Born and raised in Van Wert, Ridge Township, OH. I have four (4) direct ancestry family names that arrived in VWO before 1870: Smith, Riley, Raudabaugh & Elsea. Family of my own name were late comers, not arriving until about 1910, Edgar, Everett & James Kouts (brothers).

John C. & Emaline Witty Smith came to VWO after the Civil War with nine sons & some of their families.

George Riley & family came around the same time with my Grandfather Benjamin David Riley being born in VWO in 1867 (son of Anthony Frederick Riley).

Levi Raudabaugh & family came to VWO in the seventies.

Phoebe Elsea came with her mother Mrs. A. J. (Rebecca Bennett Elsea) Point in the sixties. Phoebe married Peter Raudabaugh in 1880.

Extended families and "kissin' cousins" include (by order of relationship and interest):
Fudge, Bellsfield, Kermickle or Carmichael, Weisenborn, Atkinson, Groscost, Boyd, Collins, Deal, Agler, Stripe, Miller, McCollum, Coil, Loth, Ainsworth, Hoblet, Corathers, Fisher, Conn, Spicer, Dixon, Spoor, Harman, Hay, Davis, Gamble, Murphy, Lininger, Matthews, Kear.

I have been doing genealogy research on my family for more than forty years. My ancestral family names lead back to over twenty Revolutionary War Patriots and I tend to document with verifiable & legible records.

Feel free to use my pictures on Ancestry.com or contact me personally for certification information.

I will gladly accept management responsibility for any of my primary families.

Born and raised in Van Wert, Ridge Township, OH. I have four (4) direct ancestry family names that arrived in VWO before 1870: Smith, Riley, Raudabaugh & Elsea. Family of my own name were late comers, not arriving until about 1910, Edgar, Everett & James Kouts (brothers).

John C. & Emaline Witty Smith came to VWO after the Civil War with nine sons & some of their families.

George Riley & family came around the same time with my Grandfather Benjamin David Riley being born in VWO in 1867 (son of Anthony Frederick Riley).

Levi Raudabaugh & family came to VWO in the seventies.

Phoebe Elsea came with her mother Mrs. A. J. (Rebecca Bennett Elsea) Point in the sixties. Phoebe married Peter Raudabaugh in 1880.

Extended families and "kissin' cousins" include (by order of relationship and interest):
Fudge, Bellsfield, Kermickle or Carmichael, Weisenborn, Atkinson, Groscost, Boyd, Collins, Deal, Agler, Stripe, Miller, McCollum, Coil, Loth, Ainsworth, Hoblet, Corathers, Fisher, Conn, Spicer, Dixon, Spoor, Harman, Hay, Davis, Gamble, Murphy, Lininger, Matthews, Kear.

I have been doing genealogy research on my family for more than forty years. My ancestral family names lead back to over twenty Revolutionary War Patriots and I tend to document with verifiable & legible records.

Feel free to use my pictures on Ancestry.com or contact me personally for certification information.

I will gladly accept management responsibility for any of my primary families.