Dear Merle, Or really, anyone on the list that may be able to answer the question. I have xerox copies of the biographies of my RENNER's listed in the Brethren Encyclopedia (which I cannot lay my hands on at the moment). I also have a xerox copy of the Roy Bohn "Genealogy of the Renner Family" circl 1937. In the introduction of the Bohn work, Roy basically transfered, lifter, plagerized, borrowed, whatever you would like to call it, excerpts from the BE Renner biographies. In these biographies it states, "The Renner family came from sturdy German ancestry. Their lineage came into prominence when one Francis Renner was make the King's printer in one of the large kingdom's of Germany in 1315. This printer, Francis Renner, was one of the best educated men of his day and had great influence in the royal household. His descendents continued in the royal service of the kingdom for many generations. Some of the grandsons of Francis won distinction as crusaders. They had the spirit of adventure. Some were pioneer Crusaders, while others traveled as merchants, or went out as valiant knights. The descendents of Francis Renner became numerous in Germany, and when the persecutions swept over Germany, William Renner, a dirct descendent of the old pioneer, Francis Renner, cast his lot with the faithful band of persecuted souls and came to America with a colony of Palatines. He settled in Lancaster County, PA and died there." Now, my question is this. Bohn, as stated before, lifted some material from the BE. Bohn's work has no footnotes, no reference to where information was retreived, etc. He does, in his preface, mention there were many family bibles involved. Is there any reference in the BE as to where some of this information came from? There are some errors that I can see, one being that if William Renner lived and died in Lancaster County, PA, why is his tombstone in Frederick County, MD? Can anyone give me a bit of a clue as to how the facts in the BE were gathered, or were they oral histories? To quote a local colloquillism, "I think I done confused myself." Blessings Janet

Janet--I have tried unsuccessfully to locate the material you have written regarding the Renners as being in the Brethren Encyclopedia (BE). There is very little family history regarding this family in the encyclopedia. Here are the references I have for material printed in the Brethren Encyclopedia, none without references as to where the material was resourced originally. In the list of ministers there are three Renners--Eli (Levi) Renner, a Church of the Brethren minister, b.9-6-1839, d. 2-9-1913. He was elder at the Burr Oak Kansas church in 1882, presiding elder 1892-1894, and at Red Cloud Nebraska 1895. He is referenced in Craik, History of the Brethren in Kansas, 1922, pp 119, 348-349. Francis C. Renner, b 6-14-1840, d. 12-15-1914, also Church of the Brethren, he was elder at New Midway, Maryland according to the Brethren Almanac, 1890, p. 37 and the Gospel Messenger 1915, p 75 (contains his obit). Isaac Renner is not identified as to Brethren affiliation, b. 3-24-1811, d. 6-30-1880. He was elder at Monrovia, MD(?), Monocacy, MD. Taken from a history of the Brethren in Maryland, 1939 publication, pp. 247-248. The above three bios are found on page 1747 in the Brethren Encyclopedia, in the ministerial list. On page 1341, (Brethren Encyclopedia) under the history of the White Rock Church of the Brethren, North Dakota, the Renner family name is listed as being part of the group which settled near Denbigh, McHenry County, North Dakota, church organization July 28, 1900.The third reference to Renners is found on page 995, Brethren Encyclopedia, in which F. C. Renner, New Midway, MD was one of those involved in the business of selling patent medicines. The references given is to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference Minutes for 1909, p. 1876. Others listed in this article on patent medicines are the History of the House of Fahrney, 1892. James H. Young, Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America, published 1961, the History of the Colorado Brethren by Blanche Frantz, 1963, pp 1-2. These are the only references on the Renner family that I can locate via Vol 4 index to the first three volumes of the Brethren Encyclopedia, or in searching through Volumes 1,2, 3. I also wrote articles for the Brethren Encyclopedia and all articles were expected to have references citing their sources of material written for the BE. A tremendous amount of original research went into producing the encyclopedia, especially when one considers what was available to use in the 1970's. One article that I did not put into the BE was one in which I could not locate any information for the article on this one church because I only had two names with no counties, no towns, no addresses with which to search the state. Also, churches that did not last more than five years were not included in the writings about the local church. Today, one can find more material via the internet, etc. Many of the books written earlier in our history did not have references so it is unknown from whom or where they got their material. Hopefully, Janet, you will be able to locate where you got your xerox copies of the Renner family bios but they did not appear in the B. E. (to my knowledge). I am interested in the Eli (Levi) Renner who was out in KS. There is a one-page bio in Craik's Kansas history on Eli Renner. Craik used bios sent in by family members at his request. Eli was son of Noah and Fanny Weaver Renner, born near Dayton OH. During his childhood the family moved to Portland, Indiana. He married Diana Cubbison, of Bloomfield, Indiana Jan. 14, 1862. They had four sons, and a foster daughter survive his passing. He was baptized in the Bear Creek church near Bloomfield, Indiana November 1865. Elected to the ministry in that congregation and moved to Kansas 1879, Burr Oak where he remained until his death, except for 6 months in Meriden KS 1896. Death was the result of attack of la grippe and stroke of paralysis. His last act was to sign a check in payment for his share to the support of his pastor. He was kind and considerate of others, continually concerned about the welfare of the church which he loved. Best wishes for your continued research, Jane Davis. > From: rogers922@intrstar.net> To: brethren@rootsweb.com> Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:46:21 -0400> Subject: [BRE] Renner and the BE> > Dear Merle,> Or really, anyone on the list that may be able to answer the question.> I have xerox copies of the biographies of my RENNER's listed in the > Brethren Encyclopedia (which I cannot lay my hands on at the moment). I also > have a xerox copy of the Roy Bohn "Genealogy of the Renner Family" circl > 1937.> In the introduction of the Bohn work, Roy basically transfered, lifter, > plagerized, borrowed, whatever you would like to call it, excerpts from the > BE Renner biographies.> In these biographies it states, "The Renner family came from sturdy > German ancestry. Their lineage came into prominence when one Francis Renner > was make the King's printer in one of the large kingdom's of Germany in > 1315. This printer, Francis Renner, was one of the best educated men of his > day and had great influence in the royal household. His descendents > continued in the royal service of the kingdom for many generations. Some of > the grandsons of Francis won distinction as crusaders. They had the spirit > of adventure. Some were pioneer Crusaders, while others traveled as > merchants, or went out as valiant knights.> The descendents of Francis Renner became numerous in Germany, and when > the persecutions swept over Germany, William Renner, a dirct descendent of > the old pioneer, Francis Renner, cast his lot with the faithful band of > persecuted souls and came to America with a colony of Palatines. He settled > in Lancaster County, PA and died there."> Now, my question is this. Bohn, as stated before, lifted some material > from the BE. Bohn's work has no footnotes, no reference to where information > was retreived, etc. He does, in his preface, mention there were many family > bibles involved. Is there any reference in the BE as to where some of this > information came from? There are some errors that I can see, one being that > if William Renner lived and died in Lancaster County, PA, why is his > tombstone in Frederick County, MD?> Can anyone give me a bit of a clue as to how the facts in the BE were > gathered, or were they oral histories?> To quote a local colloquillism, "I think I done confused myself."> > Blessings> Janet > > > ------------------------> Search the Archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN> ------------------------> Support Our Sponsoring Agency> The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG)> For further information contact Ron McAdams mailto:McAdamsr@hotmail.com> ------------------------> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BRETHREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ How well do you know your celebrity gossip? http://originals.msn.com/thebigdebate?ocid=T002MSN03N0707A