Welcome to The Land of the Buckeye family history site!
I spent the first few decades of my life with only a vague (and mostly wrong) notion of my ancestry and family history, and with little inclination or capability to learn more. When middle age and the Internet brought the opportunity to investigate the subject myself, I was increasingly captivated by things I began to learn. The combination of my interest in history, the joy of discovery, and a fascination with the increasingly powerful capabilities of the personal computer produced an irresistible impulse to create something useful for posterity. Observing the rather vast scale of my developing genealogy database, I realized how many other living people must share some part of my ancestry. It has been a lot of work, a lot of fun, and very educational, and that's the real purpose of this site -- to share the information for the benefit of others who are similarly interested. I'm not a real genealogist -- it's just a hobby, and I hold no professional credentials in the field. But I take the work seriously, and I've tried to do a respectable job on the research and data verification. Among many discoveries, I learned that some of my ancestors were among the pioneers who headed west after the American Revolution, through the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains, and settled in the Connecticut Western Reserve, the Seven Ranges, the Virginia Military District, and other parts of the Northwest Territory that in 1803 became the State of Ohio, where I was born and live today; thus I call my site "The Land of the Buckeye". I hope you find it interesting, and helpful to your own research.
About Errors
From Mirriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: "er-ror: 1a: an act or condition of ignorant or imprudent deviation from a code of behavior; 1b: an act involving an unintentional deviation from truth or accuracy ..."
Yes, it's true -- there are errors in my data. Errors of omission, errors of commission, factual errors, typographical errors, grammar errors, botched source citation formats, wrong citation details in source citations, errors in the original sources repeated/carried forward into my data -- the list is long, I'm sure. Between the errors in original sources, the failings of human hands and eyes in entering and checking data, and the technical maneuvers required to make software tools present it as desired, perhaps the more remarkable characteristic is the number of facts shown correctly!
The errors in this data fall into two categories -- they are either (a) non-obvious and unintentional, meaning I am unaware of them, or else (b) visible or easily-discoverable "quality" errors -- source citation format problems, typos/spelling/capitalization/punctuation, wrong page in source cited, town location in the wrong county, etc. I hate these errors, which were caused mostly by my early preference for data entry speed over quality. I delayed putting my data on the web for several years while trying to clean it up for this presentation. It is far better than it was, and I'm still working on it, but I ultimately decided that "better is the enemy of good enough" - time marches on, people who want to know this information aren't getting any younger, and it's wrong to withhold it from view based on the existence of imperfections in the presentation. I would love to hear from you if you see any errors, particularly of the "(a)" type - and thanks in advance!
In a few cases, I have deliberately included contradictory information presented from a single source, such as a book in which the author states a date of death, and then quotes an obituary that states a different date of death, to maintain the integrity of the cited source. I've also deliberately left a lot of the original (contemporaneous) punctuation and abbreviation as written by the authors of books, when quoting their work, although some obvious typographical errors were corrected. In other cases, I have noted contradictory information that I have discovered, or that has been provided to me, with or without my own thoughts on the likely truth of the matter. For example, there are a few cases of children of the same parents with birth dates separated by less than the amount of time required by human reproductive biology - I know it can't be right, but I don't know what the truth is, and/or don't have a more likely theory, so I just left it as I found it. If you find an error in this data, and if you are willing to invest the time and effort to inform me about it, I will do my absolute best to honor your effort by correcting and republishing it as soon as feasible, and I thank you in advance for bothering to help me, and us.
About Sources and Credit
"Sources" are where you found facts. "Credit" is what you give to folks who found the facts first, and were the providers of useful information. You "cite" sources, and you "give" credit. At least, that's my take on the situation.
