Person:Christian Frantz (1)

Christian Frantz moved from Berks county, Pennsylvania to Botetourt (now Roanoke) County, Virginia, where he bought a farm and was successful as an agriculturist. He was a member of the German Baptist church, in the faith of which he died at a very old age, leaving four children-Michael, John, Christian and Henry. The youngest of this family, Henry Frantz, was born in Berks County; went with his father to Botetourt County; there married Mary Kinsey, and became the father of the following family: Christian, Daniel, Susan, Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Sallie, Lydia and Hettie.

Some have said that the identity of Christian's mother is in some doubt. She may be Magdalena or she may be Barbara. Married Anna wife of Christian Frantz, 1745~,, ^ See Anna Moyer, 1745~,, * and Anna Groh, 1748,, * Went to Botetourt Co., VA in 1795 with his entire family except for Matthias. Deeded land to son Michael in 1800 Deeded land to son Henry in 1800 Will Book C page 540. In this will he appoints his son Michael as executor and he names all of the children.

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   Christian Frantz III was the only son of Christian Frantz II. Given the events of his life, he was probably born circa 1740. He was married to Anna Groh, daughter of Matthias Groh, of Bethel, Lancaster. There was no marriage record, but the marriage is proven from two sources. First, shortly after the death of Matthias Groh, in 1771, Christian Frantz III paid off a note of 36 pounds owed to Matthias “Gro.”[38] Second, Christian Frantz was named as husband of Anna Groh in a quitclaim deed, dated 15 March 1788.[39] One can speculate that Anna [Groh] Frantz named her son Matthias after her father. In the period 1777-1780, Christian Frantz III was enrolled in the Berks County Inactive Duty Militia. He was enrolled as a Private, Fourth Class, in Captain John Leshser’s Company, Sixth Battalion, Berks County. Between March, 1777, and March, 1780, he paid muster fines of 30 pounds.[40] Following the death of his father in 1783, Christian Frantz III, being the only son, inherited the 235-acre family farm located in Tulpehocken Township. Here he lived and paid taxes. He was listed in the 1790 census for Tulpehocken Township as heading a household of three males over age sixteen, two males under age sixteen, and six females. Christian Frantz III and his family lived on the old family farm until they moved to Botetourt County in the mid-1790s. The move was sometime between 7 April 1794, when the family farm was sold to next-door neighbor Henry Moyer/Meyer,[41] and 13 October 1795, when Christian III bought 202 acres on Tinker Creek in Botetourt County, Virginia, from Thomas Madison.[42] In selling the family farm, Christian III reserved five acres for a home for his son Matthias who stayed behind. At the refusal of Matthias’s wife, Elizabeth [nee Boeshore], to leave Pennsylvania, Matthias Frantz deferred to her insistence, electing not to join his parents and his brothers and sisters in their move to Virginia.[43] One sister, Barbara [Frantz] Beshore also stayed behind. In 1800 and 1804, Matthias Frantz bought the old Christian Frantz farm from Henry Moyer and wife Elizabeth, who had moved to Ohio. If Henry Moyer’s wife, Elizabeth, was Elizabeth Frantz, sister of Christian Frantz III, as some think,[44] the Frantz farm probably never left the family, having passed from Christian Frantz II to Christian Frantz III, who sold it to his sister Elizabeth’s family, who then sold it to Matthias Frantz. While Christian Frantz III was establishing his homestead at his Tinker Creek property in Botetourt County, he bought other properties as well. He received a grant of 200 acres on Cravens Creek in 1795.[45] On 9 June 1797, he bought a 245-acre tract on the Roanoke River from James Neelly.[46] The land tax records for Botetourt County show that Christian Frantz III paid taxes on 202 acres on Tinker Creek, 245 acres on the Roanoke River, and 200 acres on Cravens Creek. Except for his homestead property on Tinker Creek where he resided, he deeded most of his other Botetourt lands to his sons . Christian Frantz III was active in the German Baptist Brethren community of Botetourt County. In 1799, he signed a petition, along with forty-one other Botetourt Brethren, that was sent to the Virginia legislature seeking exemption from fines for not attending muster in the militia. His son-in-law, David Sollenberger, also signed the petition, as did close relatives of all four of his Botetourt County daughters-in-law: Elizabeth Moyer (wife of Michael Frantz), Magdalena Houtz (wife of Christian Frantz IV), Mary Kinsey (wife of Henry Frantz), and Esther Stover (wife of John Frantz).[47] Other Botetourt Brethren who signed the 1799 petition with prior connections to the Little Swatara Brethren included Christian Gish, George Gish, and David Gish (who were sons of Sophia Houk/Hock Gish), Paul Ziegler (son of Philip Ziegler), Christian Houtz, his son Leonard Houtz, and his son-in-law John Meyer/Moyer/Myers (all of whom were from the Tulpehocken/Bethel area), Jacob Garst and Abraham Garst (who were sons of Nicholas Garst), and Michael Minnich (son of Simon Minnich).[48] When the 1810 Botetourt County census was enumerated, Christian Frantz III was living at his Tinker Creek homestead with the assistance of his daughter Magdalin and her husband, Isaac Gaiby, son of Elder Martin Gaby from the Oley German Baptist Congregation of Berks County, Pennsylvania. The Isaac Gaiby family would continue to live with and care for Christian Frantz III during his dotage. On 23 June 1821, Christian Frantz III wrote his Last Will and Testament.[49] It was probated at Botetourt February Court 1824, suggesting that he probably died in the Winter of 1823-4. No wife was named in his will, only his children, which he listed in birth order:
   Michael France
   Christian France[50]
   Mathias France
   Barbara [France] Basehoar
   Henry France
   Magdalin Gaiby
   Elizabeth [France] [Sollenbarger] Harshbarger [51]
   Anna [France] Wertz
   John France
   Susanna France
   The settlement of the estate of Christian Frantz III was a long and drawn-out affair. Two of the deceased’s sons—Christian Frantz IV and John Frantz—predeceased him, and his remaining three sons—Michael Frantz (of Botetourt County, Virginia), Matthias Frantz (who had stayed behind in Berks County, Pennsylvania), and Henry Frantz (who moved to Montgomery County, Ohio)—died before the estate could be settled. Each death in the family made it increasingly difficult to settle Christian’s estate. The estates of some of the deceased children had to be settled prior to settling the estate of the father. Christian Frantz III’s estate was finally settled, twenty years after his death, in Botetourt November Court 1844. [52] The only child of Christian Frantz III for whom a family genealogy has been published was Matthias Frantz.[53] Matthias was a fourth-generation Frantz who chose to stay behind in 1795 and live on the old family farm on Little Swatara Creek. The Matthias Frantz genealogy book covers his descendants from the fifth generation to the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. Some of his descendants moved away, and some stayed on. They married Bashores, Brightbills, Gibbles, Keeneys, Kings, Meyers, Reinholds, Wengers, Zieglers, and others from the Little Swatara area. Some of the more-recent Frantz descendants are current members of the Little Swatara Church of the Brethren.
   
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