Carole (Kirch) Bannes

Ancestors

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Carole Bannes [send private message]

Carole (Kirch) Bannes Won Team Bronze in the Sourcing Slalom in the 2023 WikiGames.

WikiTree Day Attendee: 2022

Carole (Kirch) Bannes participated with Great Lakes Region Team during the 2020 Clean-a-Thon.

Carole is a volunteer with the 1950 Census Indexers Group.

Carole (Kirch) Bannes is a graduate of the USBH Heritage Exchange Track on the PATH.

Biography

I was born and raised in Central Ohio and have been an avid genealogist for more than 40 years, working first (with my mother) on our own family history, then with cousins and my spouses to fill out their family trees. My personal tree (here) has nearly 18,000 names, so it's being uploaded in GED-chunks (hopefully). I am also an "unofficial" genealogy researcher for Knox County, Ohio, with a citizens notated and sourced tree of over 92,000 names. That tree resides on TribalPages.

I have at least three "long-line" ancestors—Mizer (Meisser/Myzer/Miser), Yearous (Jahraus), and Stillinger (Stühlinger)—for which I owe undying gratitude to those who came before me, wrote things down, and shared freely.

—The Mizer clan has been thoroughly researched since the late 1800s by descendants, with several documented books published by the group. One of those (1975 edition) is available online with free access ^[1] There is a 1986 edition (not online) and many additions and corrections have been made since then, thanks to Google and the increasing availability of online resources.

—The Yearous clan also has had many active researchers through the years. These include: Joan Yearous (wife of Jay Dee Yearous), who, with her husband, traveled the United States, personally visiting every single relative they could find (including me and my parents), put everything she could find out onto a computer, and shared the knowledge freely and widely; B. J. Ross, who extensively investigated the Illinois branch, and Guy M Yearous, who was once a long-distance trucker and used to stop in every town he visited to look through the phone book and call any "Yearous" he found. He no longer trucks, but he makes extensive use of his phone to keep up-to-date on all the relatives he has gotten to meet. We also owe tremendous debt of gratitude to Klaus-Peter Hoelzer, our "go-to-guy in Germany," who spent hours and days in musty, dusty church and civil records rooms doing research for us.

—The Stillinger clan ties in early with the Yearous family. Again, much credit for names and dates goes to Klaus-Peter Hoelzer and the late owner of Stilly's Garage in Ohio.

Brick Walls

My current area of highest frustration is my husband's maternal family—the Küttel, Camenzind, Frank, and Grocose clans. All were relatively recent immigrants (1880s) to the United States and finding reliable sources back in "the old country" has proven difficult. This difficulty is compounded by his maternal grandfather's family from Gersau, Switzerland—a town where 80% of the residents seem to be surnamed either Küttel or Camenzind, with each tending to marry into the other family with great frequency!

Sources

1. ↑ A Genealogy of the Meisser Family. Compiled by Joseph A Meiser, Jr, B.S., Ph.D; The Meisser Genealogy Association. 1975 (Revised Edition). [1]

• First-hand information. Entered by Carole Kirch Kilbreath Bannes at registration.