News
- Katie Vance was featured (with a photo!) in the Nov. 2, 2013, edition of The Post. Katie missed going to the state championship
in cross country by 11 seconds. Katie has been the The Post's Norwayne female athlete of the year twice.
- Louise Farnsworth died. She was the daughter of Clark and Rose Rook. Clark was the son of Hazel Zehner Rook.
- A memorial service for Chris Hanzie was on August 10. It was attended by people from all over the world.
- ZEHNER REUNION was Sunday—July 28—in Lodi Park at 4:30.
- In the May 25, 2013, Northern Wayne edition of The Post, Brock Morris won the pole vault at the Wayne County Athletic League meet at
Northwestern and was a member of the foursome who finished second in the 4x800 relay. Hunter Shue was on the team that
got second in the 4x400. Katie Vance finished second in the 1600 and third in the 800.
- The Zehner Reunion will not be in July [2012]. There are too many scheduling conflicts for a lot of us. It would have been on July 29. I think
the heat we have been having has been a factor, too. The idea of having a reunion in this heat...
- Dustin Grier, Brock Morris, and Hunter Shue were on the
Norwayne football team who won the state championship
last night (December 3, 2011). The local paper, The Daily Record,
had a special front section. It has been
a very exciting last few weeks locally. The championship game itself was very exciting with the winning points scored in the last 30 seconds
of the game. All the newspapers are sold out.
- Amy Harris, Brock Morris, Hailey Shue, Hunter Shue, and Katie Vance
were all mentioned in The Post (July 2, 2011) as first year members of the FFA. Zac Vance was
a fourth year member. Katie was a silver member and Amy was a bronze member. Hunter, Katie, and Brock
got scholarship pins as well.
- Lauren Grier (Lilly1, Richard2, Diane3, Shane4) was
quoted in The Post on June 11 and got a mention in the June 25 edition (was a member of the high school track team). Katie Vance
is also mentioned in the article.
- Zac Vance was graduated from Norwayne this year. A list of graduates was in The Post (June 4, 2011).
- A new Zehner book has been written
by William J. Zehner, who lives in Florida. He's a professional genealogist. I ordered one. It definitely
seems to be very well researched (about 4700 references).
- The 2011 Reunion will be on July 31 this year. It will be at Michelle Vance's at 5:00 p.m.
We have always held it on the last Sunday, not the fourth Sunday, of July.
- A picture of Katie Vance was
in The Daily Record for winning the Ethics-Integrity-Sportsmanship Award at the spring sports banquet. Zac
Vance got a forth-year track award. Brock Morris and Hunter Shue got
second-year track letters. But, ugh, I didn't write down the date of the article. An article
(with the same photo) appears in The Post on June 18, 2011.
- Gretchen Baisden was mentioned in the The Post in the Norwayne section (not the Rittman
section) in the edition of June 4, 2011. She was also in the June 11 edition with a photo—she earned an Ohio High
School Athletic Association scholarship. She was also class president, eighth in her class, and a National
Honor Society member.
- Katie Vance was in a photo in The Post (April 16, 2011) as a member of the Norwayne girls
track team. Zac Vance and Monica Click were mentioned in the article.
- Dustin Grier was awarded his third-year letter in wrestling at Norwayne, according to the The Post
(March 6, 2011).
- Hunter Shue (Hazel Rook1, Genevieve Allen2, Linda Shue3, Sam Shue
4) and Brock Morris were members of the Norwayne Freshman Basketball team and got their
pictures in the The Post on February 26, 2011.
- Monica Click got a mention in the Dec. 19, 2010, edition of The Post in an article on the
Norwayne track team.
- Zac Vance got a mention in the Dec. 5, 2010, Post as a second-team All-WCAL wide receiver.
- Katie Vance was mentioned in The Post (February 12, 2011) for her participation in the Wayne County
High School One-Act Play Festival. Norwayne got superior ratings.
- Brock Morris went to the National FFA Convention according to the November 14, 2010, edition of
The Post. The convention was in Indianapolis.
- Katie Vance was named a member of The Post's first team of the 2010 Girls Cross Country All-Star
Team and got her photo in. (November 14, 2010 edition)
- Zac Vance got his picture in The Daily Record (October 16, 2010) regarding the football game between Norwayne and
Dalton. Dustin Grier is mentioned, too.