With all due respect to the honorable profession of genealogy, and the authors of such excellent genealogical reference books as Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills and Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records by Richard S. Lackey, both of which I own and try to use appropriately, correctly identifying "the" source for a given fact can become a bit maddening. Consider something as simple as an entry on a digitized census page, viewed on the screen of my computer. My immediate source is the computer monitor. The image shown on the screen display of my computer was formed by the electrical circuits and software processing in the computer and graphics card. The computer operating system was hosting a web browsing application, and also operating a network connection that runs from the processor interface through the ethernet port of my computer, through a router, a cable terminal, my ISP's network, out to the Internet to a web site where other computers (file servers) host images of information that researchers of genealogy would want to see. That web site has a commercial name, a URL, and is well-plastered with copyright notices, of course, even while serving up totally unchanged images of public documents, complete with gratuitous watermark logos. Those servers hold, on magnetic or optical media, the digital data files that are binary representations of scanned microfilm images. The microfilm itself, or copies of it, is physically elsewhere -- in multiple locations, actually. The microphotography was performed by someone unknown, at some earlier date, and produced a roll of film of photographic images of original paper census documents that are presently held in government archives, to the extent that they remain in existence and legible. The census enumerator was ostensibly attempting to write down accurately on the census form what the interviewed person told him verbally, within the limits of his hearing and their collective proficiency with the language, regarding the identities and facts about the person speaking and others in that household. The person giving the information was, one generally assumes, speaking the truth, as best he/she knew it, although occasional examples to the contrary can be found. Viewing the census page image on my computer monitor, I attempted to interpret the writing that was made by the enumerator, and that has passed through all of those transforming and transporting processes, media, times, and places to bring it into view in my own home. So, where it appears in my viewing of a page of the 1870 census to show the age of a child as "7", who or what is really the source of the "7"? And if, for the purpose of making a database entry of "abt. 1863" for the child's birth date, who or what, exactly, is the source of that fact? Monitor, computer, browser, Internet, ISP vendor, genealogy web site, digital image file, microfilm, microphotographer, census page, census enumerator, or parent of the child?
End of rant -- of course we should try to follow the expert guidance .....
Two more things, regarding "missing" documentation. First, I started my research in the mid-1990s, strictly to satisfy my personal curiosity, without any intention of sharing it outside my family, or any perceived need to record my sources - that is the explanation for a lot of the missing source information. I do better now. Second, I will use the example of my ancestors Philip and Barbara (Swartz) Wendell, originally of Shenandoah County, Virginia, who were pioneer settlers in Beaver Township, Guernsey (now Noble) County, Ohio, arriving there before December, 1801 as documented by a land purchase record. The following is quoted from Stories of Guernsey County - Sidelights on the Stories in the Book by William G. Wolfe, page 66, regarding the formation and early years of Beaver Township: "The Guernsey County commissioners ordered the township organized at the house of Philip Wendell. John House was named Justice of the Peace and served as such for eighteen years. He never kept any docket, but recorded his transactions on slips of paper which he filed by slipping them between the logs of the walls of his cabin." So, I claim the rest of the documentation on that Wendell family, and their friends and neighbors, was on those scraps of paper, stuck between the logs of John House's cabin on Beaver Run, along with the "missing documentation" on some of my other pioneer ancestors. Life on the Ohio frontier was not conducive to extensive record-keeping and preservation, I'm afraid.
Where Did These Facts Come From?
My list of sources exceeds 1,600 - the preponderance are U.S federal censuses, by years and counties. I chose not to include the citation details for census pages in this presentation, to keep down the clutter. If you need to know the page for a citation, shoot me a message and I'll look it up in my database, as time permits.
Several published and unpublished books and other contributors deserve special credit here, due to their significant contributions to this information:
Published Books: A Genealogy and Family Memorial, by Joseph Sullivant; Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegan Immigrants to Virginia, by B. C. Holzclaw; A Genealogy of the Descendants of Rev. Jacob Price, by George F. P. Wanger
Unpublished Documents: "These Build Civilization", by J. H. Larimore
Web Sites: J. Edward Starr's Starr Site
Bob Baird's Genealogy Filing Cabinet
Credit to Significant Contributors (Alphabetical):
Robert Baird for Jacob Beard descendants; Paul M. Clary, for the Clary line of Wendell descendants; Sherry Cornelius, for Cornelius research; Tracy Devault, for Devault/Dewald research; Heinz Ernst and Klaus Munzinger, for Munzinger research in Europe; Kay Fluharty for Faulhaber research; Gerhard Höh for the Familienbuch der Gemeinde Gerhardsbrunn and other contributions; Lorraine Kerns and Dave Dardinger, for the Conrad line of Wendel descendants; Charlotte Muckey and Edwin Hays Cole, for the Gibler line of Wendel descendants; Marie Pemberton, and Dean and Bonnie Larimore, for Larimore-related research; Jean T. Ryan and Sandy T. Norcross, for Triem family research; Frederic Z. Saunders, and my many cousins on the MyFamily.com Windle/Wendel site; Ruth Welch, for Rodgers research; Win Wood, for Gilmore research. And all the others, too.
