Death in Mud Lick by Eric Eyre

Newspaper journalists were my heroes as a girl. My ten-year-old girlfriend and I spent hours planning to turn a falling down chicken coup into an office where we would write and publish our own newspaper. I was on the school newspaper in high school. I follow a number of journalists on social media who are my heroes, and now I have one more to add to my list.

You reminded me of how much a community depends on its newspaper to tell the truth and follow through finding the truth even if it's a little scary.~from Death in Mud Lick by Eric Eyre

Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Eric Eyre won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigation into the massive opioid shipments to West Virginia. That story is presented in the book Death in Mud Lick.

I will admit this was one of those books I requested that looked interesting but when I received it I almost regretted it. I don't need to read another tragedy. We are in a pandemic already!

But I don't shirk my responsibilities and I sat down and read. I was soon immersed in the twisted history of how every safeguard failed to alert and stop the massive inflow of opioids into small towns, resulting in record overdose deaths. I looked forward to picking it up every day.

Everybody was making money--the pharmacies, doctors, patients, distributors, manufacturers. And nobody had the power to stop them.~ from Death in Mud Lick by Eric Eyre

This is one more story about people's lives sacrificed for money and governing authorities complicity in cover-ups. It is also the story of how a small town newspaper and one reporter prevailed to disclose the papertrail detailing responsibility.

Eyre does an amazing job marrying the personal side of the crisis and the struggle of the newspaper to keep afloat with his documentation of events. During the time of his investigation, Eyre was diagnosed with Parkinson's. It didn't stop him.

Today a Facebook friend shared a quip about shutting down the national media and watching 80% of the world's problems go away. Another Facebook friend responded, "It's your right to stay ignorant."

I am with that second friend. The media--particularly newspapers  still employing investigative reporters--are essential to a democratic society. We may not like what we are reading, we may find the news disheartening and frightening, but our alternative is ignorance.

I received a free ebook from the publisher on a Goodreads giveaway. My review is fair and unbiased.

Read an excerpt and listen to an audio excerpt at
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Death-in-Mud-Lick/Eric-Eyre/9781982105334

Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic
By Eric Eyre
Scribner
Publication March 31, 2020
$18 hard cover; $12.99 ebook
ISBN 13: 9781982105310

from the publisher:

From a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter from the smallest newspaper ever to win the prize for investigative reporting, an urgent, riveting, and heartbreaking investigation into the corporate and governmental greed that pumped millions of pain pills into small Appalachian towns, decimating communities. 

Death in Mud Lick is the story of a pharmacy in Kermit, West Virginia, that distributed 12 million opioid pain pills in three years to a town with a population of 382 people—and of one woman, desperate for justice, after losing her brother to overdose. Debbie Preece’s fight for accountability for her brother’s death took her well beyond the Sav-Rite Pharmacy in coal country, ultimately leading to three of the biggest drug wholesalers in the country. She was joined by a crusading lawyer and by local journalist, Eric Eyre, who uncovered a massive opioid pill-dumping scandal that shook the foundation of America’s largest drug companies—and won him a Pulitzer Prize.

Part Erin Brockovich, part Spotlight, Death in Mud Lick details the clandestine meetings with whistleblowers; a court fight to unseal filings that the drug distributors tried to keep hidden, a push to secure the DEA pill-shipment data, and the fallout after Eyre’s local paper, the Gazette-Mail, the smallest newspaper ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, broke the story.
Eyre follows the opioid shipments into individual counties, pharmacies, and homes in West Virginia and explains how thousands of Appalachians got hooked on prescription drugs—resulting in the highest overdose rates in the country. But despite the tragedy, there is also hope as citizens banded together to create positive change—and won. A work of deep reporting and personal conviction, Eric Eyre’s intimate portrayal of a national public health crisis illuminates the shocking pattern of corporate greed and its repercussions for the citizens of West Virginia—and the nation—to this day. 

Covid-19 Life, TBR, WIP

The Cleveland Pear tree

Some Spring.

This May has brought snow to Michigan--one of the top four snowiest Michigan Mays ever so far!

The Cleveland Pear tree bloomed and the apple tree is ready to bloom.

the apple tree

Wild violets under the apple trees

The first baby robins are flying. One sat on our patio in the morning...

And a bunny came to visit in the evening.

I finished the Alice in Wonderland Redwork quilt top.

And I finished the embroidered 'Gus' blocks.

I have finished reading 64 books this year. Yikes! And my TBR shelf is not getting any smaller!

