobility typically did not emigrate; why would they?

Myth: the ship Molly

North Carolina pioneer Heinrich "Henry" Weidner is not the same person who arrived in America on the ship Molly. The 1741 passenger on the Molly was Johann Heinrich Weidner, age 18 (born circa 1723). He was from Odernheim, Germany. He settled in New Jersey.^[3] The 1741 immigrant's signature on the abjuration oath^[4] is quite different from those of North Carolina pioneer Henry Weidner; see the image comparing signatures of the two individuals. Furthermore, Henry's parents are documented in Pennsylvania at least sixteen years before the Molly docked at the Port of Philadelphia; see documentation following.

Surname

Henry wrote his name in German script as "Henrich Weitner" and as "Heinrich Weitiner." As early as 1736 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the surname was evolving to Whitener. In North Carolina, Henry and his children commonly were called "Whitener." His Ruffnahme (everyday call name) Heinrich “Henry” probably was for his maternal grandfather Johann Heinrich Schneider (see following).

Parents

Evidence is clear that Henry's parents were Peter and Catherina (Schneider) Weidner (a.k.a. Weitiner).^[5] The Whitener Weidner Widener Weitenauer Wittner DNA Project summarizes what is known about Peter.

Peter Witenar (Weidner, Witener, Weitenauer) was born circa 1680 in Switzerland or Germany, died in the winter of 1733-34 in Oley Township, Berks County, PA. Peter married Catherina Schneider, the daughter of Johann Heinrich Schneider. Schneider's and Weidner's families were in Pennsylvania before 1725 when the will of J:Heinrich Schneider was probated in Roxboro Twp., Philadelphia County.^[6]

So far, Peter Weidner's baptismal name, birth year, birthplace, or parentage have not been located in Swiss, German, or Pennsylvania archives.^[7]

Peter and his wife Catharina were living in Pennsylvania before 1725, according to her father's will (see following). Extant ship passenger lists do not include them; thus their immigration year is unknown.^[8] The extant evidence for Henry's parents follows.

• On 18 August 1725, J. Heinrich Schneider executed his will, naming his daughter Catharina, wife of Peter "Witenar."^[9]
  
• On 11 October 1741, Catherina executed a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, deed identifying herself as the widow of Peter Weidner.^[10]
  
• On 22 September 1742, Catherina Weidner executed her will in which she bequeathed to her son Henry "Widener." When his father died circa 1734, Henry Weidner was about age seventeen. His mother’s 1742 will bequeaths £12 to him with the remark that he left home before his majority (age twenty-one): “fore all I had reason to give him Less because after his Fathers Decease he was Disobedient and by his own Will went from me and made himself to be his Master several Years befor the Law giveth him to be free yet for I am Reconcilt to him and wish him well to enjoy in his Shear [share].”^[11]
  
• In 1750, Henry and his siblings conveyed the same land that their widowed mother Catherine Weidner had purchased in 1736.^[12]

Henry’s mother relocated from Philadelphia County to Ephrata in the Cocalico Valley of northern Lancaster County about 1736 when Henry was age nineteen. No evidence—positive or negative—has been found to indicate whether Catherina's father or her husband Peter were of the Brethren persuasion. It is unlikely that Henry accompanied his mother to Ephrata because her will indicates he left home “after his Father’s Decease.” Furthermore, Henry is documented in Oley Valley (then part of Philadelphia County) in circa 1740 when he worked on Johannes “Hans” Yoder’s harvest.^[13] Although his mother was a householder at Ephrata's Brethren colony, there is no indication in Henry’s available records that he adopted the Brethren faith. In fact, he was a militia captain in 1757 North Carolina, which is not in accord with Brethren principles. Additionally, his sons and son-in-law John Dellinger served active military duty in the Revolutionary War.

1717 Birth

Heinrich Weidner was born 9 October 1717, according to his tombstone.^[14] Presumably his birthplace was somewhere in a German-speaking area as he wrote his name in German script, but his exact place of birth is undetermined.

1753 Naturalization

On 19 September 1753 at Rowan County, North Carolina, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Henry "Witner" came into Open Court and Took the State Oaths and Subscribed the Test.^[15] Whether he swore or affirmed is not indicated. His oath of allegiance was to the King of England and the Province of North Carolina (the United States of America did not yet exist). Only foreign-born residents were required to subscribe to an allegiance oath. This is direct evidence that Henry Weidner was not born in an American colony.

Circa 1749 Marriage

Between 1747 and 1758, "Georg Weidner" and "Catharina Moll" were married by the Rev. Georg Michael Weiss at the New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church.^[16] At that time the area was part of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; it now is Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County. Their marriage year is estimated as 1749 because the couple’s eldest son Daniel was born 14 October 1750.^[17] Daniel's 1830 census enumeration as age 70–79 supports a birth year no earlier than 1750 and no later than 1751.^[18]

Based on Catharina’s 1733 birth year, she was about sixteen years old in 1749.^[19] Her bridegroom, born 1717, was in his thirty-second year. If son Daniel’s gestation period was the typical nine months, his mother became pregnant in January 1750. Calculating by her 20 May 1733 baptism date, Catherina was a mother at age 16 years 4 months and 25 days when Daniel was born.

Henry and his wife are documented in Pennsylvania in 1750.

