GM 0: introduction

As promised in the last post, we are about to progress systematically through our entire family, one member at a time, supplying all the information we can about each person and connecting as many dots as we we are able between family members.

We will adopt and adapt the GRANDMA format for the task (indicated by the abbreviation GM in the post title), drawing from, correcting as needed, and supplementing the information found there. Because we will be working so closely with the GM format and information, a brief introduction to the typical format will be helpful. Grandpa Chris’s GM entry serves as a good example.

1. At the upper left of an entry one finds the given name of the person and an assigned GM number, in this case Cornelius P. Buller, 278506. The number is a convenient and accurate way to identify a specific individual, which is an important consideration when one has multiple people sharing the same name, often even to the level of the middle initial.

2. After the name and GM number one finds listed a standard group of facts about the person’s life, information relating to birth, baptism, immigration, death, and burial. When information is unknown, GM generally omits that category from the entry.

3. Then follows information about the person’s spouse(s) and children. Multiple marriages, of which there are many, are usually listed in chronological order, as Grandpa Chris’s to Grandma Malinda and Goldie are above. Children are, of course, listed under their respective parents in order of birth.

4. The next set of family relations listed is the person’s father and mother, along with their dates of birth and GM numbers.

5. The final category, Notes, provides documentation for the information included above (sources are often lacking) and additional details. For example, GM cites the Henderson Bethesda church book as the source of the information that Grandpa Chris was baptized (vol. 2, page 392) and married (2:452) by Johann F. Epp; we even learn that the biblical text on which the wedding sermon was based was 1 Kor 13.11: “Da ich ein Kind war, da redete ich wie ein Kind und war klug wie ein Kind und hatte kindische Anschläge; da ich aber ein Mann ward, tat ich ab, was kindisch war” (Luther 1912).

The GM entries vary to accommodate the information (or lack thereof) for each person, but the same general format is used throughout. With that background, we are ready to begin the GM series with our earliest known ancestor, Benjamin Buller 1.