Biography: Garlitz, Christian by Charles B. Garlet Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Charles B. Garlet USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all noticesand submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO IS THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE GARLITZ FAMILY TO SETTLE IN WESTERN MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA? by Charles B. Garlet, Jr. In his Miscellaneous Writings, (J. J. Miller, Cumberland, MD., 1896, p.195), Jacob Brown, while discussing the Garlitz family, said. "-------Garlitz, father of Christian, Henry and John, and two sisters, was born in Montgomery county, Md. During, or near the close of the Revolutionary War, he removed with his family westward and located in the southeastern part of Somerset, (then Bedford,) Co. Pa. Here his family grew up, Henry and John remained in Pennsylvania, and Christian stepping over the line into his native State. Thirty-nine years later, Charles E. Hoye published an article titled "Garrett County History of the Garlitz Family", (The Mountain Democrat, Oakland, MD., 7 February 1935) in which he said: "Christian Garlitz I, soon after the American Revolution, moved from Montgomery County, Maryland to what is now Greenville Township, Somerset County, Pa. He settled just north of the Maryland line and was one of the first settlers of that township, then well forested and a fine hunting ground. In the census of 1790 Christy Garlick is listed in Bedford (now Somerset) County with a family of five males and three females. Three of Christians sons were Christian, John, and Henry." As an aside here, though the distinction may not be important, the 1790 census gives the name as Christly, not Christy. Those statements raise the question to be answered in this paper: Is Christly Garlick, (named Christian I by Hoye), the true Garlitz progenitor of western Maryland and Pennsylvania? I believe the answer is no. Christly Garlick, as Hoye says, is documented in the 1790 census for Bedford County, Pennsylvania, which puts him in the right county. He has five males and three females. One of the females is probably, though not necessarily, his wife. The other two females could be the two daughters mentioned by both Brown and Hoye. Except for the head of family the five males, (two more than mentioned in the histories), are all under 16 years old. From this, and apparently without further research, Hoye concluded that Christly is the earliest Garlitz family settler, and called him Christian I. Many Garlitz researchers since have accepted this conclusion as fact. I will show that it is not so. On the face of it, the two names are similar; GARLICK/GARLITZ. Still, they are a bit hard to reconcile. Each can be found in a variety of spellings. Garlick, for example is recorded as Garlach, Gerlach, Garlic, Garlough, Gerlough and other versions, while Garlitz is found as Garlets, Garlitts, Gharlitzs, Corlitz, Goerlitz, Gerlits, and Grlitz. The phonetic similarity, you see, is found consistently in the first syllable; never in the last. In searching subsequent records to learn more about Christly Garlick, little is found. In fact, nothing is found under the Christly Garlick name. There seems to be, however, other Garlicks in the County. Stophel Garlick, for example, is on a 1789 militia list for Providence Township, Bedford County.1 And Stephen Garlick is warranted 200 acres of land on 15 May 1794. 2 Then in 1798, 200 acres located in Providence Township, Bedford County, and belonging to Steven Garlick are taxed $150.3 He has at that time a "cabbin" which measures 18 X 16 worth $10 and 2 stables Finally, in 1808, Christopher Garlick is taxed for property valued at $1008.4 Note that neither Christly nor Stephen was on the militia list but Stophel was and neither Stephen nor Stophel was listed in the 1790 census, while Christly was. Later, in the 1800 census, Stephen is listed while Christly and Stophel aren't. And in 1810, Stephen is enumerated in Bedford County, Providence Township. This is the same Township where Stophel appeared on a militia list, and where Stephen and Christopher were found. Providence Township is north and east of Greenville Township where Brown and Hoye put the pioneer Garlitz. In fact, Providence Township is now located in Fulton County, two counties east of Somerset County. We will pursue this question of the township later. In correspondence with another researcher, the suggestion was made that Christly was a contraction of the given name Christopher. It was also suggested that Stophel was similarly a contraction of Christopher. If that is true, then Steven Garlick, Stophel Garlick, Christopher Garlick, and Christly Garlick are quite possibly one and the same. This theory is supported by the fact