On leaving Heidelberg, it was a short drive to our next objectives, which were very close together. The first stop was Asbach, a village in the Kraichgau, where the Wannamaker ancestors of a friend originated. We shot a roll of film to document the village for him.
A few miles farther on is the village of Hüffenhardt. This is where two Germanna families went to church, the Utz family and the Volck family (sometimes given as Folg). Maria Sabina Charlotta Barbara Volck was baptized here, but her father died before she was very old. Her mother married George Utz and they came to Virginia in 1717. Maria Sabina married John Huffman as his second wife, and raised twelve kids. So a lot of the Huffmans have ancestors from the area of Hüffenhardt, as do all of the Utzes.
The reason that the George Utz and Anna Barbara (Maier) Volck got together is that they lived on the same farm, Wagenbach, which is about two miles from Hüffenhardt. We drove out to the farm, which is the home to several families. Picking what I thought might be the owner’s house, I walked toward the house. As I did so, another car drove up and the passengers got out and spoke perfect English. It turns out they were from America, had landed at Frankfurt that morning, and had driven right down. In days past, the American, then with the US Army, had become acquainted with the German owner of the farm and they were good friends. The owner was expecting them and had the champagne cooled. The owner insisted that everyone repair to his wine cellar and have a drink on the house. We finished our glasses and, with the owner’s permission, set about taking photographs. The farm is now given over to raising pigs. The hog density was amazing.
Next, I wanted to visit another farm, which according to my map was only about two miles away. However, we had to take the long way around and we needed instructions. Twice we had to ask and the answers were not forthcoming immediately. Though the farm has a name and is on my detailed map, it turns out that only one family lives on the farm now. So the place was not well known. The name of the farm is Unterbiegelhof and my interest arises from the fact that it was once the home of Hans Herr, who is an ancestor of my son-in-law. (This is the famous Hans Herr of Pennsylvania and, incidentally, I will be a tour guide there today.)
On our arrival, the place seemed very quiet and almost uninhabited. But soon Martin Funck came out of the house and we soon established why I was interested. Herr Funck suggested we retire to the house where he served refreshments. We had orange juice, a popular drink in Germany. Herr Funck is a Mennonite and he would have been willing to drink beer or wine. The American reluctance among Anabaptists to drink alcoholic beverages was a puzzle to him.
Whereas Unterbiegelhof used to be the home of several families, only the Funck family lives there now. The children are grown and have their own professions. The Funcks built a new home to live in and it was the only time that I saw a "rancher", i.e., a single story house. The farm is basically a chicken farm with a large barn designed for chickens. Corn and barley are grown, apparently for feed. A cash crop is sugar beets. Apparently deer are a problem for many farmers in Germany. The population is held in check or encouraged to move on by hunting. For this purpose, there are many elevated stands or blinds.
(10 Jun 00)
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.