Stone Gardens: How the road from 1761 Germany to a marble headstone in Adair County traversed 200 years of history

William Burrell Barker was born in 1948 in McMinn County, Tenneseeand died on November 25, 1948, in Westville, Adair County, Oklahoma, where he was buried in Westville Cemetery.

This final resting place caps a family saga spanning centuries, from German immigrants dodging religious persecution to Virginia colonists clashing with French forces and Native warriors, Revolutionary soldiers fighting for independence, and War of 1812 veterans guarding Tennessee frontiers, all pushing westward through battles and settlements that shaped one man's path to the Oklahoma plains

.Start with the maternal roots in Johann Michael Willheit, born in 1671 in Schwaigern, Germany. Facing religious tensions as a Reformed Protestant, he joined 42 other Germans in 1717 for the voyage to Virginia, recruited by Governor Alexander Spotswood to mine iron and bolster the frontier near the Rapidan River in Spotsylvania County.

These Germanna settlers built a fort for protection against Native raids, formed a tight-knit Lutheran community, and cleared land for farms. Willheit worked as a cooper, crafting barrels, and patented 400 acres by 1726.

He died in 1746, his will dividing land among sons who expanded the family's holdings amid growing colonial conflicts.

His son Matthias Wilhite, born in 1716 at Germanna, grew up during the lead-up to the French and Indian War. By the 1740s, he patented land in Culpeper County, Virginia, where frontier skirmishes with French-allied tribes intensified. Though not a direct combatant, Matthias navigated the dangers of raids that burned farms and displaced families, marrying Mary Ballenger and raising children in a region scarred by warfare.

He died in 1782, just after the Revolutionary War ended.

Matthias's son Julius Wilhite, born in 1764 in Culpeper County, came of age during the Revolution. Virginia militias mobilized against British forces, and while Julius's direct service records are sparse, his family's area saw heavy action, including nearby battles like Brandywine and Germantown where relativeswere known to have fought.

By 1787, he moved to Greene County, Tennessee, marrying Margaret Hise and surveying land in Powell Valley by 1797. Amid Shawnee and Cherokee resistance, Julius settled in Elk Valley, Campbell County, by 1808, farming in a hotbed of post-Revolutionary Native conflicts that required constant vigilance.

He died in 1846.

Julius's son Claiborne Willhite, born in 1802, carried the line to Bradley County, Tennessee, where he married Susannah Phillips and farmed until his death in 1861, just as the Civil War erupted, though he avoided direct involvement due to age.

Claiborne's daughter Rebecca Quintine Wilhoite, born in 1841, married Arthur Robinson Barker in the 1850s, linking to the paternal side.

On that paternal Frogge line, Colonel John Frogg Jr., born around 1717 in Prince William County, Virginia, stepped into the fray of the French and Indian War. As sheriff for decades, he enforced colonial law amid rising tensions.

Promoted to major in the Virginia Militia by 1754, Frogg organized defenses against French incursions and Native attacks along the Potomac frontier. His units patrolled against Shawnee raids that terrorized settlers, burning homes and taking captives. In one 1756 incident, militiamen under similar commands clashed with warriors near Fort Cumberland, suffering ambushes in dense woods.

Frogg's administrative role kept supply lines open during George Washington's early campaigns, helping secure Virginia's borders.

He died in 1794 in Bath County.

Colonel Frogg's son William Frogg Sr., born around 1740, pushed the family westward, fathering Arthur Robinson Frogg Jr.Arthur Robinson Frogg Jr., born in 1776 in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia), fought in the War of 1812.

As a lieutenant in Captain William Wood's Kentucky militia, he mustered in at Newport on August 31, 1813, marching to defend Ohio River settlements from British-led Native forces under Tecumseh. His unit guarded forts during the Thames campaign, where American victories crushed resistance but left patrols dodging guerrilla strikes.

Discharged November 4, 1813, Arthur returned to pioneer Tennessee's Wolf River Valley in Fentress County, buying land on Ill Will Creek and building amid lingering Cherokee threats. He died in 1855.

Arthur's daughter Rebecca Hays Frogge, born in 1804 in Kentucky, married Burrell Hinchea Barker around 1820.Burrell, born in 1797 in Iredell County, North Carolina, descended from Thomas Hinchea Barker, born in 1755 in Brunswick County, Virginia.

Thomas enlisted in Virginia militia units during the Revolutionary War, serving under Captain John Overton in 1777 and fighting in the Southern campaigns. He endured the brutal winter at Valley Forge in 1777-1778, where starvation and disease killed thousands, then battled at Monmouth in 1778 amid sweltering heat and bayonet charges.

Later, in the Carolinas, his forces clashed with Loyalists and British regulars in guerrilla warfare, dodging ambushes in swamps. For his service, Thomas received land grants, moving his family from Virginia to North Carolina and Tennessee by 1800.

He died in 1840.

Burrell and Rebecca's son Arthur Robinson Barker, born in 1832, became a reverend and married Rebecca Quintine Wilhoite. They had eleven children, with William as the eldest.

William married Sarah Tennessee Wilson around 1879 in Tennessee. Born in 1862 in McMinn County to Jackson Carol Wilson and Sarah Emmaline Martin, Sarah moved with William to Dade County, Missouri, around 1880. They farmed near Dadeville for 25 years before heading to Oklahoma around 1905, settling in areas like Beaver County.

Sarah died in 1924 at 62 in Greenfield, Missouri, from liver issues, buried in Routh Cemetery beside three young children lost there

. William remarried Manda T. Wilshire, who outlived him until 1951.

As a lifelong farmer, William rode the wave of agricultural booms, his moves mirroring the post-Civil War rush for land.

He fathered at least six children, including Carey Benton and Otney Earl, who carried on in with family graves from Tennessee to Oklahoma tracingthis hard-won journey.