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. The Milligan Painting — 22 comments
  5. Metal Cemetery Monuments — 21 comments

Author's posts

Day Books and Hucksters

The last couple weeks I have been writing about some old ledger books from Chattanooga’s general stores, from 1913-1923. The oldest ledger was from Merkle & Egger’s store and the other two ledgers were from Vining & Dull’s store. The books had been stored in the attic of the Glenn Miller home in Chatt for …

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Tombstone Tuesday–Edward J. & Harriet I. Kuehm

This is the tombstone of Edward J and Harriet I Kuehm, located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed: KUEHM Edward J. 1892-1922 Harriet I. His Wife 1900-19 [This surname is spelled both Kuhm and Kuehm in various records and cemetery markers. I have used the Kuhm …

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Chattanooga General Store Ledgers, 1917-1923

Last week I posted the index of the 1913-14 Chatt General Store Ledger. The general store was run by Leo Merkle & Semon Egger at that time. Thanks to Jerry Miller, I have a total of seven books from Chatt’s general stores–three ledgers and four day books. This week I transcribed the indexes from the …

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Tombstone Tuesday–Maria (Kuhm) Berron

This is the tombstone of Maria (Kuhm) Berron, located in row 3 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed: Hier ruht in Gott Maria Kuhm Ehefrau Georg Berron Geb 22 Aug. 1865 In Schillersdorf In Elsass Gest. 10 Aug. 1890 Alter 24 Jahr 11 Monat u. 18 Tage [Here rests …

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Chattanooga General Store Ledger, 1913-14

Who was shopping in Chatt back in 1913? And what were they buying? A while back I was given a few books that give just that information. Last year Jerry Miller gave me some old ledger and day books that had been stored in his mother’s attic. These old books had been in Glen and …

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