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

FGS Conference 2011

Next week I’m off to Springfield, Illinois, for the 2011 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) national conference. The conference runs from September 7-10 and the theme is Pathways to the Heartland. The local host is The Illinois State Genealogical Society. You might want to check out their informative FGS Conference News Blog. I haven’t attended a …

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Tombstone Tuesday–James Henry Brewster

This is the tombstone of James Henry Brewster. The tombstone is located in the Brewster plot of Mt. Hope Cemetery, Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas. The tombstone is inscribed BREWSTER, James H., Penn. 1841-1916, Co. E 80th O.V.V.I.– Jane, his wife 1840-1940. James Henry Brewster was born 9 August 1841 in Pennsylvania. He was the son …

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James Henry Brewster Meets the Dalton Gang

Occasionally I am asked if there are any famous ancestors in my family tree. I always have to think about that question. I have searched for an ancestor that did something remarkably noteworthy, but I haven’t come up with much. Most of my ancestors were just common folk, doing ordinary jobs and the necessary chores from …

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Tombstone Tuesday–Curtis R. Schumm

This is the tombstone of Curtis R. Schumm, located in row 3 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The tombstone is inscribed SCHUMM, Curtis R., son of L. & S. Schumm died Nov 15, 1901 aged 1y, 1m, 15d. Curtis Richard Schumm was born 30 September 1900, the son of Louis J. …

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Black Creek’s Black Gold

Black gold, devil’s tar, earth oil, flowing gold, fossil oil, rock oil–these were all terms for what we now call petroleum or crude oil that were used in the early part of the 20th century.  Ohio led the nation in oil production for several years around the turn of the century and Mercer County helped make …

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