Messages

Keep those cards and letters coming, folks!

• Delighted with this site. I am just getting into the history of my dad's family. I find the Dutch crest fascinating as the crow seems perched on the tip of a detachable arrowhead. Keep up the good work.
  Jim Krahenbuhl, Baton Rouge, LA
  
• I have so much fun occasionally accessing the Krahenbuhl web site just to see what is "new." I've had the name Krahenbuhl since my marriage in September of 1956. My husband Charles and I have two sons, Lee Erwin, and Jon Bruce. My husband was adopted by Erwin Fritz Krahenbuhl who emigrated from Berne, Switzerland, in the mid-1920's. He was on a ship that took the first Angus cattle from Europe to Australia. He then came to central California and was a "cowboy" for Henry Miller at the Miller-Lux ranch in Gilroy, California. Quite by accident, we have come to live in this town. By the time he married Charles' mother after Charles' biological father was killed in a car accident, Erwin was living in Northern California near Willits. Erwin left no biological children.
  Erwin's mother was Marie Stahli. He had a brother Walter and a sister Frieda. We went to Switzerland for Christmas of 1977 after Erwin's death in September of 1976. The uncle and aunt were most gracious to us. Frieda married Charles Balzli and they had two children, Hans Peter and Vreneli. Uncle Walter had two sons. One was a teacher in Aarburg and the other worked in Zurich. Walter worked for a car company and was a band director in several towns around Berne. Uncle Charlie was a tailor.
  Friends of ours from Gilroy had told us that the zoo in Zurich is on Krahenbuhl Strasse. When I asked Uncle Charlie about this, he said it was true. I asked if we were related. He leaned back in his chair and said, "From Adam." The uncles came here to visit and when they were leaving they wanted to know what I would like as a "hospitality gift." I told them I wanted a Krahenbuhl family crest. They found the crest in a church somewhere in Switzerland and had it done beautifully in stained glass. I can send a picture if you would like. The church was a very old one, but I have no idea where it is. The family tradition is that we are from "Grosshocstetten." When we landed in Zurich and the clerk saw our passports, she nodded, smiled, and said, "Grosshocstetten."
  Though we are not really "bloodline" Krahenbuhls, we delight in the name and our adopted heritage. Our son Lee has a Ph.D. and all of his diplomas have Krahenbuhl using the umlauts. He regularly uses the umlauts. In addition to being a college professor (now at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- soon to be at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana) he is an ordained Church of the Brethren pastor. The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist church.
  Both my husband and I are elementary school teachers. We have met Robert Krahenbuhl who works for The Bank of America in Red Bluff, CA, and know about another Krahenbuhl in the Central Valley who owns a car dealership. There are 3 Krahenbuhls in the San Francisco phone book and the last time I checked in Kansas City, there were 8 Krahenbuhls.
  Janice Laughlin Krahenbuhl, Gilroy, CA 6 /12 /00

Here are excerpts from some of the wonderful messages that Gene received since these pages were launched on Nov. 1, 1995:

• Shari Lou Graybill Sands, of Scottsdale, Arizona USA, at bldvamp@neta.com, on July 18, 1996:

I want to thank you for such a WONDERFUL web site!! I just started doing my family tree last week and luckily found your site right away. What a gold mine! Prior to finding your site, I knew almost nothing about the Graybills. My father knows very little of his family history, but he was very excited when I called him about the information in your site....It was very interesting learning about the Mennonite connection. My father was not aware that his roots were in the Mennonite Church. His grandfather and father never discussed it. It would be very interesting to learn which grandfather left the church and why...

• Edith Graybill, of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan USA, at edsplace@light-house.net, on July 14, 1996:

Wow!!! My father and I have been very interested in tracing family history, but your page is phenomenal! We are from a line of East Coast American Graybills that aren't even mentioned yet on your page, although I find several current names to be the same, i.e. Virginia Graybill, who is my mother, but not the one referred to in your pages. I will be conferring with my dad, the family history guru in our branch, and getting back to you with lots of details! I look forward to it!

