A Gathering of Feathers

More than 100 individuals with the Surname of "Feather" (Vatter in the native German) are buried in Lenox Memorial Cemtery, Lenox, Preston County, West Virginia. The burials include Jacob and Mary (Connoly) Feather, who established the line in Preston County circa 1813. This book goes beyond the basic genealogical information to provide revealing glimpses of these individuals lives through newspaper articles, obituaries, personal recollections and the histories of other pioneer families that married into the Feather line. Those families include Rodeheavers, Kelly, Ringer, Ervin, Hauger, and many more. The book is intended to supplement the author's 2023 book, My Fathers' Land, which is a deep dive into Palatinate immigration to Preston County, W.Va., through the story of Jacob Vatter, who came as a redemptioner, fought in the Revolutionary War, and farmed in Somerset County, Pa., before establishing the line in Preston County. My Fathers' Land tells the story of their immigration through the lands seven generations of the author's ancestors owned and recounts his personal story of coming full circle as he migrated from West Virginia to Ohio and back again. His story is told through the line of Christian and Catherine Feather, but A Gathering of Feathers casts a wider net and provides much more information on the lives of those who stayed in the Lenox community. As a bonus, the book includes the minutes from Feather reunions held between 1909 and 1972, providing an additional resource for genealogists and family historians.