Costner Descendants

Kestner, Kastner, Costner, Chostner

In the past four hundred years, the name has been spelled many ways. When we first came into contact with our ancestor, Bolthazor, in Hannover. Germany. the name was spelled Kestner. Some of those who have made a study of names - especially in Germany - say the name is derived from the word "Kegler" which means he was employed as a key maker. It is a matter of record and tradition that when the common use of the first name became so confusing that the occupation of the individual was frequently adoped as the "Surname"; John, the smithy, became John Smith; Henry, by the brook, became Henry Brook; Frank, the horse trainer, became Frank Horseman. The four principal and recognized spellings of the name is as shown above. However, it has been spelled Kasner, Cassnar, Casnar, Kester, Kesner, Cosner, Cossner, Chotner, Cothner, Cotner, and others as they understood the pronunciation.

The Bones of My Bones

In 1748 we find one Adam Kestner with three sons and two daughters, boarding a British ship. Tradition has it that Adam could neither read or write. The ship's clerk spelled the name Cassnar and Adam signed it with the letter "H" which is used in Europe, instead of "X" as used in the United States. Again according to tradition and some records, the early emigrants from Southern Germany came down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, Holland, by scow, barge, or any kind of a vessel that would float. Most of them are supposed to have built big barges of logs, bound and nailed together. This was extremely hazardous as the Rhine River, even today, is very swift and full of rapids. Those who have read the story of the "mythical" three Beautiful Maidens of the Lorelei Rock at Bacharach, Germany, were not reading fiction. The dangerous rapids and the sharp turn in the river is still there - so are the three rocks into which the three maidens were transformed when they failed to charm the captain and wreck his ship. Tradition tells us that our ancestors migrated into southern Germany about the time of Christ and were there throughout the reign of the Roman Empire. It has even been speculated that they might be descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. It has been established by some that the descendants of Rueben settled in France; the descendants of Dan in England, Ireland, and Scotland; and that the descendants of Essu were among the earliest settlers of the Turkish Empire. This could be considered speculation, but let us go from "the Land of Speculation" to the Land of Reality." In the early part of the 18th Century, the Roman Empire began a period of conquest and expansion. They took over northern Africa, Europe, and the British Isles. Many works of their engineers, sculptors, and artists still stand as proof of their skill and ability. Most of the research pertaining to Germany was done prior to World War II. During that war, Hannover and the Hannover District was heavily bombed by the Allied Air Force. Most of all the industry, public records, and public buildings were destroyed, along with private records. Many churches and church records were destroyed. In the course of searching church records, public records, and tombstones, Bolthazor Kestner was found. He was born in or near Hannover, Germany, in the year 1550. There was no record of his wife; however, a record of one son was found. There may have been more. In many instances no record will be found of a wife even though names and some information of children is found. There are people named Kestner living in and around Hannover. However, they are not of our family. The family in which we are interested moved into Switzerland, Austria, and a least one of the descendants, Adam, emigrated to the colonies by way of Rotterdam, Holland, and Cowes, England. Why did so many people emigrate from Europe to the Colonies in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries? Was it a spirit of adventure? Was it religious persecution? Was it political? Was it economic or just a desire to go somewhere? "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." The major portion of the emigrants came to America from the Palatinate District of Southern Germany. These people and their ancestors had lived in that section of the continent since before the time of Christ. They were well established and lived there during the time of the Roman Invasion by Caesar and other Roman emperors. They were there at the time of Martin Luther and the religious upheaval of his day. In fact, our ancestor Adam, was a member of the Lutheran Church. The Palatinate section of southwestern Germany has been one of the most sought for and fought over provinces of Europe. During the Thirty-Year War - 1618-1648 - Louis XIII of France fought the German rulers of this district and did immense damage. No other region of the world has seen so many wars and so much military destruction. When Louis XIV came to the throne of France, he adopted a "scorched search" policy toward this district because it protected the French protestants who had fled religious persecution in France. He laid waste the countryside, destroyed the crops, ravished and burned cities, and reduced the Palatinate to a district of desolation. Churches, palaces, castles, fields, museums, monasteries, and all public buildings were destroyed. With such tragedy, wars, lack of stability in Governments, and no place to turn, the first mass emigration from Europe took place- beginning about 1700. About this time, Great Britain and France were engaged in a number of wars with much political unrest. For a period of about 150 years, they were at war or on the verge of war. At this time Queen Anne was the ruling monarch of Great Britain and she gave the refugees all the help and assistance she could. Ships were provided for their transport. At this time, William Penn, whose father was an admiral in the British Navy and to whom the ruling monarch was heavily indebted, approached the British government for a grant of land in the colonies. His request was immediately granted and he was given title to several million acres in exchange for the debt to his father. This land was named Pennsylvania and after making a trip to the Colonies for a survey of his holdings, William Penn, a master at promoting and organizing, returned to England and put on a campaign extolling the opportunities and virtues of the colonies for new settlers. The result was that thousands of these German emigrants set sail for the New World and especially Pennsylvania where most of them landed. A large percent of them went to work in the coal mines of York County and surrounding districts to recoup their finances and survey the possibilities and opportunities in their new venture. It was in such surroundings and time in Colonial history that we find our ancestor, Adam Kastner, on the 16th of September 1748 at the Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, taking the usual Oaths to the Government.