Weaver family (North Carolina)
The Weaver family is a pioneer family associated with Weaverville, North Carolina, and early settlers of Cocke County, Tennessee. They are best known for founding Weaverville on Reems Creek in Buncombe County and for their role in the area’s early history.
Origin stories vary. Some family lore says an unknown German linen weaver named Weber fled persecution in the Holy Roman Empire, settled with a Dutch wife, and had three sons including John, who later moved to the American colonies. A 1914 history of Western North Carolina mentions John Weaver the First and says his father was a Holland gentleman. Other accounts suggest his family came from Holland to Pennsylvania and then moved through Maryland to the Shenandoah in Virginia. A Cocke County descendant in 1950 claimed the original immigrant was John George Weaver (Waber or Wärber), who arrived on the Halifax in 1752 and settled in Augusta County, Virginia; one daughter, Mary Weaver, lived in Cocke County with her husband, Benjamin O’Dell.
The Weavers intermarried with nearby Anglo families, especially the Scots-Irish. Early Weaverville settlers were attracted by religious liberty and mixed Dutch (Pennsylvania Dutch) and Scotch-Irish communities around the Shenandoah Valley. Their ancestors are linked to Dutch supporters of William the Silent, who helped shape the region’s early character.
DNA studies within the Weaver line show Y-DNA haplogroup J-FTC77280, with branches in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.
Key figures include John Weaver of Reems Creek (1763–1830), who built an Indigenous-style house and later a European-style log cabin on 320 acres, laying the groundwork for the Weaver family’s long-term settlement. His relatives founded the town of Weaverville. John Weaver of Cosby Creek (c. 1786–1860) settled in Cocke County in the 1820s and, according to his grandson, fought in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the Battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson. The Weavers often married into the Allens, another prominent local family.
Montraville Weaver, son of John of Reems Creek, became a slaveholder. During the Civil War, some Weavers fought for the Confederacy, including Captain Elbert Weaver (1841–1935) and Abraham Weaver (1832–1913) of Ashby’s 2nd Tennessee Cavalry, who deserted after a heavy defeat in 1863.
Weaver College began in 1851 as Weaverville College, a Methodist academy on land donated by Montraville Weaver. It operated from 1873 to 1934 before merging with Rutherford College to form Brevard College.
The Weaverville area sits along the French Broad River in Cocke County, Tennessee, reflecting the family’s long and ongoing influence in the region.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:58 (CET).