THE GARN FAMILY
including
Carn, Garnes, Garns, and Gern
Second Edition

A Portable Document Format or PDF version of the book may be downloaded at no cost by clicking on one of the following links. LARGE FILE CAUTION The file is almost 63MB and will take a while to download.

• My Web Site
• ohiomemory.org
• Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center's online Family Resources database in their Free Databases

This book traces the descendants of Johannes Gern, who was born around 1615. He lived in Neidlingen, Germany, where he married in 1637. His son David was born there but moved to Kürnbach, Germany, before 1701. Johannes' 2nd great grandsons, brothers Johannes and Conrad Gern, emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania in the mid to late 1700s.

The 2nd great grandson Johannes Gern, also known as John Garn, was born in 1738 in Kürnbach, settled in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and died there in 1808.

The 2nd great grandson Conrad Gern was born in 1748 in Kürnbach, Germany, settled in Guilford Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, and probably died there after 1810.

For many years it was believed that three brothers, Frederick, John, and Christian Garn immigrated to America in the mid 1700s. John is well documented. However, no evidence was ever produced to support the claim that he had brothers named Frederick and Christian. It is now known that the brother believed to have been named Frederick is really the above named Conrad and that Johannes and Conrad never had a brother named Christian.

The best explanation for the confusion over the name Christian and the incorrect naming of Conrad as Frederick is that there were multiple marriages among descendants of Johannes and Conrad Gern and that descendants confused the names of siblings of their ancestors. Johannes Gern had sons John and Frederick Garn. Conrad Gern had sons John and Christian. And descendants of some of these men intermarried and undoubtedly became confused over which ancestor named John Garn had a brother named Frederick and which had a brother named Christian.

Although most of the people that are named in the book use the Garn spelling of the surname, many people in the book use a variation of the spelling including some that use the original spelling, Gern. For this reason people doing research on the Carn Family, the Garnes Family, the Garns Family, the Gern Family, and the Gerns Family may find the book useful.

The first edition of this book is not available as a PDF. It is only available as a hardback book and is sold at the Bedford County Historical Society in Bedford, Pennsylvania. To go to their page where the book is sold, click here.