Dwayne: According to my Garber/Gerber files, a John Gerber (b. circa 1760) s/o Jacob Gerber, and grandson of immigrant Christian Gerber (1702 to 1769), was married to an Anna (Kauffman??). He purchased his father's farm in Donegal Twp. in 1802 and sold it in 1822. He disappears after that. Christian was Mennonite and lived in what is now West Hempfield Township. The footnotes state that some have erroneously tied Christian to the John Garber brother of Nicholas who died in 1748. The 1748 family is the Brethren Garber family. Bill Thomas -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dwayne Wrightsman Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 6:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BRE] Elder John Garber Sr. and wife Barbara Miller Ellen, after spending much of the day yesterday mulling it over, I simply don't have enough evidence to go forward with the idea that Elder John Garber Sr. of PA, MD, and VA was married prior to his marriage to Barbara Miller. For three years I have been looking for the John Gerber/Garber who was married to Anna Kauffman (daughter of Henry Kauffman of Manheim Township, Lancaster County). Based on thinking about it yesterday and last night, I don't believe that the Elder John Garber who was married to Barbara Miller had a previous marriage with Anna Kauffman. I'm sorry for stirring up the pot. Incidentally, for those who are interested in the 1787 will of Elder John Garber, in which he names his ten children, presumably in birth order, it was recorded in Shenandoah County, Virginia, Will Book B, page 409. Dwayne Wrightsman -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sparky Wride Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:05 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BRE] Elder John Garber Sr. and wife Barbara Miller Dwayne, I am keenly interested in who your candidate is!                           Ellen --- On Tue, 3/22/11, Dwayne Wrightsman <[email protected]> wrote: From: Dwayne Wrightsman <[email protected]> Subject: [BRE] Elder John Garber Sr. and wife Barbara Miller To: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 8:49 AM I am having some problems comprehending the family of Elder John Garber Sr. He is said to have been born circa 1717, and his wife Barbara Miller said to have been born circa 1733.  They are said to have been married in the early1750s, 1752 and 1754 being the most tossed around guesses.  Lists of their children usually start with son Samuel, who is said to have been born circa 1756.  The other older sons were John Garber Jr., thought to have been born in the late 1750s, and Martin Garber, in the early 1760s.  All three of these older sons, along with their father, were fined in April 1776 as Non-Enrollers during the Revolutionary War.  Samuel and Martin were the executors of their father's will and estate.  (John Garber Jr. was living in North Carolina when his father died.) The 1787 will of Elder John Gerber Sr. lists the order of the children with John Jr. first, Samuel second, Martin third, then Anna, Abraham, Jacob, Daniel, Catherine, Joseph, and Magdalene.  Usually, although not always, these lists are in order of birth, suggesting that John Garber Jr. was the oldest.  Tradition aside, I still have to believe that John Jr. was the oldest, not Samuel.  Why?  For various reasons.  John Garber Jr. was the first to spin off from his father's family and start one of his own.  His brother, Martin Garber, was probably born no later than the late 1750s in order to have been fined as a Non-Enroller is April 1776, but if Samuel were the oldest, that would make little room for John Jr's birth year. My research on the life of John Garber Jr. suggests that he was the oldest, born no later than the early 1750s.  If so, it brings into question whether or not he was born of Barbara Miller.  The 16-years-age-difference between John Garber Sr. and Barbara Miller suggests that Barbara Miller may have been a second wife rather than his first and only wife.  Not only that, since there is no marriage record, they may have married even later than 1752 since she would have been only age 19 at the time. Since there are readers on this list who know more than I about the family of John Garber Sr., I would be interested in your take on the issues raised above.  I have a candidate for wife number one in mind. Dwayne Wrightsman ------------------------ Search the Archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN ------------------------ Support Our Sponsoring Agency The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG) For further information contact Ron McAdams mailto:[email protected] ------------------------ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Bill, Based on previous discussions that you and I have had on this matter, it turns out that this particular marriage between a John Gerber (b. circa 1760) and an Anna could not have been the Anna Kauffman daughter of Henry Kauffman who married a Gerber/Garber of the same name, the reason being that the John Gerber you describe is one or two generations too young, or putting it the other way, Anna Kaufman was one or two generations too old. I think that I brought up the possibility that the correct John Gerber/Garber husband may have been the one who was with the Ephrata Society, especially since Anna's sister Maria was married to Jacob Graff of the Ephrata Society, but our discussion never went beyond that. As I recall, I don't think either one of us could get a decent handle on who the Gerber/Garber of Ephrata was. Dwayne Wrightsman -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William Thomas Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 3:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BRE] Elder John Garber Sr. and wife Barbara Miller Dwayne: According to my Garber/Gerber files, a John Gerber (b. circa 1760) s/o Jacob Gerber, and grandson of immigrant Christian Gerber (1702 to 1769), was married to an Anna (Kauffman??). He purchased his father's farm in Donegal Twp. in 1802 and sold it in 1822. He disappears after that. Christian was Mennonite and lived in what is now West Hempfield Township. The footnotes state that some have erroneously tied Christian to the John Garber brother of Nicholas who died in 1748. The 1748 family is the Brethren Garber family. Bill Thomas