Surname Saturday - Mennonite Heritage

My husband's family line has always been shrouded in mystery. What he knew of his family was limited to a few aunts, and his paternal grandfather. After some research we discovered several branches immigrated to the United States between the late 1600's to early 1700's. Many were Mennonites leaving their homeland of Germany because of religious persecution.

The families settled in and around Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which is only several hours from our home. We have spent many a weekend visiting churches and cemeteries full of his descendants.

I have been very fortunate to find extensive information available in tracing most of my husband's lineage. Several very helpful resources have been Mennonite Church USA , Mennonite Heritage Center, and MennObits. Also, I have discovered many histories about Mennonites and biographies for various family members on Google Books. They have been invaluable in piecing together the stories of these families. Just a few of the new names added to my husband's family tree are Allebach, Bergey, Bishop, Cassel, Detwiler, and Moyer.

Excerpt taken from pg. 599 "History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : including an account of its original exploration" edited by J. H. Battle - My husband is in some way connected to every line listed in this paragraph.

Jacob C. Wismer (husband's 1st great grand uncle) photograph courtesy "Brief history of Jacob Wismer, and a complete genealogical family register" by Rev. A. J. Fretz