Lisa and Jonathon

Welcome!

Jim and Jonathon

As with all the volunteers on the web who endeavor to publish free genealogical material of interest to all of you, I have a "life behind the scenes", and I'm glad that you are curious to find out a little more about me! <grin>

In my "old life" I was an electrical engineer who enjoyed working on my own genealogy in some of my spare time and encouraging my friends to do the same.  I had been pursuing my own genealogical research for about 10 years, when in '98 I started volunteering on the Herkimer county NYGenWeb site, and in short order became a section editor for the towns of Ohio and Wilmurt for this county, later leading to assistant county coordinator for the Herkimer/Montgomery site.

Then, along came our little one and I became a "stay-at-home" Mom (and loving it)!  Jonathon was born in Jun of '99 and is a constant joy!  He's as bright and cute as can be - of course I'm totally impartial! <grin>

Along with my previous NYGenWeb committments, I'm now also the county coordinator for Hamilton county NYGenWeb as well as several ALHN county sites.  This hobby which has taken over nearly all of my spare time, continually gives me much enjoyment and has provided me with a bunch of  new friends and new found cousins!  Throughout all of this, my husband, Jim, has been fantastically understanding and supportive of this hobby of mine!

My other interests and hobbies include community theater (stage lighting and sound design), community band / orchestra (trumpet and sound design), and I'm an avid science fiction reader.  But the majority of my time is spent having fun with my son and doing all those mundane things that we all do each day!

Hamilton county, NY:    My own roots to this county are limited to the town of Morehouse.  Here a 3rd great grandfather, Basile Bennet, decided to purchase land in the early days of Morehouseville and he stayed in this town until 1867, when he moved to the town of Ohio, Herkimer county.  Another 2nd great-grandfather, Eugene Maheux, also moved to Morehouseville in 1861, but he might have even earlier roots to this town.  In Mar 2000 I became county coordinator for this site and continue to learn much more about the county and it's people every day!

Herkimer county, NY:    I started my research in this county with the descendents and ancestors of John C. Richard(s) of Ohio, Wilmurt and the village of Herkimer, Herkimer County. Since then my search has led me through various records in many counties, several states and 2 other countries. But in all my research, few areas have peaked my interest as my 2nd great-grandfather's roots here Herkimer Co. He began as a jeweler in Germany and became a farmer and lumberman, living his early years in this country in a log cabin in Fulton county where he met and married Henrietta Fischer a daughter of Martin.  They moved to Herkimer county in 1862.  His son and my direct ancestor, John M. Richard, married Emily Mary Maheux whose roots are in the neighboring town of Morehouse, Hamilton county.  John C. and his children were prominent in the towns in which they lived, but more importantly they learned to love the land and the outdoors!

Montgomery county, NY:    Most of my ancestors in this county come from the area around Amsterdam.  Their names were Gerling, Horstman, Minch, Myers and Thielking.  The most interesting aspect of my research here is that two of my great-grandparents, Henry Horstman and Christian Thielking, both came from the same small village of Hille, Germany, in two different years and settled in two different locations (Fort Hunter and Amsterdam), but their children met and married in Amsterdam in later years.

Oneida county, NY:    My 3rd great-grandfather, Garner Jones, came first to Madison county where he met and married Lucy Ingraham.  Shortly after their marriage they moved to the village of Bartlett, Oneida county and many years later, my grandmother was born in the house that he built in that village.  The Jones and Ingraham families both have roots back to colonial Connecticut and Massachusetts and what a "trip" that was to research!  In 1850 my 3rd great-grandfather, John Temple, brought his family on a clipper ship from England and they also settled in Bartlett.  Two other ancestors of mine, Jacob Traxel and Henry Wolf came from the area of Pirmasens, Germany, in two different years in the early-mid 1800s, and settled in the small communtiy of Ava.  In performing my research on these families, I've found that a significant number of the residents of Ava have roots back to the Pirmasens area, including several siblings and cousins of my Traxel's and Wolf's