• Randy Graybill, of the Netherlands, at graybill@nl.cis.philips.com, on July 13, 1996:

I was born in Lancaster PA but have lived all my life in the Netherlands. I visit my folks in PA regularly. I was really surprised about the WEB roots I found here. And I thank you for it. I was once contacted by a Dutch family called Crebolder (city of Nijmegen), who told me about the Swiss ancestry. I guess they where on the right track knowing all about me. But this is more serious and real. How can I contribute to the pages as a member of the 'family'? (Randy, we'd be happy to publish a brief profile of your Graybill roots, along with anything else you think would be of general interest. We'd be happy to add your own personal details to the Family Directory as well.  - Gene)

• Jack McKenzie, of Duiwelskloof, South Africa, at mckenzie@ilink.nis.za,  reports that he has been able to link up with a long-lost friend of his, Olivier Krahenbuhl, through these pages. (Jack's got his own home page on the Web.) In March 1996, we posted the following message from Jack:

I am looking for Olivier Krahenbuhl, an old school friend of mine, 1978, Treverton College, South Africa. Olivier was in South Africa during his school years as his parents were missionaries in Lesotho at the time. In 1979 he went back to Switzerland where he studied medicine, or medical research. If anyone knows his whereabouts I would appreciate this information.

On 15 June 1996, Jack wrote to report success in his search:

"Peter Krahenbuhl from Switzerland kindly looked (Olivier Krahenbuhl) up in the Swiss telephone directory. There was only one name match and it was the correct one. By happy co-incidence Olivier is coming out to South Africa in July, so it was a timeous contact. Thank you for your effort. It is much appreciated."

Glad to hear of your success, Jack! - Gene

• Wilmer B. Graybill, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, at wilb@aol.com, on May 16, 1996:

You are doing a nice job on this home page. I even see a second cousin in St. Louis whom I have not met (David Graybill) as well as my grandson at LSU (Jeff Graybill), of course whom I have met. Keep it up. We have not been able yet to bridge the Atlantic Ocean to find our roots in Europe. They came to US in the mid 1700's we suppose and came through NC, PA, OH, IA. Another branch (no connection found yet) came to VA. We refer to them as the Virginia Graybill's while we are the North Carolina Graybills. Thanks...

• Timothy J. Krabill, a student at Albion College in southern Michigan, at tkrabill@alpha.albion.edu, on May 6, 1996:

  I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts in producing and maintaining a family page. I often feel so isolated from my family here at school! I'm a sophomore Psychology student who is completely ignorant about his family name and its history.... I would love to learn more about some of my more distant family both here and abroad. I've bookmarked your page so that I may be able to check back for updates and whatnot.
  

• Don Krehbiel, at dkrehbie@slonet.org, on May 6, 1996:

  My daughter found the results of your effort last night and we are all very excited. I am just starting to organize our geneology and have a large Krehbiel family tree. We have contacts in France and Germany and even found a Tahitian "cousin" in Marlon Brando's atol Tetieroa in the '80s. I will begin to feed you information in the near future. GOOD WORK!!
  

• Anne K. Bagent, of Pittsfield, Illinois, at abagent@ns1.directnet.net, on May 6, 1996:

  I have got to tell you how truly excited I was to find the Krähenbühl Family Home Page. I am from Ira Kraybill's line (No. 149 in The History of the Kraybill Family in America, Spencer L.Kraybill, ed.). My father, William G. Kraybill, Sr., M.D. (1914-1961) was Ira's son. I believe Tillman Kraybill and my "great" Samuel were brothers. I am in possession of Fannie Kraybill's cookie recipe, if you are interested.

  (Yes, by all means, please do send that cookie recipe! Didn't know there was a Kraybill Kookie. -- Gene)

• Jean-Francois Krähenbühl, of Bienne, Switzerland, at jfkraehenbuehl@bielnews.ch, on May 3, 1996:

  By chance I discovered one month ago the existence of your "Krähenbühl Home Page" on the Net. Let me tell you the pleasure and emotion I felt when I learnt that many members of my family moved to the States in the 17th Century! It's absolutely great!...I'm a French-speaking man, because some of my ancestors left Emmental in the 19th century and to the Bernese Jura, a little area where French is spoken. I studied law at the University of Neuchatel. When I finished my studies, I decided to become a journalist. Since 1989, I've been working in Bienne as a journalist at a local paper, "Journal du Jura."...I've read with passion all the information you've been collecting about this big family. I can assure you that I've learnt many things that I had ignored. I hope that I'll have soon the opportunity to give you some news from here which will allow you to complete the genealogy. The roots village of my family isn't Zaziwil, but Signau, which is a bigger village about 7 kilometres from Zaziwil. I don't have any information about the connection between the two branches. All I can tell you is that my father, Remy (70), has at home a reproduction of the Krähenbühl crest which is quite the same as the one you put on the Net. I'll send you a picture of this as soon as I can...I belong to a Protestant branch of the family, which seems to me to be a large majority. I know that the Bernese power (Protestant as well as Catholic) had persecuted the Anabaptists in the 17th century. That explains why some of the Swiss Anabaptist Krähenbühls decided to emigrate....

  (We were very excited to receive your letter, Jean-Francois! We'll look forward to what else you might be able to contribute regarding Krähenbühls in Switzerland! - Gene)

• Gil Graybill, of Raleigh, North Carolina, at gil.graybill.0200124@nt.com, on April 29, 1996:

  Thank you so much for all the work you've done with preserving the family heritage. The Web is an ideal tool for doing things like this. I've always had the feeling that Graybills were a rather docile bunch, and the lack or stories about bandits and thieves only confirms that. We were just simple, God-fearing farmers, and there's nothing wrong with that. FYI, I think I'm the only Graybill in the Raleigh NC area, having moved here 8 years ago from Middleburg, Pennsylvania (Snyder County).

• Shari Lynn Grabill, at shari@pop.erols.com, on March 10, 1996:

  It was so wonderful to read about my family on the Internet!!! I've done some research in the past at the Library of Congress, but I felt like I wasn't heading in the right direction, even though learning what I did gave me great satisfaction in finding out where my ancestors were from, etc. A while back, I was given some information from a gentleman by the name of Pershing Grabill about the history of the family name. Most of which I had already read about at the Library of Congress. Also, he gave me a copy of the family crest. I had not come across this crest before in any of the research I was doing and I didn't see it in the Web pages here. I would be most happy to send you a picture of this crest or maybe you could tell me if there is a book of crests for our family name that contains all of the crests for the different branches of this family. It has a crown on top of a pillar, which has two lions on either side of the pillar. I haven't read anything about royalty being in the family, but that doesn't mean that there is not. As far as tracing my roots, that would be very difficult because beyond my grandfather, I'm really left in the dark and there really is no one for me to ask about "who's who" in my family so that I could conduct a proper research...This is so exciting for me and the Internet itself, is a new and facinating realm for me!! You've done an excellent job with our home page! Thanks, Gene! [Thanks, Shari! I don't know of a book that compiles crests for the different branches of the family. I would welcome pictures or GIF/JPEG files of any crests or coat-of-arms associated with our group of families - Gene] 
  

• Jack McKenzie, of Duiwelskloof, South Africa, at mckenzie@ilink.nis.za, on March 15, 1996:  

  I am looking for Olivier Krahenbuhl, an old school friend of mine, 1978, Treverton College, South Africa. Olivier was in South Africa during his school years as his parents were missionaries in Lesotho at the time. In 1979 he went back to Switzerland where he studied medicine, or medical research. If anyone knows his whereabouts I would appreciate this information. Many thanks... (Jack's address is: P.O. Box 14, Duiwelskloof 0835, South Africa. Fax number is: +27-152-3099276) [Jack, if you find your friend, tell him to check out these pages, and perhaps contribute some interesting Krahenbuhl information from Switzerland!   - Gene]
  

• Dean Smith, at 76106.2057@compuserve.com, on March 9, 1996:

  I have a new one for you. My grandfather, Gottfried Krahenbuhl of Otterbach, emigrated about 1870, in his teens, and went west to string telegraph wire across the prairie. He married my grandmother and settled in New Haven, Connecticut where he was maintenance foreman for the trolley line. He changed his name when he became a citizen to Frederick KRANEBELL, a variation I did not see on your list. His parents were Christian Krahenbuhl and Anna Maria Lauffer von Zauggenreid. By the way, there won't be more Kranebells. Descendants were my uncle who died a bachelor and my mother who became a Smith. Fred Kranebell had a brother Christian who was a prospector and did not marry. I certainly appreciate what you are doing and after I read all the material I will contribute what I can. Thanks. [We've now added the Kranebell variation to the list. Thanks, Dean! - Gene]
  

• Richard A. Krahenbuhl, a student in the Geological Sciences department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, at krahenbuhl@magic.geol.ucsb.edu, on Feb. 28, 1996:

  The Krähenbühl Home Page is very interesting. I find it curious that there are no people with the actual name "Krähenbühl" in the histories. I am a senior studying Geophysics at UCSB, my brother is working on his masters in Environmental Policy at Indiana University (pkrahenb@indiana.edu), one of my sisters is in the army, another is in San Francisco, my parents both work for a school district in California. I'll see if I can contribute to your home page later - right now I am very busy trying to graduate and spend all my time studying.
  

• Don Crabill, of Flint, Michigan, at pctrader@tir.com, on Feb. 27, 1996:

  Gene, we may indeed be what we yanks call "shirt tail" relatives. I have a book, How We Came To Be, a history of the Crabill family that we have used to trace back our lineage to the Emme Valley in Switzerland, where there were three brothers ...Jost, Peter, and Michael Krayenbuhl ...

  They were driven out of Switzerland in 1671 because of their activities in the Mennonite religion. I have copied a few pages of this book that tells more about the situation. The files are rather large, but I made them as small as practical to maintain readability. (Thanks, Don! I will add some of this information to these pages in the near future - Gene.)
  

• Dan Krebill, at krebilld@imssys.imssys.com, on Feb. 26, 1996:

  My sister Liz (see next message - Gene) has already sent you some email about our "Krebill" branch, coming from an old mill in Altleiningen Germany and to the midwest (USA). I'll have to do some digging through "our" written history and I'll be sending you some more data in a while. There was a fairly complete book put together that did contain some journals and letters from our German forefathers, and went on to document the US history and catalog the "tree" in the US. Someone else had supposedly gone further back in the trace and it ended up in Switzerland, but I don't know much more about that to see if there is a specific branch there. When I get some more data together I'll send you HTML pages to add to keep your overhead down!

  Happy networking!
  

• Elizabeth Jean Krebill Fox, a marine illustrator from South Beach, Oregon, at foxl@ccmail.orst.edu, on Feb. 26, 1996:

  Really enjoyed stumbling onto your homepage - it is truly amazing! I don't have my geneology charts here in Oregon with me (my folks back in Iowa have them) but will try to get them together so that I can complete the directory information. You may possibly hear from my two brothers and/or niece before too long...I know they will really be fascinated!

  Our spelling of the family name is missing from your US list...we are not numerous, but we are around! Thank you so much for your efforts - this is a wonderful tool!
  

• William R. Krehbiel, founder of a management consultancy company in California, at krehb@ix.netcom.com, on Feb. 6, 1996:

  You're doing a wonderful job in setting up the Kraehenbuehl home page and it's associated links. Being 63, I'm not as computer literate as my grandchildren, but I've made a stab at following your format and have attached a copy of my bio information.

  Thanks to your home page, I've re-established contact with Courtney Krehbiel of San Diego, a second cousin who I knew 20 years ago when he was in Northern California, and re-newed my acquaintance with Tom Krehbiel of Buffalo, N. Y., who I contacted a few years ago regarding a column he had written for "CD Review".

  Thanks again for all the good work.
  

• Michael J. Krehbiel, a computer support person in Sterling, Colorado, at michaelk@sykes.com, on Feb. 6, 1996:

  I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to find a family website! Outstanding! I am a member of a more heavenly family, and I wouldn't trade one of them for all the cousins in Kansas, but I sure like to know I have kin nearly everywhere...

  The short and dirty on my tree goes something like this. The clan journeyed from Crow Hill to Germany under the Hapsburgs, stayed there a couple hundred years and then went to Russia under Catherine the Great (see sketch at right - Gene) and from there to good wheat land, Kansas with winter wheat.