Reading Now:

• The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larson, a Goodreads win
• Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan by Deborah Reed
• The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing by Joseph Fasano, a novel by a poet I discovered on Twitter

Books in the mail:
Jo & Laurie from Bookish, based on the characters from Little Women
Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Would Know by Ellen Notbohm, author of The River by Starlight

New E-galleys:

• Divided Hearts by Barbara Brackman, based on her block of the month series
• Sensational Quilts for Scrap Lovers
• Pride and Prejudice from Jane Austen Children's Stories
• Underwater: How Our American Dream of Homeownership Became a Nightmare by Ryan Dezember
• JFK by Fredrik Logevall, a new biography
• Shelter in Place by David Leavitt. I read his first novel The Lost Language of Cranes in 1991.
• The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue, author of The Wonder

Our grandpuppy Sunny continues to learn new tricks, and our son and his girl keep me updated. She jumps through hoops (and on the table) and had a bell to ring when she needs to go outside. But she rings that bell when she wants to go out and play, too!

Sunny loves to watch

She has grown so much since we last saw her in early March!


I have been enjoying the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Watch Parties, streaming past concerts with commentary from viewers. And the DSO musicians sharing music 'from their porch'. Also, Sir Patrick Stewart's daily reading of Shakespeare's sonnets, Yo Yo Ma's cello pieces, Joseph Fasano's daily poetry reading, The Show Must Go On YouTube airings of Sir Anthony Lloyd Webber shows...I keep very busy!

My brother social isolates on nature walks. Last week, an osprey flew in front of his Ram truck. Below is an osprey he saw on his walk at Stony Creek Metro Park.

 He came across deer.

 And was able to bring his pontoon to his dock.

Cass Lake, MI

I hope you are keeping safe and busy, too.

The King of Confidence by Miles Harvey

When we lived along Lake Michigan people would ask me if I knew about the King of Beaver Island. I had never heard of him. All I knew was that quilter Gwen Marston lived on Beaver Island. I had seen photos of her home and studio and the classes she held there. A lovely place.

Then along comes Miles Harvey's The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch, finally my chance to learn about this Michigan king.

I'll cut to the chase: Harvey's book is rollicking, page-turning, riotous good fun...and a sobering reminder of the American penchant to be taken in by quacks, con-men, and self-aggrandizing wannabes.

As a boy, J. J. Strang dreamed of the big achievements awaiting him--like marrying the girl Victoria who was destined to become queen of England. He wanted to be king.

Over his lifetime, Strang reinvented himself, from teacher to lawyer, from atheist to the heir to Mormon founder Joseph Smith, from self-proclaimed king to pirate to legislator. And from husband to one wife to husband to a harem.

Harvey could have given us a somber, and perhaps tedious, exploration of Strang's place in American history, with insights into our current political craziness as well as Strang's antebellum  social, economic, and political craziness.

OK; he did cover these themes. But with pizazz and ironic fun to create an entertaining narrative that makes one want to keep reading.

Chapters have lively titles and chapter quotations. Such as,"In which one charlatan is run out of town, only to be replaced by an even greater scoundrel", the following quote being a discussion between the Duke and the King from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 

Yes, this is a book that Michiganders must read, but also those interested in how Americans gravitate to extremes during troubled times. Harvey's insights into human nature and society transcends time and place.

I was given a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

from the publisher:In the summer of 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, vanished from a rural town in New York. Months later he reappeared on the Midwestern frontier and converted to a burgeoning religious movement known as Mormonism. In the wake of the murder of the sect's leader, Joseph Smith, Strang unveiled a letter purportedly from the prophet naming him successor, and persuaded hundreds of fellow converts to follow him to an island in Lake Michigan, where he declared himself a divine king. 

From this stronghold he controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, establishing a pirate colony where he practiced plural marriage and perpetrated thefts, corruption, and frauds of all kinds. Eventually, having run afoul of powerful enemies, including the American president, Strang was assassinated, an event that was frontpage news across the country.

The King of Confidence tells this fascinating but largely forgotten story. Centering his narrative on this charlatan's turbulent twelve years in power, Miles Harvey gets to the root of a timeless American original: the Confidence Man. Full of adventure, bad behavior, and insight into a crucial period of antebellum history, The King of Confidence brings us a compulsively readable account of one of the country's boldest con men and the boisterous era that allowed him to thrive.

The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch
by Miles Harvey
Little, Brown and Company
Publication: May 12, 2020 
PRICE: $29.00 (USD)
ISBN: 9780316463591

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

Holy Week. When the enemies have decided to gather at the gate. Attack is on. I think I will stay home. Someone should stay battle-scar-free. To care for the wounded. ~ April 16, 2014

Six years ago, I wrote that on my Facebook timeline. A few months later my husband retired after spending over 30 years of his 38-year career as a parish minister.

