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Mappy Monday: Catawba County NC and the Weidner Homestead

Map of North Carolina highlighting Catawba County. Wikimedia, public domain.
Map of North Carolina highlighting Catawba County. Wikimedia, public domain.

Catawba County, North Carolina, previously a northern part of Lincoln County, was formed in 1842. Those with ancestors in Catawba Co. might also want to search records for adjacent counties, as the area had also been a part of  Bladen County until 1750, Anson County 1750-1753, Rowan County 1753-1777, and Burke County, 1777-1782. Catawba County is located in North Carolina’s Piedmont, in the western portion of the state.

Catawba County sits amidst ridges and rolling hills in the northern section, and  flatter areas in the south, with the Appalachian Mountains off to the west, and the coastal plain as one heads east. It is rich with waterways, important for early colonists for many reasons, including transportation.

Homestead of Heinrich Widener descendants, near Heinrich's original homestead, Catawba County, North Carolina.
Homestead of Heinrich Widener descendants, near Heinrich’s original homestead, Catawba County, North Carolina.

Named after the Catawba Indians who roamed the area in the early years, German settlers migrated there in the late 1740s, as did English and Scots-Irish families. The Northern Irish Presbyterians, ‘Orangemen,’ Scot-Irish, English, and Scottish immigrants settled mostly in the southeast portion of what is now Catawba County.

Homestead of Heinrich Widener descendants, near Heinrich's original homestead, Catawba County, North Carolina.
Homestead of Heinrich Widener descendants, near Heinrich’s original homestead, Catawba County, North Carolina.

The higher section of the county was similar to the Rhine Valley of French Germany, and many of the German families migrated to this area. They would have not been as homesick, perhaps, living here, and would have known the crops and animals that would thrive in such an area. The Germans included Rhenish Palatines, Swiss, Saxon, and other groups. Their religions included Lutheran, Mennonite, Moravian, Dunkard, Reformed, Anabaptist, and other Protestant sects.

Many of these settlers later moved to Southeast Missouri, which is what happened in our line of Whiteners.

Catawba County was the home of Heinrich Widner and his wife, Catharina Moll. The couple were German immigrants who married in Pennsylvania, but, like many, migrated to the Carolinas by 1750, probably using the Great Wagon Road. They would have submitted their land claim to the Crown through the Governor.

Henry Whitner Land Grants. Excerpted from NCGenWeb.
Henry Whitner Land Grants. Excerpted from NCGenWeb. Note the Mull families nearby- possibly a relationship with Catharina (Moll) Widner?

The land is still owned by Widner descendants- one generation after another has inherited the Widner land, which has never been sold after receiving the original land grant.

2014_0717-18_WIDENER homestead-lake Henrich and his wife settled near a spring to have fresh water. That same spring feeds the above lake on property owned by his descendants.

The French & Indian Wars were occurring regularly during this early settlement, and the families would have been very isolated due to frequent raids and depredations along the frontier. The American Revolution influenced those in this area as well- battles at King’s Mountain, Cowpens, and Ramsours Mill would have taken their sons, their livestock and crops, and caused much hardship among the settlers.

It most probably was not as romantic a time as seen in the movies. But the colonists persevered, and descendants now can walk their paths in Catawba County, North Carolina.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

  1. Please Note: As stated above, the Weidner homestead and cemetery are on privately owned land. The original Weidner headstones have been moved to protect them and may be seen at the museum of the Historical Association of Catawba County; see http://catawbahistory.org/museum-of-history for more information. Also, the Weidner-Robinson Cemetery has been recorded on Find A Grave and 86% of the stones have been photographed- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2227187&CScnty=1668&CSsr=201&
  2.  Photos by James Whitener, taken on his family trip to Catawba County, NC, July, 2014.
  3. Wikipedia entry for Catawba County, North Carolina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_County,_North_Carolina
  4. Catawba Co. NC at the NCGenWeb Project- http://www.ncgenweb.us/catawba
  5. Catawba County Land Grants on US GenWeb- http://www.ncgenweb.us/catawba/media/SouthWest.jpg
  6. Interesting information on the Great Wagon Road- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road
  7. Links to our recent blog posts on Heinrich and Catharina Weidner:

“Tombstone Tuesday: Heinrich and Catharina Weidner”- http://heritageramblings.net/2014/08/05/tombstone-tuesday-heinrich-and-catharina-weidner/

“Wishful Wednesday: Heinrich Weidner and Catharina Moll in Catawba County, NC”- http://heritageramblings.net/2014/07/30/wishful-wednesday-heinrich-weidner-and-catharina-moll-in-catawba-county-nc/

Don’t forget our search box if you want to learn more about this family!

