A family tree encompasses many branches with an abundance of leaves upon it. This one is no exception, I am constantly gleaning through information I copied down years ago as well as last week. Constantly trying to find just which branch and leaf it all fits into. I hope to be a "JUMPING OFF" point on the different trees. If you find a branch that looks interesting, or if you can add some leaves PLEASE, PLEASE contact me. I have tried to be as accurate as possible (but being quite human I know there are errors), logging many sources and checking with cousins who are also "working" on different branches of this tree. I have found (or they have found me) "new" cousins on this information highway that are very generous and helpful in adding to the various branches. To ALL of them I owe a deep debt of gratitude for their on going help.
Originally from Mandel,Rhineland-Pfaz,Germany our roots spread across the ocean to Pennsylvania and they didn't stop there. These roots are long, deep and travel far across this continent. From the mountains of Pennsylvania on into Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, California, Arizona,Montana, Hawaii and Florida.
In addition to my paternal line through the Werkings I have roots on my maternal line through the Kritsch's (from Stolp, West Prussia circa early 1870's), Gommel's W"urtenberg, Germany (circa 1840's),Matheny's Mathenay, France -(France to England to Virginia, USA circa 1660's), Grinstead's (England, not sure when), Rowe's (originally Rauh from Lochau,Bavaria,Germany circa 1850), Hollinger's (Switzerland/Germany border circa early 1760's), Fewell's (England, but when?), Smith's (probably England), and Sharp's (England, March 1620) trees. As you can tell they are mostly from Germany with a good dose of English tossed in.
A great many of our ancestors bring with them a strong patriotic/military history. There have been various ancestors that fought in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War (obviously not the same ancestor :-))patriots being; Moses Sharp, Phillip Hollinger, James Metheny, Johann Nicholas Hollinger and Robert Sharp. Some were conscientious objectors due to their faith (German Baptist Brethren or Dunkards). Others were frontiersmen (Moses Sharp is reported to have been a spy for Daniel Boone), doctors (many of the Sharps were doctors, John J. Grinstead was a surgeon for the Confederacy with the 3rd Missouri State Guard). There were coopers, cabinet makers, farmers, educators, plantation owners, tobacco farmers, and just about every trade and profession down through the centuries.
In 1980 I ended up with some time on my hands and as I always enjoyed history, I started tracing the history of my family. At that time my uncle Dean Werking (1918-1991) helped me to get started and except for an occassional break due to the "real world", I've been digging away at these roots ever since!
Please be patient as I work on the different links to the actual "trees" of the various families.Also note that some of the different trees WILL overlap at times.
GENEALOGY LINKS I HAVE FOUND ON THE INTERNET
