The information that I have been presenting on the Reiners comes from many sources. I have been trying to mention some of these as I go along. Dan Cook asked for the source for some of the statements that I made in the last note. I do have in my possession a copy of notes written by B. C. Holtzclaw on the Reiner family. The originals are in the possession of the Germanna Foundation, but they have never been published by them. Much of what I have been presenting is available from sources much closer to the events than Prof. Holtzclaw was; however, in the last note there were statements made by Dr. Holtzclaw which are not widely known. He writes:
"John Reiner (Christian, Johann Dietrich) was born about 1755-60 and died in Madison Co., VA probably ca. 1820-21. His wife was named Lydia. She and the children moved to Monroe Co., VA (now WV) after John Reiner's death. On Oct. 25, 1821, in a chancery suit, Riner vs. Riner, the Court of Madison Co., VA ordered that the commissioners appointed allot to Lydia Riner, widow of John Riner, decd., 1/3 of the property, and that they divide the remainder into equal parts to Simeon Riner, Elizabeth Riner, Hannah Riner, Polly Riner, Zachariah Broyle in right of this wife Lucy Riner, John McDaniel in right of his wife Sally Riner, Fanny Riner and Pheba Riner."
In substance this is what I gave in the last note. I have not myself seen the court decision cited but it should be possible to find it easily, given the information from Prof. Holtzclaw. Perhaps we can have a follow-up report at a later time.
The son Daniel, of John Christian Reiner, was mentioned in the last note. His family remained in Madison Co., VA, for a longer period.
There was a third and youngest son, Christian, of John Christian. His fate is less certain, but there was a marriage in Gloucester Co., VA, 14 Mar 1787, of Christian and Rhoda Dudley. I have a rough note that says that Christian was disinherited by his father. This branch has not been researched.
The daughter Mary, of John Christian, may have married George Ryan, 6 Apr 1797, in Rockingham Co.; however, another marriage in Madison Co. in 1803 (bond dated 8 Feb), would be more likely. In this marriage Polly Reiner/Riner married Martin Flynt.
Prof. Holtzclaw suggested that Elizabeth, daughter of John Christian, may have married Richard Thurman. I will show that she was married to Jacob Blankenbaker.
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.