The name could have come from “Widem,” which is a swiss name for church estate. Workers on such estates were often given the name Widmer. However, some members of the American branch of Witmers insist they were French Huguenots driven out of their native country. Other sources indicate they are Anglo-Saxon, and still found in Friesland -- the northernmost part of the Netherlands. The Saxons lived there for 1,500 years before crossing into Britain.

That they were originally from Friesland is supported by the fact that Freisland is where Menno Simons originated. He was the leader of the Anabaptist movement in Holland, and his followers were called Menonists (Mennonites). The Witmers may have simply been grouped with the Swiss Anabaptist immigrants who left Switzerland for the Palatinate, then floated down the Rhine through Holland before heading to England and eventually America

The progenitor of our American Witmer line immigrated from Switzerland in 1716. His name was Benjamin Witmer, and he came to America with his son Abraham and cousin John. But Benjamin Witmer was not the only Witmer pioneer. The first was Benedictus in 1709. Abraham had a son also named Abraham and another named for his father Benjamin. It was the younger Abraham Witmer who built a stone bridge across Conestoga Creek in 1798. It still stands today and is known as Witmer Bridge.

Footnotes

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