One set of my great-great-grandparents were Henry Weiss and Catherine Holton. Henry was born in Pennsylvania, and Catherine was born in New Jersey. I’ve been unable to trace farther back than this, so these two states are my starting point.
After their marriage in 1846 they settled in New Jersey long enough for Catherine to give birth to two children. By 1851, they were settled in Illinois, where she gave birth to eight more children, and where the couple remained the rest of their lives. They remained, but the children grew up and scattered, so that by the third generation descendants were found in states including Kansas, California, Ohio, and even back to New Jersey. In later generations, descendants were known to have lived in many other states, spread across the country from coast to coast!
I put together a map showing the distribution of Weiss descendants, as I know it today.
- Yellow indicates the states Henry and Catherine started out as children.
- Red is the center of the family, as well as the center of the country, where Henry and Catherine spent most of their lives and where you can still find many of their descendants .
- Blue are states where at least one child from the third generation resided (New Jersey is still yellow because it is one of the starting points!)
- Green are states where descendants in later generations were known to reside for at least a short while, though they may have moved on to other states.
- Henry and Catherine would probably look at this map and starting singing, “You’re so far away…..”
Here is a brief report of two generations of Henry and Catherines descendants and their places of death.
Catherine HOLTON - b. Penns Grove, Salem County, New Jersey; d. Brighton, Macoupin County, Illinois
- John Adam WEISS - d. Herington, Dickinson County, Kansas
- Clay Justin WEISS - d. Springfield, Clark County, Ohio
- Josephine L. WEISS - d. Los Angeles, California
- John Edward WEISS - d. Salina, Saline County, Kansas
- Harry C WEISS
- Sarah R. WEISS
- Hannah Slape LAYTON- d. Trexlertown, Lehigh, Pennsylvania
- Charles Slape LAYTON - d. Salem County, New Jersey
- Albert “Allen” Barber LAYTON
- William Henry WEISS - d. Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- William Henry WEISS
- Charles Franklin WEISS - d. Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- Viola E WEISS - d. Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
- Wilbur Holton WEISS - Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- Frederick Wilson WEISS
- Allen S. WEISS - Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- Elmer Nelson WEISS - d. Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- William Mitchell WEISS - d. California
- Child WEISS
- Mary Louisa WEISS - d. Benld, Macoupin County, Illinois
- George H. PADDOCK
- Wilson Townsend PADDOCK - d. Litchfield, Montgomery County, Illinois
- Bendella PADDOCK
- Samuel J. WEISS
- Wilson T. WEISS - d. Brighton, Macoupin County, Illinois
- Grace W. WEISS - d. Tucson, Pima County, Arizona
- Catherine WEISS
- Eva A. WEISS - d. Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- Ethel RICHMOND - d. Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
- James H. WEISS
- Emma Jane WEISS - d. Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- Harry Holton KOLK - Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- William Clyde KOLK - d. 21 Apr 1946, Alton, Madison County, Illinois
- Bertie B. WEISS