Annual Review 2021
A Report for Family and Friends about the
Minerd.com Website, Facebook Page and Blog

98,963

Page impressions
Down from 105,449

33,774

Total visitors
Down from 35,959

30,879 

New visitors
Up from 27,966

86

New biographies

Up from 59

1,937

Total biographies
Up from 1,851

722

Facebook page members
Up from 646

410

Facebook page posts

9,710

Facebook page reactions

12

Photos of the month
259 since inception

85

Military casualties

Up 12

56

Accidental work deaths in mining/metals - up 3

250

Casualties of water, fire/shock and vehicle accidents

125

Known cousin deaths occurring in 2021 - Down from 135

3,803

Known cousin deaths since July 1, 2000 - Up 622

13

Minerd.com Blog posts

Down from 20

Other families profiled on this site

In 2021, the Minerd.com website was updated nearly every single day, using a combination of proprietary research and a flood of amazing new material proactively shared by readers. 

As always, the website’s purpose is to be a sweeping biographical archive of early Pennsylvania German families. The biographies primarily tell the stories of forgotten generations of the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor – their cousins of Gaumer-Garmer-Gomer – and the closely related Younkin-Younken-Youngkin families, among 46 other clans. The site keeps growing … and growing. There seems to be no end. 

More cousins than I can count or name stepped forward offering rare family photos and updated biographical details for their particular branch. You know who you are, and need to know how valuable your contributions have been in increasing our knowledge and deepening our understanding. 

Some 86 new biographies and hundreds of rare images were added to the site last year. The biographies are intended to be as comprehensive and accurate as possible in documenting the span of lives from historical times to today. 

In what I believe to be prudent judgment, our national M-M-M-M reunion committee voted to postpone our gathering in 2021 to another future year when Covid has subsided. The latest round of the Omicron virus, while not perhaps as potent as earlier strains, hints that it may yet be a while until we reconvene in person, and that a lingering fear persists, especially among our older cousins. 

Cousin Glenn Allen Youngkin, newly elected Governor of Virginia

One of the big surprises of the year was when Virginia businessman Glenn Allen Youngkin – of the family of German immigrants Johann “Heinrich” and Catharina (Sherer) Junghen Sr. – won the election as governor of the commonwealth despite a highly polarized vote. The migration journey of Glenn's branch through Americana spans 225+ years. His personal path starts with Bucks County, PA  -- Loudoun County, VA (1796) -- to Carbon, Indiana, Clearfield and Cambria Counties, PA -- to Scott and Jasper Counties, IA -- to Boca Raton, FL -- to Winston-Salem, NC -- to Baltimore, MD -- to Richmond and Virginia Beach, VA -- and now to the Governor's Mansion.

Original last will of a distant uncle who died in 1861, found in the Fayette County Courthouse, Uniontown, PA.

2021 Research Travel -  Three short trips during the year generated voluminous research results, all within southwestern Pennsylvania. This included a visit to an extraordinary private collection of artifacts -- photography at cemeteries across several counties -- and paper archaeology at the Somerset Historical Center and Somerset and Fayette County Courthouses. 

A trip in July yielded hundreds of photographs of old grave markers and nearly 300 copies of primary historical documents. In the Fayette courthouse in Uniontown, PA, I had the opportunity to hold in my hand and photograph the original last will and testament of a distant uncle Charles Younkin dating to the Civil War era. In a private repository in rural Somerset, I held an old tannery business ledger from the 1840s containing customer entries for scores of our distant relatives. Later, I was given permission to reproduce some of its content for this website.

Copies of hundreds of documents brought home in July 2021 from research trips to courthouses and libraries in Somerset and Fayette Counties, PA

An extraordinary find at the Somerset Historical Center was the typescript of a travel diary kept by Josephine Whalen of Iowa in late 1881 and early 1882 during an extended visit with family along the Mason-Dixon line in Pennsylvania and Maryland. I’ve published the diary on our website under the title Such Times: A Diary Kept by Josephine Emerick While Visiting Relatives in Pennsylvania and Maryland in 1881.

