Learning from Genealogy

For two years I labored to trace my genealogy by names back to the 1500s – my paternal ancestors: Gehman, Hollinger, Horning, Bowman, Huber; and my maternal ancestors: Woodring, Ziegenfuss, Kemmerer, and Handwerk; then tracing my blood ancestors back to the German barbarians. It was exciting and fulfilling and I made some fascinating discoveries.

On my mother’s side, they were all Lutherans, Reformed and French Huguenots by religious conviction. They were also upper class and aristocratic. Vautrins (Woodring) were mayors of towns for generations who spoke several languages, owners of grist mills, successful entrepreneurs. The Kemmerers were the treasurers, the keepers of the wealth of royalty – the immediate officers of the Counts. A Kemmerer trudged off to the Holy Land as a knight during the First Crusade, bearing the official crest which symbolized crowned royalty. The Handwerk family can trace their ancestry to Count Handwerck who bore the title of nobility, whose abode was a forecastle of Greifenstein.

In contrast, all my father’s ancestors were German Swiss who professed their Christian faith as Swiss Brethren, several thrown into prison by Zwingli’s followers. They eventually became Mennonites. They were the peasants, the humble workers of the field – the low class which was ill treated by the landed aristocracy.

[All this genealogy and history can be found in my 308 page book, “FAITH OF OUR FATHERS: FROM BARBARIAN TO MENNONITE AND BEYOND,” published by Masthof Press. You can purchase the book directly from the publishers or from me. Send a check for $15.00 to Richard Gehman, 1011 Media Road, Minneola, FL 34715]

In Scripture we find that BOTH HIGH CLASS AND LOW CLASS stand on level ground before the cross. All are sinners and all need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the Scriptures I have memorized in retirement is Psalm 36:5-9, a marvelously beautiful description of our great God who blesses BOTH HIGH CLASS AND LOW CLASS in one blessed family.

“Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the sky.
“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep.
“O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love.
“Both HIGH and LOW among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
“They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

Both the HIGH CLASS among my maternal ancestors, and the LOW CLASS among my father’s ancestors, feasted on the abundance of God’s house, and drank from the river of delights that flows from God. Both my maternal ancestors in the Lutheran, Reformed and French Huguenot churches, and my paternal ancestors in the Mennonite church had a vibrant testimony hundreds of years ago. What a rich heritage God has given to me.