I've come across information regarding the family tree of the Kerschners, my mother's family name. Other have done more exhaustive work. I'm just presenting the odds and ends that I have found directly.
Currently all of the photos are in a single slide show. I intend to split them up someday.
All of them. Kirschner is the orignal German spelling. Kerschner/Kershner are the American variations. Karshner is a variation from the Ohio branch of the family.
If you want to read an interesting dramatization of the family history, a book is availble presenting the story: Tschinque, by Glenn Karschner.
Send a check for $20.50, made out to “Glenn A. Karshner” to:
Glenn A. Karshner
13521 Hildebrandt Rd.
Logan, OH. 43138
and a copy will be sent to you. He will even autograph the book if you want.
Suzanne Karshner, of Logan, Ohio, made a quilt with the wedding dates of the Kirschner/Karshner line as a wedding gift to her daughter. The line starts in Germany and crosses to the American colony.
My mother and I went to Wernersville, PA, to see some buildings and churches associated with the Kerschner name. William J. Kershner served as pastor from 1883 to 1926. Many of the tombstones in the cemetary were in German, reflecting the heritage of the original congregants. Many of the stones were marked as the resting places of Revolutionary War veterans. This photo gallery is a collection of pictures from the church.
The foundations for the house of the Hehn-Kerschner homestead still exist. They are somewhat hidden by the scrub.
Several parts of the Kerschner homestead were taken from Wernersville and installed at Winterthur. This article from the Heidelberg Heritage Society discusses what was done.