Asheville Junction: A Blog by David E. Whisnant

Whisnants on the Move: Germany, Lancaster County PA and the Great Wagon Road

Henry VIII [no known relation–yet] coat of arms

Who among us has not received at least one “once-in-a-lifetime chance” to purchase (at a limited-time-only reduced price) a handsome family crest wall plaque, together with a gold-embossed, [insert your family name here] genealogy book in which your very own name is prominently in evidence?  Prone to vanity as we all are, and typically only a few generations out from third- or fourth-degree connections with royalty (mixed and frequently unsavory lot though they turn out to be), we are tempting targets in a perennially lucrative market.

Well, let’s see, then: Whisnant, I am informed after a 0.54 second, 1600+ hits search on Google, is of Anglo-Saxon origin (interest perks up), derived from Old English wis, meaning wise or learned person (yes, of course that increases the appeal). But a quick online definition check says wis is “a form derived from iwis, mistakenly interpreted as I wis I know, as if from Old English witan to know”).  And my trusty old print copy of the Oxford English Dictionary presents a history of the word too complicated to help much here.

In any case, if one asks (more humbly and judiciously) where the Whisnants came from (sorry, friends and relations, even though the earliest documentable reference turns up in the year 1242, we’ve got to walk this lonesome valley not only by ourselves but also crestless).  One also quickly learns (as I have noticed personally all my life), that “Whisnant” gets spelled pretty much however anyone is of a mind to, and pronounced in some ways one might not even have considered possible.

A few of some eighty spellings researchers have thus far encountered (not surprising, given that in German, initial w is pronounced as v, as in welt, initial v is pronounced as f, as in von, and terminal d as t, as in und): Fisinant, Visinand, Visinant, Whiissanhunt, Whisante, Whisenant, Whisenhant, Whisenhunt, Whisennand, Whisenun, Whisinand, Whisnand, Whisnant, Whisonant, Whistenant, Whistnant, Whysenhunt, Wiseant, Wissenandt, Wissenant. In a pinch, even Hunt has served.  So much for my etymologically-based Anglo Saxon forbears.

But since it is not my purpose to trace Asbury Whisnant’s or Sarah Ella Austin’s lineages back to the dawn of time or forward to the current generation in the familiar genealogical way, many of the spellings can be ignored.  “Visinand” and “Whisnant” (and several minor variations upon them) prove sufficiently productive.  And for Asbury Whisnant’s ancestors back through the relevant three or four generations, more than the necessary information is available through Raymond Whisnant’s excellent Whisnant Surname Center.

Click to visit site. Access and use generously authorized by Raymond C. Whisnant. For other uses, contact him directly by email (given on the site).

Access and use generously authorized by Raymond C. Whisnant.

I intend only to establish (briefly and schematically) the family’s origins in Switzerland and Germany, to dope out why they left, to examine the few available details of their lives during the two or three decades they tarried in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, and then follow them (and streams of others) down the Great Wagon Road (around 1750, it seems) to piedmont (later western) North Carolina.

My grandmother Whisnant’s immediate Austin forbears (more difficult to check out, I’ve learned) were–so far as I now know–already in North Carolina when the Whisnants got there in the mid-eighteenth century.  So they will not appear until the next post, which focuses (necessarily synoptically) on both families in the North Carolina “down-mountain” counties in the nineteenth century.

The (Variously Spelled) Whisnants Before North Carolina

For a century and a half at least, the French-speaking (or so it appears from their children’s names) Visinands were born, married, did their work, raised their children and died in or near the Swiss village of Corsier[-sur-Vevey], in the Canton of Vaud, about a kilometer north of Lake Geneva, and later around Hassloch and Edenkoben, near the Rhine River in southern Germany’s wine-producing region.

If this were an Old Testament account, it would be time for the begats, but I don’t do begats.  So: Guillaume (born before 1570 in Maracon) moved to Corsier and started the line, so far as is yet known. His son Jean (b. before 1584), grandson Estienne (b. 1610), and great-grandson Francois (b. 1647) were all from Corsier.  But at some point Francois moved 300 or so kilometers down the Rhine to Hassloch, Germany  (south of Mannheim) where his son Philip Peter was born in 1684.  Philip Peter and his wife Helena baptized five of their six children there (1711-1722). I know nothing of their lives in Hassloch, where they lived for twenty years before emigrating to Philadelphia.  By 1711, Hassloch–in what much later came to be called the Rhineland Palatinate–was already more than a thousand years old, and had been predominantly Protestant for nearly two centuries.

Sometime during the summer of 1731, Philip Peter Visinand (then in his mid-forties), his thirty-six year old pregnant wife Helena, and (it appears) two of their four sons, Johann Peter (b. 1714) and Johann Adam (b. 1719) filed onto the Lowther (or Snow Lowther, indicating it was a “Snow-class” ship) in Rotterdam

"Snow" class ship. Wikipedia

“Snow” class ship. Wikipedia says that a snow-class ship carried square sails on both masts, but had a small trysail [or “snow” mast] immediately behind the mainmast.

with thirty-three other passengers. After stops in Whitehaven and Dover, where it picked up forty-five more passengers, the Lowther set sail for Philadelphia, where it docked in mid-October.  By then it had an additional passenger, Philip and Helena’s daughter Mary Magdalena, born at sea.

Hassloch to Rotterdam. Google Maps.

Hassloch to Rotterdam. Google Maps.

Why would they have chosen to embark upon so lengthy, expensive, and risky a voyage?  It was a 500+ kilometer, four- to six-week trip down the (probably) Neckar and then the Rhine rivers from the Hassloch-Edenkoben area to Rotterdam. From there nearly 5,000-miles and many more weeks at sea lay between them and Philadelphia.  The sometimes dangerously overloaded vessels were infested with vermin and rats, the rotten food was so bad that there was an on-board market for mice and rats, and hygiene was terrible.  Why, indeed, did they choose to go? That is a key question of this post.

As is usual with emigrants (whether refugees or not), both push and pull factors were involved.  To understand the former for Philip Peter and Helena Visinand, two terms turn out to be key: Huguenots and the Palatinate.  Being only vaguely familiar with either, I looked them up.  Hold on; this will be very quick, but the links will lead to more detail if you wish.

Huguenots

Following the lead of John Calvin in the 1530s, Huguenots formed the Protestant Reformed Church of France.  Within several decades, their numbers grew to two million.  They were strongly critical of Catholicism in all its aspects, and Catholics (outnumbering them by 8:1) both returned the criticism and raised the ante dramatically.

