Rick Minerd - Life Is A Jukebox

Not  long ago I wrote a piece about the family web site, minerd.com.  None of this amazing history on the "Minerd" name is of my doing, nor anyone else within a hundred miles of me. It's the brainchild of a distant cousin who lives way out in "Gods Country"   within parking distance of those loveable Pittsburgh Pirates.

This is my second installment about minerd.com.

The Minerd name has German roots. I won't even begin to get into that,  but in-depth details can be found on the web site.

 This family,  of which a little of my blood has trickled from, migrated to this country before the Revolutionary War and settled in Pennsylvania. Again, I can't go too deep into that part of the history because I wouldn't want to infringe on the sites Author,  Mark Miner, and the years he has devoted compiling this wonderful historical accounting.

But closer to home the Minerd's I grew up knowing of a connection with were all in Southern Ohio. The bad news for those who don't like us is there are Minerds in every nook and cranny of the planet. Something like a quarter of a million are  related in one way or another. Maybe it's a million. I'd have to revisit the page to get a more reasonable number.

There were Minerds who were actors, politicians, soldiers professional sports stars and I think there was even an astronaut in the family. And then there were the Minerds in Southern Ohio. And some of them were some tough old birds.

The family on this side of the land of the Bucko's were laborers and farmers. My own Great Grandfather is featured on minerd.com as the photo of the month for May, 2007. And for that I am grateful.

I never knew much about the man, only that he worked hard doing jobs I thank God I never had to experience. As a matter of fact, last winter Mark Miner and I traveled to Athens, Ohio to learn something about him. Thanks to my Aunt Jean we came away with a few photo's and a little history about my immediate side of the family.  

I never really knew the Minerd side. As I stated, most of them lived in the land  Down Under,  okay, down under Nelsonville, and I've spent my entire life in Columbus. I was raised by a stepfather. I was very lucky.

But like many people I've wondered all my life about those from which I came from. And it wasn't until a few years ago that I began corresponding with Mark and paying attention to his web site where I learned I come from very interesting  stock. It was good to finally meet him earlier this year and we have since remained pen-pals.

One of the more fascinating revelations in the Minerd history is an exchange of DNA between our family and the Custers. As in General George Armstrong Custer.

I won't give that away here either. You can read about it on minerd.com.

For anyone interested in chasing their own family genealogy you can get an idea of the work ahead of you by checking this out. You might even find a connection to the millions and millions of Minerds out there. That might not be as exaggerated as it sounds. They did get around.     Rick

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