Family History

The Garr family has it's roots in Bavaria, Germany. The immigrant ancestor for this line was Andreas Gaar, born June 14, 1685. Andreas was a master weaver, as his father also named Andreas had been as well. Around the year 1710, he married Eve Siedelmann, born February 23, 1685, in Bavaria. Eve was from the same area, and also came from a family with several weavers and cloth makers. They had several children in Germany, and sometime between 1728 and 1730 they moved to Madison County, Virginia. Eve passed away in 1730 after this move and Andreas died May 22, 1738.

The next in the line was Lorenz Gaar born November 29, 1716 in Germany. He followed his parents to Madison County, Virginia, where in 1742 he married Dorothea Blankenbaker. The area of Virginia where they settled was part of a large German settlement. This German population was in the area because of the colony of Germanna, begun by Virginia governor Spotswood. Though the Garrs were not a part of the initial settlement of the colony, they married into some of the families that were part of the colony, including the Wilhoits and Blankenbakers. Before they passed away on March 4, 1811 and October 4, 1837 respectively, Lorenz and Dorothea had a son named Andrew, next in this Garr line. Andrew and his future wife Christina Wilhoit were both born in 1750 and the two married in 1770 in Culpepper, Virginia. They were the parents of Jacob Garr, born in 1782.

The family line can also be traced through another son of Lorenz and Dorothea, this one named John. He was born in 1744 in Culpepper County, Virginia. John married Margaretha Wilhoit, born in 1748 in Culpepper County. Margaretha was a sister to Christina Wilhoit, who married Andrew Garr, brother to John. The occurrence of two sets of brothers and sisters marrying like this is not uncommon during this period of time. People lived in close-knit communities and socialized with neighbors. This combined with large family sizes meant that having two neighboring families intermarrying through multiple siblings was common. This also meant that any children of Lorenz and Dorothea would be double first cousins to any of John and Margaretha's children, as they would share two sets of grandparents.  

As it turns out, the next generation drew the families even closer together when Lorenz and Dorothea's son Jacob married John and Margaretha's daughter Susanna, on June 18, 1812 in Madison County, Virginia. It was this generation that brought the Garr family into Kentucky, when they moved to Jefferson County, Kentucky around 1832. The family began to acquire land along what is now Hurstbourne Lane. They became fairly wealthy, and came to own a carriage and silver watch, both luxury items at the time. When Jacob died on October 28, 1854, his lands were split amongst his sons, and it was Benjamin Louis Garr who received the land on which the family home stood.

Benjamin Louis Garr, the next generation of this Garr line, on August 27, 1820. Benjamin married Kazia Russell on June 3, 1856. Benjamin and Kazia were the parents of Charles Russell Garr, who married Sallie Rebecca Crain. Charles and Sallie in turn were the parents of Charles Crain and Clyde Lewis Garr. Charles Crain married Elisabeth Higgins Headley, and together they were the parents of Elisabeth and Charlotte Garr. Charlotte married Paul Richard Schubert, and had two sons, Richard Allen and Charles Garr Schubert. 

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