There is no question that several Germans emigrated to the Germanna area in Virginia in 1719. Still, there were hardly enough to constitute a colony, especially in the numbers that have been mentioned in some histories. I am intrigued more by the reasons that they came. Frederick Kabler, we saw, was a friend of Christopher Zimmerman. Also, I find the process of communication fascinating. It seems so primitive to us, yet it worked.
Another family who appears to have come in 1719 was the Wayland family. Thomas Wayland was granted land in 1728 in the Robinson River Valley. He was not sued by Spotswood. His importation statement is silent on the subject. I have wondered if the Waylands and the Blankenbakers were friends in Germany. In Virginia, there was an early marriage between the two families. There was a Blanckenbücher-Wieland marriage in Germany not long after the original families left Germany. It makes one wonder.
Thomas Wieland married Maria Barbara Seppach, in 1711, in Willsbach, Württemberg. Then, two children were born in Waldbach, also in Württemberg. These two villages are neighbhors, and about five to six miles east of Heilbronn. Thus, they become one the most easterly points from which the emigrants left. Since the Blanckenbühlers came from the western-most point in Baden-Württemberg, there was a good separation between the two families, Blanckenbühlers and Wieland, in Germany. The Blanckenbühler-Wieland marriage in Germany took place in Unteröwisheim, a village much closer to the Blankenbakers than to the villages above for the Waylands. Nicholas Blankenbaker married Catharina Barbara Wayland in 1738 or 1739. He was a weaver. Unfortunately for the name, he died in 1742. With a name like Blankenbaker, Nicholas was probably related to the family that came to Virginia but we do not know how. Whether Catharina Barbara was related to the Virginia Waylands is unknown.
The Wieland family in Willsbach and Waldbach had a history which goes back several decades in that geographical vicinity. The history of the family is quite rich for several branches, though the depth back in time is not extensive. For more information, one should consult the Before Germanna booklets, Number 12, in particular. The marriage and death information about Nicholas Blankenbaker was found by Jean Strand.
NOTE: When Thomas Wayland patented his land in Virginia, his patent included all of the land of John Broyles who had arrived two years earlier. In a lawsuit which followed, Wayland lost all of the land that Broyles had patented. How this could come about is a mystery.
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.