Only a couple of the photos shown here need additional explanation. Selma Musselman was the first born of Edward and Clara (Francke) Musselman. She died tragically at about 3 years old in a fall from a wagon. Otto was their second child and Clara May, Dave Kester' grandmother, was their last, born just 4 months before her father died.

Carl Oasthaus (or "Osthaus") actually belongs to the Francke family, as his mother was Ferdinande Christiana "Jenny" Francke who married Franz Oasthaus in 1861. Franz started Forks Township's first general mercantile store in 1854 in the basement of the old log house that Dave's grandfather bought around 1900 (see Descendants of Jacob Kester and Katherine Knubaharin for current pictures since its restoration). Franz later built a house cross Bahr Road from this same log house. In 1867, he started another general store in Overton. This store was later operated by Carl and it still stood across from Dave's Uncle Willard and Aunt Blanche Hotrenstein's home when he was a boy in the Nineteen-Fifties. Then, Carl still ran it even though he was well into his nineties! Dave says:

Edward C. Musselman, son of Reuben and Vialina (Kisner) Musselman, was an interesting and well rounded character in Overton's history. Besides operating a creamery, he was also listed as an Overton grocer on the 1907 Bradford County Mercantile Directory. He was later appointed Postmaster for Lopez in Sullivan County. An ordained Presbyterian pastor, he served as stated supply minister of the Presbyterian Church of Rome, Pa. from 1924 to 1926. He married Martha "Jennie" Molyneaux in 1903. Both are buried in the Wysox Cemetery in Bradford County. Hannah Aquilla Musselman, widow of Jacob Sherman was Edward C. Musselman's aunt.

Speaking of the Shermans, they were related to the Musselmans by marriage. Hannah Aquilla, daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Eisenhart) Musselman married Jacob Sherman. Her niece, Hannah C. (daughter of Reuben Musselman and therefore sister to Edward C. Musselman) married Gilbert Rinebold. The two Hannahs looked enough alike that Dave thought they were the same person until his cousins, June Rowe Howard and Rich Lancaster, straightend him out. The caption identifies the Sherman family members in the photo below taken in 1883.

Jacob Musselman

Jacob and Hannah (Eisenhart) Musselman

Hannah (Eisenhart) Musselman

Edward Musselman

Otto Eugene Musselman

Selma Musselman

Clara May Musselman

Carl Osthaus and Clara May Musselman

Reuben Musselman

Reverend Edward C. Musselman

Reverend Edward C. Musselman and Hannah Aquilla Musselman
She was the Daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Eisenhart) Musselman and Married Jacob Sherman.

Gilbert L. and Hannah C. (Musselman) Rinebold
With Their Daughters Estelle E. and Gertrude R. Rinebold
About 1887

The Jacob Sherman Family
Back row, l to r: Cecilia Lucinda (born 1868); George E. (born 1866); Clara Almeda (born 1871); and Francis Bird (born 1869)
Front row, l to r: Oscar Edward (born 1874); Hannah Aquilla (Musselman) Sherman (mother); Arthur Lee (born 1880); Jacob Sherman (father); Frederick Charles (born 1878); and Ernest (born 1876)
Photo Taken in 1883

Ruth V. Kester, Anna Maria Clara Francke Spink, and Clara Almeda (Sherman) Lancaster.