John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1177

[I will take a break from the tobacco mini-series.]

Zacharias Blanckhenbühler was born to Johann Nicholas Blanckenbühler and Apollonia Käfer, in Neuenbürg, Germany, on 21 Oct 1715.  Before he was two years old, he left with his parents, (maternal) grandmother and her husband, cousins, aunts, and uncles, for Pennsylvania.  They never made it though, they did reach America at Virginia.  Actually, Zacharias was lucky to have survived the trip, because the ocean voyages were not kind to young children.

The family of Zacharias settled first in Essex County, but he lived in Spotsylvania, Orange, Culpeper, and Madison County before he died.  He probably spoke his last words in German.  It appears that he was about 34 years of age before he married.  When he did marry, his wife was a widow with two young daughters.  We have little information about her, except that her nickname was Els or Alcy.  Probably, this was derived from Elizabeth.  She was faithful in attending the German Lutheran Church, and her name occurs in the communicant lists for several years after Zacharias died.  Ten children were born to Zacharias and Els, but only six of these lived.  Her two daughters lived to a marriageable age also.  The dates for her children suggest that she was several years younger that Zacharias.  One book suggested that her married name was Finks, but there are no clues as to her maiden name.

The second son of Zacharias and Els was Zacharias, Jr., who moved to southwest Virginia.  There he raised a family who, generally, but not exclusively, adopted the spelling of Blankenbeckler.  This weekend, in Willow Springs, Missouri, Blankenbeckler descendants are sponsoring a Reunion to which they invite all Germanna descendants.  Hallie Price Garner, who is a major Blankenbeckler researcher, will be one of the speakers.

I am going (with Eleanor) and will offer some comments on research in Germany and Austria on the family.  At about 1600 in Austria, it becomes very hard to find good information.  One reason, of course, is that not many records were kept then.  But another obstacle arises because the churches were undergoing the conversion from Protestant back to Catholic.  Not many years prior to this they had undergone the reverse conversion.

Around the world, we can find Plankenpichlers and Blankenpichlers in Austria, with the first being more numerous.  One member of the family was a mayor of Vienna.  Over in Germany, the names, in order of increasing popularity, are Plankenbühler and Blankenbühler.  Besides the versions that most of us know here in America, there are also Blankenbühlers and Blankenbehlers.  These latter families came much later than the original ones in 1717.  The name Blankenbühler also occurs in Holland.  The conversion from "bichl", meaning hill, to "bühl", also meaning hill, is merely the substitution of a more modern word for the older form.

This weekend IT is a Blankenbeckler Reunion in Willow Springs, Missouri.  We could hold a worldwide reunion but what name would we use to advertise it?
(25 May 01)