*[Heute habe ich Geburtstag.] [Nein, es ist nicht mein Geburtstag!]
In the last Note we had two unknown sponsors for the child Elizabeth who was the daughter of John Smith, Jr., and his wife Elizabeth. We have their names; the question is, is there any relationship between these sponsors and the parents. In my book, “Hebron” Baptismal Register , I did not give any relationships. Upon reexamining the question again, I see these “unknown” relations are actually known.
One of the unknowns was Barbara (Carpenter) Aylor. Going back to Henry Aylor, he married Anna Margaret Thomas and they had a son Henry who married Barbara Carpenter. Going back to Anna Margaret Thomas, she had a sister Anna Magdalena Thomas who married John Michael Smith, Jr. They had a son, John Smith (sometimes called a Junior). So John Smith, Jr., the father in the baptism, was a first cousin to Henry Aylor. Therefore, the relationship between the father and Barbara Aylor was that they were cousins-in-law. Spouses of cousins were just as good as the cousin. So the uncertainty of Barbara Aylor to the parents is solved.
The other unknown sponsor relationship was Mary Weaver. There are two Mary Weavers, but the one with the best fit, age-wise, is the daughter of John Weaver and Barbara Käfer (Kaefer). Now, Barbara Käfer was the daughter of Michael Käfer and Anna Maria Blankenbaker Thomas. Anna Maria Blankenbaker, by her first marriage to John Thomas, was the mother of Anna Magdalena Thomas, who married John Michael Smith, Jr., and they were the parents of John Smith, the father in the baptism. Mary Weaver, yet unmarried, was the half-cousin of John Smith. The common ancestor of Mary and John was Anna Maria Blankenbaker Thomas Käfer.
Thus, we have identified all of the sponsors as being related to the father in a very logical way. The most desirable choices are when the sponsors are divided in their relationships to the father and the mother. Since Elizabeth Smith appears to have had no related sponsors, we might ask the question, “Why didn’t she?”
Perhaps Elizabeth came from a non-Germanna family who did not feel comfortable in the Lutheran church. Or perhaps Elizabeth had no younger relatives in the community. The third possibility that Elizabeth was related to some of the sponsors in an unknown way is possible, but doubtful. We do see that the Thomas family was close to the John Michael Smith, Jr., family where the mother was a Thomas. The only way I can think that Elizabeth might be related to the Thomas family is if she were a daughter of Michael Thomas, the son of John Thomas and Anna Maria Blankenbaker, but I believe an Elizabeth there has been identified.
*[Today is my birthday] [No, it is not my birthday!]
(08 Mar 07)
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.