Still referring to the wives of Matthias House, let me emphasize that it was not the change of names of his wives which was important, but it was the change of sponsors. A given name might even be written down in error but it would be very hard to change the sponsors.
Several of the names that we have discussed in the last couple of notes are interrelated. They are interesting in themselves. You might ask, "What was Joseph Holtzclaw doing in the Robinson River Valley?" This is a good question. His brother Jacob was there with him. They had land among the First Colony people; why did they come down to the area of the Second Colony? I would like to know the answer to this better as it might help me understand the Thomas family better.
Jacob Holtzclaw married Susannah Thomas, while Joseph Holtzclaw married Mary Thomas. Mary and Susannah were daughters of John Thomas (Jr.), who was the son of John Thomas (Sr.) and Anna Maria Blankenbuehler. There is no written record for John Thomas (Sr.) in Virginia. The evidence that he came to Virginia consists of the two children that were born here. He died before the 1726 land patents were issued. The widow, Anna Maria, married Michael Kaefer. Whom John Thomas, Jr., married is uncertain. There were four, possibly five, children. Two of the girls married the Holtzclaw men.
There was no known issue of Joseph Holtzclaw and Mary Thomas. She died and he married Elizabeth Zimmerman. Elizabeth Zimmerman was the daughter of John Zimmerman and Ursula Blankenbaker. Ursula was a first cousin once removed of Mary Thomas since Ursula's father, John Nicholas Blankenbaker, was the brother of Anna Maria Blankenbaker, who was the grandmother of Mary Thomas.
Jacob Holtzclaw and Elizabeth Zimmerman had, according to my records, eight children. One of these, Jacob Holtzclaw, married Salome House in 1796. Salome was one of the children that were given in the recent notes. Three of the Holtzclaw girls seem not to have married, namely, Susannah, Elizabeth, and Eve. Possibly the son, Joseph, never married either. Susannah Holtzclaw was confirmed in 1785 at the age of 19. Thereafter she appears for 38 communions, a near record. The son, Joseph Holtzclaw, was confirmed in 1800. Probably all of the Joseph Holtzclaws (three) in the communion lists are this Joseph. The father, of the same name, was of the Reformed faith and was not permitted to take communion in the Lutheran church then. (This rule has changed in the Hebron Church where communion is open to all professed believers.) Another daughter, Jemima, married Reuben Tanner in 1799. She appeared at communion fairly regularly. Two sons, Henry and John, make the seventh and eighth children.
The Jacob Holtzclaw who married Susannah Thomas moved to Kentucky at an early date. He appears only once in the church records.
(10 Jan 03)
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.