WESTFALL GENEALOGY

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Johannes John Wesley Westfall

Johannes John Wesley Westfall, a son of Abel and Annetje (Bogaert) Westphal, was born in Kingston, NY October 23, 1724 and died in Hardy County VA in 1789. His will was proven in Hardy County April 13, 1789. He married a widow, Sarah (Vannoy) Hornbeck. Sarah, a daughter of Johannes and Janneker (Louw) Vannoy, was baptized in Kingston, NY February 6, 1732 and died in VA in 1792. She married Jonathan Hornbeck September 21, 1751. Jonathan died about 1755. They had a son Benjamin born in 1754. All Johannes and Sarah's children moved to Knox County Indiana and all died in that State.

Johannes John Wesley Westfall was the son of Abel and Antjen "Anna" (Bogaert) Westfall. His grandparents were Johannes and Marritje (Kool) Westfall, and his great grandfather was the original Westfall immigrant to America who came to America in 1642 from Holland, Jurian Westfall who married Maritje Hansen.

(Note: Johannes John Wesley Westfall was a brother of my gr. gr. gr. gr. grandfather Cornelius Westfall Sr.)

Abel and Antjen "Anna" (Bogaert) Westfall's son Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Hornbeck Westfall had 6 children-Abel Westfall, Cornelius Westfall, John Westfall Jr., Abraham Westfall, Jacob Westfall, and Isaac Westfall. John Wesley Westfall's sons Abel and Cornelius served in the Revolutionary war. Cornelius was a Lieutenant in his brother Captain Abel Westfall's Company, the 8th Virginia Regiment, and was at Valley Forge in 1777 and 1778.  

(1) Abel Westfall, a son of Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall, was born about 1755 and died in 1814. He married Rachel Edwards. Abel served as recruiting office for the 8th VA Regiment in the American Revolution and was then a Company Captain.

Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall's son Abel Westfall married 1st Rachel Edwards, and they had 6 children-Newton Edward Westfall born 1785; John Wesley Westfall born 1798 married Eliza Foster; Sarah Westfall born 1786 married Isaac Westfall, the son of Abraham and Mercy (Harbin) Westfall; Juliet Westfall born 1788 married a man who's last name was Giles; Virginia Westfall born 1790 married Daniel Whitmore; and Indiana Westfall born 1812, the daughter of Abel Westfall and his 2nd wife Mary Polly Mansour. Indiana Westfall married George Whitmore. 

(2) Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall's son Cornelius Westfall March 9, 1756, died 8 August l828 in Greene Co, IN, burial Grandview Cemetery, Bloomfield, Indiana. He married 1st Elizabeth (Lambert) Springstone, and married 2nd Sarah (Rumsoner) Hale. Cornelius and Elizabeth (Lambert) Springstone Westfall had these 4 children-Sarah Westfall born 1789 married Aaron Thomas; Andrew Westfall born 1792, died 12-9-1839 Greene Co, IN, married Catherine Wood; Elizabeth Westfall born born Oct 29, 1796 Ohio died Mar 3, 1878, married Feb 8, 1817 in Knox Co, In to Phillip Miller, born March 6, 1786 in Maryland, died June 9, 1857 in Daviess Co, IN; and Jemima Westfall born 1798 married Anthony Lowe. Cornelius and his 2nd wife Sarah (Rumsoner) Hale had 2 children-Josephine Westfall Born Oct 24, 1803 Died: May 11, 1855 married 1829/1830 John Miller born Jan 10, 1808 Ohio Died: May 23, 1874 Daviess Co, IN; and Susannah Westfall born 1807.

