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This award-winning site -- founded in May 2000 and named one of Family Tree Magazine's "Top 10 Family Websites" in the nation -- is a forum for sharing knowledge and promoting the national reunion of our large pioneer clan, the Minerd- Minard- Miner- Minor family, with origins in the Pittsburgh region of Pennsylvania. The site may change the way you think, learn about and understand families. While our clan is no bigger, better or more interesting than anyone else's, it is symbolic of many early families who put down roots and let time work its magic.

Instead of just tracing backward, we're also exploring forward in time to tell the saga of one Pennsylvania-German family over a span of 275 years. It starts with German-Americans Friedrich and Eva Maria (Weber) Meinert Sr., and their son, Revolutionary War veteran Jacob Minerd Sr. and his wife Maria Nein, pioneers of Fayette/ Somerset Counties, PA, and thence to thousands of their descendants, down to the present day, with long-term, collective impact on our nation. We're very interested in making contact with all descendants, everywhere.

Today, cousins primarily spell the name Minerd, Minard, Miner and Minor. On average, though, fewer than 1% of us carry the name, with the remaining 99% having some other name. As a result, most cousins don't even know they belong. When we stopped counting in 2000, we had identified about 15,000 cousins and spouses, but the actual number has grown dramatically since the launch of this site and may be substantially higher, perhaps 40,000 to 50,000 all told among the diaspora. A staggering 550-plus cousins have passed away since we began counting in July 2000. Helping cousins and communities connect with their roots, honoring past lives with more than 1,175 biographies and more than 5,000 images, and exploring the clan's connectedness with American society and culture, are at the center of our interest. Be sure to scan our newly published 2007 Annual Review.

More than 115 Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor cousins and guests celebrated "Pittsburgh 250" at the clan’s three-day reunion weekend on June 27-29, 2008. The reunion made the KDKA-TV evening news, and was featured in articles in both of Pittsburgh’s major daily newspapers. It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable gathering of the scattered branches of our massive clan. Our reunion brought cousins to Pittsburgh whose ancestors left here in the early 1800s, and who have never been back since. They would have had no other reason to come to Pittsburgh except for the lure of reconnecting ancient family ties. 

At left, in the Great Hall of the Heinz History Center, reunion president Mark Miner (left) shakes hands with History Center CEO Andy Masich to say "thank you" for providing a terrific facility. He and his staff furnished our committee with outstanding, personal service, and for that we extend our deep appreciation.

Cousins traveled here from many states, including as far away as California, and from many Pennsylvania towns. Attendance was up by two-thirds from last year, with many new faces. To see the news stories, click here -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ("Getting to Know You") and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ("Clan's Reunion to Draw from Across the Country").

Minerd.com Featured in Pittsburgh Quarterly Magazine

In its special commemorative "Pittsburgh 250" edition, Pittsburgh Quarterly magazine publishes "Family Is Everything -- and for Mark Miner, Cousins Are Everywhere," authored by Minerd.com founder Mark A. Miner. The article highlights our award-winning Minerd.com website and how it is contributing to the Pittsburgh 250 initiative. Pictured in an attractive layout are cousins and "significant others" of the past -- Allen E. Harbaugh, William Curtis McKnight, Thomas Ward Custer, Annette Hanshaw, Rebecca Minerd, Christian and Esther (Barnhouse) Freed, Henry Yutzy, Harvey "Dean" Miner, Corwin Tilbury, Seth Reed Johnston and Virginia (Riley) Snyder. In promoting the article, magazine publisher Doug Heuck calls ours'  the "biggest family in town and says our "reunion could fill Heinz Field." The magazine bills itself as a forum "where commerce and culture meet." Click for a PDF reprint (1MB in size).

Website founder Miner (far left) with organizers of the Custer Homestead marker dedication ceremony in Tontogany, Ohio: Paul Houser (portraying Thomas Ward Custer), Bernard Scott and Steve Alexander (the nation's foremost General Custer re-enactor). Right: Miner gives his powerpoint presentation.

Minerd.com founder Mark A. Miner joined state and local dignitaries to formally dedicate a bronze Ohio Historical Society marker honoring the "Custer Homestead" in ceremonies in Tontogany, Wood County, on Sun., Aug. 10. The plaque memorializes the family of General George Armstrong Custer and his family during their little-known years of residence in Tontogany during the Civil War. The Custers had an unusually close relationship with the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family spanning three generations.

At the dedication, Miner presented a 45-minute powerpoint on "Tontogany's Deep Secret" featuring the story of Thomas Ward Custer, Rebecca Minerd and their child born out of wedlock, Thomas C. "Tommy" Custer. The event was held as part of the 2008 Tontogany Festival at the new Otsego High School Auditorium and Performing Arts Center. He also gave brief remarks and the unveiling. 

