Weatherwax Family Page
Welcome to The Weatherwax Family Page, which furnishes historical detail beyond the site index, exploring four generations of Weatherwaxes in the line of Hans Wiederwachs of Ketternschwalbach, Germany as well as the line of Sebastian Loescher of Hochspeyer, Germany.
7. Ann Weatherwax (Craver) --Ann (or Anna) was the wife of Zachariah Craver. They were married Aug.22, 1818 in Albany, NY. (New York Marriages, 1686-1980) Ann's great-grand-daughter, Anna M. Blann states that the Weatherwaxes were a prominent Dutch family who settled in the area of north Troy, N.Y. Though they were sometimes members of the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church in that area of NY, our research seems to indicate that their roots were actually German. Per New York Marriages, 1686-1980, records from Trinity Lutheran Church in West Sand Lake, Rensselaer. Co., show that Annatie (Weatherwax) was born March 1, 1801 (christened March 15) to parents Lorentz Widerwax and Anna Milliussin (also spelled Milius in other listings). The birth of Zacharia Craver, her future husband, is listed two pages earlier in the same book. (Annatie, the 7th-born of 11 children of Lorentz and Anna, also had a younger sister, b. Feb. 24, 1805, named Anna Margaretha). Ann and Zacharia Craver married in Albany, New York on Aug.22, 1818. Zacharia and Ann Craver appear in the 1840 through 1860 censuses in Fox Hill, Elizabeth City, Virginia, along with several of their children. Their daughter, Angelina, appears to have married a short-lived husband named Smith, for she is listed as Angelina Smith and is living with her parents in 1860 along with 3 young Smith children (about 1868 she married George Keen of Pennsylvania). Zachariah and Ann's 12 children were:
Christina Catherine (1820-before 1849) married Johann Mënck before 1849
Julia Marie (b.1823)
Jefferson Lawrence (b.1825)
Zachariah (Jr.--b.1827)
Magdalene (1832-after 1880) married Johann Mënck in 1849
David G. (Jr.-- b.1833)
Angelina (b.1835)
Moses Monroe (b.1837)
Virginia (b.1839
John Tyler (b.1837)
James Madison (b.1843)
Thomas Jefferson (b.1841)
Virginia, U.S., Death Registers, 1853-1911 shows the death of "Mrs. Ann Craver" from typhoid fever in 1869 and states that she was the widow of Zacharia. Per Find-a-grave, Ann died Aug.24, 1869 and was buried in Saint Johns Church Cemetery in Hampton City, Virginia. Her death certificate gives her final address as 3303 Richmond St. in Hampton, VA and states that she died a widow in Philadelphia, PA (Zacharia died in 1688, so probably she was staying with her daughter, Angelina Keen, in PA) and was buried Aug. 30, 1869 in Hampton City, VA (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915).
8. Lawrence Weatherwax (Laurens or Lorentz Widerwax/Wederwaks) --The father of Ann W. Craver, Lawrence Weatherwax was born in Albany, NY on April 18, 1764 (christened May 13 in the First Lutheran Church of Albany) to Andries Wiederwacks and Catherina Reisdorp (per U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989). In 1784, he married Anna Milliussin (b. 1763 in W. Sand Lake, NY) and together they had eleven children. The names of the children were: Catherina (b.1785), Elizabetha (b.1787), Andreas (Jr.)-b.1788, Jacob (b.1790) and/or Sebastian or Bastian (b.1794-Trinity Lutheran records & Lorentz’s will), Georg (b.1797), Leonard (b.1799), Annatie (b.1801), Maria (b.1803), Anna Margaretha (b.1805), Magdelena (b. 1808), and Abraham (b.1810). Lawrence died sometime in 1844, as his will was probated on Oct. 9, 1844 in Albany, NY. Heirs named in the will: wife Anna, sons Andreis, Jacob, Adam, Basteyaen [Sebastian], George, Leonard and Abraham; daughters Catherine wife of John Fellow, Anne wife of Zachariah Graver [Craver], Maria wife of Jacob Bulson, Margaret wife of George Freligh and Lana (unmarried).
