Frederick Garst's Family

Frederick Garst, oldest son of John Nicholas Garst, is thought to have been born in 1752 and to have died in Roanoke County in 1842. His wife, Magdalena (nee Rauch), is thought to have been born in 1752 and to have died in 1845. These birth and death years are inscribed on a headstone placed, in 1944, by descendant Rev. John Garst who located the original graves in a private Garst Burying Ground on a hill north of Salem, Virginia. The years on the 1944 headstone agree with the years found and read by the Works Progress Administration of Virginia on October 8, 1936. However, since Magdalena's last two sons were born after 1800, this writer questions whether she was born as early as 1752.

The 1842 death year for Frederick Garst is probably correct. Frederick's will was proven in Roanoke County Probate Court on September 19, 1842. In the will Frederick listed his nine surviving children as follows:

Oldest Son Frederick
daughter Anna, the wife of Richard Gordon
daughter Magdalene, the wife of Joseph Echols
daughter Elizabeth
sons Jacob, John, Peter, George, William

In addition to these nine surviving children, there may have been a tenth child, Henry, who predeceased his father.

The 1950 Garst family compilation by William Tell Garst devotes about 170 pages to the descendants of Frederick Garst and Magdalena Rauch. Many of these descendants were Brethren.

Mary Garst Frantz's Family

There are no known birth or marriage records for Mary Garst and her husband Christian Frantz. Their oldest children were born in Pennsylvania prior to the family's moving to Virginia. Botetourt County, VA, Deed Books show that Christian Frantz was buying land on Masons Creek in 1792 and 1795, and on Peters Creek in 1803 and 1805. Christian Frantz and Mary his wife sold 55 acres on Peters Creek to Daniel Frantz in 1808. In 1814, Christian Frantz and Mary his wife sold their Masons Creek land to Frederick Garst. Also, in 1814, they sold their remaining Peters Creek land, and moved to Clark County, Ohio. During most of his Ohio years, Christian Frantz served as elder of the Donnels Creek Old German Baptist Church.

The earliest written account of Mary Garst Frantz's family was by her grandson, Aaron Frantz, who, like his father and grandfather before him, became an elder of the Donnels Creek Church. Elder Aaron Frantz recorded his family's genealogy for Michael Zug, who, in 1884, included the Aaron Frantz entries as part of the genealogy of the Zug family.

According to Aaron Frantz's account, Mary Garst Frantz died August 8, 1838, and her husband Christian died March 6, 1850. Both were buried in Myers Cemetery (as it is now known), Pike Township, Clark County, Ohio, their graves marked only with rough field stones.

Christian and Mary Garst Frantz had two sons and seven daughters, listed by grandson Aaron Frantz as follows:

Jacob Frantz, born Mar. 22, 1784, married Sarah Ebersole
Christian Frantz, married Catharine Trout
Elizabeth Frantz, married Jacob Olinger
Catherine Frantz, married George Grisso
Mary Frantz, born Jan. 23, 1793, married John Brubaker
Magdalena Frantz, married Philip Simmons
Esther Frantz, unmarried
Anna Frantz, married John Lesh
Sallie Frantz, married Abraham Miller

Descendants of Christian and Mary Garst Frantz to the present generation were compiled by Lorraine Frantz Edwards in 1996. Many if not most of the thousands of descendants documented in her compilation were Brethren.