Nr.62:

The closing of the last note mentioned that three-quarters of the Garr/Gaars were descendants of Anna Barbara Schön. A quick survey of the Germanna families discloses at least the following families can also trace some lines back to her.

All of the Blankenbakers. (There was a son Henry Schlucter of Anna Barbara, but whether he left descendants is unknown.) All of the Fleshmans. All of the Fishers. Three quarters of the Garrs. Because so many of the Finks family married Garrs, Fishers and Blankenbakers, the Finks family has a good number of Schön descendants. Anyone who has a Michael Kaifer ancestor is a descendant of Anna Barbara. All of the Thomases are descendants. This means that all of the John Michael Smith, Jr., descendants are included also. Many, maybe over half, of the Barlow descendants are Schön descendants.

Hans Jacob Broyles married Mary Catherine Fleshman.
John Clore marrried Dorothy Kaifer.
Adam Cook married Barbara Fleshman.
Nicholas Crigler married Margaret Kaifer.
Peter Fleshman probably married Barbara Tanner.
Jacob Holtzclaw, the son of the immigrant, married Susannah Thomas.

Since the immigrant Railsback married Elizabeth Thomas, all of the Railsbacks are included.
Christian (or Christopher) Reiner married Elizabeth Fleshman.
PERHAPS Mary Tanner married John Thomas.
At least two-thirds of the Utz family married Schön descendants and the other third is an unknown.
The Waylands are extremely well represented. Two lines of the Peter Weaver family come down through Anna Barbara. The line of John Zimmerman includes Ursula Blankenbaker.

These ties are in the early generations. In the later generations there were many ties to other families. Still, the descendants tended to hang together and to remember their common ancestry. We will take a look shortly at an example.

Nr.63:

In the last note, we saw how Anna Barbara Schön, through her three husbands, tied together many of the Germanna families. This association among the families continued for many years. Today, I am going to jump forward to Easter Sunday in 1776 when the Lutheran Church (known now as Hebron) recorded a list of people taking communion. Many of us are familiar with passing of the wine and bread among the congregation. In 1776 at Hebron, the people filed out of the pews up to the altar (communion bar?) where they partook of the communion. In the process, a writer wrote down the names. Because they went up in an orderly way, we have a picture of the seating pattern. That is, we can see who was sitting next to whom. Let's see who was sitting in the front pews.

First was Adam Weyland and his wife, Maria. Adam was in the group because his first wife was Elizabeth Blankenbaker, the daughter of Balthasar Blankenbaker. She had died and he married Mary Finks. But he was still a member of the group. Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Anna Barbara.

The next couple was a grandson of Anna Barbara, Christopher Blankenbucher, and his wife, Christina Finks.

Next was Adam Fischer and his wife, Elisabeth Garr. His father, Lewis Fisher, had married a granddaughter of Anna Barbara, another Anna Barbara, the daughter of Balthasar Blankenbaker. Elizabeth Garr was also a descendant of Anna Barbara Schön since her mother was Elizabeth Kaifer and her grandmother was Anna Maria Blankenbaker. So Elizabeth was a greatgranddaughter of Anna Barbara.

Next was Johannes Weyland, Sr. and his wife, Rosina Willheit. John was the son of Adam, above, by his wife, Elizabeth Blankenbaker. Therefore he was a greatgrandson of Anna Barbara. Rosina went along for the ride as she was the daughter of John Willheit and Waldburga Weaver.

The next couple was John Flieschmann and his wife Elisabeth. Again, both were descendants of Anna Barbara. John was a grandson and Elizabeth was a granddaughter through John Nicholas Blankenbaker.

Following them in the communion line were Michael Blankenbucher, a son of John Nicholas Blankenbaker and therefore a brother to Elizabeth, preceeding. Michael's wife was the daughter of the immigrant, Andrew Garr.

Michael's brother, Zacharias (he was born in Germany) with his wife, Els, or Alcy, were the next couple. Zacharias was a grandson of Anna Barbara. Els maiden name is not known definitely, but there is hint that she may have been the widow Finks, perhaps of a brother of the immigrant, Mark Finks, Sr.

Then came George Utz, Sr., and his wife, Mary Kaifer, who was a granddaughter of Anna Barbara through Anna Maria Blankenbaker.

The next couple were not descendants though they were the parents of Rosina Willheit, above, married to a descendant. The couple was John Willheit and Waldburga Weaver.

By now, we have gone through 18 people or about three pews worth.

This sort of analysis is fun just for the insight it gives into our ancestors and, on occasion, one can draw conclusions. In the front of the church, most often, people sat with their relatives, not with friends. But to them, relatives were friends. After marriage, you became one of your spouse's extended family and were treated as such.

(I used the spelling in the church register to introduce people above.)