• “Henrich Weitner” witnessed the marriage of his kinsman “Ticus Weitner” (Tychicus Weittner) in Philadelphia on 15 May 1750.^[20]
• On 16 August 1750, "Henrich Widener and Catherine his wife" executed a deed in Lancaster County conveying land belonging to Henry's deceased mother Catharina (Schneider) Weidner.^[21]
• The account book of Abraham Bertolet, blacksmith of Oley Township, records that in 1750 he outfitted Heinrich Weidner's wagon with 437 pounds of iron, including a strong tongue and a number of agricultural tools.^[22]

In August 1750, Catharina was seven months pregnant. It does not seem prudent that she would have journeyed more than 550 miles from North Carolina to Pennsylvania. It seems more logical that she remained with her parents after her 1749 wedding while Henry prepared a home for them in North Carolina, and that he now had come to fetch her. Given Catharina's imminent delivery date, son Daniel was born in Pennsylvania or en route to North Carolina. It seems doubtful that the couple would set out for North Carolina with Catharina heavily pregnant with their first child. In any event, the logistics are simple: a loaded wagon could make at best five miles a day^[23] or about ten miles a day.^[24] In an ideal scenario with no delays, Henry and Catharina's journey to North Carolina along the Great Wagon Road in a loaded wagon would have required three to three and a half months or about two months, depending upon whose mile-per-day calculation is relied upon. For the miles, see "Philadelphia to North Carolina." ^[25]

1750 North Carolina Land

Clearly Henry had determined where he wished to site his home place and had entered his claim (which date unfortunately is unknown) some time prior to the approval of his land warrant. He had no control over when the Executive Council would convene and approve a warrant. His warrant was approved on 7 April 1750 at Executive Council sessions in New Bern.^[26] His 1750 grant, consisting of 1,000 acres located on the West side of the South Fork of the Catawba River was final on 29 September 1750.^[27] He eventually acquired a total of 2,840 acres; lore that he owned 10,000 acres is simply another myth.^[28] The 29 September 1750 date of his first grant is when North Carolina officials completed the paper work. It is not an indicator that Whitener was physically present in their offices on that date.

Henry Weitiner's North Carolina land platted by Kathy Gunter Sullivan.

Geographical Boundaries

Henry Whitener's physical North Carolina residence never changed; however, geographical boundaries did. Thus, he and his descendants are found in records of Anson, Rowan, Burke, Lincoln, and Catawba counties.
1750–1753: Anson County
1753: Rowan County was formed from part of Anson County and Whitener's residence fell into the new county of Rowan. Some researchers mistakenly think that Tryon County (formed 1768 from part of Mecklenburg County) was part of Rowan County; however, this was never true.
1777: Burke County was created from the western part of Rowan County, and Whitener's address changed to Burke County.^[29]

As early as 1778, residents of the Jacob’s Fork/Henry’s River area began petitioning for annexation to the county east of them (in 1778 this was Tryon County but became Lincoln County in 1779). At last they succeeded and on 4 May 1782, the General Assembly altered the Burke-Lincoln county boundary so that the petitioners’ area became part of Lincoln County. Signatures on the 1782 petition include Henrich Weitner [Sr.], Henrich Weitner [Jr.], John Dellinger, and Daniel Weitner.^[30] A small additional annexation of part of Burke County to Lincoln occurred in 1784.

1782–1842: Lincoln County's boundary remained stable until 1842 when the new County of Catawba was created from the upper part of Lincoln County.^[31]

1752 “to Henry Witner” £0.2.5

John Ramsour, a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, trader, recorded his route and expenses during a trip to “Carlinay” in a handwritten, buckskin-bound journal that he titled “John Ramsauer his mamberranton book.” Ramsour noted that his expenses as of “The First of October” in Carolina included paying “to Henry Witner .2s.5d.” The reason for the expense is not stated; perhaps it was for overnight lodging and meals. In addition to Ramsour's interesting entries, the reference to Henry "Witner" establishes Weidner (Whitener) in North Carolina and supports his acquaintanceship with Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, people.

Ramsour's trip took forty-one days (five weeks and four days): Ramsour started from “langastar” [Lancaster] on 27 August 1752 and “Cot to my gorneys ent to Anty lamberts tis 6 day of October 1752” [Got to my journey’s end at Andy Lambert’s this 6 October 1752].^[32]

1757 Captain Henry Whitener

Following participation of Cherokee Indian chief Wauhatchie and his tribal members in the French and Indian War, civil and military officials along the route from Virginia to the Cherokee Nation were ordered by Colonel George Washington to convoy them home under strict supervision. On 7 July 1757, Dr. Andrew Cranston and others accompanied them from Fort Dobbs in Rowan County, North Carolina (present-day Iredell County) to Capt. Henry Whitener’s. On 8 July, "Henrich Weitner" certified that the Cherokees arrived at his house in a party consisting of two hundred men and eight horses.^[33] Between their 8 July arrival at his house and his 3 September 1757 request for expense reimbursement, militia captain Whitener and others accompanied the Cherokees home to their Nation, presumably to their "Lower Towns" settlement in northwestern South Carolina (see attached mage of Cherokee settlements). Wauhatchie was headman of the "Lower Towns." According to reimbursement claims, the journey took about twenty days round trip. On 3 September 1757, "Henrich Weitner" requested reimbursement of £9.5.6 for provisions he supplied the Indians (a fat beef, 200 pounds of wheat flour, a buckskin vest, and a horse “lost in the journey”). He was allowed only £3. Jacob Whitener was reimbursed £2 for a fat steer.^[34]

1759 Cherokee Attack on Catawba River Settlers

Nathan Alexander of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, wrote to South Carolina Governor William Henry Lyttelton on 4 May 1759 that "the Indians supposed to be the Cherokees, did on the 25th and 26th days of April last, murder and scalp three white persons on the Yadkin River, and eight persons on the Fourth Creek and three persons on the south fork of the Catawba River, which has put all our frontiers in sad confusion. We have sent to [North Carolina] Governor Dobbs to inform him . . . . There is many of the inhabitant have already moved away and many more will go . . . . we live in hopes you will send some instructions [to your military] to assist the frontiers."^[35] On May 5, 1759, Samuel Wyly wrote Governor Lyttelton that two men from the Upper settlements [the friendly Catawba Indians' settlements] informed him that those murdered included Conrad Mull, his wife and son at the south branch of the Catawba River [and others].^[36]

