Mennonite Beginnings

In 1940, long before the world of GEDCOM and web search, Charles Fahs Kauffman (1884–1978), Sharon (née Weaver) Vitter's 8th cousin 2x removed, put together an amazingly detailed compilation entitled A Genealogy and History of the Kauffman-Coffman Families. The link given here is to an annotated version with some corrections by Jeff Vitter using recent DNA analysis of the Kauffman paternity line.

The book's preface focuses upon Sharon's 10th great grandparents Jacob Nicklaus Kauffman (1554–1599) and Anni (née Bürcki) Kauffman (1562–1620) of 16th century Switzerland and their Anabaptist/Mennonite/Amish descendants. Sharon's Swiss Kauffman ancestry can be traced back even further four generations to her 14th great grandparents Jakobi and Augusta (née Sophia) Kauffman in the mid 1400s.

Genealogist Charles Fahs Kauffman (1884–1978), Sharon Vitter's 8th cousin 2x removed.

The term "Ana­baptist" refers to the practice of baptism (or re-baptism) as an adult — when the person with full cognizance declares faith in Jesus Christ. It often involves dunking the person being baptised in a pond or large basin. Though no longer Mennonites, several in the current generations of Sharon's family were baptized in that manner at the local Elm Grove Baptist Church in Chiles, Kansas, located next to the same railroad tracks that go through the Weaver Homestead three miles to the southwest.

Anabaptists, which are comprised primarily of Mennonites, Amish, German Baptists, and Hutterites, were persecuted incessantly starting in the 16th century because of their literal interpretation of scripture. For example, most Anabaptists regarded the Sermon on the Mount as requiring a ban on taking oaths, military action, and participating in civil government. (Perhaps government beaureaucracy was as bad then as it is now!) As you can see in the history entitled The Hochstetler Attack: Life on the Frontier, many Mennonites were nonviolent and did not use firearms against others, even in self-defense, and therefore refused to serve in the military. Government authorities reacted harshly against this rejection of their authority.

Sharon's 6th great grandfather Isaac Kauffman (1685–1798) emigrated with his family from Switzerland via Rotterdam to Pennsylvania on the ship Virtuous Grace in 1737, ultimately settling in Berks County in eastern Pennsylvania. He was the son of a famous Mennonite religious leader and teacher by the same name, Täufer (Baptiser) Isaac Kauffman (1653–1741), who sponsored countless baptisms of friends and family.

Given his high profile, Täufer Isaac Kauffman was the target of much displeasure from government and Church authorities. In his book, Charles Fahs Kauffman devotes pages xv–xvii to the trials (literally!) and tribulations of Täufer Isaac. He was constantly on the run or under arrest. The authorities tried to enlist friends and even his wife to catch him. At one time, the Swiss authorities convicted him of heresy and sentenced him to be sent to the East Indies so that he would no longer bother them with his teachings. Their plans to put him on a boat in Rotterdam backfired when the Dutch, who were much more tolerant and accommodating, scuttled the idea and allowed Täufer Isaac to continue preaching on the run.

His son Isaac was no doubt happy to take the opportunity to emigrate to America in 1737 and get away from all the persecution!

There's lots of new Y-DNA analysis that has corrected some former misconceptions about the Kauffman genealogy. Sharon's line as recorded in this history still seems to be correct. However, the article by Ellen Levy Coffman, using Y-DNA analysis as part of the Kauffman DNA Project, has shown that a different Kauffman branch headed by Michael Kauffman (1675–1718), which was first thought to be connected to Sharon's line of Kauffmans, is actually a totally separate line.

Y-DNA analysis provides highly accurate information about paternal ancestry — that is, about people who are related exclusively through a series of father-son links. Typically such people would all have the same last name, since any two such people would have a common male ancestor reachable using only father-son links. It's still possible that Sharon's line of the Kauffman family could be related to Michael Kauffman's line if there were an intermarriage during earlier generations in Switzerland or the Rhineland-Palatinate (Pfalz) in Europe, as such a connection would not be picked up via Y-DNA analysis, since it would involve a father-daughter link.

Below is a summary of Sharon's entire known Kauffman lineage, starting in the 16th century. Try finding it yourself in the family tree using the Ancestor view of Sharon's page.

1. Jakobi Kauffman (1455– , m. Augusta Sophia)
2. Casper Kauffman (1475–1550, m. Elizabeth Brubaker)
3. Jacob Friederich Kauffman (1500–1565, m. Barbara meier Büechler)
4. Hans Jacob Kauffman (1530–1605, m. Elizabeth Albright)
5. Jacob Niklaus Kauffman (1554–1599, m. Anna Bürcki)
6. Nicklaus Kauffman (1593–1624, m. Elisbeth Blank)
7. Johann Mathias "Michael" Kauffman (1620–1711, m. Anna Braendli)
8. Isaac Kauffman (1653–1741, the famous Swiss fugitive and Tauferlehrer Mennonite religious leader, m. Elsbeth Megerdt)
9. Isaac Kauffman (1684–1798, emigrated 1737 from Switzerland via Rotterdam to Pennsylvania on ship Virtuous Grace, m. Anna Maria Streit)
10. Stephen Kauffman (1725–1800, emigrated 1737 from Switzerland via Rotterdam to Pennsylvania on ship Virtuous Grace, m. Barbara Yoder)
11. Christian Kauffman (1760 Berks County, Pennsylvania–1831 Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, m. Magdalena Gerber)
12. Benjamin Kauffman (circa 1796 Somerset County, Pennsylvania–1874, Holmes County, Ohio, m. Veronica "Frannie" Blough)
13. Catherine Kauffman (13 Nov 1820, Somerset County, Pennsylvania–18 Mar 1860, Holmes County, Ohio, m. Samuel P. Weaver)
14. Martin Samuel Weaver (13 Apr 1841 Holmes County, Ohio–2 Jan 1927, the Kansas homesteader in Marysville Township, Miami County, Kansas, m. Sarah Maxwell)
15. Ora Franklin Weaver (17 Jul 1881 Weaver Homestead, Marysville Township, Miami County, Kansas–29 Nov 1929 Weaver Homestead, Marysville Township, Miami County, Kansas, m. Jessie Bendorf)
16. Robert Oran Weaver (6 May 1928 Wagstaff, Ten Mile Township, Miami County, Kansas–19 Dec 1989 Weaver Homestead, East Barn, Ten Mile Township, Miami County, Kansas, m. Virginia Kohlenberg)
17. Sharon Weaver (1955 Gardner Hospital, Gardner, Johnson County, Kansas, m. Jeffrey Vitter)
18. Jillian, J. Scott Jr., & Audrey Vitter (world travelers!)

Sharon's great great grandmother Catherine (née Kauffman) Weaver married Samuel P. Weaver, and they were the parents of Sharon's great grandfather Martin Samuel Weaver, the subject of the history Martin Samuel Weaver: Kansas Homesteader.

More Weaver Histories