Monthly Archives: March 2024

I’m not sure which is the oldest family photograph, as there are a lot of them in two collages compiled by my cousin Jean Bierbower, one of them photographs of my paternal grandmother Mabel Matilda Wheeler Guenther’s family and the … Continue reading →

My mother has “inherited” several items from her grandmothers: her maternal grandmother’s cake plate (which was listed with the wedding gifts in an article in the Kutztown Patriot) and her paternal grandmother’s washstand and rocker. The washstand will be passed … Continue reading →

My ethnic heritage is Pennsylvania Dutch/Pennsylvania German, especially on my mother’s side of the family. Each year we celebrate with ethnic customs, from eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day for good luck and fastnachts on Shrove Tuesday to … Continue reading →

According to the 2023 updates in Ancestry DNA, my ethnic background is 46% Germanic Europe, 37% England and Northwestern Europe, 13% Sweden and Denmark, 3% Norway, and 1% Baltics. This is a slight change from previous years; in 2022, it … Continue reading →

Any family mystery about unpleasant situations or actions have been kept from me, so I cannot investigate anything I am not aware of.  I already know about the close relationship my paternal grandfather had with one of the boarders who … Continue reading →

One weekend in the fall of 1982, I was visiting my paternal grandmother while on a research trip for my master’s thesis. She was complaining about the high cost of coal–$100 a ton—compared to when they purchased their house in … Continue reading →

On August 31, 1906, William Henry Spohn died of pulmonary tuberculosis after suffering from the disease for about 6½ months. He left behind a wife, two sons, and a lot of debt. William H. Spohn married Annie Louise Manwiller (also … Continue reading →

December 7, 1941. Americans remember this date as the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, leading to the United States declaring war on Japan (and later Germany) and entering World War II. For my father’s family, it was a typical … Continue reading →

I have not connected with any distant relatives to expand my family tree, as those whose work I have reviewed on Ancestry.com have less information than I have found. However, some have contacted me about what I have (especially photos), … Continue reading →

The U.S. census is only available through 1950. By then, my father had graduated high school, and my mother was in 7th grade. Both graduated from Reading High School and took some college classes after I had started college.  My … Continue reading →