We are different people now. I can be outspoken when I want to be, although diplomatic phrasing of my opinion has become a force of habit. Our home is a private sanctuary without yearly walk-through inspections and we can repair and upgrade without trustee approval. We are not required to attend social gatherings or bring a casserole to potluck dinners.

Our roles had run our lives. And my husband bore the weight of hundreds of souls, and the bickering and power plays, the groupies and the critics.

It is a life that few write about realistically. The narrative is dominated by idealized, charming stories and cult horror memoirs.

"A minister," she said. "It seems useful, doesn't it? It seems like a pleasant way to spend a day."~from The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

I was interested in reading The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall when I learned it concerned the relationship between two pastors and their wives.

Wall's characters come from different backgrounds and experiences.

There is the scholarly Charles who accidentally stumbles upon faith and holds it without question. Suffering a devastating loss, Lily angrily rejects the idea of God or 'a plan,' and the reliability of happiness rooted in others. Charles pursues Lily, in spite of her rejection.

There was only circumstance and coincidence. Life was random, neutral, full of accidents...the prerequisite for love was trust; and Lily did not trust anything. ~from The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

Nan is a Pastor's Kid with a naive and untested faith. James escapes his dysfunctional environment with a scholarship to university. His interest in Nan brings him to church. He struggles to believe while embracing the pastoral call as a vehicle to address societal problems.

"I may not believe in God, but I believe in ministry." ~James in The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

Charles and James represent the pastoral and the prophetic roles and are hired by Third Presbyterian Church in a coministry. They balance each other. When parishioners complain that James was "asking us to change views we've held all our lives," Charles replys, "That's what you hired him to do."

The wives are a different story. Lily pursues a PhD and academic career and leaves the traditional, constricted role of pastor's wife to Nan. Their differences are further shown when Nan is devastated by miscarriages and Lily struggles with an unwanted pregnancy--twins.

One of the twins is born with autism, leading Charles to depression while Lily crusades to find the best life for her son. James steps up with a life-changing idea.

The couples become a remarkable community, learning from each other and changing each other. Their story is a microcosm of how the church should work.

****

There was only one call. They were, the four of them, married to each other, in a strange way.~ from The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

Casey Cep's review in the New York Times wrote, "Rather than seeming like two ministers, James and Charles sometimes read as if the pastoral teachings of Henri Nouwen and the political theology of Reinhold Niebuhr were fighting for control of one parish..."

I was intrigued by the identification of the characters with the theologians Nouwen and Niebuhr, both of whom I have read. 
But I did not see Charles and James as 'fighting' for control as much as the parishioners splitting over their differing messages and styles.

In our experience in the itinerant ministry, where pastors with differing styles follow each other, some section of the parish will reject the incoming pastor for not being the previous pastor. Humans have a preference for leaders who align with their set of personal beliefs and reject those who offer a different perspective.

I have known pastors like James. We joined the Methodist Federation for Social Action in the mid-1970s. Some pastors  took controversial actions. Ending the nuclear arms race was an important issue at the time and people were chaining themselves to the gates in protest. Men who became pastors during Vietnam and the Civil Rights era carried their message throughout their career, even when the church had become more conservative politically and religiously, resulting in rejection.

I do not agree with Cep when she writes, "Instead of discussing soteriology or theodicy or even Jesus, they talk in the blanched terms of bad things and good people, even with one another."

Sure, at seminary classes we talked about soteriology and eschatology and all the other 'ologies'. (I audited six classes over three years.) But real-life pastoral ministry is about leadership, team building, financial planning, budgeting, pastoral care, listening, crisis management, and the nuts and bolts of running a nonprofit organization run by volunteers. People want answers to real life issues not theology talks. Like why does God allow bad things to happen to good people.

****

I had to wonder how Wall came to understand the 'inside story' of ministry.

In an article, I learned that Wall’s small town, Nazarene,  parents moved to New York City where they became a part of the First Presbyterian Church, the model for the church in her novel. The church had a history: it was here that Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick's radical ideas riled dissent and led to his resignation. He moved on to Riverside Church.

First Presbyterian had two ministers. “The ministers I grew up with at First Presbyterian were very dynamic and charismatic,” Wall says. “We were close to them."

Learn more about the novel here, where you can listen to an excerpt and hear Walls speak about her novel. 

I purchased an ebook. 

My Ramer Family Tree (Also spelled Reimer, Remer, Rohmer, Roeme,Reamer, Rehmer...)