  I don't have an e-mail address for my Uncle Homer, but he and a lady whose last name is Schrag are the care-takers of the family tree. Homer Krehbiel (Sr) resides in McPhereson KS right along with a bunch of other inter-relations. My Great Grampa Tobias was the first generation immigree, JJ was his son and Myron was my dad.

  I don't get down there much, but most of the Krehbiel clan can be found around Pretty Prairie, McPhereson, and Moundridge, Kansas. I met one from around Red Feather, Colorado (mountains) about 12 years ago. Courtney, of course, lives in San Diego. That about sums it up. Everybody is doing different things now, but Grandpa was a wheat farmer, and has since passed on to those golden fields in the sky... What a great man he was - loved him and miss him. Uncle Homer has a reputation for being rich and honest, two things not normally found in the same person in the independent oil business. His son is the man running production now and he has another son Homer Jr that is farming.

  Ruth Goering-Krehbiel is a herbalist in Moundridge; Jo-Ann Funk (Krehbiel) is in Newton Ks and married to a shop teacher at the local high school, Aunt Carolyn is in Washington State married to a preacher and is a PHd in Education; Aunt Dorothy is married to a law professor at CBN University on the East coast (one of the Carolinas I believe). I have another aunt (Virginia) married to Elmer Kaufman of Moundridge -- he is a farmer and she runs a consignment store called the Rural Rooster. One aunt died of cancer and her husband is a retired railroad detective. That about does the family as I know it. I don't keep in touch much anymore with them. I go back for funerals and stuff, but with four kids of my own, traveling is not my first goal... Someday when I am rich and famous... :-)

• Jeffrey Graybill, a university student from Lake Charles, Louisiana, at jgraybi@tiger.lsuiss.ocs.lsu.edu, on Feb. 6, 1996:

  I am currently a freshman at Louisiana State University in Chemical Engineering. I was wondering around the web and came across your "Graybill" family home page. I was very happy to see it. I have always wondered about the deep origins of my family tree. I learned a lot from reading all of the entries. I'm going to inform my grandfather, Wil Graybill, of this site and I'm sure he can give you lots of information on our branch of the family. The Graybills down here are few and far between so it was nice to see that there are many, many out there. Thank you for your efforts.
  

• Susan J (Phillips) Walters, of White Oak, Pennsylvania, at waltnut@aol.com, on Feb. 3, 1996:

  This is just wonderful!!!! I am just beginning my family research. I turned 30 this week and realized I knew nothing of my heritage. My Mother was a Grabill -- Veronica (Duckey) Marie Grabill. She has been gone now for 5 years and I regret not learning more about the family from her. The information I have is small at best and very inconsistant. Hopefully the books and the information I learn here will help me with my research. Thank you for caring about your family history.

• Tom Krehbiel, a computer science teacher at a high school in Buffalo, N.Y., at bfotk@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu, on Feb. 2, 1996:

  I happened upon "our" family home page by accident and was really pleased to see it. I believe that I can supply a great deal of information for the branch of the Krehbiel line that has led to me. I have a large family tree that was done around 1900 in Kansas. It starts with Jost Krehbiel who lived at the Pfrimmerhof in the Palatinate area. It goes as far as my grandfather Karl Theodore Krehbiel.

  My great-great-grandfather Jacob Krehbiel came to the U.S. from the Pfrimmerhof around 1860. He was the family historian and kept a careful diary of his life at the Pfrimmerhof and also of his trip to the U.S. It has recently been placed in the rare books collection of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in Buffalo, NY.

  My great grandfather Theodore Krehbiel was supervisor of the Town of Clarence (NY) for 20 years or so. He was foreman of the grand jury that indicted Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley. My grandfather followed in his father's footsteps and was town supervisor for not quite 20 years...

  I'm a computer science (algorithms, data structures using Pascal and UNIX) instructor in a high school in Buffalo, NY. I also write on music, electronics, and sound for various magazines and newspapers...