 

Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Tombstone Tuesday: Heinrich and Catharina Weidner

 

Henrich Widener and Catharina (Moll) Weidener- Tombstones
Henrich Widener and Catharina (Moll) Weidener- Tombstones

These original tombstones for Henrich Weidner and his wife Catharina Moll are in the Newton Historical Museum, Catawba County, North Carolina. They are carved out of soapstone native to the area, and were, of course, hand carved after the deaths of Henrich and Catharina, in 1792 and 1804, respectively. Soapstone is easy to carve, but also deteriorates easily. The Catawba County Weidner family donated the original headstones to the county historical society, to protect them from the elements as well as from vandalism. They have been replaced with copies where the Wideners were originally buried near Jacob’s Fork River.

The person who carved the stones used every inch of the stone, sometimes breaking a word with a few letters placed on the next line. The stones were carved  in German, the language Henrich and his family probably spoke much of the time, especially in their early years in the colonies.

Closeup of Henrich Weidner's Headstone. (click to enlarge)
Closeup of Henrich Weidner’s Headstone (click to enlarge)

Translation of headstones:

Henrich We-

idner was

born in

year 1717 on

19 Octob-

er and is d-

ead in y-

ear 1792 on

31 July an-

d is age wa-

s 75 year-

s and 7 mo-

nths

 

ATMC= (Unknown)

Catharina We-

idner was b-

orn in ye-ar 1733 on 24 M-

ay and is de-

ad on 26 A-

ugust 1804 and

is age was 7[1]

years 7 months

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Images taken by James Whitener, July 2014, in the Newton Historical Museum, Catawba County, North Carolina.

Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog, James Whitener, and pmm.

 
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.

Wishful Wednesday: Heinrich Weidner and Catharina Moll in Catawba County, NC

Heinrich Weidener Oak Tree Representation in the History Museum of Catawba County, Newton, NC. (Click to enlarge.)
Heinrich Weidener Oak Tree Representation in the History Museum of Catawba County, Newton, NC. (Click to enlarge.)

This blog’s co-editor, Jim Whitener, has had a life-long wish to visit his ancestral lands in North Carolina. He finally fulfilled that dream recently with a trip to Catawba County that included his ever-so-genealogically-patient wife, their children, and grandchildren. He promises to share more of his trip (once he settles down from the awe and excitement?  ;D), but I wanted to start it off with a few images.

The German immigrant Heinrich Weidener and his wife Catharina Moll were married in Pennsylvania and migrated to Catawba County, North Carolina, by 1750. Heinrich’s name, of course, has many spellings, including Henrich Widner and Henry Widener. No matter how you spell it, make sure you pronounce that ‘W’ as a ‘V’ like the Germans would, and make the last name be just two syllables.

These pictures are of the “Henry Widener Oak” in the History Museum of Catawba County in Newton, Catawba County, North Carolina.

Heinrich Weidener Oak Tree Representation in the History Museum of Catawba County, Newton, NC- closeup. (Click to enlarge.)
Heinrich Weidener Oak Tree Representation in the History Museum of Catawba County, Newton, NC- closeup. (Click to enlarge.)

The artist included the family names of the many Weidner descendants.

Heinrich Weidener Oak Tree Representation in the History Museum of Catawba County, Newton, NC- closeup. (Click to enlarge.)
Heinrich Weidener Oak Tree Representation in the History Museum of Catawba County, Newton, NC- closeup. (Click to enlarge.)

Sorry that the above picture is a bit blurry- too much zoom or too much excitement?

We genealogists are just so weird.

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Images taken by James Whitener, July 2014.

2) Catawba County Museum of History: http://www.catawbahistory.org/catawba_county_museum_of_history.php

 

Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm, and James Whitener.

 
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.