How did Peter Weaver get his name? He was baptized at Gemmingen as Hans Dieterich Weber. The transformation of Weber to Weaver is understandable. When the family left for Pennsylvania, the minister gave his name as Hans Dietrich, age 7. He had been christened on 8 Nov 1710, so technically he was not yet 7 when he left in the summer of 1717 (assuming that he was christened soon after birth).
On Spotswood's head right list, he was Hans Fredrich Wever. His first recorded act in Virginia was the purchase of land in 1734 from William Rush when he (Peter) was about 24. He proved his importation in 1735. In the next year he received a 400 acre land grant in the Robinson River area. He was named as Peter Weaver in this document. He used six head rights in obtaining this land: Peter Weaver, Michael Willhite, John Willhite, Tobias Willhite, Mathias Kerckler, and Conrade Amberger. Peter's sister, Burga, who was about 19, was perhaps already married to John Willhite, so this might account for the three Willhite head rights. Notice that Peter Weaver used his own name which had already been used by Spotswood. But on Spotswood's list he was Hans Fredrich so the duplication was probably not noticed.
In 1742, Peter Weaver, with Christian Clement and Andrew Vought, was ordered to lay off a road from Deep Run to the main road (Bloodworth's Road). Witnesses to the will of Frederick Bumgardner in 1745 were Dieterick (T) Weaver, Tobias Wilhoit, and John Wilhoit. In the document itself he is named as Teter Weaver which would be in accordance with the mark which he used. Titer Weaver and John Willheit presented the will to the court. Teter Weaver and John Willheit were securities for Catherine Bumgardner who was appointed the administrator of the estate.
Peter Weaver acquired land from George Moyer in 1746. A road order in 1747 names him as Peter Weaver. He was appointed guardian (as Peter Weaver) for Michael Clore in 1751. Then in 1762, Peter Weave sold land to each of three sons and signs with the mark "T" in the deeds.
Peter Weaver had relatives in the Robinson River Valley. He did have two sisters, one of whom married a Willheit and one of whom married a Fleshman. The Clores were his cousins. The Criglers were half-siblings. The Yeagers were step-siblings. These are all on the basis of his relatives and we do not even know his wife's maiden name. And it is also possible that he had unnamed sisters, but there is little evidence for this.
The search for his wife's family has been frustrating and no clues have emerged. The knowledge that he served as security for Catherine Bumgardner is not very helpful since John Wilhoit, the other security, was related to Catherine (by marriage) and John was a brother-in-law of Peter Weaver.
(20 Nov 01)
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.