As keeper of the family archives, I had been unable to find any ancestor of Paul Gressinger, my great grandfather, although I did contact about a dozen Gressingers in Europe back in the mid-1990's. Many of them sent me their family history, but I was unable to make a match to Paul. Then in 2008, I discovered ship records that show Paul, his father, brother, & sister entering the US in 1868 through the Port of New Orleans.

So far I have not been able to find any ancestors of Virginia Elizabeth  Brete-Gehne; Walter Johnson; John Peterson, or Oscar Arvidson.

We did, however, recently (2009) discover the father & mother of William F. Gehne, Sr. They are Edward Heinrich Gehne & Anna Marie Gehne (maiden name still unknown). Our family tree then dated back to 1802.

But in early 2011, my father's cousin, Eugene Long (they share the same grandparents on their mother's side) visited us here in Tucson and gave me access to his extensive family records. Now I have traced my father's maternal grandmother's ancestors to Karl Hans Von
 Hauser (with an "a") who was born in Zurich Switzerland in 1655. Gene also has a book on the Housers(Anglosized with an "o" when they came to America) that traces that family back to the European middle ages. WOW!!!

In the late 1800's & early 1900's, many Gressingers escaped Germany as best they could. Among those arriving in New York:

A. E. Gressinger & wife: Born (he) 1866 (she 1868); arrived September 17, 1894. Elisabeth Gressinger: born 1893; arrived on September 24, 1926. Emma Gressinger: born in Germany in 1889; arrived  on 
 3/26/1929. Records suggest these Gressingers all settled in New York. Some eventually moved on to Ohio.

Genealogy is challenging.  For example, when looking for data on Ruth Johnson, my mother's mother, there are about 7,000 Ruth Johnsons in America beginning in the mid-1800's. Errors in the records can also frustrate searches. Some have correct information, except for one piece of data that is out of place, such as a middle name that may have been misunderstood by the census taker.

I did have my mother (Olive Marie) and father (William Frederick) take a DNA test in 2007 through National Geographic and did discover our deep ancestry - meaning 5,000 to 170,000 B.C.E. That information is through a link on the NG website: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html

These are the 
 ID
 numbers:

Father: FWKNG4NUQQ
 Mother: FWXYMP8FTR

Finally, my primary search engine is www.ancestry.com. I keep supporting documents, such as those from the U.S. Census data and the Social Security Death Index, in my "Shoebox" there. There are dozens of interesting and useful old records there. And I do have a few paper records, such as Jeremiah Bard's Civil War enlistment papers, kept at home.

Any additional information regarding our lineage will be much appreciated.