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Mary "Molly" Countz
Mary "Molly" Countz was born in the Shenandoah Valley around 1764. In early 1783 a young German soldier found his way to her father's farm after escaping a POW camp where he had been held, about ninety miles away. He was born Johann Jacob Rierschneck, but his name has been found spelled in old documents in a variety of different ways. He eventually became known as Jacob Rasnake or Rasnick. Jacob decided to stay at the Counts farm, and he and Mary married in Shenandoah County on 25 February 25 1784. The ceremony was performed by an early German minister named John Koontz, who was not Mary's father. Within a few years they and several members of the Counts family migrated to Russell County. They lived on a farm in Glade Hollow, about two miles east of Mary's parents, and stayed there the remainder of their lives. They are buried high upon a hill overlooking their property, in the family cemetery. A memorial was erected by their descendants honoring them and their pioneer children in 1977, and an historical highway marker was dedicated in 2015 marking their family's contribution as early settlers of Russell County and founders of the Rasnake Family of SW Virginia.
Mary "Molly" Countz and Jacob Rasnake had the following nine children:
John
Jacob, Jr.
Elijah
Margaret
Lazarus
Christina
Nancy
Mary
Jonas
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