Also speaking were Jim Carter, president of the Wood County Commissioners and past president of the Historical Society of Grand Rapids; Representative Randy Gardner of the 6th District of the Ohio State House of Representatives; Senator Mark Wagoner of the 2nd District of the Ohio State House; Jody Blankenship, manager of outreach programs at the Ohio Historical Society; Mark Young, president of the American Civil War Museum of Ohio in Bowling Green; James Shank, re-enactor with the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Steve Kryder, president of the Historical Society of Grand Rapids; re-enactor Paul Houser portraying Captain Thomas Ward Custer; and re-enactor Steve Alexander, portraying General George Armstrong Custer. The event was featured in the Toledo Blade newspaper.

Following the unveiling, the Air National Guard Band of the Great Lakes, 555th Air Force Band performed a concert of patriotic music. The marker then was transported in a special procession through the a Tontogany neighborhood to its place of permanent enshrinement in Centennial Park for all to enjoy in perpetuity. 

The festival was organized by Bernard Scott and a hardworking committee which worked for five years to generate support for the project. Miner assisted the effort in fundraising, and all told, the project raised more than $2,000. Robert and Beverly Miner of nearby Bowling Green attended the events -- Beverly's groundbreaking research of the "Tommy" Custer story in the late 1980s and the national publicity it is now receiving have been a vital component of the formal effort to recognize the Custer homestead. Click for more images of the Custer family.

This 11” x 17” size book has been published by Minerd.com founder Mark A. Miner. It is a complete set of all 44 pages from the eight issues of the rare family newspaper from the 1930s and early ‘40s. Each page is professionally scanned from originals found in cousins’ collections all over the U.S., with an attractive cover and high quality paper and binding. Only 100 copies are being printed – be sure to secure your copy. This low price is possible through generous underwriting by several generous Younkin cousins. The reprinting has generated news coverage in the Uniontown (PA) Herald-Standard (headlined "Reprinting of Family's Newspaper Highlights Reunion") and Somerset (PA) Daily American.

The original Younkin Family News Bulletin was the brainchild of Charles Arthur Younkin, of Charleroi, PA. Working together with cousin Otto Roosevelt Younkin, they led a national reunion and following involving thousands of cousins during the Great Depression, a phenomenon called the "Great Younkin Awakening." Their efforts set the stage for the renewed interest in Younkin family connections today, and the establishment of the Younkin Reunions in the 1990s. The original YFNB was a six-page, five-column tabloid priced at $1.00 per year. The first issue was loaded with family stories and obituaries, a reunion wrap-up and letters from readers. All told, eight editions were printed. Now you can have the entire set for your own research library, or as a stocking stuffer. Copies were unveiled at the Younkin Reunion during the weekend of July 25-27 at Kingwood, Somerset County, PA. Order now!

In Memory - Captain Erick Foster - Killed in Iraq

FORT BRAGG, NC – Cousin Erick M. Foster, a captain and paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, died Aug. 28, 2007 of combat injuries sustained during an enemy attack using small arms fire in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. The great-grandson of Oakey and Gertrude (Shroyer) Harbaugh, Erick was the troop commander of A Troop, First Squad, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. He was a native of Wexford, near Pittsburgh, PA, and graduated from Duquesne University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in information systems management. Erick had one previous combat deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004 to 2005. He is survived by his parents Robert and Barbara (Kellner) Foster and sisters Abby Foster and Elizabeth Werkheiser. Click here for the Army’s official announcement, a related story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and a KSDK-TV feature in St. Louis about a special tribute made by his sister Elizabeth. Tragically, Erick is now one of 27 known cousins of the Minerd- Minard- Miner- Minor family to make the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives in military service during wartime. Please see our "Iraq War Prayer Page" and join us in praying for Erick's family, and for all cousins serving in harm’s way as they carry out and support military operations in Iraq and worldwide. Kellner's Fireworks is planning a huge fireworks exhibition on Aug. 22, 2008 in Oil City, PA in memory of Erick and as a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. Be sure to visit the Capt. Erick M Foster Memorial Fireworks Exhibition website. If you know of other veterans in our family who have given their lives for our country, please contact us immediately. 

Minerd.com a "Top 10 Family Web Site" in the Nation

Minerd.com received a major award in 2003 when named one of the "Top 10 Family Websites" in the nation by Family Tree Magazine. The April 2003 issue said that "Today's Minerd-Miner-Minor kin will find an astonishing amount of their history here." The editors wrote that our site, among others, was "selected by scouring the web until our eyes ached and our mouse-clicking fingers cramped." In a related feature story, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised the site's "abundance of information ... clean design and easy navigation."

We Want to Hear from You!

Our website and archives are continual works in progress.  We regularly update the site with new findings, and add to the archives with news of you and your family, past and present.  (We even welcome ultrasound photos from the womb, such as the image here of Jacob Benjamin Miner, a 1999 addition to the family!) If you have questions or information, spot any errors, or wish to contribute your own writings or archival materials, please contact us.

Copyright © 2000-2008 Mark A. Miner.
Anniversary graphic courtesy of Semonik Creative.