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John Rudolph Waymire (Johan Ludolph Weymeyer) |
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For special information about a new book, see the bottom of this page!!!
*** John Rudolph Waymire was born in Hanover, Germany about the year 1725. He was tall, erect, and of great physical strength. After having served his term of military service as required in those days, he was retained by the king as an officer in his body guard. Six feet six inches in height and two hundred and twenty-five pounds in weight was the minimum physical requirements to become a member of this unit.
The king being impressed by his executive ability and undaunted courage, soon made him governor of a province that had recently been acquired through conquest. Ere long, he aroused the displeasure of the king by refusing to execute a mandate which he considered unjust. For this insubordination he was thrown into prison for thirty days. Upon release he openly voiced his displeasure of the punishment bestowed and vowed he would leave the country. The king hearing of this had him again placed in prison for a like period of time. This did not dispel his anger but taught him to be more cautious of his speech. So he quietly made his plans to go to America.
In the summer of 1753, he with his wife and two children, his father and mother and two sisters, took passage at Hamburg on the ship Leathley. After a long and perilous journey of several weeks, during which the mother died and was buried at sea, the party landed at Philadelphia September 19, 1753. In the Pennsylvania archives is the Ship List of the Leathley for this trip in which appears the name "Johan Ludolph Weymeyer" signed by himself in a very legible hand. The spelling of the name plainly shows that is had not as yet been anglicized. In the same list appears the name "Voltine Weymeyer" signed by himself. Probably this was the father.
Upon landing in Philadelphia, the sisters were separated from the other members of the family and never afterwards were seen or heard of.
They settled somewhere in the rural districts of Pennsylvania, to us not known, where the father died in 1757. That same year the family moved to what is now Randolph County, North Carolina and settled on the Uwharie River. At that time Guilford County included, among other lands, the territory within the present boundaries of Randolph County. Here he resided the remainder of his days; and it was here on one of the city hills of the old North State that his remains were laid to rest.
He was married twice. His German wife's name was Lough. She bore him eight children; the first on being a boy, all the others, girls. His second wife, Miss Elizabeth Louck, bore him seven children, all boys; making a total of fifteen children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, married and had families. It is estimated that up to the present time (early 1950's), Rudolph Waymire had more than thirty thousand descendants.
These people, mostly farmers, were not altogether pleased with the agricultural conditions of North Carolina. The river valleys were very fertile, but narrow and subject to disastrous floods at the time of freshets; the rest of the land was rock infested, clayey hills, mostly impossible to cultivate and non productive. Then again, this state permitted the institution of slavery, and as most of these people were Quakers, it was galling to their natures to constantly witness around them the workings of this iniquitous, barbarous system.
Because of these conditions and environments they had for some time contemplated migrating to the new lands in the northwest. Immediately after the death of the father, the children began the exodus from the old North State and by 1808 had all migrated to Ohio, settling at first in Warren, Montgomery, and Miami Counties. Some remained here while others soon migrated farther west and scattered in different directions until today, his descendants are found throughout all parts of the United States and Canada.
The Waymire Family My Great Great Grandfather was Solomon Waymire, son of John Rudolph Waymire. He was born on February 23, 1791 and died on April 4, 1837. His first wife was Sarah Mast. By this wife there were four children - Nancy, Henry, Briget, and Mary. His second wife was Marian Coppock who was born September 3, 1800 and died on November 12, 1857. By this wife there were four children - Daniel, Sarah, Isabelle, and Wesley.
Daniel Waymire was my Great Grandfather. He was born on January 18, 1825 and died on January 8, 1898. He married Catherine Hoover who was born on October 12, 1821 and died on April 10, 1876. They had five children - Margaret, Sarah, Isabelle, John Henry, and R. Perry. They were one of the generations who settled in this territory. They were Protestants and they did mostly farming.
My Grandfather, John Henry Waymire, was born on March 16, 1853 and died in 1927. On June 27, 1880, he was married to Sarah Minerva Cassel who was born on February 28, 1854 and died on October 25, 1937. They lived on the Jackson Road in Butler Township on a farm. They had seven children - Lelia, Edna, Walter, Lee, Ben, Jess, and Bill. All of these children are living except Lelia, Jess, and Walter.
William McKinley Waymire, my father, was born on October 6, 1894. He married Florence Kley on March 20, 1920. She was born on February 18, 1900. They have six children - Bill, Donald, Jack, Katherine, Eugene, and Carol. All of these children are married except the two youngest ones. They have six Grandchildren. All of the children are living in Montgomery, Preble, and Dark Counties. The main occupation is factory work and bricklaying. The religion is Protestant.
The Kley Family My ancestors in my mother's family were originally from Germany. The religion is Protestant.
Ernst Kley was my Great Grandfather. His occupation was working as a stone mason. He was married to Hannah Kley. They had three children - Lou, Henry, and Mary. They lived in Dayton, Ohio.
My Grandfather, Henry E. Kley was born in 1858 and died on July 6, 1947. He was a bookkeeper. He was born in America. His first wife was Catherine Meisner. By this wife there were three children - Hannah, Lou, and Ed. His second wife was Catherine Barbara Martz. By this wife there were four children - Carl, Art, Alfred, and Florence. They lived in Dayton in the early 1900's. Later they moved on a farm on the Kley Road in Butler Township.
My mother, Florence Kley, was born on February 18, 1900. She lived in Dayton until she was 16 years old. She was thirteen years old when the Dayton flood occurred. They moved to Butler Township where she met and married William McKinley Waymire who was in the Army in World War I. About four years after they were married, their house burned down. They moved on another farm in Butler Township. Then they moved to Englewood, then to Wengerlawn, Jefferson Township, then back to Englewood, and then to Butler Township where they are living the present time.
They have six children - two girls and four boys, and six grandchildren.
---Carol Waymire
Addendum: This was written by my mother Carol Louise Westray while in Butler High School, where she graduated: Wednesday, May 28, 1952 at 8:15 P. M. She married my father, Rudy Calvin Westray, Sr., November 23, 1951.
R. Cal Westray, Jr.
*** Much of this story was extracted from the book: "John Rudolph Waymire and the First Three Generations of His Descendants as Known March 1, 1925." Edited by William M. Reser, M.D., Lafayette, Indiana, 1925. 48 pages.
A new book is available! "The Quest for John Rudolph Waymire" is a new 550-page publication prepared by the Waymire Family Research Group. It is at the printer and should be ready soon! The price is $26 plus $4 shipping and handling per copy.
The balance of the book consists of chapters on each of JRW's fifteen children, expanding the
data on the first three generations originally covered by Dr. William
Reser's 1925 publication, "John Rudolph Waymire and the First Three
Generations of His Descendants." Ordering information: If you have any
questions, please contact Peggy at
pstegel@aol.com. Please include your name and mailing address clearly printed on a separate sheet.
More information on the descendants of John Rudolph Waymire can be found on the site Creative Web Works.
Additional research sites include:
Mauri Davenport Gandy's Waymire page
A Partial list of Passengers Lists Index: Reproduced by the National Archives.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~huntingforrelatives/partial.htm
(Link is broken) RootsWeb.com
R. Cal Westray, Jr.
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