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

Oct 22

Digging a Pond, 1974

Across the road from Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm is a nice home and farm buildings, owned by Ned Alspaugh in the 1970s and beyond. West of the barn is a pond, dug in 1974. My mom and dad took these photos of Alvin Krueckeberg excavating and digging Ned Alspaugh’s pond in 1974.

Oct 19

Tombstone Tuesday-Johann Martin Geier

This is the tombstone of Martin Geier, located in row 8 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Johann
Martin
Geier
Geb. Den 25
Sept. 1816
Gest den 22
Dec. 1902
Alter
86 J, 2 M, 27 T

Oct 15

Grandpa’s Golf Cart

Golf carts have always been popular with golfers but recently they have become even more popular with people, not for golfing, but just to get around in their community.

Oct 12

Tombstone Tuesday-Bird Symbol

Birds, usually doves, are common tombstone symbols. They symbolize peace, resurrection, and innocence.
Birds are usually depicted as flying or sitting but we saw this unusual bird scene on a tombstone at Greenville Union Cemetery, Darke County, Ohio.

Oct 08

Willshire Village School Bus No.3

I recently spoke at the Willshire Alumni Banquet, to a great group of people who waited a long time for that banquet to be held. One of the things I talked about was Willshire Village School Bus No. 3, which picked up the Chatt-area school children in 1939-40. While preparing for the alumni talk I discovered that I had two additional photos of that bus that were most likely taken on the same day.