~ In Lasting Memory ~

January	February	March
April	May	June
July	August	September
October	November	December

~ New Blog Helps Promote Minerd.com to the Public ~

Promoting Minerd.com to the public helps draw more interested eyeballs to the site and keep it relevant in today's technology-saturated, short-attention-span society. Such exposure helps draw long-lost cousins we might never connect with otherwise. To do this, we rely on news media coverage, a regular email newsletter featuring the photo of the month – posts on my Facebook page and an all-new "Minerd.com Blog" hosted by WordPress.

The blog was launched on Jan. 19, 2015 with the stated goal of “Exploring Legacy Through Americana – Culture – Art – Genealogy.” The blog, a key element of the 15th anniversary celebration, contains essays I’ve written connecting current events and historical research discoveries to the fascinating stories of the extended family past and present. Be sure to visit the blog and become a fan.

August 2014 - Four Meinert-Minerd offspring were named in the introduction to the book Mary's Story - The Last of the Pioneers - by Cheryl Anne Hayes (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Aug. 29, 2014). In the introduction, the author writes: “This is the story of a life of adventure and determination during difficult times from the Great Depression into the Great Recession. Vignettes of lives surrounding Mary’s give an introspective view of lifestyles and culture during the 1950s while Mary raised her family in the suburbs of one of the world’s largest cities --Names were not heard in the news of the day -- but in many instances, should have been. You will be challenged to explore your own family roots -- and perhaps find that your ancestors helped found a new nation and came from a long line of kings. Perhaps you will feel differently about your own family or you may find something worth more than inherited fortune!”

August 2014 - A rare paper artifact from the Minerd.com Archives -- an original Christian Minstrel hymnbook featuring the patented seven-shape note system of the mid-19th century -- was mentioned in the Laurel Messenger newsletter of the Historical and Genealogical Society of Somerset County. The article, entitled "Shapes of the Past: The History of Shape Note Singing in Southern Somerset County, PA," was authored by Linda Marker and Duane Howard in the August 2014 edition. The story recounts that the shape note hymnals were "a vital piece of our social history" and that in some instances, "young people would often come six or eight miles to attend a singing."

July 26, 2014 - At the annual Junghen-Younkin Reunion, held in Somerset County, PA, I helped lead a tour of the historic Frederick G. Younkin farm cemetery near the village of Kingwood. I also spoke at the group's afternoon meeting about the substantial new Younkin content written and published on Minerd.com in the past year based on the sweeping research of the late Donna (Younkin) Logan and others. As well, I was coerced into serving as auctioneer during the annual auction for the third straight year, which raises several hundred dollars for the student scholarship.

May 21, 2014 - The Beaver County (PA) Genealogy and History Center invited me to speak at the historic Beaver Station of the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation, featuring highlights from my book, Well At This Time: The Civil War Diaries of Ephraim Miner.

Spring 2014 - Two Minerd.com biographies -- featuring the late Susanna (Younkin) Schrock of Kingwood, PA and the late Jacob H. "Devil Jake" Younkin of Connellsville, PA, both of the 19th century -- were reproduced in the Junghen Family News Bulletin, edited by Linda Marker and produced in connection with the Junghen-Younkin clan's annual reunion. Click to learn more about the extensive intermingled "Kissin' Cousin Marriages" connections between the Minerd- Minard- Miner- Miner and Junghen- Younkin- Younken- Youngkin families of southwestern Pennsylvania.

April 28, 2014 - Spanning the entire width of a newspaper page, the Beaver County (PA) Times reprints Minerd.com's "Photo of the Month" for April 2014 showing Odger Miner and fellow firefighters with the Hopewell Volunteer Fire Department in their old Brockway truck, preparing for a community parade in or near Aliquippa, PA. The historic image is the second Minerd.com Archives photo in recent months to be published in the Times' occasional "Vintage Views" feature, which seeks to "document the evolution of our area's diverse culture -- from fashion, architecture, agriculture, industry, education and recreation."

March 19, 2014 - At a meeting of the Civil War Round Table of Western Pennsylvania, I spoke about my book, Well At This Time: The Civil War Diaries of Ephraim Miner. (I belonged to this group in the 1990s.) In a review, the CWRT's Stray Shots newsletter said that the "talk followed an interesting format, that of an unfolding genealogical detective story. Slowly [the author] was able to piece together the scattered record of Ephraim Miner's life."

~ Incessant Laser Focus on Research ~

~ Gratitude to All Who Have Shared ~

Minerd.com expresses its appreciation to cousin Linda Marker for continuing to host the Younkin Reunion Pennsylvania page on Facebook, where much of the new Younkin material on Minerd.com is vetted with others for accuracy and completeness.

I'm also are grateful to cousin Irita (Goins) Canady, who migrated encyclopedic library of images from the "Male, Mayle, Mayhle Family Suite" on MyFamily.com to a similar format on Spokt, and who graciously has allowed its vast archive of images to be used here as appropriate. Thanks also are extended to the numerous sponsors of Find-A-Grave pages who also gave their consent for photographic images to be republished on this site, and who are acknowledged by name on the pages where the images are used.

~ Plans for the 2015 National Family Reunion ~

Over the weekend of June 26-27, 2015, the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family will gather again for its traditional every-other-year national reunion. 

Both the Friday evening meet-and-greet and Saturday morning/afternoon picnic will be held on the grounds of a new location for us, the Day's Inn Hotel in Donegal, PA, near the Donegal Exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Sadly, we were forced to move the reunion site in the wake of the May 11, 2014 fire that destroyed our usual meeting place, the Indian Creek Valley Community Center. Fire officials called it a total loss. The community center had been our home for five reunions in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. See the news as reported in the Connellsville Daily Courier.