Someone asked where Frankfort was. It is the capital of Kentucky. It is not to be confused with Frankfurt in Germany, as I did here a few notes ago.
In the last note, I omitted one place that we visited before we got to the Utz villages. We dropped in on Schainbach, a very small village. Not too far away is Crailsheim. Both of these places are associated with Johann Christian Schulz who came with the Gaars to America.
After we left the Utz villages, we headed for Obermichelbach, where we had a reservation to stay for two nights. Our objectives were several. First, we wanted to meet the Friedrich Gaar family. He and I are sixth cousins, once removed. His children are my seventh cousins. Friedrich Gaar descends from a younger brother of the Andreas Garr who came to America in 1732. While Andreas Gaar lived in Illenschwang, Friedrich lives about a mile and a half away from there, in Obermichelbach. The family of Friedrich consists of his wife and three children, the oldest (Martina) of which is 15, and the youngest is about 10. Martina was the chief interpreter and she did an excellent job.
The Gaars live on enough land that they can keep some animals, principally sheep. There are some chickens, ducks, and geese and the children keep a few rabbits as pets. The family does a lot together including having a five-piece band. They are active in the local Obermichelbach church.
During the next morning which was a Saturday, Eleanor and I drove to some of the villages where the ancestors of the Garrs lived. Then on Saturday afternoon, Friedrich, Martina, Eleanor, and I drove to the Illenschwang church where we met the pastor, Arno Schneider. I gave the Illenschwang church a large photograph of Hebron Lutheran Church which the Gaars helped build. Also, I gave the church a copy of Huddles History of the Hebron Lutheran Church.
I had wanted to examine the portraits of the apostles which hung in the chancel. Andreas Gaar is said to have given one, and his name was supposedly on the back of it. Friedrich had brought a tall ladder and he climbed up to remove the portrait of St. Andreas, but we abandoned the attempt as too dangerous for both Friedrich and the painting. (All of the portraits have a date in the 1800s and a name on the front of them. They may mean that the original paintings have been replaced.)
Saturday night, the Blankenbaker family treated the Gaar family to dinner. Afterwards we went to the Gaar home (about 300 feet down the road) for a talk session and a tour of their place. The next morning, Sunday, Martina and her father went to church in Illenschwang with us (the rest of the Gaar family went to church in Obermichelbach). The minister in Illenschwang worked Andreas Gaar into his sermon. Nearly all histories of Illenschwang note that Andreas Gaar left from there. In some ways, he is their most famous citizen. After the church service, we took our leave of the Gaars and headed for other cousins in Nürnburg.
(04 Jun 02)
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.