Cynthia Crigler laid the problem on our doorstep by asserting that the wife of Henry Aylor was not Margaret Crigler. While several people contributed to finding a solution, the lead sleuth in the chase was Nancy Dodge, a researcher with many stars on her helmet. She is a specialist in finding the missing women.
Henry Aylor was the son of Hans Jacob Öhler, and his wife, Anna Magdalena Schneider. The parents had only two children, Henry and Elizabeth Catherine, who married Christopher Tanner. So all Germanna Aylors descend from Henry Aylor and his unknown wife, Margaret.
The first observation was that, on 6 Jul 1774, Henry Aylor sold a tract of land with about two hundred acres, which "was a part of my wife’s fortune per a deed from John Thomas." Of the two John Thomases, the father died almost immediately after coming to Virginia, so the seller to Henry Aylor must have been the son. This deed alone tells us that our best chance of finding Margaret’s family is to look at the family of John Thomas.
When Henry Aylor sold the land, and mentioned the deed from John Thomas, he failed to provide the specifics such as the date of the deed. Using the estimated marriage date for Henry of 1743 to 1750, a deed in 1747 was found. This read as a lease from John Thomas to Henry Aylett. We have to assume, in view of the other facts, that Aylett is meant to be read as Aylor.
Our best description of the Thomas family is the will of Michael Käfer who married the Thomas widow, Anna Maria Blankenbühler. Michael, after naming, in his will, his five children by Anna Maria, adds ". . between my deceased wife’s children, that is to say John Thomas, Michael Thomas, Magflana (married to Mick Smith), and Margrat (married to Hannry Coller)." The writer of the will had spelling problems and could not get the common names of Henry, Margaret, and Magdalena right. With this warning, let’s look at the Margaret who was married to Henry Coller. It does not require much imagination to believe that Coller, otherwise unknown in the community, was meant to be Aylor.
Peggy Shomo Joiner suggests, in an index to one of her books, that one should consult Iler, Ilor, Eiler, Eyler, Isler, Oiler, Oyler, and Aylor. The point in common of these and the name Coller is the sound of the last syllable. Given the poor spelling in the will, and the variations that are encountered in spelling Aylor , it would appear that Aylor would be appropriate reading of Coller.
In 1747, Henry Eiler was granted 34 acres of land in the fork of the Rappahannock, next to Robert Tanner’s patent. The chain carriers for Henry were Christopher Tanner and Michael Thomas. Both of these men were his brothers-in-law, one through his wife, and one through his sister. The most favorite persons for carrying the chains were one's brothers-in-law.
(23 Nov 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.