John 'Adam' Garn

John Adam Garn was known almost exclusively as Adam Garn even though his grave marker lists his name as John A. Garn. His will, death record, land records, and census records all report his name as Adam Garn with the possible exception of an early census in Pennsylvania. This difference between the name on his grave marker and the name he used or gave on important documents is evidence that he was named according to the German naming conventions of his parents who immigrated to America from Germany.

Adam would never have been known as John Garn and most friends and neighbors would not have even known his first name. There is indisputable evidence that he had a brother named John Garn or Johannes Gern, the German name for someone they intended to call John, another reason he would not have been called John. He undoubtedly was officially named Johann Adam Gern at birth, Johann being the version of John given when the name isn't intended to be used as his primary name. But the name he used and would have been known by was Adam Garn, the Anglicized version of Johann Adam Gern.

Adam was married twice. The name of his first wife, the date of the marriage, and the date she died are not known. He was married as Adam Gern to Eve Cell in 1828 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Inscription: Aged 80y 4m 2d

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 17 2018, 20:19:38 UTC