John Adam Gaar, or more simply Adam Gaar, and his wife Elizabeth (Kaifer) were recorded as communicants at the German Lutheran Church in Culpeper County, Virginia, in late 1775. In fact, they were the first names on page 1 of the volume used to record communicants, confirmations, minutes, and financial records. This probably meant they were sitting in the front pew. Adam's will was written in 1790, and probated in 1793 in the new county of Madison. He would have been 81 or 82 years old at his death. His wife Elizabeth is not mentioned. With the exception that the son Benjamin received some extra goods, the estate was divided evenly among all six children. No grandchildren were mentioned. Among the special items that Benjamin received were a Dutch Bible and a Sermon Book.
It is interesting to see who owed Adam Gaar money:
Absalom Utz owed 16 pounds;
Peter Witham owed 9 pounds;
George Wilhoit (son of Adam) owed almost 55 pounds;
Adam Yager owed 5 pounds;
Lewis Gaar (son) owed 9 pounds;
Moses Deer owed 2 pounds;
Stephen Fisher (son-in-law) owed 9 pounds;
David Crisler (grandson) owed 3 pounds;
Andrew Gaar (nephew) owed almost 3 pounds;
John Miller owed 5 pounds;
Adam Crisler (grandson) owed 9 pounds;
James Haynes owed almost 4 pounds;
Benjamin Dickens (son-in-law) owed 53 pounds;
Benjamin Gaar (son) owed 7 pounds;
Adam Rouse owed 7 pounds.
These obligations were in the form of bonds and notes. Along with eight slaves, the estate of Adam was significant.
The second child of Andreas Gaar and Eva Seidelmann was Rosina, who married Theobald Christler. Theobald's name has been troublesome in the records, probably because it is an unusual name. Pick a spelling and it has probably been used. In fact, I would make no claim that Theobald is the correct form. The last name of Christler is usually simplified to Crisler. Rosina and Theobald were the parents of:
I am following the "Garr Genealogy" in this information. If readers detect an error, please bring your question or statement forward. There are some uncertainties in the above family.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.