If you are reading this,
it is probably safe to assume you are interested in
the Kistler family and its history.

 Many individuals, over the years,
have opened dusty books and
poured over the entries that were made long ago.
  We have listened to the stories and tales,
concerning the adventures of our ancestors.
Sometimes we found these revelations to be charming,
but at the same time,
we can appreciate the courage these people displayed.

 The  research paths, we explored,
often  proved to be the well known
"dead end."
 We kept searching because "tomorrow"  held the promise
of finding the bits and pieces
that would  fit into a much larger picture.

Thomas Clayton Wolfe - (1900-38)
whose novels had an enormous impact
on readers of his own generation.
 " You can't go home again." (1940)
completed Wolfe's cycle of
autobiographical novels.

But the electronics age has opened those closed doors.
Taken us back through the years.
We have been able  to retrace the steps
family members took hundreds of years ago.
 Sitting before a monitor in our home,
we can travel to Pennsylvania where
.John George Kistler, Sr.
and his wife,
Anna Maria Dorothea Levan
first settled in the colonies.
  We can read  papers, books, and contact people who are on the same family quest.

We can cross the ocean and enter Amsterdaman
 where the Townshend left port in October, 1737.
 Travel across the roads to Switzerland and yes,
even enter the doors of the guild hall, to view  a stain glass window,
that was donated by a family named Kistler.
So, Mr. Wolf, today  . . .  we are returning home.

Browse these pages.
 Perhaps you will find an elusive connection
or you might be able to give us a missing link.

All this tiring work is to no avail unless it can be shared with you.

Neva Larkin

Copyright © Neva Larkin 1999,  2002 All rights reserved.