Among
the earliest known of my ancestral families to have arrived in America were the
Summers (Sommer), Baker (Becker), Utz, and Venis (Finis) families. All came to these
shores in the 1700s, bringing their rich German heritage and culture. Before 1800
these families had settled in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in or near the
towns of Strasburg and Staunton. In the early 1800s, some members of these families
joined the westward migration to the new lands west of the Appalachians. Arriving in
the area of what was then known as the "Falls of the Ohio", they were among the
earliest settlers of Floyd and Harrison Counties in Indiana. Eventually, my paternal
grandmother Susie Hopper would be born there as a result of the blending of these families
with the Hoppers from Ohio.