Person:Johannes Foust (1)

Johannes Faust was 14 years old when he came to America with his family in 1733. He grew up in Berks county, PA and married Barbara Albrecht, whose family had immigated in 1732. All of their children were born there. Johannes's older brother Philip, married Magdalena Albrecht, a sister of his wife Barbara. The Albrechts also came from western Germany. They were a notable family in the upper Rhine region where they held offices in the church, state, and nobility. One historian claims they were related to the Hapsburgs and the House of Lorraine. The father Johan Albrecht, brought his wife and six children, all under the age of sixteen, to America on the ship "Johnson", arriving in Philadelphia eleven months before the Fausts. A seventh child was born in America. Interestingly, some of the descendants of the sisters Barbara and Magdalena Albrecht, ultimately settled in adjacent Indiana counties (Hamilton and Madison), although the family trail led from PA to OH to IN, and the other from PA to NC to TN to IN. They did not know they were related until recent years.

    In 1744 Johannes bought land on the west bank of the Schuylkill river, and the family remained there for twenty years. Then in 1764, he sold his land to his brother-in-law Christian Albrecht, and moved his family to North Carolina. Several of the Albrechts also made the trek. Why did Johannes undertake such a move? He apparently was successful in Pennsylvania, owning land and according to records, lending money to his father-in-law. The lure was a vast tract of land that had just been made available at a reasonable cost in the northern part of North Carolina. The Fausts and Albrechts were joined by many other PA Germans who packed their families by wagon, horseback, or on foot down the crude Monocacy Trail to the Piedmont. Most of them settled in Alamance, Guilford, Rowan, and Orange counties. Guilford is the county in which the present day city of Greensboro is located. The Fausts and Albrechts quickly established themselves, and with other German settlers, set about building a log church at the confluence of the Alamance and Stinking Quarter rivers. They were among  its first elders.

    When they came to North Carolina, many Germans Anglicized their names. Thus Albrecht became Albright, and Johannes FAUST became John FOUST. There is no record of what kind of farming he engaged in, but the primary cash crop was undoubtedly tobacco. There was a strong market for it in England, and most of the planters in that area of NC were engaged in its production. Since tobacco is labor intensive, and there is no record of any slaves John may have owned, his large family was indeed useful.

    Although he would have been in his fifties at the time, John Foust apparently served in the Revolutionary war, and may have participated in the battle of Guilford Court House, which was fought near where he lived. He must have been a moderately wealthy man at his death in 1789, and his will left something to every child. However, all of his land went to the three youngest sons, as the older sons had already gone to find their own land in the frontier area that is now eastern Tennessee. One son to whom land was willed, was George. He built it into what was by all odds, the largest holdings of the Foust clan. In an extensive will, he provided well for his wife; left a plantation to each of his six sons, with furniture and tools to some, and a still to one, a substancial amount of furniture, livestock and other items to his three daughters, and bequeathed by name, three slaves to his wife, and one each to his children. Beyond the specific provisions above, his will continued as follows: "All the land not given away by this, to wit, several plantations, all my slaves not hereby willed and all my stock of every kind not herein willed are to be equally divided among my sons and daughters now living".

    John Foust's wife Barbara, outlived him. The church records say of her; " The widow Foust named Barbara, born an Albrecht, died March 1, 1802, age 82 years, four months and several weeks. She lived in widowhood 12 years and near 3 month. In her married estate, she had 10 children, 75 grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren".

From A Family History by Don Faust, 1997.

    The Fousts first came to this country from Germany, on the ship "Elizabeth" in 1732. They settled in Pennsylvania, and in a few years , four Foust brothers came to North Carolina. One settled in Guilford County, two in Alamance, and one in Randolf. The pioneer settler of the Foust family was John George Foust. He was born in 1719, and died in 1790. He was one of the builders and first elders of Stoner's Church. His wife Anna Barbara Albright, brought the first white mulberry tree to this country wrapped in a black silk apron. The Fousts of the Bethel Community are descendants of the two Fousts brothers who settled in Alamance County.

Written by Juanita Owens Euliss of Snow Camp, North Carolina.

1. ↑ A. Donovan Faust (Foust). A Family History: The Ancestors of Thomas Wilson Faust. (1997).
2. ↑ Snow Camp Historical Drama Society staff. History of Snow Camp, NC/ Lila Reynolds File. (P.O.B.535, Snow Camp, NC, 27349).