Decendants of Theobald Gerst

age: 82 yr 11 mo 9 da

The original Garst book states that "Henry Clay Garst was named after the famous Henry Clay who stayed overnight at the home of his father, Abraham Garst I, the night following his birth. The following is part of a letter written in 1892 by Henry Clay Garst, to his niece, Katherine Sample Garst, in answer to a letter she had written to his daughter, Barbara, asking for some facts concerning the family history: "Now, my dear niece, the reason that I have undertaken this laborious but pleasurable task, (laborious because I am in my 75th year), is that by a vote of the family I was unanimously assigned that duty, as probably more competent to give you a chronological history of our ancestors than any of the others. What little I know of our ancestors, for it will not be a four-volume affair, I assure you, I learned from my father and mother when I was quite a boy, for they have been, as you know, dead these many years. "The story on my mothers side partakes a little of the romantic. Her_father_was_Christopher_Ribble, and he seems to have had quite a liberal education, as he chose medicine as a profession. After qualifying himself by reading in the office of a local physician, he attended medical lectures in the city of Amsterdam in Holland. During his first course of lectures, he made the acquaintance of a young lady of that city by the name of Barbara Magdalena Brinkerhoff. During his second course of lectures, his acquaintance with this young lady ripened into something more than mere friendship. After he graduated, they concluded they would like to get married, but now their troubles began. The young lady's father (a stern old Dutchman I suppose he was, and tradition says a wholesale druggist and quite wealthy) would not give his consent. But as the saying goes, "True love is never balked by bolts and bars," and their next recourse was to accomplish the same thing on another line. When he had asked for her hand in marriage, the father was furious to think that a penniless young doctor should aspire to the hand of his daughter, and when the daughter declared she would marry him in spite of her father's refusal, he forbade the young man in the house, and locked the young woman in her room. But a kindly maid-servant carried notes. Plans were made and the young couple got away. As America was attracting a great deal of attention at that time in Europe, and as a Dutch schooner was lying in port ready to sail, they decided to take passage to the new world. They did so and were_married_on_board_the_ vessel_by_the_vessel's_Chaplain. They had a long and tiresome passage_lasting_nearly_six_months (all sail then and no steam), finally landing_at_Philadelphia_on_the_day_on_which_the_battle_of_ Brandywine_was_fought,September_11,1777, the Revolutionary War being already well commenced. "Poor and nearly worn out with their long and tedious passage, they still had the same courage that had impelled them to come over. They cast their lot with the patriots, renounced their allegiance to all foreign potentates, and became new-born American citizens. Grandfather_immediately_took_service_in_the_American_Army_as_a physician_and_surgeon, and grandmother found refuge among the Dutch settlers of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Several years later letters were exchanged with her father, and he relented so far as to send her her dowry--furniture, linen, silver, etc., but the ship went down and all was lost. "After the close of the war, they were reunited and settled_in_or near_Hagerstown,Maryland,where_my_mother_Katherine_was_born. She was the firstborn of the family. After living there several years and having other children, they_moved_to_Virginia_and_settled_near Blacksburg_in_Montgomery_County. There grandfather bought a large track of land, and practiced medicine for many years, and_there_is where_my_father_and_mother_(Abraham_Garst_I_and_Katherine_Ribble)_ were_married. "Then my father and mother lived for many years (43 years I think he told me) on_a_farm_in_Botetourt_Co., Virginia, about 40 miles from where grandfather Ribble lived. They raised a family of nine children, seven boys and two girls. They_sold_their_farm_in_1835_and_ moved_to_the_west. They stopped in Clark Co., the first year, and then moved to St. Joseph Co., Indiana, and settled_at_South_Bend. My_ father_died_in_the_fall_of_1838, and my mother died in the spring of 1841. They lie side by side in a little graveyard_(as_it_was_called_ at_that_time)about_two_miles_east_of_South_Bend_and_known_then_as Bowman's_graveyard. "My_father,_Abraham_Garst,_Sr.,_was_born_March_4,_1770,in_Dauphin County,Pennsylvania. He was five years old when the Revolutionary War began and thirteen when it ended. He had many vivid recollections of that memorable struggle. Three of his brothers, Nicholas_and_Frederick_and_Jacob,being_older_members_of_the_family, were_in_the_Army_of_the_Revolution_during_the_whole_eight_years_of the_war. Four sisters of my father married four brothers by the name of Frantz. "Dear Niece, it is a pretty laborious job for an old man to write letters. I write but few these days, but I am pretty good on the talk yet, and sometime when you come to visit me, I will tell you some things I have failed to write about. Etc."

   "A few years after receiving this letter from my uncle, I paid him
 a visit.  I found my uncle a most delightful old man, so kind, a
 typical Virginian in hospitality, and a talker who never had to
 hesitate for a word.
   "Katherine Ribble was the oldest child in the family, and Henry
 Ribble was the youngest. It was with Henry in Virginia that his
 nephews, Elias, Michael, and George Garst read medicine.  Katherine_
 Ribble_Garst_had_nine_children--seven_sons,_John,_Elias,_George_W.,_
 Joel,_Daniel,_Michael,_and_Henry_Clay;_two_daughters,_Mary_and_
 Hannah."
                   (signed) Katherine Sample Garst
                                   Muncie, Indiana


   It is interesting to note the part that our Garst family played in
 the revolutionary war effort as they lived in southeastern
 Pennsylvania during this period and also where some of the major
 battles were fought. For example, Henry Clay's letter speaks of the
 battle at Brandwine.  According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica,
 this was a battle of major importance where the British General Sir
 William Howe with an army of 15,000 troops met General George
 Washington's Continental Army of approximately 11,000.  This skirmish
 took place near Chadds Ford, on Brandywine Creek about 25 miles
 southwest of Philadelphia, not far from the homes of our early family
 members.

(Notes by Joseph Edward Garst)