O'Rear and Hussey Family Stories
The story of Marcus O’Rear and Eda Gardner begins in the early 1800s; the story of the O’Rear family in America begins in the 17th century. While the O’Rear family had lived in America for more than a century by the time of the Revolution; just where they lived before arriving here is a mystery.1For…
James J. Billick’s family had been in America for at least two generations by the time he was born in Pennsylvania. The surname “Billick” is most likely an Anglicization of the German “Billig,” and suggests that the family originated near the village of that name south of Cologne. James Billick was known to all as…
Semd, Germany, a small farming village in Hessen, southeast of Frankfurt, was home to Peter Bingel and his wife Maria (Voegler). The Bingel family’s roots in the area were deep: Peter and Maria were married in Semd in 1802, and by 1820 four children were born and baptized in the village. Peter’s parents lived nearby,…