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Note: Military service: Jacob Wiggle (Weekley) under listment of MICHAEL READERS COMPANY, Revolutionary War records, State of Virginia, page 603, taken from the VIRD-SAMUELS PAPERS IN DUNMORE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. PVT
ÙCbÙDTHE WILL OF JACOB WEEKLEY
ÙC/bÙDIn the name of God Amen I Jacob Weekley of the County of Shenandoah knowing the uncertainty of human life think proper to dispose (dispense?) of the property God has pleased to bless me with in the manner and form following to wit my desire is that my children, William, John, Enoch, Elijah, Sally, Susannah, Nancy, Jacob, Joseph, Thomas, Robinson and the heirs of Isaiah dec'd all to have an equal part of my estate after my just debts is paid except the last mentioned heirs and they to have only half as much as the above mentioned children out of my estate and Winifred one third part with the above mentioned equal parts and Catharine and Elizabeth the sum of one dollar in consideration of their having had a proportionable part of my estate all ready my desire is that my daughter Sally shall have the ceare of my daughter Susannah as long as they both may live, my desire is also that if any of my mentioned children should die without lawful issue, that part of my estate shall return to the surviving ones that is to have an equal part of my estate knowing all other wish or wills heretofore made by me as witness my hand and seal this tenth day of April one Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty One.
Jacob Weekley Seal
Alexander Fernell (or Finnell) (Probably Finnell as this family owned land in the area)
Reuben Finnell
At court held for the County of Shenandoah on Monday the 10th Day of May 1824. This last will and testament of Jacob Weekley dec'd was further proved by the oath of Alexander Finnell as witness thereto and ordered to be recorded. Teste
William Cesle (Unreadable)
I have changed the names of the witnesses to Finnel based on the fact that Alexander and Reuben were in fact neighbors of Jacob and are buried in the Finnell Cemetery near Happy Creak on what is now the Conservation Research Center, aka Cavalry Remount Depot, off Route 522 South of Front Royal, VA.
ÙCbÙDHistory of the Weekley FamilyÙC/bÙD
John Lederer was reportedly the first white man to climb the hills ca 1670. Francis Thornton was an early resident also. (Thornton Gap is probably named after him). Capt. Thomas Chester, another possible "Knight," was an early landowner in what has become Warren County. Chester Gap is named after him. Chester Gap is located in the Northernmost corner of Rappahannock County. Warren County and Fauquier Counties also meet in this area. An important road to Orange Court House was called Chester's for a long time. The road led to a ferry near Front Royal, which Chester owned. The ferry was used to cross the Shenandoah River near Front Royal. This road is now Virginia Route Number 522. This route was used to move heavy artillery during the Civil War. In 1736, the Orange court licensed his ferry from the mouth of Happy Creek across the Shenandoah river. A Marcus Buck owned Dickey Ridge and Belmont Plantation in the 1800's. He was born ca 1817. Could he be a descendent of Thomas Buck, a trustee for Frederick County in the late 1700's, from whom our ancestor purchased land at Happy Creek? Thomas Buck is also mentioned in a transfer of property from Joseph Berry to Edward Wilson 11/29/1775. An Edward Wilson was listed as head of family from the Fork District of Warren County in 1785. I believe he is the same Edward Wilson who was the father of Priscilla and Elizabeth? (Elizabeth married Major William Bonnifield). Edward Wilson and his wife migrated to Ohio, probably with his daughter ÙCbÙDPriscilla and son-in-law John WeekleyÙC/bÙD and possibly the Bonifield's in the early 1800s. Edward and his wife are buried in Ohio. A cabin on Gooney Run was bought by William Owins from Samuel Wilson a Hunter. Could he have been related? Ruins of the James Markham Marshall home at Happy Creek (burned in 1921).
In the early days, the "Road Overseers" were the landed gentry whose large estates lay along the blazed trails, bridle paths, and roads which they were given charge.
Our ancestor (ÙCbÙDJacob WeakleyÙC/bÙD) reportedly came from the Monongalia area (now West Virginia, but I have not been able to confirm that. He is listed in the 1820 Shenandoah County Census. In her book on the Weakley families of Kentucky, Elizabeth McNamara lists Jacob as a brother to her ancestor, Thomas (a revolutionary war soldier) and to John and sister Anna who married Joseph Redding and later moved to Scott County (Kentucky). Jacob was apparently a man of means as a result of being overseer of the road as he is mentioned in several civil suits against other individuals to collect money during the period 1751 to 1789. There were several land transactions involving Jacob Weekley (our ancestor) as early as 1756. Apparently, his wife Elizabeth could not write since she always signed with an "X" as her mark. In 1774, William Rice deeded 53 acres to Jacob Weekley for 40 pounds current money, witnessed by John Weekley and the same day sold 67 acres to John who was living in Frederick County. He supposedly bought a large tract of land in 1756. However, John, brother of Jacob was reportedly born about 1739 so he would only have been about 17. Therefore, I suspect that this John was not the brother of Jacob. The 1787 census Volume 1-1-1784 lists Jacob's household as having 2 males ages 16 to 21. He owned 6 horses (mares, colts, or mules) and 8 cows. In 1789, he bought 460 acres on Happy Creek under the Blue Ridge and 100 acres on the South side of the South East prong of Happy Creek. Early land records show our Weakley/Weekley/Weekly families receiving lease and releases from parcels in Frederick County Virginia in the area of Happy Creek. In 1802, he sold 400 acres to William Williamson. In 1820, he sold 135 acres on the North Fork to Mary R. Branhan. Mrs. Elijah Weekly was a witness. In 1821, the county court ordered the payment of $3.00 to Elijah Weekley for his services as overseer of the road from Chester Gap to Allensworth Mill. On March 30, 1822, Jacob deeded 97 3/4 acres to Thomas Buck of Bel Air for $500. This was part of the William Rice patent. Sons John (our ancestor) and ÙCbÙDWilliam ÙC/bÙDmoved to Ohio in the early 1800's. Jacob and two of his sons (Elijah and Thomas) are listed in the 1820 census for Shenandoah County. Thomas was a school teacher and shoemaker who lived with his brother Elijah. William who married Susannah Grigsby and his family settled in Noble County, Ohio. In the land records of 1837 for Warren County; Elijah is listed as owning small parcels of land in the Chester Gap and Happy Creek areas; and the Estate of Jacob as two parcels of over 300 acres each in the Chester Gap area. This would indicate that Jacob was apparently fairly well off.
