Acknowledgements

We have had the good fortune and pleasure to work alongside some great folks, many Zentmyer/ Zentmeyer/ Santmyer/ Santmyers family descendants, some of whom have been working on genealogy for decades.  We can therefore only take partial credit for much of the genealogical data on this website for persons born after the early 1800s.  But we humbly take credit for being the first to identify with certainty our patriarch, the emigrant Johann Bernhard Zentmeyer, his marriage to Salome Roth in Bischwiller, Alsace, his German family origins in Franconia and upper Bavaria, and by utilizing YDNA testing confirming the the sibling relationships of his three male sons and their descendants here in America.  The people whose work we would like to acknowledge, in no particular order, are:

Michael Fichtel, Aurora, Illinois.  Mike is a decendant of Jacob Stutenroth Zentmyer, and has been doing genealogy since 1971.  He has copies of hand-written Zentmyer family group sheets dating from 1904 which he obtained from David Taylor Zentmyer Sr., which had been compiled by David's father, Robert Anderson Zentmyer.  These data concern the Christopher Zentmyer line, and have proven to be remarkably accurate and have been confirmed by other sources.  Mike has done work on many of the other surname lines which populate these pages, and he loves to hear from people.  His email address is cemdigger(at)yahoo.com

Patricia (Pat) Rowley O'Toole, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who passed away in 2016.  Pat came from the William Harrison Santmyers/Santmyer line, and had been a workhorse in terms of data verification and computer input.  She created the GEDCOM for the Jacob Santmyer line which this website incorporates.  Pat cited the earlier efforts of Izetta Barbour, Karen Wisecarver, Andrew McCary, and Ron Santmyers.  We last had lunch with Pat in 2012, and we will miss her.

Ron Santmyers, Front Royal, Virginia.  Cousin Ron is the dean of the Santmyer/Santmyers clans who moved into the Shenandoah in the 1790s, and Ron knows where all the bones are buried.  He was aware of the immigrant Johann Bernhard Zentmeyer, and would have probably figured out the connections eventually.  Although Ron is old and has recently retired, he likes to point out that your webmaster Gary Zentmyer is even older, if only slightly so.  Ron also acknowledges the earlier work of Colleen Zak Hess, who is younger and smarter than either of us, and much better looking.

Gentry Zentmeyer, Martinsville, Virgina.  Although mostly preoccupied with things automotive, Gentry was one of the few Zentmeyers who was interested enough in the Johannes Zentmeyer line to be an early internet resource for other seekers, and to respond when we needed a YDNA test to confirm Johannes' identity as a grandson of our immigrant ancestor, Johann Bernhard Zentmeyer.

Dorothy Zentmyer Jones,Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.  Dorothy had been a stalwart in the pursuit of the offspring of Christopher Zentmeyer, and had worked alongside Michael Fichtel during his trips to Franklin County, Pennsylvania.  Dorothy passed away early in 2017.  We spent time with her in Waynesboro in the summer of 2007, and we honor her work.

Randy Zentmire and Shirley Zentmire-Salas, Albany, Oregon.  They are a brother and sister tag team from with boundless enthusiasm.  Randy confirmed the YDNA link of George Zentmire to the immigrant Johann Bernhard Zentmeyer.  Randy and Shirley have worked long and hard researching especially the George Zentmire line of the family.

Bruce Zentmyer, Oswego, Illinois.  Although not an avid genealogy buff, Bruce graciously consented to do the YDNA test, and has thus been the only living descendent of Johann Jacob Zentmeyer to do so.  This final test confirmed that all of these lines in fact stem from one immigrant ancestor, Johann Bernhard Zentmeyer.

Other Domestic Sources: The Southern California Genealogical Society, the Immigrant Genealogy Society, Johnathan Stayer, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg Pennsylvania; Pat Hatcher, Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine; Dianne Russell, Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society; Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Gerberich Collection; Paul Barner, First Families of Cumberland County, Shippensburg Pennsylvania; Sandra R. Emerick, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Robert Cluck, Adams County Historical Society; David Riker, Cumberland County Historical Society; Larry Calimer, Franklin County Historical Society; Lanie Graf, Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Ruth Gembe, Waynesboro Historical Society; Bennett Greenspan, President, FamilyTreeDNA.com, Warren County Historical Society, Warren County Genealogical Society.

European Sources:  Sabine Schleichert, GGRS München, Friedrich R. Wollmershäuser, Klaus Mund, Zürich Switzerland; Felix Gundacker, IHFF Genealogie Gesellschaft, Vienna Austria; Michael Grimm, Bürgermeister (Mayor), Roigheim Germany; Heinz E. Zethmeyer, Schwelm Germany (Heinz died in 2018 -Ed); Kent Stuetz, Südliche Waldviertel Austria Project; Wilhelm Veeh, Gesellschaft für Familienforschung in Franken, Nürnburg Germany; Ursula Wacht, Großkarolinenfeld, Bavaria Germany; Marlies Kibler und Ilse Saur, Heimatkundlicher Arbeitskreis Möckmühl, Germany; Martin Kreder, Familien- und Wappenkunde, Heidenheim-Schnaitheim, Germany; Albert Stinzendörfer, Mühle Ammerndorf, Franken, Bavaria; Archiv der Erzdiözese Salzburg, Austria.