Garret was born on October 13th, 1745 in Abbington, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In the 1770s, he married Elizabeth Larue, who was born April 29, 1759 in Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

My mother’s father, Clarence Rowley Van Sant (1891-1963), was a direct descendant of Jacobus Leendertszen van der Grift (1622-after 1691) and his wife Rebecca Frederickse Leendertszen van der Grift (1628-1711), Dutch immigrants to New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in the 1640s.

My maternal grandfather, Clarence Rowley Van Sant (1891-1963) was a direct descendant of Christoffel Harmens/Harmenszen (about 1618-1655) and his son Gerret Stoffelzen (1644-1707), both of whom immigrated to New Amsterdam (in present-day New York City) in 1651.

Clarence Rowley Van Sant (1891-1963) was my mother’s father and my maternal grandfather. Clarence married my grandmother, Sarah Theresa Casey Van Sant (1895-1992), in Augusta, Georgia in 1919.