I am trying to sharpen up my understanding of the Jacob B. Gish marriage. If there is anyone on this group who could comment on the following I would appreciate it. Also, if there is a Gish email group that I could post this material to I would appreciate hearing about it. I have seen one GEDCOM file that gives Anna's father as Isaac White Vinyard. Is there anyone who knows the source of this information? Many thanks. Dan Wenger The assumption that I am working on is that Anna Wingert who married Jacob Gish is the daughter of Martin Wenger/Wingert of Franklin Co. Pa. I have only circumstantial evidence to go on here. 1) Martin's family was from around Jonestown, Swatara Twp. Lancaster Co. (now Lebanon Co.) Pa. The Gish family was from Lebanon Twp. Lancaster Co. Pa., presumably this was just south of Jonestown. Martin's sister Judith Wenger married Martin Funk and lived just north of the town of Lebanon, presumably in Lebanon Twp.. Martin moved to Franklin Co. (then Cumberland Co.) Pa. quite early (by 1775) and settled just north of Chambersburg. He was the first Mennonite Deacon in Franklin Co. 2) One of Martin's sons, Joseph Wenger, went to Botetourt Co. Va. from Franklin Co. Pa. and his descendants are still there. 3) A daughter of Jacob Gish and Anna Wingert, Elizabeth Gish, married Christian Wenger/Wingert who I believe is a nephew of Martin Wenger/Wingert, ie. Elizabeth married her second cousin. 4) I believe that Jacob Gish went to Va. from Lebanon Twp. Lancaster Co. Pa. via Franklin Co. Pa. and probably met Anna there. I believe that they were married about 1786 or 1787 in Pa. He was in the Fed. census of 1790 in Cumberland Co. Pa. He is reported to have moved to Daleville, Va. in 1792 with family. 5) George Houk, the father of Sophia Houk who married Christian Gish, was a neighbor of Martin Wenger/Wingert in Franklin Co. Pa. There was thus an opportunity for Jacob and Anna to have met in Franklin Co. Pa. George Houk's grandson Jacob Gish and Martin Wenger's daughter Anna could well have met due to George and Martin living as neighbors. 6) There are no other known Wenger/Wingert families in the area that Anna could be from. There is the Christian Vinyard family and Anna's name has been given as Anna Vinyard, but the death record for Jacob Gish in Botetourt Co. Va gives that he married first Anna Wingert and secondly Catharine (Stover) Sizer. Jacob did use the name Vinyard in his will. There is an interesting mystery here. The name Wenger is usually given as meaning a mountain meadow or alp. The Wengers were thought to have originally come from such locations in Switzerland, ie. Wengen, Switzerland. But vinyard has also been given for the meaning of the name Wenger. So the mystery is, is the Christian Vinyard family of Va. really a Wenger family? Since the town of Vinton is named after the Vinyard family one wonders if the name of the town comes ultimately from the name Wenger. Daniel Lee Wenger Santa Cruz, CA DanielWenger@worldnet.att.net http://hum14.ucsc.edu