Contemporary newspapers report an April 1759 attack by Cherokee Indians on settlers on the South Fork of the Catawba River. Henry Whitener is not mentioned but the murder of Conrad Mull is reported.^[37] The name Conrad is incorrect because he executed his Rowan County will in November 1760 so could not have died in a 1759 attack, nor did his wife.^[38] Mull's wife Mollana survived him and was appointed administratrix of his estate.^[39]

Possibly the name Conrad Mull should be Abram Mull, who, according solely to tradition, was murdered in 1759 by the Cherokee Indians. As always in Henry Whitener's traditional history, a good deal of speculative lore exists about the effect of the attack on him and his family, describing their flight to South Carolina for sanctuary. Nevertheless, land grants establish that the Mull family were close neighbors of Henry Whitener.^[40] If the Mulls were attacked, the Whiteners certainly were affected. There is no doubt that settlers were under siege by Cherokees; the various news accounts are consistent.^[41] Additional evidence exists in the estate papers of William Mills. His widow Ann administered the estate and her expenses include this item: "by the Widow's being 3 years Drove away from the Plantation by the Indeans, and suporting the children at her own expences £50."^[42]

1776–1783 Revolutionary War Patriot

Henry at age fifty-nine in 1776 was well past the required militia age of sixteen to fifty. Although he was not a military veteran, he supported the American cause by contributing provisions to the troops. An example of one of Henry Whitener's contributions is attached.^[43] He is Ancestor no. A125020 on the DAR Patriot Roster, indexed as "Henry Whitner Sr." ^[44]

Understanding North Carolina Revolutionary War Vouchers

During the War for Independence, North Carolina had no cash to pay, clothe, or feed her soldiers. An I.O.U. system was devised to overcome this problem. Soldiers received some pay in cash with the balance promised by a voucher to be redeemed at a future date. Patriot citizens, including Henry Whitener Sr., contributing provisions to the troops (clothing, beef, pork, and so on) also received vouchers promising future payment. When North Carolina began to address its obligations to its Patriots, fiscal districts with Boards of Auditors were created. Morgan District, created in 1782 comprised of the counties of Burke, Lincoln, Rutherford, and Wilkes, was Whitener's district; prior to 1782, his Rowan County residence belonged to the Salisbury District. Citizens holding vouchers were instructed to present those for review to a Board of Auditors. They could go to any District Board of Auditors, but typically they went to their area district. After examining a voucher and deeming it credible, the Board of Auditors issued a new certificate to the claimant, which then could be applied against land entry fees or taxes. It is important to understand that the date of an Auditors’ certificate is not the date of the original voucher; instead it is when the original voucher was examined, approved, and replaced by a new certificate.^[45]

1790 Census

Henry Whitener is enumerated only on the 1790 census as he died before the next enumeration in 1800. Household statistics were supposed to reflect occupants as of 2 August 1790, and the canvass was supposed to be completed no later than 2 May 1791. Lincoln County's enumeration was completed on 19 April 1791. Henry's household is recorded in Lincoln County, Fourth [militia] Company, Morgan District, Henry Whitener Sr
Male 16 years and up
Two Females [presumably his wife Catharina (Mull) Whitener and his unmarried daughter Mary Ann]
Slaves: twelve ^[46]
Neighboring households included his sons and sons-in-law Jesse Robison, Danl Whitener, Henry Whitener [Jr.], Jno Mull Sr., Jno Dellinger.

1790–1791 Heirs to Henry Weidner's Real Estate

In 1790 Henry Weidner executed a series of deeds conveying his land to his unmarried daughter, his sons, and sons-in-law and in 1791 to his Dellinger grandchildren, summarized below.^[47]

10 June 1790, Lincoln County deed book 16: 15, Henry Witner to his son Daniel Witner for the good regard and great affection he beareth to his Son Daniel Witner and £1.10.0, 480 acres. Signed Henrich Weitner. Witnesses David Ramsey, Henrich Weitner [Jr]. Registered October Sessions 1790.^[48]

10 June 1790, Lincoln County deed book 15: 348, Henery Whitnor Seanor to Hanarey Whitnor Junior for the good regard and great affection he beareth to his son Heanary Whitnor and £1.10.0, 392 acres. Signed Heinrich Weitiner. Witnesses David Ramsey, Danial his D mark Whitnor. Registered July Sessions 1790.

11 June 1790, Lincoln County deed book 16: 59. Henry Whitner to his daughter Mary Weidner for great regard and natural affection and £1.10.0, 200 acres. Signed Henrich Weitner. Witnesses: Henrich Weitner [Jr.], Robt Blackburn. Registered January 1791.

11 June 1790, Lincoln County deed book 15: 361, Henry Whitener to John Mull [son-in-law] for the great regard and good love that he beareth John Mull and for £1.10.0, 240 acres. Signed Henrich Weitner. Witnesses: David Ramsey, Jesse Robinson. Registered July Sessions 1790.

11 June 1790, Lincoln County deed book 15: 363, Henry Whitner to Henry Summerow [son-in-law] for the great affection & good love he beareth to Henry Summerow and for £1.10.0, 200 acres. Signed Henrich Weitner. Witnesses: David Ramsey, Jesse Robinson. Registered July Sessions 1790.

