I am sitting at a table in a park in Front Royal, Va because when I got back to where I am camped they told me that the electricity was out, so no wifi. I drove about 10 miles to this town that has a good cell signal and I set up here, hopfully it doesn't start raining.

I talked to another Halterman last night and she insisted that the Haltermans on this side of the mountain were not related to me and that those Haltermans were in Mathias, WV which is a little over an hour from here. I got there before 10:00 and got the phone book from a convenience/gas station store and started copying the names of Halterman, which was 22. As I was copying the lady said I needed to talk to Earnest Halterman because he lived here all his life and he was the principal of the school before he retired. He was also the pastor of her church(Church of the Brethren) at one time and he had done genealogy on the family. There was no cell phone signal for about 30 miles and this was in the middle of dead zone. I did use a payphone which was in the sun and I did call and leave a message, then I asked her where he lived and she told me but their was a big remote controlled gate and it was closed. I drove south to Broadway that did have reception and later he was home and I went back to his place and spent 2 hrs which him and we talked about most everything but he did not know much more about the families that were killed by the Indians. We are sure that we are related but not sure how far back. He may come from the other surviving brother from being held captive.

While I was in Broadway waiting for him to come home I went to the guys place I talked to yesteday and took a picture of Halterman Rd. When I was in Mathias I took a picture of Halterman Hollow. Earnest said that all the Halterman in that area can trace their origins to someone on that road. I guess there is only one there now.

I do not think I could find anymore on where the killed families are buried if Earnest did not know. He said I could go to three county court houses and maybe find out but I do not have that much time. I am going to try to get my oil changed in the morning and have the van checked out and leave after that.

It is Hot here, 98 with high humidity. I feel sorry for the people that are camping out in tents or do not have any air. I got here before 1:00 and set up and went to Shenandoah which is less than 30 miles away. I just drove around and looked for awhile and saw the police station and thought maybe he knows Halterman's from town and not locked up. He had been there 10 years but did not know of any and did not know anything of Haltermans being killed by indians in 1758. He did tear out a page of his phone book with about 30 Halterman's in it. I called about 8 but only talked to one and left a message on a couple others and the rest said disconnected. Not sure why because if they were different area codes it seem like the phone book would have it. The guy I talked to had the road in front of his place named after him but he was on his way to the beach for a few days. The reason I haven't called anymore is where I am camped has no cell signal at all. I am doing this at the visitors center where they have wifi. This phone book did not have anybody in West Virginia so I guess I will head over there tomorrow. Hopefully it will be cooler and I can find a park with a signal. The guy I talked to did not know any family history but he was going to ask his brother when he got back. He had never heard of any killings either and did not think that the Halterman's in West Va were related to him. I bet they are if you go back far enough because as far as I know Jacob Jr. who was captured by the indians must have came back to Shenandoah. I have also noticed that Christian's wife also died in 1758 and wonder if she was also killed in the attack. The information that I have on Jacob Sr. wife died in Aug of 1758 in the attack and it said Hawksbill, Shenandoah, Va. I could not find a Hawksbill, Va but did find a Hawksbill diner which was about 15 mi north of Shenandoah and I thought maybe this area was named Hawksbill and was changed to Stanley. I asked the owners but they knew nothing. Better go to my black hole of no signal.

I made it to the HD factory this morning for the tour and was told that it was a modified tour because they were assembling the new model year and I guess the dealers get upset if the people that come off the street see it before them so we saw the machines that make the fenders, laser trimmers, and machines that make the kick stands. They make all of the softtails and touring bikes here since 1998. They opened up a plant in Kansas city to do some of the others so they could fill orders because customers were on waiting lists. Could not take cameras with us so I have no pictures of the line.

I then made a trip to the Amish area and looked in a phone book and did find one Norman Halterman and I left a message giving my cell and email. Haven't heard back but maybe I will someday. Not all people that live out their are Amish and if they are Mennonites, they have adopted the modern ways. I did stop by a Mennonite church but was told there were no Haltermans there. You can see one picture at the top was a car I spotted in the parking lot of HD so I took a picture of it and I assume it was from East Straudsburg. I also emailed the dealership and asked if they could pass my information on to a Halterman that may know about his ancestors. I was told by Milton Haldeman that they are from Nicholas(Christian's brother) which means we are related, just one generation back to Michael. That would be our Great(x8)grandfather.

I did make reservations for Virginia, which is just across the mountains from Hardy county WV. Figured I would park the trailer on this side near Interstate 81 and just drive the car over the mountain. I had some data that the Indian attack happened in Hawksbill, Va. I looked for a Hawksbill Va on the internet and all I got was a Hawksbill Diner just north of Shenandoah. I am pretty certain this is where it happened and there are Haltermans that live in this area so I am pretty excited about what I will find.

