Welty family name
Welty (Walti, Weldy, Welti), a Mennonite family name of Swiss origin meaning Walter, i.e., Ruler. The family originated in the communes of Rüderswil and Lauperswil in the canton of Bern. As early as 1534 a member of the family, Stoffel Wälti, was brought before the Bernese authorities for listening to Anabaptist sermons. Bernhard Wälti of Rüderswil met a martyr's death in Bern on 7 July 1537, for his Anabaptist faith. In 1672 the records reveal that a Hans Wälti was imprisoned in Bern and flogged for being an Anabaptist. He is probably the Hans Wälti listed in the Palatinate as a refugee a short time later. In 1703 Hans Wälti (called "Rot Hans") and others were imprisoned and sent to Bern. As early as 1738 an Uli Wälti and family of Rüderswyl were living in the Jura in Chaluet, near Moutier, having fled the intolerance of their Emmental home. Ulrich Weldy was listed in 1762 as a minister in the Palatinate. Niklaus Wälti of Lauperswil (1764-1834) and his family lived at Wintersingen, canton of Basel. His son John (1787-1855) became the progenitor of the family that settled in Putnam County, Ohio.
The ancestors of the Wälti families who settled in Wayne County, Ohio, in the 1830's and 1840's were Ulrich (1750-1834) of Rüderswyl and Christian (1767-?) of Lauperswil. Their descendants are also found at present in Moniteau County, Missouri, as well as other Mennonite communities.
Another family of Wältis came to America in the fore part of the 19th century and settled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. In 1851 they moved to northern Indiana where they changed their name to Weldy. Abraham Welty was the first Mennonite (Mennonite Church) minister and bishop in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Henry Weldy (1862-1934) served as a minister in the Holdeman Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), Elkhart County, Indiana, as did also Silas L. Weldy (1877-1955). Dwight E. Weldy (1918- ) joined the Goshen College faculty in 1948.
Bibliography
Baumgartner, Samuel H. Brief Sketches of Eight Generations. Descendants of Ulrich Welty born 1728. Indianapolis, 1926.
Kauffman, Daniel. Mennonite Cyclopedic Dictionary: 392.
Author(s) | Delbert L Gratz |
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Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gratz, Delbert L. "Welty family name." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 31 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Welty_family_name&oldid=78740.
APA style
Gratz, Delbert L. (1959). Welty family name. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 31 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Welty_family_name&oldid=78740.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 916. All rights reserved.
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