The 19^th day of September had only ever been important to me for one reason…it is my birthday.  I never would have imagined that it would hold any other importance or significance for me until ten years ago when I began the journey into my family ancestry.

When I discovered that my Miller ancestors first arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 19 September, 1732, I was blown away.  It felt like it was something that was meant to be and I imagined it would only be this one occurrence through one ancestor that I would hold as special to me.

Well, I was wrong…it has happened again in researching my Winemiller ancestors.

My discovery was through my Fair family on my mother’s side. My 3x great-grandmother, Cecilia Sykes (1844-1893), was married to John Fair (1837-1899). Cecilia was the daughter of James Shaw Sykes (1811-1884) and Eva Winemiller (1820-1891).

Eva Winemiller was the daughter of John (Johannes) Weinmiller (1793-1866) and Catharina Zellar (1793-1847). Here is Eva’s birth record:

Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013

PA-York, Hopewell Twp., Lutheran, Saddlers Lutheran (St. John)

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Here is a chart showing my Winemiller (Weinmuller) ancestry:

I was not able to find a record to confirm the father-son relationship between John Winemiller (1793-1866) and John Francis Winemiller (1753-1813).

However, I did find the 1800 census for Francis Winemiller in Hopewell Twp., York Co., PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Since John was born in 1793, it stands to reason that the male boy marked in the 1^st column at the age of 10 or under is probably John.

Proving the next father-son relationship was a bit easier, as the father of Francis, Johannes Weinmuller (1714-1784) had a very clear and concise will that was written 21 August, 1784 and probated 30 August, 1784, Will book G M2, page 96-98, Frederick County Courthouse, Frederick Co., MD (shown are key segments for this post from the book “From Rumbach to West Virginia-The Winemiller Story):

As you may have guessed, one of the Winemiller family relocated to West Virginia. Henry Winemiller in the will above is the progenitor for the Winemiller family that relocated to West Virginia.  Henry’s son, Henry Winemiller Jr. relocated to WV. Henry Jr. was b. 16 Apr, 1782 in Frederick Co., MD, died 31 Jul, 1860 in what is now Upshur Co., WV.  He was married to Eleanor Norris 1 Mar, 1806 in Montgomery Co., MD.

For those of you who may be interested in the West Virginia Winemillers, click the link provided for the book called “From Rumbach to West Virginia – The Winemiller Story” by Joy Gilchrist Stalnaker – Orange County California Genealogical Society which will provide more insight into this side of the family.

As I go back another generation from John Francis Winemiller and his brother Henry, we come upon the Winemiller immigrant ancestors, Johannes Weinmuller (his will shown above) and his brother Conrad.

Johannes Weinmuller (1714-1784) was married to Kristina Reber (1715-brf. 1768). They came to America in 1738 along with Johannes’s brother Conrad aboard the ship, the Thistle:

From the book “A collection of upwards of thirty thousand names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776” by I. Daniel Rupp, Published 1876

As you can see, the date of the 19^th of September now holds more than just one or two significant events for me.

There is an older website called Winemiller Family Inn that was created by Larry Winemiller and has not been updated in quite a while, but has some very interesting and valuable information.

When doing genealogical reseach, it can be surprising and fun when you find these ancestral dates that are coincedental to some important date in your life.  For me, September 19^th is my “arrival day”.  My ancestors arrived by ship and I arrived by way of mother nature.

Sources:

Ancestry©

Archive.org

Larry Winemiller – Winemiller Family Inn website

Orange County, California Genealogical Society

Featured Image: View of the port and the city of Philadelphia , in the thirteen English colonies of North America , in the middle of the 18th century . (French) – 1752 – Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Acknowledgements:

Cheryl, my wife whose life I can’t imagine not being a part of mine! Thank you for your contribution to this post.