Johan Nicholas Garst

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Johan Nicholas Garst

Birth
Bavaria, Germany
Death
Oct 1803 (aged 75)
Botetourt County, Virginia, USA
Burial
Salem, Salem City, Virginia, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Johan Nicolaus Gerst was born of Theobald Gerst and Catharina Bueckin. Theobald and Catharina were married 14 January 1727 in Sembach, Pfalz, Bayern. Johan Nicolaus, born 1 November 1727, was the oldest of their nine children, all of whom were christened at the Evangelische Kirche in Sembach:

Johan Nickel Gerst was christened 5 November 1727 Evangelische, Protestant/Lutheran Church, Sembach, Pfalz, Bavaria, Germany.

Source: Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898
Name: Johan Nicolaus Gerst
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 5 Nov 1727
Baptism Place: Evangelische,Sembach,Pfalz,Bavaria
Father: Theobald Gerst
Mother: Magdalena
FHL Film Number: 193169, 193171

Immigration records indicate that Johan Nickel Gerst arrived in Philadelphia on September 27, 1749 along with two hundred and six passengers on the vessel "Isaac" captained by Robert Mitchell, embarking from Rotterdam in Holland, but stopping at Cowes, England on the way over.

Along with seventy-nine other male passengers over the age of sixteen years, John Nicholas Gerst took the oath of allegiance before Counsellor Joshua Maddox, Esq., at the Court House in Philadelphia to the new government of the British sovereign.

Source: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
Name: Johan Nickel Gerst
Year: 1749
Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Source Publication Code: 7820
Primary Immigrant: Gerst, Johan Nickel

Annotation: An index by Marvin V. Koger, Index to the Names of 30,000 Immigrants...Supplementing the Rupp, Ship Load Volume, 1935, 232p. is inferior to Wecken's index in the third edition (above). Page 449 contains "Names of the First Palatines in North Carolina, as Source Bibliography: RUPP, ISRAEL DANIEL. A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776, with a Statement of the Names of Ships, Whence They Sailed, and the Date of Their Arrival at Philadelphia, Chronologically Arranged, Together with the Necessary Historical and Other Notes, also, an Appendix Containing Lists of More Than One Thousand German and French Names in New York prior to 1712. Leipzig [Germany]: Page: 213

John Nicholas, along with other German immigrants, settled in Penn Woods, near Jonestown, Bethel Township, Lancaster County, on Little Swatara Creek. This is where he brought his father, mother, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews who came to America the following August 1750.

Patent Book AA, Vol. 6, p. 505, court records in Harrisburg, Pa. contain a copy of the deed of land conveyed to John Nicholas from Thomas and Richard Penn, Esquires, Proprietors and Governors in chief of the Province of Pennsylvania dated September 19, 1752.

Tax records indicate that John Nicholas Gerst, Sr. owned land and paid taxes on 174 acres in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from 1771 to 1790.

He married Mary Elizabeth Frantz, daughter of Christian Frantz ( 1685-1739),immigrant to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from Switzerland.

According to the "History of the Church of the Brethren" by M. G. Brumbaugh, John Nicholas and his wife are listed among the Little Swatara Congregation in 1770.

A copy of John Nicholas Garst will dated October 20, 1801 and recorded/probated October 1803 in the Botetourt County, Virginia court records, pages 162-164:The inventory of the estate of John Nicholas Garst was presented in Botetourt County, Virginia in the December Court, 1803.

His will does not mention his wife so it is assumed that she probably had died before the date of the writing of the will on October 20, 1801 and certainly before the probate in October 1803.

Nine children of Johan Nicholas survived him based on his estate settlement record, dated March 5, 1808, at the Botetourt County, Virginia Court. The settlement called for each recipient child (or husband in the case of a married daughter) to receive exactly thirty pounds. The recipients, listed in order of their names as they appeared in the estate settlement, were as follows: Frederick Gharst, Nicholas Gharst, Jacob Gharst, Abraham Gharst, Christian Frantz (husband of daughter, Mary), David Pefley (husband of daughter, Magdalena), Daniel Frantz (husband of daughter, Anna), David Frantz (husband of daughter, Maria Elizabeth), Peter Frantz (husband of daughter, Catharine).

