All of us have gazed up at a vast crystal clear night sky and have been awed by a sense of the unknown. I suppose it is with a similar sensation that some of us seek to know who our ancestors were. For nearly as long as I can remember I have had this desire to know my heritage and to be able to tell my children theirs. I began this research in 1995 and soon realized it would be no easy task. All four of my grandparents died when I was very young and I had little to no memory of them. My parents divorced when I was 4 years old and my father disappeared when I was about 7 years old. The net effect was that I had no relationship with half of my family and no grandparents with which to gain first hand knowledge of past generations. Fortunately I would find three existing databases that would form a foundation on which to build my own research. Acknowledgment and thanks is given to those individuals named below:

Valerie (Eichlin) Paul, my wife's sister, who supplied initial Eichlin/Ealer information much of which was from the book by Frederick Ealer. Eventually I would add a copy of that book to my own genealogy library and I am in the process (60% complete) of entering everyone in the book to my database.

Alma Ruth (Cobb) Moore, my wife's great aunt, who supplied a Cobb descendant report.

Kyle Miller, a fellow Kunsman descendant who has possession of what he calls an "old binder" that contains Kunsman family genealogical information. His database on RootsWeb contained scores of Kunsman's or Kunstman's as Kyle spells it.

Since the beginning of this project thousands of hours have been spent on the internet, at the library, and reading and dissecting the many historical books, journals, and maps I have procured over the years. In 2004 I decided to put together a web site as I was eager to share what I had found with the rest of the world. Early versions were very crude and published on RootsWeb's Free Pages. In 2005 I purchased my own domain and leased a server in order to gain complete creative control over the site and improve search engine recognition. Since then the site has steadily grown and as of the fall of 2006 it averages about 120 page views per day, 20 new visitors a day, and about 10% of the visitors add the site to their favorites. Those stats, I am told, are pretty good for a non-commercial web site. The site is currently organized into about 14 main branches of information. This could change in the future as I am continually tweaking the design and content. What follows is a users guide, if you will, explaining what is in each section and how to get the most out of it.

Main Page - is the starting navigation point that links access to most areas of the web site.

Database - is an access point for all people in the database. The data was formatted using Brother's Keeper 6.2 software, the same program I use to organize all of my genealogy data. It lists every person in alphabetical order. Married females who's given surname is not known will have their married surname in parenthesis. If the birth year is known it appears with the name. If no birth year appears with the name it means either it is not known or it was omitted intentionally for persons born within the past 80 years and thought still living. At the top are quick links to take you to surnames beginning with a specific letter in the alphabet. All of the names are hyperlinks that when selected will open a family group sheet for that person. The family group sheet will contain additional links to children and parents as well as sources if any. Always click on the 'Notes" links as this calls up my research notes and photographs. Keep in mind these family group sheets contain only what I know so if I have four children listed it doesn't preclude the possibility that there should be six. If I have no spouse listed it doesn't mean the person never married. If no sources are listed you should treat the data as unreliable. If there are many sources listed you should examine these sources yourself before using the data. I could have made any number of mistakes in interpretation or transcription of the data. A general rule of thumb is that my direct lines will have more sources listed and will in fact be more thoroughly researched. In any case you should not assume my data is accurate.

Descendant Reports - clicking on this link brings up a grid containing the names of individuals that are near the top of our descendant trees. Though in some cases I have research that goes back beyond the 18th century I warn that the accuracy of the data falls off substantially at that point. Hence I start most of these descendant reports with the oldest 18th century ancestor. If you click on the name of a person it will bring up a standard format descendant report including in some cases extensive notes. I am considering phasing out the descendant reports as obsolete since the same info can be had by looking at the family group sheets through the Name Index page and a graphic illustration of relationships can be had by viewing the Descendant Trees. For now the descendant reports will remain on the site and I will monitor traffic to determine the level of interest.

Descendant Trees - the descendant tree grid contains the names of individuals from the early 18th century. Clicking a name opens up a .pdf file displaying the descendant tree chart. The descendant tree chart shows every known descendant of a specific ancestor. It is an excellent way to see graphically just how you are related to others in the same family. It will show 2nd, 3rd, 4th cousins, great aunts, great-great uncles, and so on. The tree charts are in .pdf format and require Adobe Reader to view. I chose the Adobe Reader format because it allows the greatest viewing flexibility and it is searchable. Some of these trees can hold nearly 1000 names and finding yours could be otherwise tedious. The search capability is a great tool. You can also zoom in and zoom out allowing you to step back and look at the big picture of where you fit into a family in relationship to others. If you've never used Adobe Reader before it is very easy to use. As for the Adobe software most people already have it but if your one of the few people that don't you can get it here for free. Other viewing tips can be found on the Descendant Tree main page.

