Residence: Guevavi

Race or Tribe:  Tudesco (German)

Notes:  Padre Gerstner was admitted into the Society of Jesus 12 July 1744 as a member of the Jesuit Province of the Upper Rhine.  He was serving there when he volunteered for the missions.  He arrived on the frontier late in 1756.  The Sobaipuris did not want him, but wanted Father Keller.  He retreated to Suamca.  Then he joined Father Pauer at Guevavi but stayed only a few weeks.  He returned to Guevavi in mid-January 1760 to take over from Father Pauer.  He was continually ill while in the Pimeria Alta.  He was at Guevavi for sixteen months as the Indian population declined and the non-Indian population increased.  He finished Pauer's church at Sonoita and started the church at Calabazas. By 1760, nearly one-half of the natives Gerstner baptized were in Tumacácori, showing that it was the largest and most active village.  He left Guevavi 25 May 1761.  He went to Saric and built a church. Following the expulsion of the Jesuits, he was imprisoned at Cadiz. Later he was kept under house arrest in a monastery. The Bishop of Wurtzburg secured a release for him in 1780.