About me

Claire Gebben is a public speaker and teacher on writing family history, German genealogy and migration patterns, and 19th-century history. She is the author of The Last of the Blacksmiths, a novel based on the true story of her great-great grandfather, a 19th-century German immigrant blacksmith to Cleveland, Ohio. The book was named a Notable Book by Cleveland State University’s Michael Schwartz Library and Book of the Month (April, 2015) with the German American Heritage Foundation. Her memoir How We Survive Here: Families Across Time recounts the discovery of 19th-century letters in an attic in Germany written by her ancestors, which propels her on a transatlantic quest to trace and write about their lives. The memoir was honored as a Finalist in the 2019 Indie Next Generation Book Awards. The book includes three dozen rare letters written by German immigrant blacksmiths and wagon-makers to Cleveland, Ohio. Gebben’s articles have appeared in German Life magazine, Your Genealogy Today, Seattle Genealogical Society Newsletter, and numerous other publications. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.

Claire Gebben was born and raised on the southeast side of Cleveland, Ohio. She’s of German and Scottish descent, but notes that the Germans in her family were better record keepers. An adventurer at heart, she enjoys hiking, bicycling, traveling, and even on occasion, blacksmithing.