that they can all, including Christly as we will see, be placed in the same location and that both Stophel and Christly disappear in later records. To confirm this suggestion, I consulted an Internet site by Charles F. Kerchner, Jr., that gives "nicknames, akas (also known as), and translations for some baptismal and given names used by 18th Century Pennsylvania Germans."5 In his list, we find the following. Christ and Christli are often used in place of Christian and Kit, Stoffel and Christopher are substitutes for the German Christoph. To gain strength for this argument, I queried the renowned German scholar, Rev. Frederick S. Weiser, who graciously offered the following:6 "Christy is normally a nickname for Christian. Stoffel was the nickname for Christopher. Sometimes people who never heard Stoffel read it as Steffan. And I have seen people whose names were Christopher called Christ or Christy or Christly." This information supports a conclusion that the Christly Garlick listed in the 1790 census and identified by Hoye as the pioneer Garlitz is the same person as the Stephen, Christopher, and Stophel Garlick found in other records. And, because of his location in Providence Township, it also supports the suggestion that this Garlick fellow is not the first Garlitz. The pioneer, you'll recall, was placed by both Brown and Hoye in Greenville Township. Further, the great supply of people named Garlitz still living in that area and across the border into Maryland agrees with that statement. Those who have searched it know that the 1790 census is not an index. The names are not listed alphabetically. Nor, as is recorded in a note, are the names listed by township. However, an analysis of the names in the listing provides an interesting clue. Although the inhabitants are not listed by township it seems reasonable to believe that those names appearing together might at least be neighbors. With this in mind, and concluding from the analysis made above that Christly Garlick was a Providence Township citizen, I compared the several names on either side of the Christly Garlick entry in the 1790 census7 with known Providence Township tax payers. In the table below they are listed in the order in which they appear in the census.8 EXCERPT FROM THE EXCERPT FROM 1790 CENSUS THE TAX LIST Coock, William Cook, William Fore, John Fore, John French, Daniel French, Daniel McCimmens, William McClimans, John French, James French, James Garlick, Christly Garlick, Steven Gibbs, Francis Gibbs, Francis Jones, Andrew Jones, Andrew Leviston, John Marton, Benjamin Morrid, John Morgret, Peter Morgret, Peter Of the thirteen names, counting Christly, eight are Providence Township taxpayers. Probably the others are Providence Township residents as well. I conclude from this that Christly Garlick is not the pioneer Garlitz Hoye writes about and is not Christian Garlitz I. We must look elsewhere for that pioneer's identity. Two men, named Hendrey Gerlits, appear on the last page of the 1790 census. To be fair a similar analysis of the names surrounding these two was made. If they are Greenville Township residents, originally Elk Lick Township, we should find another correlation. And that is exactly what happens. On page 26 of the census there are forty one names listed between the two entries for Hendrey Gerlits. Of these forty one inhabitants of Bedford County, twenty two appear on the 1796 tax list for Elk Lick Township.9 I am convinced from this analysis that the first Garlitz to locate in the western parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania is still unknown but is most likely named Hendrey or Henry. Which of the two listed in the census remains to be seen. CBG,Jr. January 25, 2002 1 Pennsylvania Archives, Series 6, Volume III, part 1, p. 30. 2 Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Volume 25, page 520. "Warranties of Land, Bedford County." 3 United States Direct Tax of 1798 for Fulton Co., PA, Vol. 7 (McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania: Fulton County Historical Society, Inc., 1985) p.88. 41808 Triennial Tax Assessment, Bedford County, PA, Providence, Twp. Vol. 12 (McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania: Fulton County Historical Society, Inc., 1990) p. 116. 5 "18th Century PA German Nicknames" by Charles F. Kerchner. 21 September 1995, (updated 13 May 2000). Available at (www.kerchner.com/nickname.htm). 6 Letter to the author from Rev. Frederick S. Weiser dated 17 October 2000. 7 Christly Garlick appears on page 20. 8 Albert Edwards, An Every-name Index for U.S. Direct Tax of 1798 for Fulton County, PA (Box 586, Kalaheo, HI 96741: 1992). 9 Tax List in Year 1796, Salisbury Centennial Souvenir Book (Salisbury, Pennsylvania: Salisbury Centennial Corporation, 1962) p 28.