Johann Nicklaus Fast

What is the origin of the Fast surname?
    Any English language dictionary will show three meaning for the word "fast".
          1) Rapid in movement.
          2) Refrain from eating certain foods, as in observing a holy day
          3) Firm, stable, devoted, not easily moved.
     The meaning and use of words can change over time.  Also, family groups moved across Europe from one culture to another because of war, religious persecution, or famine.  Different cultures may use the same word, such as "fast", but with an alternative meaning.  A consequence of cultures merging is that the same word may take on multiple uses.  This may explain why today the English language "fast" has three different usages, as illustrated above.
     Are any of these likely choices for a surname?  Consider the third choice.   Many generations ago, a family group may have become known as "Fast" because they were exceptionally loyal or stubborn.  For example, they adhered fast to their convictions.  In battle they were not easily moved because of their fierce fighting, and they held fast to their defensive positions.
     When the word "fast" was adopted as a family surname, the meaning may have been completely different from what we know today.  In this case, the meaning of the word, and therefore, the reason for adoption has been lost to history.
     We must also consider the alternative spellings research has discovered associated with the Fast family.  For example, Fass, Vast, Faas, and Fahs.  In the old German, the V in Vast is pronounced the same as F.  All these have similar pronunciations, depending on how thick of a German accent you want to use.  In modern German, fass is a barrel, tub, or vat.  Perhaps the Fass clan made wine.   The word fassen means to seize, to catch, to summon up courage.   Perhaps fassen, over time, was shortened to fass.  All this, of course, is speculation.  The fact is, how the Fast clan got it's surname is unknown.

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Where did the Fast clan come from?
Nicklaus Fast father, 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. he 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, V.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 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 a effort to locate the origin of the Fast clan.

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Why do some Nicklaus Fast descendants use the surname Faust?
At one time, the surname "Faust" was believed to have been the original spelling. For reasons that are not clear, it was assumed that Nicklaus allowed the name to be shortened from Faust to Fast sometime after his arrival in America.
Jonathan Wesley Fast (1841-1940) became interest in his family history while attending the West Virginia Agricultural College (now the West Virginia University) at Morgantown, West Virginia. He knew about a number of documents belonging to Nicklaus where the surname had been spelled Faust. His son, Wirt Gerry Faust (1886-1952) and author of By Way of Rotterdam , writes about his father (page 53)

"While a student at college, he adopted the spelling of the family name [Faust] which he always insisted was the original form."

Jonathan Wesley Fast changed his surname from Fast to Faust, thinking it was the original spelling. Following in Jonathan Wesley's footsteps, over the years a small number of other Fast's did the same.
We now know positively from Nicklaus Fast's birth record, and a number of other German and American documents, that Nicklaus' surname had never been Faust. The two most common spelling variations are Fass and Fast.

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Why did Johann Nicklaus Fast emigrate to America?
    Johann Nicklaus Fast's father, Johann Jacob Fast, died in 1732, leaving his mother to provide for four small children.  They lived in a rented house and owned just one cow.  Johann Nicklaus Fast and his two brothers were simple field laborers.  They had no formal education and little money.
    Nicklaus married Katharina Margaretha Dörner in 1749, and she became pregnent.  They may have initally stayed with Nicklaus' mother or Katharina's parents.  Either way, very likely they had little room or privacy.  With Katharina pregnant, Nicklaus is now faced with the challenge of providing for a growing family.
    To address this problem, in 1749 Nicklaus attempted to obtain citizenship in Katharina's home town of Ilbesheim.  He was turned down because he did not have enough money or property.  At this point, he must have considered emigration to America as his only viable option.  They began the journey in the Spring of 1750, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 15, 1750.  Katharina's baby, Johann Jacob Fast, was baptized on September 9, 1750.

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