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: CK, custom GPT for Smith family genealogy