Hi there! I'm a Somerset County, PA girl with both sides of my family having their roots in Bedford County, PA. Some of our Bedford County names include Garretson, Horn (later spelled Horne), Gates, Cox, Hussey, Blackburn, Hammond, Harbaugh and Penrose. Other family names include Frazier, Secary, Winder, Hudson, Kratosky, Gardner, Coleman, and DalPonte.

The Garretson line were Quakers, Jan Garretson Van der Hoff came here in the 1650s from Holland. Due to the Quakers strict beliefs there were no soldiers in this direct line until the Civil War when my GG Grandfather Josiah and his brother Ben Garretson went to war. Ben did not survive but Josiah went on to marry Arabella Gates and have 7 sons. Their son Charles was my great grandfather and one of their sons, Thomas, moved out west and was never heard from again. Last year I was contacted regarding the cremated remains of Thomas being discovered in Oregon. We have brought him home and will be burrying him with his mother Arabella. See his link for links to a three part story covered by our local news channel. I've worked hard to keep the stones of my Quaker family in nice shape and have been trying to scrub things off to slow the deterioration process. Josiah and his brother Ben are on my list of stones that I would like to replace in the next few years as they are barely legible. My family has many letters and the Civil War diary kept by Josiah, along with Quaker meeting minutes. Please contact me if you are a relative and I can get you copies. I would never keep something important from family.

I'm currently working on my Revolutionary War relatives and so far have only 7 Patriots but I know there are more. I don't have a ton of free time but I'm slowly getting there.

Hi there! I'm a Somerset County, PA girl with both sides of my family having their roots in Bedford County, PA. Some of our Bedford County names include Garretson, Horn (later spelled Horne), Gates, Cox, Hussey, Blackburn, Hammond, Harbaugh and Penrose. Other family names include Frazier, Secary, Winder, Hudson, Kratosky, Gardner, Coleman, and DalPonte.

The Garretson line were Quakers, Jan Garretson Van der Hoff came here in the 1650s from Holland. Due to the Quakers strict beliefs there were no soldiers in this direct line until the Civil War when my GG Grandfather Josiah and his brother Ben Garretson went to war. Ben did not survive but Josiah went on to marry Arabella Gates and have 7 sons. Their son Charles was my great grandfather and one of their sons, Thomas, moved out west and was never heard from again. Last year I was contacted regarding the cremated remains of Thomas being discovered in Oregon. We have brought him home and will be burrying him with his mother Arabella. See his link for links to a three part story covered by our local news channel. I've worked hard to keep the stones of my Quaker family in nice shape and have been trying to scrub things off to slow the deterioration process. Josiah and his brother Ben are on my list of stones that I would like to replace in the next few years as they are barely legible. My family has many letters and the Civil War diary kept by Josiah, along with Quaker meeting minutes. Please contact me if you are a relative and I can get you copies. I would never keep something important from family.

I'm currently working on my Revolutionary War relatives and so far have only 7 Patriots but I know there are more. I don't have a ton of free time but I'm slowly getting there.