7 December 1790, Lincoln County deed book 16: 56–17, Henry Whitener Senr and Catharine his wife to Jesse Robinson [son-in-law] for £50 paid by Jesse Robinson, 520 acres. Signed Henery Weitner, Catharine Whitener. [Comment: the Register's copy implies Catharine signed her name, which is highly unlikely.] Witnesses: Robt Blackburn, Henery Weitner [Jnr]. Registered January Sessions 1791.

10 May 1791, Lincoln County deed book 16: 292–293, Henry Whitener, Planter, to Henry Dellinger, Catey Dellinger, John Dellinger, Joseph Dellinger & Barbara Dellinger the sons and daughters of John Dellinger for £10, 460 acres . . . it being the same land left by the said Henry Whitener by his Will to the said [children]. Signed Henrich Witner. Witnesses: Henrich Weitner [Jr.], John Carruth. Proved at Lincoln County Court sessions of October 1792 by oath of Henry Whitener [Jr.]. [This land remained in the stewardship of son-in-law John Dellinger, father of the heirs, for the next eleven-fifteen years until 1802 and 1806.]

1790 Henry Weidner's Will

There is no official record of Henry Weidner’s will. The Lincoln County court minute docket carries no mention of his will entering probate.^[49] When the North Carolina State Archives accessioned Lincoln County documents in 1969, Weidner’s will was not among the courthouse’s holdings.

Matthew Locke McCorkle (1817–1899) was a Superior Court judge, a founder of Catawba College, a state senator, and a Confederate colonel. McCorkle was one of two keynote speakers at the Henry Weidner Memorial held Wednesday, 30 May 1894 in Newton, Catawba County, North Carolina.^[50] Judge McCorkle announced he had access to Weidner’s will and read it to his audience; see following. Where and from whom McCorkle accessed it is not explained. The accuracy of McCorkle’s account is a bit questionable; see bracketed comments by Kathy Gunter Sullivan.

“A short time before he died, Henry Weidner made his last will and testament in writing. It is always interesting to hear the last words of a deceased friend. He disposed of all his valuable land except the Dellinger place before he died. [Incorrect. Obviously, Weidner was still alive when he executed his 1791 deed of gift to his Dellinger grandchildren.]

“He was to a great degree his own executor. He did not, like too many, hold on to his property till he could hold it no longer, then give it away to his children. This is his will.

[Paragraphing added by Kathy Gunter Sullivan.]

"In the name of God, Amen! The seventh day of December in the year of our Lord, 1790, I, Henry Weidner, Sr, of the County of Lincoln, in the State of North Carolina, planter, being sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, and calling to mind the mortality of my body, and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament, in manner as follows. That is to say

“In the first place, I give, devise and bequeath unto my well-beloved wife Catherine, a negro wench named Phillis; one hundred pounds in cash; her bed and furniture, a horse and saddle and spinning wheel, her privilege in the mansion house and all the household furniture while she remains single and no longer.

“I give unto my son Daniel three negroes, viz: Kingston, Tom's son Pelt and old Tom.

“I give unto my son Henry five negroes, viz: Henry, Pete, Pleasant, David and Nancy.

“I also will that my said sons Daniel and Henry have all of my iron tools and utensils of husbandry, equally divided between them; Daniel to have the first choice and Henry the second and so to continue by choice until they have the whole.

“I give unto my daughter Mary, five cows, a negro wench named Fanny, and her bed and furniture. [Comment: Mary was still unmarried at this time.]

“I give unto my daughter Catherine, wife of John Mull, a negro wench named Nancy.

“I give unto Barbara, wife of John Dellinger, a certain debt of seventy-five pounds.

“I also give unto my daughter Elizabeth, wife of Henry Summerrow, a debt of seventy five pounds.

“I likewise give unto my daughter Mollie, a certain debt of sixty-six pounds, my two stills and all the still vessels and a horse now in her possession. [Comment: Although this version of the will identifies Weidner’s other sons-in-law, Jesse Robinson is not mentioned. Mollianna Whitener married Robinson more than three years earlier in May 1787.]

“I also will that if any or part of my moveable estate not particularly disposed of should remain in the hands of my executors, it shall be equally divided among all my children, male and female.

[Comment: McCorkle's version omits eldest grandson and namesake Henry Dellinger] “I also give, devise, and bequeath unto John Dellinger, Jr, Joseph Dellinger, Catherine Dellinger and Barbara Dellinger, the children of my son in law, John Dellinger, and his wife, my daughter, Barbara, that certain tract of land whereon said John Dellinger now lives, situated on Jacob's Fork, being a part of sundry surveys and containing by estimation 400 acres, be the same more or less.

“And lastly I make, nominate, constitute and appoint my loving and dutiful sons, Daniel and Henry Weidner, my whole and sole executors of this my last will and testament, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In testimony whereof I have hereunto interchangeably set my hand and affixed my seal, the year above written. Henry Weidner (Seal)

[Comment: It is not credible that the will was signed as “Henry Weidner.” All of his extant signatures are in German script as Heinrich Weitner or Weitiner.]

“Signed and sealed by the testator, as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who were present at the signing and sealing thereof, Robert Blackburn, Michael Shell, John his x mark Mull”
[End of McCorkle's version of the will.]

An unorthodox twist to the provenance of Henry Weidner’s will is that on an unknown date an unknown person used blank pages in the back of Lincoln County Will Book 2 to “record” the eighteenth-century will of “Henrich Weidner.” ^[51] The official wills in Will Book 2 are dated in the 1840s (nineteenth century). The “transcription” of the Weidner will is in twentieth-century handwriting and signed “copied by M-N.” This “transcription” includes the following bequests that are not in McCorkle’s 1894 version.

