Karen Bennett

Greetings from the Chattanooga, Ohio, area. Yes, Ohio has its very own Chattanooga, aka Chatt, a small village in west-central Ohio, near the Indiana border. I have been doing family history research for over 20 years and am a Board-Certified genealogist, certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists®. My main genealogical interests are family research, cemetery research, and historical and genealogical research of the Chatt area, with a focus on two area Lutheran Churches, both named Zion Lutheran, one in Chatt and the other in Schumm, Ohio. Family names I am researching include Miller, Schumm, Brewster, Rueck, Reid, Headington, Huey, Bryan, Whiteman, Schinnerer, Scaer, Breuninger, Bennett, and a few others. I belong to several lineage societies, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, U.S. Daughters of 1812, First Families of Ohio, and First Families of Mercer and Van Wert Counties. I am also a retired dental hygienist and our church organist. I hope you enjoy Karen's Chatt.

Most commented posts

  1. Golden Wedding Anniversary — 37 comments
  2. Haunted Mercer County? — 34 comments
  3. The Old Willshire Hotel — 30 comments
  4. Metal Cemetery Monuments — 25 comments
  5. The Milligan Painting — 24 comments

Author's posts

Jul 26

Threshing in the Willshire & Chatt Area

Last week I wrote about threshing and cooking for threshers and I learned a lot about both events. Threshing and the meal preparation certainly was a whole lot of work, but the families were able to turn the hard work into a social event at the end of the day. Several of us Miller relatives …

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Jul 23

Tombstone Tuesday-Johan Hoffmann

This is the tombstone of Johan Hoffmann, located in row 3 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Hier ruhet
Johan Hoffmann
Gestorben
Den 14 Nov. 1865
Alter 41 Jahre
8 Mo. n. 9 Tage

Here rests Johan Hoffman, died 14 November 1865, age 41 years, 8 months, and 9 days.

Jul 19

Cooking for Threshers

We have several summer events coming up and we will have house-guests here, too, so I have been looking through my cookbooks and planning meals, preparing for more cooking than usual around here. 

I remember my grandma saying, when preparing a large meal, that it was like cooking for threshers. Just the way she said that phrase gave me the impression that cooking for threshers was a whole lot of work.

Jul 16

Tombstone Tuesday–Emma Maria Schinnerer

This is the tombstone of Emma Maria Schinnerer, located in row 2 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Hier
Ruhet
Emma M
Tochter von
H. und L.
Schinnerer
Gest 20 Feb
1896
Alter 1 Jahr
u. 27 Tagen

Jul 12

Bridesmaid Dresses from the 1950s

A couple weeks ago, while getting out my mom’s wedding dress and veil, I found three other formal dresses that she had saved. I didn’t know if my mom wore them to the prom or if she wore them in weddings.

With a little photo detective work, by looking at her sisters’ wedding photos, I was able to identify where she wore two of the fancy dresses.