Note: I found the following biographical information about Cornelius Westfall on the internet at this website- http://www.inssar.org/graves/W/westcorn.html

CORNELIUS WESTFALL

Born: March 9, 1756
Died: Essstate probate Nov 10, 1829 Greene Co, IN.
Burial: Grandview Cemetery, Bloomfield, Indiana.
Service: Enlisted in 1776 Orderly sergeant in Capt Abel WESTFALL'S Co., Col Peter MUHLENBURG'S and Abraham BOWMAN'S VA Regiment. Appointed ensign in 1777 and served until 1778 Proof: Pension S 36842.
Married: (1st) __________ (2) Sarah RUMSON in Chilkicothe, Ohio Children: By 1st narriage Mima: married Anthony LOWE Elizabeth: born Oct 29, 1796 Ohio Died Mar 3, 1878 married Feb 8, 1817 Knox Co, In to Phillip MILLER Born March 6, 1786 in Maryland - Died June 9, 1857 Daviess Co, IN (Daughter): married Ormes THOMAS Andrew: Children: By (2nd) Marriage: Josephine/ Isaphina: Born Oct 24, 1803 Died: May 11, 1855 married 1829/1830 John MILLER born Jan 10, 1808 Ohio Died: May 23, 1874 Daviess Co, IN

Cornelius Westfall (l756-l828) was an Ensign and 2nd Lieutenant in his brother's, Captain Abel Westfall's Sixth Co. of the 8th Virginia Regimnet during the Revolutionary War. He also served at Valley Forge in l777-l778. His first wife was Anne Elizabeth Lambert Springstone (l754-l802), widow of Jacob Springstone. They were married in Harrison Co., Virginia on 4 April l787. Cornelius Westfall also settled in Ross Co., Ohio, along with his brother, Abel Westfall. From Ross Co., Ohio they went to Knox Co., Indiana where the rest of his brothers settled. His second wife was a widow, Sarah Runsoner Hale whom he married in Ross Co., Ohio on l2 January l804. On l8 May l8l8, Cornelius Westfall applied for a pension, S-36842 for his military service in the Revolutionary War. Although at the time of his settlement in Knox Co., Indiana, it later became Greene Co., Indiana where he died on 8 August l828. He his buried in the city cemetery in Bloomfield, Indiana next to his brother, Abel Westfall. A government stone marks his grave for his Revolutionary War service.

(3) John Westfall, a son of Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) [Hornbeck] Westfall, was born in VA in 1757 and died in Knox County IN October 1, 1808. He married Mary Alton. John served in his brother Abel Westfall's Company of the 8th VA Regiment in the Revolution.

Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall's son John Westfall and Mary (Alton) Westfall had 3 children-Abraham Westfall married Nancy (last name unknown), John Westfall married Sarah (last name unknown), and Pamela Westfall (1810-1870) married James Hunter.

(4) Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall's son Jacob Westfall was born in 1761 and died in 1801. He married Elizabeth Sidney Pugh, and they had 6 children-Sarah Westfall born 1793 married Asa Murphy; Margaret Westfall born 1792 married Thomas Phillips; Isaac Westfall born 1794; Harvey Westfall born 1796 married Hannah Conklin; Mary Westfall born 1797 married William Crouch; and Sidney Westfall born 1801 married 1st Franklin Carmichael, and married 2nd Christopher Lamberton.

(5) Isaac Westfall, a son of Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall, was born in 1762 and died in Owen County IN about 1830. (His estate was settled August 21, 1830 in Owen County.) He married Elizabeth Poage. Isaac was granted land in Randolph County Va in 1785. He appeared on the tax rolls of Hardy County VA beginning in 1789. He purchased two tracts of land in Pendleton County VA August 5, 1793. A commission reportedly met with Elizabeth March 14, 1797 to obtain her dower release for the land. This indicates that Isaac was deceased before this date. However, Isaac's estate was transferred in Owen County in August 21, 1830.

 Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall's son Isaac Westfall and Elizabeth (Poage) Westfall had 7 children-Sarah H. Westfall born 1789 married John Huton; Abraham Westfall born 1792 married Sarah Ramsour and they had 6 children-Edward Dixon Westfall (1820-1897) who was a Texas Ranger, Jane Westfall born about 1832 married John Reinbold, Isaac Westfall, Henry Westfall, and Abel Westfall, born in Knox Co., Indiana the 28th of August 1828, and died 21 January 1903 in San Antonio, Bexar Co., Texas. Abel married and had a son William E. Westfall born 11 May 1857 in Knox Co., Indiana (I don't know the name of Abel's wife). Abel's son William Westfall married Ary H. Newman 14 September 1885 in San Antonio,Tex. William and Ary (Newman) Westfall had a son Arthur S. Westfall born 19 May 1899 in Wilson Co., Texas. Arthur married Miriam Ada Short 6 August 1929 in Stockdale Co.,Tx. Arthur died 29 June 1946 in Wilson Co.,Tx. Arthur and Ada (Short) Westfall had a son Louis Westfall. Abraham Westfall and Sarah (Rumsour) also had a 6th child who's name I don't know.

Isaac Westfall and Elizabeth (Poage) Westfall's other children were Joanna Westfall born 1795 married Minion Steele; Thomas T. Westfall born 1798 married Elizabeth Meyers, and they had a son Isaac Westfall who married Sarah Snyder; Jacob Isaac Westfall born 1801 married Nancy Steele; Abel Westfall born 1803 married Indiana Thorn; and Myranda Westfall born 1806 married Margaret Painter.

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Note: I found the following information about Abraham and Sarah (Rumsour) Westfall's son Edward Dixon Westfall on the internet at this website, Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/WW/fwe37.html

WESTFALL, EDWARD DIXON (1820-1897)

Edward Dixon Westfall, early settler of Zavala County and Texas Ranger, was born on December 22, 1820, in Knox County, Indiana. His father, Abraham, moved the family to Jasper County, Illinois, in 1841. Edward Westfall left Illinois in 1843 to go to Missouri, intending to join a wagon train to Oregon. Instead he traveled and held various jobs until he came to Texas in 1845. Westfall moved from Hopkins County, Texas, to San Antonio in 1845 or 1846. The Mexican War had broken out, and he joined the company of Capt. John Conner in Col. Peter Hansbrough Bell's regiment. Later he served in Capt. William G. Crump's company.

After the war in 1848 Westfall built a cabin on the Leona River, seven miles south of the site of present-day Batesville in east central Zavala County. Westfall is believed to be the first settler in the area of Zavala County. He spent the next twenty-nine years in that vicinity, farming under the constant threat of Indian raids and serving as a guide for settlers, rangers, and soldiers with his good friends William A. A. (Bigfoot) Wallace and Henry Robinson. He was a stage guard when Wallace had the contract to carry mail to El Paso. When Wallace was commissioned by Governor Bell to raise a company of rangers for frontier defense, Westfall was one of his lieutenants.

Westfall returned to his cabin after his service under Wallace sometime in 1855 and was severely wounded in an Indian attack; his dog "George Washington" died of a lance wound defending his master. During the Civil War Westfall moved his livestock to the Nueces Canyon near Camp Wood; in 1874 he moved to Bexar County, where he farmed on Calaveras Creek about sixteen miles from San Antonio. Westfall moved back to San Antonio in 1877. He married Josephine Susan Dillon in 1881.

Westfall's journals, which he kept from 1886 to his death in 1897, reveal that he was a man who loved to read, although he had little formal education. When he died of fever on June 12, 1897, he left his estate to his wife and stipulated that after her death it was to be applied to the establishment of a free public library in San Antonio, or if one were already established, it was to be used for improving existing service. By the time Mrs. Westfall died, on January 4, 1940, San Antonio had a public library system, and in June 1963 the Westfall Branch Library, built partially with the proceeds from Westfall's estate and partially from city funds, was opened. Both Westfall and his wife were buried at Elmendorf. The journals of Edward Dixon Westfall were on repository in the San Antonio Public Library in 1990.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Kathryn and Irwin Sexton, "Edward Dixon Westfall," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 68 (July 1964). Andrew Jackson Sowell, Early Settlers and Indian Fighters of Southwest Texas (Austin: Ben C. Jones, 1900; rpt., Austin: State House Press, 1986). Edward Westfall, Journals, San Antonio Public Library. Zavala County Historical Commission, Now and Then in Zavala County (Crystal City, Texas, 1985). Irwin and Kathryn Sexton