"I also will that after my wife’s death, all my household furniture shall revert to my said daughter Molly wife of Jesse Robinson. I likewise will that the remainder of my cattle and sheep be equally divided among all my daughters."

Henry Weidner’s estate papers did not survive in official hands. There are a few scattered references in the Lincoln County court minute docket and in loose civil action papers of legal actions pursued by his executors (sons Daniel and Henry Whitener) in July 1796, October 1796, April 1798, and July 1799. ^[52]

1792 Death and Burial

According to his tombstone, Henry Weidner died in Lincoln County, North Carolina, on 31 July 1792. He and wife Catharina are buried at the Weidner-Robinson Cemetery in present-day Newton, Catawba County, North Carolina. Their original tombstones are preserved at the Historical Association of Catawba County in Newton. Mr. Rauschenberg of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem, North Carolina, stated the original tombstones of Henry and Catherine Weidner are made of red granite,

As the stone cutter ran out of space, he carried lettering over to the next available space and in the case of Catharina's tombstone, he used its upper portion for the last words of her inscription, "4 TAC" [4 days].

HENRICH WE
IDNER WAR G
EBOHREN IM
JAHR 1717 AM
9 TEN OCTOB
ER UND IST GE
STORBEN IM J
AHR 1792 AM
31 JULIUS UN
D IST ALT WO
RDEN 75 JAH
R UND 7 MO
NAT.

Translation: Henrich Weidner was born the year 1717 on 9 October and died the year 1792 on 31 July, age 75 years 7 months. [Actually, his age at death calculates to 74 years, 9 months, 22 days.]

4 TAC.=
CATHARINA WE
IDNERIN WAR G
EBOHREN IM JA
HR 1733 AM 24 M
AI UND IST GE
STORBEN AM 26 A
UGUST 1804 UND
IST ALT WORDEN 7
1 JAHR 7 MONAT UND

Translation: Catharina Weidner was born in year 1733 on 24 [sic 20] May and died 26 August 1804, age 71 years 7 months and 4 days

1800 Census

Presumably widow Catharina Whitener is the woman over age 45 enumerated in Jesse Robinson’s 1800 census household. She was living in her own house on land that her husband patented—the same land that she and her husband conveyed to Jesse Robinson in 1790.
Head of household: Jesse Robinson Male 26-45
Male 0-9 [presumably Henry Weidner Robinson, son of Jesse and Mary Ann (Mull) Robinson, born 20 April 1798]
Female age 45 & up [presumably Catharina (Mull) Whitener]
Female 16–25 [Robinson's second wife Mary Ann Mull age 24]
Female 0–9 [identity unknown to me]^[53]

1804 Catharina (Mull) Whitener's Will and Estate

According to her tombstone, Catharina (Mull) Weidner died 26 August 1804, having survived her husband twelve years. Lincoln County court minutes document that she made a nuncupative (oral) will that was presented by Daniel “Whitner” at October 1804 court sessions. The minute entry states that a copy of her will was annexed (attached) to the administration bond and filed in the county clerk’s office. At some point thereafter, someone removed the memorandum from the courthouse. Daniel Whitner was appointed administrator and executed the administration bond of £500; Jesse Robinson signed as security. The administration bond survived and is available at the North Carolina State Archives.^[54]

Catharina’s estate papers also were removed from the courthouse, but extant Lincoln County civil action papers document that as late as April 1806, probate of her estate was still in progress because of a debt of £40.12.6 due her from John Dietz.^[55]

A transcript of the memorandum of Catharina's nuncupative will appears in Vance Whitener, “Father Weidner: The King of the Forks,” p. 19, an unpublished manuscript dated 3 January 1916. Mr. Whitener does not reveal where or how he acquired the will memorandum.

The Will of Mother Weidner

Memorandum of the nuncupative will of Catherine Whitener, Widow, of Lincoln County, in the State of North Carolina, now deceased is as followeth: - On or about the 7th of August last, she being then in her last sickness, she then sayeth & pronounced, after her death her money to be equally divided amongst her sons and daughters. And her negro woman, Phylis – Catherine Yoder, wife to Jacob Yoder, is to have her. And all her clothing is to be devided equally among her daughters, and her spinning wheel to be fore Jacob Yoder’s two twins. The above was said by the said Catherine Whitener in the presence of us Jesse Robinson and Richard Johnston who were requested by her to bear witness thereunto, as witness our hands and seals this 26th day of September 1804, Jesse Robinson, Richard Johnston.

Lincoln County, October Sessions 1804} The above was proved in the Open Court and recorded. Witness: Jacob Duckworth [sic John Dickson, Clerk of County Court].^[56]

1894 Memorial Service

Honoring a man who died more than one hundred years previous.^[57]

On the first Sunday in April, 1894, at Bethel Reformed Church, Mr. John W. Robinson asked the Pastor’s permission to make a few remarks after service. He stated that near his home on the hill rested the ashes of Henry Weidner, the first white settler of the South Fork Valley. The grave was said to be covered with briars and the fence surrounding it in a dilapidated condition. Mr. Robinson appealed to the friends to rebuild the fence, and to beautify the grave, adding that it was his desire that a suitable service be held at some convenient time.

This was the first intimation of the Henry Weidner Memorial Service. The writer was asked to prepare a programme for the occasion, which he did, selecting the 30th of May as the time. Being properly advertised, and suitable provisions being made, the largest crowd assembled on that day that has ever been brought together at one time within the history of this community being between 2,500 and 3,000 people present. The interest manifested by this audience was intense. The speakers had made careful and extended preparation; the choirs had selected the most soul stirring music. After the service was over, a general request came up from the friends asking that the proceedings of the day should be published in pamphlet form. Yielding to that request, we have gathered together the speeches made and the papers read on that day and herewith give them to the public trusting that they will inspire reverence in the hearts of the young for the parents, and awaken and interest in some one who will write more fully than has been before, the history of the German people who settled this part of Western North Carolina.

