By now I imagine that many frequent visitors to the Waite/Wait website are wondering what all the discussion of the Wächt surname is about. In the Dutch language wächt means guard, sentry, and wait. In the German language wächt means guard, wakens, and wakes as defined by Webster's Dictionary On-Line. As most of us know, the Waite/Wait surname refers to watchmen or minstral watchman and is an anglicized version of the older name Wächt.

Follow up:

Through DNA testing we have a large group of men who's ancestry seems to go back to Germany and the older form of the Waite/Wait surname as it appears there and as it first appears among the immigrants who arrived in Central Pennsylvania. DNA testing gave us our first clue that the origin of the family was older than that of the English lines and led to the investigation of the German communities in Pennsylvania.

The DNA signature of the Pennsylvania Wächt/Wecht families belongs to haplogroup I1 and in fact is very similar to that of the Lincolnshire lines. In fact, it is so similar that before extended testing was completed it was suspected that MRCA of both groups would be found in England. It now appears that the MRCA is even older than suspected and that the split likely occurred right about the time when surnames first appeared or during the 12th century A.D. In any event, it is our working hypothesis that the lines of Lincolnshire, England and those of the Wächt/Wecht families of Germany and later Pennsylvania likely share a common ancestor who lived in Germany sometime during the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. The ancestor of the Lincolnshire lines likely arrived in England during one of the Anglo-Saxon invasions.

Many dedicated researchers are working on putting together this line. So, thanks to Bert Waites, Trish Spencer, Vicki Trostle, Diane Rice, Pat Hammond, Karen Jackson, Bonnie Nevel, Pat Miller, Jeff Waite, and Nancy Stover for all of your efforts! I can't "waite" (sorry, I couldn't help it;o) to see the finished product!

So, to recap some important notes:

1. While the original German spelling was Wächt the name became Wecht once the family arrived in America and quickly morphed again to Weight, Wight, Wright, Wicht, and Waight. By the middle of the 19th century the most common spelling of the name was Waite, Wait, and Waits.
2. Gunther Kurz, a current resident of an area near Aich, writes “Some twenty/thirty years ago, an administrative reform caused the amalgamation of formerly independent villages and the parts had to agree on a common name. Thus Aichtal is composed of the city parts Aich, Groetzingen and Neuenhaus. Aich is also the name of the creek running through the valley and 'Tal' just means valley.”
3. A good source for the German origin of this family is from a book titled “The Wacht/Wecht/Weight/Waite Family History” by Vickie Elaine Waite Trostle published in 2000 Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA.
4. Trostle writes that the two brothers, Johann Georg and Adam Wächt left Aich around 1754 and came to Philadelphia that year. She references their immigration records in 1750 applying to emigrate from “Nuer. to Pommer” in the Wuerttemberg Emigration Index, Vol. 2 (Schenk and Froelke, 1986). However, no record that Johan Georg Wächt arrived to America has been found nor can we find any records of his existence. Numerous tax and church records for immigrant Adam Wächt and wife Eva [KNECHT] in Berks Co, PA beginning in 1754 have been located, but not anything on his older brother immigrant John Georg Wächt/Wecht.
5. The list of children comes from the Historical Society of Berks County and the Wecht Family Bible.
6. Johoannes Wecht b. 1759 in Berks Co., PA and his wife Dorthea Fry had at least ten children although we know if only three. Any help identifying these children would be very much appreciated.