Catharina Moll Weidener – Heritage Ramblings

*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.

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.

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*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.)*

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

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.

Tag: Catharina Moll Weidener

Tombstone Tuesday: Heinrich and Catharina Weidner

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

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