To Judge McCorkle and Col. G. M. Yoder we are indebted for their valuable papers.

We give the programme as rendered that day without embellishment or comment. J. L. Murphy, Hickory, N.C., June 13, 1894

10:30 a.m. Program commences
The Choirs of Bethel and Zion [churches]
Invocation by Reverend A. H. Smith
Scripture Lesson given by Master of Ceremonies Reverend J. L. Murphy Genesis 17: 1–8 and Hebrews 11: 32–40
Prayer Reverend Professor Cline of Lenoir College
Choirs “All Hail the Power of Jesus’s Name”

Welcome by John Wilfong Robinson [descendant of Jesse Robinson and his second wife Mary Ann Mull]
Remarks Reverend J. L. Murphy
Memorial Sermon by Reverend J. C. Clapp, D.D., President, Catawba College
Remarks Reverend J. C. Moser, Pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Hickory, NC

Recess of an hour and a half during which time the audience visited the graves of Henry and Catherine (Mull) Weidner and then gathered for dinner [the mid-day meal].

Remarks Judge Matthew L. McCorkle of Newton, NC
Remarks Colonel George Monroe Yoder of Hickory, NC

Sources

1. ↑ Howard H. Widener, The Wideners in America (Chili, New York: C. A. Nichols, 1904), 51–52, Traditions and Statements; Internet Archives.
2. ↑ The Newton Enterprise newspaper published a booklet in June 1894 transcribing the May 1894 Memorial Service proceedings. It is available at the Evelyn Deal Rhodes Room, Catawba County Public Library, Newton. A digital edition is available at Catawba County Public Library, Henry-Memorial Service; however, pp. 18–19 are missing from the digital version.
3. ↑ Don Yoder, Rhineland Emigrants (1984; reprint, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998), pp. 60-61. Dr. Yoder's work collates immigration lists first published 1936, 1845, 1947, 1948, and 1951 in Pennsylvania Folklife of The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society with Pennsylvania source materials, such as church records, wills, and tax lists, and with passenger lists published by Ralph B. Strassburger, compiler, and William John Hinke, editor, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 3 vols. (1934; reprint Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1992).
4. ↑ Strassburger and Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, vol. 2: 321.
5. ↑ For an account of Peter and Catherine Weidner and their descendants, see Anne Williams McAllister, Heinrich Weidner 1717-1792 and Catherina Mull Weidner 1733-1804: Through Four Generations With Important Contributions From Gracie Seitz Cook, Dr. Joy E. Whitner, and Kathy Gunter Sullivan vol. I (Privately printed, 1992) and Through Four Generations With Important Contributions from Gracie Seitz Cook vol. II (Privately printed, 1996); digitized editions of both volumes are available at Family History Centers.
6. ↑ Whitener Weidner Widener Weitenauer Wittner DNA. Details of the subscribers' documentation is available to the project's subscribers; however, those details may not be published (such as on WikiTree or Ancestry) without written or oral consent of the tester; Genetic Genealogy Standards. Standard 8 (http://www.geneticgenealogystandards.com/).
7. ↑ Searches executed by Dr. Don Yoder and Anne Williams McAllister (both now deceased) on-site in Switzerland, Germany, and Pennsylvania and on Family History Library microfilms.
8. ↑ For scholarly discussion of German immigration to America and extant passenger lists, see the Foreword by Lewis Bunker Rohrbach, iii-vi, and the Introduction by William J. Hinke, xiii-xlv in Ralph Beaver Strassburger, LL.D., compiler, William John Hinke, Ph.D., D.D., editor, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 3 volumes (Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1992). See also, additional accounts of immigrants: Henry Z. Jones, Jr., The Palatine Families of New York, 2 volumes, (Universal City, California: Privately printed, 1958); and Henry Z. Jones, Jr., More Palatine Families: Some Immigrants to the Middle Colonies 1717 to 1776 and their European Origins plus New Discoveries of German Families who arrived in Colonial New York in 1710 (Universal City, California: Privately printed, 1991).
9. ↑ Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Will Book E: 8, file no. 10, Henry "Snider" will (18 August 1725; probate 18 November 1726).
10. ↑ Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, deed book N: 87.
11. ↑ Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Will Book H-20, vol. 7: 53, Catherina Weidner (1742).
12. ↑ Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book H: 19 (Catherine's purchase), 20-22 (heirs' deeds).
13. ↑ 1741/2 estate settlement of Johannes "Hans" Yoder, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Will Book F: 268 et seq.
14. ↑ Find A Grave memorial 7377233 created 23 April 2003 by Patti Mauldin; citing Weidner-Robinson Cemetery in present-day Newton, Catawba County, North Carolina; photographs by Patty McBroom Hurst, "MJ," and James Martin.
15. ↑ Rowan County, North Carolina, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, vol. 1 (1753-1767), p. 16; FamilySearch digital image 17; citing microfilm 7,640,158. See also Jo White Linn, Rowan Register (February 1986): 52; citing Rowan County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, North Carolina, vol. 1: 16.
16. ↑ Rev. William John Hinke, A History of the Goshenhoppen Reformed Charge 1727-1819 (Lancaster, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1920), 283: “Marriages by Rev. George Michael Weiss, 1747-1761, Those Persons who from the year 1747 to the year 1758 have been married by me, George Michael Weiss, V.D.M.”; Archive.org.
