Getting Started

At age 12, I was drafted by my mother to write up and organize all the family history she could recall.    At the time I loved filling out forms and putting things in binders, so it was a good fit.  Mom had an amazing memory, she remembered names of first, second and third cousins and a lot of dates and places.   Even now I’m impressed with the accuracy of her memory. 

She wanted to be part of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) because her mother had said that the family had lived in America since before the Revolution.  We focused on finding a link to a patriotic ancestor.    In the 1980’s, there was no online searching, if wanted a record you either had to visit the actual location or you had to write away them.   It was not a quick process.

We gave up on the hunt around the time I graduated from high school.   While we had found an ancestor who had served; we couldn’t prove the man had died.   That kept us out of the DAR.  Mom died in 1991 and I wasn’t interested in the DAR, so my binders lingered.  They mainly documented dry dates and places associated with direct ancestors.    Without devoting time to do the deep research, there wasn’t too much to tell from my collection.  

But as time has moved on I’ve realized how much I’d like to share my mother’s stories and document my piece of American history.   Mom’s stories and characters include covered wagon homesteaders, a convicted murderer, an honest Illinois governor and the Checkers Champion of Chicago.   All of it needing research and exploration.   Along the way, I have also stumbled on a few other stories — kidnappings, possible bigamy and a connection to the first famous ‘crime of the century’ in Chicago that I can’t wait to share.

In this blog, I will discuss my research, share family heirlooms and other discoveries made along the way.   I’ll try to document the places, events and objects that are part of our history.  My parents were generous in their storytelling, I hope to do my part in keeping family memories alive.

The focus is on the past, living relatives will not be discussed, but living relatives are most kindly invited to contribute to the stories and research.