15620301Massacre_de_Vassy_1562_Hogenberg_end_of_16th_century

Massacre de Vassy in 1562, print by Hogenberg end of 16th century. Wikipedia.

From 1559 to 1561, Mary Queen of Scots helped haul French Huguenots before Catholic tribunals, which delivered them to torture and burning.  Between then and 1598, eight civil “wars of religion” focused repeated violence upon Huguenots, especially dramatically in the Massacre of Vassy in 1562, in which more than sixty Huguenots were burned to death in their barn-church.

A decade later (autumn of 1572) thousands of Huguenots (estimates range from 5,000 to 30,000) were slain in the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in and around Paris.

Painting of St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of August 1572 by Huguenot painter Francois DuBois (b. ca. 1529). Wikipedia.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of August 1572 as depicted by Huguenot painter Francois DuBois (1529-1584). Whether Dubois was present at the massacre is not known, but he lost a close relative in it. The painting was commissioned by a Lyon banker who had been present. Wikipedia.

This vicious persecution by Catholics caused Huguenots (eventually at least a half-million of them) to board ships they hoped would carry them to safety in EnglandWalesIrelandScotlandDenmarkSwedenSwitzerland, the Dutch Republic, and Cape Colony in South Africa, as well as several of the English colonies of North  America that were willing to accept them.  

Scores of ships, each carrying up to two hundred passengers, including dozens of Huguenots, began to leave as early as the 1550s, increased dramatically from 1687, spiked again after the brutal winter of 1709, and continued for many more decades. The eminently useful genealogy site The Olive Tree presents valuable descriptive data on some of these “Huguenot ships.”

The three-masted, 150-foot Voorschotten left Delftshaven, Holland on the last day of the year 1687, and others followed in rapid succession.  Designed for 150 passengers, it carried 192.  Among the twenty-two French Huguenots were Phillipe and Anne Fouche(r) and their three young children, a carpenter, and a wagon-builder. Three and a half months later the Voorschotten dropped anchor in Table Bay, South Africa.

Following several weeks behind it, the Oesterland carried twenty-four French Huguenots, including farmers, a doctor, and a carpenter.  The intrepid couple Isaac and Susanna Taillefert were traveling with six children (age one to fourteen).  Disaster struck the Berg China, out of Rotterdam, carrying some “orphan girls” and thirty-four Huguenots.  Of its 175 passengers, nineteen died at sea, and fifty more arrived ill.  Its predecessor De Scheide had been fortunate to make the trip without sickness or death.

By 1700, at least twelve Huguenot-bearing ships had departed for South Africa, but also in that year the Mary and Anne struck out from London to James City, Virginia carrying 167 adults and 38 children.  A month later, the Peter and Anthony followed.   The departure of these two ships signaled, it turned out, that a large part of the Huguenot out-migration stream would run not from France to South Africa, but from the German Palatinate through Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and London toward the British colonies in North America.  Why did this happen?

Huguenot Refugees from the German Palatinate (and Some by way of England)

Wherever they were (especially in the German Palatinate) in the 17th and 18th centuries, Huguenots were suffering and fleeing.  And as refugees generally do, they were looking for the quickest and best refuge they could find.  In the opening years of the 18th century, it looked for a short time like the North American British colonies might be a good bet.

Trying to locate and describe “the Palatinate” is like trying to hit a moving, continually reconfiguring, target.  For our purposes, one can think of it as a heavily Protestant area straddling the Rhine River, more or less in southwestern Germany.  In the 17th and 18th centuries, the area experienced repeated military invasion and prolonged political and religious turmoil and repression, the hardships of which fell heavily upon the lower classes.

Conditions became far worse during several brutal, famine-producing winters (most

Queen Anne. Michael Dahl, 1705. National Portrait Gallery NPG6187. Used by permission.

Queen Anne. Michael Dahl, 1705. National Portrait Gallery NPG6187. Used by permission.

dramatically that of 1709). “Birds froze in mid-air,” notes Wikipedia‘s synoptic article, and “casks of wine, livestock, whole vineyards were destroyed by the unremitting cold. With what little was left of their possessions, the refugees made their way on boats down the Rhine to Amsterdam [or Rotterdam],”  bound for England, where the government of Queen Anne was sensitive to their plight. Huguenots from the Palatinate responded in droves to the queen’s invitation.  During the summer of 1709, more than 13,000 came into London.

But the Queen’s altruism was tempered by British self-interest: the seemingly unstoppable flood of in-migration brought with it the financial burden of social support, social strain, disease and death.  Something had to be done.

After an early effort to send Huguenots to bolster the Protestant minority in Ireland failed, it occurred to policy makers that, channeled into the North American colonies, they could turn into a twofer: problems at home would decrease, and a new labor force could boost production of hemp and tar for the British navy while guarding against incursions by Indians and the French. In late 1712, government support for the refugees stopped, and the Palatines had to look (and go) elsewhere.

During the next few years, a thousand or so were sent to settle along the Hudson River, where German/Palatine place names are still prominent. By the 1730s, they had docked in Boston, Albany, Baltimore, and elsewhere.  And from about 1727 through the mid-1750s, scores of ships left Rotterdam for Philadelphia, their passenger lists made up almost exclusively of “poor Palatines.”

The Visinand/Whisnant Sojourn in William Penn’s Quaker Province

NENewYorkNJerseyPAmap1708Small_mapsofpa_s584

Map of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pensilvania &c, by Herman Moll. John Oldmixon, The British Empire in North America (London, 1708). A Dutch edition appeared in 1721 and a German one in 1744. Click on map for a much larger version. Historical Maps of Pennsylvania.

The rush to Philadelphia from the Palatinate–of which the Visinand/Whisnant family was a part–was prompted by devout and determined Quaker William Penn (1644-1718), who arrived in New Castle in 1682 to take possession of vast lands given to him by King Charles II to settle a debt.

For years, Penn had roundly denounced Catholics as “the whore of Babylon” and Puritans as “hypocrites and revelers in God,” and pursued his longtime commitment to religious,

William Penn (1644-1718). Wikipedia

William Penn (1644-1718). Wikipedia

electoral, freedom, justice for Indians and immigrants.  The Quaker province of Pennsylvania was to be a “Holy Experiment” in virtue, equality, and fairness, with Philadelphia as its capital city.

