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

Browsing the 1940 Census

I’m sure everyone knows by now that the 1940 US census was released this past Monday, 2 April.  Many of us were eagerly awaiting that day but, as you probably also heard, things did not go as planned. There were over 22.5 million hits on the NARA website within three hours as people tried to …

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Tombstone Tuesday–Andreas Dietrich

This is the tombstone of Andreas Dietrich, located in row 4 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed: Andreas, son of J. and C. Dietrich, died 10 Oct 1846, aged 3 years, 6 months, 12 days. His death is the 5th death recorded in the Schumm church records: Andreas …

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Anticipating the 1940 Census

Something BIG will happen Monday. Something genealogists all across the country have been eagerly awaiting for 10 years. At 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, April 2nd, nearly every genealogist in America will be on the Internet to view the 1940 US Federal Census for the first time. The digitized 1940 Census will be released by the National …

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Tombstone Tuesday–J Howard & Caroline Caffee

This is the tombstone of Howard and Caroline (Miller) Caffee, located in row 10 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed, CAFFEE, Caroline, 1893-1988; J. Howard, 1892-1954, Galatians, 2:20. Howard Caffee obituary: Death Claims J. Howard Caffee, Widely Known Nearby Dairy Farmer J. Howard Caffee of southwest of Willshire died …

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V-mail from Germany to Willshire, 1945

I am a Charter Member and supporter of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. They recently sent me information about one of their programs, Operation Footlocker. Operation Footlocker gives school children across the country the opportunity to see and touch real World War II artifacts, while adding to their WWII education. Each footlocker …

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