17. ↑ Tombstone at the Weidner-Robinson Cemetery in present-day Newton, Catawba County, North Carolina. Find A Grave memorial 7377214, created 23 April 2003 by Patti Mauldin; photograph added by Karen G. Hill.
18. ↑ 1830 U.S. Census, Lincoln County, North Carolina, p. 239, line 16, Daniel Whitener Sen; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M19, roll 122.
19. ↑ Catharina Mull, daughter of "Christopher Moll and wife," was baptized on 20 May 1733 by Reverend John Peter Miller at the New Goshenhoppen Reformed Church, Philadelphia County (present-day Montgomery County), Pennsylvania. Witnesses were Jacob Fischer and wife; Rev. William John Hinke, A History of the Goshenhoppen Reformed Charge 1727-1819 (Lancaster, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1920), 279.
20. ↑ Marriage certificate photocopy, including Henry's signature, supplied by Dr. Don Yoder in February 2002. The marriage certificate is in private hands.
21. ↑ Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book H: 20.
22. ↑ Dr. Don Yoder (now deceased), a collateral relative of Bertolet, owned Abraham Bertolet’s account book and displayed it at the 1996 Whitener Reunion in Hickory, North Carolina. Google Conestoga Wagon for a wealth of information about its history and the purposes of its shape.
23. ↑ Kevin Cherry, then Rowan County Public Library historian, in his 1998 presentation at the Brown-Fisher Reunion, Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. Dr. Cherry currently (2016) is deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and director of the Office of Archives, History and Parks.
24. ↑ J.D. Lewis, The Great Wagon Road (http://www.carolana.com/SC/Royal_Colony/the_great_wagon_road.html).
25. ↑ "Great Wagon Road mileage, Philadelphia to North Carolina," at Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road).
26. ↑ Robert J. Cain, editor, The Colonial Records of North Carolina, Second Series, Volume VIII: Records of the Executive Council 1735–1754 (Raleigh: Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, 1988). The council normally met four or five times during the year (p. lxv); September-October 1749 sessions (pp. 240–250); March-April 1750 sessions (pp. 250–257), Henry Whitner’s warrants for 1,000 and 600 acres approved 7 April 1750 (p. 256); 29 September 1750, petitions for Grants for Patents, Henry "Whitner" 1,000 acres (p. 263); 28 March 1751, petitions for Grants for Patents, Henry Whitner 640 acres (p. 267).
27. ↑ Secretary of State Record Group, Land Office: Land Warrants, Plats of Survey, and Related Records, Anson County, file no. 573, grant no. 516, Henry "Whitner"; North Carolina State Archives.
28. ↑ Kathy Gunter Sullivan, "Heinrich Weidner Land," compiled August 1988; published in "The Henry Weidner Memorial Booklet 1717–1792,” pp. 30–33.
29. ↑ David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties 1663–1943 (Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History, 1950).
30. ↑ General Assembly Session Records, January-February 1779, Box 1, 23 January 1779 Petition of inhabitants of Burke County; also, two undated petitions presented in the House of Commons on 19 October 1779; also, General Assembly Session Records April-May 1782, Box 2, Folder "House Bills 4 May 1782"; North Carolina State Archives. See Kathy Gunter Sullivan, selected signature images, Heinrich Weidner 1717-1792 and Catherina Mull Weidner 1733-1804: Through Four Generations, vol. I, unpaginated page vii.
31. ↑ Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties 1663–1943. For an interactive view, see Formation of North Carolina Counties.
32. ↑ In 1913, Alfred Nixon of Lincoln County, North Carolina, owner of Ramsour’s account book, contributed a transcript to Penn Germania (Cleona, PA: Holzapfel Publishing Company, 1913), vol. II, No. 1 (January 1913): 22–25, “A Rare Old Diary”; digital edition at Google Books “A Rare Old Diary”. Subsequently, Ramsour’s journal was contributed to the Southern Historical Collection at Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where it is cataloged as “John Ramsauer Memorandum Book, #1747-z.”
33. ↑ Treasurer and Comptroller’s Papers, Indian Affairs & Lands, Cherokee Nation 1739–1791, Box 1, Order from Col. Washington for escorting band of Cherokees; North Carolina State Archives.
34. ↑ Treasurer and Comptroller’s Papers, Indian Affairs & Lands, Cherokee Nation 1739–1791, Public Claims for goods destroyed by Cherokees; North Carolina State Archives.
35. ↑ Elizabeth Reed and Sally Emerson; Nancy Poquette, compiler, http://www.reynoldsroost.com/ > Histories > Donaldson, Gallman and Geiger, 15 October 2007 "A Summary of the Research Notes on the Donaldson and Gallman and Geiger Families; citing William L. McDowell Jr., Colonial Records of South Carolina: Documents Relating To Indian Affairs 1754-1765 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press for the South Carolina Department of Archives & History, 1970), 485.
36. ↑ Beverly S. Sylvester, "Negotiating Unacceptable Behavior: Southeastern Indians and the Evolution of Bilateral Regulation on the Southern Colonial Frontier", 2009 dissertation, Laney Graduate School, pp. 142–143; citing McDowell, Colonial Records of South Carolina: Documents Relating To Indian Affairs 1754-1765, 485-86.
37. ↑ Jan-Michael Poff, Editor, French and Indian War (1754-1763), The Colonial Records Project, Historical Publications Section, North Carolina Office of Archives & History, Raleigh. The project is now defunct but is accessible via the Internet Archive’s WaybackMachine (https://archive.org/web/) > enter http://www.ncpublications.com/colonial/Newspapers/subjects/FIW.htm > click on December 24, 2018 > then scroll to June 28, 1759, Pennsylvania Gazette for the Conrad Mull reference.