Soon Penn began to sell land to immigrants, and beginning with the William & Sarah in mid-1727, shiploads of Palatinate Germans started to arrive. The Lowther was the seventeenth among them, and Philip Peter and Helena Visinand, their new baby, and two teenage sons disembarked.

In the 1730s, Philadelphia didn’t look a whole lot like the capital city of any “Holy Experiment.”  It had maybe 3000 inhabitants, and its unpaved streets were littered and dirty.  Even Philadelphia merchant/poet Joseph Breintnall, trying to put the best face on it in his “Plain Description of One Single Street in this City,” admitted that it was rather a mixed bag:

At Delaware’s broad Stream, the View begin,
Where jutting Wharfs, Food-freighted Boats take in.
. . . 
Wide opes the Street, with firm Brick Buildings high:
Step, gently rising, o’er the Pebbly Way,
And see the Shops their tempting Wares display;
. . .  Here, if Ails molest,
Plain surfac’d Flags, and smooth laid Bricks invite
Your tender Feet to Travel with Delight.
. . .
’Twixt, and beyond all those, . . . 
The forging Shops of sooty Smiths are set,
And Wheelwrights Frames—with vacant Lots to let:
A Neighbourhood of Smoke, and piercing Dins,
From Trades, from Prison-Grates and Publick Inns.

Rather overdone, it seems fair to say, but Philadelphia was already a major port, had a newspaper and a library (of which Breintnall was Secretary), and Benjamin Franklin had arrived a few years earlier to play a major role in its development.  But even the earliest of its historic “buildings fair” did not appear until several decades later.  Christ Church, established in 1695, was still in its original small wooden building; a grander edifice did not begin to rise for another thirty-two years.

Home on Cocalico Creek, Lancaster County

ReformedChurchinPA_EarlyHistofRefChurchinPA_InternetArchive

Log church building in Pennsylvania, ca. 1740. Daniel Miller, Early History of the Reformed Church in Pennsylvania (1906) by way of Internet Archive. This building has refinements not reported for the Muddy Creek building: a chimney and a bell at least, and possibly the glass-paned windows.

In any event, the Visinands did not tarry long in Philadelphia.  Instead they headed westward for about sixty miles, into heavily German Lancaster County.  Seeking their own kind, as new immigrants do, they became part of the recently formed Muddy [Moden] Creek Reformed congregation on the headwaters of Cocalico Creek.  The log building (apparently not erected until about 1736) had dirt floors, wooden benches for seating, and the only heat during the hours-long sermons came from an indoor firepit. But the congregation–dirt floor or no–afforded welcome cultural and theological support.

Muddy Creek was a new little church, without its own minister, but Philip Peter and Helena had their newborn daughter baptized there soon after they arrived in October. Although details are scant, it appears that the family was able to establish itself rather quickly and solidly on the Cocalico.  Philip Peter and Helena’s grandson Philip was born to their son John Adam (b. 1719) in 1736.   In 1737 Philip Peter managed to get a grant of land adjacent to Muddy Creek church, where he established a farm. 

Their shipboard-born daughter Mary Magdalena married a local German man, Christian Lutz, when she was only fifteen or sixteen (ca. 1746-47).  No details about their offspring, if any, have come to light, and many of the sandstone grave markers in the church cemetery have not survived. But the couple apparently chose to remain in the area near the many Lutzes, the descendents of whom were still scattered around the county a century and a half later.

Philip Peter died in 1744 and Helena in 1750; both were buried in the Muddy Creek cemetery. About 1758, Mary Magdalena’s husband bought the family land–signaling, perhaps, that the Cocalico/Muddy Creek Church phase of their life was drawing to a close.

East Cocalico Township, 1864. AncestorTracks. Cocalico Creek at lower L; Muddy Creek Reformed Church just SW of Swartzville; Lutz family land in evidence on SW slope of Adamstown Ridge and near SW township boundary.

East Cocalico Township, 1864.  [Click map for enlargeable view]  Cocalico Creek at lower L; Muddy Creek Reformed Church just SW of Swartzville; Lutz family land in evidence on SW slope of Adamstown Ridge and near SW township boundary. Ancestor Tracks.

 Down the Great Wagon Road

By the time the Visinands arrived in Lancaster County in 1731, population pressures in the Pennsylvania backcountry were already making land scarce.  Before another decade had passed, second- and third-generation German families were casting about for better opportunities.

The floods of immigrant Scots-Irish Presbyterians who were traveling down the Great Valley on the Great Wagon Road (as well as inland from the North Carolina coast) pointed the way to opportunities in the North Carolina backcountry, where new counties in the Piedmont were being established as immigrant population rose.

Probably sometime between their mother’s death in 1750 and the early 1760s, at least Mary Magdalena’s brother John [Johann] Adam (b. 1719) and his son Philip (b. 1736) joined the stream heading down the Great Wagon Road. Other members of the family may have gone as well, but trying to figure that out from the cascading number of Philips, Johns, and Adams in the genealogical record is beyond our scope and need at present.

In any case, if the experience of those of the Visinand/Whisnant family who took the Great Wagon Road south was not atypical, they would have made the trip in a Conestoga wagon,

Conestoga Wagon. From Marshman William Hazen, Hazen's Elementary History of the United States: A Story and a Lesson (1903) via Internet Archive Book Images

Conestoga Wagon. From Marshman William Hazen, Hazen’s Elementary History of the United States: A Story and a Lesson (1903) via Internet Archive Book Images

a locally-built conveyance, the construction of which provided work for numerous woodworkers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and turners.  John Adam Visinand, a blacksmith, may well have worked in the industry.  Such wagons appear to have been the dominant image evoked by “the Great Wagon Road.”

The Great Wagon Road, it turns out, was not the “Great” road implied by its name (some referred to it as the “great bad road”).  Instead it was–as a contemporary map showed–a related system of more or less parallel, more or less road-like tracks headed generally southwest from Market Street in Philadelphia, passing through North and South Carolina, and ending in Augusta GA.

1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting 'The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia'. See Wikipedia description of the Fry-Johnson mapping project here.

1751 Fry-Jefferson map depicting ‘The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia’. Click here for description of the mapping project.

More specifically, from Philadelphia the road ran west toward Gettysburg, then south to Hagerstown MD and Winchester VA, then through the Shenandoah Valley to Roanoke before reaching the North Carolina border, where it entered through (later) Stokes County.  

Section of Great Wagon Road from Virginia line into piedmont North Carolina. NCpedia.

