Weaver (Weber) family

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Weaver is an old Mennonite family name of Swiss origin. As early as 1664 the Palatine Mennonite Census Lists reported two Webers, Peter at Oberflörsheim and Christian at Spiesheim. In 1685 Peter Weber was still living at Oberflörsheim (6 sons and a daughter), but there was a second Peter Weber at Waltzheim, Johannes Weber at Osthofen, and Heinrich Weber and Dietrich Weber at Gundersheim. In 1732 Peter Weber was a minister at Oberflörsheim. In 1738, in addition to the Weber families at Oberflörsheim (Peter Sr., Peter Jr., Dietrich, and Christian), there were also families at Gundersheim (Peter), Spiesheim (Johannes), Wolfsheim (Mathias, Johannes), and four Weber families at Heppenheim an der Wiese near Alzey (Johannes, Heinrich, Martin, and Matthäus). All of these locations were in the Palatinate and west of the Rhine. The Weber family name has been well represented in this region since these beginnings. In 1940, according to the Franz Crous lists, there were 67 Mennonite Webers (including children) in the South German Mennonite churches, with only one elsewhere in Germany, at Krefeld. Of these families, 46 were in the Palatinate (Monsheim congregation leading with 22, Kühbörncheshof 8, Neudorferhof 7, Uffhofen 5, three other congregations 4), one in Frankfurt and two in the Ingolstadt congregation in Bavaria. Outstanding among the Webers in the 18th century was Peter Weber of Kindenheim (1731-1781), a very influential preacher and a strong Pietist.

Several Webers emigrated from the Palatinate to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the early 18th century. The brothers Jacob, Henry, George, and John Weber are known to have arrived before 1718. The first three established a settlement in the rich bottom land between Blue Ball and Conestoga, which came to be known as Weberthal or Weaverland, and from which the present Mennonite Church (MC) congregation, Weaverland Mennonite Church, takes its name. Among their descendants were two early bishops serving the Weaverland-Groffdale district (George, served from 1854-83, and Benjamin, from 1902-8) and a host of ministers serving both in the Weaverland district (MC) and elsewhere, chiefly in Virginia, Indiana, Ontario, and Kansas, as well as Old Order Mennonite Weavers in the Blue Ball-New Holland area. M. G. Weaver, himself a descendant, listed in his Mennonites of Lancaster Conference in 1931 a total of 32 ordained men (10 being deacons) bearing the name (3 Weber, 29 Weaver). Of these 32, 31 were serving in the Mennonite Church (MC), including four bishops, mostly in the Lancaster Conference and the Virginia Conference. In addition there were four Old Order Mennonite ministers with the name Weaver, seven Old Order Amish Mennonite ministers, and one General Conference Mennonite Church minister. J. W. Weaver (d. 1944) was the founder and manager of the Weaver Book Store at New Holland, Pennsylvania as well as a prominent Lancaster Conference evangelist. Edwin Weaver was a missionary bishop in India. Urias K. Weber served for a long time as pastor of the First Mennonite and Stirling Avenue Mennonite churches in Kitchener, Ontario.

Bibliography

Bender, Harold S. and Gerhard Hein. "Weber." Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols., edited by Christian Hege and Christian Neff. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. IV, 476.

Crous, Franz. "Mennonitische Familien in Zahlen." Mennonitische Geschichtsblätter 5 (August 1940): 26-44.

Gratz, Delbert. Bernese Anabaptists. Scottdale, PA, 1953.

Peachey, Paul. Die soziale Herkunft der Schweizer Täufer. Karlsruhe, 1954.

Stauffer, Ezra N. Weber or Weaver Family History. Nappanee, IN 1953.

Weaver, Esther. Descendants of Henry B. Weaver. Ephrata, PA?, 1953.

Weaver, M. G. Mennonites of Lancaster Conference. Scottdale, PA, 1931.


Author(s) Harold S Bender
Date Published 1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Bender, Harold S. "Weaver (Weber) family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Weaver_(Weber)_family&oldid=162558.

APA style

Bender, Harold S. (1959). Weaver (Weber) family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Weaver_(Weber)_family&oldid=162558.



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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 903. All rights reserved.


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