Hey Mara:
I've just been reading your work on the descendants of John & Maria Barbara French. I'm of the opinion that Maria Barbara's last name was not Schmeiss if only for the fact that her daughter married Schmeiss/Smice which could have caused some confusion.
Also, 2.5 George French had only two wives (1) the woman from the Mingo tribe (which is new to me!) and (2) Sarah McBride . His and Sarah's son, George, married Hannah Sprague in Indiana, daughter of John & Bessy (Hildreth) Sprague formerly of Connecticut.
As a side note: Hannah Sprague was a descendant of Massachusetts Bay settlers including Lt. William French and although not "Mayflower" she had a pedigree that goes back to the Celtic Kings of Scotland, Alfred the Great of England (a Saxon) and Wm D'Roos a reluctant signer of the Magna Carta (tried, true and proven!). That and a nickel won't even buy you a cup of coffee.
Your efforts have so inspired me that tonite I ordered that DNA testing kit for $119.00. I'm very impressed with what you've written and all the work that you've done. I also love your acknowledgements but know for a fact that Ray Novak and Pat Nickel did the hard leg work in their research and deserve the HUGE credit, I just held down the computer and only deserve a footnote. Although they are no longer with us, I miss them very much. Like Pat Nickel, I know that Sue Peterson also dug deep in her searches, I have the envelopes of paper to prove it. I just got lucky and found the church records through my genealogy society's Pennsylvania German records.
As my gr-uncle, Edward French, related, "We are Pennsylvania Dutch, Yankee Bluebellies and Irish."
Karen Engstrom -- engsedge@willapabay.org
