John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 712

The seven hundred and twelfth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies The oldest children of Mark Finks, Sr. appear to be Catherine, Christina, and Elizabeth. Catherine and her husband, Christopher Crigler, had eleven children baptized even though Catherine appears to have been present for only the last one in 1778. There were no Finks related sponsors except for Wilhelm, the last one. And even here, the closest we come is Elizabeth Christopher, a relation by marriage. Christina and her husband Christopher Blankenbaker had nine children and only one Finks sponsor, Mary Finks Wayland, was related to the Finks family. This too was in 1778. Elizabeth and her husband, Matthew Weaver, had ten children up to 1780. None of the sponsors at the baptisms of their children were Finks related. There is only one case where a Finks appeared as a sponsor before 1776. In 1772, Christina, with her husband Christopher Blankenbaker, were sponsors of Anna Miller, the daughter of Henry and Susanna Miller. This would seem to mark this as an exceptional event and we have no good explanation for it. I elaborate on these events to emphasize that the Finks had an attitude problem toward the Lutheran Church and its infant baptisms. When Rev. Franck came in late 1775 to be the pastor, he was successful in getting more participation from the Finks family. Was this due to his personality or was it due to the death of the parents? Or another reason? In telling this story to an Anabaptist, he said he could believe that the family was Anabaptist because this behavior is typical of Anabaptists. While the parents are living, the children are very faithful to the Anabaptist church. After the parents die, the children often switch churches. Was the change that was evident during Rev. Franck's pastorate due to the death of the parents? Mark Finks, Sr. had died several years earlier. The last known record of Elizabeth Finks is her attendance at the Lutheran church on Easter Sunday in 1776, just a few months after Rev. Franck came. It appears from the record which has been kept that she partook of communion. Was this attendance by Elizabeth a symbolic release of the children? Did the family decide that if you couldn't lick them, then join them? In the petition made by the male members of the church in the fall of 1776 to be released from payment of tithes to the state church, Mark Finks, Jr. signed it as Mark Fink. (I say that "he" signed it as most of the signatures were made by the person named but one can never be sure who wrote a name.)