- Katie Vance mentioned in the 2010 Cross Country Preview in The Post (August 1, 2010).
- Reunion We had a reunion of sorts at Michelle Vance's on July 25. Only about thirty or forty people were there, but it was very last minute.
I think we all had a good time anyway. We are determined to have a bigger, better organized one next year. Hopefully, no one will die
right before as they have the last two years!
- Harriet Ann Haas Franks (Clara Walters1, Mabel Haas2) died Friday, July 16, 2010.
She suffered another stroke, this time on the other side of her brain, on July 6. She enjoyed going to the reunion very much and could always be
seen there. She leaves a very wide circle of friends and family to grieve her loss.
- Carol Walchalk (Lilly Click1) I am very sad to report Carol died Wednesday, June 23, 2010. She will be greatly missed. She could always be
seen at the reunion. She had a wonderful sense of humor. Her funeral will be at 10 am on Monday. Her obituary was in the June 25 edition
of the Akron Beacon Journal and The Daily Record.
- Gretchen Baisden (Lilly Click1, Kenneth Click2, Cindy Baisden3) has been
in The Daily Record for her volleyball skills, but I don't have on hand any dates for the editions.
Gretchen plays for Rittman. She was just mentioned in the May 30, 2010, edition of The Post for winning the 4x100 relay at the
Norwayne Division III District meet.
- Kaitlyn Vance (Clara Walters1, Mabel Haas2, Harriet Franks3, Michelle Vance4
) was fourth in the Holmes-Wayne County Meet and was first team all-county in gymnastics.
- Zac Vance (Clara Walters1, Mabel Haas2, Harriet Franks3, Michelle Vance4
) has been getting a lot of press for his high school football exploits. He plays for Norwayne. He has gotten
mentions in The Daily record on Aug. 30, Sept. 12, and Sept. 19, for scoring touchdowns. On Sept. 24 he
was in the Football Insider (a special section of the Record) with his picture. He had scored three touchdowns in
eight catches. He was in the Sept. 26 edition for having six catches and gaining 91 yards, and in
the October 1 and 8 editions he was in the Football Insider again and on the individual stats list for
his 14 catches and 267 yards.
- Sadly, the Zehner reunion was cancelled this year. It was on again off again. Then Richard Click died,
so we felt no one would have wanted to go to a reunion that was the day after his burial.
- Richard Click (Lilly1) died on July 22. He was seventy-nine.
- Shawna Morris (Clara Walters1, Mabel Haas2, Harriet Franks3,
Rhonda Morris4) graduated from Norwayne this year.
- Dustin Grier (Shane Grier4, Diane Click3, Richard Click2, Lilly Click1) has his
picture in the March 19, 2009, Daily Record for being honored at the Norwayne Winter Sports Banquet. He is a wrestler.
He had the team's most pins this year. He was also mentioned in the February 8, March 1, and March 15, 2009, Post for wrestling.
- Gretchen Baisden (Cindy Click3, Kenny Click2, Lilly Click1) was mentioned in January 18, 2009, and
March 6, 2009, Daily Record. She's on the high school basketball team. She was also mentioned in the Local Boxes in
the January 18, 2009, edition. Certainly there are other mentions, but these are the only ones I came across.
- Ida Mae Rook died on February 6, 2008. She was 99 years old. Burial was February 9 in Canaan
Cemetery. Her obituary appeared in The Daily Record and the Trading Post.
- Jessica Hanzie (Hazel Rook1, Genevieve Allen2, Phyllis Hanzie3, Jeff Hanzie4) announced her
engagement to Joe Leonard in the August 28, 2008, Daily Record.
- Hunter Shue (Hazel Rook1, Genevieve Allen2, Linda Shue3, Sam Shue4) was
May student of the month at Creston Middle School in 2008. His photo is in The (Trading) Post of May 25, 2008.
- Zac Vance (Clara Walters1, Mabel Haas2, Harriet Franks3,
Michelle Vance4) was mentioned in the May 6, 2008, Daily Record for receiving a Greenhand Degree at the
Norwayne FFA Banquet.
