Hello, strange fact is that I've always been fascinated with cemeteries. I'll stop and just walk a cemetery if it looks old and interesting. I've been researching my family genealogy for nearly a decade, and finding out who they were and where they are buried has been a particularly exciting challenge for me. On my mother's paternal side, I'm a 7th generation Clevelander; my ancestors were part of the pioneer family movement to the Western Reserve (Cleveland, Ohio) back around 1803. I'm very proud of that heritage. My 7xg-grandmother is buried in Cleveland and I've visited that cemetery; how rare to actually know where your 7xg-grandmother is buried, let alone in the same city in which you live! On my father's side, it is a very different story. A DNA test taken by my father and myself revealed we shared DNA with family we never heard of (and they didn't know us either). After many months of research (with the help of my new cousin), we discovered my dad's paternal lineage was that of the Bergner/Kaestle family. I embrace this truth and have been fascinated by the journey. I'm also available as a photo volunteer; I love going to cemeteries and finding headstones for family members searching for that missing link.

My Paternal lineage:
Wilkaitis ~ Krivaitis ~ Scherbourg ~ Fischer ~ Waldschmidt ~ Kaestle ~ Bergner

My Maternal lineage:
Abernathy ~ Murrell ~ Prince ~ Washburn ~ Johnson ~ O'Banion ~ Daly ~ Pickering ~ Bohner ~ McIlrath (pioneer family of Cleveland) ~ Cozad (pioneer family of Cleveland) ~ Brainard ~ Jenne ~ Wing ~ Amsden ~ Lockwood

"Your Tombstone stands among the rest
neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
on polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care.
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I'd exist.
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
one hundred years ago,
spreads out among the ones you left
who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved.
I wonder if you knew,
that someday I would find this spot,
and come to visit you."
~Author unknown.~

Hello, strange fact is that I've always been fascinated with cemeteries. I'll stop and just walk a cemetery if it looks old and interesting. I've been researching my family genealogy for nearly a decade, and finding out who they were and where they are buried has been a particularly exciting challenge for me. On my mother's paternal side, I'm a 7th generation Clevelander; my ancestors were part of the pioneer family movement to the Western Reserve (Cleveland, Ohio) back around 1803. I'm very proud of that heritage. My 7xg-grandmother is buried in Cleveland and I've visited that cemetery; how rare to actually know where your 7xg-grandmother is buried, let alone in the same city in which you live! On my father's side, it is a very different story. A DNA test taken by my father and myself revealed we shared DNA with family we never heard of (and they didn't know us either). After many months of research (with the help of my new cousin), we discovered my dad's paternal lineage was that of the Bergner/Kaestle family. I embrace this truth and have been fascinated by the journey. I'm also available as a photo volunteer; I love going to cemeteries and finding headstones for family members searching for that missing link.

My Paternal lineage:
Wilkaitis ~ Krivaitis ~ Scherbourg ~ Fischer ~ Waldschmidt ~ Kaestle ~ Bergner

My Maternal lineage:
Abernathy ~ Murrell ~ Prince ~ Washburn ~ Johnson ~ O'Banion ~ Daly ~ Pickering ~ Bohner ~ McIlrath (pioneer family of Cleveland) ~ Cozad (pioneer family of Cleveland) ~ Brainard ~ Jenne ~ Wing ~ Amsden ~ Lockwood

"Your Tombstone stands among the rest
neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
on polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care.
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I'd exist.
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
one hundred years ago,
spreads out among the ones you left
who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved.
I wonder if you knew,
that someday I would find this spot,
and come to visit you."
~Author unknown.~