ROOTS & BRANCHES

I’ve given a lot of advice over the years—much of it free, some of it unsolicited, often appreciated, but many times never acknowledged beyond a thank you.

A burning question often remains: Did the person actually take the advice and (drum roll, please!) did it work out for them?

Well, sometimes you do get validation if you wait long enough, and Kathy Williams is a case in point for that.

“On Oct. 14, 2007, I emailed you asking for advice as to where to look for information on John Peter Weaverling,” Williams wrote. “He fought in the American Revolution and was considered a Patriot by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution until March 2003 when a New Jersey Revolutionary War Slip (muster roll) was found that stated that he deserted on Sept. 1, 1780.”

 He had enlisted for three years and served at Valley Forge before settling in Bedford County, and paid post-Revolutionary War taxes there from 1784 to 1787 before dying in 1796. 

“You replied to my email with some helpful hints, but also said that I shouldn’t count on ever proving to the DAR’s satisfaction that John Peter Weaverling could be considered a Patriot,” Williams wrote.

My final “Hail Mary” suggestion to her was a two-step process: identify where Peter lived 1780–1785, and then search for records about those areas that might mention patriotic service. 

“I am writing to you now to say that I have my supplemental application ready to send for approval by NSDAR on John Peter Weaverling.  I have done research/made phone calls/sent for records/made trips to York and Harrisburg, PA/visited various historical societies and libraries, etc. over these past 14- plus years,” Williams wrote.

Despite having loads of experience with lineage societies herself—she was registrar of Bedford Chapter NSDAR and helped 40 women join or transfer, as well as completing three supplemental applications for her own ancestors—it took an interesting turn of events to help her with Weaverling.

 “A friend in Florida needed help with the wife of one of John Peter Weaverling’s descendants and as I was going over my research, I found that his son was born in Maryland and his eldest son who was a POW in the War of 1812 was born in Washington County, Maryland,” Williams wrote. 

Armed with this information, she discovered that the Maryland Sons of the American Revolution had put records of the 1783 Supply Tax for Maryland online and there was “Peter Weaverlin” in Washington County paying that tax, which is considered a patriotic service. Subsequent research unearthed a baptismal record for his known son, Jacob, in Hagerstown, Maryland, further establishing that he’s the man on the tax list.

Here’s to the hope that NSDAR accepts the proof!