Esther Mae Ramer with son Lynne O. Ramer

When I was nineteen I inherited papers from my grandfather Lynne O. Ramer, including the Ramer genealogy he had received from Grant Shadle Sr. in the early 1960s. The research included generations of Ramers back to Matthias, our first known immigrant ancestor.

With the wealth of information available online and shared across the world, I may have discovered Ramer family trees that added six more generations, going back to Germany!

Of course, without having personally vetting the documentation I cannot have certainty about the online trees. In fact, the more I studied these purported ancestors the more I doubted them.

Ramer/Roemer/Remer/Reimer...

The family name was perhaps originally Reimer and not Roemer. (That 'o' should have an umlaut.)

Researching the surname does not make things clearer.

The surname Roemer was given to a person who had made a pilgrimage to Rome. Romer is the Jewish form of Roemer.  Romer in German is braggart.

According to Ancestry.com, Reimer is derived "from a Germanic personal name, a reduced form of Reinmar, composed of the elements ragin ‘counsel’ + mari, meri ‘fame’."

Sources also inform that Ramer is a German occupational name for a dairy farmer, "from Middle High German from ‘cream’, or for a frame or loom-maker, from Middle High German ram(e) ‘frame’, ‘loom’." Or, it is "possibly an altered spelling of German Römer (see Roemer)."

One family genealogy website states that "The surname Reimer was also spelled ... Roemer."

The Surname Database shares that "it may be developed from the Germanic personal name "Ragimar," composed of the elements "ragin" (counsel) with "meri, mari"(fame)."

Or, that "the modern surname found as Reimer, Remer and Riemer may have developed from an occupational name for a maker of leather reins, belts, and similar articles, derived from the Middle High German, "riemaere", an agent derivative of "rieme(n)", strap, belt, thong, from the Old High German "riomo". "

The website continues,

"The surname is well recorded in Germany from the mid 16th Century on; the marriage of Hans Reimer and Barbara Capis was recorded in Neckarkreis, Wuertt, on September 1575. [...] The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ursula Riemer (christening), which was dated July 25th 1559, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany, during the reign of King Ferdinand 1, "Holy Roman Emperor", 1558 - 1564."

Now I am completely confused.

The Family Tree...Maybe

Map of Germany shows Konigsberg in the upper right corner
Mutterstadt is southwest of Frankfort near the Palatinate in lower left corner

My Ramer Family Line 

The genealogy papers I inherited went back to my fourth great-grandfather Matheus (or Matheus) Rohmer/Romer/Ramer, born in 1746 and died in 1828. He was born and died in Pennsylvania.

The family trees on Ancestry.com have traced the family back ten generations.

I am not convinced. First of all, why did Johann Valentine's probated will not mention a son Matthias? And secondly, why would Johann Gottlieb, born in Koenigsberg, leave his homeland to travel to the other side of the country to Mutterstadt?

The Tree

possible 10th great-grandfather
Christoff Reimer born 1565 in Evangelische Becherbach, Bei Kirn, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany. On Trinity Sunday in 1636 (25 Trinitatis 1636 ) he married Regina Meslin in Koenigsberg (now Kalingrad, Russia), Ost. Preussen (East Prussia), Germany. Koenigsberg, a port city, was established in 1255 as a Crusade fortress. It became a center of Lutheran teaching and publishing.

***

possible 9th great-grandfather
Johann Gottlieb Reimer born 1590 in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany and died 1650 in Mutterstadt, Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. In 1617 he married Catharina Elisabeth Reimer in Kaliningrad, Ost., Preussen, Germany. Mutterstadt is near Ludwigshafen, which was the capital of Rheinland-Pfalz, and is situated on the Rhine River.

***

possible 8th great-grandfather
Yohann Johann "Hans" Bartholomaus Reimer was born on December 12, 1617, in Mutterstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He married Odilla Kobss on October 18, 1650. They had four children during their marriage. He died on December 14, 1707, in his hometown at the age of 90.

***

possible 7th great-grandfather
Johann Jacob Reimer was born in 1659 in Mutterstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He married Margaretha Holl in 1680 and they had six children in 19 years. He died on October 21, 1730, in his hometown at the age of 71.

***

possible 6th great-grandfather
Hanss Jacob Reimer (1689–1742), born in Mutterstadt, Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany and died December 31, 1742, in Mutterstadt, Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

He was married three times and had five sons and one daughter.

On January 12, 1712, in Mutterstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Hanss Jacob Reimer married Anna Margaretha Engelhardt ( born 1693 in Fußgönheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). She died on March 21, 1744, in Mutterstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, at the age of 51. They had three children during their marriage.

