Recently reading through some materials on Elder Gasper Roland who ministered in the Big and Little Conewago congregations in Pennsylvania, the Forks of the Yadkin congregation in North Carolina, and possibly elsewhere, I noticed that he had several connections over a long period of time with Elder John Garber Jr. who ministered in the New River Brethren community in North Carolina and in several congregations in Ohio, including the Donnels Creek congregation in Clark County. The first connection was in Pennsylvania, January 7, 1757, when Gasper Roland owned land bordering John Gerber's 200 acres on Big Conewago Creek in York County. (Source: Deed Book A, p. 219) This John Gerber was probably the father of John Garber Jr. as the latter was just a little boy in that year. The second connection was twenty years later, in the late 1770s, in North Carolina, where both men lived in the Forks of the Yadkin in Rowan County. In 1778, John Garber paid taxes in Capt. Lyons' District along with Jacob Roland, Daniel Hendricks, John Roland, John Hendricks, and other Brethren. Jacob Roland and John Roland were sons of Gasper Roland. Daniel Hendricks and John Hendricks were sons of James Hendricks, who, in turn, was a son-in-law of Gasper Roland by virtue of James' marrying, at a late age, one of Gasper's young daughters. The daughter/bride was younger than her step-sons Daniel and John Hendricks. John Garber, John Roland, and John Hendricks were close neighbors on Weavers Creek; Gasper Roland, Jacob Roland, and Daniel Hendricks were close neighbors on Filkers Creek. (Source: Roland County, NC, Vacant Land Entries, August 5, 1778, and June 7, 1779.) The third connection was in Wilkes County, NC, when, on September 10, 1797, "Jasper Rowland" [Gasper Roland] was recorded as having purchased 200 acres from John "Carver" [Garber] located on Buffalo Creek on the west side of Phoenix Mountain. Witnesses were John Kessler (son of Ulrich) and Abraham Roland (son of Gasper). (Source, Deed Book D, p. 55) Both Gasper Roland and John Garber would later move to Kentucky (where Gasper Roland died and from where John Garber moved on to the Miami Valley of Ohio). These connections may have been coincidental, but I like to believe that John Garber Jr. took a liking to Gasper Roland who was still a young man when John was a little boy in York County and that they became friends later on while serving in the ministry. I certainly doubt that it was a coincidence that they both moved to Kentucky about the same time, as both became known for their pro-Universalist views. Dwayne Wrightsman