John Blankenbaker asked for proof that members of the First Colony were miners.  None has been presented.  So I would propose that they were not miners.  What has been presented is the presence of iron furnaces, etc in or near the home villages of the First Colony.  These are two different issues. Yes, there was mining in the Siegen area--but does that automatically mean that everyone from that area was a miner?  I don't think so. As an example, both of my grandfathers were farmers.  My father was a business owner and my mother a homemaker--note--neither were farmers.  Yes, they were familiar with farming but they were not farmers.  I, as a granddaughter, am also familiar with farming since I spent much of my childhood rambling around my grandfathers' farms.  I am not a farmer but I am familiar with farming.  So everyone in the First Colony could probably have claimed some familiarity with mining but that did not make them miners. I would like to know if, in that time, membership in a guild meant that you actually were working in the mines or did it confer some type of social status--or both.  That might help disprove or prove some of the assumptions made about our ancestors. Another example--the Ironmongers of London have long ceased to have anything to do with ironwork because the work moved outside London proper where they had no control.  Today, the Ironmongers still exist and is a patrimonial group with limited membership (about 230, I think).  Today, they manage their assets-financial and real estate.  No mention is made of their various careers and jobs.  Assuming that at some point in the distant past, these members had a ironmonger ancestor, it does not necessarily follow that today they would still be working with iron. Suzanne Collins Matson

Do any of the Wilhoit family readers know anything about this cemetery in Osage County, MO, near the old settlement of Aud? I have an elderly friend named Oberkrom whose grandfather was supposedly buried there - at this point I don't know if he married into the family or it was just the nearest cemetery to his home. I thought there might be some of you who know something of its history or know something about who is buried there. I have another friend who plans to go try to find it later this fall but thought I'd pick your brains first. Bonnie S. Knauss

Bonnie, ?? I'm not familiar with this cemetery, but there are other Wilhite/Wilhoit ancestors who have a family cemetery just east of Emporia, Kansas, and many others are buried in several cemeteries around Martinsville (Morgan County), Indiana. You may find older ancestors in Indiana. Good luck! Carol Bradbury -----Original Message----- From: Bonnie Knauss <knaussb@fairpoint.net> To: germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com Sent: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:29 pm Subject: [GERMANNA] Wilhoit Cemetery in Osage County Missouri? Do any of the Wilhoit family readers know anything about this cemetery in Osage County, MO, near the old settlement of Aud? I have an elderly friend named Oberkrom whose grandfather was supposedly buried there - at this point I don't know if he married into the family or it was just the nearest cemetery to his home. I thought there might be some of you who know something of its history or know something about who is buried there. I have another friend who plans to go try to find it later this fall but thought I'd pick your brains first. Bonnie S. Knauss ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Know the Stapp's and Wilhite(sic) were related and I have some papers that were from Stapp's in MO. You may want to check any MO marriages. My John Wilhite married Lucy Stapp. The DAR of others called her Lucy Hancock or another Lucy. Stapp is correct. How near is the Cemetery to St. Louis? I plan to go there in Feb. or March.