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The Teter Brothers of Pendleton County Book This book was written in 2005, as a birthday gift for a friend who is a Teter. It began as a genealogical project to answer the question of whether my friend was related to the race car driver, Lucky Teter. Well, as I found out, all the Teter's were connected to the Dieter's of medieval Germany. I documented 450 years of Dieter and Teter history until the 1900s here in the US. I stopped with the living Teters, as it was not my motive to invade living folks privacy. If you find this web site interesting and would like to purchase the book, please send me an email with a name and address, via this link, and I'll rush you a color copy for you or your Teter relatives. Below you'll find a summary of the book.

Dieter Family German Roots: Count Dieter von Katzenelnbogen and his family settled the lower Rhine River in 13th Century Germany. He built a castle named Burg Rheinfels. The Rheinfels complex, begun in 1245, is an outstanding example of early medieval fortress architecture, that set the standards for all building operations within the German empire.

The Dieter's life in Schwaigern: Later Count Dieter and his offspring moved down the Rhine to settle the Neckar River area of Wurttemberg in Schwaigern Germany. Local archives in Schwaigern mention the Dieter family, beginning in 1555 with Quinirus Dieter.

The Dieter's Travel to America: Hans Michael Dieter was the Mayor of Schwaigern. In 1727, his son Hans Jorg, wife Maria and their 2 children decided to move to America. They arrived 6 months later in September 1727 and spent their first winter in Philadelphia. In the 1730s, they moved to Lancaster County Pennsylvania, where they raised a large family. In 1736, they moved to Virginia, where Hans Jorg purchased 200 acres in the Robinson River area. Here, Hans Jorg Dieter would become George Teter I.

The Teter Brothers: Life in the Germany Valley: After George I died in 1744, the family moved to North Carolina, but were run off by Indians. Then, with Rev. Henckel's group, they moved to a rural valley in West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains, the Germany Valley. Here the Teter Brothers and their 20+ offspring would spend many generations in the valley, where the family would grow to over 100 members. George, Paul and Philip Teter were the sons of Hans Jorg Dieter. By the 1800s, the brothers had purchased 3000 acres in the Germany Valley.

The Teter Offspring: These Teter brothers all raised large families in the Germany Valley. They began to leave the area around the 1800s, as the fight for West Virginia statehood and the impending Civil War drove them 'out west', reaching the Pacific by the 1900s.

Lucky Teter was a race car driver and raced in the 1939 Indy 500. His family was from Noblesville Indiana along the White River. Lucky died in 1942. His parents passed in the 1960s and his sister, Ruth died in 1981. As there were no heirs to the family farm, Ruth bequeathed the Teter property to the Methodist Church, which dedicated the 120 acre farm to her parents and it became known as the Teter Family Retreat.

Mary Rockhold Teter is descended from the Ross County Ohio Teter's. During the Civil War, she quilted a blanket for her son, George who was in the Union Army. In 1920, George Teter presented the quilt to his grandson Eugene Teter and his wife, Martha Teter, in memory of her service during WWI. In 1940, the family donated the quilt to the Smithsonian Institution and today, it is called the Stars and Stripes Union Quilt.

Lee Teter is a descendent of Philip Teter of the Germany Valley. He is an accomplished artist, depicting accurate scenes from the frontier days of the beginnings of America. His Indian and frontiersmen paintings reflect an accuracy not previously seen in Early American art. From his home in Riverton Wyoming, he travels into the back woods to experience first hand the conditions these pioneers lived with on a daily basis. These feelings, along with his extensive research is reflected in his artwork.

Teater's Knoll is located along the Snake River, south of Boise Idaho. Archie and Pat Teater asked Frank Lloyd Wright to design an artist's retreat in an area where Archie had grown up. Splitting their time between the Grand Teton's in Wyoming and at Teater's Knoll in Idaho, gave the artist's a quiet respite from the days of selling their artwork in Wyoming, where Archie was known as 'Teton Teater'.

Teterboro Airport in New Jersey serves the local area with aircraft services. The Airport was built on land purchased by Walter Teter in 1917. This reclaimed swampland including the village, took his name. He sold the land in 1949.

Harris Teeter is a grocery store chain in the Southeast. Paul and Willis Teeter from Charlotte North Carolina started their chain in 1936 and merged with the Harris grocery chain in 1960.

Teterville Kansas was created in the 1920s by James Teter, who was descended from George Teter of the Germany Valley. After moving 'out west' in the 1880s, James bought quite a bit of land in Kansas. Oil was discovered on his property and soon the Teter Oil Fields and the town of Teterville grew up. James piled some rocks on the hilltop as a guidepost for settlers heading west to their homestead lands on the nearby Cottonwood River. The striking granite monolith, known as Teter Rock, was erected again in the 1950s and stands today as a memorial to James Teter.