9. Andreas (Andrew) Wiederwacks (Weatherwax)--Lawrence ’s father, Andreas (Andries), was born May 16, 1737 (per Family Bible record), was baptized on May 22, 1739 in St. Paul's Lutheran Church Red Hook, Dutchess Co. NY (U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989). His parents were Johann Andreas Weatherwax and Anna Barbara Loescher. On Dec.17, 1762, Andreas married Catharina Riesdorp (b.1745) at the First Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, NY and together they had 10 children. Andreas appears in Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co. NY in the 1790 census, then on the Tax rolls of Oct. 23, 1779 for Schaghticoke, but later moved to the area of present day East Greenbush, Rensselaer County, NY. His residence is given as Chatham, Columbia Co., NY on the 1800 and 1810 censuses. His family farm still exists, and is the site of the Weatherwax family cemetery, where many of his family are buried. Revolutionary War records show "Andries Wederwax" as an enlisted man in the Sixth Regiment of Albany, NY. In the History of Sand Lake records, there is a letter Andreas wrote dated Feb.2, 1824 indicating he wants to manumit his slave named Jacob Brown, age 21 years, born unto him a slave. Andreas died soon afterwards on May 16, 1824 in Greenbush, Rensselaer Co., NY. Andreas Weatherwax is listed among the prominent first settlers of Sand Lake, NY in a book called History of the Towns of Rensselaer County. He is also listed as one of two elected trustees who was involved in the starting of a Lutheran congregation in 1790, on land donated by Stephen Van Rensselaer, a church called Zion at Rensselaerwick, later to become the First Lutheran Church of Rensselaer. His will is dated Feb.1, 1821. On his tombstone in the Weatherwax Cemetery in East Greenbush Rensselaer Co. NY. his name is spelled Andris Weatherwax.
10. Johann Andreas Widerwachs (Weatherwax)--Andreas’ father, Johann was born in Germany in 1701 to Johan Hienrich Wiederwachs & his wife Anna Dorthea. On Nov.9,1724, Johann married Anna Barbara Loescher (1700-1739) in Kingston (Ulster Co.), NY. (For more on the Loescher line, see below.) They had between eight and ten children together, namely: Johann Sebastian (b.1725), Anna Margaretha (b.1727), Anna Barbara (Dorothea) b.1729, Barbara (b.1730), Henrich (b.1732), Anna (b.1735), Catharine (b. 1736) and Andreas (b.1737 or 39). About 1725 Andreas and his first wife Barbara lived in Manor Livingston, Kingston, Ulster, NY for a short time. Andreas' occupation was as a farmer. In 1727 Andreas and family settled in Red Hook village as some of the original settlers of present day Red Hook, NY. After Anna Barbara’s death (sometime after 1739), Andreas remarried Johanna Edeli in 1739 and had 10 more children (1741-52). In 1765 he bought land on Tomahannock Creek (Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., New York) where he and his family lived for a while. Records from 1768 and 1771 show him in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY and in Albany, NY by 1776 (Land Bounty Rights - 6th Reg't). Andreas wrote his will in Albany on Jan. 18, 1780 and died in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., NY on May 10, 1784.
11. Johan Heinrich Christophel Wiederwachs--The father of Johann Andries, Johan Heinrich was born in 1674 in Panrod, Hessen-Nassau, Preussen, Germany, and around 1696 married Anna Dorthea (last name uncertain), also of Germany. Some Ancestry.com trees identify her as Anna Dorothea Javan, daughter of George Javan (b. 1658) and Louise Lou Vane (b.1658), but without supporting sources. Anna Dorothea was born ca. 1678 and died aboard ship in around May 1710, as well as several of their children, during the family’s voyage to America. Johan Heinrich and his son Andreas were naturalized in 1715. Heinrich Weiderwacks of Queensbury is listed as a soldier in 1711 (Palantine Volunteers to Canada). Heinrich remarried Ana Sybilla ca.1711 and had 5 more children with her after the death of his first wife Anna Dorothea, with whom he had six children in Germany. The German-born children were: Andreas, Johann Jost (b.1705), Catherina, Johann Georg (b.1711), Maria Barbara and Martinus. Johan Heinrich passed away sometime before 1720 in Rhinebeck, NY. His widow, Ana Sybilla, remarried Johann Georg Muller.
Wikipedia ("Palatines") states: "In 1709, England found itself hosting thousands of Palatines and other Germans who were fleeing famine, war and religious persecution in their native lands. Many of the first arrivals came from the Rhenish and Bavarian Palatinates, and the refugees became collectively known as the "Poor Palatines". They had been displaced by French invasions and famine during the Nine Years' and Spanish Succession wars. After arriving in London, many were resettled in Ireland and British America."
The Geverink-Tishner Family Tree on Ancestry.com provides the following narrative of the Wiederwack's perilous immigration to America in 1709/10.
Departure: Abt. Sep 1709 • Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Hesse, Germany
Enticed by “The Golden Book,” extolling the virtues of the New World that was circulating around rural Germany, Heinrich and his wife Anna; sons Andreas, Just, and Bastion; and daughters Catherine, Cecelia, and Barbara traveled down the Rhine River.
Arrival: Abt. Oct 1709 • Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
He and his family continued on their journey to the New World along with other Palatines after they were persuaded by a publicity campaign that was mounted by the British government, seeking hard-working settlers for its colonies.
Departure: Abt. Nov.1709
Continuing on their journey, he and his wife Anna; sons Andreas, Just, and Bastion; and daughters Catherine, Cecelia, and Barbara headed to London along with other Palatines in order to board ships to sail to the New World.