Although Johan Nicholas Garst did not name his daughters in his will, it is through the above named husbands that we learn the names of the Garst daughters. Three of the Frantz husbands-Christian, Daniel, and Peter-left deeds of sale of land that named their wives, Mary, Anna, and Catherine, respectively. Daniel also named his wife, Anna, in his personal records of his family. The fourth Frantz husband, David Frantz, died young. His widow, Elizabeth, is named in his will of 1814, probated 1815. Elizabeth is also known by the Botetourt County record of her second marriage to Leonard Houtz, one of the administrators of her father's estate. David Pefley also left a paper trail leading to the name of his wife, Magdalena Garst. Substituting the names of the Garst daughters for the names of their husbands, the names of the Garst children are as follows:

Frederick Garst, Nicholas Garst, II, Jacob Garst, Abraham Garst, Mary Garst, Magdalena Garst, Anna Garst, Elizabeth Garst, and Catherine Garst. This, however, does not list the children in order of birth as the will would list sons first and then list daughters.

The list of John Nicholas Garst's four sons, and the Frantz and Peffley husbands of his five daughters, is on page 163 of the 1950 Garst book. This list is transcribed from the Settlement of the Estate of John Nicholas Garst, Botetourt County, VA, Will Book B, Pages 178-179.

Sources:
OUR GARST FAMILY IN AMERICA, William Tell Garst, Brown-White-Lowell Press, Kansas City, 1950.

PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN PIONEERS, Strassburger-Hinke, Vol. II. p 469.

THE BRETHREN OF LITTLE SWATARA CREEK: JOHN NICHOLAS GARST By Dwayne Wrightsman

DAR PATRIOT INDEX:
GARST, JOHN NICHOLAS: Born 1725 Germany, died 1803 Va., married Mary Frantz, Pvt. Pa.

DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS):
GARST, JOHN NICHOLAS Ancestor #: A044382
Service: PENNSYLVANIA Rank: PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Birth: CIRCA 1725 GERMANY
Death: CIRCA 1803 BOTETOURT CO VIRGINIA
Service Source: PA HIST & MUS COMM, RG 4.61, ROLL #329
Service Description: 1) PAID SUPPLY TAX 1783
Johan Nicolaus Gerst was born of Theobald Gerst and Catharina Bueckin. Theobald and Catharina were married 14 January 1727 in Sembach, Pfalz, Bayern. Johan Nicolaus, born 1 November 1727, was the oldest of their nine children, all of whom were christened at the Evangelische Kirche in Sembach:

Johan Nickel Gerst was christened 5 November 1727 Evangelische, Protestant/Lutheran Church, Sembach, Pfalz, Bavaria, Germany.

Source: Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898
Name: Johan Nicolaus Gerst
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 5 Nov 1727
Baptism Place: Evangelische,Sembach,Pfalz,Bavaria
Father: Theobald Gerst
Mother: Magdalena
FHL Film Number: 193169, 193171

Immigration records indicate that Johan Nickel Gerst arrived in Philadelphia on September 27, 1749 along with two hundred and six passengers on the vessel "Isaac" captained by Robert Mitchell, embarking from Rotterdam in Holland, but stopping at Cowes, England on the way over.

Along with seventy-nine other male passengers over the age of sixteen years, John Nicholas Gerst took the oath of allegiance before Counsellor Joshua Maddox, Esq., at the Court House in Philadelphia to the new government of the British sovereign.

Source: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
Name: Johan Nickel Gerst
Year: 1749
Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Source Publication Code: 7820
Primary Immigrant: Gerst, Johan Nickel

Annotation: An index by Marvin V. Koger, Index to the Names of 30,000 Immigrants...Supplementing the Rupp, Ship Load Volume, 1935, 232p. is inferior to Wecken's index in the third edition (above). Page 449 contains "Names of the First Palatines in North Carolina, as Source Bibliography: RUPP, ISRAEL DANIEL. A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776, with a Statement of the Names of Ships, Whence They Sailed, and the Date of Their Arrival at Philadelphia, Chronologically Arranged, Together with the Necessary Historical and Other Notes, also, an Appendix Containing Lists of More Than One Thousand German and French Names in New York prior to 1712. Leipzig [Germany]: Page: 213

John Nicholas, along with other German immigrants, settled in Penn Woods, near Jonestown, Bethel Township, Lancaster County, on Little Swatara Creek. This is where he brought his father, mother, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews who came to America the following August 1750.

