Christian Frantz Sr was b. 1685, d. 1739, was from Krefeld, Palatinate, Germany and died in Tulpehocken township, Berks Co., PA, m. Anna. His son Christian Frantz was b. 1706 in Krefeld, m. Magdelena in 1734, age 28 in Berks Co., PA, and d. 1783 age 77 in Berks Co., PA. Their children were Barbara, Elizabeth, Margaretha, Christian, Magdalena, Anna, Maria, Fronica, and Susannah.
The Frantz Families of Little Swatara Creek By Dwayne Wrightsman The earliest history of the Little Swatara Creek Congregation of German Baptist Brethren was written circa 1770 by the Baptist minister and chronicler Morgan Edwards (1722-1795).[1] Edwards was of the same age and generation as those who founded the congregation. About the church’s founding, Edwards wrote: “About the year 1745 one George Besher settled in this neighbourhood, and one Michael Frantz, Peter Heckman, John Frantz, and others. These were baptized by Rev. George Kleine, and in 1757 coalesced into a church having the said Kleine to their assistance.”[2] In his account of the Little Swatara church, Edwards also listed forty-five persons who were members in the year 1770. The Frantz family members included Michael Frantz and wife, John Frantz and wife, and Christian Frantz and wife.[3] Michael Frantz (b.c1726) and John Frantz (b.c1725) were brothers, both sons of Christian Frantz I (b.c1685). Christian Frantz was either the considerably-older half-brother of Michael Frantz and John Frantz, namely Christian Frantz II (b.c1706), or he was the son of Christian Frantz II, namely Christian Frantz III (b.c1740). Even though he was the oldest, Christian Frantz II was not named with his two brothers as one of the founders of the church. Christian Frantz III would have been too young to have been a founder, but, with a wife and three sons, certainly old enough to have been listed as a member in 1770. This article tells the story of the Frantz families who settled and lived on the banks of Little Swatara Creek, in northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The story begins with Christian Frantz I, who brought his family to America from Europe in 1732. It then continues with his three sons—Christian Frantz II, John Frantz, and Michael Frantz—who settled on Little Swatara Creek in the 1740s. On their farms on the Little Swatara these three Frantz brothers would remain for the rest of their lives. Upon the death of Christian Frantz II, in 1783, his only son, Christian Frantz III, became the patriarch of the family. Christian III owned and ran the old family farm on the Little Swatara until the mid-1790s when he, with most of his children and their families, moved to Botetourt County, Virginia. The present article includes his life in Virginia from 1795 to his death in 1824. Of the five sons of Christian Frantz III, only one, Matthias Frantz, remained behind on Little Swatara Creek. Over the years, the descendants of Matthias Frantz have been members of the Little Swatara Church of the Brethren. These descendants can be found in the Matthias Frantz Family of Berks County, Pennsylvania book.[4] This book was edited by Caleb Frantz of Bethel, Berks, member of the Little Swatara Brethren until his death in 2004. Christian Frantz I Christian Frantz I (b.c1685) was a Mennonite of Hösselinshof, a small farming community in Germany located about a mile north of where the Kocher River flows through Neuenstadt am Kocher in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The Kocher River flows into the Neckar River, which, in turn, flows into the Rhine River at Heidelberg. The easiest way to locate Hösselinshof on a modern-day map of Germany is to follow the rivers upstream starting at Heidelberg. Even then, the village is so small that it may not be on the map. A description of the Christian Frantz family appeared in a 1732 document listing seventeen Mennonite (“Swiss Brethren”) families seeking aid and assistance from the Mennonites’ Amsterdam Committee of Foreign Needs for passage to Pennsylvania.[5] In this document the Christian Frantz family was described as a family of thirteen from Höselhoff (sic), including Christian Frantz, his wife, and their eleven children. They possessed 100 Dutch guilders, which was far too little to cover their passage. The appeal for assistance must have been successful as the family arrived aboard the Ship Samuel in the Port of Philadelphia on 11 August 1732. The Ship Samuel’s passenger list [6] included the names and ages of eleven members of the Christian Frantz family:
Christian Frants, Senr, age 47
Christian Frants, Junr, age 26
Anna Frantsin, age 37
Barbara Frantsin, age 20
Eva Frantsin, age 19
Magdalena Frantsin, age 15
Judith Frantsin, age 12
Veronica Frants, age 8
John Frants, age 7
Michiel Frants, age 6
Elizabeth Frants, age 3
One can assume that Anna Frantsin, age 37, was the wife of Christian Frants Senr., although she was probably not his first wife given that Christian Frants Junr. was listed as age 26. According to the passenger list, only nine children arrived in Philadelphia, while, according to the Amsterdam Committee document, eleven children were seeking assistance to emigrate. This suggests that two of the children stayed behind or perhaps died on the ship. Little is known about the life of Christian Frantz I after he arrived in 1732. It has been said that he settled in Lancaster city and farmed nearby.[7] It is known that on 9 May 1738, “Christian France of the County of Lancaster” requested and was granted a warrant, No. 65, for 200 acres “situate on a Mountain two Miles from Little Swatara Creek.” The warrant was signed by one of the Proprietaries, Thomas Penn.[8] Unfortunately, Christian Frantz I never had a chance to exercise his warrant because he died near Lancaster City in the latter part of 1738, or possibly in early 1739. His 1739 estate papers included two documents. One was an administration bond, dated 27 March 1739, naming widow Anne France, John Moyer, and Ulrich Rhode as administrators of the estate. The other document was an inventory of the estate, appraised 6 March 1739, by subscribers Ulrich Rhode and one other (signature illegible).[9] Christian Frantz I died relatively poor. He had no land, and in terms of personal property, the inventory listed only the following: (1) Household goods and utensils valued at 18 pounds and 6 shillings.(2) Horse kind [possibly a donkey] valued at 6 pounds and 10 shillings.(3) Horned Cattle and Sheep valued at 20 pounds and 2 shillings.(4) Wheat valued at 15 pounds and no shillings.(5) Oats valued at 7 pounds, 15 shillings.(6) Rye valued at 3 pounds, 12 shillings. Little is known about the widow Anna following the death of her husband. She may have lived with or near her children as there is a reference to “my Mother” in a 1768 will written by her son, Michael Frantz.[10] Also, nothing is known about the lives of the daughters. The oldest son, Christian Frantz II, who was age 32 or 33 when his father died, and about age 35 when he took out his own warrant for land on the Little Swatara, may have kept the family together. The five youngest children, including sons John and Michael, were minors when their father died. Later on, at about the age of majority, John and Michael also bought land on the Little Swatara.
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