Georg Heinrich Öhler was born 3 Oct 1718, in Germany. As we have commented, Margaret Thomas and Michael Thomas must have been born about 1718 and 1720, or vice versa. In either case, the age of Margaret Thomas matches very well.
On Easter Sunday in 1776, Henry Aylor and wife, Anna Margaret, are seated with George Utz, Sr., and his wife, Mary Käfer. Typically, relatives sat next to each other in church. In this case, Margaret is seated next to her half-sister, Mary Käfer Utz.
When Henry Aylor went down to Williamsburg to be naturalized, he went with three other men, Zachariah Blankenbecker, John Thomas, and John Zimmerman. John Thomas was his brother-in-law. John Thomas was a first cousin of Zachariah Blankenbecker. John Zimmerman was a brother-in-law of Zacharias Blankenbecker. Altogether it was a close little group.
We might note the role that John Thomas played in these events. When the 1726 patents in the Robinson River Valley were issued to the Germanna people, John and his brother, Michael, had a patent for 156 acres on both sides of the Robinson River. At this time, John Thomas was 14 years old, and his brother Michael was about 7 years of age. Within two years, John Thomas obtained another tract in his own name. Later, John Thomas deeded his half of the first property to Michael Thomas. Still later, he sold land to Henry Aylor, which Henry referred to as his "wife’s fortune".
Apparently, John Thomas was helping his brothers and sisters get started by selling or giving them land. The picture would be complete if there were a transfer of land to Michael Smith, who married John Thomas’ other sister, Anna Magdalena, but I am not aware of such a transfer. In short, John Thomas assumed a role as the leader of his family in lieu of his father, who had died about 1720.
From the church record, we learn that Margaret Thomas’ full given name was Anna Margaret. She is given as Anna Margaret until Easter of 1778, when she is given as Anna Maria. This may indicate that Anna Margaret had died in the period from 1776 to 1778 and Henry had remarried. Then again, the church record may be an error.
Generally at church, Henry Aylor is distinguished from his son Henry by the added designation of Sr. In 1782, the son Henry is at church without the designation Jr. This may mean that Henry, Sr., had died.
Notice that the Thomas sons had a land patent when the oldest of them was 14. This patent does not name any trustee or guardian. Though the intent of the authorities in the colony of Virginia may have been not to issue patents to minors, the Germans probably adopted the attitude that the authorities really did not want to be bothered by the details. The Germans, in general, often simplified their testimony, omitting some of the details. Of course, it may be that they not did know the English words to express the details.
(24 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.