INTRODUCTION

This is a genealogy of the descendants of Christopher Versch who came to America 31 Aug 1785. For the most part it is a story with names but no faces. It is unfortunate that our ancestors lives cannot be reconstructed from the pieces of information that can be gathered. Even if every common form of record is found for each ancestor only a hint at who he or she was can be learned. Sometimes I feel that my efforts to understand the past are a wast of time. It is impossible to bring our relatives from long ago back to life on these pages even for an instant. Perhaps, though, a small understading of who our forefathers were may be found in these records. And maybe if we look at ourselves for insight into what it means to be a human being, we can put faces with the names.

I have seen many genealogies over the past couple of years and it seems that authors often feel they can't publish until they have 1,000 descendants or more. Frequently, however, useful references are not given in such massive volumes. I have decided that it will be of more use to myself and others if I publish the lower number of descendants I have accumulated. In this way I feel I can include more references to the sources used. My goal is to make this volume not only a historical sketch of my family, but also a guide to sources related to this family. I hope I have achieved this goal. I have decided that in the web version of the Forscht Family History I would only include the first 5 generations born in the United States. This will protect the privacy of the living members of the family. I am in possesion of additional information for generations up to the present and I would be glad to talk to anyone regarding the more recent branches of the family.

I would like to thank my cousin Joe Farcht of Scottsdale, Arizona for the information he provided on his branch of the family. Also my cousin John Clare Baker of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He helped me to understand who my gandparents where by relating stories about there personalities and accomplishments. Special thanks to the staff of the York County Historical Society. This fine institution has one of the best collections of abstracted records in the state. I also found a great deal of family history at the Pennsylvania State Library and the State Archives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Special thanks to Erich Langguth of Kreutzwertheim, Germany. His excellent research into our family history in Germany added much to the historical importance of this book. Historians and Genealogists owe much to Erich and his late father Otto Langguth for the many years of devotion to the preservation of knowledge about the Wertheim area. Last but not least I want to thank my dear wife Diane for listening to my boring stories about family history, and going along for rides to cemeteries.

Carl W. Forscht Jr.

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 1 February 1991