• Courtney Krehbiel, a computer engineer in San Diego, Calif., at courtney@cts.com, on Jan. 31, 1996:

  Greetings. I just happened to do a Web search on my last name, Krehbiel, and came across your family heritage web site. Thank you for providing this outstanding family resource!!! Briefly stated, my family can be traced back to Jost Krehbiel in the 1670's. My more recent ancestors settled in Newton, Kansas. My great grandfather was John Jacob Krehbiel (JJ for short) who owned a carriage factory. His son, Albert grew up to be a relatively famous artist and taught art at the Art Institute in Chicago. He also painted the murals in the Appellate Court in Springfield, Illinois as well as several thousand oils and pastels. His only child, my father (deceased), raised a family of four in the Chicago area. My brother, David, works for the University of Illinois in Urbana, and I live in San Diego, California and work as a computer network engineer. My sisters Rebecca K. Ryan and Linda K. Mealman live in Illinois and Wisconsin respectively.

  Outside of my grandfather Albert and his art, other family members of merit include Albert's brother Fred who founded Molex. Molex today is a publicly traded billion $ company and his grandson's Fred and John Jr. are at the helm. You can find out more about them at http://www.molex.com.

  I have a home page at http://www.free.cts.com/crash/c/courtney/. When I have time, I'll try to fill out my family's history a bit better and upload it to you. I've got all the family documents, but will need some time to put it all together. I've been saving the project for my retirement -- about 20 years away. <g> (Hopefully less.)

  As a request, I would greatly appreciate a larger scan of the Krahenbuhl family crest. If you could post it on the web site, I'm sure others would like it too. Thanks again for your pioneering work! I'll check back, and contribute when I have a chance.

  (Thanks for the nice words, Courtney. We will make a larger scan of the crest available shortly. - Gene)
  

• Keith Krabill, (exact location not known), at krabill@localnet.com, on Jan. 6, 1996:

  Hello, from yet another branch of the tree (Krabill)! Thrilled to see the listing, though I don't know how I missed it before. I have only dim knowledge of the origins of the family, though our particular line seems to start with a father and son, both named Christian, who settled in the Louisville, Ohio area in the early 1800s. Like many of our more distant relatives, we have been members of the Mennonite church. More details later, if desired. Thanks for setting up the page, it looks great!

• Ueli Barger, (exact location not known), at 101347.3351@compuserve.com, is interested in making contact with people researching the Krähenbühl family in the Grosshochstetten area of Switzerland. His message:

  Ich suche Kontakte zu Familienforschern die die Familie Krähenbühl in der Kirchhörj (Gross)Höchstetten (Oberthal Vierttel) erforschen und auch die angrenzenden Kirchgemeinden Biglen, Signau, Lauperswil, Eggiwil und Steffisburg (Also grob gesagt rund um die Blasenfluh !).
  
  Translation: I am looking for contacts with family researchers who are researching the Krähenbühl family in the Kirchhörj (Gross)Höchstetten (Oberthal Vierttel or Oberthal quarter), and also the adjacent church communities of Biglen, Signau, Lauperswil, Eggiwil and Steffisburg (in other words roughly around the Blasenfluh!).

  (We hope to hear more from Ueli; perhaps he has interesting information to share with the readers of these pages - Gene.)
  

• Dale Kraybill, a construction estimator in Lowville, N.Y., at dkraybil@northnet.org, on Jan. 6, 1996:

  Greetings from Upstate New York! What a surprise I found as I was exploring the Web today. You've done a great job creating what has to be the best site on the Web. ...We would be delighted to host anyone of the extended Krahenbuhl family should they be visiting our beautiful part of the world.

• Laura Krebill, a System Software Specialist in Minneapolis, Minn., at klaura@metro2.k12.mn.us, on Jan. 4, 1996:

  This afternoon I have finally been able to get on the (Kraehenbuehl) home page - it's great! Since you have NO Krebill contributors, I will consult with my mother and come up with some dates, people and places. I can also come up with some photos, taken in Germany in '76, of the homestead from which our part of the family emigrated to America in (I think) 1834. The farm was called Messerschwanderhof and is located outside the village of Altleiningen, near Frankfurt. This is really fun and I can't wait to show Mom what you've done when she visits!
  