Patent Book AA, Vol. 6, p. 505, court records in Harrisburg, Pa. contain a copy of the deed of land conveyed to John Nicholas from Thomas and Richard Penn, Esquires, Proprietors and Governors in chief of the Province of Pennsylvania dated September 19, 1752.

Tax records indicate that John Nicholas Gerst, Sr. owned land and paid taxes on 174 acres in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from 1771 to 1790.

He married Mary Elizabeth Frantz, daughter of Christian Frantz ( 1685-1739),immigrant to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from Switzerland.

According to the "History of the Church of the Brethren" by M. G. Brumbaugh, John Nicholas and his wife are listed among the Little Swatara Congregation in 1770.

A copy of John Nicholas Garst will dated October 20, 1801 and recorded/probated October 1803 in the Botetourt County, Virginia court records, pages 162-164:The inventory of the estate of John Nicholas Garst was presented in Botetourt County, Virginia in the December Court, 1803.

His will does not mention his wife so it is assumed that she probably had died before the date of the writing of the will on October 20, 1801 and certainly before the probate in October 1803.

Nine children of Johan Nicholas survived him based on his estate settlement record, dated March 5, 1808, at the Botetourt County, Virginia Court. The settlement called for each recipient child (or husband in the case of a married daughter) to receive exactly thirty pounds. The recipients, listed in order of their names as they appeared in the estate settlement, were as follows: Frederick Gharst, Nicholas Gharst, Jacob Gharst, Abraham Gharst, Christian Frantz (husband of daughter, Mary), David Pefley (husband of daughter, Magdalena), Daniel Frantz (husband of daughter, Anna), David Frantz (husband of daughter, Maria Elizabeth), Peter Frantz (husband of daughter, Catharine).

Although Johan Nicholas Garst did not name his daughters in his will, it is through the above named husbands that we learn the names of the Garst daughters. Three of the Frantz husbands-Christian, Daniel, and Peter-left deeds of sale of land that named their wives, Mary, Anna, and Catherine, respectively. Daniel also named his wife, Anna, in his personal records of his family. The fourth Frantz husband, David Frantz, died young. His widow, Elizabeth, is named in his will of 1814, probated 1815. Elizabeth is also known by the Botetourt County record of her second marriage to Leonard Houtz, one of the administrators of her father's estate. David Pefley also left a paper trail leading to the name of his wife, Magdalena Garst. Substituting the names of the Garst daughters for the names of their husbands, the names of the Garst children are as follows:

Frederick Garst, Nicholas Garst, II, Jacob Garst, Abraham Garst, Mary Garst, Magdalena Garst, Anna Garst, Elizabeth Garst, and Catherine Garst. This, however, does not list the children in order of birth as the will would list sons first and then list daughters.

The list of John Nicholas Garst's four sons, and the Frantz and Peffley husbands of his five daughters, is on page 163 of the 1950 Garst book. This list is transcribed from the Settlement of the Estate of John Nicholas Garst, Botetourt County, VA, Will Book B, Pages 178-179.

Sources:
OUR GARST FAMILY IN AMERICA, William Tell Garst, Brown-White-Lowell Press, Kansas City, 1950.

PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN PIONEERS, Strassburger-Hinke, Vol. II. p 469.

THE BRETHREN OF LITTLE SWATARA CREEK: JOHN NICHOLAS GARST By Dwayne Wrightsman

DAR PATRIOT INDEX:
GARST, JOHN NICHOLAS: Born 1725 Germany, died 1803 Va., married Mary Frantz, Pvt. Pa.

DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS):
GARST, JOHN NICHOLAS Ancestor #: A044382
Service: PENNSYLVANIA Rank: PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Birth: CIRCA 1725 GERMANY
Death: CIRCA 1803 BOTETOURT CO VIRGINIA
Service Source: PA HIST & MUS COMM, RG 4.61, ROLL #329
Service Description: 1) PAID SUPPLY TAX 1783