Person:Johann Faust (1)

Born during the latter stages of the (Thirty Years) war, Johan Faust grew up in a village ravaged by the conflict. He was one of twins and lived in Langenselbold all of his life. Little more is known of him except he married Kunigunda Mohn in 1666, and they had eleven children together. Her parents Hans and Maria Wilhelm Mohn, were prominent citizens of Langenselbold. Although Maria had been born in Steinau, upon marrying Hans in 1643, she moved to Langensbold where his family, and some of hers had lived for a long time.

    Kunigunda, in addtion to having eleven of her own children, served as the primary midwife in the town of Langensbold where, according to church records, she delivered more than 800 babies over a period of twenty years.
    A son, Micheal, was architect and builder of the Reformed church in the village. The church was central to the Fausts and their neighbors. They had been adherents of the Protestant religion from the beginning of the Reformation in 1522 when the German monk, Martin Luther organized the new faith after being excommunicated for publicly disagreeing with certain doctrines and practices of the Catholic religion.
    Johan Faust was apparently a farmer, and may have owned all or part of the land he tilled. During those difficult rebuilding years in Germany, the ability to grow food was undoubtedly a blessing for one with such a large family to feed.
    The Landgrave of Hesse was also experiencing economic problems in trying to rebuild the shattered state. (A Landgrave was a Count or Prince having juristiction over a particular territory). To relieve financial pressures, he inaugurated a practice of hiring Hessian men out to foreign powers as mercenaries in their armies. Undoubtedly, the threat of being drafted as mercenaries contributed to the decision of several of Johan Faust's sons and grandsons to emigrate to America. The system was still in effect 3/4 of a century later, when one of the Landgrave's successors consigned 22,000 Hessian conscripts to England for three million pounds, to assist in it's war against the North American colonies. Thus, some decendants of those emigrating from Germany, may have faced their own countrymen in the American Revolution.

From A Family History, Don Faust, 1997.

1. ↑ A. Donovan Faust (Foust). A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust. (1997).