38. ↑ Conrad Mull's will is recorded in Rowan County Will Book A: 119; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/353379?availability=Family%20History%20Library : last accessed 2018) > FHL microfilm 313,801 (DGS 4,778,8861) > Wills, Vol. A-F 1757–1807 > Will Book A: 119 > digital image 64, Conrad Mull will (executed 4 November 1760)."North Carolina Probate Records 1735–1970," image 64.
39. ↑ 2: 317 (penned) 304 (stamped); ‘’FamilySearch’’ (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/353264?availability=Family%20History%20Library : last accessed October 2018) >digital images, FHL microfilm 313,775 (DGS 7,640,158) >Minutes, Vol. 1–3, 1753–1772 > image 198.
40. ↑ David M. McCorkle, North Carolina Land Grants.
41. ↑ Jan-Michael Poff, “French and Indian War (1754-1763)”, The Colonial Records Project, The Wayback Machine (https://archive.org/web/) > enter http://www.ncpublications.com/colonial/Newspapers/subjects/FIW.htm > click on December 24, 2018 > then scroll to issues of 12 August 1756, 27 March 1760, 1 May 1760, 19 June 1760, 24 September 1761, and 25 March 1762.
42. ↑ Lincoln County Original Estates, William Mills (1785 [sic 1755]). The estate items date 1755–1765. Mills died about 1755.
43. ↑ State Treasurer Record Group, Military Papers, Revolutionary War Army Accounts, Voucher no. 4141; North Carolina State Archives.
44. ↑ DAR Ancestor Search.
45. ↑ For additional discussion, see George Stevenson [North Carolina State Archivist], “Military Records,” Helen F. M. Leary, editor, North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History, 2nd edition (Raleigh: North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996), pp. 367–381.
46. ↑ 1790 U.S. Census, population schedule, Lincoln County, North Carolina, p. 111, second column, Fourth Company, line 3; digital image FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKB-2G7 : accessed 31 December 2016); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M637, roll 7. See p. 170 for the census marshal's verification of his completion date.
47. ↑ Originally contributed by Kathy Gunter Sullivan to "The Henry Weidner Memorial Booklet 1717-1792," pp. 33 for distribution at the 1988 Henry Weidner Reunion.
48. ↑ For the muddled history of Lincoln County, North Carolina, deed books 3 and 4, a.k.a. deed books 13, 14, 15a, and 15b see A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds: Lincoln Co, NC, 1786–1793, Books 3, 4, and 16 (Privately printed, 1988).
49. ↑ Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Lincoln County, North Carolina, 1789–April 1796 (Privately printed, 2005).
50. ↑ The Newton Enterprise newspaper published a booklet in June 1894, transcribing the Memorial Service proceedings. It is available at the Evelyn Deal Rhodes Room, Catawba County Public Library, Newton. A digital version is available online at http://www.catawbacountync.gov/library/gen/weidner.asp; however, pp. 18–19 are missing from the digital version.
51. ↑ Lincoln County, North Carolina, Will Book 2: 414–416, Register of Deeds, Lincolnton.
52. ↑ Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Lincoln County, North Carolina, July 1796–1804 (Privately printed, 2005). Lincoln County Trial & Appearance Dockets 1783–1795, 1796–1798; box nos. CR.060.308.1–2, North Carolina State Archives. Kathy Gunter Sullivan with Anne Williams McAllister, Civil Action Papers 1771–1806 of the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Lincoln County, North Carolina (Privately printed, 1989); citing Lincoln County Civil Action Papers 1799–1806; box no. CR.060.325.3, North Carolina State Archives.
53. ↑ 1800 U.S. census, population schedule, Lincoln County, North Carolina, p. 906, line 1; digital image FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHR8-PFB : accessed 31 December 2016), citing NARA microfilm publication M32, roll 29.
54. ↑ Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Lincoln County, North Carolina, July 1796–1804 (Privately printed, 2005), 154, 155. Lincoln County Estates Records, 1739 to 1925, Catherine Whitener (1804); North Carolina State Archives. The bond is dated 2nd day of October A.D. 1804 and states that Danl Whitener with Jesse Robinson as his security was appointed administrator on the estate of Catharine Whitner deceased. It is signed by Danl his D mark Whitener and Jesse Robinson and witnessed by County Clerk John Dickson. The nuncupative will memorandum is not in the estate file.
55. ↑ Kathy Gunter Sullivan with Anne Williams McAllister, Civil Action Papers 1771–1806 of the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Lincoln County, North Carolina (Privately printed, 1989), abstract no. 1065; citing Lincoln County Civil Action Papers 1799–1806; box no. CR.060.325.3, North Carolina State Archives.
56. ↑ R. Vance Whitener, “Father Weidner: The King of the Forks”, 1916 typescript, p. 16; Evelyn Deal Rhodes Room, Catawba County Public Library, Newton, North Carolina. Mr. Whitener created this simplistic work to encourage his children’s interest in family history. Along with imaginary pioneer exploits, a few historic documents are transcribed. Unfortunately, many researchers misunderstand Mr. Whitener's manuscript and take it as factual rather than creative imagination.
57. ↑ A partial print of the 1894 proceedings is available at http://www.catawbacountync.gov/library/gen/weidner.asp. Pages 18–19 are missing from the scan.

• https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/whitener/about/background Whitener Weidner Widener Weitenauer Wittner DNA] and Whitener-Weidner. The latter site explains that the Heinrich Weidner (numbered VI, DNA kit no. 79850) who arrived in 1741 at the Port of Philadelphia on the ship Molly was not the same person as North Carolina pioneer George Heinrich "Henry" Weidner.