The David Frantz Family

My great-grandma was Minnie Martin.....Sarah Minnie Frantz Martin to be exact. I only remember meeting her once when I was young. She lived in Indiana and we lived in Ohio, so it just wasn't possible for my mom to visit her grandmother much.

Minnie married Cleve Martin......George Cleveland Martin to be exact, in 1911. My grandfather, Galen Cleveland (he hated the name Cleveland) was their first child. Minnie was born and raised in Greenbrier County, West Virginia and was the daughter of Abraham Frantz Martin and Lovie Alice Puckett.

The Abraham Michael Frantz family lived at the bottom of Martin Mountain in a large white house. Abraham and Lovie came from different backgrounds as far as religion goes. Abraham was raised a "River Brethern" or "Dunkard" as they were called then. (Now they are simply known as The Church of the Brethern) Lovie was raised Missionary Baptist. This could have been a real "fly in the ointment" for the couple, but when brought to meet Abraham's parents they found her to be above reproach in every way and religion was no longer a problem. Abraham became a preacher of the Brethern faith and it's said that he married and buried more people than anyone during that time. He was an accomplished man and had a love of learning. A Brethern church was built for him on his farm and the pews were hand made by one of his boys.

Abraham was the son of David Frantz and Sarah Ann Golespy (Gillespie) and was one of 19 children that had been fathered by David. Sarah herself had 9 of those children and David's first wife had the other 10.

David is the first Frantz in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, coming from Boones Mills, Franklin County, Virginia shortly after the Civil War in 1866. The family had grown so large and the land in Franklin County was so bad that David couldn't feed or cloth his children. He had heard tales of the fertile land across the Blue Ridge Mountains and decided to travel there to see for himself if he could provide for his family better there.

After traveling a long time David came into Greenbrier County. He knew that this was were he was meant to raise his family and he started looking for a place to live. He happened upon a large brick home, found out it was for sale and purchased it right then and there. This house, called Grandview, had been built by Captain John Young, brother to my Anne Young who had married Robert Thompson (parents of Margaret Katherine Thompson who married Pere Warner Martin).

David's granddaughter, Ada Frantz (sister to Sarah Minnie Frantz Martin) described him in a story she wrote as a tall man, big boned and slow moving. A deeply religious man, he always carried his Bible with him - a German Bible. He spoke fluent German and read the Bible to his grandchildren at every chance. Except for his reading, David was a quiet man and never lost his temper or raised his voice. His wife, Sarah, called him Davey. Sarah was just the opposite. She was short and plump and was a bundle of energy - always the first to rise.