Peg is the genealogist in this family. Don has no interest in knowing who his ancestors were. His father had no interest either, but when at age 96 I gave him a copy of what I had written about his families, he couldn't get over what I had discovered

I have 8000 names in my database. Undoubtedly some of them will not appear on an ancestors chart since I have found that tracing ancestors is an endless search. Some families I have back to England, Germany and Holland. Others are more Illusive. I have spent full time on this search for 25 years, but each week I find something about someone else.

I have made more friends on the internet, found more relatives that I never knew, and in general have really enjoyed the research. We often wondered why we were such "died in the wool" Americans, but when you read this genealogy I think you will find that many of our ancestors came to this country at the very beginning. It is so surprising that our roots go back to 1630 and 1640 when the first arrived. Interesting, also, to note that Don's Relatives come from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. Mine come from Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania. Don's ancestor came to N.E. Ohio in about 1830. Mine came to S.W. Ohio as early as 1792.

Feel free to contact me if I can help. At present I have sources in two places...in my notes and in the source file. I am in the process of updating this situation. From time to time I will have to update as information continues to come. If my information does not agree with yours, or if I have erred some way, please let me know.

Keep in mind that spelling of names is confusing. Rufner is the best example. You may find it as Rufner, Ruffner, Rufener, Ruefner, and Roofener. It is possible that there are others. It is a complicated error made sometime in the early years of this country. Immigration official were obviously English. Hearing the German pronunciation of the name, and not knowing German, the English officials spelled the name the way the heard it. A young German Lawyer who recently contacted me said that the spelling German was Ru (with an umlot)fner which translates into English as Ruefner. I have always been convinced that the Immigrant Rufner spelled the name with one f. We are outnumbered. The majority uses two fs.

Good Hunting!!!!!!

• The Cheseldine Family (1976 KB)
  My mother was Anna Evelyn Cheseldine. She was very proud of being from this family. I have searched the family as far back as 1300 in Rutlandshire, England. It is a most interesting family to study. I have differences of opinion with many others who have written about the family and have added a lot of information about younger members of the family and what happened to them. You will find families listed from England to California. The real surprise was when I found that Kenelm Cheseldine, the first to come to America,'s mother was Grace Dryden. Her ancestry goes back to the Plantagenet family and the famous old kings of England. A most interesting family to study. In some manner all the Cheseldines in America seem to descend from the same family.
• A Study of the Rufner family (400 KB)
  This is the history of the Rufner family from Peter Rufner and his wife Barbara Leininger to the present day. It involves other families that spell the name Ruffner. It was not until a recent DNA test of my husband Don and a man from the Ruffner family. They show ed that they had a relationship making my research of Peter back to Simon Rufner who came to Berks Co. PA in 1743 with the rest of the family. Until the DNA test no one thought there was a relationship even though Peter's marriage bans say that his father was the late Simon Rufner. Read about it in this history of the family.

• Peg and Don Rufner (94 KB)
  Picture taken a few years ago beside our house.
• Anna Evelyn Cheseldine, My Mother (153 KB)
  This is a picture of my mother when she was a girl. She was always thought to be beautiful and she was. Her baby pictures are charming.
• Wilma Barnard (162 KB)
  Wilma was Don's mother. She was the sweetest, kindest person in the world.
• My father, Charles Fraser (264 KB)
  this is a photo of my dad when he was a young man. He lived with Don and I the last ten years of his life. We loved having him with us. He was no trouble. He and I had the first chance to talk about families and life in general during these years. Times never forgotten. ONe of my fondest memories of my dad is when I sat on his lap and he read me the funnies in the Sunday paper.

Peggy Fraser Rufner
4502 Daybreak Dr.
Lebanon, OH 45036
United States
rufpeg@aol.com

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