Johann Jacob Fast ^{1 2 3 4}

  General Notes:

[Web Site: The Johann Nicklaus Fast Family]
Johann Jacob Fast, died in Göcklingen, Germany in 1732. To date, research has failed to find his record of marriage or birth, assuming there was one. During this period of history, Johann Jacob was the only Fast family in the Göcklingen area. This suggests that he came to Göcklingen from somewhere else. The trick will be to find out where.

The origin of the Fast clan is believed to be European, but the exact location is unknown. Consider the following found in the Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. II. D-H (1956), page 314:

"Fast (Feste, Faast, Vast), a Mennonite family name in the rural Flemish congregations of West Prussia. rarely also in the Danzig Flemish and the Montau Frisian congregations. It was first mentioned in 1582 at Wotzlaff, where an Arendt Feste appears in the record. The first appearance of the name Fast in a church record was at Danzig [Poland] in 1669. According to records there were nine bearers of the name in 1727, all of whom had Dutch given names. The name was represented in such congregations as Ladekopp, Fürstenwerder, Heubuden, Elbing, and Danzig."

Information found at the Genealogical Society of Stockholm, Sweden shows that Fast's have been living in Sweden as far back as the early 17th century. They are descendant from a Nicolaus Heinrich Fast (1605-?), who was believed to have been born in Rostock, Germany. It is interesting to note that most of his descendants (where records could be found), were either members of the clergy or military.

Groups of Fast's seem to have been concentrated along the southern Baltic Sea in northern Germany and Poland. They would have been under the influence of Scandinavian peoples, collectively call Vikings. According to the books Russian Primary Chronicles, and Medieval Russia, A Source Book, 900-1700, by Basil Dmytryshyn (2nd e. 1973), the Viking King Oleg (10th Century) controlled much of what is today Russia. Traveling up and down the Dnieper River, he made the city of Kiev a capital from which he could operate. In September of 912 AD, Oleg conquered the Greeks at Tsargrad. He forced the Greek Emperor Leo to submit to a trade treaty, which greatly increased Russian wealth. This treaty listed the names of King Oleg's envoys who were responsible for its implementation. The name Fast is listed fourteenth out of the fifteen names. Here is evidence that some Fast's were Vikings.

Vikings were a collection of various Scandinavian's who controlled the Baltic Sea. Many of the early Fast family groups have been found in what today is northern Germany and Poland near the southern Baltic Sea ports. They could have been of Germans extraction, who were controlled by the Vikings. This would be a very interesting area to concentrate in an effort to locate the origin of the Fast clan.
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[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 12, Ed. 1, Tree #1194]
Göcklingen is in the Duchy of Kurpfalz - Death could be 1732

  Noted events in his life were:

• He has alternate death information of 2 March 1730/31 and Göcklingen, Duchy Of Kürpfalz, Pfalz, GERMANY. ¹

Johann married Anna Margaretha Fuchs about 1720 in Göcklingen, Duchy Of Kürpfalz, Pfalz, GERMANY.¹ (Anna Margaretha Fuchs was born about 1700 in Germany ⁴ and died after December 1727 in Germany ¹.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They have conflicting marriage information of Lutheran and 1712. ⁴