Phyllis Rickard wrote: > > Is anyone researching BENFER in Northumberland and/or Union Co? I believe > I"m looking for a woman named Mary Benfer, prob. born in the 1790s and died > ca 1831. I would like to hear from anyone researching BENFER. Thank you. > > Phyllis Rickard ////////////////////////////////////////// Hello Phyllis, I have a Christina Benfer born 9/15/1777 in Penn Twp., then Northumberland Co., now Snyder Co. Pa. (Union Co. was taken from Northumberland Co. in 1813, and Snyder Co. was taken from Union Co. in 1855.) I do not have the parents or siblings of Christina Benfer. I show that Christina married Peter Braus of Northampton Co. and they lived and died in Liverpool, Perry Co., Pa., but I don't suppose this will help you. If you think your Benfer woman might be a sister or otherwise closely related to my Christina, you probably should be searching in the civil records of Northumberland Co. for the 1790s, particularly in the will files. Concerning church records, the surname BENFER in that region was German, so you probably should seek Lutheran or German Reformed church records of that period and location. Penn Twp. surrounds the town of Selinsgrove, where the oldest Lutheran church is Sharon Lutheran Church, 120 S. Market St., PA 17870. The phone number in 1988 was 717-374-8444, but realignment of area code numbers in Pennsylvania a few years ago might have changed that. Good luck, Nelson R. Sulouff Arizona