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Note: Waymire Americanized form of German Wehmeyer or Wehmeier (see Wedemeyer). Wedemeyer North German: from Middle Low German wede �wood�, �forest� + meier �steward�, �tenant farmer� (see Meyer), hence either an occupational name for a woodland bailiff or a distinguishing name for a tenant farmer living by a wood or forest. German and Dutch: from Middle High German meier, a status name for a steward, bailiff, or overseer, which later came to be used also to denote a tenant farmer, which is normally the sense in the many compound surnames formed with this term as a second element. Originally it denoted a village headman (ultimately from Latin maior �greater�, �superior�). 1712 - Moved to Germany September 19, 1753 Arrived in Philadelphia, PA from Hanover, Germany. The following info came from the Tippecanoe County Historical Society Archives, in the Waymire Family File. Most of the data in the file was collected by Dr. Wm. M. Reser. There is a typed transcription of a letter from J.W. Waymire (probably John Wildy Waymire) to Dr. Reser, dated June 12, 1947, which gave some statements purported to have been handed down from Frederick Waymire, John Rudolph's oldest son. "The Waymire, Yount, Foutz, Hoover, Eby, Wenger, Coble, Plummer and allied families lived in a valley by Wenger Mountain, Switzerland." I have my doubts about all of these families coming from the same small place, leaving Switzerland, coming to America at various times, and then winding up in the same county in North Carolina. However, if we take the statement to refer to just the Wehmeyer family, it may be accurate. Wenger Mountain is a small mountain south of the village of Wengen in the canton of Bern. If someone was going to make up a story about where their family came from, usually they would name a more famous spot instead of something obscure. It doesn't even appear in most world atlases that are in libraries. I bought a detailed road map of Switzerland at Barnes & Noble, and found it listed as "Wengernalp." A German co-worker who lived in Switzerland confirmed that that meant "Wenger Mountain;" the "n" has to do with the current dialect, added for pronunciation. Also in this letter, Voltine's name was spelled "Volentine." His wife's name is given as Mary, also from Switzerland. The two sisters sold as indentured servants were Mary Wehmeyer and Sarah Wehmeyer (they would not necessarily have changed the spelling of their surname as did Rudolph), but no mention was made if they were older or younger than Rudolph. The family was supposed to have left Switzerland because of "religious persecution," but we don't know exactly when they left. There was a stressful time in 1712 when a lot of people left the country, but the factions were the Catholic and the Reformed churches; I don't think Quakers had come into it yet. We don't even know for sure just when all these allied families became Quakers. It may not have been until they were all in North Carolina when there was a big Quaker missionary movement in the 1780s or so.
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