Section of Great Wagon Road from Virginia line with offshoots into piedmont North Carolina. Map by Mark Anderson Moore. North Carolina Department of Archives and History via NCpedia. Click map to see full version.

From the outset, traffic was a problem.  Lines of wagons filled with land seekers heading south met northbound lines of wagons filled with produce for faraway markets.  And both had to contend with drovers moving herds of animals (turkeys, hogs, mules, cattle) on foot.

So far as is known, the Visinand family left no record of their passage down the Great Wagon Road, but fortunately a group of twelve Moravian brothers set out at about the same time (October 1753) to build the first structure (the Single Brothers House) at Bethabara (now within Winston-Salem as Bethabara Historic District).

One of the brothers kept a detailed journal describing their six-week journey. Even at its best, the road was barely worthy of the name in many places: wagons had to be unloaded and reloaded to navigate gulleys, streams and rivers, and to climb or descend hills; small animals shot along the way supplemented a few provisions proffered by kindly Germans; a mill now and then supplied food for the horses; axles broke, and high water was dangerous; heavy rains wet everything, including firewood, through the wagons’ oil-treated canvas tops; and sections of road had to be cleared with axes and grubbing hoes to make them passable.

Despite the rigors of the trip, the Moravian brothers held a lovefeast when they reached their destination in mid-November, and one of them composed a hymn of celebration for the occasion:

We hold arrival Lovefeast here,
In Carolina land,
A company of Brethren true,
A little Pilgrim-Band . . . 

None of the genealogical or other available records of the Visinand travelers refer to anything musical, but it is conceivable that–devoutly Calvinist as they were–they and some of their Reformed Church fellow travelers marked their arrival with a good Calvinist hymn.

A New Life in the North Carolina Piedmont

If you have stayed with me along this by now rather extended blog post road, you deserve a break and a commendatory star, and are excused from composing and singing a “Now come all ye bloggers and listen to me . . . ”  to mark the occasion.  When next we see them (or a single line of them), the Whisnants will be settled in the down-mountain counties of western piedmont North Carolina.

 References:

Daniel W. Bly, excerpt from From the Rhine to the Shenandoah, Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum;  FindaGrave.com; Internet Archive Book Images; Daniel Miller, Early History of the Reformed Church in Pennsylvania” (1906)NCpedia; William T. Parsons, excerpt from Pennsylvania Germans: A Persistent Minority in Look Backward; “Passenger Lists” in The Olive Tree Genealogy; “Descriptions of Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia before the Revolution,” National Humanities Center;  William S. Powell, North Carolina Through Four Centuries ( 1989); Milton Ready, The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina; Raymond C. Whisnant, Whisnant Surname Center; USGenWeb Archives; Wikipedia.

99 thoughts on “Whisnants on the Move: Germany, Lancaster County PA and the Great Wagon Road

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Richard: Sorry to be late replying to you, and thanks so much for your comment. I have been working so steadily on the blog itself that I don’t often remember to check the comments. The blog is a treat to work on; many future posts are presently lined up in my head. Hope you have seen (or will soon) the one that went out in the past few hours. And I also hope that your own good work is going well. Best to you.

  1. Carol R Glayre

    DAVID:
    I have been researching this family for nearly 20 years. What you have posted about the family is correct. I have a written a documentary of the descendants of William J Whisenant who went to Fla. Thank you

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Hi, Carol:
      I’m glad to hear of your work. Is it online somewhere? As you can tell from the blog, I am neither a genealogist nor (in the usual sense) a “family historian,” but the work of both those groups of people continues to be very useful to me. I love doing the blog; new posts will continue to appear for some time to come. You can follow me on Twitter if you like (@AshevilleJunction); I always post notices there when a new one comes out.

    2. Carol R Glayre

      David:
      I just reread the blog and posting. It has been some time since we communicated. You asked for my email to find my privately published book.
      Hope this helps. Are you by any chance in Ashville, Ala.?

    1. Cynthia Fondren

      Hi Robin,

      You are not going to believe this, but you and I are 6th cousins! I have a tree at Ancestry.com (Fondren Family Tree) where I have been working hard researching and hopefully leaving a trail for future generations to travel. You never know who you might find on there…

      1. Robin Whisnant Forester

        I believe it. Any Whisnant, no matter how they spell their name is our cousin. Who do we go back to that was a common ancester?
        I went on Google Earth and checked where the Whisnants lived in Switzerland. Very cool. I live in Cornelius, NC, Mecklenburg Co., just one county over from Lincoln Co. My father was born in Rutherford Co. Looks like my ancestors don’t like to move far away. My husband and I moved to Phoenix two years ago because of a job offer. I couldn’t wait to get back. We lasted 6 months. I was so glad to see trees and grass again.

        1. Cynthia Fondren

          I recently thought about you and your family and looked it up on Raymond’s site. I then listed your line on my tree. (Raymond lists my grandparents, grandma was Mary Ethel Hutchins and her grandparents were Whisnants.) We have to travel all the way back to John Adam and Anna Barbara Eaker. Anyway, I think I’m related to everyone in Lincoln County!!! I see at least several grandfathers and several uncles on the Tryon Resolves as signers. I wonder if we are related any other way? I’m related to the Eakers, Carpenters, Willis, Mauney’s, Kiser’s, Huffstetler’s, Hambright’s, Kykendall’s, etc. I bet you are, too. I know what you mean about about the SW…I love it out there, but always glad to get back to the grass and trees.

          1. David Whisnant Post author

            Hi, Robin and Cynthia:

            Sorry to be so tardy in replying to you both. I stay so busy working on each new post (another one should come out this coming weekend) that I am not as attentive as I should be about replying to comments. Going to try to modify the WordPress settings so that I will get an email when one comes in. Hope that will improve my record! I think it is fair to predict at this point that I will not be doing much more on Rutherford County unless some new leads just pop up. I now have both of my Whisnant grandparents in Asheville, and will stay with them there for a while. Much more to do in the blog on that. I hope it interests you. There are by now about 14-15 posts out; maybe some more of those will be interesting. In any case, it should by now be clear to all that I am by no means a genealogist. I have had to do bits of that as a means toward what I am most interested in (social, cultural, political history, etc.), and I am frequently very grateful for what all the genealogists have done/are doing. David

        2. Shawn Whisnant

          Robin, my grandfather and also my father were born in Rutherford, NC. I live in Virginia, but I’m in Japan for work through the remainder of the year.