• Brad Krehbiel, of Lake City, Minnesota, at krehbs@aol.com, on Dec. 20, 1995:

  I stumbled upon your homepage tonight for the first time. To think that I've been around 36 years and didn't know the meaning of my name! Both my father and grandfather are named Philip. My grandfather is 95 years old, and unfortunately, is in failing health, living in Freeman, South Dakota. He moved there from Kansas around 1920. I'd be interested in any other information you have as time goes on. I'll also be forwarding your homepage address to my sister Allison and my father. Thanks again for a special site.
  

• Chris Luginbuhl, of Flagstaff, Arizona, at cbl@nofs.navy.mil, on Dec. 16, 1995:

  I came across your Krahenbuhl WWW page, and found it interesting. By a good chance, one of the letter excerpts you list is from a woman in my neck of the desert (Jane Hodgson in Tucson), who mentions ancestors in the Emmenthal area that might be related to me.

  My family, arriving in NE Ohio in the mid-nineteenth century, were also Anabaptists.

  For your interest, the Luginbuhl (Swiss spelling includes an umlaut on the last u) name has had similar derivations to Krahenbuhl, particularly many of the American Luginbuhls end their name -bill (also -bihl is common). As far as I have been able to learn, my direct family is the only one in the U.S. to keep the spelling so close to the original. The lifetime difficulties I have had with helping folks to pronounce and spell my name gives you a good idea why most emigrants changed the spelling to something more natural to English. Likewise for Krahenbuhl, I'm sure.

  I thank you for your time and effort in posting the WWW page - whether or not I get new contacts about my family it has been a pleasure to read!
  

• John Erwin Graybill III, of Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, at jegwds@catamart.com, on Dec. 14, 1995:

  My son (see letter below) found your homepage while browsing from his Internet connection at the University of Delaware. He emailed us at home and told what an impressive and interesting family history homepage he had found. I haven't had the time to view the large amount of information yet, but will do so in the near future. We do not have very good historical information about our family history, but I suspect that there's a connection somewhere back through York County history.
  

• Andrew J. Graybill, of the University of Delaware, at ajgrabil@udel.edu, on Dec. 13, 1995:

  I am a student at the University of Delaware. I am originally from York County, Pennsylvania. I was wondering if you could enlighten me a little bit on my ancestors. Where is the best place in Pennsylvania to find my original ancestors who came from Germany? I thought maybe the state archives in Harrisburg, or maybe some place in Philadelphia.
  

• Jane Hunter Hodgson, of Tucson, Arizona, at danielh@azstarnet.com, on Dec. 2, 1995:

  I have found your pages very interesting. I come originally from Fort Wayne, IN and know there was a small town named Grabill nearby. There were many Amish people in the area with the Grabill name. I am descended from many families from the (Swiss) Emmental village of Trub: Fankhauser, Wuthrich, Seigenthaler and others.
  
  You are doing a fantastic work here on the Web. I may try to accomplish something like what you have done in the future. Our daughter just spent 2 weeks in Switzerland and is sending videos and pictures. We will be visiting there in 1996. I will definitely go to the Emmental and to the small towns Frutigen and Adelboden.
  

• Marcus Grabill, of Sweden, at tb95_mgr@isk.kth.se, on Nov. 28, 1995:

  When I found this page I was really glad and I can't say how much I appreciate it. I was very surprised! I don't know very much about my family but my father knows alot. My mother went studying in South Bend Indiana in the early 60's where she met my father, John Grabill. They moved to Sweden late 60's...
  

• Mary Krehbiel Boschmann, a newlywed Kansas native who is at the University of Marburg in Germany (boschman@Papin.HRZ.Uni-Marburg.DE), on Nov. 27, 1995:

  I haven't done any family tree research here, though back in '75 when I was here with Jan Gleysteen's Anabaptist Tourmagination we were at Weierhof where there were many Krehbiels of all spellings!
  

• Al Kraybill, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA, at alk@comm.mot.com, on Nov. 27, 1995:

  Good luck on your Family Home Page project. I have a copy of a hand drawn family tree (1.5 x 13.5 feet) based on the book "History of Kraybill Family in America"...
  