I did not go to East Straudsburg because it was pretty far from here and I think I will actually come back to that area because my timeshare company has resorts in the Pocono Mnts. Another reason I may want to come back is I wanted to eat one meal in the Amish country and I did that this afternoon. I got it from two different sources that the best place was called the Shady Maple and when I got there could not believe how big it was. They can feed 2200 people and the food was as good as I have ever eaten.

I did some tourist things today by going to Gettysburg and tried to get a tour of the Harley-Davidson factory but did not get back in time for that. Made a trip to Hershey, Chocolate town and planned on going to the museum but missed the museum by 30 min. Spent 30 min in Chocolate World with thousands of kids on sugar highs. I am Civil Wared out and do not think I will make it back to Chocolate world.

Tomorrow I am going to try to make the Harley-Davidson on my way to the Amish area east of Lancaster. I will maybe try and see if their is any Mennonite Church that has records of names. Maybe I will find some Haltermans. Plan on eating an Amish meal while there.

Christian Halterman(born in Switzerland) came to Lancaster but moved to Shanandoah County Virginia. Milton had records that most ended up in Hardy county Virginia, which is now West Virginia. I looked an the internet and there are Haltermans in that county so I am going to try and get a camp spot there on Saturday when I leave here.

Pictures above are of Major John Cessna's grave and memorial placed there in 1930 by the Gov. of Pa.

I spent the morning at the Mennonite/Amish Information Center this morning. Two films explained their history starting in Switzerland and Germany. Mennonites were the first to form and the Amish spun off from them. Things were really bad for them in Europe an thousands were killed because they did not believe in the state supported religion. Anyway the difference is that the Mennonites started to adopt more modern tech stuff, what ever that could have been back then. I then went to the research library at this center and the person that worked there gave me a book titled "Decendants of Christian Haldeman" I thought I had hit the motherload but looking into it further, this Christian was the nephew of Nicholas Haldeman. The book was written by a Milton Haldeman and I was able to get his phone number and talked to him on the phone for about 45 min tonight. He told me where all the documentation on the Haldemans was which was in Philly. I do not think I will make that trip as he had done that and spent months copying stuff. He did say that their were Haldemans in Mongomery and Chester counties that are still Mennonites. The Haltermans in East Straudsburg that have the car dealerships are from Nicholas according to Milton. I have only 2 more days before I have to leave and I want to make a trip to Gettysburg and maybe do a couple other things. They have Harley Davidson tours in York which is only 30 min away. I almost lost this whole post because I have to use the touch pad mouse and it is funny.

I drove over to Bedford today(110 mi) to find the John Cessna grave and memorial. He was our Great(x6)grandfather. I am going to post this before I loss it.

I made it to just south of Harrisburg, Pa today. It took about 7.5 hours but I am between all the places I want to go to. The camping area does not have sewer or was but does have electricity and the cell phone signal is good which means I can call and use the computer internet. I also have TV reception so I can see some TV now. One thing that bugged me on this trip is it is so quiet so in the mornings I use the internet to pipe in a Dallas station.

I am going to stay here for four nights because there is so many places I want to go. Lancaster is where Christian Haldeman came in the early 1700's. His son Jacob was born here in 1715. John Cesnna was the sherriff in Bedford, Pa and today I noticed on the internet that there is a Cessna, Pa, which looks like a suburb of Bedford. There is a memorial to Major john Cessna in Bedford that I would like to see.

I am not sure if I can find out if any Amish or Menonites are named Halterman. They do not have phones. I did find two names of people named Halterman in East Straudsburg, Pa. This is the place that had about three major car dealerships named Halterman, Toyota, Hyundia, Chrysler and Chevrolet.

Not sure if I told you but Eddie remided me that Halterman means "man who lives on a slope or hill"

Had a busy day today. Drove up to Washigton CH, Ohio where Eddie Halterman and his wife Barbara live and spent over 4 hours going over all the ancestors and stories. Daniel L. Halterman , (who was my Great(X4) Grandfather), moved from Pa. to Pike County Ohio in the early 1800's and of all the kids he had one son was Levi and one was Jacob. Levi was my great(X3) grandfather and Jacob was Eddie's.

They live between Washington CH and Jefferson which is a town of 1200 people and Eddie started getting things organized to build a memorial to the veterans. He was able to get it done and it cost about $150,000 but when he started he told them it would be alot less otherwise it never would have gotten started.

The other picture above is a lane leading up to where some of the early Haltermans had a place. I didn't go up because there was a cable accross the lane.

Need to get to bed to get up early to head for Pa. Just south of Harrisburg in a state park. I will leave this for a home base and go into Lancaster and make a trip to East Strausburg. I hope to have enough time to see Gettysburg so not sure how long I will be there. Eddie said he did hear that there was a Halterman Church somewhere around there also.

This is also the area that Major John Cessnie lived after the revolution in the late 1700's. There is a memorial on him that I have the location on.