Ancestor Fan Charts - will be of interest mainly to our 1st cousins, nieces/nephews, and grand nieces/nephews as they show direct ancestors only. There are charts only for the 8 grand parents of my wife and I. These charts are also in .pdf format and require Adobe Reader to view. They are designed to show six generations though in most cases they will not be complete. My goal is to some day fill in all six generations for each of these 8 grandparents.

Feature Stories - another work in progress it contains biographical sketches of our ancestors who achieved some level of notoriety through either good or evil deeds. These stories take a very long time to put together but I very much enjoy researching and writing them. I try to make them rich in visual content as well. If a name is listed and the link is not active it means I already know that person is worth writing about but I have not yet put together the research necessary to write the sketch. I only have time to write two or three of these stories a year so they are slow in coming. If you are aware of someone in the database who achieved notoriety in life let me know and I'll add them to the list of pending research. If their story is really compelling I'll get to work right away. These stories are purely my writing and the photos have been uniquely digitally restored and altered by me. I will enforce copyright protection to the fullest. Do NOT copy these stories or content directly into your publication of any kind (web based, print, or any other media). Feel free to link to these stories if your site does not charge an access fee or display advertising.

Family Briefs - clicking on this link brings you to a grid containing the major surnames relevant to my research. This is a work in progress and you'll notice some of the names are hyperlinks and some are not. If you click on a name that is linked it will take you to a biographical sketch that I have written for that surname in our family. Eventually I intend to write a sketch for each name listed and may add names as new discoveries may dictate. Within the stories there may be links to other data.

Photographs - a growing collection of family and historic photographs. The Historic Places and Things page is quickly becoming a first class collection of quality historic Easton photographs. The family pages contain old family photos some of which I have digitally restored. Each page is set up in a grid with a thumbnail photo and a description. Click on the thumbnail photo to view it actual size. I welcome additions to this collection and always credit the source of the photo.

Maps - contains maps of areas related to my research. There are some 1874 property survey maps that show the names of property owners (not necessarily occupants). There are maps of Germany at various times in history. There are also some special maps on the Raubsville Ferry and the Jacob Kunsman homestead. The Civil War maps section takes you to a page where you can display several battlefield maps related to the 153rd Pennsylvania and the 10th Alabama both of which our ancestors were soldiers in. Click on any of the maps to view the actual size map. The property maps can be useful as clues to marriages, church affiliations, and occupations. For example, you may find clues that your great great grandfather married his neighbors daughter, worked at nearby iron mines, or operated a grist mill.

Military - another work in progress there is substantial civil war information here but not much else at this time. The revolutionary war section list ancestors who I have identified as having served but little other detail is given. At present clicking on the name of a revolutionary war ancestor will take you to my World Connect database with details on that person. Eventually I will be removing my data from RootsWeb World Connect and I will need to devise something else. This section needs allot of work in both design and content.

Musicians - music holds a special place in my past and I would learn was an important part of our ancestors lives too. This page too is a work in progress and I hope to get more content in the future. The format includes links to a bio of the musician and mp3 samples of their music if available. On 10/25/06 I disabled all of the links on the Musicians page. I was unable to put together enough content to achieve my original vision for this page. I hope to resume development at some point in the future if I collect sufficient content. - Rich 12/7/06.

Links - a list of links to web sites that I have found useful in doing genealogical research.

Bibliography - a comprehensive list of all sources used to compile the data for this site. You must have Adobe Reader to view the page. If the source was a web site the links are active within the report thanks to the Adobe software. Simply point at the web address and click and your browser will open that web page. If you get an error message it most likely means the web site no longer exists although the site could just be down temporarily. The bibliography is also searchable.

Odds and Ends - contains various bits of information and articles of interest.

Updates - a basic journal listing every update I have ever made to the web site. If you are a returning visitor and just want to see what has changed since your last visit you will find this page useful. The described changes usually include an active link to the changed data. If you are bored and have nothing else to do you can read the entire evolutionary history of this web site.

It is my sincere hope that you find this web site useful and enlightening. I welcome your questions, comments, and any additional info or content you can provide. If you wish to e-mail me click here. Your e-mail program will launch and start a blank e-mail addressed to rhh@kunsman-eichlinREMOVETHIS.net. Before sending delete the word REMOVETHIS from the address. The REMOVETHIS word is inserted into the address to prevent spammers from obtaining my valid e-mail address through mining this site. Please enjoy your visit, come back often to see what's new, and happy hunting.