Spainhour descendants honor roll of ancestors in American Revolution

On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Swiss Muttenz descendants honored four of their Patriot ancestors from the Spainhour family. The program was the dedication of an America 250! roadside marker at the John Jacob Spainhour cabin in King, N.C., and dedicated to four Spainhours who assisted the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War. Some of you may recognize the Spainhour name from Spainhours in Hickory as well as Spainhour Road in Oak Hill.

Presenters were Nixon Scott Hennessee honoring his ancestor, Henry Spainhour; Robert L Patton IV honoring his ancestor, Wernhardt (Werner) Spainhour; Orin Sadler honoring his ancestor, Johann Jacob Spainhour; and Verna Spainhour Brewer honoring her ancestor, Michael Spainhour.

You might be interested to know of my ancestor: Wernhardt (Werner) Spänhauer, born July 16, 1719, Muttenz, Switzerland, and died June 6, 1787, Bethania, N.C. I am the fourth great-grandson of Wernhardt (Werner) Spänhauer and I am the eighth consecutive Robert Patton; my name is Robert Logan Patton IV.

In May of 1740 just three years after her husband Jacob Wernhardt Spänhauer’s death, 48-year-old widowed mother Elsbeth (Spittler) Spänhauer and her son Wernhardt (Werner), 21 years old, sailed up the Rhine River to Rotterdam. With them were his older brother Johann Heinrich (24) and two younger sisters Anna (20) and Barbara (17). There, they boarded the ship “Friendship” Captained by William Vettery embarking to Philadelphia, Pa., in the New World. Traveling with them, were three closely related families. One family was that of her brother-in-law, Nicholas Austin or “Claus” Spaenhauer (50), a painter, and his wife Ursula (Schaub) (53) along with their two children Jacob (17) and Matheus (14), and a servant, Verena Tschudi. The second family was that of Elsbeth’s sister-in-law, Catherine (Spaenhauer) Pfau (60) and her husband Hans Jacob Pfau (54), a shoemaker, with two of their children. The third family was that of Elsbeth’s sister-in-law, Elsbeth (Spaenhauer) Brodtbeck (59) and her husband Heinrich Brodtbeck (59), with their five children, Heinrich (22), Nicklaus (20), Elsbeth (17), Barbel (14), and Wernhard (10).

Their passage was rough, with “a terrible storm at sea.” Nearly 60 people died on their journey, mostly of hunger, due to losing their provisions and cooking utensils in the storm. Crossing the Atlantic was always treacherous, but their experience was one of the very worst.

The ship arrived in Philadelphia in August of 1740. On Sept. 23, 1740, and, as required by law, the passengers appeared before the Pennsylvania Court to take the “Oath of Allegiance” to the King of England. The court recorded Elsbeth’s family name as “Spainehower.” Werner (Wernhardt — “wer,” meaning “man” or “warrior,” and “hard,” which means “brave” or “strong”) was one of the first 12 settlers of York, Pa., and among the first 12 to build a home in the town of York.

Werner came to North Carolina in 1763, three years after his brother Heinrich, and settled just 3 miles west of Bethania along Bershaver Creek and the Little Yadkin River. Here he farmed with the help of his sons. Werner became a “communicant” member of the Bethania Moravian congregation. Because of the distance to the Moravian Church, he arranged to have services held at his farm home periodically for many years.

Wernhardt (Werner) Spänhauer died June 6, 1787. He is described as having led a blameless life and his funeral was preached by Valentine Beck with over 150 in attendance at his farm. Werner is recognized as a Revolutionary War Patriot for giving 225 pounds of beef to the Patriot cause. Family lore also has it that he made shoes for the Patriot cause.

Thank You Wernhardt (Werner) Spänhauer for helping secure the freedoms and liberties we hold so dear today.