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

Jan 01

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Karen’s Chatt! May 2021 be better than 2020.

Dec 29

Tombstone Tuesday-Jakob Wilhelm Schumm

This is the tombstone of Jakob Wilhelm Schumm, located in row 4 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Hier ruhet
In Gott
J.W. Sohnlein von
Georg u. Maria
Schumm
Gest. Den 6 Aug
1858
Alter 1J, 5 M
11T
Psalm 16, v. 6.
SCHUMM

Dec 25

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Karen’s Chatt!

Dec 22

Tombstone Tuesday-Wheat Symbol

Today’s tombstone symbol is wheat, a symbol that I do not see very often on a headstone.

Wheat and other grains are some of the oldest symbols for growth and life. Wheat used to be harvested by a reaper with a scythe, which brings to mind the Grim Reaper.

Dec 18

The Christmas Story, in Latin

During my first two years of high school at Parkway I took Latin as my foreign language. Parkway offered only Latin and Spanish as their foreign language choices and I thought Latin would be more beneficial for my field of study at college later. All in all, I was a pretty good student but I admit that Latin was not my best (or favorite) subject.