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Monday, February 14, 2011

A Very Good Place To Start....

The very beginning...
I've been researching my heritage on both
my Father's and Mother's side of the family...
My Cousin, Linda has done family research
on our Mother's side,
the Fredrick and Myers Families...
My Grandmother, Grace was a Fredrick,
who married my Grandfather, Gilbert Myers...
What We do know so far is,
the Fredrick's are orginal
descendants of Lititz,
coming to America after being stricken with
bankruptcy in Germany..
They settled in Lititz mainly 
for the Moravian teachings in which
the founding of Lititz was based on..
In doing research,
I came across a book published in the early
1900's by
John Zook,
(click on title for complete publishing of book)

 In this book detailing the early years
of Lititz, is a letter written by
the First Schoolmaster of Lititz,
Prof. John Beck.

This letter is dated 
May 31, 1865

The letter explains in great detail how
Prof Beck came to be the schoolmaster
to which he held the position for 50 years...

What is most exciting about Prof Beck's 
letter is,
His listing in chronological order include
the families of Lititz, their address, occupation,
and if they were a student of his...
And much to my surprise and excitement...
I found my Great Grandparents Morris and Katie Fredrick,
along with their children,
listed among Prof Beck's Chronicles...
My Great Grandfather was the Blacksmith of Lititz...
Note the last name listed is Grace,
That is MY Grandmother..!
Unfortunately, my grandmother
passed at an early age of 54,
to which I never had the privilege of  knowing her.
My mother was very close with her family
on the Fredrick side,
I grew up knowing each and everyone,
and the ironic side of it..
I was called "Katie" by most,
not "Kathy"....
I never questioned it...
Perhaps "I" reminded them of
Great Grandmother Katie..?
There have been several books published on 
the History of Lititz,
this book mentioned by John Zook
is the most accurate...

My next research will be on my Grandfather Myers,
His Grandfather, My Great Grandfather was the 
Ice Man in Lititz..
It's so exciting to see how your heritage comes together...
Thanks for taking this journey back in time with me... 
More to come..!!





4 comments:

  1. Hi K,
    I love family genealogy - glad you are finding out things about them and it really makes you feel even more tied to the history of Lititz...one of my favorite pretty little towns out there.

    Karen

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  2. It's so exciting, Karen. My Mother knew her family history well,but never journaled it and she is no longer with us, so I dont have a good resource when I have questions. So I now rely on published books, and that can be so daunting...If you have the time, click on the link and read Zook's book...its very interesting. Thanks for stopping by,
    K

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  3. This is too strange - one of my best friend was Lynne Frederick, who dad was Richard Frederick. They lived up near Rochester (the town's name was - and sorry about the spelling - Cheektowagwa, or something like that). She would come down and stay with her granmother who lived on Main Street and we would have a great time. I think she is married and lives in Arizona. How funny!!

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  4. Judi...I'm on it, researching it..!!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the visit....! I encourage and look forward to your thoughts and comments. Many Blessings...K