Acceptable Use of Information on this Site
The genealogy facts on this site are provided without limitation, or guarantee of accuracy, for the purpose of helping other researchers discover and share their own family histories. I view the quality of this information as being sufficient to support your own individual research efforts, but in most cases it is less than ideal for direct citation -- it would be far better if you would go to the original sources, verify the information, and cite those sources accordingly. My genealogy database, which is the source of this information, is a commingled product of my own research and data verification efforts (as indicated by census citations, mostly) plus information provided directly by other researchers, or found in, or derived from other works, published and unpublished, including the books named above, so (and analogous, perhaps, to the old census enumerator who merely wrote down what he heard), you need to review and cite the original sources, if possible. For these reasons, if you simply re-enter facts that you initially found here into your own notes or data tools, it is fine with me if you don't cite this web site as your source, or if as a matter of courtesy, you simply reference it once for everything you found here. On the other hand, if you wish to print out or otherwise copy pages from this site for redistribution, you must observe the requirements of copyright law, and obtain my permission. If you do need to reference this web site, the proper format for citation goes like this:
Donald L. Boyd, Land Of The Buckeye, online http://www.landofthebuckeye.net (1830 Hibiscus Court, Centerville, OH 45459, USA; donbnfborn@aol.com: page last updated 99 August 2099*) viewed on 99 November 2099*.
* Real dates go here, of course.
Digital images on this site are my property, either personally digitized by me or given to me in digital format without restriction. You may copy them and share them privately for your family history documentation purposes, but please do not re-publish them as your own. Linking to images on this site is prohibited.
And of course, every informational web site needs a disclaimer, as well as a bit of humor, so I worked diligently to prepare a combined response to both of those requirements (see "Terms of Use" below), and I hope you are not disappointed in that regard. 
Feedback/Comment: donbnfborn@aol.com
Sharing: This site is my preferred method of sharing my information. I am not willing to send a GEDCOM file of my entire database, nor to provide printed materials from it. I can usually be convinced to run a limited descendant report from my database, time permitting, and to send it electronically to other researchers of these families, especially when they have information to share with me in return.
Privacy Considerations: The traditional rule of thumb for publication of genealogical information has been to avoid publication of date and location details about persons born fewer than 100 years ago, except to show parent-child names and relationships. Of course, that "century ago" date changes every day as the calendar rolls forward -- strict adherence is not feasible. Another issue, as a technical matter, is that using an electronic database privatization function is a somewhat deceptive "solution", because for any case where a family member has died, the dates and locations for that person will be shown regardless of the relationship to living people. If a recently deceased person happened to be a relatively young person, and a sibling of other living persons, the living siblings' dates and locations (and those of their spouses and children, for that matter) are potentially compromised by the disclosure of the deceased person's information. So, I have tried to consider the practical as well as the traditional ethical dimensions, and have taken into account the fact that the U.S. censuses up through 1930 are publicly available, on the Internet, and reveal not only parent-child and other family relationships, but the family residence location, approximate dates of births and marriages, occupational, and other personal information. I decided that a reasonable approach for this site would be to show all known data up through 1920, plus information for persons who are known to be deceased since then, and simply to omit all names and information about individuals born after that date who are not known to be deceased. Therefore it is possible that the birth and/or childhood residence location, approximate birth date, and some life events (marriages, divorces, etc.) of individuals born before 1920 and still living will appear here, but there is no information on persons born after 1920 and still living, or possibly so, except to the extent that they may be named in obituaries. If, notwithstanding my efforts to be considerate, you are disturbed for some reason by information that you see here, and you contact me about it, I'll consider your objections and the merits of removing it -- but as far as I know there is nothing shown here that would infringe on the privacy of anyone living today, because the most recent information about them is 90 years old as of this writing, and/or is publicly available from other sources, including published obituaries and newspaper legal notices.
