In the last note, we recognized that the tithe list for Orange County in 1739 had two Theobald Crislers/Christlers. The name was not exactly spelled that way; the two variations were spelled as Daywall Cristler and Daywat Cristler. Both variations are acceptable variations by an Englishman of the German name Theobald Christler.
The history of the Christler family is thought to be known, and a birth of Theobald Christler was found by Gary Zimmerman and Johni Cerny. The family came to Pennsylvania about 1718, where they lived for a while. In the 1730's, Theobald Christler moved to the Robinson River Valley.
What are we to think of the double appearance of the two names, separated only by seven names, on a list prepared by one man? Were there two people of this name or not? It is hard to believe that an individual could make up the list with the duplicated name unless there were two people. The known German history does not show two Theobald Cristlers; however, it could be a possibility that there were two sons of the same name and only one had been found. Since the family came in 1718 to Pennsylvania, a son born there at about this time of the same name could have been old enough to have been entered on the tithable list in 1739.
I can't resolve the question from where I am sitting. There may be other evidence which has a bearing on the question. The point that I would make now is that many people have been entering the birth date for Johann Theobald Christele as 18 August 1709. I think they must ask themselves if they have the right man.
We have to ask if a man, in particular the maker of the tithe list, could make an error like this, then how good was the rest of the list? In the last note, we had an extra Broyles but that is not hard to believe as there is nothing unreasonable involved.
When we move to "John Mickell's" precinct, we are on the north side of the Robinson River. We encounter many German names here. The first sixteen names are "English", and they probably lived in the eastern part of modern Madison County. The list seems to be made up by moving from the east to the west. The first German names are Tobias Wilhite and John Stolts, who lived near the present Brightwood. Coming more to the west, there is Frederick Bumgarner, Christopher Moyers, Peter Weaver, Michaell Wilhite, George Woods (Utz), and Balthasar Blankenbaker.
Since the Blankenbaker brothers had land on both sides of the Robinson River, it had not been clear on which side of the river that they lived. Since the names are composed in a logical way and can be identified in general as the northern side of the Robinson River, we can say that the Blankenbakers had their homes on the north side of the river.
I am using the list as printed by Peggy Shomo Joyner, and she says that she transcribed the information from negative copies in the Virginia State Library in the Archives Branch.
(04 Dec 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.