The story of this Gontz family in America begins with Friederich Gantz. Friedrich Gantz landed at the port of Philadelphia on a ship named Union on September 30th, 1774.
Egle, William Henry. (1892) Names of Foreigners who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania, 1727-1775: With the Foreign Arrivals, 1786-1808. Pennsylvania: E. K. Meyers.
Various sources say that he came from Manheim, Germany but I have not been able to confirm this. He settled in Rapho Township, PA, (http://www.raphotownship.com) which is an area between Elizabethtown and Manheim in Lancaster County, PA.
To give you a historical perspective of what was going on in America around time of Friederich’s arrival I will highlight some dates involving The American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence). What was then only the Thirteen Colonies went to war with Great Britain in 1775. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War) Almost two full years after Friederich’s arrival on July 4, 1776 the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain and became the United States! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence)
Before going any further I need to explain that Friederich Gantz is buried as John Frederick Gantz in the Milton Grove Cemetery (Mount Joy Township, PA - Milton Grove is between Elizabethtown and Manheim, PA). In various records throughout his life his name was spelled either Friedrich, Friederich, Frederich, or Frederick and his birth name would not have been John but Johann. His full name in German would have been Johann Friedrich Gantz.
Frederich was registered as a 2nd class militia soldier on June 27th, 1782 with the Lancaster County Lieutenancy, 7th Battalion, 3rd Company. However, I cannot verify that he actually fought (saw active duty) in the Revolutionary War.
It was through Philip Gantz Sr.'s family that our name changed from Gantz with an "a" to Gontz with an "o". Phillip Sr., one of Frederick's sons, moved to Franklin County, PA and gave all of his children the last name of Gontz. I am not sure why Philip moved away from the rest of the family or why the spelling change occurred but I am working on it.
To learn more about the Gantz and Gontz families visit our genealogy site at http://www.gontzfamily.org/genealogy.
Written by Trevor Gontz.
