Lancaster County Family Ties

1899 STOVER: 1899 Lancaster County, PA directory John Stover married Mary Ida Wolf, and they resided in Terre Hill (although not normally together according to family members). Catharine Stover  was the widow of John Stover, and the mother of the John Stover in the directory of 1899.

Starting on line 17 is the household of Lazarus Wolf - he is 28 and his wife, Elizabeth is 23. They have four small children at home, plus 2 extra men. At this point, I am fairly sure that Michael Wolf is the younger brother of Lazarus, and that Issac Ulrich was his maternal uncle.

EARL LIGHTCAP: Earl married Katie Garner (daughter of Charles and Lizzie Garner), who was the sister of Ben Garner.  Earl and Katie's daughter Thelma would grow up to marry John Andrew "Andy" Ressler.  Typical of tangled Lancaster County roots: Ben Garner married Cora Groff and their oldest son Ralph married Reba Ressler, who was the older sister of "Andy" Ressler.  So the children of Andy and Thelma are related to me on both my Ressler and Garner family lines. I remember discussions growing up about them being double cousins to the rest of us.   Earl Lightcap at "Butchering Day in 1946" (used by permission of R. Schneider 11/2014) Earl Lightcap with Charles Garner, holding Thelma (Earl's daughter), and Lizzie Garner.  Probably taken in 1924. Charles and Lizzie were his in-laws as he married their daughter Kathryne (Katie). Used by permission of R. Schneider 11/2014

THE FRANK RESSLER FAMILY - 1937: The story of this picture as told by Reba Garner was that in the early stage of her pregnancy with her first child, the doctor told her that due to a hernia (or hernia repair), she would not live thru the pregnancy. Her parents wanted a picture of all their children together as a family group, so this photo was taken before Reba started to show.  Standing in the back (l to r): Anna, Andy, Clarence, Victor, and Mary.  Seated in the front (l to r): Martha "Marty", Frank, Charles, Reba, Bertha "Bert", and Emma. I remember this photo as hanging upstairs in the bedroom by the door.  Grandma and I talked about it many times. By the way, the baby girl was born healthy in July 1937 and is still living. Photo used by permission of M. Ressler 11/12/15