The "Scherer/Schindler/Etten/Ballard" family website is administered by Tess Ballard 
of Brazil, Indiana. I am the oldest child of CeCelia Schindler and Jerley Scherer, 
both from North Dakota. I started this family tree as a result of attending family 
reunions and being unable to keep the relationships straight. It's been a great 
adventure for me to discover new names and family origins, as well as making new 
family connections all across the United States. 

I intend for this website to be a tribute to those that came before us, and an 
educational resource for those family members who are alive and curious about where 
they came from. I have included photos from my collection and included stories from 
my memory to make this tree more than just a mere list of names and dates. 

Most of the data contained on this site was gathered from Ancestry.com which has 
links to the United States Census, the Social Security Administration, birth and 
marriage indexes, obituaries and draft cards. I also used the Latter Day Saints 
website to gather information about our family. Most of the data on that site is 
contributed by the public and I verified what I found there on Ancestry.com. Much of 
the information regarding the royal connections to my husband's family was found the 
same way and details about their lives was gathered from Wikipedia.

The primary family group surnames here are: SCHERER (my father's family), SCHINDLER 
(my mother's family), ETTEN (my maternal grandmother family) ROTHERMEL/ROTHARMEL (my 
maternal great-grandmother's family), YEAGER, WEGENER, FREUND, and many others. My 
tree is broad, but not deep. Each generation had many, many children but I'm hitting 
brick walls when it comes to going back beyond the 1700s in Germany, Prussia and 
Switzerland.

My husband's name is Kent Ballard. He is the youngest son of William Howard Ballard 
and Vivian Louise Chambers, both from Indiana. I started his tree out of curiousity 
more than anything else. There were stories of British and Irish royalty among the 
family legends and I wanted to claim or deny that they were true. Turns out that it's 
more than true. English, French, Hungarian, Italian and Dutch kings weave in and out 
of the family tree on the Ballard side. There are politically arranged alliances, 
historic battles and much royal intrigue woven throughout the genealogy.

I have also included my husband's family tree on this site for my step-children and 
grandchildren so they can learn more about their ancestors. Family group surnames 
include: BALLARD, LANE, CLAYTON, STANLEY, PLANTAGENET AND CAPET on Kent's father's 
side. Surnames including CHAMBERS, BRADLEY, ROBERTS and SELLS are on his mother's 
side. Kent's tree is not as wide as mine but it goes through British noblemen and 
royalty so it goes back into the 800s as each generation's data is preserved and well-
documented.

This site also makes use of a password so that living relatives can maintain their 
privacy. Any family members that would like to contribute feedback, photos, additions 
or corrections are greatly appreciated. 

Please enjoy and be sure to sign the guest book!