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Like many people from California, I was born with four grandparents. My father's parents were Henry Graydon and Cecile Alta (Howell) DeVault. My mother's parents were Robert Sherman and Anna Magdelene (Diehm) Hillman. When I became interested in documenting family history I made the decision to identify someone a ways back in each of those family lines. Then I would attempt to identify all of their descendants. In addition to listing the basic facts regarding an individual's life, I have tried to include as much information as I could about that individual.
Henry Dewald (as he spelled his name) and family arrived in America on my birthday in 1766. As best as I can tell, Henry and his wife, Mary Catherine Greaver, were German. Very shortly after coming to America they settled in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania. I have tried to document the descendants of all eleven of their children.
Henry Howell arrived in America from England in 1743. My work on the Howells starts with Henry's great-grandson, Needham Howell. Needham was married twice and had two large families. Most of my research covers the children of Needham's second marriage to Ruth E. Barnett.
The earliest Hillman that I have identified is John or Jan Helman. Jan was born in England. He was in New York by 1734 where he married Catrina Keyser. Most of my research begins with their great-grandson, John Hillman, Sr. and John Sr.s' wife, Elizabeth Jane Berk. John, Elizabeth and family migrated to Eastern Nebraska, arriving there about 1859.
Johann Thomas "Thomas" Diehm was married twice: first to Rosina Eisner and second to Charlotte C. "Lottie" Hoerner. He had two children by each marriage. The Diehms were definitely from Germany. It appears that Thomas Diehm did not immigrate to America but his second wife and his four children did. The Diehms arrived in the early 1880s and settled in the Hopewell Community located in Eastern Nebraska. I have tried to document the descendants of Thomas' four children.
This database also contains information on my wife's ancestors, the DiVirgilios and the Jiuliantes, who came to America from Italy in the early 1900s. There is also information on her King and Leighton ancestors.
The information found in this website includes contributions from many people that have provided family information. Sadly, I have failed to keep track of all these contributors. I do, however, need to acknowledge two people that made substantial contributions to the content of this website. The first is Catherine Adele "Cathy" (Crabtree) Cook. Cathy is the most thorough researcher I have ever met. She and I have worked together almost since I started compiling information on the descendants of Henry Dewald. The second is Donald Lindsey "Don" Boyd. Don has made many contributions of genealogical information. He has also assisted me with many technical questions and was instrumental in encouraging me to establish this website.
Tracy DeVault
Please submit questions, corrections and/or additions to tracydeva@mindspring.com