The sound of the quiet wilderness interrupted by axes ringing through the air,  sounds of the building of a log cabin in the wilderness, a shot ringing out as game was killed for the next meal - those were  the sounds our ancestors heard when they arrived in the wilderness of America to make a better life for themselves.  The first thing to do was set up camp in North Carolina, decide where you wanted to live, buy your land or claim it then begin building your home and farming.  What an exciting adventure our ancestors undertook!

     It has been a very enlightening and heart-warming experience for me to look into the fading memories of the past and discover the fine souls who preceded us – the foundation of our Winebarger-Ford family.  As an homage to my father, Charles Conley Winebarger, whom I greatly admire I prepared this collection beginning with the generation of his parents Garrett & Julia Ford Winebarger.  I hope  you will enjoy learning more about our ancestors who made our lives possible along with the lives of extended family members.

    In May of 2005, I began to gather information and pictures from relatives and researched our direct line families ancestry back to the earliest source records confirmed for ~

• John Winebarger - 1789 from Germany
• Moretz - 1714 House Sachsen, Germany
• Mueller-Miller - 1700 Germany
• Holeman/Holman - 1675 Shenandoah, VA
• Blackburn - 1746 in Scotland 
• John R. Ford - 1815 Surry Co., NC
• McDaniel - 1826  Wilkes Co., NC
• Curry - 1786 Wilks Co., NC

     As I did my research, I was contacted by various distant relatives expressing interest in how we were related through the family pedigree lines.  

    Provided in this collection, is the information that I obtained from speaking with living relatives along with researching public records, books and other publications.  In the course of my research, I have delighted in communicating with first, second, third & fourth cousins along with hearing their warm memories of family members.  A list of my research sources appears at the end of my family history collection file.

    Cousins Nancy W. Fletcher, Lucille W. Dugger, Eva Miller Bear and Butch & Mary Miller are to be commended for maintaining the records of our pedigree line over the decades.

   Distributed at the August 2007 Winebarger Family Reunion in Mountain City, TN was a first draft of my history collection along with a request to relatives for corrections, additions, old/current pictures, warm memories, etc.  Dalton & Lula Miller Winebarger’s descendents continue to hold annual family reunions and the descendents of Edmund & Jane Holman Miller enjoy the same custom. 

   Appreciation is also extended to my cousin’s Walt Ford and Garry Ford for their assistance with our Thomas Floyd Ford & Amelia Etta McDaniel family history. I deeply appreciate everyone who volunteered information and pictures to assist me in preparing this collection.

    It is my pleasure to present this labor of love which provides a glimpse of many exceptional people.  Please contact me if you have further family history information, obituaries, an amusing or interesting family anecdote, warm memory or old-current pictures to share!

      ~     Sherry Winebarger-Reeter    ~