ÙCbÙDJohn WeekleyÙC/bÙD, who married Priscilla Wilson moved his family to Muskingham County, Ohio sometime between May 10, 1798 and April 4, 1800. Another son, ÙCbÙDRobinson ÙC/bÙDmoved his family to Lawrence County, Ohio. Although I have not researched it, but it is possible these families all moved to Ohio and Tyler County West Virginia at or about the same time. Son ÙCbÙDIsaaih ÙC/bÙDmoved his family to Wayne County, Indiana. I believe his son ÙCbÙDEnoch ÙC/bÙDwent to Kentucky with some of Enoch's descendants moving into Indiana. The remainder of the family remained in the Warren County area of Virginia. Some of the Weakley family lived around and apparently owned Old Rag Mountain and Weakley Hollow. Many Weakley families reside there today, however, those families that lived inside of the Shenandoah National Park were forced to move out of the park area by the 1930's. It is difficult to determine which may be our relatives and which may have come from other Weakley families. Old Rag is some distance South of Happy Creek. An early settler by the name of John Fishback a wagonmaker in Peola Mills, did business with the Weakley's and Thomas' amongst others in the Nethers area. The Weakley's also did business at Nether's Mill (Yowell's Mill in 1794).
John W. Weekley, Sr., great-grandson of Jacob, along with the Dunn's, Myers and Meek(s) owned land in Fallsbury Township, Ohio in 1875.
John W. Weekley, Jr. moved his family to the P. G. Evans farm on Linville Rd, near Hebron Ohio. After one year they moved to the Frank King farm on Lee's road near Union Station, South of Granville, Ohio. Edith Alice Weekley, daughter of John, Jr. and mother of the author of this page traveled by horse-drawn bus to Union School, a one-room eight-grade school at Union Station, south of Granville, Ohio. She later attended Granville, High School where she met and later married Walter Glenn Peterman who also attended Granvile H.S. at that time. She did not finish school, but he graduated in 1927. In about 1922, John W. Weekley, Jr. bought a farm in the Welsh Hills, North of Granville, Ohio where he and Alda M. Shoults Weekley lived until their deaths. John (Alda called her husband Will) had suffered a hernia while hauling gravel for the roads. It was very painful and in 1941, he could endure the pain no longer. On the farm where there are many happier memories he took his life with a 22 caliber rifle. Son, Thomas C. Weekley, later helped to have electricity installed and it was the loss of electricity for some six days in the early 1950's that prompted Alda to write an article which was published in the Ohio Farmer. (included later on this page.)
I loved the time I spent with my Grandparents. My Uncle Wesley Weekley often reminded me that Grandpa would yell across the field - "Hey, Roland, you had better put your wagon away and get your sled out, it's going to snow tonight." Often it did. Grandpa Weekley took me to Granville and Newark by horse and buggy on many occasions. He taught me at an early age, how to handle a .22 caliber rifle and I became a good shot. This was the rifle that he unfortunately used to end his life in 1941. In later life, the double-barrel was too much for Grandpa and his arm was black and blue every time he shot it. My dad had traded William Furbee a rabbit dog for the single barrel and I recall using a wood burning set to carve the year 1937 on the stock of it. Anyway, dad traded it to Grandpa for the double-barrel with the understanding that I was to get both upon Grandpa's death. Grandpa kept his word and willed me his guns, traps and an old framed picture of him in his early adulthood. The rifle disappeared and the single barrel shot-gun also. The traps probably rusted or were sold at a sale while I was in the Navy. I have the picture and the double-barrel shot gun. The gun is not safe to shoot, but it still has a jar rubber and string to hold the stock, etc., but Grandpa and for a while my dad (Walter) used it to hunt with.
Grandma Weekley was a very dear friend. She even helped cousin Earl Coss and I fashion fishing poles with cord line on a stick and a bent straight pen for a hook. We never caught anything but Crawdads, but it was fun.
The Varners were among the early German families of the area, particularly Spiencop, North Fork of Thornton River in Rappahanock County. It is interesting to note that many of those Varners have similar names to the Varner's connected to our family. Could they be related?
++++See the will of Jacob Weakley...who owned land at the juncture of Hedgemans River (Later to become the Rappahanock) and Happy Creek. I also have added the will of Margaret (Boyer) Weekley husband of Elias, Grandson of Jacob. WILLS <HTTP://home.comcast.net/~wjp1949/wills.html>
by Walter Roland Peterman
http://home.comcast.net/~wjp1949/weekley1.html
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