Abraham Frantz was born on 29 September 1729 in Schlabach, Vinstingen, Alsace, the son of Peter Frantz, Jr. and his wife, Anna Maria Hahn. Abraham’s birth is recorded in the Reformed Church, Diedendorf, Alsace.

In the book Pennsylvania German Pioneers, there are ship lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia between 1727 and 1808, we find that Abraham and his brothers qualified on 20 October 1747 at the courthouse in Philadelphia. The word “qualified” means that they had to take the Oath of Allegiance to the British King, and Abraham did so in the presence of William Atwood, Esquire, the mayor of Philadelphia, and William Allen, Esquire, Recorder.

Abraham Frantz purchased considerable land in Westmoreland County in 1775 and, a few years later, left a sizeable estate in cash money. Around 1761 Abraham Frantz married Catharine Willems in Northampton County. Their first child, John Jacob Frantz, was born on 6 July 1763. Their first daughter Naomi Barbara was born on 11 October 1764. Abraham and Catharine had eight children in all. The other children were named Abraham, Anna Marie, Elizabeth, Mary Sarah, Catherine, and Isaac.

Abraham Frantz’s record in the Continental Army is clear from 1 December 1776 to 6 November 1778 from information obtained from muster and payroll records. On 5 December 1776, General George Washington was retreating through New Jersey following disastrous defeats at the battles of Long Island and Fort Washington. His troops were strengthened by the arrival of Col. Haussegger’s German Regiment. Abraham Frantz fought at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He was in camp at White Marsh and Valley Forge and spent the bitter winter at the latter with General Washington and the American Army. He was involved in the Philadelphia campaign when the city was lost to the British and the battle of Brandywine. He was still in Valley Forge in May of 1778, then Second River in June, and White Plains in July. Abraham Frantz was discharged from the Continental Army on 19 July 1779.

The remaining days of Abraham Frantz’s life are cloudy. From Albert’s History of Westmoreland County is recorded, “Among the recollections of Revolutionary times still preserved hereabouts there is the destruction of the cabin home of the Frantz family and the death or captivity of the inmates which occurred some time previous to the Hanna’s Town affair. A squad of Indians coming suddenly upon them gained admission to their cabin. Two of the family were killed and the rest taken prisoners. The Indians at the time of the attack set the cabin on fire and did not remove the bodies of the two dead from where they had been scalped, but the bodies were found by the burned cabin the next day. One of the bodies was found lying so near the fire as to be roasted on its one side. They were buried by the neighbors at the garden fence.”

Sources:

1. Albert, George Dallas, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1882.
2. Strassburger, Ralph Beaver, Pennsylvania German Pioneers: a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, Vol. 1, Pennsylvania. Norristown: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934, pages 369-37.