A recent note spoke of John Wilhoit and his wife Margaret "Peggy" Weaver. John Wilhoit was the son of Johann Michael Willheit and his wife Anna Maria Hengsteler. Margaret "Peggy" Weaver was said to be the daughter of Peter Weaver and Mary B. Huffman. (The source for this may have been Germanna Record 13, page 50.)
Just the simplest of time lines shows that the above statement concerning Margaret Weaver could not be true. She would be younger than some of her children.
The true facts were worked out in an article in Beyond Germanna, v. 6, n.3 (May 1994). A summary is provided here.
John Willheit and wife Burga attended the Hebron Lutheran Church in Culpeper Co., VA on Easter Sunday in 1776. They appear in the list of communicants. The names adjacent to John and Burga were George Utz, Sr.(son of the 1717 immigrant), wife Mary (Kaifer), and Henry Aylor, wife Anna Margaret. Henry Aylor was born in 1718 and the other three were thought to have been born in the 1720's. Thus John Willheit was probably the son, born 1713, of the immigrant Michael Willheit. Usually people sat with others of the same age. Also, the grandsons of Michael Willheit who were named John had wives whose names do not suggest the name Burga.
On the first Sunday after Easter in 1778, the name Burga Wilheit was recorded again in the church Register, confirming that the name really did exist. The name Burga is unusual at the Hebron Lutheran Church. Burga is, of course, a nickname for Walburga or Waldburga. In the Virginia records there is one other record of a similar name. The list of fifty imported Germans which Spotswood used for partial payment for a patent of land includes the family, Joseph Wever, Susannna Wever, Hans Frederick Wever, Maria Sophia Wever, and Wabburie Wever. Except for the name Wabburie, the family is known in Germany. This suggests that Wabburie was born in 1717, at sea, or, at least, in transit from Germany. Wabburie is another nickname for Walburga.
So we have these facts: John Willheit married Burga (i.e., Walburga). The only Walburga in the Second Colony is Walburga Wever (Weaver). He was born in 1713 and she was born in 1717.
The Hans Frederick Wever, above, was actually Hans Dietrich Wever (from the German records). The Dietrich became Dieter, Teter, or Peter. Thus Walburga Weaver was a sister of Peter Weaver, the 1717 immigrant, and not the granddaughter of Peter.
Mrs. Wever was Susanna Klaar, the sister of Michael Klaar (Clore). Joseph Wever died early on in Virginia, though his arrival in Virginia is recorded. Susanna married Jacob Crigler and, after he died, she married Nicholas Yager.
The name Wever is often rendered as Weber or in America as Weaver.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.