***

possible 5th great-grandfather
Hans (Johann) Valentine Reiner b. April 29, 1714.

Valentine was born in 1714 in Mutterstadt, Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Pfalz. His parents were Hans Valentine Reimer and Anna Maria. He died February 15, 1794, in Hellertown, Northampton, PA and is buried at Zion's Cemetery.

His native land had been the center of warfare for years, destroying the economy and creating famine. Mass migration of Palatinates sought refuge in England and America.

In 1737, Valentine married Maria Catharina Gaertner/Gartner who was born September 1, 1713, in Mutterstadt, Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Their children included Anna Barbara (Koch) Anna Eva, Balthasar, Anna Maria, Philip, Jacob, Henry, and Isaac.

Valentine and Maria Catharina immigrated to America arriving September 5, 1748 at the port of Philadelphia on the ship Edinburgh. Read a family history that describes the experience of immigrating on the Edinburgh here. Harsh winters may have precipitated the family leaving at this time.

Their son Isaac (1744-1810) was a private in the 1st Battalion of the Northampton Co, Militia, No 6 under Capt. Frederick Kleinhantz. (* for more information)

In 1748 Hanns Jacob married his second wife Anna Margaretha Stey born August 25, 1725, and they had children Daniel (married Anna Margaret Best), Jacob (Married Elizabeth Heller), Henry (married Catherine Correll), Margaretha (Riehl), Elisabetha (spelled Renner, married Unangst), Catharina, Anna Barbara, Anna Eva, Susanna Margaret (Holland), Maria Catherine (Lantz), Maria Sarah (Miller), Israel.

He died February, 13, 1794 and his estate was probated  on March 30, 1794 with family information as below. Note the lack of a Matheas.

REIMER, Valentine  Williams, yeoman
        30-3-1793  -  31-3-1794
  wife  Margareth
  son   Isaac
  son   Daniel
  son   Jacob married Elizabeth Wildanger May 2, 1775
  son   Henry
  dau   Margareth   2nd wife of John REIL
  dau   Elizabeth    wife of Peter UNANGST
  dau   Catharine   wife of Peter LANTZ
  dau   Sarah    wife of Jacob MILLER
  dau   Anne-Barbara
  dau   Anne-Eve
  dau   Susanna    deceased   and her children
  ex    wife Margareth and son in law John REIL
  mentions   Christian and Peter HOLLAND
  Caveat by Isaac  31-3-1794 N Court of John  MULHOLLEN, David WAGENER, judges
        John ARNDT, Reg.,  John SPANGENBERG
        Daniel REINHEIMER, Christian BEST,
        Abraham TRANSUE and Valentine MILLER

Anna Margaretha died in 1812.

Zions Evangelical Congregational Church cemetery is also known as Gottes Ocker. St. Paul's and Zion's Evangelical Congregational Church are part of a circuit today. Zions was part of the Old Mahantongo Circuit which consisted of Hepler's Church of God and St. John's Church and St. Paul's Church. The churches separated in 1871.

***

Here begins my confirmed ancestry.

4th great-grandfather
Matthias Roemer/Remer/Reimer was born September 26, 1746 in Westphalia, Germany and died August 1, 1828 in Berks Co., PA. Matthias was the earliest ancestor known by my grandfather.

He arrived at the port of Philadelphia in 1765.

Matthias married Maria Susanna Schömann
born around 1805 in Neuerburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Maria Susanna passed in
October 1872 in Strohn, Vulkaneifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Matthias of Alsace, Berks Co, then married Susanna Burger of Alsace, Berks Co., PA on April 29, 1794 at the Schwartzwald Reformed Church. Their children included Nicolas.

Mathew Rehmer appears on the 1790 Census for Maxatawny, Berks Co, PA (as does his son Nicholas' father-in-law Peter Mattern).

Mathias Roemer appears on the 1800 Census for Maxatawny, Berks Co., PA He appears on the Pennsylvania Septennial Census for Berks Co., PA, as Mathias Roemer, laborer.

Math. Reimer appears on the 1810 Census for Upper Mahantongo, Berks, PA, as does the Mattern family.

Matthias Remer appears on the 1820 Census for Upper Mahantongo, Schuylkill Co, PA.

Mathais Ramer gravestone at Zions Ev. Cong. Church

A Wolfgang family history states that Mathias Ramer was a gunner in the 1st Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War. A Mathias Rammier is listed in 5th Troops of 1st Partisan Legion on 12/26/1779.

The Pennsylvania Militia was organized under an act of March 7, 1777, providing for compulsory enrollment of all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 53. About 60,000 men were enrolled. Information from USGENWEB by R. Turnback.

