On September 26, 2022, my friend and 6^th cousin, James Beidler published his post through Roots and Branches regarding a village Helmershausen (Heimat in German) in Thuringia, Germany, the hometown of the Bardorf family.  As I read the post, I noticed that the name changed to Batdorf as the family relocated to America in the early 1700’s.  I suddenly realized that Jim was talking about my wife’s Batdorf family.

Now, here’s the rub…at some point, the name Batdorf became Potter for my wife’s line of the family.  I looked for other iterations of the name and I came across Potterf or Pottdorf.  I bounced this off of Jim and he said yes, he believes that these “missing link” names would be the variant spellings between Batdorf and Potter.  With that information, I went to work. My wife’s maternal grandmother, Eva (Coleman) Morris (1906-1984) is the connection to the Potter/Batdorf family.  Eva Coleman’s grandmother, Hannah Margaret Potter (1845-1926) married James V. Coleman in Fayette Co., WV on 11 March, 1869:

Now I have the names of Margaret Potter’s parents.  Samuel and Harriet Potter.

Samuel Potter (1806-1886) married Harriet Scott (1816-1870) in Rockbridge, VA on 11 Decmber, 1828:

Samuel Potter’s will clearly states Hannah M. Coleman as his fifth daughter:

Samuel Potter’s parents appear to be David Potter (1782-1854) and Hannah McCormick (1788-1822), who were married in Rockbridge, VA on 18 March, 1813:

You may have noticed that Samuel Potter (b.1806) was born before his parents were married in 1813.  This was not an unusual circumstance.  There were many of our ancestors that had children prior to being married.

Here is the Executor Bond Book – Executor Bond Book, 1849-1857; Executor Bond Book, 1857-1871 for David Potter, showing sons John B. Potter and Samuel M. Potter:

David Potter’s parents were Philip (Pottderf/Batdorf) Potter (1757-1834) and Catherine Bright/Brecht (1765-1820).  Here is the mention of son David in the will of Philip Potter:

The parents of Philip (Batdorf) Potter were Hermanus Batdorf (1718-1763) and Catherine Elizabeth Reith (1734-1812):

I also found this, an abstract of a will for Hermanus Baddorf:

The parents of Hermanus Baddorf are listed as Martin Batdorf (1695-1782) and Maria Elizabeth Walborn (1725-1803).

There are not any readily available records to show the parenthood for Hermanus Baddorf, however I did find this snippet from a Google EBook, “The Batdorf Family History” by Virginia Faust Batdorf, published in 1990:

Hermanus Batdorf is also linked as a child to Martin Batdorf and Maria Elisabeth Walborn on Find A Grave.

Martin Batdorf married Maria Elizabeth Walborn in New York in 1718:

Martin Batdorf’s sister Catherine Elizabeth Batdorf (1697-bf. 1764) married Christian Wilhelm Walborn (1692-1769), brother of Maria Elizabeth Walborn:

The union of these two couples created a double cousin connection between my wife and Jim Beidler since both my wife and Jim descend from both the Batdorfs and the Walborns.

The rest of the story about how Martin and his family came to America can be read here.

The Batdorfs left a trail of family history from Germany to London, England to the American Colonies in New York, Lancaster & Berks Counties, PA and southwest to the Virginias and beyond.

Remember, your ancestors may have many different variations of their surname, so be diligent about your online searches to include those variations.  You’ll be surprised at what you may find.

Sources:
Ancestry©

Google EBooks

Featured Image – The Village of Helmershausen, Germany, ancestral home of the Bardorf family

Acknowledgements:

James Beidler – thank you Jim. Now, not only are you my cousin, but my wife’s as well…twice.

Cheryl, my wife who is always there for me and gives me love and support everyday!