Person:Johannes Hoffman (9)

Johannes Hoffman was one of the Early Settlers of Germanna Colony

Immigration to Germanna Colony

Johannes Hoffman was listed among the first group of settlers to Germanna Colony in Virginia in April 1714:

• Johannes Hoffmann (Huffman), 22, b. 1682, was a bachelor.

Land Records in Virginia

John Huffman - 27 Sept 1729

Spotsylvania Co 800 ac In the great fork of the Rappahannock on the Deep Run

Patent no 13, p 338 no. 30

John Huffman - 27 Jan 1734

Spotsylvania Co. 400 ac Lying and being at the great Mountains in the grat fork of Rappahannock River. Beginning at two pines corner to George Shively in the Island Line. Patent no 15, p 414

Records in Virginia

• A-63: Capt. Thomas Hooper late srvr. made a surv. for the Germans seated upon Licking Run of Occaquan in Stafford County. Germans returned platt by Thomas Barber surveyor for 1,805 acres 108 Per. Grant in names of 3 of their members that are naturalized: John Fishback, John Hoffman, & Jacob Holtzclaw in Stafford County 22 Aug. 1724. [Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1694-1742, Vol. 1, Gertrude E. Gray, pg. 76].

Information on Johannes Hoffman

From "Germanna History", Notes: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhs62.html

Nr. 1531: John Hoffman, of the First Colony, in his Bible recorded the fact that he married his second wife, Maria Sabina Folg, on July 13, 1729. The first child of this marriage was Nicholas, named after one of the sponsors, Nicholas Jaeger (Jäger or Yager). A second sponsor was Baltz Blankenbuechler. A third sponsor was "the mother of my wife". Since there were no Folg family in the Germanna community, the question was unanswered of who the "mother of my wife" was. For the first seven children, ending with Frederick in 1740, the "mother of my wife" was a sponsor. She presumably died between the eighth child in 1742 and Frederick in 1740. Her name was never mentioned, only the relationship is given.

Her actual identity remained a mystery until Margaret James Squires found the story in the Hüffenhardt Church Registers. The story has its complications. I start with the marriage of Johann Michael Volck to Anna Maria Unknown, about 1685. They were the parents of at least seven children, from 1687 to 1704. The death of Anna Maria Volck is not recorded in the church records, but there was much turmoil in the region and there are gaps in the church books.

Next, Johann Michael Volck (who lived on the Wagonbach farm) married Anna Barbara Majer (or Maier, or Mayer, as the "i", "j", and "y" were used interchangeably; also, a final "s" was sometimes added). This was in 1709 at Hüffenhardt. Three children were born to this marriage:

Maria Sabina Charlotta Barbara, b. 19 March 1710, Louisa Elisabetha, b. 23 March 1711, Maria Rosina, b. 22 August 1712. Johann Michael Volck died 7 April 1714, at the age of 51 years.

The widow, Anna Barbara (Majer) Volck married Johann Georg Utz on 10 Jul 1714. Two children were born in Germany:

Ferdinand, b. 3 April 1715, Johannes, b. 25 July 1716. The Utz family is in the head rights used by Alexander Spotswood to pay for some of his land. The Utz name is given there as Otes, but a mistake was made in describing the members of the family. There are Hans Jerich Otes (Johann Georg Utz), Parvara Otes (Anna Barbara Majer Utz), Ferdinandis Sylvania Otes (this combines the son Ferdinand with his half-sister, Maria Sabina Charlotta Barbara Volck), and Anna Louisa Otes (presumably Louisa Elisabetha Volck). The fate of the other two Volck daughters and the son Johannes Utz is unknown.

So, the mysterious "mother of my wife" was Anna Barbara Majer Volck Utz/Otes, or, as she would have been known in the First Colony, Anna Barbara Utz/Otes. That's why it was difficult to identify "the mother of my wife", the wife being Maria Sabina Folg; there was no Folg/Volck family in the First Colony, but there was an Utz/Otes family!

Nr. 1532:

Let me mention briefly the children of John Hoffman by his first wife, Anna Catharine Häger. The sponsor at the birth of the first child was Agnes, the sister of his wife, Anna Catharine Häger. At the second child, the witness was John's father-in-law, Henry Häger. The third child, Anna Catherine, had the sponsor Anna Catherine Häger, the mother of his wife. For the fourth child, John, the sponsor was John Fischbach, who had married Agnes Häger and, therefore, was the brother-in-law of the mother. My point is that all of these sponsors were relatives by blood or by marriage. None of them were chosen as friends. (27 Nov 02)