George Fazenbaker was born in Maryland about 1800, son of George Fazenbaker and Elizabeth. George married Sarah "Sally" Walls, daughter of William Walls and Elizabeth "Betsey" Broadwater. Sally was born 9/5/1803. George and Sally's eldest-known child, Jane, was born in 1822 in what is now Garrett County.

George inherited a share of his father's estate. On 2/7/1828, George together with his brothers Conrad and Marcus and sister "Sally" sold their interest in their father's two Military Lots to brother Godfrey Fazenbaker.

At the time of the 1840 census, George headed a household of 10 people. While that census did not record the names of the people in the household other than the head, it did record their age brackets. Unlike so many other households in the area, no one was involved in agriculture. Rather, one person, presumably George, was involved in manufacture and trade.

While little is known about the family life of this generation of Fazenbakers, we do have the bit of information recorded that George and Sally objected to the marriage about 1842 of daughter Jennie to John Bear, this according to Jennie's own account. While practically every article of life has radically changed since then, parents' concern for the well-being of their children has not.

In 1850, George's household was in the New Germany area of western Allegany County (now Garrett County). That year, he was working as a laborer and headed a household of 12 people. The 1850 census was the first federal census to list the name of each member of the household. His mother-in-law Betsey "Wall", age 73, was living with the family in that year, as were children "Mark" (age 24), Henry (age 19), Martha (age 17), Ormand (age 15), Godfrey (age 12), Joshua (no age given), Constantine (age 9), Ann R. (age 6), and Mary (age 5). At one time, George and his wife lived near the National Road (now Alternate U.S. Route 40).

At the time of the 1870 census, Sally was living in the household headed by son Joshua in the vicinity of Frostburg. Daughter Mary L. was also in the household. George was not listed in the household; perhaps he had died by that time. The 1880 census noted that Sally was a widow. Joshua was living in the household. An 1891 account written by Sally's cousin Amos Broadwater reported that Sally was then living with the Layman family--surname of daughter 7.12 Mary--near Frostburg. Sally died 3/22/1898, age 94.

Children of George Fazenbaker and Sally Walls: Jane "Jennie" Fazenbaker (born 7/21/1822), Marks (or Marcus) "Indian Marks" Fazenbaker (born 10/25/1827), William Fazenbaker (born about 1828), Henry Fazenbaker (born in October 1831), Martha Fazenbaker (born in the mid-1830s), Orman Fazenbaker (born 9/27/1834), Godfrey Fazenbaker (born about 1838), Joshua Fazenbaker (born 9/28/1840), Constantine "Tine" Fazenbaker (born 9/28/1840), Anna R. Fazenbaker (born 1/19/1844), and Mary L. Fazenbaker (born 12/16/1845).

I have compiled a huge amount of information about thousands of descendants of George and Elizabeth Fazenbaker. My book, The Fazenbaker Family of Western Maryland was issued in May 1999. It has 500 pages of text, plus detailed references, an every name index, a number of photos and maps, being in all 853 pages. The book is available for sale. Interested parties should contact me by e-mail for ordering information. Soon, the Fazenbaker book will be available for reference at the Ruth Enlow Library in Grantsville, Maryland and the Library of Congress. Inquiries about western Maryland Fazenbaker families are welcome.

This page was revised November 26, 1999. For more information about western Maryland family history, visit Walt Warnick's Western Maryland Family History Home Pages.