          1. Robin Whisnant Forester

            By far, most Whisnants live in NC. It is always good to hear from my cousins, no matter where they roam.

        3. Shawn Whisnant

          Robin, my grandfather’s name was John Everett Whisnant. He was married to Betty McFarland. My name is Shawn Everett Whisnant and i have a twin sister Shannon. My grandfather, like most men at that time were sent to Europe in the army with WW2. Maybe you know my grandfather? I didn’t get to see him much because we were in Northern Virginia .

          1. Robin Whisnant Forester

            My grandfather was Hubert E. Whisnant, from Rutherford Co, NC. His father was Abraham (Abe) Whisnant of Polkton, NC, Cleveland county. I have not had time to check for your grandfather, but everything is on the raymondwhisnant.com website, including a book and admendum which can be downloaded. I am busy fighting cancer right now. No one told me it was a full time job.

  2. Dustin Whistlehunt

    Thank you very much for this information. As my Surname is one of the slightly altered versions I have had issues connecting dots. This has really helped .

          1. Robin Whisnant Forester

            I know some Lingerfeldts, they lived in York Co. SC. My best friend (Melonie Nienke) married one. They are divorced now. Had a son named Ashley. This was in the 70s.

          2. Cynthia Fondren

            Robin, this is Cindy Fondren previously from Cornelius…I know you remember Ed and I!!! (and from York)

          3. Robin Whisnant Forester

            I wondered if you were the Cindy Fondren that I knew. Who knew we were cousins?

          4. Cynthia Fondren

            I didn’t, that’s for sure! I just recently found that out as I was working on that lineage. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, either. I have taken up ancestry research as a hobby and loving it. Wish I would have done it long ago…

          5. Robin Whisnant Forester

            I found the Raymond Whisnant geneology years ago. There it was, already done for me. Nice to know who I am. I ended up back where they all began in NC. I go to the Hall in Denver. My mother lives very near the intersection of 73 and 16. There is a Whisnant Street just off hwy 27. The historical society in Lincolnton wanted me to come by and tell them something about the Whisnants. Apparently, they were among the very first residents in Lincoln Co. I never got around to it.

          6. Cynthia Fondren

            Tell your mother and sons hello…it’s been a long time since I saw all of you. You should take the historical society up on their offer even if it is a little late. I’m sure they would enjoy hearing all the history. I did a little research on the Fondren family and found out that Ed’s 7th ggrandfather was one of the early settlers of York, S.C. The historical society in York is in my old elementary school and they have all the old records on the Fondren’s. Ed never even knew that!!! He was from Memphis, Tn. and had never heard of York. There is a state marker that has his ancestor on it just south of York.

          7. Robin Whisnant Forester

            Clay and David (12th generation in America) are 35 and 30, which is shocking to me. I have a beautiful 7 year old granddaughter, Alaina Grace (13th), who just had her first talk last night. She was fabulous of course.?

          8. Cynthia Fondren

            Wow! I can’t believe it myself. So glad to hear you are all doing well. I know you must be so proud of your extended family. You had 2 great sons…we used to enjoy their company so much. Mine are taking care of me these days, thank goodness. I must have done too much skiing on Lake Norman…I have an inoperable shattered disk.

          9. Robin Whisnant Forester

            David was in the hospital this morning for a disc replacement. They had to postpone his surgery because of complications. They will try again very soon. He has a beautiful wife who is fiercely protective of him and I love her for it. She is the daughter I always wanted and now I have 2 great daughters-in-law who both love my sons and a granddaughter who loves her Grammy. I have been through a lot, but I am blessed. Time for bed, it was great discovering a new cousin and an old friend on this blog.
            Good night.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Glad it has helped, Dustin. I have long since ceased to be surprised at any spelling of Whisnant. Somewhere I saw a list of about 80, but no doubt there are others. Maybe some of the links I have used, and the approaches I have taken, will be helpful to you.

  3. cRg

    David:
    I just read your reply. My research was done and published privately for the family.
    If you can contact me, by your private email, as I do not twitter or face book, I will be glad to let you know where you can see the work. We are descendant of William J Whisenant who settled ST Clair. Still have descendants in the Ashville, Al area.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      cRg: Same as Cynthia? I would be glad to contact you by email, but I don’t have (so far as I know) your email address.

  4. Cynthia Fondren

    Wonderful insight into the Whisnant family origins! I come from Whisnants that settled in the Lincoln County Area (N.C.). My grandmother grew up in the next county and I grew up several counties over. So there are still descendants going strong….

  5. W. Harvey Whisnant

    WOW. Thank you so much Brother. I am at home recovering from back surgery. What a pleasure it has been to begin reading your blog. My great grandfather was John Oliver Whisnant(rifle maker) his son David Calvin Pinkney was my great. I have old pics of J O s family and have scanned them into Ancestory under my profile so if you or any of your readers have time, feel free. I will continue to read your Blog ,living in Shelby and visiting the v a hospital and loving Asheville again..Appreciate You! Harv

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Harvey: Sorry to be so slow in answering your good comment. I have so many things going on, including always working on a new post, that keeping up with comments is difficult. My parents lived in Shelby for some years in the 70s (I think it was), but I never lived there. I did try to check on your ancestry.com listing, but when I put in just your name (all I had), I got 21k hits. If you could send me a few more bits of data (birth date, or whatever), maybe I could narrow it down. Or better, the URL for your ancestry page. BTW: if you have not yet subscribed to the blog, you can do so easily. Go to the top of any post and put you email address into the SUBSCRIBE box. You will get an email asking you to confirm the subscription. Accept that, and you’re on. Your email address will never be used for any purpose other than to maintain your subscription.

        1. David Whisnant Post author

          Harvey: Thank you for your comment. I hope you are enjoying the blog (and are a subscriber, which is free, and will bring you an email as posts appear). Best– David

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Thank you so much. Sorry to be so late in responding (!), but I always have other work in process, too.
      David

    1. Norma Bowen Smith

      john frank goodson from Ga to Jacksonville Texas son of Barbary Whisenant Goodson and Jacob Goodson. Walker county Ga. goodson cemetary . Barbary was born 1813 So Carolina to John Nicholaes Whisenant Jr baptised 1743 in Muddy Creek Pa. Lancaster Co. whose father was John Adam Whisenant and Babara Eaker Whisenant was his mother both from Lancaster County Pa.
      (( (My Fathers family is from lancaster Co Pa. and from Boston Ma. Where a Bowen owned the land where the Boston commons are now and planted the tree that the stamp act was argued and agreed upon. When he left to go back to Ireland he sold the land the tree was on to the town I believe. Being that is was in the city and not where the other houses from that time are. My father grew up in Scranton PA. lancaster Co.)))
      The Whisenants son who came to Jacksonville TX Cherokee County was John Frank Goodson. Anna Louise Goodson smith is the daughter of JF Goodson . She married john Upton Smith who is my husbands Great Grand Father and his Great great grand father was JF Goodson and Barbary Whisenant. Making my husband’s great great grandmother Barbary Whisenant who is the granddaughter of John Nicholas Whisenant from the town of Muddy Creek in Lancaster County Pa.

