The search comes full circle in Rockingham County, where church records link the family back to Johannes Albrecht Schmidt (1729–1798) of Württemberg, Germany. With CK’s voice woven into the narrative, the story expands from one family to millions of Germans who crossed the Atlantic, contributing to printing, farming, education, and democratic reform movements like the Revolution of 1848. Yet the story is also one of struggle, from the burning of county courthouses and lost records, to waves of anti-German sentiment during World War I, when names like Schmidt became Smith. The episode reflects on the tension between assimilation and identity, asking what it means to reclaim a name and carry its history forward into the present.

You can engage with CK, the AI companion to this podcast on ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68c1b698d690819186f512e0100547ae-ck

• Kinship Family Resource Center
• Rocktown History, VA
• VAGenWeb Project
• Frieden’s Church
• Germans in America
• German Immigrants and American Politics
• US Census German American
• Jackson Center, Ohio
• John Smith Remembering the Moon Landing
• Juanita Smith 70th Class Reunion

Executive Producer: Davar Ardalan
Host: John Oliver Smith
Genealogist & Curator: Jean Conte, Abigail Koontz
Historian/Researcher: Dale MacAllister & Margaret Hotchner
Sound Design: Javier Perez
Podcast Art: ChatGPT
AI Marketing Assistant: ChatGPT

The Shenandoah Valley provides the breakthrough moment: in a minister’s record, John and Davar discover that Johann Schmidt married Catherine Kessler, confirming the family’s German origins. In this episode, CK appears as a Voice AI persona powered by Amazon Polly, speaking in the voice of Catherine herself. Through CK, listeners hear echoes of German-speaking settlers who built Rockingham County through farming, pacifist faith traditions, and commitments to education and civic life.

You can engage with CK, the AI companion to this podcast on ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68c1b698d690819186f512e0100547ae-ck

• Kinship Family Resource Center
• Rocktown History, VA
• VAGenWeb Project
• Frieden’s Church
• Germans in America
• German Immigrants and American Politics
• US Census German American
• Jackson Center, Ohio
• John Smith Remembering the Moon Landing
• Juanita Smith 70th Class Reunion

Executive Producer: Davar Ardalan
Host: John Oliver Smith
Genealogist & Curator: Jean Conte, Abigail Koontz
Historian/Researcher: Dale MacAllister & Margaret Hotchner
Sound Design: Javier Perez
Podcast Art: ChatGPT
AI Marketing Assistant: ChatGPT

The journey begins in Hagerstown, Maryland, where John and Davar trace John H. Smith, born in 1788. At the Washington County Historical Society, land records, wills, and local history open a window into the world of early German settlers like Jonathan Hager, who gave the town its name. As they walk through archives and stories, John and Davar uncover how German immigrants shaped Maryland’s agricultural backbone, and how their presence connected with larger narratives. What begins as a search for one ancestor quickly becomes a window into a community that helped build a nation.

You can engage with CK, the AI companion to this podcast on ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68c1b698d690819186f512e0100547ae-ck

• Kinship Family Resource Center
• Rocktown History, VA
• VAGenWeb Project
• Frieden’s Church
• Germans in America
• German Immigrants and American Politics
• US Census German American
• Jackson Center, Ohio
• John Smith Remembering the Moon Landing
• Juanita Smith 70th Class Reunion

Executive Producer: Davar Ardalan
Host: John Oliver Smith
Genealogist & Curator: Jean Conte, Abigail Koontz
Historian/Researcher: Dale MacAllister & Margaret Hotchner
Sound Design: Javier Perez
Podcast Art: ChatGPT
AI Marketing Assistant: ChatGPT