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Note: I also found the following information about Abraham and Sarah (Rumsour) Westfall's son Edward Dixon Westfall on the internet at this website- http://www.twward.org/articles.htm

Edward Dixon Westfall
Citizen of Texas
By Debra Westfall

  Edward Dixon Westfall was born 22 December 1820 in Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana, the son of Abraham Westfall and Sarah Rumsour. He had an adventuresome soul and in 1843 he left Indiana to join a wagon train in Missouri bound for Oregon. Instead he traveled and held various jobs and ended up in Hopkins County, Texas in 1845. He moved from Hopkins County to San Antonio and after the Mexican War he moved to Zavala County and is believed to be the first settler there. 

Edward was a guide, a stagecoach guard, an Indian Fighter, fought in the Mexican War, and a lieutenant in the Texas Rangers under A. A. "Bigfoot" Wallace.  Westfall along with Bigfoot Wallace traveled through Monahans guarding the stagecoach on its way to El Paso and both were well known scouts for south and west Texas. After the Mexican War he was severely wounded in an Indian fight at his cabin in Zavala County, Abel Westfall moved to Texas after this event to help his brother take care of his property during his recuperation. 

In 1874 Ed moved to Bexar County where he farmed on the Calaveras Creek near Elmendorf.  There he finally settled down in his sixties and married Josephine Susan Dillon. Abel went back to Indiana for a short time and then he moved his family to Texas and though Edward had no children his brother Abel's family has thrived here.

He had a very open view on church, he loved to go and listen to church services whenever the circuit preachers came around. The denomination did not matter though Edward preferred sermons base on following God's ways for the love of God, he firmly did not believe you should practice religion because of fear of damnation. In his journeys there was a comment he made that was rather interesting.  He stated, "I do not understand what it is about wash day that takes a perfectly even tempered women and makes her grumpy, plum to the point that a man doesn't come home for supper and dinner is always late." Edward walked to town everyday to get the newspapers, he loved knowing what was going on in the area and country, he mentions in a few entries his displeasure when the did not arrive on time and he went home empty handed.

Before his death he wrote his will leaving his entire estate to the city of San Antonio, after the death of his wife. The proceeds were to go to building a public library, with the stipulation that there be a reading room for black people.  If at the time of his wife's death a library was already build, then the proceeds were to go for improvements. His wife was thirty-seven years younger than her husband, so for the forty-three years she lived after her husband she lived off of his pensions from the Mexican War and Indian War. At the time of her death his estate went for around $50,000. The City of San Antonio used the money toward a branch library and named it the Westfall Branch Library. A picture of Edward Westfall hangs on the wall in the library reminding us of his generosity.

He died in 1897 at the age of 76 on his farm and was referred to by his wife as "a loving, caring husband that would be sorely missed."  He left no descendants, but his brother Abel's family has thrived in Texas and are very proud of the contributions that Edward made to Texas during his life.

(6) Abraham Westfall, a son of Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall, was born about 1763 and died in 1805. He married Massie Harbin in Vincennes, October 11, 1788. Massie was a daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Harbin.

Johannes and Sarah (Vannoy) Westfall's son Abraham Westfall married Massie (Mercy) Harbin, and they had 6 children-James Westfall born 1790 married 1st Rebecca Ferguson, married 2nd Mary Bednall, and married 3rd Prudence Flowers; Thomas Westfall born 1794 married Polly Springer; Sally Westfall born 1796 married William Scott; Isaac Westfall born 1810 married Sarah Westfall; Joshua Westfall born 1792; and Abraham Westfall born 1802 married Elizabeth Harbin. 

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