  6. Robin Whisnant Forester

    I always wondered why the Whisnants moved here. I figured that it had something to do with religion, but your blog answered my questions and more. Thank you so much!

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Robin: Thank you, and so sorry to be late in replying! I always have other work to do, too, so cannot put as much into the blog as I would like.
      Another post coming soon. Hope you are subscribed.

      David

  7. Dr. Douglas Miracle

    Hello David,
    I am a descendant and researcher of the family of Friedrich Merckel, a citizen of Hassloch from his birth (about 1673) until he immigrated to Ulster Co NY in 1709/1710. Friedrich’s son Lorentz moved from NY to Northampton Co PA in 1737, then to Lincoln Co NC in 1767 with his son Frederick Miracle and in-laws Scholl (Shell in NC) and Keel/Kehl (Kale in NC). Both Lorentz Merckel and Nicholas Whisenhunt bought land tracts on Pinch Gut Creek from Jacob and Mary Eigner 1765-1767; additionally Nicholas Whisenhunt was a witness to Lorentz’s (Lorance Markle) contract.

    In my research over the last year, I have been trying the solidify the Merckel connection to the Peter and Abraham Huntsaker families who lived in Cocalico Twp, Lancaster Co PA, and were also members of the Muddy Creek Reformed Church along with the Whisenant (Visenand) and Feezer (Fieser/Fusser) families from Hassloch. I have a detailed map of Cocalico Twp showing the surveyed lands of Peter Wisenant, Wendel Feezer, Nicholas Feezer/Feizer, Philip Jacob Feizer in the area around the church. Coincidentally (or not) all of these families were devout Reformed (or related Moravian/Mennonite/Dunker) religion, lived in the Swiss Confederation at one time (probably at least during the 30 Year Wars), and moved to North Carolina in the 1760s.

    If you are interested in any of these records or have common records to share, reply to my email and provide your email address.

    1. Robin Whisnant Forester

      I am Robin Whisnant Forester of Lincoln Co. NC. The Whisnants were among the very first settlers in Lincoln Co. NC. I, along with the Lincoln Co. Historical Society would love to have your records. Thank you very much.

      1. David Whisnant Post author

        Robin: Thank you for your comment. I’m sorry to be late in answering, but our summer was very busy, which made it difficult to find time to work on the blog. I don’t have any records I could send to the LCHS, but I do want to check the website for it, which I did not know about. I’m sure they are fortunate to have (and grateful for) your interest and involvement. I hope you are/will become a subscriber to the blog (see block on first page of any post). Best– David

    2. David Whisnant Post author

      Douglas:
      I am embarrassed to say that I have just now seen your comment from 2016. WordPress sometimes handles comments and other elements in ways I don’t understand.
      I would in fact be very interested to see the Cocalico Top map you mention. My email is dewhisnant@gmail.com.
      Unfortunately I do not have any records of this type I could share. Almost all of my research has been online, in records that would be available to you as well.
      Thank you so much for your comment. I am retired from UNC-Chapel Hill, where I was on the faculty for a dozen years at the end of my teaching career.
      Best–
      David Whisnant

  8. Aubry G. Whisnant

    This is great to hear from so many relatives that I never knew. My Great Grandfather
    Was David D. Whisnant and his wife Julia Chitwood who left N.C. After the Civil War
    In Covered Wagon on their way to Oklahoma. They got as far as Arkansas where they stopped for my Grandfather David Pinkney Whisnant to be born. Julia said that was as far as she was going she was not going any farther. That was what turned out to be in their garden spot. This was on Dota Creek near NEWARK, Arkansas.

  9. Aubry G. Whisnant

    This is great to hear from so many relatives that I never knew. My Great Grand parents
    WAs David D. Whisnant and his wife Julia Chitwood who left N.C. After the Civil War
    In Covered Wagon on their way to Oklahoma. They got as far as Arkansas where they stopped for my Grandfather David Pinkney Whisnant to be born. Julia said that was as far as she was going she was not going any farther. That was what turned out to be in their garden spot. This was on Dota Creek near NEWARK, Arkansas.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Thank you! Sorry to be so slow in replying, but I always have other work in process, too. New post coming soon. Hope you are subscribed.
      David

  10. Vicky c.whisnant clark

    Wow first time really curious about my heritage and pretty cool ,I remember reunions with banjos playing up in North Carolina and it was awesome and I just miss that my father passed away around 03 and so I kind of drifted away but It was just very interesting to me in so many ways and way better than just being a Jones or smith or something it had character and a sence of belonging that u just don’t have anymore with us against the world.Its special to have been a product of something bigger .Favorite thing about being a whisnant is to ask someone to spell it and I promise u it’s never happens and that’s unique.

  11. Don Whisenant

    David,
    Just wanted to let you and your followers know that Raymond Whisnant will be shutting down his web site July 2018 and all the great info there will no longer be available on line. As his is in his 90s now I guess Raymond nor his family has the desire to continue his work. He hasn’t been active for years now, but the site has provided many people with valuable information.

    1. Raymond C. Whisnant

      This is the Raymond you speak of, and for those who care to know I am no where near “90”. I was born in 1948. Now figure my age. I ceased updating my website in 2015.

      My website will continue to be active because a few people cared to support the site, not because I didn’t care.

      1. Don Whisenant

        Raymond,

        Sorry about the age, I also was born in 1948 so I know you are, or will be 70 now. I was very glad to see that, on your web site, you were able to get enough donations to keep your web site up and running for another 1 or 2 years. I personally appreciate all the work you have put into researching the Whisnant history.

