Author Description

Walk through history in the footsteps of Johann Henrich Wagner, a.k.a Henry Wagner, a.k.a Henry Waggoner of Russell County, an early 18th century German pioneer. In 1742, Johann Henrich Wagner (later identified as Henry Waggoner of Russell County, Virginia), disembarked in Philadelphia with his step-father Theobald Nabinger, where they were caught up in fast-moving events that impacted them and their German and Swiss community. Henry's adventures took him through the French and Indian War, Dunmores War, the Lost State of Franklin, and the American Revolution. Of wider interest, Henry's Chronicle is a wellspring of information that can be viewed as a case study for understanding the pioneer life of a newly arrived German in Colonial America. The American wilderness was not for the faint-hearted. Henry met the economic, social, and political challenges on the frontier and sprang to the defence of his community on more than one occasion. He made his own bold choices of where and when to go, and where and when to fight, or not, as the case may be. He has not been idealized, and despite his human faults, the reader will find "flesh and blood on the bones" rather than just a name and dates on paper. Included are children Henry (Jr/II), Michael, John, Jacob, and Savina (with John Newland), and also the allied families of Schwab, Conradi, Nabinger (Novinger), Boessohr (Bashore), and Mueller. There are hundreds of collateral families documented from Kusel, Nohelden, and Wolfersweiler, Germany; Bethel and Lebanon Townships, and Jonestown, Pennsylvania; Fincastle, Montgomery, and Russell Counties, Virginia; Washington and Sullivan Counties, Tennessee; Pulaski County, Kentucky; and Lawrence County, Indiana. Perhaps you will find your family within the pages of this book. Your effort, diligence, and research have resulted in a truly amazing story. "Well Done." - CDR James M. Novinger USNR