• David B. Kraybill, of Charlotte, N.C., USA, at david.kraybill@funb.com, on Nov. 15, 1995:

  Thanks for setting up the home page for the Kraybill family. It's a good way to gather all of the stories and history of our family.
  

• Daniele Kraehenbuehl, of Tenero, South Switzerland, at daniele@tinet.ch, on Nov. 13, 1995:

  Your Kraehenbuehl Family Home Page is a great work, it sounds really good! I've learned some interesting things about my family. Sorry but my knowledge of English is poor...
  

• Gerald Shenk, of Harrisonburg, Va. USA, at shenkng@cc.emu.edu, on Nov. 13, 1995:

  Glad to see your good work here. Keep it up. I'd like to launch an inquiry where two threads of my interest intersect: namely, I have recently been seeing and hearing reports from a Swiss official for the International Red Cross who is working in Banja Luka, northern Serb-held stronghold in Bosnia. His name apparently is Kraehenbuehl. Perhaps we can get some more identification through your web of connections..
  

• Keith Brian Krehbiel, at krehbiel@egr.msu.edu, on Nov. 6, 1995:

  Gene, I would guess that we are not related since I know most of my relatives settled in Kansas and surrounding areas. I did however check with my father. He responds, "Our roots go back to southern Germany and Switzerland and the migration to the US was directly to South Dakota first and finally to Kansas. To my knowledge there was no interim period in Penn. I think the Kraybill spelling may have originated in the Netherlands, not sure." So I think it would have to be even further back than I could help you with. If you find anyone rooted in Kansas, let me know..."
  

• Nicole Cherry, at cherryne@ugcs.caltech.edu, on Nov. 8, 1995:

  This is an excellent page! Thank you so much for putting it together. I wish there were more genealogy pages like this. Keep up the great work....I find it interesting that my Krayenbuhl ancestors are Peter and Hans and that today those are the top names for Krayenbuhls!!
  

• Tim Philipp, at philipp@mindspring.com, on Nov. 4, 1995:

  I think that your web pages are very nice. I made a link to them from my pages regarding Swiss Genealogy.
  

• [Paul ? ], at subvetpaul@aol.com, on Nov. 4, 1995:

  The name Kraehenbuehl has popped up in some of my research on my name, which is now spelled WITTMER. Your homepage on this name interested me.
  A number of lineages on my name and varients of my name has been compiled. My ancestors are recorded in various places in southern Germany, such as Ettenheim from the early 1600's. I suspect they may have originated in Switzerland before that time. I am searching for varients of the name WITTMER, WIDMER, WIDMAR, ..."
  

• T. Michael Louden, at louden@mail03.mitre.org, on Nov. 2, 1995:

  I like the page! I may try this with some of my other family lines. I will send in some registration information after I have had a chance to get the linage information together....Thanks for your efforts!
  

• Angela Kraybill, at angelak@UKANS.EDU, on Nov. 1, 1995:

  Wow! This is so cool!! You know, until recently, I never thought of my family as extending past about my great grandparents. My grandfather went to the Kraybill reunion in Lancaster in 1985, but since I had no way of getting to know anyone else, the concept of other family was pretty much just names on paper. This, however, is wonderful!...
  

• Mel Krehbiel, at MEL@image.com, on Nov. 1, 1995:

  I am a resident of the Portland, Oregon area, via ancestors in Boise, Idaho, via Davenport, Iowa (as far as immediate memory serves). I've seen a family tree written in my grandfather's time; I may be able to acquire a copy and/or update my immediate area of the tree, if you are interested in the information.

  Curious to hear of remote relatives in Australia. Of course, if you go back far enough, everyone is related....
  

• Ernest N. Kraybill, at ernestnk@med.unc.edu, on Oct. 31, 1995:

  I spent a wonderful half-hour browsing the Krähenbühl Home Page. I found it fascinating. Congratulations on doing such a fine job. It will help us stay connected and perhaps help us learn who our European cousins are. While reviewing an index of medical literature I once was amazed to discover more than a dozen variations of Krähenbühl there, many from Switzerland. I'll make a list and send it to you, though I doubt I'll find any that you don't have. Keep up the good work, and thanks for all the work you've done....

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