Another person in the Germanna community about whom we know little is Wilhelm Kahl (this is how he signed his will in NC). This will was witnessed by Henry Rulsbach, Jr. (Railsback), Fritzhorf Cub (?), and William Mitchell.
The earliest record of William Kahl (Cawl, Kall, Call, etc.) is in Culpeper County when he witnessed the will of John Snider. Other witnesses were John Knesbay and Henry Hufhman. John Snider was a German as were the other two men (it is believed). On 6 Mar 1765, William Calle, James Graves, John Thomas, William Catton, Michael Smith, Christopher Moir (Moyer), and Adam Barlow were witnesses to a deed in Culpeper Co., VA, in which John Wayland and Katherine (Broyles) were the sellers and Henry Railsback was the buyer.
On 17 Oct 1765, William Call and his wife Catherine sold their land in Culpeper Co., VA, in Bromfield Parish to Charles Taylor. This was 170 acres of land lying and being in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock River, being part of the patent granted to John Pall Focht (John Paul Vaught). William and Catherine stated they were selling because they were moving.
William is found in Rowan Co., NC, in 1768 and in 1778. He received a state grant on 10 Oct 1783 for 548 acres on both sides of Cedar Creek and Cub Creek. The Huffmans and Railsbacks are found in Rowan Co. Henry Railsback mailed one of the daughters of William and Catherine Call. Another daughter of William and Catherine married a Stonecypher, but she is not mentioned in William's will.
The above information was sent to me by Eva Alford. The following are my own comments. The Kahl family seems close to the families of Huffmans, Railsbacks, and Stoneciphers. These last three families are from the area of Siegen in Germany. Henry Huffman and John Stonecipher married women whose maiden names were Schuster though they do not seem to be sisters. The land that William Kahl bought from the original patent of John Paul Vaught is generally known and lies in today's Madison County, almost at the Culpeper Co. line. John Thomas and John Snider owned land in this general area and their appearance with William Kahl may be geographical, not as relations. Still, William Kahl may have lived in this area and may have married someone from this area. So of the names above, let me give some of the relationships.
John Thomas' mother was a Blankenbaker. John bought land from John Paul Vaught. Michael Smith married a sister of John Thomas. Adam Barlow married a daughter of Michael Smith. So Thomas, Smith, and Barlow have a common thread genealogically. One wonders about Christopher Moyer and William Kahl. John Railsback, brother to Henry, married a daughter of John Thomas.
The Germanna Record is silent on the subject of William Kahl. It would be my guess that William Kahl came from the Siegen area and that he married someone from the Robinson River Valley community. These ideas are thrown out as hints for research, not as answers.
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.