Arrival: Dec 1709 • London, London, England
He and his family arrived in London and boarded one of 11 ships that were bound for New York - Governor Hunter, the new governor of New York, was interested in forming colonies of workers to produce “naval stores,” hemp, tar, and pitch.
Departure: April 1710
He and his family finally set sail for the New World - They were crowded together on small ships, suffered from vermin, poor sanitation, and were given unhealthy food - Many of the Palatine became ill and the entire fleet was ravaged by ships-fever, Typhus.
Arrival: Abt. Jul 1710 • New York, New York, New York, USA
Heinrich, his son Andreas, and daughter Catherine survived the arduous voyage and were quarantined on Nutten (Governors) Island - His wife Anna, sons Just and Bastion, and daughters Cecelia and Barbara died en route, probably from Typhus that decimated the ship.
[470 of the est. 30oo Palentines on 10 ships died during the voyage to New England.]
Marriage to Anna Sybilla: Abt. 1711 • New York, USA (5 more children)
Johan Henrich's Death: 1725 • Rhinebeck, Dutchess, New York, USA
12. Alexander Wiederwachs--Johan Heinrich’s father, Alexander was born in 1650 in Ketternschwalbach, in the Taunus Region of Germany (Preussen). He was a shepherd by trade. Alexander was confirmed as a son of the late Hans Wiederwachs, on Easter Sunday (April 1), 1668, as shown in a Biethardt Churchbook. The Panrod Churchbook records that on Jan 14, 1673, Alexander Wiederwachs married Maria Olemacherin (b.ca 1650-2 in Panrod, Germany). Maria’s father, Henrich Olemacher was born est. 1630 in Panrod, Hessen-Nassau, Preussen, Germany. Henrich died in Panrod on June 21, 1675. (Henry Z. Jones, Palantine Families of NY, p.1075) Henrich's wife and parents are unknown. Alexander died in Schwalbach, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany in 1721. His parents were Hans and Catherina Wiederwachs.
13. Hans Wiederwachs--Alexander’s father, Hans, is the earliest known ancestor in our Weatherwax line. He lived from ca. 1625/30 to 1667 in Ketternschwalbach, Germany. His wife, Catherina (surname unknown), was born in Germany ca. 1630.
LOESCHER
10. Anna Barbara Loescher (Löscher) -- The mother of Andreas Weatherwax, and wife of Johann Andreas Weatherwax, Barbara was born in Kürnbach, Karlsruhe, Baden on June 29, 1700. Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 (FHL Film #1272389) provides her date and place of birth and lists her parents as Sebastian and Elizabetha Loeser. New York immigration records show the family arriving in America in 1710: Bastian, Elizabetha and 11 children including Anna Barbara (U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s). Barbara married Johann Andreas Weatherwax on Nov.9,1724 in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY. They had between eight and ten children together: Johann Sebastian (b.1725), Anna Margaretha (b.1727), Anna Barbara (Dorothea) b.1729, Barbara (b.1730), Henrich (b.1732), Anna (b.1735), Catharine (b. 1736) and Andreas (b.1737 or 39). Barbara died in Rhinebeck, Dutchess, New York on Nov. 29, 1739. Over time, the spelling of the family name Löscher became Lasher.
11. (Johann) Sebastian Loescher (V)-- The father of Anna Barbara Loescher, Sebastian was born in Hochspeyer, Landkreis Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany in 1669 (Find-a-grave). He married Anna Maria Elizabeth Kuhn in Germany around 1688 and together they had 11 children. Sebastian, with his wife and children (including Anna Barbara), were on Capt. Bouwell's ship in the second party in Holland in 1709 (Rotterdam Lists). Passing through London, they arrived in New York in 1710. On the passenger list the couple is listed as Bastian and Elizabetha Loescher. The Palantine immigrants of 1709-10 were divided into two camps on either side of the Hudson River, East and West. The family settled in the West Camp (now the town of Saguerties in Ulster Co. NY) where Sebastian was listed as willing to stay at Livingston Manor, East Camp (now Germantown, Columbia Co. NY) on lands surveyed to them. He was found to be trustworthy by the Lords of the Livingston manor to be hired as a caretaker for areas of the manor's lands. His descendants continued to fill this position for several generations. The Loescher family was listed at Wormsdorff with six children in 1715, and finally settled in Elizaville, Columbia County, New York, where Sebastian continued to work as a farmer, which was the main profession available to the Palantine immigrants. Sebastian is listed on the NY Genealogical Records as a husbandman & vinedresser. In the Colonies, Sebastian was described as "active in the church and community." He most likely contributed to the physical construction of the first log churches that autumn of 1710 in the East Camp. Sebastian died in 1741 in Germantown, Columbia County, New York. where he was buried in the First Lutheran Church of Germantown Cemetery (per Find-a-grave). Sebastian's parents were Sebastian Löscher IV and Anna Maria Freÿ.
