I have been doing genealogy off and on for the past 20 years. My Bechtold grandparents came from the Rainrod, Schotten area of Hesse-Darmstadt and settled in the Pittston area of Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. I have since discovered that a large number of Pittston-area German immigrants came from villages within a 15-kilometer radius of Rainrod, Kreis Schotten, Hesse-Darmstadt. I have been researching these families to understand why they came to America and how they are related. German surnames of interest are: Bechtold, Straub, Hoffman, Adrian, Rühl, Zirkel, Gottwals, Puester, Kröll, Schläger and Zeidler. I’m also researching my Irish surnames, Devine, Hoban, Melvin and Lithuanian surnames, Kizis, Groshesky, Palonis, Rajiunas, Szelinski, and Siejwa.

I have been doing genealogy off and on for the past 20 years. My Bechtold grandparents came from the Rainrod, Schotten area of Hesse-Darmstadt and settled in the Pittston area of Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. I have since discovered that a large number of Pittston-area German immigrants came from villages within a 15-kilometer radius of Rainrod, Kreis Schotten, Hesse-Darmstadt. I have been researching these families to understand why they came to America and how they are related. German surnames of interest are: Bechtold, Straub, Hoffman, Adrian, Rühl, Zirkel, Gottwals, Puester, Kröll, Schläger and Zeidler. I’m also researching my Irish surnames, Devine, Hoban, Melvin and Lithuanian surnames, Kizis, Groshesky, Palonis, Rajiunas, Szelinski, and Siejwa.