A Revolutionary War soldier named Mathias Remier was recorded as a Farrier.

Matthias is buried in Pitman, Schuylkill Co., PA in the Zion Evangelical Congregational Church cemetery. The Cemetery was started on land once owned by Johann Casper Hepler, Jr. (1751-1816), part of the "Hepler Farm" (now located in Eldred Township, Schuylkill County, PA).

***

3rd great-grandfather
Nicholas was born on August 31, 1791 in Greenwich, Berks, Pennsylvania and he died on March 27, 1867 in Eldred, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania.

He married Maria Mattern, born December 1, 1790 and died March 29, 1849. Maria's family were from the Rhine Valley and arrived in America in 1732. Her ancestor served in the Revolutionary War.

Nicolas Remer appears on the 1820, 1830, and 1840 Upper Mahantango, Schuylkill Co., PA.

Nicholas Roemer, farmer, appears on the 1850 Upper Mahantango, Schuylkill Co, PA, Census along with his children Salome, age 31; George, age 28; Magdalena, age 19; and Joseph, age 17.

Nicholas Ramer appears in the household of his son George and family on the 1860 Upper Mahantango, Schuylkill Co, Eldred, PA Census.

Nicholas Romer died at age 77 on March 27, 1868, and was buried in Ashland, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, in Christ's United Lutheran Church cemetery. The church record is in German. His will was probated May 1, 1868 under the name Nicholas Roemer.

tombstone of Maria Mattern Romer,
Zions Evangelical Cemetery, Pitman, Schuylkill CO, PA

***

2nd great-grandfather

Joseph Sylvester Ramer and Rachel Barbara Reed Ramer

Joseph Sylvester Ramer was born on February 8, 1832 in Beury's Lake, Pottsville, PA. He was baptized on October 7, 1827, at Howerter's Church, sponsored by Isaac Haas and Elizabeth Hepler.

He married Anna Kramer and they had eight children together. After her death, Joseph Reymer married Rachel Barbara Reed (b. October 25, 1841) on September 14, 1871 in Lewisburg, Union Co., Pennsylvania, at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church.

They had eight children together. Joseph died on August 7, 1900, in Milroy, Pennsylvania, at the age of 68, and was buried in Milroy, Mifflin Co., Pennsylvania.

Rachel Barbara Reed

The 1850 Census shows Joseph living in Upper Mahantongo, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, with his parents and siblings.

The 1880 and 1900 Census shows Joseph and Rachel and children living in Armagh, Mifflin Co, PA.

Joseph died on August 7, 1900, and is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Milroy, Mifflin Co, Pennsylvania.

Rachel died on December 28, 1912 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Milroy, Mifflin Co, Pennsylvania.

***

great-grandmother
Esther Mae Ramer was born on July 8, 1880, in Milroy, Pennsylvania, when her father, Joseph, was 48, and her mother, Rachael, was 38. She had son Lynne Oliver Ramer, born out of wedlock; the birth certificate shows Lynn's father was Harry Shirk. Ancestry DNA test shows my brother and I are related to the Shirk family.

Esther Mae Ramer

Esther married Lawrence Zeke Harmon in 1908. The 1910 Milroy, Mifflin CO. census shows Esther Harmon, married, living with her mother Rachel Ramer and son Lynnie. The 1910 Mifflin CO. census shows Lawrence Harmon as divorced and living in Burnham working at the steel mill. After Esther's passing, Lawrence married three more times, all widows, with one divorce and one wife dying.

Lawrence Harmon

Esther died of dropsy on May 22, 1912, in her hometown, and is buried at Woodland Cemetery, Milroy, Mifflin Co, PA. When her mother Rachel died the following December, Lynne was left an orphan.

Lynne had been in bed with his grandmother and his cousin at the time of her passing.

***

grandfather
Lynne Oliver Ramer

Lynne and mother Esther Mae Ramer

When Lynne Oliver Ramer was born on April 3, 1903, his father, Harry Shirk was 20 and his mother, Esther, was 22. They were unmarried.

After Lynne's mother and grandmother passed in 1912 he lived with his mother's siblings Carrie Ramer Bobb and Annie Ramer Smithers.

Lynne attended Susquehanna University and received a BA and MDiv degree. He then received a teaching certificate from Columbia University. Lynne was employed by Hartwick Seminary in Otsego, NY as a teacher where he met his future wife.

Lynne O. Ramer

When Lynne was 27 he married Evelyn Adair Greenwood on August 17, 1930.  Evelyn had been his student and was 17.  Lynne took a new job at the Kane High School in Kane, PA. Lynne and Evelyn had four children.