Then in the heat of late August, cousin David Shaw and I met in Waynesburg, PA to explore the roots of my great-great grandmother Mary Louise (Johnson) Miner. Dave and I visited a number of old graveyards in and around Sycamore and Prosperity,  learning that our Johnston people go back to early American and Scotch-Irish immigrant families bearing the names of Conklin, Kirkpatrick , Mills and Gaston. We subsequently learned that ancestor Andrew Kirkpatrick's pedigree goes back more than 20 generations to two Kings of England -- Alfred the Great (848-899) and his son Edward the Elder (874-924). This lineage is summarized in a 1891 book entitled Americans of Royal Descent, 2nd edition, authored by Charles H. Browning. Are we still royalty after more than a millennium?

David Shaw cleaning the forgotten grave of 4x-great-grandfather Andrew Johnston, dated 1868

To my great disappointment, due to Covid-19 concerns, the federal government continued to keep closed the  research room at the National Archives in Washington, DC. That kept me and many others from accessing its exhaustive holdingss of unique, original material. As of this writing, there are Civil War pension records for some 34 soldiers needing to be examined, copied and integrated into Minerd.com. The Archives website promises that "Once public health conditions improve and we are able to reopen the research room we will update our website with additional information." Meanwhile the clock ticks.

Many honored cousins sleep for eternity in Arlington National Cemetery. During my next trip to the District of Columbia, I plan to photograph a dozen newly discovered markers as illustrations for their biographies. At some point this content will be featured on its own standalone webpage.  

Future Reunion Plans – An M-M-M-M Reunion for 2022 is unlikely. While the reunion committee has not yet made a decision as of this writing, no one has even hinted at a suggestion that we move ahead to hold the event. Watch our Minerd.com homepage and Facebook page for updates.

If the reunion is to continue, we will need to fill the open elected positions of treasurer and secretary. While neither job is particularly difficult or time-consuming, the roles need to be filled. We cannot go on without dedicated, able-bodied assistance. 

In Closing - On a personal note, Covid-19, age and the Grim Reaper took a heavy toll in 2021. To our collective grief, we lost our longtime reunion secretary Rosella (Resh) Miner of Grantsville, MD and the husband-and-wife team of Joe and Adele (Martin) McKnight, he our reunion treasurer. Joe and Adele went above and beyond in promoting our reunion and online resources in their town of Connellsville, PA, where hundreds of not thousands of distant cousins reside today. It was Joe who tracked down the only known photo in uniform of cousin Garry Robert Feniello of the Pittsburgh Steelers team of 1947. He also helped expand the research for our proprietary webpage, featuring more than 40 cousins in the  1972 Graduating Class, Connellsville Area High School and hosted informal cousin dinners at a legendary local establishment, Bud Murphy’s Famous Pizza.

Our reunion leaders lost in 2021 -- Adele and Joe McKnight (treasurer) and Rosella (Resh) Miner (secretary since inception).

On another aside, I am grateful to a hard-working group in Somerset County, PA -- among them Linda Marker, Kristi Brant and other cousins with the Rockwood Area Historical Society and family friends Jennifer Hurl of the Meyersdale Public Library and collector Michael J. Miller -- for the work they are doing. This team is working to preserve and digitize unique manuscripts and tirelessly perform all of the other behind-the scenes tasks to bring unique historical gems into the public eye. Most fortunately for all of us, they are eager to share.

Heading into Minerd.com's 23rd year this May, keeping the work going is a never-ending, fascinating voyage of adventure ino the vast, layered worlds of Americana. Thank you again to everyone who has contributed your special part from your own family's trove of family heritage. This site is for you, and would not be possible without you.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Miner, Founder, Minerd.com
February 26, 2022

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