Some discussion was made on the List about Daniel Hofman (Huffman). Of the two, one Daniel was the son of George Huffman, the son of the 1714 John Huffman. This Daniel appears once in the German Lutheran Church records. The church was located in the Robinson River Valley (RRV) and became known quite a bit later as “Hebron”.
Daniel Hofman and his wife Magthalena had Dina, born 13 Oct 1784, baptized on 14 Nov 1784. The sponsors were Joseph Hofman and Anna Margaretha Bangert. (See page 22 of “Hebron” Baptismal Register by John Blankenbaker). I interpret the two up-to-then unknown names as follows.
Anna Margretha [Margaret] Bangert would better be known today as Bunger. I believe she was the unmarried sister of the mother Magthalena [Magdalena]. Joseph Hofman was the brother of the father. This forms a very natural pattern in the church, as the sponsors are the brother and sister of the parents.
There is a coincidence in the marriage licenses issued in Culpeper County, where there is a license for the marriage of Daniel Huffman and Marg. Bingard in 1790. This is a distinct Daniel from the first, and the Marg. in the license is the sponsor above. Thus, two sisters married two Daniel Huffmans.
At one point, B. C. Holtzclaw confused the names Bunger and Baumgartner as being the same. The families are quite distinct. (See Germanna Record 3 , page 46.)
The Daniel Huffman that Magdalena Bunger married about 1783 became a minister and he is known as Rev. Daniel Huffman. Magdalena was confirmed in the German Lutheran Church in 1782 at the age of 18. Probably she married shortly after this.
Margaret Bunger was confirmed in 1782 at the age of 15. Her full name appears to have been Anna Margaret. She married, on 19 Jan 1790, Daniel Huffman as given in the license above. He was the son of George Huffman, the son of 1714 John. Thus these Daniel Huffmans were first cousins since their fathers were brothers. B. C. Holtzclaw has reported that the descendants of this Daniel and Margaret are traced out in a folder, “ A Priceless Heritage ”, which should be in the Library of the Germanna Foundation.
A short note on the Bunger family appears in
Beyond Germanna
on page 274.
(30 Aug 06)
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.