The German Meffords -Table of Contents

 

Volume Number One

The German Mefferts

(Meffert, Mefferd and Mefford)

 

 

Compiled by:

 

Betty Lou Mefford

1088 Holmden Court

Cleveland, Ohio 44109

1985

 

 

Edited by David L. Mefford

For distribution on the Internet.

Every effort has been made to maintain the original text

while enhancing readability and understanding.

Changes are italicized or noted.

2002


This book is dedicated to Mrs. Raymond F. (Mildred) Heiden of Crystal Lake, Illinois who has been so generous as to share her pictures of Wachenbuchen and Oberdorfelden, West Germany.  She has, also helped me understand the structure of the German towns and counties.  At the time my original book was put together, I could not find a map that showed either of the above towns, BUT AT THE FINAL PRINTING she located one and relayed it to me.  Much thanks for all your Help.

 

Others who have directly or indirectly aided me in my research:

 

            Mrs. Margarie Robinson in her book entitled “The Mefferds and Their Kin.”   She had done much of the early research in Germany on our Meffords.  Most of which has now been verified by the LDS Microfilm.  Mrs. Robinson’s book is housed in the LDS Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

            Mrs. Lula Reed Boss for her book entitled “George Mefford, Patriot (1764-1814) of Washington County, Pennsylvania and Mason County, Kentucky”.  Mrs. Boss’s book is housed in the Filson Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

            Mrs. Robert (Phylis) Mefford of Valpariso, Indiana for her early research of George Mefford of Mason County, Kentucky.

 

            Mrs. Anita Ockert of Vienna, Virginia for her early research of Casper Mefford of Rockingham County, Virginia.

 

            Registrar of Wills of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

 

            Clerk of Orphan Court of Berks County, Pennsylvania.

 

            Western Reserve Library Staff

 

            LDS Library Staff of Cleveland, Ohio.

 

 

ANY CORRECTIONS OF ERRORS OR ANY ADDITIONS WILL BE WELCOMED BY THE COMPILER.

 

 

Editor’s Note,

 

Every effort has been made to replicate Betty’s book as close to the original as possible.  There were some restrictions or mistakes in the original work that I chose to correct.  Any additions by me are in italic and are my responsibility.

 

Great effort was made by Betty to place as much information as possible on a page.  Many pages had margins of ¼” to ½” with little or no paragraph breaks.  This accomplished her suspected goal, but made the manuscript extremely difficult to read. 

 

She also retained much or all of the original mistakes in spelling and grammar while adding a few of her own.  Many of the legal documents contained lengthy run-on sentences.  These were not only impossible to understand, but in a lot of instances, the initial reading created a different impression than was received after a second or third examination.

 

I therefore chose to make the following changes to open up the layout and make the book more inviting to read, as well as to clarify some of the information it contains.

 

1.      Increased the margin size, added paragraph and page breaks between sections.  This increased the number of pages in the book, but made it much easier to read.

 

2.      Redesigned the Table of Contents to conform to the new layout and increased the detail to make specific parts easier to find.

 

3.      Added footnotes to explain the definitions of words not commonly used today or to give insight to the time period or situations.

 

4.      Inserted obvious words that were left out or were apparent omissions by the original author.

 

5.      Punctuation was added, especially to lengthy legal documents, to clarify the intent of the authors.

 

6.      Added an index of names to allow researchers to find their specific ancestors.

 

I have tried very hard to ensure that these changes have not destroyed the intent of the book.  I have never supposed to profit from Betty Lou Mefford’s work or glory.  She, along with the others she acknowledged, did the research for this volume of work as well as all the original layout and publication. 

 

As an Editor, I have only tried create a more reader friendly work and make the information available to as many people as possible, using tools and opportunities not available to Betty in 1985, namely word processors and the Internet. 

 

This work should not be sold.  It is to be distributed freely as a family history research tool.



David L. Mefford
2002