Hinkles and Hanrahans

The following is taken from History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870, Lewis Preston Summers, 1903:

"The first settlers in Widener's Valley were John Widener, Paulser Rouse and John Jones. They came from Germany a few years prior to the Revolutionary War or about 1767."
Paulser served in the militia in 1774 under Capt. William Campbell. [William was later to be promoted to Colonel and was a leader of the small army of mountain men from TN, VA and NC who were successful at the Battle of Kings Mountain in the American Revolution.] Everyone seems to agree that this man was the first Rouse to wander down the Holston River Valley.

Many of the family names were Americanized, thus Rausch became Rouse, Weidner became Widener, DuBose (du Bosc) became DeBusk and then Dubois, etc. Paulser Rouse referenced his son-in-law Jacob DeBusk in his will as Jacob Dubous.

Widener Valley, Va, is in the far southwestern corner of present-day Virginia. Many of the early settlers arrived there via Philadelphia and Baltimore from Europe. These were some of the first European settlers west of the Blue Ridge Mtns. The German families intermmarried with several Scot and Irish families as well, notably the Surber and Cole families.