The Alburtis family of Martinsburg, Berkeley County, VA (now WV) somehow descends from the first Italian in New Netherland, Pietro Caesar Alberti. Although, how they actually connect is still being researched.
There is also an online article for Pietro Caesar Alberti in the Italian Tribute - a Premier Italian American Newspaper Since 1931:
The Alburtis Family of Martinsburg, VA (now WV) appears to have lived for a time in Baltimore County and/or Baltimore City, Maryland. The John Alburtis Family Bible belonging to John V. Alburtis (1778-1828), a printer in Martinsburg, VA (now WV), documents the birth dates for his mother, “Ann Anno,/hereafter know as Ann Alburtis,/was born in the City of New York the 4th day of January 1738”. He also documents the births of himself and his siblings in order of birth: “Elizabeth Alburtis, born 24th of October 1770”, “Samuel Alburtis, born 24th June 1773” “Mary Alburtis, born 3rd November 1775”, and “John Alburtis, born 23 Aug 1778”. The death dates are documented as follows: “Ann Anno Alburtis departed this life, the 18th of July 1799”, “Samuel Alburtis, 18th December 1822”, and “John Alburtis died May the 6th, 1827 aged 48 years 8 month 14 days”. The handwriting for the death date of John Alburtis is different from the others. Therefore, it was probably entered by his wife or one of his children. There is no mention of name, birth date or death date of the husband of Ann Anno Alburtis and father of these children in the John Alburtis Family Bible.
It is speculated by many Alburtis researchers that the husband of Ann Anno was named John Alburtis. Many of these researchers have linked Ann Anno to John Alburtis born 15 Feb 1734, Long Island City, Queens, NY, and died 6 Oct 1780, Long Island City, Queens, NY. This John Alburtis married Hannah Denton who supposedly was born about 1725 and died 5 Aug 1775. If the dates for Hannah Denton are correct, this John Alburtis cannot be the husband of Ann Anno Alburtis because, according to the John Alburtis Family Bible, Ann Anno Alburtis’s first child, Elizabeth Alburtis, was born 24 Oct 1770. The birth date of Elizabeth Alburtis is five years before the death of Hannah (nee: Denton) Alburtis wife of John Alburtis (1734-1780) of Long Island City, Queens, NY. Also, since this John Alburtis was born in Queens, NY and died in Queens, NY, it is a pretty good bet he never left Queens, NY.
There is evidence that the oldest male sibling, Samuel Alburtis married in Baltimore County and lived in Baltimore City. Samuel Alburtis (1773-1882) married Sarah Mitts on 10 Aug 1811 in Baltimore County, MD. The 1815 Baltimore City Directory lists Samuel Alburtis, a carpenter, on 22 Fleet Street, Fell’s Point, Baltimore, MD. Samuel died on 11 Dec 1822 but it is not known if he died in Maryland of Virginia. No more information has been found about him or his wife Sarah Mitts.
Evidence has also been found that the two younger Alburtis siblings, Mary and John V. Alburtis were born in Maryland and possibly even Baltimore County or City. John V. Alburtis was supposedly born in Baltimore, MD. In the "Martinsburg Gazette" on 10 May 1827 the obituary for John V. Alburtis states that he was a native of Baltimore. The 1850 US Census shows Mary (nee: Alburtis) Maxwell, wife of James Maxwell of Berkeley County, VA, born in Maryland. The two older siblings, Elizabeth and Samuel Alburtis may have been born in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York or Conneticut. During the Revolutionary War, the name Alburtis can be found in all these areas.
Three Alburtis siblings began moving to Berkeley County and their first marriage record appears in 1794. Mary Alburtis (1775-1857) married James Maxwell (1764-1858) on 4 Oct 1794 in Berkley County, VA (now WV). In 1794, John V. Alburtis would have been 16 years old. It is possible the family had been living in Berkeley County since 1790 when John was 12 since he was documented as being an apprentice to Nathaniel Willis, Sr. Willis began publishing The Potomak Guardian in Shepardstown, VA, in 1790. Elizabeth Alburtis (1770-1836) married John Boyer (1785-1852) on 16 Dec 1813 in Berkley County, VA (now WV). John V. Alburtis (1778-1827) married first Catherine Elizabeth Taylor (?-1807) most likely in Berkeley County in about 1806. He married 2nd Nancy Vanmeter (1794-1852) on 7 Feb 1809 in Berkeley County, VA (now WV).
Elizabeth Alburtis Boyer, Mary Alburtis Maxwell, and John V. Alburtis all died in Berkeley County, VA (now WV). Ann Anno Alburtis may have died in Berkley County, VA (now WV), but no record of her death other than in the Bible has been found. She may have been living in Baltimore with her oldest son, Samuel Alburtis, when she died.
More research needs to be done to determine when this family arrived in Maryland and Berkeley County, VA (now WV) but it appears they may have arrived in Berkeley County sometime in the early 1790's. At the Library of Congress this is found in the Chronicling America Historical Newspapers Collection:
The Martinsburgh Gazette and its subsequent iterations were the product of John Alburtis. A Baltimore native, Alburtis moved to Berkeley County, Virginia as a young man and entered the printing trade as an apprentice to Nathaniel Willis, Sr., owner and editor of The Potomak Guardian, which Willis began publishing in Shepardstown, VA, in 1790. Political differences ultimately drove the two men apart as Alburtis embraced the Federalist Party, and in 1799, Alburtis established The Berkeley Intelligencer in Martinsburg. The Intelligencer drove the Potomak Guardian out of business, leaving Alburtis’ newspaper as the only one in Martinsburg. In 1810, he renamed the Intelligencer the Martinsburgh Gazette.
In 1822, John Alburtis retired and sold the Gazette to Washington Evans. Alburtis later established The Journal in nearby Shepherstown, whose planned relocation to Martinsburg was ended by Alburtis’ untimely death. Evans continued the paper’s issue and volume numeration, but in 1826, he rechristened the paper the Martinsburg Gazette and Public Advertiser. With the Federalist Party defunct, Evans embraced the emerging Whig Party, and indeed, the Gazette‘s columns offer a window into local Whig politics throughout the antebellum era.
Now, let’s talk about the spelling of the Van Metre name. I have found no primary records for John V. Alburtis’s wife Nancy Vanmetre where the spelling Van Meter is used. In their family Bible they write Nancy’s maiden name as Vanmetre. In their marriage bond and record, Nancy’s maiden name is written as Vanmetre. And in the Will of Nancy’s father, Johonnes (aka John) his name is spelled John Van Metre. Over the years the Van Metre descendants have changed the spelling to Van Meter which is the most common spelling used today.
Sources:
In 1970, the Silver family of Martinsburg, WV, donated copies of the pages from the John Alburtis Family Bible and the Samuel Alburtis Family Bible (son of John V. Alburtis) to the Berkeley County Historical Society located in Martinsburg, WV. These records can be obtained by contacting the Berkeley County Historical Society (BCHS). Also, contact the BCHS for more information about the Alburtis family of Martinsburg, WV. There is much more information there about the descendants of John V. Alburtis.
For more information on the Boyer family see American Boyers, by Rev. Charles Boyer, 1940. The John and Elizabeth Boyer family can be found on pp. 291-292.
The family tree of John V. Alburtis can be obtained from his Find a Grave Memorial and on my public family tree on Ancestry called the John Samuel Alburtis (1902-1968) Family Tree.
Media Credit: West Virginia & Regional History Collection - A bird's eye view of Martinsburg.