- Charlotte Dudas (Nellie Shaffer1, Helen Pate2) died in January 2008.
- Kaitlyn Vance (Clara Walters1, Mabel Haas2, Harriet Franks3,
Michelle Vance4) got her picture on the front page of The Daily Record on January 8, 2008.
The story was about the Wooster YMCA and Kaitlyn is in gymnastics at the YMCA.
She was mentioned in the Post for all A's Feb. 8, 2009. She was also Creston Middle School Student of the Month in May 2009 and was pictured in
The Post June 21, 2009.
- Dave Poiner (Hazel Rook1, Genevieve Allen2, Jean Poiner3) and uncle Richard Allen shot a moose in Maine.
A photo and more information is in the December 16, 2007, edition of
The Daily Record (Wooster, Ohio).
History
The Zehner Reunion
It's not clear when the Zehner Reunion actually began. It seems there was already a reunion when family members
born in the 1910s were children. That is, there was always a reunion as long as any of them could remember. The reunion
may very well be a continuation of the reunion organized by Henrietta (Retta) Zehner (Henry Zehner's niece) on October 23, 1897. The
reunion has been held in various places over the last few decades: Lodi Park, Burbank Park, Creston Park, Linda Shue's home, and Michelle Franks Vance's
home.
It seems that the reunion at least included descendants of Jacob Zehner and Anna Maria Stein of Homer Twp., Medina Co., Ohio.
For the last decade or two, only descendants of Jacob's son Henry and his wife Elizabeth Rex
have been attending, though descendants
of Henry's brothers and sisters are more than welcome—the more the merrier! The Zehner Reunion always happens
on the last Sunday in July. Sometimes that's the fifth not the fourth Sunday. People forget that sometimes.
The family has been in the Homerville-Lodi-Burbank-West Salem area for a very long time. Though members today live all over the country,
and even the world, it would be fair to say that most members live not farther than 10 miles from Ohio 224/I-76—from about Lodi to Brimfield, Ohio.
What is interesting is that one can travel west on Ohio 224 without making a turn and arrive in Monticello, Indiana, which just a few miles south
of the Mattix and Rex farms.
Henry Zehner
[I've been able to clean this up thanks to William Zehner's book.]
Little is known of Henry Zehner and there aren't many photographs. He died when his youngest children were quite young.
He was born in Ohio in 1848 and died in 1904. He's buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Homer Township.
His father was Jacob Zehner (1805-1881). Jacob Zehner was the son of John Zehner and Barbara Zimmerman. John's
father was Johann Adam Zehner and Maria Mertz. Jacob's mother was Anna Maria Stein (1807-1887, daughter of John Stein and
Maria Barbara Schmidt).
Henry had ten(!) siblings: John (1835-1910, married Mary E. Koons),
Elizabeth (1835-1839), Catherine (1837-1839), David (1840-after 1900, married Rebecca Dreibelbis),
Mary Ann (1841-1853), Jacob H. (1842-1916, married Elizabeth J. Norton),
Rebecca (1843-1847), Barbara (1843-1844), Angeline (1847-1927, married William Francis Baughman), (Henry,) and
Maria (1850-after 1910, married W. Frank Westaver). I'm not sure what
relationship W.F. Baughman had with Elizabeth Rex's second husband. Also, to confuse everything,
for a time there were two Elizabeth J. Zehners:
Jacob H. Zehner's wife and Henry Zehner's wife—and they're both buried in the same cemetery! Jacob H.'s daughter
Retta seems to have been an important early organizer of the Zehner Reunion.
Henry Zehner's genealogy goes like this:
Johann Adam Zehner (1730s-1814) married Anna Maria Mertz (Märtz), probably a daughter of Johann Peter Mertz. Adam Zehner may have come to America
on the John and Elizabeth in 1754. Johann Peter Mertz came to America with his parents Johann David Mertz and Veronica Schneider
on the ship Richard and Elizabeth in 1733 from the Alsatian village of Hengweiler (Hengwiller en français). (William Zehner believes
there is a better case for Maria as the daughter of Johann Peter than his
brother Johann Heinrich.) There are sites online that have ancestors for Adam Zehner farther back, but much of this is speculation.
