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

Schumm Store Ad, 1904 Willshire Herald

There seems to be no end to the information in the 5 May 1904 edition of the Willshire Herald, William G. Hoffer, publisher. Not only were there personal items of interest and business ads from Willshire, a few other local communities were mentioned. Featured on page two of that 1904 Willshire Herald was an ad for the Schumm Store:

Tombstone Tuesday–Jakob & Elisabeth (Pflueger) Bienz

This is the tombstone of Jakob and Elisabeth (Pflueger) Bienz, located in row 4 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:BIENZElisabethGattin VonJ. BienzGeb. 30 Juli1836Gest7 Feb. 1913JakobBienzGeb.1 Apr. 1825Gest17 Apr. 1908

Fraternal Societies in Willshire, 1904

For the past several weeks I have been posting personal items, items of interest, and various advertisements from the 5 May 1904 edition of the Willshire Herald. Those items give us a glimpse of the past—what Willshire was like just after the turn of the century. I am nearing the end of information I can gather from that newspaper but there are still a few items that I have not covered.

Tombstone Tuesday–Johann Bienz

This is the tombstone of Johann Bienz, located in row 7 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:Johann BienzGest den 13 Juli 1898Alter75J, 3M, 20 T

Bo-Peep Items, Willshire Herald, 1904

I am nearing the end of posting some of the many interesting items from the 5 May 1904 edition of the Willshire Herald, a newspaper that my great grandfather Louis J. Schumm saved. I have been posting items for several weeks now and have not yet covered all the information about the area people and the businesses in and around Willshire.