In 1941 the family moved to Troy, NY, and then to Tonawanda, NY, where he worked as an engineer in an airplane factory during WWII. In 1947 he was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and served as a Deacon. He earned his MA in Mathematics at the University of Buffalo in 1951. In 1958 Lynne was employed by GM and moved to Royal Oak, MI. He also served as a deacon at St. Luke Episcopal Church in Ferndale, MI. Then he taught mathematics at Lawrence Institute of Technology. He died on July 10, 1971, in Berkley, Michigan, at the age of 68.

***

Mother

Joyce Adair Ramer was born in Kane, PA on July 26, 1931. She married Eugene Vernon Gochenour, born August 13, 1930 in Tonawanda, NY. They had children Nancy Adair, born 1952 and Thomas Eugene, born 1959. Joyce died in 1990 of cancer.

*****

* More about Isaac Reimer (who may or may not be a distant cousin) and Northampton Country in the Revolutionary War:

From Richard's The Pennsylvania Germans in the Revolutionary War  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000083720510&view=1up&seq=385

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY.

Amongst the first to join Washington at New York were the Pennsylvania-German Associators from Northampton county. So rapidly did the recruiting progress that they were able to report early in August.

They were promptly stationed on Long Island, and it was these noble men who bore the brunt of the battle on August 27, and whose self-sacrifice saved the army from destruction. The Moravian records, at Bethlehem, contain this interesting item, under date of September 2-6:

" In these days, parties of militia on their return from New York, passed, bringing the intelligence that a battalion from the county (First battalion, Lieut. Col. Kechlein), had suffered severely at the engagement with the British on Long Island, on the 27th of August last, having left most of its men either dead or wounded."

The remnant of the regiment, left from that fight, was practically wiped out of existence at the battle and capture of Fort Washington, on November 16, 1776. The details of the part taken by the Northampton county Flying Camp, in these two engagements, has been given heretofore, as well as a record of the losses sustained by Capt. Arndt's company.

At the close of the year 1776, the most dismal in the history of the war, a further requisition for troops was made on the county by the Pennsylvania Council of Safety, through Gen. Washington. Here, again, action was taken so promptly and energetically that some of the men, furnished upon this requisition, reached the army in time to participate in the battle of Trenton, and that of Princeton which followed.
(Lost very heavily at Long Island and Fort Washington.)

First Battalion-June, 1777

Colonel, George Hubner.
Lieut. Col., Peter Sayler.
Major, Philip Mixel.

Captains, Joseph Frey, Christopher Jonsson, George Groff, Edward Sheimer,
John Roberts, Friedrich Cleinehautz, Francis Rhoads, Jacob Wagner.

In 1777 The Militia Act and the Test Act were passed requiring everyone in Pennsylvania to take an oath of allegiance and for all men between the ages of 18 and 53 to serve in the military unless they paid a fine (which would be used to pay a substitute). The Moravians were pacifists who did not believe in pledging allegiance to the state. The Moravian communities suffered persecution and harassment.

A petition from the officers and others of the first Battalion of Northampton County, Mifflin, written to Thomas Wharton, JR, resident of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was signed by Friedrich Kleinhaus, Gorg Henrich Kleinhaus, and Isaac's brother Daniel Reimer.

The petition asked for a redress of the grievances "unconstitutionally inflicted" upon "disaffected men of this County (and the sect nominated Moravians in particular)." They requested an "immediate stop" "may be put to the petitions and petitioning of an unlawful set of disaffected men till they take the oath or affirmation of allegiance to this state, or till they have a greater authority to address any of our Legislative Bodies in the Commonwealth."

After the Treaty of Paris in 1784 the Test Act was repelled and the fines we excised from the Militia Act.

***

Family trees can not be considered reliable when they can't provide documents linking the generations. I would love to add these ancestors. But I need proof first.

In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees by Susan Kuklin

"It's just a choir," Dieudonne replied to the parents of the youth choir he created. And I was in tears.

You see, Dieudonne had spent twelve years of his childhood in a refugee camp. His parents were a mixed marriage of Hutus and Tutsis. When soldiers told his father that he had to kill his wife, they ran, making their way to Tanzania. They ended up in a UN refugee camp.

When Dieudonne was fifteen, he and his siblings were able to immigrate to the United States. Dieudonne joined a storefront church that became the church home for the refugee community. He knew the children needed direction and connection to their new home while embracing their heritage. He started a choir that combined Bible and cultural teachings. The children showed improvement in their behavior and their parents were amazed.

It's just a choir.

