This is a picture of my Uncle John and Uncle Paul, my mother's brothers. Mom was the youngest of eight children, with the oldest born in 1902. I think that this photo was taken about 1920 when John was 10 years old and Paul was 6. Mom wasn't even born yet.

A little about this web site and what is here - Each family name has it's own page, with direct line ancestry going back in time.  I've included siblings and their spouses, if known, but not their lines.

On the Research page I have some extra information that I have collected over the years of my research, a link to my copyright and privacy policies and notes and ramblings about my own family lines. And, finally, on the Web sites page are links to some of my favorite research web sites.

So please, enjoy. I know that there may be mistakes on these pages. If you have a correction or have a question, please contact me. If you have a connection to my family, however far the connection may be, I'd love to hear from you.

This Web site is dedicated to my Mother, Elizabeth Jane (Ricker) Renn, who started the Renn/Ricker genealogy on these pages.  Mom was curious about her family, and started looking for clues.  As she started her journey, she brought along her daughter to help.  We would sit for hours, looking through census microfilm. While I was looking for Rickers, I would see my husband's surname as well.  Mom suggested that I keep track of the family groups under the name of Deardorff.

Soon after this, Robert H. Langdon sent out a form letter to everyone named Deardorff asking for information on each person's family.  I sent Mr. Langdon the information I had collected about the Deardorff name.  Several months later, he called me personally to tell me that he had connected Joe back to Anthony Deardorff, the first Deardorff to immigrate to the United States from Germany.  At that moment, this hobby was born. 

Today, I do my research mainly on the internet, as I don't have much time to go to local libraries and historical societies, but I still love to visit a local historical society and browse through their collections.