First, to correct an error I made:
When Thomas Wayland filed for head rights on 4 Nov 1729, he stated he came with a wife, Mary, and a son, Jacob, and a daughter, Catharina. These are the names in the church book at Waldbach, so there should be no question that the right family has been identified. Jacob must have died as a young man, and the fate of Catharina is unknown. The sons, John and Adam, were born in Virginia.
Adam Wayland, who married Elizabeth Blankenbaker, appears in the Hebron Church communion lists until 1778, but by then Elizabeth had died, and Adam was then married to Mary (Finks). At Christmas 1776, and at Easter 1776, his wife was also Maria. So the first wife Elizabeth was dead by then.
In using the index to the Hebron baptismal register, one must consult both the names Wayland, which is used after 1782, and Weyland, which is generally used before that date. Adam Weyland and his wife Elizabeth were often baptismal sponsors for Christopher Blankenbaker and his wife Christina (Finks). (Christopher had no sisters and Elizabeth had no brothers. They lived on adjacent farms, and sometimes they seem like siblings.) It was probably through Christina (Finks) Blankenbaker that Adam became acquainted with his second wife. The first appearance of Adam Weyland as a sponsor for Christopher and Christina was in 1754, and he would have been married to Elizabeth by then. Otherwise, he would not have been selected.
None of the children of Adam by his first wife Elizabeth appear in the baptismal records, which probably means that the first child was born before 1750, so none of the family was included in the 1775 rewrite of the baptismal register. The child Adam Weyland (with Mary Finks as its mother) was baptized 18 May 1777, with sponsors John Blankenbaker, Christina Blankenbaker, Adam Fisher, and Barbara Fisher. The easiest one of these to identify is Christina, who was born a Finks, the sister of Mary, the mother of Adam. Barbara Fisher was the cousin of Christopher, and the sister of Adam's first wife Elizabeth. (Barbara was usually called Anna Barbara, but not always.) Adam Fisher was the son of Barbara Fisher. John Blankenbaker may have been Christopher's brother, but this is not certain, as there were other John Blankenbakers, and Christopher's brother does not appear in the church records very often, if at all.
Adam Weyland and Elizabeth Weyland were sponsors for Heinrich Miller and his wife Susanna, and the interpretation of the appearances (four times for Adam) is a bit of a mystery. The Millers were newcomers to the community and lacked relatives to act as sponsors. Adam, as a church officer, may have been standing in to fulfill the need for sponsors. Then there may be a hidden relationship that we do not know.
(29 Mar 02)
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.