Welcome Home!
Recently, I was able to get in touch with my kin after 37 years. My Father was adopted out at birth, and through the geneology site, I was able to get in contact with my Father's biological family as far south as Mississippi, west as Colorado, and East as Maryland. I have gotten to talk and write to kin I never knew of before my find. I thought it to be a good idea to have an update post of my situation and others who has had the opportunity to find kin. Thank you.
Eric Householder, June 30, 2010
"Hello Genie,
It all started back in 2000 or around that time. I always knew my Father was adopted, but never knew of any Family. I lived in East Liverpool, Ohio around the age of 15-16 years of age. Dad had called me one time and had told me he had found out, not sure how, of his real Uncle, living only a few minute walk from my home, my Parents had got a Divorce when I was at a young age, so I resided with my mother. I'm not sure of how he found his Uncle, but I had the chance of meeting him. His name was Charlie Bittinger, my Fathers' Mothers' Brother. Dad had found out that he had two Brothers, Jimmy Wilhelm and Gilbert Bittinger, still living at that time. And A Sister, named Faye Jean, lastname unknown. Uncle Charlie had given Dad some imformation on some phone numbers of kin, and also had gotten to meet another Uncle and Aunt, George and Gladys. Anyhow, back in 2000, I got online on a site to find family, they wanted to charge alot of money, I thought it was all a gimmick. I never persued it any farther. I purchased a new laptop awhile ago, sat down and started looking around again. I ran across a geneology site and they had a free trial offer, so I tried it out. I had originally posted a letter of all the imformation that I had knew of such as Dad being born in Garrett County, Grantsville, MD. in 1948, to a lady by the name of Anna Catherine Bittinger. Dad had siblings, Gilbert Bittinger, Jimmy Wilhelm, and Faye Jean ??. Then, it happened all so fast. I started to get emails from a lady named Carol, still unkown of what or who she is, and Phyllis, who also works with geneology; both are Angels from Heaven. I got imformation such as Family history of everyone in my Family, dating back to like a 5th generation. I once got an email from Carole. It had a list of names, telephone numbers, and even adresses. So, I sat down and typed a letter stating who I was, what I knew, and what I was in search of. About a week passed, I got a phone call from a Don Wilhelm from Mississippi. He says that I recieved your letter, and had talked to my Sister in Maryland, and she remembers your Dad. I was surprised, finally a break after all this time. I have had the opportunity to meet with a couple, and also talk on the phone with some others. One of Don's Sisters, Dorothy Wilhelm Lape, has claimed that her mother had told her in the past, that her father Herman, had an affair with my Grandmother Anna, who was her mpothers sister, and Dad, Jimmy and Faye Jean belonged to him. Jimmy later changed his name from Bittinger to Wilhelm. Dorothy claims that Dad and her are half brother and sister. I guess the only way to tell is DNA testing. Either way, we are related. Dad went last year to Maryland for a reunion, and got to meet alot of our Family. He said it was a dream come true. He was adopted, or from what I've heard, maybe even stolen, at the age of 6 months old. My known Grandmother, who raised him, took him to a reunion in Md. around the age of 6-7 years old, that was the last time Dad had been there. We know that his brothers Jimmy and Gilbert have passed on, but we are still trying to find imformation about his sister, Faye Jean. We have been told that she was raised by her Aunt Florie, in Rochester, NY. No one has any imformation of her. Don said he had taken his mother up to NY when Florie was ill and in the hospital, they asked where Faye Jean was, Florie never answered or was too ill, can't remember exactly what Don had said. To make a long story short though, a year and a half ago, I never knew of anyone, but now I have a huge Family in Md. Have even found some in Colorado and Mississippi. Thanks to Carole, Phyllis, and the geneology site. Thought it would be a good idea to have an update section on the site, in case someone else out there is looking for any imformation on their families. Like on the one site I was on, Rootsweb, it had very little for me to go on, but now, it could be a list from what I was able to get, maybe it would help the next person looking. I am still open and always looking for new family to meet and be in contact with. I want to know where I come from.
Take care and have a nice day."
Eric Householder, June 30, 2010
Sheryl Kelso, Phyllis Rosley, Ruth Sprowls and Carole (unknown surname) were instrumental in helping Eric find his family.
June 29, 2010
From Ireland to Allegany, a family reunites
Distant cousins come together to tour Lonaconing, county
Kristin Harty Barkley
Cumberland Times-News
— CUMBERLAND — Shawn McGreevy couldn’t stop the tears as the bagpipers played “Amazing Grace.”
With about 25 members of her extended family — including three cousins from Ireland — she stood near the Celtic cross at Canal Place on Tuesday morning, marveling at the miracle of their gathering.
“Over the generations we were lost to one another, and yet today, we gather here, standing together as one grand family,” said McGreevy, a native of Barton who organized a reunion of descendents of the Connolly family, of Lonaconing.
“We proudly bear many names, but at our core we are the Connollys,” said McGreevy, who lives in Wilmington, N.C. “We are Irish. We are American. We are connected.”
Up until a few years ago, most of those who gathered Tuesday knew only a little of their family’s story.
In the 1800s, John Connolly and his four sisters lived on a family farm in County Galway, Ireland. But like many Irish who fled the country after the potato famine of the 1840s, the four Connolly sisters emigrated to America in 1864, settling in Lonaconing, said McGreevy, who has conducted extensive research of her family’s genealogy.
A few years ago, McGreevy was able to track down two granddaughters of John Connolly in Ireland. Anne Trowell and Peggy Kelly grew up — and still live on — the same family farm in Galway where Connolly and his four sisters grew up.
Trowell and Kelly arrived in Allegany County on Monday to see for the first time the place where their grandfather’s four sisters raised their families.
“It’s absolutely beautiful — the mountains, the trees,” said Peggy Kelly, who remembers hearing stories about places in America called “Allegany County” and “Lonaconing,” but had never connected with family here.
McGreevy, who first located and contacted her third cousins in Ireland about three years ago, has visited them there three times.
“It’s so amazing all the things that came together for us to find them and for them to know about us,” McGreevy said. “Because their grandfather lived with them, and he told the story. Irish people tell the story. He told them the names ‘Allegany County’ and ‘Lonaconing.’ So when we found them, they were like, ‘Oh dear God, it’s you. Lonaconing ... we’re going to Lonaconing.’ ”
Around 50 descendents of John Connolly and the four Connolly sisters met at the Knights of Columbus Tuesday night for a party. This morning, they planned to gather at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Lonaconing for a short service, then a tour of town.
Figuring out precise blood relationships at Tuesday morning’s reunion was complicated; most had never met.
“What are we, second cousins?” Teddie Bridges, of Herndon, Va., asked Anne Trowell, one of the cousins from Ireland, during Tuesday morning’s get-together at the Celtic cross.
“I don’t know, “ Trowell said.
“We’re second cousins twice removed,” said Mary Ann Houser, of Keyser, W.Va.,who is a great-great granddaughter of Mary Connolly.
The reunion meant a lot to Houser, who grew up with a strong sense of family heritage.
“Oh, dear Lord, it just completes the whole picture,” Houser said. “All we’ve done is yap. We stayed up till 1:15 this morning. ... It’s just so neat to find the similarities in the families.”
Cumberland Times-News, June 29, 2010
Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com.
