The Rector Family

    Immigrant: Hans Jacob Richter    Origins: Siegen, Germany
    Immigration date: 1714           Occupation: Iron worker

The Rector family's roots go back to Nassau-Siegen, Germany. Hans Richter was born about 1550 in Saxony and moved to Siegen around 1585. Suceeding generations include: Jacob (1575), Johannes (1600), Christopher (1645). These families were all members of the Guild of Steelsmiths, and worked in the ironworks.

Christopher Richter was a clockmaker and also member of the guild of Steelsmiths in Trupach, a village near Siegen. His son, Hans Jacob was born in 1674. Hans married Elizabeth Fischbach in 1711. In 1714 they immigrated to America along with eleven other families to work in the iron mines of Virginia. The settlement eventually became known as the Germanna Colony.

The Rector family is well documented in printed genealogies, in records of the Germanna Foundation, and through the LDS Family History Centers. There is also a new "Rector genealogy online forum" Join us!! Post a Rector query!

My father's (adopted) line includes the following generations:



The farm owned by Charles Rector at Washington Bottom, WV along the Ohio River, south of Parkersburg

"Farm at Fountain Springs. Charles Rector born here Aug 14, 1860. Flood in Feb 1884 destroyed portico in front, porch at left and kitchen at right" (text on back of photo)




Click here for a history of Washington Bottom:


John R. Rector was a Railroad engineer for most of his life.

Left: John Rector is in the center

Right: Trainwreck at Wiley's Sta., WV Sept 9, 1913. John Rector, engineer










Left: John Ransom Rector

Right: Close-up of some people from train wreck, 1913


This photo was among the Rector family files. It can be dated 1860's, possibly 1870's. This could be Martha Stout as a young woman, or possibly Lydia Cooper.





Some interesting Civil War history of the Wood County, WV area:

Charles R. Rector (my g grandfather) was a valued historian in Parkersburg and Wood County. He wrote several accounts of Gen. Morgan's 1863 Raid of Wood County, plus other historical articles (including Blennerhassett Island), some of which were published in the WV Review (May,1929; Sept,1932; July,1936). He also kept many notes and drew maps of the area. He had a farm on Washington Bottom in the 1920's. The entire Washington Bottom area was sold to the Dupont Co. for chemical plants after WWII.

West Virginia became a state in 1863, during the Civil War. The Western part of Virginia, in general, did not agree with holding slaves. However, Wood County was very much a "border area" in this regard, and there were some slave holding families, including some of the Rector's. The area around Washington Bottom (a rich bottom-land and farming area next to the Ohio River) was especially known for its confederate sympathies, and maintained a Confederate Citizens Organization until the end of the war. Many families throughout the County were split, sending some sons to fight for the North and other sons to fight for the Confederate Army in the South. "Rev. Enoch Rector..was a Union man, but his son (Ransom) had confederate leanings" (Matheny, page 344; WV Review,1929). (Note: Ransom and his wife Lydia were living with Rev. Enoch in 1860 census. Charles was born in August of that year)

Rev. Rector's horses were comandeered several times during the war by the U.S. Quartermaster Department. At one point, Rector wrote a scathing letter to Governor Boreman, complaining that the soldiers were drunk. (Ibid., page 344-45)

Horses on the Rector farm at Washington Bottom. I'm not sure who the rider is.













Rector's found so far, in Civil War records:

Rector migrations

John Jacob Rector, the german immigrant had 4 sons who each had large families.
These were: John (1711-1773), Henry (1715-1799), Harmon (1718-1789), and Jacob (1723-1810).
  
  John's family: (note: not all children mentioned here) 
    Benjamin - his grandson Enoch migrated into Wood & Jackson Co.'s, WV (*my line!)
    Daniel - to Allegany Co., PA & Clarke Co., OH
    Eliz. (Hieronymous) - to Clarke Co., KY
    Charles - to Sevier Co.,TN. Son Morgan to AL, TX
    Frederick - to Kaskaskia Co., IL. Descendants include Henry Massey Rector, governor of AR
     during the Civil War; and Nancy Conway whose son James Conway was the first governor of AR
  
  Henry's family:
    Elijah - went to OH
    Nancy (Hitt) - descendants went to Keytesville, MO

  Harmon's family:
    Jesse - went to Harrison Co., WV
    Nathaniel - descendants migrated to Greenville, SC
    Uriah - went to Roane Co., TN
    
  Jacob's family:
    James - to NC, then Grayson Co., VA
    Jesse - to NC, then Grayson Co., VA. Son Samuel to Wayne Co., KY

Brief Bibliography: Back to Home Page