Adam and Maria resided in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
Adam and Maria's descendants:
- Peter
- John (1761-1839) married Barbara Zimmerman, daughter of Leonard Zimmerman and Sophia (maiden name may have been Serier). Leonard Zimmerman used his home for meetings of the Evangelical Church.
The Evangelical church merged into the United Brethren Church. In 1968, the Evangelical
United Brethren Church merged into the Episcopal Methodist Church forming the United Methodist Church. The year 1968 is a date that lived in
infamy for my mother. John Zehner served as a corporal in the Northampton County, Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War. John and
Barbara lived in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, though Barbara (1766-1844) later moved to Richland County, Ohio,
and is buried there.
John and Barbara's descendants:
- Catherine
- Maria
- David
- Christina
- Magdalena
- Johannes
- Henry
- Benjamin
- Jacob (1805-1881) married Anna Maria Stein (1807-1887), the daughter of John Stein and Maria Barbara Schmidt. Maria Stein's
genealogy can be traced much farther back.
Jacob and Maria lived in Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio, and are buried in Maple Hill Cemetery north of West Salem on Ohio 301.
Jacob and Maria's descendants:
- John
- Elizabeth
- Catherine
- David
- Mary Ann
- Jacob H.
- Rebecca
- Barbara
- Angeline
- Henry married Elizabeth Rex, daughter of Levi Rex and Sarah Ann Worline (but maiden name could be Mattix). Henry and Elizabeth lived in Homer Township,
Medina County, Ohio. Elizabeth later moved to Akron. They had nine children. More information is below.
- Maria
- Stephen
- Charles
- David
- George
- Catherine
- Esther
- Henry
- Philip
- Adam
- Elizabeth
- Mary
- Abraham
- Magdalena
- Susannah
- Daniel
Levi Rex, the father of Elizabeth Jane "Betty" "Jennie" "Libbie" Rex
I know little about Levi Rex (1832-1901). His father was an Abraham Rex and Elizabeth. I don't know what Elizabeth's maiden name was. They were from
Pennsylvania. They moved to Pulaski County, Indiana, in the 1840s. I can't find them in the 1840 Census. Abraham and Elizabeth had at least four children: Levi,
Elvina (or Lovina)(never married), Adeline, and Noah (born in Pennsylvania in 1839).
Elizabeth was born in 1863 in Liberty Twp., White Co. The name may have been originally Rüger, Ruch, or Rouch. The spellings Rix and Recks also
show up.
There is
almost certainly a relationship between the Indiana Rexes and the Rexes in Medina County, Ohio, because, after his wife Sarah Ann
died in the early 1870s,
Levi came to Medina County to marry Esther Laughman in 1873. The Laughmans and several Rexes lived in Homer Township.
Levi was back in Liberty Township for the 1880 census. Levi, Sarah Ann, and Esther share a tombstone in Indiana.
Levi and Esther had no children.
Sarah Ann Worline or Mattix, Elizabeth Rex's mother
Elizabeth Rex's mother was a Sarah Ann (1832-1871 [maybe 1872 - the tombstone is hard to read]),
who was born in Ohio, probably in Marion County. She may have been the daughter of
Benjamin Mattix/Mattox and Lydia Ann
Boston. The Mattixes came to Indiana from Marion County, Ohio, in the mid 1840s. They were in Tully Township, Marion County, Ohio,
in the 1840 census. Before this, they were in Waldo Township, Marion County. Benjamin's father Christopher Mattox
came to Ohio from
Kentucky before Ohio statehood—about 1800 or 1801—and settled first in Ross County and then in the part of Delaware County
that became part of Marion County when it was formed (Waldo Township). The Mattix surname is Welsh. Benjamin's mother was Christina (or Christiana)
Hines/Hinds/Heintz. There's a good bit of information on the Heintzes going way back. Christopher and Christina Mattix are buried in Wyatt
Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Marion County.
I know little about
Lydia Ann Boston. There were Bostons in Delaware County, Ohio, in the 1850 census. They were probably relatives. Lydia was born
in Maryland and Bostons in Delaware County were from Maryland. The name, which was apparently German (see the link to
Jeremiah Mattix's brief biography below), was originally Bastian or, farther back, Sebastian. There may be a connection to the
Bastians of Woodsboro, Maryland.
