Friedrich “Fritz” Ebgert—Apgar Family Patriarch

By Michael A. Apgar

Handout at the Apgar Family Reunion on September 20, 2003

Foreword: The following account is supported by historical records, including the Church of the Latter Day Saints ’ microfilms of old German church books of parishes at Puderbach and Niederwambach, ship passenger lists, and court records documented in Westerwald to America by Annette K. Burgert and Henry Z. Jones. Hank Jones told current Apgar researchers in March 2003 that the mark of a great genealogist is the ability to be open to alternative interpretations and weigh new evidence objectively. Our Apgar Historian-Emeritus, Dorothy E. Apgar, passed this test with flying colors. Dorothy accepted the new information presented here and made suggestions for improvements to this article. Thus revision of previously published Apgar family history is in no way intended to denigrate the efforts of our earlier family researchers. It is based on information that was not available to them. This story builds on the wonderful legacy of information handed down to us by earlier generations of Apgar family researcher to whom we owe a tremendous amount of gratitude and thanks. Without their work, this story would never have been told.