Andreas Gar (1685-1747) and Eve Seidelmann (1689-?)
Andreas Gar was born in Frankenhofen, Bavaria, Germany, and died in Madison County, Virginia. Eve Seidelmann was born in Sinbronn, Germany, and presumably died in Madison County. They married in Illenschwang, Bavaria, Germany, in 1711.
Andreas's parents: John Gar (1657-1738) and Elizabeth Barbara Schuebel (1663-?)
Eve's parents: George Seidelmann (1641-1716) and Barbara Wambach (1657-?)
Children of Andreas and Eve:
- John Adam Gaar (1711-1793) married Elizabeth Kaifer (1722-1783)
- Rosina Gaar (1713-?) married Fawatt Crisler
- Elizabeth Barbara Gaar (1715-1721)
- Lorenz Gaar (1716-1753) married Dorothy Blankenbaker
- Andreas Gaar, Jr. (1718-1727)
- Eve Maria Gaar (1719-1724)
- Anna Margharetha Gaar (1721-1724)
- Hans George Gaar (1722-1724)
- John Gaar (1724-1727)
- John Leonard Gaar (1726-1727)
- Maria Barbara Gaar (1728-1732)
- Elizabeth Barbara Gaar (1730-?) married Michael Blankenbaker
Before emigrating to America in 1732, Andreas and Eve lived in Illenschwang. Three children died of diptheria in November 1724, and three more children died of dysentery in July 1727. Andreas, Eve, and the five remaining children arrived on the ship Loyal Judith at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1732. However, one of the children, Maria Barbara Gaar, died shortly after their arrival.
The voyage was long and dangerous. The family first had to wait six weeks at Rotterdam to get on the ship. It took 18 days to bring them to Cowes, England. They then waited 16 days in England before embarking on a seven-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Philadelphia. Upon arrival, Andreas sent this letter to his relatives in Bavaria: "God changed the wind, so we arrived safely in Philadelphia, and descending from the ship we thanked our dear Lord that He brought us all sound and safe to this beloved land. It is a hard, trying, and long voyage. There died six old persons and 36 children of smallpox." Regarding Philadelphia, he wrote, "The wine is the life of man. Nice flour, dried meat, and dried fruits are very good. The land is good. Plenty of apples, and better than in Germany. One man preserved 25 barrels of apples. There is plenty of fruit, but as dear as in Germany. Cattle are twice as dear as in Germany. There are plenty of forges, smelting-works, foundries, and mills. Everything is free. Anybody can hunt, whatever he wishes, bears, wolves, etc. I belong in Germantown, six miles from Philadelphia. Am living with a weaver, and work this winter for half wages. A good hired man earns 100 florins; a woman forty. Have not yet seen any pine wood, but cedar wood. The most is oak forests. There came more ships with people, some in six weeks, some in eight weeks, and some in ten weeks, but the last one came in 18 weeks. They suffered great misery, and those that did not die on the sea are mostly sick. I advise no people who have small children to come, as the voyage is too trying, but I do not regret it."
After a brief stay in Germantown, the family moved to the Robinson River Valley in what is today, Madison County, Virginia. Andreas was a weaver-master in Bavaria and a farmer in Virginia. Records show that he acquired a plantation in Virginia with a crop of tobacco and corn. Gaar Mountain and Gaar Mountain Road exist today in Madison County, Virginia.