Christian Shantz was a white settler who, along with his wife and children, was the first of the Schantz Russel family ancestors to make a home in what is now the Region of Waterloo. He was born July 11, 1769 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania to Jacob Shanz, originally from Switzerland, and Catherine Beary. Shantz married Hannah Paul, also from Montgomery County, in 1791 and together they had ten children: Catharine, Elizabeth, Magdalena, Jacob, David, Heinrich, Susannah, Hannah, Benjamin and Rebecca. In 1810 the family emigrated to Canada, settling at Freeport on the Grand River. Shantz died April 7, 1857 in what is now Kitchener, Ontario and was buried in the First Mennonite Cemetery.