Join author Allan Garber for a short presentation about To God Alone the Honor, a book providing genealogical information about early Mennonite families in Lancaster County. Allan will have several updated pages, which will be handed out at the event to those who have the book. Allan will also be available to answer questions and sign book copies.
To God Alone the Honor is available at Mennonite Life and the Mennonite Life online store.
This event is complimentary and does not require registration.
This article appeared in the February 2024 issue of The Mirror
Allan Garber’s To God Alone the Honor: The Pioneer Mennonite Families of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Third Edition is available for purchase at Mennonite Life! The book profiles the history of Lancaster County Mennonites through stories, images, and genealogical records.
Garber’s interest in historical storytelling began when he was just eight years old, after he picked up Coals of Fire, a children’s book with examples of nonresistant faith. A familial connection with one of the stories prompted a lifelong dedication to exploring genealogy.
While he now has a wealth of online information at his fingertips, Garber has also had to be creative in his research, as straightforward data can be difficult to find. “Many families didn’t leave much of a written record,” Garber says. “Maybe in the flyleaves of their Martyrs Mirror, or a note or two in the Bible. The record is slim, unfortunately.”
Still, stories emerge from these scant sources, illuminating the lives of those in the pages. An account on page 92 details the shared life of Jacob and Susanna Brubaker, who married in 1749. Listed birth and death dates reveal that the couple had six children together, only one of whom lived into adulthood. Susanna died the day after giving birth to their sixth child. Jacob later remarried a woman named Maria Martin, who gave birth to a daughter. In Jacob’s Martyrs Mirror he wrote, originally in German, “1770 there was born to us a daughter, May 8. With all my might I pray that God would send his strength to us and the child, and indeed also upon all men through Christ’s name.”
“Here is a man who, except for his faith, had lost everything,” Garber says.
Faith converges with history and memory in To God Alone the Honor. “History is what we choose to remember,” Garber says. “We remember this so we can understand who we are, so we can understand our faith.”
