Willeman Family

The Willeman family originally came from Germany to Blair County, Pennsylvania, and then to Henry and Defiance Counties, Ohio.

Jacob Willeman was born in 1790, thought in Germany, but possibly in Blair County. He died on April 14, 1857. He married Elizabeth Maurer who was born in Pennsylvania. Jacob served in the War of 1812.

It is not known exactly how many children Jacob and Elizabeth had. Those known were John, David, Jacob, Jr., William and Catharine, all born in Blair County, Pennsylvania.

Jacob's will was probated in Henry County Probate Court on December 4, 1857. It gave his last residence as in Richland Township, Defiance County, Ohio. No widow was listed in the will. Jacob's will listed as living children at time of the will being made: David, Jacob, William, and Catharine Buck. David was listed as being the second son. Jacob and William were then living in Richland Township, David in Ridgeville Township. Catharine Willeman married John Buck and was living in Williams County, Ohio. Grandchildren listed in the will were Lucy Jane Willeman, Mary Elizabeth Willeman, Nancy Catharine Willeman, Henry Foster Willeman, and Anna Mary Black and John Henry Black.

John Willeman was born in 1815 and died on October 12, 1852. His wife, Elizabeth, was born in 1819 and died on December 25, 1850. No issue known.

Jacob Willeman, Jr. was born in Blair County and died in Defiance County, Ohio. He married Rebecca Woolheater in 1851. She was born on January 4, 1824, a daughter of Adam and Mary Woolheater. Jacob and Rebecca Willeman moved to Defiance County in 1852 and resided near Florida, Ohio. Children born to them were Catharine and Mazena Willeman. They adopted two girls named Nancy and Hancy, last names not known.

Jacob, Jr. died in Defiance County, Ohio, and belonged to the Methodist Church.

John Willeman, thought a nephew of Jacob Willeman, Sr., and John's wife, Mary, had among their issue a daughter named Anna. Anna was born in 1846 in Blair County, Pennsylvania, and she married twice. She came to Defiance County with her parents in 1853. She married, first, a Mr. Black, and after his death, Anna married Alfred Rasor who was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1847, a son of Abraham and Rachel Williamson Rasor. Anna Willeman Black Rasor had two sons, George and Charles, but it is not known from which marriage.

Another John Willeman, a later generation, belonged to this Willeman family and lived at Florida, Ohio. He was born in 1884 and married on March 30, 1905 to Lucy A. Love, who was born in 1882 at McClure, Ohio.

The third child of Jacob and Elizabeth Maurer Willeman was William.

One of the following was their child, but which is not known.

William Willeman, born in 1829, in Germany, married Eliza who was born in 1825 in Germany. They married in Germany and came to Damascus Township, Henry County, Ohio. Their children, listed in the 1860 Census, were John born in 1853 and William, born in 1849.

William Willeman, who was born in 1829 in Pennsylvania, married Sophia Mayer in Defiance County, Ohio, in 1857. Sophia was born in 1841 in Pennsylvania and was a daughter of John and Leah Mayer. John Mayer was born in Germany and Leah was born in Pennsylvania. The Mayer family came to Defiance County in 1856. It is thought that this second William was the child of Jacob, and the other William was a cousin.