In note 587, we looked at the family of Rosina Gaar and Theobald Crisler. To the family as given in the " Garr Genealogy " we added Dorothy (#24), and noted that Andrew was dubious. In this note we look at one of the members of this family, Henry Crisler, son of Rosina and Theobald, who married Elizabeth Weaver. Using the baptismal sponsors for their children, I will show that there is no doubt that Elizabeth was a Weaver. The Hebron Church Register gives seven children from 1762 to 1776, plus an eighth one in 1787. The " Garr Genealogy " gives two more, Benjamin and Mary of unspecified birth dates. In the book it hints that Benjamin was born before the first that is given in the Register. I find this hard to believe as Henry and Elizabeth would surely have brought in their first born for baptism. The book also gives Mary a birth date in the time frame from 1776 to 1787 when the church was not as popular or as well organized as Rev. Franck had left it in 1778. In 1787, William Carpenter, Jr. had taken over the helm and renewed the spirit at the church.
When Henry and Elizabeth brought in Dinah (b. 8 Feb 1762), the sponsors were George Crisler (Henry's brother), Peter Weaver (her brother), Mary Fisher (his cousin, Mary Garr, who married Stephen Fisher), and Elizabeth Weaver (two choices, either her mother or her sister-in-law). This is a traditional set of choices. For Joseph (b. 13 Nov 1763), the sponsors were Stephen Fisher (his cousin's husband), Matthew Weaver (her brother), Elisabeth Willheit (her unmarried cousin). These were heavy favorites of the parents and were used over and over. For Elias (b. 8 Feb 1766), the sponsors were all repeats from those for the first children. For Jemima (b. 6 Apr 1768), a new sponsor is invited, Anna Crisler (sometimes called Magdalena), who is the wife of George. This is also a typical sub-pattern, alternating between husbands and wives. It also occurred with Stephen Fisher and Mary Fisher.
For Anna (b. 27 Oct 1771), another new sponsor is Barbara Carpenter, the mother's sister, who had first married George Clore, who died. Barbara then married Andrew Carpenter. I have not been giving all of the sponsors as I have omitted the "repeaters". For Elizabeth (b. 28 Jul 1774), the new sponsor is Andrew Carpenter, the husband of Barbara. For the namesake, Henry (b. 3 Apr 1776), the choices were all repeats of the previous selections. For Rosina, the after thought, born 10 Jul 1787, there are two new sponsors. One is Barbara Garhert whose identity is a total mystery. It is thought that the last Gerhard left the community some forty years earlier. The other new sponsor is Elizabeth Weaver, for whom there are multiple choices, such as sister-in-law, niece, or nephew's wife (of Elizabeth Crisler).
Henry, the father, came from a large family of eleven children. Yet the only sibling that he asked to be a sponsor is his brother (John) George. Elizabeth (Weaver) Crisler also limited her choices in her family but they were broader than Henry's choices. This limitation in choosing sponsors is typical and is nothing that is unique to the Henry and Elizabeth Crisler family.
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.