I think this is the most likely explanation for the second through fifth marriages. My sister's second husband was the brother of my brother's second wife, and Patti and Allen first met at Jeff and Desi's wedding. Before they started dating they also occasionally saw each other as in-laws at other events where both our family and Desi's family attended, such as when we were all visiting after the birth of Jeff and Desi's first child. And there was no church or community connection. Jeff, Desi and Allen lived in Farmington, NM, while Patti and the rest of our family lived near Santa Fe, NM. That's nearly a four hour drive. Desi and Allen are Mormons; our family was raised Disciples of Christ. As far as how the first meeting between Christian Frantz and Mary Garst came about, I'm reluctant to speculate. It could be either of the reasons you hypothesize, or something else altogether. We may never know. On 3/24/08 7:09 AM, "Dwayne Wrightsman" <dwayne55@comcast.net> wrote: > Jan, > > Great point. The five marriages were indeed sequential, the first one > (between Christian Frantz of Cocalico and Mary Garst of Little Swatara) was > in 1782 or 1783, and the second one (between Daniel Frantz and Anna Garst) > on July 25, 1784. The marriages between David Frantz and Elizabeth Garst, > Peter Frantz and Catharine Garst, and Jacob Garst and Christina Frantz, came > later. Do you think that the first marriage had to do with the "love feast" > conjecture or with the possibility that they all may have been second > cousins? One thing is sure, the families lived in distant corners of the > Conestoga Congregation territory. > > And a Happy Monday to you too. > > Dwayne > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <KTompk7744@aol.com> > To: <brethren@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 9:47 AM > Subject: [BRE] Explaining the Frantz-Garst Marriages > > >> Well, these two families obviously met over and over at all those >> Garst-Frantz weddings, >> >> Happy Monday. >> >> Jan