The Germans: As is common for Americans, I had many German-speaking ancestors, and I've been fortunate to re-connect with a couple of the European branches of immigrant families and to receive more information about the families in Europe. You don't need to learn German to comprehend the genealogy, but there are a couple of facts that will be helpful in understanding German names in the nineteenth century and earlier. These are applicable to both the European Germans and also to the first couple of generations of German-speaking immigrants to America of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the church christening ceremony, they gave their newborn children "christening" or spiritual names, and also "calling" names ("rufnamen") - their everyday names. So in the church records, they are found with two names, plus the surname. The first name, often "Johann" for a son, was a spiritual name, in this case referring to St. John, the Baptist. It could also be Philip or George, referring to other Apostles. What you need to know is that Johann Michael Schmidt was known to friends and family as Michael, and the Michael Schmidt in civil records was probably the same fellow as Johann Michael Schmidt in the church christening records, if the dates and location match. Similarly, "Maria" and "Anna" were common christening names given to daughters, and preceded their calling names. Maria Eva Krick was known to friends and family as "Eva". She was not "Mary". The German equivalent to the English name "John" is actually Johannes, or Hans in earlier times. So if the intention was to name a son the English equivalent of John, then the written name was Johannes, often called Hans or Hannes. Johanna is the female version, equivalent (and linguistically related) to the English "Hannah". For the Munzinger genealogy data that came from a custom database developed by my German kinsmen, credit goes to the Palatine Munzinger Family Association. I left the notes in German - mostly they refer to occupational trades, noteworthy events in the person's life, or to witnesses at christening ceremonies, which often reveal family relationships beyond the parents.
∞
Terms of Use
Disclaimer: No representations of accuracy or warranty of fitness or suitability for any purpose are offered. As a result of your viewing or not viewing this site, we do not explicitly or implicitly acknowledge that you have seen this site, that there is anything to see on this site, that any such unacknowledged content is accurate, erroneous, complete, incomplete, true, false, useful, or worthless, nor do we assume any obligation to acknowledge its existence, your existence, or our existence. There may or may not be opinions expressed herein - any such unacknowledged opinions do not represent the views of our sponsors, employees, owners, lawyers, accountants, customers, family members, ISP, web site host, or anyone else in the world. You agree that you may not have seen any such unacknowledged opinions, and that you do not necessarily agree nor disagree with any such unacknowledged opinions which may or may not be expressed herein. Moreover, you agree that our server's recording of a "hit" from your browser does not constitute an acknowledgment of your existence, your computer's existence, our existence, our server's existence, this site's existence, or any other existence, and we in no way expressly or implicitly agree with anything you think, say, write, transmit, or keep to yourself. We take no responsibility whatsoever for your safety, health, happiness, mental stability, productivity, economic well-being, or existence. There may or may not be information contained herein, and any such unacknowledged information may or may not contain guidelines, instructions, or advice. We make no representations or guarantees regarding the safety, accuracy, efficacy, or wisdom of any such unacknowledged guidelines, instructions, or advice. You may not at any time follow or fail to follow unacknowledged guidelines, instructions, or advice. You must ignore them. Any deviation from total ignorance is at your own risk, and we take no responsibility for the consequences. Do not attempt to follow any such unacknowledged guidelines, instructions, or advice at home. Do not attempt to follow any such unacknowledged guidelines, instructions, or advice at work, or while engaged in any activity anywhere. Attempting anything, anywhere, anytime is not recommended, is entirely at your own risk, and shall not in any event create any liability or responsibility on our part. You agree that communicating any opinion, idea, information, suggestion, creative work, description, depiction, diagram, schematic, method, logic flow, formula, emotional content, or blank space shall result in the entire communication instantly becoming our exclusive