I was surprised to be so moved by the five stories shared by Susan Kuklin's In Search of Safety. When I won the book on LibraryThing I had no idea how this book would impact me. The stories of why these people left their homeland was troubling and horrifying, But telling of their new life in safety, I was uplifted and joyful.

The stories are in the words of the people featured, revealing their personality and showing the depth of their emotional and physical experiences. Although they come from different countries each settled in Nebraska.

From Afghanistan, Fraidoon was a translator for the US army. He was under threat of death by the Taliban and sought to immigrate to America. US soldiers confirmed his unwavering loyalty and bravery.

From Myanmar, Nathan was raised in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to America at age twelve. His father worked factory jobs and as a meatpacker, moving to cities that provided his son with the best educational opportunities. Nathan earned a scholarship to college and became an American citizen.

Shireen from Northern Iraq was part of an ethnic minority group that has survived seventy-three genocides before ISIS attacked them. To avoid rape and sexual slavery, Shireen poised as her cousin's wife and later pretended to be paralyzed. She was rescued and taken to a refugee camp before coming to America.

And last there is Dieudonne from Burundi who came from a comfortable home, his father able to raise everything they needed.

This is a marvelous resource for age 14 and up.

The book is filled with color photographs and includes maps.

I won a free book from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.

In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees
by Susan Kuklin
Publication March 27, 2020
Published by Candlewick
Hardcover $24.99
ISBN 9780763679606

from the publisher: 

The five, originally from Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Iraq, and Burundi, give gripping first-person testimonies about what it is like to flee war, face violent threats, grow up in a refugee camp, be sold into slavery, and resettle in America. Illustrated with full-color photographs of the refugees’ new lives in Nebraska, this work is essential reading for understanding the devastating impact of war and persecution — and the power of resilience, optimism, and the will to survive. Included in the end matter are chapter notes, information on resettlement and U.S. citizenship, historical time lines of war and political strife in the refugees’ countries of origin, resources for further reading, and an index.

A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth by Daniel Mason

Each story in A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth is a masterpiece that vividly conveys a historical person's grappling with life's big questions. Each story transported me into a specific time and place. The characters are unforgettable.

Mason's background as a physician and psychiatry inform these stories, each character grappling with challenges biological or mental.

A reluctant pugilist, the product of the "cursed Gemini of Poverty and Fertility," dwells on the moral aspect of his trade. "You boys go out and think you are fighting a boxer but really you're fighting the world," a philosophical man shares.

Alfred Russel Wallace is driven to search for new species, imperiling his health, and independently developing a theory of evolution. I had read about his collection of birds in The Feather Thief by by Kirk Wallace Johnson. 

An immigrant demonstrates extreme patriotism, chagrined that he was unable to join the army and die for his adopted country.

In the smoke-filled city of London, a mother desperately seeks a remedy for her son's asthma.

A doctor's temporary lapses in memory appears to be caused by an alternate and more appealing personality.

An agent of the telegraph line lives in isolation in the jungle, forming deep attachments to other agents along the line. This was one of my favorite stories.

A female aeronaute investigates a dark line in the upper atmosphere.

A mental patient is obsessed with collecting data--recording the history of the mundane--which he stitches onto cloth. The story is inspired by the art created by Bispo do Rosario. Voices instructed him to catalog all things on earth. His over 800 works of found art are now celebrated.

I had read Daniel Mason's novel The Winter Soldier and the story stayed in my head, a sure sign of a well-written novel.
Mason is the author of The Piano Tuner and A Far Country.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

A Registry of My Passage upon the Earth: Stories
by Daniel Mason
Little, Brown and Company
Pub Date May 5, 2020
ISBN 9780316477635
PRICE $27.00 (USD)

from the publisher:

From the bestselling, award-winning author of The Winter Soldier and The Piano Tuner, a collection of interlaced tales of men and women facing the mysteries and magic of the world. 

On a fateful flight, a balloonist makes a discovery that changes her life forever. A telegraph operator finds an unexpected companion in the middle of the Amazon. A doctor is beset by seizures, in which he is possessed by a second, perhaps better, version of himself. And in Regency London, a bare-knuckle fighter prepares to face his most fearsome opponent, while a young mother seeks a miraculous cure for her ailing son. 

At times funny and irreverent, always moving and deeply urgent, these stories -- among them a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart Prize winner -- cap a fifteen-year project. 

From the Nile's depths to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from volcano-racked islands to an asylum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, these are tales of ecstasy, epiphany, and what the New York Times Magazine called the "struggle for survival . . . hand to hand, word to word," by "one of the finest prose stylists in American fiction."