I've spent the better part of today chasing Elizabeth Gerner -- or at least places where I might learn more about records pertaining to her: nearly every likely Butler County resource I could think of or find on the internet. In addition, I sent emails to the Butler Area Public Library Genealogy Department to learn if they have more information about St. Peter's Reformed Church and to request the name of the contact person for Fairview Cemetery. I also emailed the person who created the memorial for Elizabeth Gerner.
No newspaper articles/obituaries.
No church records.
No anything.
I've come up empty-handed.
Nothing but air.
Some days are just like that. (And do you ever imagine that an ancestor just doesn't want to be found? I do and I think Elizabeth / Mary Gerner doesn't.)
--Nancy.
Copyright © 2014 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
OK, so what next? A field trip to Butler County or the state archives?
ReplyDeleteI'd probably have to drive over alone because my husband doesn't "do" road trips and I doubt that either daughter would go. But that may be my only next option, Wendy. I did email the Butler Library Gen. Department, though. It seems that sometimes there just comes an end of records to research.
DeleteI've found that usually when I see something like this on Find A Grave, the person posting it just copied it out of the published transcription books which in this case were done by the Butler County Genealogical Society. I've used the one for Saxonburg and neighboring townships.
ReplyDeleteMike
Well that's not encouraging, Mike, but I'm glad to know it. I will be more careful about records without photos from now on! My paternal grandmother and her parents lived in Saxonburg for a while.
DeleteIt's better than it sounds, actually. I know from using them that the listings are done row by row. The Wier Genealogy Room at the main library in Butler should have the complete set.
DeleteMy Saxonburg family is Horn with collateral lines Ohl and Roenigk.
Mike
Our local library has the 5-volume set of Butler County inventories published in 1983 and republished in 1998. I'll take a look at them and see if I can tell who is buried near Elizabeth.
DeleteThe name Roenigk is familiar to me: a female whose name I can't remember married a Gerner (who may be related collaterally to my line).
Johanna Horn, my gr-great grandmother's oldest sister, married John Fredrick Roenigk about 1850. They moved to Pittsburgh sometime in the same decade. Their known children are Alfred, Melvina, Laura and Edwin.
DeleteI guess your Roenigk is not in the line married to a Gerner.
DeleteThis is the stuff that keeps me awake at night, mulling it all over and over in my mind! I DO imagine sometimes that my ancestors don't want to be found! Do keep us posted when you find her!
ReplyDeleteOh, me too, Michelle. Over and over: where else to search; what different questions can I ask; what did I miss in the information I've found, etc. I'm glad I'm not alone in this trait. I do my thinking when I'm going to sleep and/or waking up but it doesn't keep me awake (for which I'm very grateful).
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