property. You agree in advance to refrain from asserting any claim of ownership to such communicated content, on a fully-paid, royalty-free, unrestricted basis, in perpetuity. Any legal costs, accounting fees, engineering consultation fees, travel expenses, taxi fares, parking fees, laundry costs, shoe-shining expenses, building permits, exhibitors' fees, security deposits, massage fees, bar bills, or escort service fees incurred in support of an action for enforcement of our ownership of any communication originally described as "yours", but subsequently received by us, shall be entirely at your expense. You have the right to remain silent, with your eyes and ears shut and your hands in your pockets. If you forego this right, you agree that any communication originally described as "yours", but upon receipt having been immediately and irrevocably re-titled as "ours", may be used to ridicule your intellect, religion, appearance, family, pets, place of origin, ancestry, ethnicity, gender, dietary preferences, wardrobe, education, thoughts, opinions, medical conditions, and/or life; provided, however, that this right imposes no affirmative duty of action whatsoever on us, you, or anyone else. In no event shall we be liable for consequential damages, loss of efficiency, unabsorbed overhead, emotional distress, or anything else. If you disagree with these terms, you must immediately discontinue viewing them, close your browser, and permanently purge all recollection of what you may have seen, or where you may have seen it, from your memory. In such case, you agree that the image of this page was never actually on your retinas; moreover you agree that the resulting legal obligation of permanent amnesia on your part will accrue to the benefit of our heirs, assigns, and successors, on a rent-free, royalty-free, fully paid-up basis, without restriction, in perpetuity.
Disclaimer to the Disclaimer - Health and Safety Precautions: View only in the presence of adequate ventilation, and while wearing proper safety attire. Smoking while viewing this site may be hazardous to your health. Eating or drinking while viewing this site may be hazardous to your health. Talking on a cell phone while viewing this site may be hazardous to your health. Driving or operating heavy equipment while viewing this site may be hazardous to your health. Breathing while viewing this site may be hazardous to your health. If pregnant or breast feeding, consult a health professional before viewing. In the event of a sudden drop in blood pressure, or an erection lasting four hours or more, stop viewing immediately and call your physician, as these can be symptoms of serious medical conditions. Safe viewing ability is not protected in the event of misuse, accident, lightning, flood, tornado, tsunami, volcanic eruption, earthquake, hurricanes, civil insurrection, riot (whether declared by civil authorities, or not) and other Acts of God, subluxation, poor reading comprehension, incorrect line voltage (including, but not limited to, a voltage of zero), improper or unauthorized viewing angle, exposed power cable, electro-static discharge, broken antenna or marred cabinet, missing or altered serial numbers, electromagnetic radiation from nuclear blasts, X-rays, Alpha, Beta and Gamma rays, sonic boom vibrations, adjustments not made by a trained and certified technician, incidents owing to an airplane crash, ship sinking or taking on water, motor vehicle accidents, falling rocks or landslide, leaky roof, breakage of glass, forest fire, or projectile (including, but not be limited to, bullets, shot, BB's, shrapnel, torpedoes, rocket-propelled grenades, arrows, thrown knives, stones, etc.), or sudden release of energy including, but not limited to, explosion of chemicals, dust, natural gas, military ordnance, fireworks, or flatulence.
Non-Infringement Indemnification: Letters and words on this site may appear to be arranged in a manner similar to the arrangement of letters and words written, spoken, heard, or recorded elsewhere by others - you agree it doesn't matter. You agree that any resemblance of arranged letters and words on this site to letters and words arranged elsewhere by others is purely coincidental, and due exclusively to the fact that they are written (mostly) in the English language. You agree that any cognitive dissonance resulting from your alleged recognition of alleged patterns of alleged similarity in letters and words found on this alleged site is your problem, not ours. Inadvertent errors, inaccuracies, duplications, and omissions can occur. Official versions should be used as primary information sources. Viewers are advised that any use of this information is at your own risk. Void where prohibited. Other restrictions may apply. Subject to change without notice.
©2009 - 2012