Betty's Genealogies

Since 1975 I have been researching Amish-Mennonite and Swiss Volhynian (Russian) Mennonite families in the United States and Canada. I began in earnest when I picked up a published genealogy of my husband's Hartzler family in Pennsylvania. In those pages I found listed a long-time neighbor from my Kansas home. That's when the intrigue began and I started putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Amish-Mennonite This interest began with my husband's Hartzler family from the Kishacoquillas Valley of central Pennsylvania. The Amish-Mennonite cemeteries in Mifflin County compose the heart of this database. An additional resource is Amish and Amish-Mennonite Genealogies by Hugh F. Gingerich and Rachel W. Krieder (2007). Please note that the reference numbers identify the cemetery location.

Swiss Volhynian Database My Graber family originated in Switzerland and became a part of the Amish division of 1697. While most of the Amish migrated to America in the 18th century, this group spent a hundred years in Prussia/Russia before coming to South Dakota and Kansas in 1874. A major published resource for this group is Swiss Russian Mennonite Families Before 1874, compiled by James W. Krehbiel (1995). The reference numbers identify the persons by family code.

Harvey County, Kansas The starting point for this database is the Amish and Mennonite settlement in central Kansas. References in this database identify the East Lawn (Pennsylvania Mennonite Church) Cemetery, along with several other rural Hesston, Kansas cemeteries.

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Betty Graber Hartzler, Belleville, Pennsylvania