But we need to back up a bit. Identifying Sarah Ann's father is problematic. The marriage record for
Levi and Sarah Ann has Sarah Ann's name as Sarah Ann Wherloin. She just maybe was married to, or had a relationship with,
someone with the surname Werline or Worline before marrying Levi Rex. If she was married to a Worline, she would have to
have been very young—about 14. The name Worline (various spellings) does occur in Waldo Township, Marion County, Ohio, but I've
never seen anything like it in White County, Indiana. The Mattixes came to Indiana about 1846.
I have not been able to find a marriage record for Sarah Ann and this unknown Worline in Ohio or in Indiana.
Because records were often inaccurate back then, the Worline surname could be dismissed if it were only on the marriage certificate, but
Sarah Ann's maiden name is listed as Worline on William Rex's marriage record about
twenty-five years later.
More likely, Sarah Ann Mattix was the daughter of Lydia Ann Boston and someone named Worline (various spellings).
That is, she was a half-sister to Benjamin
and Lydia's other children.
Note also that there is a Sarah Ann, at the right age, with the Benjamin Mattix family in the 1850 census. A contact I made with someone from the Mattix family
accepts that there were ten children with the oldest being a Sarah Ann.
Her name is Mattix in son William's obituary. Daughter Rebecca has her mother's maiden name as Mattix on her death record in 1923. What's more, Sarah Ann
is buried with Mattixes in Indiana on both sides of her. The Mattixes seem to have their own private corner
of Indian Creek Cemetery. (Levi and Sarah Ann's daughter Rebecca Keen has daughter Helen buried very close to Levi and Sarah Ann
in this cemetery.)
Levi and Sarah Ann resided in Liberty Township, White County, Indiana, and had at least five children: William
"Willie" Rex (1858-1934, married Princess Catherine [also found as Catherine Princess] Lucas), Jacob (1860-1872),
Elizabeth (1863-1929), George (1865-1872), and Rebecca Ann (1867-1923, married Edward W. Keen). There seems to have been an infant daughter who was born
and died in 1857.
Rebecca "Becky" Keen moved around a lot. She was born in White County, was married in Medina County, Ohio,
ended up back in White County
for a little while (her daughter Helen was buried there), moved to Chicago for a few years, then ended up in Stutsman
County, North Dakota (!), in the 1910 census. In the 1920 census she was in Akron, but at the time of her death,
she was living in Ashland, Ohio. Rebecca and Edward Keen
are buried in Albion Cem., Jackson Twp., Ashland Co., Ohio. E.W. Keen's family was from Albion. She had four sons
(some born in Indiana and some in Chicago).
William seems to have stayed all his life in Indiana and still has descendants living in White County,
Indiana, but we don't know them. My grandmother Mabel Haas (Clara Walters1) remembered visiting "Willie"
in the 1920s when she was a child. At Willie's house she curled up in bed with her mother not so much from the cold, but
because she heard coyotes howling!
Elizabeth married Henry Zehner about 1880 when she was only about sixteen years old. No marriage record has been found in Ohio.
It may be in Indiana.
They had nine children: Hattie (1880-1906, never married), Clara (1881-1956, married Herman Walters), William Noble
(1883-1961, married Mary Rilla "Rillie" Simmers), Nellie (1885-1946, married John Clyde Shaffer), Fannie
(abt. 1888-bef. 1900), Hazel
(1891-1938, married Frank Rook), Mabel (1894-1969, married Glen Brinkerhoff), Stanley (1897-1930, married Lee McGinness),
and Lilly (1903-1990, married first Merle Veney and then Elmer Leroy "Roy" Click). Neither Noble nor Stanley had children, so this branch
of the Zehner name has died out.
Having come to Ohio, Elizabeth lived in the Lodi and Homerville areas of Medina County. She later moved to Akron. She's
there in the 1920 census. She
married John Baughman (1859-1940) after Henry Zehner died. Elizabeth "Jennie" Rex Zehner Baughman died in 1929 in Akron.
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