January 2026 Program
Show and Tell and Ask
Start the New Year with entertaining or enlightening our SCPGS audience by sharing an intriguing family find or story which has special meaning for you. Maybe it’s a memorable photo of an ancestor, or a trinket, or garment. Maybe it’s a request for assistance or a recent discovery that created a hole in your Brick Wall. On any account this relaxed, informal event has in the past led to some serendipity and mutual discoveries.
Watch the recorded presentation here.
“Show and Tell” with SCPGS as reported by Becky Anstine:
Watch the recorded presentation here.
“Show and Tell” with SCPGS as reported by Becky Anstine:
At our January meeting, our members can just informally “show and tell” some of their finds, ask how to learn more and where to look for information on some of their finds. There were some intriguing finds!
Jonathan Stayer related how he has tried to find out if ancestor, John Gundrun, really was an American Revolution soldier. He has found no enlistment or service records for Gundrun. Someone mentioned that they had seen Gundrun’s name in the pension record of Jacob Heffelower. The record mentioned that Jacob had been wounded and carried off the field by a John Gundrun during the Battle of Princeton. Jonathan posed three theories why this is a brick wall for him: 1) if there was ever a record, it has beenlost or destroyed; 2) John was a wagoner and not enrolled; or 3) John was at Princeton in civilian
capacity.
Julie Kunkle brought a box that someone had picked up at an auction with articles that belonged to the Laubach family in Adams County, PA. The stories that came with the box can show how things get muddled through the years. Julie is related to the Laubachs. Family lore said that the ancestor had been wounded at Gettysburg – which is incorrect – the ancestor was wounded at Fredericksburg. Inside the box was a pair of long johns which the family claimed had been worn by the ancestor during the Civil War, however, the fabric that the long johns were made of was not manufactured until the 1890s. Of special interest in the box, were the memory cards of Ephriam Laubach’s children who had died in the 1860s. Julie figured the box must have been filled around 1907, when family was cleaning out the family home.
Keith Nonemaker has been putting books together about the Samuel Nunemaker family that moved from Shrewsbury Twp. to Tyron Twp. in Perry County. The book was over 400 pages. He has been giving them to his family members at Christmas, a gift that he hopes they will appreciate as the years pass.
Margaret Burg’s ancestors are Croatian, French, and German. Her French and German ancestors came to New Orleans in the 1850s and 1860s. When Margaret began tracing her family, she realized that the French side and the German side did not like each other. Apparently, the German husband of the French wife had sold his wife’s family property. With Richard Konkel’s help, Margaret has been able to fill in the empty spaces on her family tree by finding the names of siblings, maiden names, parents. Yes, it is possible with help to find records and enable people to find those early immigrants!
Cathy Horvath from Washington Boro, in Lancaster had a newspaper article which advertised the sale of property that belonged to her Eshelman ancestors. She was interested in finding out how she could trace that property and find information on the family. She received many suggestions on what kind of records she could look for and where she might find those records.
Thomas Gibson told the story of the “Walking Purchase” and how the Penns cheated the Lenapi nation out of 1.2 million acres in eastern Pennsylvania; it is still disputed today. In 1686 an agreement was made that the land between a starting point and an endpoint would determine the amount of land the Penns would receive from the Lenape. It would be the amount of land that could be walked within 1 1⁄2 days. The Penns used three walkers who were actually trained runners; the Lenapi thought that it was to be a leisurely pace which in reality doubled the amount of land for the Penns. The walk took place in 1737. The Lenapi were moved off their ancestral lands and eventually ended up in Oklahoma. As revenge for
the loss of their land by the Penns, the Lenapi attacked the settlement where one of the walkers lived and killed the family. A four-year-old boy managed to escape and was the only survivor that his father found. Tom related that if the child had not escaped, he (Tom) would not be here today as he is descended from the Marshall family that was involved in walking the purchase.
Jonathan Stayer related how he has tried to find out if ancestor, John Gundrun, really was an American Revolution soldier. He has found no enlistment or service records for Gundrun. Someone mentioned that they had seen Gundrun’s name in the pension record of Jacob Heffelower. The record mentioned that Jacob had been wounded and carried off the field by a John Gundrun during the Battle of Princeton. Jonathan posed three theories why this is a brick wall for him: 1) if there was ever a record, it has beenlost or destroyed; 2) John was a wagoner and not enrolled; or 3) John was at Princeton in civilian
capacity.
Julie Kunkle brought a box that someone had picked up at an auction with articles that belonged to the Laubach family in Adams County, PA. The stories that came with the box can show how things get muddled through the years. Julie is related to the Laubachs. Family lore said that the ancestor had been wounded at Gettysburg – which is incorrect – the ancestor was wounded at Fredericksburg. Inside the box was a pair of long johns which the family claimed had been worn by the ancestor during the Civil War, however, the fabric that the long johns were made of was not manufactured until the 1890s. Of special interest in the box, were the memory cards of Ephriam Laubach’s children who had died in the 1860s. Julie figured the box must have been filled around 1907, when family was cleaning out the family home.
Keith Nonemaker has been putting books together about the Samuel Nunemaker family that moved from Shrewsbury Twp. to Tyron Twp. in Perry County. The book was over 400 pages. He has been giving them to his family members at Christmas, a gift that he hopes they will appreciate as the years pass.
Margaret Burg’s ancestors are Croatian, French, and German. Her French and German ancestors came to New Orleans in the 1850s and 1860s. When Margaret began tracing her family, she realized that the French side and the German side did not like each other. Apparently, the German husband of the French wife had sold his wife’s family property. With Richard Konkel’s help, Margaret has been able to fill in the empty spaces on her family tree by finding the names of siblings, maiden names, parents. Yes, it is possible with help to find records and enable people to find those early immigrants!
Cathy Horvath from Washington Boro, in Lancaster had a newspaper article which advertised the sale of property that belonged to her Eshelman ancestors. She was interested in finding out how she could trace that property and find information on the family. She received many suggestions on what kind of records she could look for and where she might find those records.
Thomas Gibson told the story of the “Walking Purchase” and how the Penns cheated the Lenapi nation out of 1.2 million acres in eastern Pennsylvania; it is still disputed today. In 1686 an agreement was made that the land between a starting point and an endpoint would determine the amount of land the Penns would receive from the Lenape. It would be the amount of land that could be walked within 1 1⁄2 days. The Penns used three walkers who were actually trained runners; the Lenapi thought that it was to be a leisurely pace which in reality doubled the amount of land for the Penns. The walk took place in 1737. The Lenapi were moved off their ancestral lands and eventually ended up in Oklahoma. As revenge for
the loss of their land by the Penns, the Lenapi attacked the settlement where one of the walkers lived and killed the family. A four-year-old boy managed to escape and was the only survivor that his father found. Tom related that if the child had not escaped, he (Tom) would not be here today as he is descended from the Marshall family that was involved in walking the purchase.