Family members have reunion
Descendants of West Finley Township farmers Albert and Bertha Amos, are, from left, in front, Dorothy Zoppi of New Jersey, Jean Hewitt of Valley Grove, W. Va., and Madalyn Clutter of West Finley, and, in back, Ruth and August Bankey of Wheeling, W. Va., and Paul Hewitt, also of Valley Grove.
Albert and Bertha Amos of West Finley Township had 10 children whose descendants got together Saturday, including some whom had never met before.
GRAYSVILLE – Lisa Gerhart was given a challenge as someone interested in genealogy to dig into her family roots to find evidence she has Native American heritage in her DNA.
“My cousin asked me if I had found any proof of that so I told her I would dig deeper,” said Gerhart of Houston.
Along the way, she discovered her paternal grandfather, James Francis Amos, was one of 10 siblings born to Albert and Bertha Amos, who were farmers in West Finley Township.
“Long story short, there is none,” said Gerhart, who discovered in her research she has numerous cousins on the Amos side of the family, many of whom held a family reunion Saturday in Greene County after rediscovering their family ties through social media.
“A lot of us are meeting for the first time,” Gerhart said at the reunion held at Ryerson Station State Park in Graysville.
The long-lost relatives came to the picnic from states including Oklahoma, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia, and they are planning to meet up again next summer at a different destination, she said.
She said several of the cousins have had their DNA tested and none of the results showed any connection to Indians, she added.
Dorothy Zoppi of New Jersey said Albert Amos died in 1973, at age 95, after having lived as a widower since 1964, when his wife died at age 81.
“It was wonderful,” Zoppi said, referring to the reunion. “I haven’t been home in many years. We’re going to try to stay together.”