  12. DallasChief

    I have checked your blog and i have found some duplicate content, that’s why you don’t
    rank high in google, but there is a tool that can help you to
    create 100% unique articles, search for: boorfe’s tips unlimited content

  13. Joe L. Whisnant jr

    Thanks for all your great writing. I am a descendant of Adam Whisnant in the Cleveland County area that includes Polkville, where my father was born and Shelby where he and my mother died. My great grandfather Quince gave land for the Methodist church and school in Polkville, he was the son of Adam Whisnant.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Joe: Thanks for your reply, and please excuse my late response. I am still working on the blog, despite other pressing work as well. New post coming soon. Hope you are subscribed.

      David

  14. Whitney Martin

    Thank you for this information. I am a Whisenant from Texas. I was finally able to trace my history back enough to learn that they came from Germany in 1731 on the Snow Lowther which lead me to your website. It was Samuel Foster Whisenant and wife Catherine “Kate” Oliver Whisenant (my great great grandparents) who moved from Alabama to Texas in 1898.
    But its amazing to find out more information on the family.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Whitney: Thank you for your comment. I’m sorry to be so late in responding, but the summer was very busy, and allowed little time for blog work. It is interesting that the Snow Lowther connection is what led you to my blog. As you may know, there are nearly 30 posts out there, almost all having to do with Whisnants (however spelled!) in some way or other. I am not a genealogist, or even a family historian, for that matter, but I do enjoy trying to blend elements of both (thanks to many very industrious researchers in both areas) with some re-readings of aspects of Asheville history. I hope you are/will become a subscriber (free; subscription block on first page of any post). Best to you– David

    2. David Whisnant Post author

      Hello, Martin:

      I have not been able to check comments on my blog recently, so I just now saw yours. I am aware (as we all are) that the Whisnants (however spelled!) came down the Great Valley into the NC Piedmont and spread out all over the place from there. I am not a genealogist, and am not doing genealogy on my wing of the family, so I have not followed that process. I am doing a combination of social and cultural history, focusing on the Asheville NC area, and my own grandparents, as the blog posts say. I am glad you and others are doing the geneological work, however, which i have benefitted greatly from. Best of luck to you, and please subscribe to the blog if you have not already (SUBSCRIBE block on first page brings a confirming email, which you need to click on). David

  15. Daniel Day

    This was awesome to read, and really filled me in on my ancestors. my moms surname was a whisenhunt, and I live in Jackson, Alabama. I’m suprised at how closely related visinands are.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Daniel: I’m very sorry to be so delayed in responding to your comment. Summer was very busy, and did not allow much time for working on the blog. We actually have some Alabama connections: my wife’s father (Mitchell) was from Birmingham, and grew up mostly in Fairfield. She grew up in Troy, where her parents taught at Troy State. And our older son is a senior this year at Birmingham Southern College. We have made a number of visits there, but this year will about wrap that up, unless he decides to remain in Bham after college, which he shows some signs of doing. Glad you are enjoying the blog, and hope you are/will become a subscriber (free; subscription block on first page of any post). Best– David

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Samantha: Thank you for your comment. Glad you are enjoying the blog, and I hope you are/will become a subscriber (free; see block for you email on any post). There are now almost 30 posts out there, ranging over many Whisnant (however spelled!) topics. Best– David

  16. Jimmy E. Anderson, Sr.

    I accidentally stumbled across your blog last night and I think it is great! I am a Whisenant descendant. My 3gr. grandparents were Adam and Jemina Whisenant who settled in Lumpkin Co., GA. The last name has disappeared in Lumpkin Co. due many moving elsewhere and many daughters; however, the bloodline is in abundance among the older generations. I have collected material and artifacts related to my family and Lumpkin Co. for over 40 years and have reached the point of trying to determine where to place my material for future generations. I have two items that were brought to Philadelphia by our immigrant ancestor in 1731 on the Snow Lowther. I realized while reading your blog that even my children do not know the origin of these items in fact I am probably the only living person who knows. Please contact me anytime at 706-864-7553 or 678 Calhoun Road; Dahlonega, GA 30533.

  17. Pingback: The End of the (Wagon) Road in North Carolina: The Whisnants and Austins in the Down-Mountain Counties, 1760-1865 | Asheville Junction: A Blog by David E. WhisnantAsheville Junction: A Blog by David E. Whisnant

  18. Ricky Lee Whisenant

    Wondering after reading many blogs that we have family from Devon England and Switzerland around the the same time why is it spelled Whisenant from England and Visinand from Switzerland at want time period did we end up in England.

  19. Raymond C. Whisnant

    I have researched the family for over 30 years and I have never found any evidence that our ancestors ever resided in England. Our ancestors did reside in Swizerland, and the name, which is still in use there, was Visinand. If you really want to know more about our family, check out my website Whisnant Surname Center at http://www.raymondwhisnant.com

    I have retired from genealogy research so don’t contact me asking for help. You’ll find it all at my website.

    Raymond C. Whisnant

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Hello Raymond:
      Thank you for replying to the Ricky Lee Whisnant query. I would have said the same thing, and would have referred him to your website, from which I have learned and gained so much through the years I have been working on Asheville Junction. I remember so well my amazement upon first encountering the site, and writing to you to ask for permission to make use of it. I have done so many times, always to my great benefit. It would be a pleasure to meet you sometime, but I have no idea where you are. I am retired also–from UNC at Chapel Hill, where we still live. Thank you so much for all the excellent work you have done. I am very glad that it still is available online. Sincerely, David Whisnant

  20. Raymond C. Whisnant

    Hi David,

    I thank you for your kind words. Your site has also been an enjoyment for me. I’ve enjoyed all your stories about the family.

    Yes, I am still around, just not quite as active as I once was. I’ve now lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico for the past nine years, but will be starting a new adventure very soon. In January of this year, my spouse and I purchased a condo in downtown Portland, Oregon, and will be moving there in April of this year.

    It would be fun to meet you someday. Maybe that will happen. We often travel and may make it back east again someday. If you’re ever in Portland, Oregon look me up, I would enjoy showing you around.

    Raymond C. Whisnant

  21. Rashata Whisenant

    My name is Rashata Whisenant, just started my journey into our families history. This blog was a wealth of information. Thank you so much for sharing.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Rashata: Glad you are finding the blog helpful. If you go to the SUBSCRIBE block on the opening page, you can subscribe and get notice of all future posts. New one coming fairly soon, I hope, as soon as some other work is cleared away.
      David

  22. Brian

    Hello David, just found your site. My father’s family moved from Georgia to Arkansas and Indian Territory ( now Oklahoma) and several married Cherokee folks. My great grandparents and great great grandparents are on the Dawes Rolls, and became Cherokee Citizens. Their Cherokee ancestors go back to early 1700’s late 1600’s in Georgia.