Sebastian Loescher's wife: We know with certainty that the 1709 passenger lists identify Anna Barbara's parents as Bastian and Elizabetha Loescher and that Elizabetha was born ca. 1670 in Germany and died in Germantown, Columbia, New York between sometime after 1729. And we know from the birth record of their daughter, Anna Barbara, that her parents lived in Kürnbach, Karlsruhe, Baden when she was born. (Kürnbach is a municipality in the district of Karlsruhe in southwestern Baden-Württemberg. This historic wine village features half timbered houses and lies around 60 kilometers northwest of Stuttgart in south-west Germany near the French border.) There is general agreement that Sebastian came from Hochspeyer, Landkreis Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany which is not far from Kürnbach, so we would expect Elizabetha to come from this general locality in Germany. US. Dutch Reformed Church records in Albany from Jan.7, 1722 record the baptism of Sebastian, son of Jan Wheeler and his wife Margareta, witnessed by "Sebastian Löscher and Anna Maria Löscherin." (It is not specified whether Anna Maria Löscherin is Sebastian's wife or his daughter who is named Anna Maria, but it is reasonable to assume this was Sebastian's wife, as Jan Wheeler's wife, Anna Margarita Loescher, was their daughter.)
Most researchers agree that Sebastian's wife was named Anna Maria Elizabeth Kuhn or Kühnen (a triple name being common among these Palatines). The first two names come from the Wheeler baptism, combined with Elizabeth from the passenger lists. The last name is provided by a 1750 record at Ancram of the confirmation of a granddaughter named Anna Maria Weatherwax, which states that she had been baptized at Rheinbeck by W. C. Berckenmeyer (ca.1729) and the sponsors were "Seb. Loescher and wife Anna Maria Kuhn." Records also show that Samuel Kuhn and his wife Catherine immigrated to NY on the same ship with the Loeschers. Given the shared surname and proximity, many researchers think they are likely the parents of Anna Maria Elizabeth Kuhn. Samuel and Catherine were born around 1650-55 and were around age 55-60 when they arrived in America. The passenger lists show the 1710 arrival of Samuel Kuhn and his wife Catherine Miller Kuhn and lists Anna Maria Elizabeth as their daughter. Samuel is not listed among the settlers after 1715 and probably died before that date, while his widow Catherine lived until at least Feb. 1736, when she is mentioned as a baptismal sponsor with her son, Veltin and his wife, for a child of Veltin's daughter. Catharine would have been about 80 at the time and a great-grandmother. It is recorded that on June 1, 1710, during the ocean voyage to America on the ship Milford, the daughter of "Sebastian Löscher and Anna Elizabeth," also named Anna Elizabeth, was baptized by Rev. Joshua Kocherthal and the sponsors were Johann and Elizabetha Müller. From this and other interactions with the Müller family, researchers have speculated that they were relatives of Catherine Miller, Samuel Kuhn's wife. Baptismal records for Catharina Miller show she was born on Feb.15, 1650 in Gruibingen, Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and list her parents as Jörg and Margaretha Miller.
A book entitled Koon and Coons Families of Eastern New York by William Solyman Coons has been helpful in collecting all of the available records on the Kuhn family that came to NY in 1710 and attempting to reconstruct the familial relationships.
Note: One birth record shows Anna Maria Elizabeth Kühnen as born March 31, 1670, baptised on April 1, 1670 in Samitz, Goldberg-Haynau, Schlesien, Germany, and lists her father as Melchior Kühnen (Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1518-1921). The date, 1670, is consistent with the estimated year in which Anna Maria Elizabeth was born, however Samitz is in Northern Germany, far from Kürnbach and Hochspeyer, which raises doubt as to whether this record refers to Sebastian's wife. German birth records do show that one of Sebastian's children was named Johann Melchior Loescher, so there could be a family connection. But there is also a Melchior Loscher who was the sponsor for Sebastian's son, Johann Melchior, who was born April 8, 1706 at Wattenheim, Bayern, Germany, just 15 miles northeast of Hochspeyer, so Sebastian's son is probably named after Melchior Loscher (b.1658), who appears to be a close relative, possibly Sebastian' s (b.1669) older brother.
12. Sebastian Löscher (IV) -- There is insufficient evidence to confidently identify Sebastian's parents. Perhaps the most likely candidate for the father of (Johann) Sebastian Löscher is Sebastian Löscher (IV), who was born ca. 1640 in Hochspeyer, Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Samuel settled in Dellfeld as a weaver in 1669. He immigrated to America and died in 1711 in Germantown, Columbia Co., New York. The name of his wife is uncertain.