Weaver family (North Carolina)
| Weaver Pennsylvania German: Weber | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Log cabin of Frederick Weaver (1750–1839) in Piney Flats, Tennessee | |
| Country | United States |
| Current region | Weaverville, North Carolina |
| Place of origin | Dutch Republic |
| Founder | Unknown German linen weaver and refugee from the Holy Roman Empire |
The Weaver family of North Carolina is a locally prominent American family that founded Weaverville along Reems Creek in North Carolina.[1][2][3]
Though of paternal Palatine Dutch origin, the family assimilated into the Anglo-American majority in the years following the Revolution, though remained German-speaking up until the Civil War. Richard Malcom Weaver, a descendant of Montraville Weaver, was a notable promoter of Anglo-Saxon Southern Agrarianism in the early to mid 20th century.[4]
Origins
[edit]The progenitor of the family was an unknown German linen weaver, surnamed Weber, that fled from the Holy Roman Empire to the United Provinces of the Netherlands due to religious persecution, likely because he was a member of the Reformed church. He married a Dutch woman and fathered John, Frederick, and two other sons in the Netherlands.
John Weaver (1763–1830) was a German-Dutch settler, immigrant, and Revolutionary War veteran who came to the Province of Pennsylvania from the United Provinces in the 18th century with his 3 brothers. Both John and Frederick would settle in the German ethnic enclave of the Shenandoah Valley before heading further south. John would settle in the Reems Creek valley in North Carolina, where his son, Montraville Weaver (1808–1882) would found the town of Weaverville.[5][6][7][8]
Per the Family Tree DNA Weaver DNA Project, the family has the Y-DNA haplogroup J-FTC77280, originating in the Balkans.[9]
History
[edit]Initial settlement
[edit]
John Weaver maintained friendly relations with the local Cherokee in the valley and built an Indigenous-style house, before purchasing 320 acres of land to construct a European log cabin as his family's permanent residence.[10][11]
Slavery and the Civil War
[edit]John's son, Montraville, became a slaveholder.[12] Despite the vast majority of Germans in the Antebellum South not using slaves and many being generally opposed to the practice, there was a minority of German slaveholders located primarily in the Shenandoah Valley and other parts of the region.[13]
As a slaveholding family, many members of the Weaver family fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, such as Captain Elbert Weaver (1841–1935), who was Montraville's first son, and Private Abraham Weaver (1832–1913), who deserted in northern Georgia after his unit was slaughtered during Wheeler's October 1863 Raid. Abraham was the grandson of Frederick Weaver (1750–1839), John Weaver's brother, Revolutionary War veteran, and slaveholder in Sullivan County, Tennessee.[14][15][16]
Weaver College
[edit]Weaver College, founded in 1851 as Weaverville College, was a co-educational Methodist academy located in Weaverville. It was founded on land gifted by the town's founder, Montraville Weaver, and operated from 1873 to 1934 before being merged with Rutherford College to form modern-day Brevard College.[17][18]
Members
[edit]- Richard Malcolm Weaver Jr (1910–1963) – University of Chicago professor of English and political philosopher[19]
- Zebulon Weaver (1872–1948) – North Carolina congressman[20]
- William Trotter Weaver (1858–1916) – President of the National Bank of Asheville and businessman who brought electricity to western North Carolina[21][22]
- Lieutenant Colonel James Thomas Weaver (1828–1864) – Commander of the 60th North Carolina Infantry Regiment killed during the Battle of Murfreesboro[23][24]
- Frederick Weaver (1750–1839) – Revolutionary War veteran who fought at the Battle of King's Mountain,[25] who was married to his wife by Samuel Doak, a prominent Presbyterian reverend and abolitionist.
- Colonel Charles Owen Hobough – Retired NASA astronaut descended from Frederick Weaver (1750–1839)
- Command Master Sergeant David Weaver y Pérez (1970 – ) – Command chief of Osan Air Base in South Korea,[26] descended from Confederate deserter Abraham Weaver (1832–1913)
Sources
[edit]- ^ Neufeld, Rob. "Visiting Our Past: There will be peace in the valley, Beech shows". The Asheville Citizen Times. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ "Weaver, Zebulon | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Weaver, Pearl M. (1962). The Tribe of Jacob: The Descendants of the Reverend Jacob Weaver of Reems Creek, North Carolina, 1786-1868. Higginson Book Company. pp. 1–5. ISBN 9780740469220.
- ^ Going, Allen J. (1969). "Review of The Southern Tradition at Bay: A History of Postbellum Thought". The Mississippi Quarterly. 22 (4): 375–378. ISSN 0026-637X.
- ^ "Wandering Weaverville: Main Street in the Countryside". Explore Asheville. 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ "Biffle Researchers: History of Rims Creek Valley, North Carolina". biffle.org. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Jackson, Tim W.; Jackson, Taryn Chase (2015-09-14). Weaverville. Arcadia Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4396-5318-0.
- ^ Arthur, John Preston (1914). Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913). Edwards & Broughton Printing Company. pp. 154–159. ISBN 9781570720628.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Families, Filed under (2013-05-31). "Weaver, John". OBCGS. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Allen, Martha Norburn (1960). Asheville and Land of the Sky. Heritage House. p. 55.
- ^ "Slavery in the Reems Creek Valley | NC Historic Sites". historicsites.nc.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Barkin, Kenneth (2008). Kamphoefner, Walter; Helbich, Wolfgang; Vogel, Susan Carter; Gerstäcker, Friedrich; Di Maio, Irene S. (eds.). "Ordinary Germans, Slavery, and the U.S. Civil War". The Journal of African American History. 93 (1): 70–79. doi:10.1086/JAAHv93n1p70. ISSN 1548-1867. JSTOR 20064257.
- ^ Newsome, Kaye Allen; Brittain, Jan (2019). "A Personal History of Salem United Methodist Church: This Place is Holy" (PDF). Salem UMC Weaverville. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Oliver (1909). Historic Sullivan: A History of Sullivan County, Tennessee, with Brief Biographies of the Makers of History. King printing Company. pp. 178, 226. ISBN 978-0-7222-4854-6.
- ^ Sullivan Co, TN - Veterans. Turner Publishing Company. 2002-11-02. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-56311-774-9.
- ^ "Weaver College | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Price, Richard Nye (1908). Holston Methodism: From Its Origin to the Present Time. Publishing House of the M.E. Church, South, Smith & Lamar, agents. pp. 409–411. ISBN 9781018679501.
- ^ "Weaver, Richard Malcolm, Jr. | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ "Weaver, Zebulon | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ "Weaver, William Trotter | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Ashe, Samuel A'Court (1907). Biographical History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to the Present. C. L. Van Noppen. pp. 501–503. ISBN 9780795048227.
- ^ "Battle Unit Details – The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Bubenik, Christo (2023-08-17). "Park Views: W. T. Weaver Park". The City of Asheville. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ "Pension application of Frederick Weaver" (PDF). Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters. 1855. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "SecAF visits Osan Air Base". Pacific Air Forces. 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2024-06-08.