    Great, great grandfather was Noah Riley Whisenhunt. My mother was a Lingenfelter.

    Thank you for your insights. I found Lingenfelter information in Pennsylvania in a couple of books at the local library. I know both families had folks that moved to Texas. I’d love to run into a few.
    Brian Banks, Llano, Texas

  23. frosti123

    Hi Brian! We are almost definitely related through the Whisnant’s and Lingenfelter lines. My Lingerfeldt and Lingenfelter lines are related. My early Lingerfeldt lines came out of Pennsylvania and settled in Lincoln County, N.C. Nice to meet you. I do have a tree at Ancestry.com.

    Cynthia Fondren NC/SC

  24. Brian Banks

    Hi Cynthia! Sorry for the late reply. My Lingenfelters also came through Pennsylvania from Germany. Amazingly, after reading David’s blog, both families have origins in the Palatinate in Germany.
    There’s a great public history on the Internet I think called the Family of Anstaat Lingenfelter.

    I have a public tree on Ancestry as well, Brown Family Tree.

    I will look you up!
    Brian

  25. Brian Banks

    I was digging around in a resale shop near home yesterday and found Burnet County Cenetery Records 1852-1982. I bought it for a friend who is into local genealogy.

    Before I gifted it I made a cursory sweep through the index at back.

    Wow!
    Lockey W. and Dora Whisenant.

    I looked them up on Ancestry. Our MCRA is Johann Adam Whisenhunt (sic) born 1719.

    I drove out this afternoon and found them, their daughter, and granddaughter.

    South Gabriel Cemetery, near Bertram, Burnet County, Texas. Northwest of Austin.

    Small world.

  26. Chester Whiseant

    I never thought there were that many of us in the US; My dad’s side of the family is in the Texarkana area, but out here in California they’re the only other Whiseants (our spelling, lol) I know of.

  27. David McSwain

    Came across your interesting website while googling my Whisonant ancestors. My ancestor Nicholas Whisonant (1743-1831) ran a grist mill in what is now western York County in South Carolina. He supplied cornmeal and flour to the patriot forces during the Revolution and was afterward reimbursed by the state in the amount of “fourteen shillings sterling.”

  28. Brian Banks

    Hello David McSwain, Are you on Ancestry or other genealogy sites? The McSwain name is common in early Cherokee history in this country. Do you know anything of your McSwain history? take care, Brian

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Kayla:
      Thank you so much for your reply. My family and I also visited with Herman and Cleo, “down on Cane Creek,” as we used to say. Also Uncle Charlie (my grandfather Asbury’s younger brother), who lived down the road a ways, in the house my grandfather built around 1915. Mostly, though (when we went every year to hunt and bring home some molasses), we visited with Aunt Lola (“Loly”), up behind the store there on 64. Some parts of this I have mentioned in posts later than the one you read (of which there are more than 30, and I am still writing). If you read on, you will see that my main focus from the beginning has been on Asbury’s family, and his son John’s (my father, b. 1914) families in Asheville. So for me, the big story is “one family in a particular place,” rather than a huge family spread out all over the place (another interesting and important story, which I decided I could not pursue and also do what I most wanted to do).
      Best to you. If you read on in the blog, I would always be interested to hear of your responses and suggestions.
      David

    1. Donald Whisenant

      Around 1750 the Sixth Generation of Visinands migrated to the United State to Lancaster Co. , PA. and later to Lincoln Co, NC. The children born in the USA were baptized under the name of Whisenhunt and Whisenand.

      From NC the family’s moved into Virginia, SC, Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, Mississippi and perhaps other places. The Whisenhunts in NC first used the spelling Whisenant around 1820.

      1. David Whisnant Post author

        Donald: Thanks for your response to my (now much!) earlier post. I am aware of the PA to NC movement, of course, and also of the dispersal of Whisnants (however spelled!) to the S, SW, and W over the following years, but I had to make a strategic decision early on: to focus (after the to-NC move) on my own grandparents after they moved to Asheville. It was either that, or never finish the blog! That decision was also pushed by the fact that it has never been strictly the family, but the family-in-a-place (Asheville) and the complex social, economic, cultural interaction between them and that fast-changing place. I hope that some of the later posts, which focus on those dynamics, will be interesting to you, too.
        David

  29. Derek L Whisenhunt

    Before Nebraska was South Central Oklahoma, Texas and then follows back to the article, etc. Just refreshing to see names that I have been tracking. DNA gets you so far.

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Derek: I’m glad you found the Whisnants on the Move post (one of the earliest of now more than 30 posts I have put out there) interesting and useful. BTW, we have a son named Derek, currently a senior at UNC Asheville.
      David

  30. Derek L Whisenhunt

    David- I have some catching up to do for sure. Your sons name is a great one and spelled correctly! Thanks for the responses!

  31. PAULA K LALICKER

    David,
    I just found this and I am so hlad it is here. My birth name is Paula Kay Whisenhunt. I am Joseph Anthony Whisenhunt’s daughter. Between you and my late aunt’s work I can now trace my ancestors all the way back to Guillaume Visinand.

    In order from him to me:
    Guillaume Visinad
    Jean Visinand
    Etienne Visinand
    Francois Visinand
    Philip Peter Visinand
    John (Johann) Adam Visinand
    George Michael Whisenhunt
    Adam Whisenhunt
    John A. Whisenhunt
    Noah Riley Whisenhunt
    Fredrick Whisenhunt
    Fredrick (Fred) Paul Whisenhunt
    Joseph Anthony Whisenhunt
    Me: Paula Kay Whisenhunt Courtois Lalicker
    My 2 daughters & 6 grandchildren
    My brothers:
    Fredrick Paul Whisenhunt has 2 children
    Rodney Dean Lacey has 2 children and 3 grandchildren.
    Joseph Anthony is our father, however we all have different mothers.

    Thank you for all of your hard work!

    1. David Whisnant Post author

      Thank you, Paula; I’m glad it has been useful to you. If you have not already, you could subscribe to my blog (no cost!), which would insure that you get each new post in your email. There are now about 40 of them out there. Only the first several (that you have obviously seen) of them are in any substantial way genealogical. My interests lie mostly beyond that, in the social, political, economic, and cultural history of Asheville, and the intersection between those and my grandparents’ and parents’ working-class lives. Best to you! David

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