I'm searching for my family. How about you?
My parents were Donald Victor Carpenter and Nancy Jean Anderson Carpenter. I was raised in the Broadfording area of Hagerstown, Maryland. Names I am especially looking for: Carpenter, Hose, Anderson, Scott, Vanderau (spelled so many ways), Zimmerman, Prettyman and Kennell.

* Nothing like doing research and finding out that your mom and dad were distant cousins.

Dr. Heinrich Zimmerman, was my maternal and paternal 7th great grandfather. When he came to America, William Penn requested he change his last name to a more American sounding name. The last name chosen was Carpenter. My dad's side kept the last name Carpenter, while my mom's family returned to the last name Zimmerman.

Keep researching...you never know what you may find out! Such as...Josh Groban and I are distant cousins through the Carpenter/Zimmerman sides.

I also do research for my husband, Warren. His parents were John Henry Clark and Stella Marie Kauffman Clark. Names I'm looking for in his family are: Clark, Kauffman, Dodson and Stottlemyer.

My goal is to connect my family and add information to their memorials making it easier for other family members (and friends) to find the person that has passed.

Thank you to those that create memorials for family (and friends) to find, add information and link them to their family. You're a blessing!

Also, a huge thank you to the contributors who've added photos to my memorials.

If you're searching for information about any of the last names listed above, please contact me. I'll see what I can do to help you.

*There are memorials I've added that do not have a burial location. If you come across one, please bring it to my attention (as I may have forgot to add the location). If you know the place of burial, please let me know. Your help is truly appreciated!

I think it's a shame that the flat gravemarkers are left to be covered by grass and dirt. One day so many memorials will be seen no more.

If I send a correction to a memorial, I appreciate the people who do the change through Find A Grave, and don't change it, and then decline my correction, as it makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
WE ARE THE CHOSEN:

We are the chosen. In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before.
We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us, "Tell our story!" So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.
How many graves have I stood before now and cried?
I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us." How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me?
I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do.
It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, "I can't let this happen." The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those whom we had never known before.

-Author Unknown (Please feel free to use this quote as I think the 'Author Unknown' had very special insight)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My memorials have the obituary in there entirety so people can know for sure the memorial they're reading is the correct person they are trying to locate.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Please don't be a contributor that creates a memorial on Find A Grave and won't fix errors or transfer it to family. Owning the most memorials is not what Find A Grave is about. Errors should always be corrected or at least be noted in a memorial. Please don't correct information and then decline corrections from others, as it makes people look like they don't know what they're doing.

Let us work together so that everyone who has gone before us may be remembered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I think it's a shame that gravemarkers are left to be covered by grass and dirt. One day so many memorials will be seen no more.

I'm searching for my family. How about you?
My parents were Donald Victor Carpenter and Nancy Jean Anderson Carpenter. I was raised in the Broadfording area of Hagerstown, Maryland. Names I am especially looking for: Carpenter, Hose, Anderson, Scott, Vanderau (spelled so many ways), Zimmerman, Prettyman and Kennell.

* Nothing like doing research and finding out that your mom and dad were distant cousins.

Dr. Heinrich Zimmerman, was my maternal and paternal 7th great grandfather. When he came to America, William Penn requested he change his last name to a more American sounding name. The last name chosen was Carpenter. My dad's side kept the last name Carpenter, while my mom's family returned to the last name Zimmerman.

Keep researching...you never know what you may find out! Such as...Josh Groban and I are distant cousins through the Carpenter/Zimmerman sides.

I also do research for my husband, Warren. His parents were John Henry Clark and Stella Marie Kauffman Clark. Names I'm looking for in his family are: Clark, Kauffman, Dodson and Stottlemyer.

My goal is to connect my family and add information to their memorials making it easier for other family members (and friends) to find the person that has passed.

Thank you to those that create memorials for family (and friends) to find, add information and link them to their family. You're a blessing!

Also, a huge thank you to the contributors who've added photos to my memorials.

If you're searching for information about any of the last names listed above, please contact me. I'll see what I can do to help you.

*There are memorials I've added that do not have a burial location. If you come across one, please bring it to my attention (as I may have forgot to add the location). If you know the place of burial, please let me know. Your help is truly appreciated!

I think it's a shame that the flat gravemarkers are left to be covered by grass and dirt. One day so many memorials will be seen no more.

If I send a correction to a memorial, I appreciate the people who do the change through Find A Grave, and don't change it, and then decline my correction, as it makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
WE ARE THE CHOSEN:

We are the chosen. In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before.
We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us, "Tell our story!" So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.
How many graves have I stood before now and cried?
I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us." How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me?
I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do.
It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying, "I can't let this happen." The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those whom we had never known before.

-Author Unknown (Please feel free to use this quote as I think the 'Author Unknown' had very special insight)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My memorials have the obituary in there entirety so people can know for sure the memorial they're reading is the correct person they are trying to locate.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Please don't be a contributor that creates a memorial on Find A Grave and won't fix errors or transfer it to family. Owning the most memorials is not what Find A Grave is about. Errors should always be corrected or at least be noted in a memorial. Please don't correct information and then decline corrections from others, as it makes people look like they don't know what they're doing.

Let us work together so that everyone who has gone before us may be remembered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I think it's a shame that gravemarkers are left to be covered by grass and dirt. One day so many memorials will be seen no more.