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 | Ghering |
| Chandler |
| Crawford |
| Baney |
Mother's side:
| Proper |
| Bush |
| Sutton |
| Britton |
If you can fill in
missing information, or would like to exchange information, please email me.
Kathy Goodman
All information on the Following the Heart Home Web site is provided for the free use of those engaged in non-commercial genealogical research.
You can use this information as a basis for research. If information has been passed to me by others, I don't know the original source and you should consider it unverified information. I give my sources in the Endnotes section or link at the bottom of each family page.
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© 1999 - 2005 Kathy Goodman, All Rights Reserved
Researching in PennsylvaniaPage that lists my links to Internet resources
When I went back to Pennsylvania for a visit in October 1998, Joyce Neidich and I went through records at the Venango County Courthouse in Franklin. We traipsed through the Lutheran Cemetery at Dempseytown, deciphering and taking pictures of every Ghering grave we could find. Christian and Christina Ghering, my immigrant ancestors, are buried there along with their sons: Conrad and Benjamin, and others. Christian's brother, Conrod and members of his family are also buried there.
After finding Catherine Crawford's will at the Venango County Courthouse in Franklin, I discovered that Robert and Catherine Crawford were buried in the Petroleum Center Cemetery. They were my grandmother Hilda Crawford Ghering's grandparents. Petroleum Center, once a Venango County oil boom town, has long since disappeared. Only the cemetery remains and it is hidden back in the woods. Luckily, there was a sign pointing the way. We followed a narrow dirt road back to the cemetery. Robert and Catherine's grave markers were in excellent shape.
By posting a query on the Venango Web site, I have been in contact with other descendants of Christian and Christina from across the US, including some first cousins. Some of whom have been very open to sharing their information and in turn are excited to see what I have gathered.
I am enjoying meeting members of my extended family and hope to meet many more.
Coincidence or design?
Through all these experiences I have felt a peace come over my life. I no longer feel like I have a small family. I am learning the importance of keeping family ties alive and am enjoying meeting my extensive family. I have met relatives from all over the United States and in Germany.
I can't help but think that God is trying to make something happen. Is He trying to heal wounds passed through the generations like a precious inheritance? Or, perhaps trying to bring together the people whose ancestors had once known each other so well, visited frequently, and were so involved in each others lives? Did a part of Christian and Christina want to visit their homeland once more? Many are the pieces that had to fall into place to make all this happen. . .