Once upon a time, every year on Father's Day a family of six siblings (Wilda, Harold, Howard, Richard, Raymond and Wanda) and their families came together from different directions and lives to celebrate family and father.  Sadly the tradition stopped, little by little time went by.  Families fell out of touch.  New members were added making strangers within the family.  Let's reunite the family and renew the tradition.  "Honor the past, embrace the future".  "Learn from the Past, to help the Future".

                         *****Armknecht Surname Origin and Meaning*****

In German, the word knecht means servant.  Since arma means poor, some have thought that armknecht means poor servant.  It does not!  Back in the 1300's & 1500's, poor servants did not have surnames and certainly did not have a coat of arms!
 Recently a guy from Germany was excited to hear my maiden name.  He told Scott that the armknechts were armed servants of the kings.  He described the coat of arms perfectly for Scott. The armknechts were actually kind of like our Secret Service people who protect the president -- only they protected the king.

Source: Joy (Armknecht) Taft 18 September 2010

Very prestigious!  Joy also sent me an image of the Armknecht Coat of Arms.  It's now our home page picture.  Thank you Joy.
   
                          *****Some important things to remember*****

~~Née —used to identify a woman by her maiden family name. 
 French née, feminine of né, literally, born, past participle of naître to be born, from Latin nasci  First Known Use: 1758.  Pronounced: nay   Source: Merriam-Webster on-line

~~The calender change in 1752, when the English colonies in North America dropped 11 days from   the calendar and changed New Year's Day from 25 March to 1 January.  However this change was not universal.  In Europe the calendar changed at different times in different locations ranging from 1582 to 1918.  In English North America when New Year's Day fell in March dates may have been written as "23 1mo 1740" we could translate that to mean 23 January 1740 and we may be wrong.  On the other hand between 1700 and 1752 some people used a 1 January start date for the year and began using a system called double dating.  For example a date given as 28 February 1748/9 does not necessarily mean the writer was unsure of the year.  It means that if the year started on 25 March it was 1748 and if the year started on 1 January the year was 1749 (confusing huh).  The genealogically accepted format is "day, month, year" but don't use numbers for the month (is 6-12-49 December 06 or June 12 and is the year 1749, 1849, or 1949)?  It is very important to copy information exactly as you find it, and don't forget to cite sources.  Genealogy without documentation is Mythology.

~~Variations on spellings of surnames.  In previous centuries there was not a standard spelling, many times it was phonetic, or because of illiteracy when official persons asked for the spelling of a name especially "foreign" names a correct spelling could not be given and many times the official persons made assumptions (Schacht - Schact, Armknecht - Armknect, Trembly -Trembley -Trembely).  So it may be beneficial to research "misspellings" of names as well.  Nicknames can be very important too.  Patsy can be a nickname for Martha; Nancy, for Agnes; Stoffel, for Christopher.  On the flip side nicknames aren't always "nicknames", Peg or Peggy isn't always a nickname for Margret, Penny for Penelope.
      
 ~~The map as we know it didn't always look like this.  For example in 1861 Rio Blanco County, Colorado did not exist, it was Summit County.  That one county was nearly 1/4 of the state.  Twenty years later Summit County became a blink of a county almost in the middle of the state.  Three other counties took over but Rio Blanco did not come on to the scene until 1889.  It is possible for a person to have lived in 3 or 4 different counties without ever having moved.  This is also true of states and towns.  So remember not to limit yourself to the currant geographical maps.  The genealogically accepted format for recording locations is Town, County, State, Country.  Also remember that some counties appear in several states so be sure to get the correct state.

This is a work in progress, I strive to be as accurate as possible, if you notice any errors please contact me at armknecht_family_tree@post.com.  Thank you everyone for the additions to our tree.

                         *****The Laws Of Genealogy*****

1. The document containing evidence of the missing link in your research invariably will be lost    due to fire, flood or war. 
 2. The keeper of the vital records you need will just have been insulted by another genealogist.  3. Your great, great grandfather's obituary states that he died leaving no issue of record.  4. The town clerk you wrote in desperation, and finally convinced to give to you the information you need, can't write legibly, and doesn't have a copying machine.  5. The will you need is in the safe on board the "Titanic."  6. The spelling of your European ancestor's name bears no relationship to its current spelling or pronunciation. 
 7. Copies of old newspapers have holes which only occur on last names.  8. No one in your family tree ever did anything noteworthy, always rented property, was never sued, and was never named in wills. 
 9. You learned that great aunt Matilda's executor just sold her life's collection of family genealogical materials to a flea market dealer "somewhere in New York City."  10. Yours is the ONLY last name not found among the three billion in the world-famous Mormon archives in Salt Lake City. 
 11. Ink fades and paper deteriorates at a rate inversely proportional to the value of the data recorded. 
 12. The 37 volume, 16,000 page history of your county of origin isn't indexed.  13. The critical link in your family tree is named "Smith."  14. No matter how large the collection of special records, the one you are searching for is NEVER there! 
 15. You finally send away for that necessary certificate, and your aunt tells you she's had the original under her bed for years. 
 16. The box of family photographs, you found in uncle Edgar's house after he died, have no names or dates on them 
 17. Your aunt can remember exactly how many times you missed sending her a birthday card, but not why her father went in gaol [jail].
 18. The elderly great- aunt who could help you fill in the missing pieces says, "I don't believe in dredging up the past" and changes the subject - again. 
 19. Everyone that shares your last name but is not related is listed in great detail, your ancestor has nothing.
  
 Journal by: janilye Family Tree Circles
 Source: http://www.familytreecircles.com/the-laws-of-genealogy-30706.html