INTERLUDE FIVE-THE SURNAMES OF OUR FIVE GENERATIONS

Before I begin writing about our sixth generation of ancestors, let's look below at our list of surnames thus far. How many of these names did you know before reading these stories on our blog? I knew a few before I began my family historical research...Shepard, Lewis, Mackey, Phillips, Spitzer, and Wilderson. Although, when I was young, I thought the Wilderson name was Wilderness for a long time.

I want to make sure that all of you know that there are many various ways that almost all of these listed names have been spelled in their records. Since I'm on the subject of the Wilderson name, here are three of the variations I encountered in my research: Wildasin, Wiltensinn, Wiltinsen.

Barnhisel is especially interesting because in the 1600s the name was listed as Hausel. The ancestor's name was Bernhard Hausel.
Perhaps you can see how the two names became one? 

I'll stop here about name variations. I merely want you to be aware of this issue. Here are our surnames:

BARNHISEL

BROKAW

DAVIS

HAAS

LEWIS

MACKEY

MAUS

MORRISON

PENSINGER

PHILLIPS

SHEPARD

SPITZER

WILDERSON

You will be learning more new names in the weeks to come and this is part of the fun, I think. Also, learning where each of our ancestors were born and where and how they lived their lives gives us a rich background of our very own personal history.

Our sixth generation of ancestors, our great, great, great grandparents, will be called 3g grandparents for short. I will begin with Charles and Christene Wilderson because they were also buried in the Wilderson Cemetery. Then we can move away from this cemetery and the Newton Township area.